The mind of da Vinci: where design and practicality meet, have lunch, do a little bridge design, then a little painting, then invent the helicopter, then move on to something else. This bridge makes a visit to Norway more likely for me.
and … donnie darko… trippy.
(warning, it’s noisy!.. best viewed at home)
From
really cool link of the day, folks!
http://www.vectorlounge.com/04_amsterdam/jam/wireframe.html
see also –
XSpringies!!!
http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~decarlo/software.html
http://www.sevenravens.com/winspringies/
http://www.jcraft.com/jspringies/
Thankee!
If possible, please post a pic in my comments section? I’m fascinated. 🙂
shirty (SHUHR-tee) adjective
Bad-tempered, irritable.
[From the expression “to get someone’s shirt out” to annoy or to lose temper.]
Replace the R with another T, and you get the same thing.
Sorry We Have To Let You Go, Can You Repay Your Bonus On The Way Out?
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John Schuett got laid off from a Silicon Valley telecom firm — and then his former employer told Schuett to repay 1,250 worth of a signing bonus because he didn’t stay at the firm a full year.
Schuett got a $2,500 signing bonus when he signed up with San Jose-based Valiant Networks. In October, he lost his job after just six months. Soon after, he received a letter from Valiant threatening him with a collection agency if he didn’t return half the bonus.
EEEE OWWWW OHHHH YOW!!!!!!!!!!!
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An inmate at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre who was told he has flesh-eating disease on his genitals is being treated in hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo reconstructive surgery this week.
Marlon Gidluck’s family is accusing jail officials of delaying treatment, causing him to suffer needlessly.
Gidluck, 22, compares the damage done by the infection as being akin to putting his penis “in a pencil sharpener.” Half of his penis had to be removed to clear away dead tissue and infected areas.
go to nye labs. I love this guy.
http://home.epix.net/~mhryvnak/theyfightcrime.html
It basically generates an “odd-couple” pair of law enforcers/vigilantes/crimefighters – the sort of team-up that apparently was in five movies out of six during that doomed decade.
It’s positively brilliant.
A few examples:
“He’s a leather-clad one-eyed firefighter haunted by an iconic dead American confidante.
She’s a vivacious mute magician’s assistant on her way to prison for a murder she didn’t commit.
They fight crime! ”
“He’s a suave misogynist cat burglar fleeing from a secret government program.
She’s an elegant bisexual safe cracker with only herself to blame.
They fight crime! ”
“He’s a scrappy Amish vampire hunter who knows the secret of the alien invasion.
She’s a man-hating motormouth hooker who inherited a spooky stately manor from her late maiden aunt.
They fight crime!”
Honestly, I’d be ready to pay to be in a game based on one of these.
http://home.epix.net/~mhryvnak/theyfightcrime.html
It basically generates an “odd-couple” pair of law enforcers/vigilantes/crimefighters – the sort of team-up that apparently was in five movies out of six during that doomed decade.
It’s positively brilliant.
A few examples:
“He’s a leather-clad one-eyed firefighter haunted by an iconic dead American confidante.
She’s a vivacious mute magician’s assistant on her way to prison for a murder she didn’t commit.
They fight crime! ”
“He’s a suave misogynist cat burglar fleeing from a secret government program.
She’s an elegant bisexual safe cracker with only herself to blame.
They fight crime! ”
“He’s a scrappy Amish vampire hunter who knows the secret of the alien invasion.
She’s a man-hating motormouth hooker who inherited a spooky stately manor from her late maiden aunt.
They fight crime!”
Honestly, I’d be ready to pay to be in a game based on one of these.
My buddy Rik told me a story about when he was at the opening night of a multi-story trendy downtown bistro in Texas. During remodeling and reconstruction the attic had been open to the elements for awhile and bats had nested in the eaves. Then they got shut in just before the opening.
So there’s the cream of Austin society hobnobbing, then suddenly hordes of bats come through swooping and darting through the festivities and dropping guano with no respect for social standing. Pandemonium.
I wonder if these bats are left over from the WWII US Bat-Kamikaze Corps?
During WWII, someone (possibly in the OSS) got the bright idea of strapping time-detonated magnesium bombs to bats. The plan was to airdrop them from a plane over Japan. The bats would swoop down (scaring the AA gun crews half to death), and roost under the eaves of buildings. Then they would all simultaneously explode, to the severe detriment of the buildings.
A large swarm of bats was caught (an adventure in itself, probably carried out by DG personnel who wondered if this was why they had been transferred from ONI to OSS), and fitted with the bombs. Then it was time for the test!
