[url]http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2012/07/_1936_olympics_rowing_the_greatest_underdog_nazi_defeating_american_olympic_victory_you_ve_never_heard_of_.html[/url]

Here's a slightly scary one.

[url]http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/24/is-mars-one-serious-about-suicide-mission-to-red-planet/[/url]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;306143]Here's a slightly scary one.

[url]http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/24/is-mars-one-serious-about-suicide-mission-to-red-planet/[/url][/QUOTE]
Um, SLIGHTLY scary? You either lack imagination or are as tough as nails psychologically.

[QUOTE=jasong;306188]Um, SLIGHTLY scary? You either lack imagination or are as tough as nails psychologically.[/QUOTE]
When you read enough SF, the scary becomes less so. That's one of the many points of literature, and one of the main points of SF: extend and exercise the imagination. In retrospect, it was only a matter of time until somebody got interested enough to leave our planet before their time.


__________________________________________________________



It just occurred to me that
[url]http://www.wheresgeorge.com/[/url]
is probably something that would interest some people here. There are [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_bill_tracking#Popular_currency_bill_tracking_websites"]international equivalents[/URL] as well.

[QUOTE=Dubslow;306200]When you read enough SF, the scary becomes less so. That's one of the many points of literature, and one of the main points of SF: extend and exercise the imagination. In retrospect, it was only a matter of time until somebody got interested enough to leave our planet before their time.
[snip]
It just occurred to me that
[url]http://www.wheresgeorge.com/[/url]
is probably something that would interest some people here. There are international equivalents as well.[/QUOTE]
You might like this then because it combines the tracking idea with books.
They use a catch and release meme. So instead of spending money, "release" a book somewhere and check it gets caught.
[url]http://www.bookcrossing.com/[/url] [QUOTE]if you love your books, let them go
- The New York Times
an unlikely global sociology experiment
- Book Magazine
a modern-day message in a bottle
- San Francisco Chronicle[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19018930[/url]

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19004818[/url]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;306336][url]http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19018930[/url]

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19004818[/url][/QUOTE]
I've already seen the first link and 100% disagree with the second. To put it in scientific terms, when the premise is flawed the conclusions tend to be flawed.

Don't Be a Dick Day

[url]http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2012/07/happy-dont-be-a-dick-day.html[/url]

[url]http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-distracted-walking-20120730,0,4524332.story[/url]

[url]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/air-force-officer-creates-database-every-u-bomb-190227673.html[/url]

[url]http://www.freddieforaday.com//en/What-is-FFAD[/url]

:judge:

[url]http://www.trevormay.ca/index.php/2012/05/drupal-performance-on-iis7-vs-apache/[/url]

Maybe I should patent the process used to apply for a patent?
 

[url]http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/08/01/157743897/can-you-get-a-patent-on-being-a-patent-troll[/url]

[url]http://news.yahoo.com/u-womans-altruism-starts-chain-five-kidney-swaps-182047933.html[/url]

[url]http://tracemedia.co.uk/portfolio/mapping-wikipedia/[/url]

where does wikipedia article come from.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48710791/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/#.UC-1oqKPW9o[/url]

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48712973/ns/business-us_business/#.UDCGraKPW9o[/url]

[url]http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/a-new-way-to-solve-linear-equations/[/url]

[QUOTE=only_human;308539][url]http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/a-new-way-to-solve-linear-equations/[/url][/QUOTE]
Didn't understand a bit of that, I don't have the proper education. But I do have a question.

In the example(s?) given I only saw the plus sign. I assume it can be done with subtraction, but what about other stuff like multiplication and division? Maybe at some point it can be extended beyond basic algebra? I mean basic algebra in terms of the problem equation, not the calculation of the solution.

