posts from january 2009
Via Arbroath:
A Hindu devotee listens to a robot fortune teller at the Magh Mela fair in Allahabad, India.
That’s beatnik snapping, but also “Oh, snap!”.
Check out Tim Minchin‘s inspiring audio-only monologue regarding science and medicine versus new age hippy bollocks.
Via Pharyngula
Via Boing Boing, a stop-motion music video starring G.I. Joes, set to Zombie Zombie, and inspired by John Carpenter’s The Thing.
‘Organic’ robots to mimic primitive life:
With a more thorough understanding of how primitive life forms survive, the researchers believe they can provide robots with a better ability to move, hunt, sense danger, and escape. They suggest that strong survival and hunting skills can be put to use in applications ranging from security guard dog robots to swarm robots tasked with exploring the surface of an alien planet.
Kawaguchi, a professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, has become known for creating artistic computer graphics programs that exhibit “lifelike” behavior such as self-organization and self-propagation.
Although I don’t think Donnie Darko is as hard to grasp as the creators of this video seem to think it is, I have to second a commenter on VideoSift and upvote for the old-timey piano rendition of Mad World.
- Woke up to a software bug. Got to write code before breakfast. Probably wrote more than necessary. Couldn’t help it, it was fun. #
- I’ve never heard of this lead EPIDEMIC that has destroyed countless lives, warranting such hullabaloo. Maybe because there’s no such thing? #
- Holy crap, migraine. #
- Wake-up attempt #2: success. After meds and rest, less one crippling migraine, plus one sick day. No adventures today to avoid relapse. #
- Time for lunch. Gotta find me some babies! Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew… #
- Spent several hours remembering/relearning how to knit and starting off a new crummy scarf. Fingers hurt. #
- Reading that people once deeply in love are now divorced makes me sad. I wonder what can come between people who were together so long… #
- Discussing the correlation of social class and the desire to breed young. Interesting. #
- Here’s hoping for promises fulfilled and a peaceful four years. Very happy re: nonbelievers! #
- Too awesome to pass up: http://tinyurl.com/95r88f #
- Despite the wonderful turn of phrase “A little pandemonium was going on”, disturbing: http://tinyurl.com/7bm8lj #
- Fun with Songsmith: http://tinyurl.com/7ypuoy #
- RT @laughingquid; I’m doin it wrong! http://www.twitterisntemail.com/ #
- My boyfriend apparently gets around: http://tinyurl.com/75cern + http://shop.cafepress.com/design/25815426 etc etc #
- Wow, anti-abortion people really haven’t thought this through: http://tinyurl.com/84esyy #
- I wish it was my birthday, and this was my cake: http://tinyurl.com/7xzhvf #
- Too… many… cookies… *urk* *borborygmus noises* #
- Playing with blip.fm. A bit disappointed with how hard it is to find the songs I want to blip online in non-streaming form. #
- I want to go to the Wahol Museum again. http://tinyurl.com/63ds7u http://tinyurl.com/bmdzae #
- I really wish I could make flickr, facebook, blip.fm, last.fm, lj, etc., etc. use my gravatar automagically! So much for ‘globally’. #
- They look just like the models on the N64 Goldeneye: http://tinyurl.com/dmcq78 #
- Blip.fm is basically useless to me. Not one song I’ve felt like sharing can be found anywhere online. #
- Finally, a worthy first blip. The Suicide Song! http://tinyurl.com/ysrekq ♫ http://blip.fm/~1qi21 #
- Want: http://tinyurl.com/cczspp #
- E-ZPass wants money from me and sent me to collections. WHY? #
- Aforementioned debt is for an acct closed (paid in full) for at least four years. Fighting back: http://tinyurl.com/dykvda #
- Lost my gloves, but found them again by retracing my steps. Nothing truly lost but time and sanity. #
- Certified mail sent re: e.-zpass crud; we’ll see how this goes! *hopes for a pain-free resolution* #
- And the calamity of the day is… #
- RT @rstevens: Be yourself! We all die alone anyway. #
- Upvote for ‘”She rated the “severity of incident” as “insignificant to catastrophic”‘: http://tinyurl.com/clkw3x #
- WTF? “They do a lot of touching, kissing, even fisting” Clueless. http://tinyurl.com/bjxwce #
- I think this guy hosts a fishing show my dad watches, so sadly I am inclined to believe this: http://www.saveourcatsfromfishermen.com/ #
- “I’ve only known you for three days, but I would DIE for you” also, I’m drunk. #
- I don’t see what the big deal about Left 4 Dead is. Without emphasising the story you might as well be fighting mutant gophers or aphids. #
- Actually… mutant gophers or aphids would probably make for a better game. Not that I have anything against zombies, of course! #
Via Neil Gaiman:
Would people mind spreading http://bit.ly/xTG5 around a bit? Put links up to it and such? It’s the first Coraline trailer I’ve liked
With an endorsement like that, how could I resist?
I’ve always said the Benny Hill theme makes everything better.
I don’t think I’ve been proven wrong yet. This would almost certainly be worse without music!
Via VideoSift
- Car stuck in snow. FAIL. #
- Once again demonstrating how much he rocks, here’s Neil Patrick Harris: http://tinyurl.com/7rlkja #
- Reminding myself that I shouldn’t offer critiques unless they’re requested. Wishing I did more art these days. #
- It’s so cold outside (-23℃) that I spit just to see whether it would freeze before hitting the ground. #
- The more things change, the more they stay the same. Maybe it’s time for some change? #
- I sorta hope my myspace account will be deleted so I can have an excuse to never go there again. #
- Cruising Chick tracts for new avatars. These things are awesome, in a terribly scary way. #
- Into the Cold White. #
- My effing windshield wiper went to the side of my windshield and got stuck. After prying it down it only twitches, doesn’t wipe. Crud. #
- Yay! Happicow fixed it! #
- Just found out that an old friend of mine has really made something of himself. Full of vicarious pride! #
- La, la, lalalala, la, la, lalala http://tinyurl.com/9ok6pk #
- “The only time you see an American out of his car is when he’s chasing a donut down a hill” http://tinyurl.com/966vz2 #
- Hans! Use F=MA, keep the faith! http://tinyurl.com/7kzqu3 #
- I have a bad tendency to stay at work too late. Like, to now. Rectifying that for tonight, at least. #
- Dug out my fat pants today. Feeling a bit disappointed, but MUCH more comfortable. #
- Trying to remember who I am. Bought myself some graphite and a new sketchbook, debating doing stage crew. #
- O noes, I seem to have lost all my fingerless gloves! #
- Nevermind, found a pair in the pantry. Why? Where do you keep your gloves? NOT the pantry? (To be fair, our pantry is also where coats go.) #
- Awoke to the sound of breaking glass. Luckily, it was only the cat knocking victorian keys off the sill. What? Doesn’t everyone have those? #
- I want me some proper metal mixing bowls. http://tinyurl.com/a6pjln #
- Oh wait, silly me- there was notification, as it happened. No matter- the show must go on! #
- I was gonna bring some gin with me to a party but SOMEONE drank it all and never told me. Absinthe it is, as usual! #
- Learning to crochet. This is much harder than knitting. Especially when I was doing it left handed at first! #
- I’m crocheting a moebius tube! Yay? #
- Useless mobius crochet done! (Yay?) http://twitpic.com/148q3 #