Archives
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
November 2007
February 2008
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
November 2007
February 2008
Planet Dave! Monday, July 31, 2006
Patriot Act: The Home Version
Here's an article about a new board game based on Monopoly. Patriot Act: The Home Version. Instead of money, you have civil liberties. (That get taken away from you.) Many of the cards that you draw that deprive you of civil liberties site actual events. Says the creator, "I've had people complain to me that when they play, nobody wins. They say `We're all in Guantanamo and nobody has any civil liberties left,'" he said. "I'm like `Yeah, that's the point.'" While you're over there, check out the rest of his portfolio.
The Story of TRON
From /., "Tom's Hardware has a feature up on the makings of Tron which may interest latent fans. Through interviews with the creators they explore the makings of Tron, from how it came to be picked up by Disney to how the effects were put together ('While the majority of the film takes place in the computer world, only 15 minutes worth of footage actually used CGI', because it would have taken years to make the film otherwise). They then explore why the film flopped at the box office. 'It was like we put LSD in the punch at the school prom and it was just way more than they can handle,' said Steven Lisberger."
Anima Causa Feel Seating System
Returning to the subject of fun furniture, is the Anima Causa Feel Seating System. Man, if I ever grow up and get a place of my own, I'm not going to have room for any real furniture. (I'm pretending for a moment that I'd be able to afford this stuff.)
300mW Green Pen Laser
Yes, that number is correct. 300mW! The average red laser pointer is 5mW. (Or less.) A green laser with 5mW of power is a bit more expensive, but a lot more visible. But 300mW? These things are monsters. Only the price is holding me back, thus making the world a safer place. Jeez, the safety goggles are freakin' $130.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Endurance Hamster!
Ever wonder how far a hamster runs in its wheel? Lucy has logged 415 kilometers since September 2004. Looking at the graph, she seems to be slowing down a bit. But that's still pretty impressive. I originally saw this over at CuteOverload.com, and they just recently had a post featuring Lucy's tongue.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Converting Guns to Guitars
It's not quite as cliche as beating a sword into a plowshare, but it's just as cool. This guy takes rifles and turns them into guitars. (Be aware that Miami.com only lets you connect a few times without a logon. BugMeNot.com gave me this logon/password: info@shit.com/123456) There's also another article here.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Mississippi Bans Sex Toys
I've mentioned before that this country has a weird view on sex. Case in point: Grand Theft Auto. It's a video game that allows the player to execute innocent people on the street, do car-jackings, gun down rescue personnel, etc. None of that is terribly controversial. But when a user hacked the game to allow consensual sex in-game, that's when everybody took notice. That's when the law makers put this game on their banners and started soap-boxing about how video games are destroying this country.
The latest thing is this new law in Mississippi. You can still buy a gun there. But you can't buy a dildo. I'd like to ask the originator WHY he feels Mississippi is threatened by sex toys.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations
This is quite a list. I'll grant you the air conditioner is pretty crazy. But I think number 9 is the best! That would ROCK hanging in the living room!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
PlanetDave HowTo: Kite Photography for Under $20
I've posted stuff about kite photography before, but for less than $20, I've run out of reasons to not try it myself. Oh yeah, time. Eh, maybe my next free weekend.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
If the Blue Angels Were Grounded...
They'd make car commercials. Makes me want to get an Isuzu Gemini. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Bay City Tall Ships Festival!
This coming weekend, Ring of Steel will be performing at the Tall Ships Festival in Bay City. We've got several shows that we'll be putting on. We've got a rendition of Romeo and Juliet in 30 minutes, a pirate action comedy, and a couple 2-person comedy stunt shows. In addition, Tina and I are doing a show with my whip stunts, her fire poi, and (pending rehearsal and stage flammability tests) my flame whip!
While the festival web site has show times listed for us, we'll probably end up doing what we did at Howell. In the morning, we'll see who's there, and from that what shows we have, and throw together a schedule then. (If you'd like to see my whip stuff, I'll have my cell phone on me. Give me a call in the morning.) I'm not sure how this scheduling stuff works. Looking at the posted schedule, I'm pretty sure we don't have a special effects presentation. And this is the first I've heard about us doing a pirate school.