But there's no seat for mini-me :(
 

[url]http://www.space.com/17192-hover-vehicle-star-wars.html[/url]

I'll sell you this bottle I have here for $999.99
 

[url]http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=7A81E74F-E554-39DF-62E0C6F540A3CDF8[/url]

[QUOTE=retina;308717][url]http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=7A81E74F-E554-39DF-62E0C6F540A3CDF8[/url][/QUOTE]
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine"]Two Buck Chuck[/URL]:beer:

[QUOTE=retina;308717][url]http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=7A81E74F-E554-39DF-62E0C6F540A3CDF8[/url][/QUOTE]
Coincidence! That study was an example in an article I read earlier today.
[url]http://www.smh.com.au/money/planning/the-psychology-of-spending-20120818-24fet.html[/url]

[url]http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/21/13395615-israelis-fret-over-lynching-of-palestinian?lite[/url]

With just a ballpoint pen and a lot of patience ...
 

[url]http://vianaarts.deviantart.com/gallery/[/url]

[QUOTE][URL]http://vianaarts.deviantart.com/gallery/[/URL][/QUOTE]Wow, that is amazing!

(And the subject of [URL="http://fav.me/d5531ab"]this one[/URL] is amazingly beautiful!)

[QUOTE=ewmayer;308965]Despite Uncwilly's hopeful emoticon, I've yet to find anything in beer which approaches the above in terms of "buzz per buck" value. [/QUOTE]Wouldn't know, have the gene and don't need the trouble. Find it best to not tempt the issue.

[url]http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/22/13419502-in-rare-public-rebuke-un-chief-tells-iranian-leaders-to-tone-down-rhetoric?lite[/url]

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_mustard#Development_of_the_first_chemotherapy_drug[/url]

[url]http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/cheetah-smashes-her-own-world-record-for-100-meter-dash[/url]

[url]http://news.yahoo.com/burning-monk-photographer-malcolm-browne-dies-113859533.html[/url]

[url]http://www.sizes.com/[/url]

[YOUTUBE]g3oUkyMae0c[/YOUTUBE]

Welcome to the robot apocalypse
 

[url]http://io9.com/5940036/how-copyright-enforcement-robots-killed-the-hugo-awards[/url]

[QUOTE=retina;310315][URL]http://io9.com/5940036/how-copyright-enforcement-robots-killed-the-hugo-awards[/URL][/QUOTE]When I started reading this, my first impression was that it was a satire or spoof, despite the "No, you're not reading a science fiction story" disclaimer.

Then I realized that it is a sincere factual report.

Apparently, UStream hadn't ensured that any robotic decision could be overridden by real human beings.

Another description:
[URL]http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120903/18505820259/copyright-enforcement-bots-seek-destroy-hugo-awards.shtml[/URL]

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/04/travel/twin-boys-travel/index.html[/url]

[QUOTE=retina;310315][url]http://io9.com/5940036/how-copyright-enforcement-robots-killed-the-hugo-awards[/url][/QUOTE][url]http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/youtube-flags-democrats-convention-video-on-copyright-grounds/[/url]

50th anniversary, including Ms. Space Debris Pageant
 

[URL]http://www.sputnikfest.blogspot.com/[/URL]

[url]http://www.manitowoc.org/index.aspx?NID=1109[/url]

[url]http://www.manitowoc.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6016[/url]

[URL="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120906092805.htm"]Math Tree May Help Root out Fraudsters: Applying Algorithm to Social Networks Can Reveal Hidden Connections Criminals Use to Commit Fraud[/URL][QUOTE]ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2012) — Fraudsters beware: the more your social networks connect you and your accomplices to the crime, the easier it will be to shake you from the tree.

The Steiner tree, that is.[/QUOTE]link [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/115785601687445616629/posts/NttbjwzaU4N"]shared[/URL] via Ward Plunet on Google+

Alberta family's QR code named world's largest by Guinness
 

[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/09/09/calgary-guinness-world-record.html[/url]

Modified Star Wars toy blows up watermelons with your mind
 

[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/09/modified-star-wars-toy-lets-you-explode-watermelons-with-your-mind.html[/url]

[url]http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html[/url][QUOTE]In this animation of temperature data from 1880-2011, reds indicate temperatures higher than the average during a baseline period of 1951-1980, while blues indicate lower temperatures than the baseline average. [/QUOTE]NASA animation of temperature data from 1880-2011
[YOUTUBE]OtY8DpA_XNE[/YOUTUBE]
via this post on Google+ [url]https://plus.google.com/u/0/116935304621714844901/posts/fA94D3LNnFV[/url][QUOTE]Mary Mactavish 8:29 PM - Public
Susan Stone originally shared this post:
Watch it. Just watch it. Takes half a minute.[/QUOTE]

We are so insignificant. We are not worthy.
 

