cool tool

"golden mean calipers" - a misnomer, because they're silver and nice ;)

huge Su27 model

Descriptions of the build process of this impressive model originally written in German, with reasonable English translations.

21st century yak training

the airplane, not the animal

marbles

the opposite of losing them...

lego project

a full size house

the only thing that would make this cooler is if it were built by a crew of the little yellow-head construction worker toys...

arches

timbrel vaults - lighter than roman arches

ingenuity + style

= etched brass modular synth

wow!

ingenuity + poverty

= there, i fixed it

fun furniture

Jake Cress Furniture

everybody sing

my name is potato!

tank chair

beats hoveround

poets ranked by beard weight

not only does this list rank various poets by the weight (in both size and seriousness) of their beards, it includes the long-lost words "pogonomancy" and "chaetognaths".

judging from the examples given, i'd guess i'm a 38...

Saturn .V

World's largest amateur rocket launched: a 1/10 scale model of the Saturn V

cool tools

aviary - visual tools
hobnox - audio tool

young earth vs. old universe

young universe is much more believable than old earth

warranty

fine print + relativity = fun!

neat rc hovering model

http://www.snelflight.co.uk/jumpjet.htm

sci-fi

tron meets boba fett in 1936

diy spin art machine

i may try to make one of these someday...

the name says it all

unusual architecture

wildlife photo gallery

wildlife photo gallery

gear sculpture

heart



cube



wow

DIY

Hack N Mod

maybe the world really did end...

proof? "the large hadron collider rap"

pie charts

(i tracked back a few links but can't find the original source to give credit.)

creativity at home

some links:

ikea hacker

apartment therapy

re-nest

the bell is cracked

...and may never ring again:

After six Nobel Prizes, the invention of the transistor, laser and countless contributions to computer science and technology, it is the end of the road for Bell Labs' fundamental physics research lab.

Alcatel-Lucent, the parent company of Bell Labs, is pulling out of basic science, material physics and semiconductor research and will instead be focusing on more immediately marketable areas such as networking, high-speed electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and software.

The idea is to align the research work in the Lab closer to areas that the parent company is focusing on, says Peter Benedict, spokesperson for Bell Labs and Alcatel-Lucent Ventures.

"In the new innovation model, research needs to keep addressing the need of the mother company," he says.

That view is shortsighted and may drastically curtail the Labs' ability to come up with truly innovative discoveries, respond critics.

and anyone who can see the world past a spreadsheet.

"Fundamental physics is absolutely crucial to computing," says Mike Lubell, director of public affairs for the American Physical Society. "Say in the case of integrated circuits, there were many, many small steps that occurred along the way resulting from decades worth of work in matters of physics."

Bell Labs was one of the last bastions of basic research within the corporate world, which over the past several decades has largely focused its R&D efforts on applied research -- areas of study with more immediate prospects of paying off.

the phrase "penny-wise, pound-foolish" leaps to mind, just as "eating your seed corn" did to another commentor.

stealth airplane

i can almost guarantee that this one won't show up on radar.

TR2N

i remember seeing the original tron movie in the theater in amarillo. looks like there will be a sequel - tr2n - in the next couple of years. (i hope they won't wait until the 30th anniversary in 2012, but it might make marketing sense.)

birth of the smiley

this article almost takes the fun out of it.

step aside chuck norris

or should i say swim aside... michael phelps facts

hardware upgrades

a pictorial history of computer data storage

pray

without ceasing

Daniel Amos

Shadowcatcher

Tip for the DCCCD

Perhaps your institution would seem more reputable if your TV spokesperson would pronounce your name correctly, instead of sounding like "dayis kamoodi kaalja".

animated escher

in at least 4 or 5 dimensions

elementary

you think humans are carbon-based? i don't think sO!

