Grim Fandango,
which was released in 1998, is considered by many to be one of the best
Lucas Arts adventure games ever made. It tells the story of Manny
Calavera, a travel agent working in the land of the dead. The game
combines Aztec and film noir imagery to create a game that is wholly
unique and still has a rabid fan base. Tim Schafer, the primary writer for the original (and a mastermind behind recently critically appreciated games such as Psychonauts through his company Double Fine Productions has released the full 72 page design document that was written in 1996. [direct pdf link]. This is great reading for those who get nostalgic just thinking about the game.
Here's the opening scene of the game to help you develop an appreciation, if you haven't done so already: youtube link
The Doctor is set to regenerate once again as David Tennant calls time on Doctor Who. "When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me" Tennant, widely acknowledged as one of the most popular actors ever to play the Doctor, said. "Now don't make me cry. The 2009 shows will be my last playing the doctor."
Speculation now turns to who will play the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. With the 2008 Christmas special named 'The Next Doctor', it is possible that we may not have long to wait until we get some clues. Check out the trailer for 'The Next Doctor' here.
I've got to say, Tennant is probably my 2nd favorite Doctor (next to the Legendary Tom Baker), I'm gonna miss him, its going to be neat to see who they get next... New Writer, New Doctor, heres to hoping it doesn't mess with the chemistry too much.
Speculation now turns to who will play the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. With the 2008 Christmas special named 'The Next Doctor', it is possible that we may not have long to wait until we get some clues. Check out the trailer for 'The Next Doctor' here.
I've got to say, Tennant is probably my 2nd favorite Doctor (next to the Legendary Tom Baker), I'm gonna miss him, its going to be neat to see who they get next... New Writer, New Doctor, heres to hoping it doesn't mess with the chemistry too much.
Congratulations!
You have been selected to join us in closed beta! Your recent participation in our Friends and Family stress test has earned you a spot in our next phase of development. We would like you to try Stargate Worlds again and see all the new content that you did not see in the Friends and Family phase. Please return to us and be active in our beta community once more. You will see a lot of changes within Stargate Worlds over the next months. We hope that you will continue to be active in our community and further experience and explore Stargate Worlds.
Closed beta is a significant release of content into Stargate Worlds. You can now play as a member of the Stargate Union and travel to many new worlds. This is the start of closed beta, therefore new content will constantly be updated. We will be providing you with information about upcoming patches, as well as Event Night information. Check the beta forums and your e-mail often!
Here's a formula for fun: Arm two superpowers to the teeth with thousands of nuclear warheads. Make sure they are deeply hostile and suspicious of each other. Now, cut off diplomatic communication, stir in about 50 smaller countries with their own agendas on each side, and--voilà!--you've got yourself a cold war!
1. Suez Crisis
On November 5, 1956, during the Suez crisis, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) received warnings that seemed to indicate that a large-scale Soviet attack was under way: a Soviet fleet was moving from the Black Sea to a more aggressive posture in the Aegean, 100 Soviet MiGs were detected flying over Syria, a British bomber had just been shot down in Syria, and unidentified aircraft were in flight over Turkey, causing the Turkish air force to go on high alert. All signs pointed to the ominous, except that, not long after, each of the four warnings was found to have a completely innocent explanation. The Soviet fleet was conducting routine exercises, the MiGs were part of a normal escort--whose size had been exaggerated--for the president of Syria, the British bomber had made an emergency landing after mechanical problems, and, last but not least, the unidentified planes over Turkey? Well, they turned out to be a large flock of swans.
2. SAC-NORAD Communication Failure
On November 24, 1961, all communication links between the U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) and NORAD suddenly went dead, cutting off the SAC from three early warning radar stations in England, Greenland, and Alaska. The communication breakdown made no sense, though. After all, a widespread, total failure of all communication circuits was considered impossible, because the network included so many redundant systems that it should have been failsafe. The only alternative explanation was that a full-scale Soviet nuclear first strike had occurred. As a result, all SAC bases were put on alert, and B-52 bomber crews warmed up their engines and moved their planes onto runways, awaiting orders to counterattack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. Luckily, those orders were never given. It was discovered that the circuits were not in fact redundant because they all ran through one relay station in Colorado, where a single motor had overheated and caused the entire system to fail.