[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/7936905134/in/set-72157631408160534[/url]

[QUOTE=Jeff Gilchrist;310913][URL]http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/09/09/calgary-guinness-world-record.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

WOW! That's rather pretty, too.

@Dubslow

We accidentally deleted your diesel fuel post.

Sorry!

:mike:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;311259]@Dubslow

We accidentally deleted your diesel fuel post.[/QUOTE]
Here is the URL
[url]http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/09/diesel-plastic-record-flight/[/url]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;311268]Here is the URL
[URL]http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/09/diesel-plastic-record-flight/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Excellent! Another use for discarded plastics! I was aware of high density polyethylene composite deck boards.

[QUOTE=kladner;311270]Excellent! Another use for discarded plastics! I was aware of high density polyethylene composite deck boards.[/QUOTE]It'd be cool if it ever became crassly profitable to skim plastic from the ocean gyres.

[QUOTE=only_human;311271]It'd be cool if it ever became crassly profitable to skim plastic from the ocean gyres.[/QUOTE]

A great idea. I have also wondered about that possibility. Perhaps some of the trawlers which are overfishing the seas could be re-purposed. Start with the ones that drag the ocean floor and leave behind a wasteland for the sake of the few fish they keep, killing everything else and throwing it back.

[QUOTE=kladner;311279]A great idea. I have also wondered about that possibility. Perhaps some of the trawlers which are overfishing the seas could be re-purposed.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. And currently there's great "fishing grounds" for plastic in the pacific between Japan and Vancouver....

[QUOTE=chalsall;311280]Indeed. And currently there's great "fishing grounds" for plastic in the pacific between Japan and Vancouver....[/QUOTE]

And another in the Atlantic. From Wikipedia:

"This gyre is similar to the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Gyre"]North Pacific Gyre[/URL] in the way it traps man-made [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_debris"]ocean debris[/URL] in the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Garbage_Patch"]North Atlantic Garbage Patch[/URL], similar to the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch"]Great Pacific Garbage Patch[/URL] in the North [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific"]Pacific[/URL].[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Gyre#cite_note-lavlaw-0"][1][/URL]"

A 1939 Map of Physics
 

[url]http://dabacon.org/pontiff/?p=6431[/url]

Pi in the Sky
 

[url]http://gizmodo.com/5942949/artist-skywrites-the-first-thousand-digits-of-pi-over-san-francisco[/url]

That is great, and very distinct. It made me think "Surrender Dorothy"!

[QUOTE=retina;311404][URL]http://dabacon.org/pontiff/?p=6431[/URL][/QUOTE]
Note the Mersenne "village" next to the bay of Sound (and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Mersenne#L.E2.80.99Harmonie_Universelle_.281637.29"]rightly so[/URL])!

[url]http://now.msn.com/capitan-the-german-shepherd-has-slept-on-his-owners-grave-for-six-years[/url]

As always, no shrines (just doing his job):
[url]http://bigstory.ap.org/article/neil-armstrong-1st-walk-moon-buried-sea[/url]

The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer's block”
 

[url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311997/?page=1[/url]

[QUOTE=schickel;311818][url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311997/?page=1[/url][/QUOTE][url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2078566/[/url]

Seagull steals filming video camera and flies off with it over San Francisco bay. When it apparently realises that it isn't edible, instead of just dropping it in the sea, it returns it to dry land, carefully laying it down so that this extraordinary film survives.