Oh, and I'll have my concertina! I'm really starting to look forward to this pirate gig. I've already acquired rum.
A Real Transformer
You gotta see this video to believe it. It's an RC car that transforms into a robot, can walk, strike a pose, and transform back into a car. /. reports that the next version will be a red semi-trailer, and will be substantially more than meets the eye.
PlanetDave HowTo: Hoverboard
No, not like in Back to the Future. This one is actually a one person hovercraft. (It's still way cool!)
Dog-End Towel Holder
You know what? If I describe it, you might not follow the link. All I'll say about it is that I finally found something I WOULDN'T put in my home.
Tiki Fireplace
If I ever grow up and get a place of my own, I'm going to have to mod my fireplace like this guy did.
Friday, July 14, 2006
11th Commandment
I haven't posted a computer case mod in a while. This one is definitely noteworthy. It's a computer built into a book.
PlanetDave HowTo: Folding a Fitted Sheet
I've never been able to fold a fitted sheet so that it'll lie flat. (Without diamond-creating amounts of pressure and time.) But now I do.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Mad Concertina Skillz
So apparently, if you can play the piano and you can play a harmonica... You already know how to play an anglo-style concertina. If you've known me for any length of time, you probably know that I can play about a half-dozen musical instruments poorly. (I don't have the attention span to get really good at any of them.) So it was kind of a shock to pick one of these up and find out that I've skipped most of the initial learning curve. I might have to post an mp3 or something.
Death Metal and the Cookie Monster Voice
Here's something you don't read about every day. (At least I don't.) The Wall Street Journal had an editorial that talked about use of the Cookie Monster Voice in death metal music. It's a must read, complete with references to "the extreme degree of cookieness" and that fantastic picture of the Cookie Monster with a gothy guitar back-up, and even an interview with Frank Oz.
New Horizons Space Probe Launches for Pluto
Well, actually it launched in January. (Hey, if you want your news on time, read CNN.) It's the first probe ever sent to Pluto, and one of the fastest human-made objects. It's already in the asteroid belt (between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter), and it'll buzz Jupiter early next year. The rendezvous with Pluto is expected to happen in 2015.
PlanetDave How-To: Flapping Paper Airplane
Ok, this thing's pretty cool. And I'm not quite sure how it works. I'll get back to you after more thorough experimentation.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Fresh Moon Dust Smells Like Spent Gunpowder.
You can read about it here. The screwy thing is that it only smells like that when it's fresh. After it's been exposed to Earth atmosphere for a while, it doesn't smell like anything.
Southern Lights from Space
Here's a cool picture and an even cooler video of the Southern lights taken from the IMAGE spacecraft. It's not true color, IMAGE uses "neutral atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging techniques" to collect data. And it's superimposed over an image of Earth from another NASA project. But it's still way cool! Looks like IMAGE isn't actually in Earth obrit, but at Lagrange Point 2.
Update: My bad. Looking at that Wikipedia picture again, it looks like Lagrange Point 2 is more than twice as far away as the Moon. I'm pretty sure we don't have any satellites that high. Looking it up with JTrack 3D, looks like IMAGE isn't much farther away than a typical geo-stationary satellite.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Know Your Whackos!
From a friend of mine, "This quiz asks the user to attribute a number quotes to either Osama bin Laden, or Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell. I scored 14/20--I knows my whackies!" I only scored a 12/20.
Review of a Wooden Clock Kit
Ok, I never even knew these things existed. It's a kit to build a wooden pendulum clock. And KrazyDad has a good review of it, complete with mistakes. I might have to pick one of those up. Or add it to the queue, at least.
RIAA Bullies Witnesses into Perjury
As though you didn't need another reason to hate the RIAA, this comes along. If you want a CD, check the RIAA Radar first. If it's from the RIAA, pirate it!