MadRegale

The Large Hadron Collider Rap Video?

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:01:37 -0700

Marine Traffic Google Mashup

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:43:54 -0700

MarineTraffic.com have produced a Google Map showing real-time information about ship movements throughout the world.

The system is based on AIS (Automatic Identification System). The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board, which transmits data on position, speed and course, among some other static information, such as the vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.

"Mourning Dianarevisits the remarkable series of public events that occurred across the world..."

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:26:22 -0700

“Mourning Dianarevisits the remarkable series of public events that occurred across the world following the tragic death of Princess Diana, from the spontaneous public gatherings right after the news broke to the official funeral ceremonies.”

- Mourning Diana nation, culture and the performance of grief

"Mrs. Hamrock made the observation that in her opinion it didn’t look like Marilyn Monroe..."

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:22:19 -0700

“Mrs. Hamrock made the observation that in her opinion it didn’t look like Marilyn Monroe because she was too flat-chested. The embalmer explained that the autopsy had rendered her physique in that condition. The family had actually brought in to the mortuary a pair of breast enhancers that she had frequently worn, but they were too small to compensate for the effects of the post-mortem. Mrs. Hamrock removed the falsies from the dress, discarded them and proceeded to form her own version out of cotton from the prep-room shelf. When she finished, she took a few steps back and declared, “Now that looks like Marilyn Monroe!””

- Abbott & Hast Publications - Marilyn Monroe’s Funeral

The inside dish from Marilyn Monroe’s mortician.

"Vital questions remain unanswered because current methods for studying the hydrologic cycle are..."

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:13:53 -0700

“Vital questions remain unanswered because current methods for studying the hydrologic cycle are lacking. As Jim Kirchner, professor of earth and planetary science and HydroWatch principal investigator, puts it, “It’s like trying to understand a Beethoven symphony when we can only hear a note every minute or two.””

- The Berkeley Science Review: Articles: Watching the Watershed

Early in the afternoon I tuned into the teevee broadcast to...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:59:42 -0700

Early in the afternoon I tuned into the teevee broadcast to catch Obama’s speech… Fast forward to after the dinner hour and some tinkering around with toys, etc. The kids disappeared into another room for a while. With preschoolers you get a little worried when things get quiet so we offered a gentle call to make sure they were still alive.

“Just a second, Obama is speaking” was the reply. This was quickly followed with a command to the younger sibling…”Help get the stadium filled”. That certainly piqued enough curiosity to go take a look in the other room. This is what we saw.

"The oppressive boot heel of socialism and wimpy cars! Men surely didn’t lay their lives on the line..."

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:43:41 -0700

“The oppressive boot heel of socialism and wimpy cars! Men surely didn’t lay their lives on the line at the beaches of Anzio for that. In the end, the U.S. recognized Israel, the oil embargo of 1948 didn’t occur and Detroit didn’t have to emphasize economy cars for three more decades. But it makes me wonder. What would have happened if Forrestal’s fears had come true? What if the Gulf nations had imposed a strict embargo and the United States was forced to go four-cylinder and cut down on gas starting in 1948?”

- Greentech Media | The Looming Oil Crisis … From 50 Years Ago

Former CNET greentech reporter Michael Kanellos is too good at writing and too funny in writing to be an analyst. Dude needs to get back into the pure writing game.

"I can’t remember the last job I got using a standard resume. It’s like trying to prove..."

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:51:20 -0700

“I can’t remember the last job I got using a standard resume. It’s like trying to prove you’re not a virgin by showing them a used condom.”

- Twitter / J. Adam Moore

Wow. That’s funny.

"Text messaging and walking at the same time, it turns out, can be hazardous to both the..."

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:19:09 -0700

“Text messaging and walking at the same time, it turns out, can be hazardous to both the Blackberry-wielding pedestrians and passersby. An article in The Wall Street Journal today describes several mobile mishaps. For instance, Mike Munoz, a 44-year-old car-dealership manager in suburban Portland, Ore., describes walking smack into the bride at a wedding while he’s texting.”

- LiveScience.com Blogs » Blog Archive » The Perils of Text Messaging While Walking

I am seriously guilty of looking at my phone while walking. I probably read 50 news items this way, bumbling down 3rd street going in to work. My problem isn’t that I actually hit stuff, it’s that when I’ve been looking down and I look up and see something sort of close to me, it freaks me out that I might hit it and I take evasive maneuvers. So I end up dodging poles and juking stollers that are 7 feet away. Tree branches, with all those shaking leaves, are particularly problematic for my phone-addled vision.

"Additionally, Facebook has announced a fresh $10 million that they will infuse into a second round..."

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:26:24 -0700

“Additionally, Facebook has announced a fresh $10 million that they will infuse into a second round of the fbFund. Simultaneously, they are announcing the following winners of the first round of funding for application developers: CourseFeed by Classtop, GoalCamp, HotBerry, J2Play, LuckyCal, MyListo, Podclass, Trazzler, and Zimride Carpool App.”

- Facebook Announces Great Apps Program and FBFund Winners

My favorite app — Zimride Carpool App — gets FBFunding!

"There used to be a queer character on the Seattle ‘front that we used to call: “The..."