3. U2 Spy Plane Accidentally Violates Soviet Airspace
U2 spy planes were high-altitude aircraft that took pictures of the Soviet Union with extremely powerful long-distance telephoto lenses. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, U2 pilots were ordered not to fly within 100 miles of the Soviet Union to avoid antagonizing the Soviets. However, on October 26, 1962, a U2 pilot flying over the North Pole made a series of navigational errors because the shifting lights of the Aurora Borealis prevented him from taking accurate readings with his sextant. As a result, he ended up flying over the Chukotski Peninsula in northern Siberia, causing the Soviets to order a number of MiG interceptors to shoot his plane down immediately. Instead of letting him be shot down, however, the United States responded quickly by sending out F-102A fighters armed with nuclear missiles to escort the U2 back to American airspace and prevent the MiGs from following it. Unbelievably, the tactic worked. Even more amazing: the decision whether to use their nuclear missiles was left to the American pilots, and could have easily resulted in a nuclear conflict.
4. When Camping, Make Sure to Hide Your Nuclear Weapons
On October 25, 1962, again during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a security guard at an air base in Duluth, Minnesota, saw a shadowy figure scaling one of the fences enclosing the base. He shot at the intruder and activated an intruder alarm, automatically setting off intruder alarms at neighboring bases. However, at the Volk Field air base in Wisconsin, the Klaxon loudspeaker had been wired incorrectly, and instead sounded an alarm ordering F-106A interceptors armed with nuclear missiles to take off. The pilots assumed that a full-scale nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union had begun. The planes were about to take off when a car from the air traffic control tower raced down the tarmac and signaled the planes to stop. The intruder in Duluth had finally been identified: it was a bear.
5. A Terrifying Crash
On January 21, 1968, fire broke out on a B-52 carrying a nuclear payload near Greenland, forcing the crew to bail out. The unmanned plane then crashed about seven miles from the early warning radar station in Greenland. The damage done could have been remarkable. The plane exploded, as did the explosives surrounding the radioactive core of the nuclear weapons (which require conventional explosives to detonate). Given the state of nuclear weapons technology at the time, this type of unintentional detonation of conventional first-stage explosives could have theoretically triggered the second-stage fission reaction, resulting in a nuclear explosion. Luckily for the world, it didn't. The resulting explosion would have not only severed regular communications between the early warning station and NORAD, it would have also triggered an emergency alarm based on radiation readings taken by sensors near the station. The only conclusion at NORAD headquarters, in this grisly hypothetical but very plausible scenario, would have been that the Soviets were launching a preemptive nuclear strike, and the United States would have responded in kind.
6. Comp Fear
On November 9, 1979, four command centers for the U.S. nuclear arsenal received data on their radar screens indicating that the Soviet Union had launched a full-scale nuclear first strike on the United States. Over the next six minutes, planes were launched and nuclear missiles initialized for an immediate retaliatory strike. The president's National Emergency Airborne Command Post--an armored jumbo jet (pictured) with radiation shielding and advanced communications capabilities, meant to allow the president to remain in contact with the government and armed forces during a nuclear war--was also launched, though curiously without the president aboard. However, the alarm was canceled because no sensors or satellites detected an actual Soviet missile launch. The alarm had been caused by computer software used for training exercises depicting a nightmare scenario Soviet first strike. Senator Charles Percy, who happened to be at NORAD headquarters during this event, said the reaction was one of overwhelming panic and terror. Justifiably so.