[YOUTUBE]4g_57ymHrdo[/YOUTUBE]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;311836]Seagull steals filming video camera and flies off with it over San Francisco bay. When it apparently realises that it isn't edible, instead of just dropping it in the sea, it returns it to dry land, carefully laying it down so that this extraordinary film survives.

[YOUTUBE]4g_57ymHrdo[/YOUTUBE][/QUOTE]I went looking for that link today because it is a GoPro camera and just came across a video of one of those cameras dropped at the start of a 12,500 feet skydive that recorded the fall and landed intact.[QUOTE]gopro freefall from 12500 without case

bumped my head on the door frame on exit unclasping the latch on the box. The camera popped out on exit at 12.500 and fell straight down onto the landing area at the DZ and was recovered by a fellow skydiver. It even caught our landings. Not one scratch on the body or lens. Still can't believe that I got it back and that it is totally fine. A buddy the same day who is one of our camera flyers had the same thing happen but with his SLR....not the same result. I'm definitely a gopro fan for life these little guys are bomb proof[/QUOTE][YOUTUBE]aU-KvtA20v8[/YOUTUBE]
While looking for the SF seagull incident, I came across another one from Cannes, France, last year. This is also a GoPro camera.[QUOTE]Seagull stole GoPro

Seagull stole my video camera in Cannes France. I found it on the castle wall, where I had to climb.[/QUOTE][YOUTUBE]rIu5B3Fsstg[/YOUTUBE]

A Haswell architecture session at IDF2012 [url]http://www.anandtech.com/show/6263/intel-haswell-architecture-disclosure-live-blog[/url] was mentioned by Jeff Gillchrist in this [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=311631&postcount=23"]msg[/URL]. What interested me about that is Haswell adds hardware image stabilization. Watching the video of the falling camera struck me with how all this image stabilization information has been welling up lately (and that the camera fall would surely be beyond state of the art). Nokia faked the image stabilization quite recently used in a commercial purporting to demonstrate it with their new Lumia 920 and had to apologize.

That skydive video is pretty awesome (though it's a shame the camera didn't have a stabilizer of some sort).


[url]http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/18/13942315-us-muslims-walk-tightrope-denouncing-both-violence-and-anti-islam-film?lite[/url]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hsDn2kNriI&feature=youtu.be[/url]

[url]http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/sep/M12-188_Calif_Endeavour_Flyover.html[/url]

[youtube]1atfF5mt0dk[/youtube]

[URL="http://www.mobydickbigread.com/"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="Silver"]http://www.[/COLOR][/SIZE][COLOR="DarkRed"]Moby[/COLOR][COLOR="Olive"]Dick[/COLOR][COLOR="Sienna"]Big[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Read[/COLOR][COLOR="silver"][SIZE="2"].com/[/SIZE][/COLOR][/URL]

[QUOTE=firejuggler;312668][youtube]1atfF5mt0dk[/youtube][/QUOTE]
An article on this: [url]http://www.theworld.org/2012/09/wheelchair-ballet-sue-austin/[/url]

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPNDhOWutk"]HD footage of Endeavour from the F/A-18 chase plane[/URL]

...physics, man.

32 self-synchronizing metronomes
[youtube]JWToUATLGzs[/youtube]
[URL="http://dvice.com/archives/2012/09/metronomes-in-c.php"]English description[/URL]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;313107][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPNDhOWutk"]HD footage of Endeavour from the F/A-18 chase plane[/URL][/QUOTE]I made the trip for this event. At 8:11 where I was is just above the tip of the tail of the 747.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;313139]I made the trip for this event. At 8:11 where I was is just above the tip of the tail of the 747.[/QUOTE]

On the mountain? Nice!