;)

family photos

most people collect photos of their own family & friends. square america has a collection of other people's photos.

steampunk links

http://steampunkworkshop.com/
http://etheremporium.pbwiki.com/
http://www.datamancer.net/
http://www.abneypark.com/
http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/

d.i.y. toys

these look like fun things for kids to make

shape notes

those old hymnals might have been onto something...

jeepers creepers

where'd you get those peepers?

chinese homebuilts

apparently there are a lot of rusty propellers and chainsaw engines laying around china...

homebuilt plane

homebuilt helicopter

the man-machine

illustrations of anthropomorphized machines

rebuilding

new fw-190s
new deloreans

industrial music

not what you're thinking - it's radiohead played on a sinclair zx, a printer, a scanner, and some old hard drives.

E=E?

maybe there's no such thing as mass?!?

columns new and old

first, take a look at these pictures...

then look at this one...

then, try not to sing "stonehenge"... :)

noisy neighbors

someone has a barking dog problem.

procrastination

i don't think this guy is a real procrastinator - he gets waaaaaay too much done.

chess king

i have two minor quibbles with this article about chess king:

1) our local chess king went through a different "demographic shift" than the author recalls. ours, in non-pc terms, could be described as white-black-brown-yellow.

2) no mention of parachute pants...

automata

dug north

great pics & info, but translation is marginal

paper models blog of the flying pig creator

artoo, where are you?

ah there you are, projecting videos and playing xbox while there's an empire to defeat? how rude!

pipe organ pic

this is impressive.

the controls on the right almost look like color samples at a paint store...

i feel the need...

the need for 1/4 scale speed!

car logos

a rather comprehesive collection of car logos over the years

Good riddance

To preface (in reference to comments at the linked article):

• I have an architecture degree.
• I am a design professional.
• I am under fifty years of age.
• I am not fond of the architecture of Las Vegas.
• I do not like the McMansion phenomenon.
• I can distinguish between the scale and the style of the new architecture in Dubai.

That being said, the Nakagin Capsule Towers are (and soon to be 'were') indeed "a depressing pile of washing machines."

bluetooth burka

how many different flavors of wrong is this bluetooth burka?

before & after

the douglas b-23, a bomber based on the body of a dc-2 and the wings of a dc-3.

a qualified rant

UPDATE: I will now retract some of the vehemence of this statement. After four cutoffs this week, I did in fact witness a patrolman pull over a dangerous driver, for which I am truly grateful.

---

first, the disclaimers:

• i have had a driver's license for over a quarter of a century.
• i have driven hundreds of thousands of miles.
• i have never been the cause of an accident.
• i was raised to respect authority in general, including the police and highway patrol.
• all of the policemen or patrolmen i have encountered have deserved that respect (with one very minor exception).
• all of the policemen or patrolmen are very helpful in the aftermath of accidents.
  

however...

in all of those years, i have never ever witnessed a policeman or patrolman make any effort at all to prevent those accidents and apprehend the ignorant and/or dangerous drivers which afflict our roadways.

• not once have i seen anyone be stopped after cutting me or someone else off.
• not once have i seen anyone be stopped after ignoring yield or stop signs.
• not once have i seen anyone be stopped for merging slowly onto a highway without yielding, causing accidents or near-accidents.
• not once have i seen anyone be stopped for tailgating at highway speeds.
• not once have i seen anyone be stopped for loitering in the passing lane well below the speed limit.
• not once have i seen anyone be stopped for driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic.
• only twice in twenty-five years have i seen anyone be stopped for anything except exceeding the (often pointless) speed limit.

yesterday alone i was cut off five times:

• once by a drunk man who turned left on red in front of me,
• once by a woman who could barely see over the dashboard,
• once by a repairman probably in a hurry to a call,
• and twice by cellphone users.

those numbers are not unusual. it is a rare day in which i am not cut off, tailgated, or turned in front of at least once on my daily commute of about ten miles each way -- in non-rush-hour non-highway traffic.

please do your part. first, pay attention and drive safely to the existing road conditions, not by mere letter-but-not-spirit-of-the-law, and certainly not in passive-aggressive hypocritical vigilantism. second, fight the money-grubbing bureaucrats who have corrupted honorable law officers to inflict governmentally-sanctioned highway robbery.