I recently read about a Romanian man who decided to send a Lego model of a U.S. space shuttle into space. The video is stunning — particularly when you consider that this was done by an amateur, using stuff that pretty much any civilian can purchase. The Brooklyn Space Program has made similar efforts, but I am biased toward the work of Raul Oaida.
I so want to send something into space now. Too bad the FAA doesn’t like us to do that. Hmmm … what are the rules in Canada?
This is seriously one of thr best episodes of TAL I ever listened to. Even if you aren’t a podcast or radio listener, this is worth your time.
This American Life
#461: Take the Money and Run for Office (mp3)
Description:
For anyone who has ever heard the term “Washington insider” and felt outside — we are with you. So this week, we go inside the rooms where the deals get made, to the actual moment that the checks change hands — and we ask the people writing and receiving the checks what, exactly, is the money buying? Continue reading
Journalists aren’t known for their math. But solving this problem should be easy for journalists. (via Stuff Journalists Like)
(via jimromenesko.com)
Editors and staff are eating crow at The Suffolk Journal, the student newspaper at Suffolk University in Massachusetts. A sub-head printed in yesterday’s paper read, “Even we had some dumb fuckers sign up!”
Screenshot from the Feb. 1 Suffolk Journal, via jimromenesko.comDon’t get me started on the use of exclamation points in this headline and sub.
This week, the American (and international) public stood up and won in the face of big-dollar lobbyists in Washington, D.C. Protests Wednesday against SOPA and PIPA worked … for now.
Sen. Chuck Schumer’s tweet announcing that PIPA is a no-go.
The Protect Intellectual Property Act was taken off the Senate floor and just minutes later, the House took the Stop Online Privacy Act off the calendar.
What does this week’s win mean moving forward? Obviously, it’s too early to tell. Continue reading
Yesterday, key portions of the Internet went dark. Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and other sites all stood in solid opposition to two bills in Congress. But what was it all about and how big of a problem is online piracy?
Over at Ars Technica, there’s a good read about what this all means with a hard and critical look at what the SOPA/PIPA supporters are yelling about.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/internet-regulation-and-the-economics-of-piracy.ars
Yesterday I decided I wanted hamburgers. But Heather and I went to her company party for dinner. I worked late tonight and just got home. And while it’s 10 o’clock at night and 27° outside, the grill is cooking.
We’re having ranch and swiss burgers, and I don’t care what time it is.
Heather and I started a new hobby: geocaching. I’ve been interested in trying this for some time, but until now, the only GPS we’ve owned is in the car (which would get the job done, albeit clunky). But in July I got my first Android phone. After a bit of Googling, we decided that geocaching.com has the most extensive list of caches. I downloaded an app and with phone in hand, last weekend, we hit our first two geocaches (GCH103 and GC22ZE1), both very close to home. Since then we stopped by another before grocery shopping Thursday and we plan to find another tomorrow.
At a fork in the trail on one of our first geocaching expeditions, I check the GPS to make sure we are headed the right way.
Heather posted about our experience a couple weeks ago at Rochester’s Lilac Festival.
Evil Heather: Lilac Festival…Kinda Sorta
One aspect of living in a small town is that the businesses roll up their store fronts by midnight.
My girlfriend and I drove for over an hour last night just to get to the closest Denny’s. Then over an hour back.
Fun! I’m now a little tired.