[edit: about metronomes. (few cross-posts in the same time)]

Hahahaha that is wonderful! I almost died of laughing when at minute 2:05 (about) all looked synchronized, except the last one in the second row from the front, which was moving totally wrong, like in the movies with Laurel and Hardy. "Unfortunately" it "solved" itself till the end of the movie. I still puzzles me how they can tell the left tick from the right tick, most probably they use ultrasound ticks, when they hit one side, like a "reset" signal (they have to sound the same, like in "must issue the same audible sound on both sides", they can't sound different, like in "are not allowed to". I may not be able to tell the difference, but my daughter's piano teacher would really look upset if the her metronome makes "tick" on the left and "tock" on the right...).

[QUOTE=Dubslow;313140]On the mountain? Nice![/QUOTE]Yes, about the same elevation as the Hollywood sign. Got to see much of the looping around. Looking down on all of the folks at the Observatory was fun. It was quite hot, the fire department rescued a person off of a ridge (they had heat stroke) by helicopter and treated many others.

[QUOTE=LaurV;313141][edit: about metronomes. (few cross-posts in the same time)][/QUOTE]
Scrap that! It seems like my brain is too much damaged by production issues... When I watched the video I was thinking to metronomes which are "required" (by customer specification) to beat synchronous (no idea for what, for teaching music in a class, whatever he needs them for, not my business) and I was convinced that what I see in the movie is the factory QA line testing those metronomes before shipping them out... That is why I wondered what technical solution they adopted to make them beating together, and somehow I was thinking they need too much time for it - I could make them going synchronous much faster/sooner.

Meantime I have read the English description linked. That is different story, and sounds even more interesting...

But I am still laughing like an idiot around minute 2:05, I don't know why, I can't stop it!

[QUOTE=LaurV;313143]
But I am still laughing like an idiot after minute 2:05, I don't know why, I can't stop it![/QUOTE]
Both of the top comments are about it being a hipster and needing to control one's OCD impulses... :smile:

Perhaps this better belongs in the silly links thread... depends on your point of view.

[url]http://spikedmath.com/math-games/[/url]

Animated wind maps
 

This is really beautiful.

[url]http://hint.fm/wind/[/url]

i sent the metronome piece around to a bunch of people. One of my cousins responded with speculations about the period of the support surface.

[QUOTE] Impressive demo. Interestingly, of the 32 metronomes, there's one holdout that stays 180º out of phase until late in the game.

If you click through to the original YouTube post, it bears a Japanese caption which Google Translate renders, not too badly I suspect, as:

[INDENT] When you move the metronome and put on a table that moves multiple metronome that ticks all the metronome sound at the same time as it is known in sync eventually.


[/INDENT]Close enough. My guess is that it said:[INDENT]

When you start a metronome and put it on a movable table with multiple ticking metronomes, eventually all the metronomes sound at the same time ("in sync").
[/INDENT]
If you look closely you can see the alluded-to movable support scheme for the rear corners of the styrofoam platform - a suspension wire at each corner so that the whole table is a pendulum, with wires that appear to be about a foot long judging by the front crossbeam (rear one's up out of view). For what it's worth, I get that this should give a natural frequency for the table (1 / 2pi ) * sqrt (g/l) of about 0.9 hz whereas I time the metronomes at 1.33 hz. Wouldn't want 'em matched to table frequency, I suspect -- table might go nuts, or else conceivably (rusty on this) might exactly track the metronome bobs so their swing angle became zero and they'd cease to tick...


If the metronomes weren't powered, I'd expect them to act as a Vibration Eliminator to kill the swing of the table -- but with them being the energy [I]source[/I].... FWIW as set up in the video the table swings in opposition to the metronome bobs.


[/QUOTE]

He says it is OK to post this part of his message. I am just curious if any of the math/science people want to take up the question of what would happen if the swinging support matched the metronomes' timing.

We wonder how close each metronome has to be to the others (in Hz) for this to work.

We wish we worked in that lab!

:truck:

Good question. I had supposed that they were set nominally the same, and that phase differences were the meat of the matter.