7. Comp Fear, Part 2
Electronic displays at NORAD, the SAC, and the Pentagon included prominent, highly visible numeric counters showing the number of enemy nuclear missiles detected. They normally displayed four zeros--"0000"--indicating that no nuclear missiles had been launched. However, on June 3, 1980, at 2:25 in the morning, the counters started randomly substituting the number "2" for "0." As a result, crews manning bombers carrying nuclear weapons were ordered to begin to warm up their engines, Minuteman missiles were initialized for launch, and airborne command posts were also launched. It was determined that this first event was a false alarm, but three days later it happened a second time--causing the entire emergency response procedure to start rolling once again. The problem was eventually traced back to a single faulty computer chip combined with faulty wiring.
8. WarGames!
Once more, a wise-guy teenager tries to prove he's smarter than any
adult-and nearly destroys the whole world in the process-in WarGames.
Computer-game aficionado Matthew Broderick inadvertently taps into a
hush-hush Pentagon computer, then proceeds to inaugurate his favorite
game, "Global Thermonuclear War". What we know, but Broderick doesn't,
is that the Pentagon, hoping to eliminate the chancy "human element" in
the event of an actual war, has given its computer total, irreversible
control over the launching of nuclear weaponry. Broderick and
government official Dabney Coleman race against time to reverse the
computer's resolve to send bombers to Russia.
1. Suez CrisisOn November 5, 1956, during the Suez crisis, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) received warnings that seemed to indicate that a large-scale Soviet attack was under way: a Soviet fleet was moving from the Black Sea to a more aggressive posture in the Aegean, 100 Soviet MiGs were detected flying over Syria, a British bomber had just been shot down in Syria, and unidentified aircraft were in flight over Turkey, causing the Turkish air force to go on high alert. All signs pointed to the ominous, except that, not long after, each of the four warnings was found to have a completely innocent explanation. The Soviet fleet was conducting routine exercises, the MiGs were part of a normal escort--whose size had been exaggerated--for the president of Syria, the British bomber had made an emergency landing after mechanical problems, and, last but not least, the unidentified planes over Turkey? Well, they turned out to be a large flock of swans.
2. SAC-NORAD Communication Failure
On November 24, 1961, all communication links between the U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) and NORAD suddenly went dead, cutting off the SAC from three early warning radar stations in England, Greenland, and Alaska. The communication breakdown made no sense, though. After all, a widespread, total failure of all communication circuits was considered impossible, because the network included so many redundant systems that it should have been failsafe. The only alternative explanation was that a full-scale Soviet nuclear first strike had occurred. As a result, all SAC bases were put on alert, and B-52 bomber crews warmed up their engines and moved their planes onto runways, awaiting orders to counterattack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. Luckily, those orders were never given. It was discovered that the circuits were not in fact redundant because they all ran through one relay station in Colorado, where a single motor had overheated and caused the entire system to fail.
3. U2 Spy Plane Accidentally Violates Soviet Airspace
U2 spy planes were high-altitude aircraft that took pictures of the Soviet Union with extremely powerful long-distance telephoto lenses. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, U2 pilots were ordered not to fly within 100 miles of the Soviet Union to avoid antagonizing the Soviets. However, on October 26, 1962, a U2 pilot flying over the North Pole made a series of navigational errors because the shifting lights of the Aurora Borealis prevented him from taking accurate readings with his sextant. As a result, he ended up flying over the Chukotski Peninsula in northern Siberia, causing the Soviets to order a number of MiG interceptors to shoot his plane down immediately. Instead of letting him be shot down, however, the United States responded quickly by sending out F-102A fighters armed with nuclear missiles to escort the U2 back to American airspace and prevent the MiGs from following it. Unbelievably, the tactic worked. Even more amazing: the decision whether to use their nuclear missiles was left to the American pilots, and could have easily resulted in a nuclear conflict.4. When Camping, Make Sure to Hide Your Nuclear Weapons
On October 25, 1962, again during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a security guard at an air base in Duluth, Minnesota, saw a shadowy figure scaling one of the fences enclosing the base. He shot at the intruder and activated an intruder alarm, automatically setting off intruder alarms at neighboring bases. However, at the Volk Field air base in Wisconsin, the Klaxon loudspeaker had been wired incorrectly, and instead sounded an alarm ordering F-106A interceptors armed with nuclear missiles to take off. The pilots assumed that a full-scale nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union had begun. The planes were about to take off when a car from the air traffic control tower raced down the tarmac and signaled the planes to stop. The intruder in Duluth had finally been identified: it was a bear.