Apparently, there must have been two tests, for I’ve heard two different accounts of what happened…
1. The bats were released from the B-29, and came swooping down, avoiding the fake Japanese fortress constructed as a target, and instead taking refuge in several large wooden temporary structures of a (fortunately unoccupied) nearby Army facility. Not all of the Suicide Bat Commandos were rounded up before the bombs went off. (That part of the scheme worked just fine, by the way!) (OOPS!)
2. The USAAF did a high-altitude drop of its kamikaze Bat-Paratroops. Unfortunately, the bats passed out from the thin air and cold, plummeted to earth, and didn’t wake up before the ground hit them between the ears… (OOPS!)
Due to either or both of the above problems, the Suicide Bat Commandos were disbanded, and the military shifted to more conventional weapons, such as Little Boy and Fat Man.
The Suicide Bat Commandos could be reorganized today, however… There are still plenty of bats around, especially in Texas, and plenty of Kamikaze Batbombs to equip them with. Ways could be found to protect the bats during transit in a B-2 (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/b-2.htm) (which is the only plane for the job — due to its design), and they could be trained to not only seek out caves, but to home in on the scent of the gun oil used for AK-47s (like that one Osama is so often filmed with)! Billionaire Bruce Wayne could be offered a temporary commission in the US Military to oversee their training!
In fact, if Transylvania is an ally in the fight vs. the terrorists, some vampire bats could be recruited for the fight! These would put the foes in double danger — they would drink their blood, and later explode!
However, it is important to note that “two can play at this game”! Afghanistan is honeycombed with its own caves, presumably populated by bats, as well as by Taliban and terrorists. The US might have to face the Taliban Bat-Martyr Force!
Quick, to the Batplane!
Now one of my life’s ambitions is to release clouds of bats at Spago. It will be glorious.
Just reminding those out there into the TICK about the live action show tonight @ 8:30 on FOX!!!
Spoooooooooooooooon!
hebetude (HEB-uh-tood-; -tyood), noun:
Mental dullness or sluggishness.
Hebetude derives ultimately from Latin hebes, “blunt, dull, mentally dull, sluggish, stupid.” The adjective form is hebetudinous (heb-uh-TOOD-n-us; -TYOOD-).
faineant (FAY-nee-uhnt, French: fay-nay-AHN) adjective
Idle.
noun
A do-nothing; idler.
[From French, alteration of fait-nient (literally, does nothing), by folk etymology from faignant, present participle of faindre (to feign).]
by the way, totally unrelated… I *love* the backdate command. Hides stuff in “plain sight”.
hebetude (HEB-uh-tood-; -tyood), noun:
Mental dullness or sluggishness.
Hebetude derives ultimately from Latin hebes, “blunt, dull, mentally dull, sluggish, stupid.” The adjective form is hebetudinous (heb-uh-TOOD-n-us; -TYOOD-).
faineant (FAY-nee-uhnt, French: fay-nay-AHN) adjective
Idle.
noun
A do-nothing; idler.
[From French, alteration of fait-nient (literally, does nothing), by folk etymology from faignant, present participle of faindre (to feign).]
by the way, totally unrelated… I *love* the backdate command. Hides stuff in “plain sight”.
Scotto factoid of the day – (vicarious)
My sweetheart has a tattoo done by the original lead guitarist from Molly Hatchet.
Dave Hlubek (Lead Guitars (all albums through “Deed is Done”) )
lj_nifty – This community is for all of the nifty undocumented, soon to be documented or already documented but seldom known features of LiveJournal.
Interests: documentation, easter eggs, livejournal, nifty things, undocumented features
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
1984, George Orwell
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
Othello, William Shakespeare
Richard III, William Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Stranger, Albert Camus
Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard
The Complete Stories, Franz Kafka
Ficciones, Jorge Luis Borges
The Last Temptation of Christ, Nikos Kazantzakis
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Black Dahlia, James Ellroy
Sewer, Gas and Electric, Matt Ruff
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, Hunter S. Thompson
Junky, William S. Burroughs
Messiah, Gore Vidal
Illusions, Richard Bach
Behold the Man, Michael Moorcock
Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco
The Essential Harlan Ellison, Harlan Ellison
In Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
The Crossing, Cormack McCarthy
The Chess Garden, Brooks Hansen
The Book of the Dun Cow, Walter Wangerin, Jr.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon
Kissing the Beehive, Jonathon Carroll
The Alienist, Caleb Carr
The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
Unlocking the Air, Ursula K. LeGuin
E. E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962, e. e. cummings
Poems for the Millenium, Jerome Rothenberg and Pierre Joris
The Watchmen, Alan Moore
Lankhmar: Tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Fritz Leiber
Thieves’ House: Tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Fritz Leiber