[url]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/megadroid-300000-androids-clustered-together-to-study-network-havoc/[/url]

[url]http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=59a57630-958a-480b-9f0a-8658835f4abd[/url]

[QUOTE=kladner;313519]Good question. I had supposed that they were set nominally the same, and that phase differences were the meat of the matter.[/QUOTE]

Someone on my cousin's mailing list responded that this experiment only worked because the metronomes are Japanese. If they were American they would still be out of step.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;313531][URL]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/megadroid-300000-androids-clustered-together-to-study-network-havoc/[/URL][/QUOTE]
can they run prime95, or at least cudalucas, mmff, mfactc, etc? hehe....

[QUOTE=kladner;313547]Someone on my cousin's mailing list responded that this experiment only worked because the metronomes are Japanese. If they were American they would still be out of step.[/QUOTE]

That is plagiarized from an year-old comment on youtube:
[QUOTE]It is because they are all Japanese metronomes. Their culture teaches conformity in every day life.If they were American metronomes, some would chose to only move in one direction; to stubbornly not move at all; to orientate themselves backwards; to head/hand standing... etc... LOL[/QUOTE]
or this on, newer:

[QUOTE]This video shows the process of going from American to Asian.[/QUOTE]I love the last one, and I bet is valid not only for Americans, but for everyone, (Romanians including), especially for Latins, maybe some of you still remember the video which was in circulation years ago about Italy joining the EU, it was really famous (goggling for it) ([URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWBL9_alKs"]found it[/URL]!) It fits our society and culture in every aspect...

[QUOTE=LaurV;313585]
I love the last one, and I bet is valid not only for Americans, but for everyone, (Romanians including), especially for Latins, maybe some of you still remember the video which was in circulation years ago about Italy joining the EU, it was really famous (goggling for it) ([URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWBL9_alKs"]found it[/URL]!) It fits our society and culture in every aspect...[/QUOTE]

It's true! I was in Italy for two weeks for a class history trip. We were taking two vans back to Fiumicino. When we got there, we told a teacher in the other van, "Holy ****! Our driver was driving 100 MPH!". He asked us, "Are you sure that wasn't 100 KPH?", and we replied, "No no no, it was 1[I]60[/I] KPH."

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ObnEpRccHM[/url]

What the ISS sees at night

PHB & CEO speak
 

[url]http://cbsg.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/live[/url]

[QUOTE=retina;314040][url]http://cbsg.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/live[/url][/QUOTE]
:missingteeth:

[url]http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/36074/rescued+ducks+experience+water+for+first+time+in+amusing+video/[/url]

[url]http://gizmodo.com/5950763/holy-fcklook-at-all-these-sr+71-blackbirds-together[/url]
[quote]One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ' Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.[/quote]

[url]http://xkcd.com/247[/url]

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49380316/ns/technology_and_science-space/?ocid=msnhp[/url]

Uncwilly et al., photos?

[QUOTE=ixfd64;314363][URL]http://xkcd.com/247[/URL][/QUOTE]
Prime!

(I did not use any calculator, and it only took me about 15 seconds! I knew that 37^2=1369)

[QUOTE=Dubslow;314368][url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49380316/ns/technology_and_science-space/?ocid=msnhp[/url]

Uncwilly et al., photos?[/QUOTE]If it was next weekend I could have been in LA to see it. This weekend that is not an option.

[i]Damn,[/i] that thing is big. You don't realize how big until you see it up close.

[url]http://framework.latimes.com/2012/10/12/space-shuttle-endeavour-2/#/1[/url]

Timelapse video.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;313139]I made the trip for this event. At 8:11 where I was is just above the tip of the tail of the 747.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Dubslow;313140]On the mountain? Nice![/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Uncwilly;313142]Yes, about the same elevation as the Hollywood sign. Got to see much of the looping around. Looking down on all of the folks at the Observatory was fun. It was quite hot, the fire department rescued a person off of a ridge (they had heat stroke) by helicopter and treated many others.[/QUOTE]
Here is one shot, cropped of course (and squished a little to fit the forum requirements) and a little color tweaked.
Please respect that this is a personal picture and is only being posted here for the viewing pleasure of the forum members. Don't 'reshare'.