If I’ve learned anything from Star Trek, it’s that when the words “spacetime” and “rip apart” occur in the same sentience, you get the heck out of the solar system at warp 9. Yet, having failed to blow up the planet with the LHC, particle physicists (being the crazy, zany,...
Phil Plait, the creator of the Bad Astronomy blog over on Discover Magazine, just put up a great post about James van Praagh, who claims to be able to communicate with the dead (would that not make him a Necromancer?). The James Randi Educational Foundation recently offered him $1 million...
Today I updated both my main PC and home file server from Ubuntu 11.04 to 11.10. As you may or may not know, Ubuntu 11.04 came with the new Unity desktop interface, which as I described in a previous post, I really did not like. However, in 11.04 it was...
And this is why I like Doctor Who. Nuff said. Yep.
Salon.com has an interesting article that casts a spotlight on a rather old notion: should authors have patrons? Back in Ye Olden Days of Yore, authors were commissioned by rich nobles and aristocrats to pen their works. Not so any more. Today, authors must eek a living from the few...
SF Signal has create an interactive guide to NPR’s top 100 list of science fiction and fantasy books. They have create a beautiful flowchart and a pretty nifty interactive web app. The flowchart is good to download and print out (if you have a 52″ x 40″ printer), and the...
The oldest still-running steam-powered horseless carriage is now at auction for some $2 million (which translates to an astounding $85,000 in 1880’s US currency). Behold, the 1884 de Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout! The steam runabout participated in the world’s first automobile race, and although it won the...
It turns out that Netflix is actually run by a drunk orangutang. Instead of doing something sane, such as expanding their streaming library or adding new services like music, the CEO recently announced that they are complete splitting the DVD rental business into new company stupidly called Qwikster (pronounced a...
In my previous post I mentioned some of the highlights of Dragon*Con and also covered the Dragon*Con Parade, but as promised, I now give you a pile of photos of steampunk people, gizmos, and gadgetry from Dragon*Con 2011. The steampunk presence at Dragon*Con 2011 was even bigger than in years...
I had a great time this year at Dragon*Con 2011. In my previous post I mentioned some of the highlights of Dragon*Con, but in this post I’m just going to zip through some great pictures I managed to take of the annual Dragon*Con parade. It was pretty fantastic seeing all...
