December 28, 2004
That Missile Command experience might have paid off
We've met Roy Shildt before, but I don't think that we really gave Mr. Awesome's bid for the presidency of the United States enough airplay, particularly since jimoto's entire post is reproduced on the Roy Shildt Missile Command Champion For President in 2004 page. You can find jimoto's text somewhere betwixt the Presidential Seals, the area 51 photos, the Playgirl cover, the Madonna ovary cartoon, and the picture of Howard Stern, immediately after the scan of Captain America. You would think Bush or Kerry would have linked Memphilter, too, in an attempt to win the all-important Memphilter demographic.
December 25, 2004
Meanwhile, in Space
Yesterday, Saturn time (if such a thing can be said to exist considering the mind-rending effects of special relativity and the illusion of simultaneity), the Cassini spacecraft released the Huygens probe, which, on January 14, California time (see above) will hard-land (read: crash) on Titan, hopefully answering some of the many questions which have arisen about the smog-covered world (like where the hell all of that plastic came from.) The release manouver was extremely hazardous, involved big springs, and could have easily sent the $3.3 billion spacecraft tumbling off into deep space, never to be heard from again. But it went off so smoothly, our favorite outer solar system robot pair was upstaged in the mainstream press by the launch of a Russian cargo ship carrying dim sum to the intrepid-but-starving astronauts of the ISS. The moral: JPL rocks.
Oh yeah, speaking of rocks, the most dangerous asteroid ever discovered was found this week, scoring an unprecedented 4 on the Torino impact danger scale (read: be kinda concerned, but don't start buying stuff on credit just yet.) Subsequent observations will either rule out the danger or set April 13, 2029 as the kickoff date for the Mad Max home game.
Happy Holidays!
December 23, 2004
Best Bets
Another year has passed, and that can mean only one thing: there are more critics than ever. And they are weighing in with the usual assortment of "Best of" and "Top X" lists, where X is equal to either 10 or 100 or, on rare occasion, 50. Here are a few of the good ones:
This is really a haphazard collection of lists. If there is a "best of" list that you live by or think is authoritative, please link it in a comment.
December 21, 2004
Mr. Presley goes to Washington
34 years ago today, Elvis showed up at the Nixon White House and suggested that he be made a Federal Agent-at-Large in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. We've all seen the most requested item in the National Archives, but there are many more candid shots that include White House aide Egil "Bud" Krogh, and others with Elvis' "associates". Also fascinating are the documents related to the meeting, including the letter Elvis sent to Nixon requesting the meeting.
You Can't Win, Darth
Obi Wan vs. the automotive industry.
(Quicktime .mov)
December 17, 2004
Quote of the Day
"You're 10 times more likely to get wiped out by a civilization-ending event in the next 100 years than you are getting killed in a commercial airline crash."
-John Young (via /.)
Turkey Shit Power!
Plant to Make Clean Power from Turkey Droppings
December 16, 2004
December 15, 2004
Yahoo! Headline of the Day
It's the end of an era:
LAPD Plan to Curb Flashlight Beatings
Japanese 'lap pillow' offers solace to lonely men
Single or lonely Japanese men may get lucky this Christmas. One popular item for holiday shoppers is the “lap pillow,” with skin-coloured polyurethene calves folded under soft thighs -- a comfy cushion for napping, reading or watching television.
December 14, 2004
Meanwhile, in Space...
On Monday, the Cassini spacecraft performed its second flyby of Titan, the mysterious smog-covered moon of Saturn. It is still unclear whether the dark regions to the west of the bright highland known as Xanadu are lakes of liquid organic compounds such as methane and ethene or something completely unknown. Every look at Titan seems to raise more questions than it answers: It was earlier reported that some of the high, white clouds at Titan's south pole had spectral signatures similar to polystyrene packing peanuts. The Huygens probe will be released from the main spacecraft on Christmas Eve on a one-way trip to the moon which will hopefully provide a few more answers.
While it was inbound on this second orbit of the giant planet, the probe conducted another round of ring studies, capturing the most spectacular sights in the solar system in even greater detail.
Today, Cassini takes a close look at the icy moon Dione.
It now appears that the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, designed to last only 90 days on the surface, will still be active a year after landing on the red planet. Opportunity is wrapping up its investigation of Endurance Crater after examining Burns Cliff, which shows unmistakable evidence of sedimentary rock. Opportunity is in near-mint condition and is running at full power after a freak dust devil apparently cleaned accumulated dust from the rover's solar panels. Spirit, having climbed partway up the Columbia Hills, is having trouble with one of its six wheels, which is apparently jammed. (note the deeper right-hand track in this image caused by the gimp wheel). Mission scientists expect to be able to continue up the hill by driving the rover backwards.
Much closer to home, the astronauts of Expedition 10 are running out of food due to supply shortages brought about by the continued grounding of the space shuttle fleet. The return to flight is currently scheduled for spring, 2005, after NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is leaves the agency to become chancellor of LSU in order to avoid paying for his kid's college tuition. Another recent NASA retiree is genuine space hero John Young, whose accomplishments included being the first person to leave earth orbit twice. One of O'Keefe's rumored replacements is Young's co-pilot on the inagural flight of the shuttle Columbia Robert Crippen.
ASCIImation
The entire Star Wars movie--in ASCII
December 10, 2004
Not the face, Santa!
Santa rumble.
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