Thought for today's drive.

Perspective from xkcd:

Pretty alarming when you think of it this way.

Fourth Ward Cleaver June/July Issue is Up

And as usual, the fun can be found here!  Go take a look around.

A slightly different type of Microsoft crash.

Sigh.  Those whacky Greeks.

Seven Minutes of Terror

Video on the Curiosity Rover's descent from space to the surface of Mars, seen here.

Fourth Ward Cleaver...

Don't forget to hit the site, but there's a disclaimer near the top:

June edition is running later than usual - we're all swamped with actual paying work, so will post the new issue whenever!

OK, can't argue with that.  And when the new issue is out, I'm sure it'll have full coverage of Bridgefest – and plenty more.  In the meantime, patience.  They've got to work for a living too. 

How the Mustang got its scoops.

The first use by Ford of the model name Mustang came in 1962 with the Mustang I concept car (article at Wikipedia).  A mid-engine design, it had a radiator and accompanying scoop on each side.  Two years later Ford would introduce the first production Mustangs, little more – but much, much cooler – than uprated and re-skinned Falcon coupes.  According to Wikipedia:

Nearly the only design element that remained from the original Mustang I were the fake louvers that recreated the radiator scoops of the two-seater.

And that, kids, is how the Mustang got its scoops.

Nice color scheme, yeah?
Today, the side scoops are reduced to vestigial body indentations (example).  They're aesthetically pleasing in and of themselves, and a welcome nod back to the Mustang I ancestor.  Fake louvers fitted to these indentations are available as an option.  They're a little much perhaps, but not so bad that I'd have them ripped off if my car had come that way.  YMMV. 

Geekey-licious.

Avengers and Firefly intro mash-up seen here.
See?  Promised I'd post something happy today.

Wear your bike helmet.

Interesting article on TBI at Dirt Rag.  First-hand experience.

Beyond saying that I won't even test bike adjustments riding around the yard without wearing a helmet, I won't belabor the subject. The entire article can be a bit much to read, so I'll summarize with this quote from it:

Untreatable

I talked to a specialist, who told me there’s little that can be done to improve my situation. For the most part, what I’ve been doing to stay on top of things keeps me straight. I still forget to do certain things. ...  I don’t feel as intelligent as I was prior to the accident. Oftentimes I can’t get my thoughts out of my head—if I can remember what it is I wanted to say to begin with. While I’m not sure that I’ll ever fully recover from my injury, I’m positive that my situation could have been prevented if I had simply worn a helmet. Even though it was intended to be a brief ride up and down the street to check operation of my bike, it turned into so much more.

Wear your bike helmet.  I'll post something happy tomorrow.

Prometheus Unseen

After seeing these informal reviews (caution, massive spoilers, but who cares):
Prometheus Unbound: What the Movie Was Actually About.
In which the Atomic Nerds take the thing apart.
And my favorite, a review video Part 1 and Part 2 (massive spoiler, language, and sarcasm alerts).


All of which leaves me wondering what is this obscure crap, and why does Ridley Scott expect me to lay down my hard-earned money to watch a poorly-plotted, poorly-written, over-produced mess like this?  Sorry Hollywood.  You'll have to do better to get my money.  A truckload of interesting ideas blown scatter-shot at the screen imbedded with sci-fi trappings won't cut it.  I don't have the time to sit through a half-baked story line just because it's presented with a bunch of cool special effects.


It's just a shame.  I was really hoping to go see an intelligent sci-fi movie this summer.

ET contact within two dozen years?

Seth Shostack of the SETI Institute thinks it's likely, as seen in his recent TED Talk.  Why so soon?  Cut to the chase: Moore's Law applies to radio telescope signal processing, and the processing-limited searchable number of stars is fast converging with the actual number of stars within reach.
OK, Shostack rambles a bit and ends on a sappy "do it for the children" note, but there's much food for though in the talk.  At only eighteen minutes and change it's worth a whirl.

Raft by ACME

Whitewater rafting on the Nantahala last Saturday.

All survived, though for a few moments there may have been some doubt.

More good news. (really!)

High blood caffeine levels in older adults linked to avoidance of Alzheimer's disease.  Importantly, according to the article:

Most recently, they reported that caffeine interacts with a yet unidentified component of coffee to boost blood levels of a critical growth factor that seems to fight off the Alzheimer's disease process.

Well, no worries around this household.

The most astounding thing you will watch all day.

The point of view from a Space Shuttle SRB.  Open it to full screen if your computer and bandwidth allow.
Because some things are just plain cool.

For Those Contemplating Graduate School

PhD Comics belongs on your daily reading list.

Yeah, you.  I'm talking to you.

One of my pet peeves, as lampooned at SMBC

As seen over at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: