12.24.08
Awesome Xmas Geekery- Augmented reality Jingle Bells.
Augmented reality is really taking off thanks to an open source project. Great use of the webcam, you can try it yourself!
Tellart 2008 Holiday Card from Tellart on Vimeo.
12.23.08
Reality Check, Coal isn’t clean.
I wasn’t quite aware how bad the coal industry was behaving, [reality] check it:
Also check out the This is Reality website, awesome, yet I feel bad for the canary.
More Millenium Falconage.
This also from the Make Blog, it’s a cardboard cutout of the Millenium Falcon from a MIT class in fabrication.
This kid used python scripting to run a laser cutter to make the pieces, but the part that gets me is the soundtrack.
12.21.08
Well, it’s Xmas time, and that means…
…thinking back to that magic time when LEGO’s were a normal thing to be playing with.
This from the Make Blog, just an awesome stopmotion lego build. I wish I had this sort of patience.
But you know, you’re never too old for LEGO. Well, Technics LEGO at least.
12.15.08
A few things from youtube, one cool, one, well, cold anyway.
Okay, were this not just a special effects piece, I’d be hunting down whoever was offering the boost service. Too much fun to contemplate:
You can find an even better copy of this at his website: http://kylebotha.com/
And since it’s winter, here’s a driving safety tip.
12.05.08
Whoo-hoo! New Monitor is here!
So the monitor has just arrived! I’ll be spending the next few hours assembling and playing with the new computer. Hmm… have to clean off the desk…
The next post will be written from my awesome new tower of mac power!
Mac Pro being all monolith like.
12.03.08
Okay, this is a bigger rocket project than mine…
This is a full-up test of the Falcon-9, which is phase 2 of SpaceX’s program. Last September, they became the first to orbit the earth with a privately built liquid fuel rocket (the Falcon-1). The Falcon-9 is, logically enough a larger rocket with 9 of the merlin engines that have been sucessful with Falcon-1. This heavy lift bird is designed to be cheaper to operate than NASA or the large aerospace firm’s products. So far it’s turning out very well. SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk, who made his vast fortune with paypal. He’s also involved with Tesla Motors, whom I hope to buy a fully electric car from soon.
The giant test stand was built by another aerospace company that folded a few years back, SpaceX bought it and is using it now for their very sucessful program. When the shuttle is retired, SpaceX’s Falcon-9/Dragon spacecraft will be the only US option for ISS missions until the ‘Stick comes online.
Below I have links to the video of the Falcon-1 “Highroller” successful orbital shot, that’s considerably more exciting than the Falcon-9 test shot below it.
Falcon-1 \”Highroller\” 4th flight.
Wikipedia ain’t perfect, but it’s awfully good.
I’ve donated a bit to Wikipedia, their accuracy is about the same as the encyclopaedia brittanica. The founders statement resonates strongly with my values:
“Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.”
— Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
12.02.08
Level 2 rocket project on my mind.
What with everything else going on, I haven’t made much tangible progress on the L2 rocket. I know what I want to do, but some of the details have slowed me up. And of course the rest of my life has been a bit busy what with house remodel prep and all.
The key thing that I’ve got to test out is the novel ejection system. Once that’s done, the rest is cake.
I need to flight test it as well, or figure out a way to ensure that it’s got enough oomph to do the job.
It’s just been on my mind lately, not sure why. Went to a rocket launch a few weeks ago, that might have been it. Anyway, I have made some progress in the design phase, figuring out a few things. I might need to get some machine work done once I’ve done a bit more math.
Back to work.
Big Mac Attack!
Due to Apple starting to incorporate some dubious technology into their latest lineup of macbooks, and also that I’ve been needing a new computer for a long time, I bought a Mac Pro. This is the shiny aluminum desktop powerhouse, not the laptop line. Here’s the techno-porn:
-Two quad-core xeon processors providing a vast amount of processing power for such things as video production
-10 Gigs of ram (bought at fry’s, way cheaper than getting it preloaded) because things go better with ram
-only one 1TB drive for now, will eventually fill up the 3 other drive bays as well.
-Two superdrives, since I do burn dvd’s, and usually more than one at a time.
-Wifi card, since that’s how we roll at our house.
Arh Arh Arh!
Oh yeah, monitor. Ironically for a mac guy, I got a Dell 2408WFP Ultrasharp. It’s more bang for the buck, and has nifty things like a card reader, usb ports and the same image quality more or less. And a kick-ass warranty. Dead pixel? Get a new one free. It was rated very highly by cnet, so if it sucks I’ll blame them. 
Dell’s online business is bizarre, it was cheaper for me going from cnet to their site than through the “educational discount” site for my work. I was somewhat offended, although I bought it anyway. At the cheaper price obviously.
So I’ve got to name this monster something cool. Deep thought has been done, same with HAL 9000. My laptop is “Rocket”, so I’m tempted to call it Enterprise. Excelsior? Borg? Nah, that’s windows. Big Mac is out, too tempting to go eat crap via suggestion.
Well, I’ll come up with something. It’s still in the box, I’m resisting the urge to unpack it until I have the monitor, in 3-5 days. Arg.