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:17:31 -0700

“There used to be a queer character on the Seattle ‘front that we used to call: “The Chief Mate”. About all he owned was an extensive collection of discarded ship’s officer’s caps, and he used to parade slowly up and down the board-walk in a different one every day. Likely as not, he’d wear them inside out, for variety. Nobody seemed to know where or how he lived. He never talked to anybody. But every once in a while he would scare the daylights out of a person by coming up behind them and suddenly yelling {Begin deleted text}”{End deleted text} Whrooo! {Begin deleted text}”{End deleted text}. Then he’d pass on without a word and without looking back to see the effect.”

- [The Chief Mate]

Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG reminded me of this incredible story with his post on Shanghai tunnels.

Edward Tufte: Posters and Graph Paper Handmade by a Russian...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:39:12 -0700

Edward Tufte: Posters and Graph Paper

Handmade by a Russian cosmonaut, Georgi Grechko, this cyclogram shows a 96-day flight of Salyut 6. Some 22 parallel time-series show 1500 sunrises and 1500 sunsets during the flight, a schedule for space walks and baths, and visits of resupply ships bringing equipment, fresh fruit, and gingerbread. Printed in six colors on fine paper, 36” by 20”.

"The green-colored submarine, carrying what was believed to be cocaine, was about 32 feet long and..."

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:35:41 -0700

“The green-colored submarine, carrying what was believed to be cocaine, was about 32 feet long and appeared to be a makeshift or modified vessel. “The submarine traveled almost at the surface of the sea and when it came up we took advantage,” said Capt. Benjamin Mar, a navy spokesman. Special forces troops swooped on the submarine from a helicopter and subdued the crew of four, he said.”

- Mexico captures submarine loaded with drugs | Oddly Enough | Reuters

Drug carrying submarines are one of my favorite topics.

"Natasha Mitchell: He even got to a point where he drank beer and smoked. Elizabeth Hess: Yes, it was..."

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:21:57 -0700

“Natasha Mitchell: He even got to a point where he drank beer and smoked. Elizabeth Hess: Yes, it was the 70s so you know it wasn’t uncommon for Columbia students to be hanging around at night smoking pot, and Nim loved pot and eventually developed his own sign for give me a joint. You know chimps have the same vices that we have. Nim started the day for his entire life with a cup of coffee and as he grew older was often grumpy if he didn’t get it.”

- Apes, legal personhood and the plight of Nim Chimpsky - Boing Boing

"Dwayne Spradlin, president and chief executive of InnoCentive, said in an interview that the company..."

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:30:34 -0700

“Dwayne Spradlin, president and chief executive of InnoCentive, said in an interview that the company had solved 250 challenges, for prizes typically in the $10,000 to $25,000 range. According to the Web site (www.innocentive.com), the achievements include a compound for skin tanning, a method of preventing snack chip breakage and a mini-extruder in brick-making. “Odds are one or more products in your home has been innovated in our network,” Mr. Spradlin said. “Procter & Gamble has products that were innovated on the InnoCentive network.””

- If You Have a Problem, Use Innocentive to Ask Everyone - NYTimes.com

My hilarious interaction with the USA Today Instant Messenger...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:06:00 -0700

My hilarious interaction with the USA Today Instant Messenger Bot. I’m not sure why I started talking with it, but I’m sure glad that I did.

“Your welcome.” Who trained it to say these things?

A Concise History ofthe X-15 Research Airplane

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:03:31 -0700

A Concise History ofthe X-15 Research Airplane

"- Talk with some other Chinese professionals, whose business involves sending out a lot of instant..."

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:51:10 -0700

“- Talk with some other Chinese professionals, whose business involves sending out a lot of instant text messages (SMS) on mobile phones. These short messages often seem to be China’s main communication systems. People rely far less on email than in America; I rarely see someone with a Blackberry; but everyone has a mobile phone, and sending messages is much cheaper than talking. As of tomorrow — I was told — new limits will apply on how many messages can be sent from each phone each hour. The limits are high enough that they won’t affect ordinary users but would make it harder to send a mass broadcast. I wondered what the reason could be. Trying to keep the airwaves free for important Olympic business? Saving the Chinese public from the “Google is making us stoopid” constant-distraction problem? Or something? Once they explained, it was obvious. Short messages are the main way people can react to news in a hurry — or organize actions in response. If you want to hold a meeting or rally or just get a lot of people to the same place at the same time, SMS is the way to go. So if you limit SMS, you’ve cut the main communication tool for individuals trying to act as a group.”

- James Fallows (July 19, 2008) - Everything changes tomorrow (China)

It’s amazing the lengths that the Chinese government is willing to go to silencing people, when it’d be much easier to just drown them out with better entertainment.

"Speakers designed like rocks."

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:14:45 -0700

“Speakers designed like rocks.”

- Rockustics Pavorocci - Wired Summer Test 2008

"Fast forward to the 1970’s when the Mission Planning Council, the Mission Housing Development..."

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:53:40 -0700

“Fast forward to the 1970’s when the Mission Planning Council, the Mission Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) and the Open Space Committee were working together to identify possible sites for neighborhood parks. “It was a long gestation period,” says Toby Levine, unofficial neighborhood historian who lives across the street from Juri Commons. The MHDC in its 1974 report noted, “a park would serve that section of the Mission which has no park at all.” Securing funding for open space acquisition was a challenge, however, even with the support of Cesar Chavez who led a march to promote the open space ballot measure with the banner “SI on C.” Despite the nifty slogan, it failed. Two years later its replacement, Proposition J, passed and the old train yard became a park.”

- Juri Commons | San Francisco Neighborhood Parks Council