5. A Terrifying Crash
On January 21, 1968, fire broke out on a B-52 carrying a nuclear payload near Greenland, forcing the crew to bail out. The unmanned plane then crashed about seven miles from the early warning radar station in Greenland. The damage done could have been remarkable. The plane exploded, as did the explosives surrounding the radioactive core of the nuclear weapons (which require conventional explosives to detonate). Given the state of nuclear weapons technology at the time, this type of unintentional detonation of conventional first-stage explosives could have theoretically triggered the second-stage fission reaction, resulting in a nuclear explosion. Luckily for the world, it didn't. The resulting explosion would have not only severed regular communications between the early warning station and NORAD, it would have also triggered an emergency alarm based on radiation readings taken by sensors near the station. The only conclusion at NORAD headquarters, in this grisly hypothetical but very plausible scenario, would have been that the Soviets were launching a preemptive nuclear strike, and the United States would have responded in kind.
6. Comp Fear
On November 9, 1979, four command centers for the U.S. nuclear arsenal received data on their radar screens indicating that the Soviet Union had launched a full-scale nuclear first strike on the United States. Over the next six minutes, planes were launched and nuclear missiles initialized for an immediate retaliatory strike. The president's National Emergency Airborne Command Post--an armored jumbo jet (pictured) with radiation shielding and advanced communications capabilities, meant to allow the president to remain in contact with the government and armed forces during a nuclear war--was also launched, though curiously without the president aboard. However, the alarm was canceled because no sensors or satellites detected an actual Soviet missile launch. The alarm had been caused by computer software used for training exercises depicting a nightmare scenario Soviet first strike. Senator Charles Percy, who happened to be at NORAD headquarters during this event, said the reaction was one of overwhelming panic and terror. Justifiably so.7. Comp Fear, Part 2
Electronic displays at NORAD, the SAC, and the Pentagon included prominent, highly visible numeric counters showing the number of enemy nuclear missiles detected. They normally displayed four zeros--"0000"--indicating that no nuclear missiles had been launched. However, on June 3, 1980, at 2:25 in the morning, the counters started randomly substituting the number "2" for "0." As a result, crews manning bombers carrying nuclear weapons were ordered to begin to warm up their engines, Minuteman missiles were initialized for launch, and airborne command posts were also launched. It was determined that this first event was a false alarm, but three days later it happened a second time--causing the entire emergency response procedure to start rolling once again. The problem was eventually traced back to a single faulty computer chip combined with faulty wiring.
8. WarGames!
Once more, a wise-guy teenager tries to prove he's smarter than any
adult-and nearly destroys the whole world in the process-in WarGames.
Computer-game aficionado Matthew Broderick inadvertently taps into a
hush-hush Pentagon computer, then proceeds to inaugurate his favorite
game, "Global Thermonuclear War". What we know, but Broderick doesn't,
is that the Pentagon, hoping to eliminate the chancy "human element" in
the event of an actual war, has given its computer total, irreversible
control over the launching of nuclear weaponry. Broderick and
government official Dabney Coleman race against time to reverse the
computer's resolve to send bombers to Russia.
Friday Flash Fun! It's two great flavors that taste great together in White House Tower Defence!
The History Channel just aired a 2-hour program about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s in the central United States called Black Blizzard. What struck me most during the program was the description of a series of massive storms that hit on April 14th, 1935 known as "Black Sunday". The History Channel had computer recreations of what this looked like. Here is an image from the show (and the History Channel website) showing one of the storms approaching. Inside the car are a reporter and photographer who, after stopping and taking pictures of the approaching storm, are trying to outrun the storm.
During the show they also showed several real photographs of the storms of Black Sunday and doing a quick search on Wikipedia produced one spectacular photograph of a storm as it approached Spearman, Texas:
Here is another photograph of a storm as it approaches Stratford, Texas. This photo is perhaps even better than the one above as the buildings are closer to the camera and give a better scale to the size of the storm:
"She handed me the box and I studied it carefully, squinting, even
allowing my eyes to blur, to try and see what I was missing. She
pointed- 'Do you see?' See what? I didn't see anything. Just broccoli.
Her finger tapped on a certain part of the box and she urged me to look
closer. 'There- right there. Do you see it? I'm not going to tell you
what it is if you don't see it.' And then, it suddenly became clear to
me. WHAT THE HELL?"
The National Center for Cosmetic Enhancement rails against A-cups.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA--According to a report released Monday by U.S. plastic surgeon general Dr. Louis T. Saddler, an alarming number of American women are suffering from dangerously small breasts.
The Office of the Plastic Surgeon General--headed by a presidential appointee tasked with monitoring the national aesthetic, alerting the public to any small flaws, and offering a wide range of affordable, noninvasive laser resurfacing options--first addressed the countrywide plague of undersized breasts in the mid-1980s by demanding that manufacturers of A- through C-cup bras place large warning labels on their products informing female consumers of the potential risk of having deficient bosoms. Since taking the position in 2001, Dr. Saddler has continued these education efforts, launching several ad campaigns and personally reaching out to women all across the nation.
"The undersized breasts problem in the United States has reached crisis level," Saddler said during a press conference held at the National Centers for Rhinoplasty and Microdermabrasion. "Unless they receive immediate cosmetic treatment, millions of women in this country will lose the attention of their male acquaintances completely, and some may never be able to land husbands or, if they are somehow already married, keep their husbands' interest."
Added Saddler, "I urge all Americans to educate themselves about the differences between silicone and saline, and contact my secretary Linda to set something up."
According to information found on the plastic surgeon general's website, there are several easily identifiable indications that a woman may be afflicted with Chronic Breast Deficiency, or CBD. These include the inability to fill out tight sweaters, as well as invisibility when in proximity to women who have large breasts. Females with this disorder may also experience a troubling absence of back pain.
Despite impressive advances in augmentation mammoplasty in recent years, breast smallness continues to be a scourge on the female population, in some part due to the difficulty many women have in recognizing the symptoms. According to Saddler, some can live with a severe chest deficiency for years without realizing that they have a problem.
"A woman who suspects that she may have this condition can verify it with an extremely quick, normally painless test," said Saddler, later adding that symptoms such as a fluid, natural movement of the bosom or any breast shape other than a perfectly round, rock-hard grapefruit should also serve as definitive warning signs. "It's as simple as consulting a trained professional such as a strip-club bouncer or licensed drywaller to assess your personal risk."
"I cannot stress enough how important it is for women who believe they already have large breasts to remember that they can almost always benefit from having even larger breasts," Saddler added.
Citing statistics showing that small breasts strike women of every age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and that every region of the United States is uniformly affected with the exception of Southern California, the plastic surgeon general stressed that a nation of under-breasted women is "everyone's problem." In an attempt to reach out to as many citizens as possible, including those not directly afflicted, the Office of the Plastic Surgeon General has released a series of public service announcements that emphasize the important role men can play in helping to turn the tide of the epidemic.
"If your daughter, girlfriend, or secretary has small breasts, let her know that she should get the help she needs," Saddler says in one of the televised spots, standing before a diagram of Pamela Anderson. "Referring to under- endowed women's mammaries as 'mosquito bites' or likening a female's appearance to a diving board are just two of the many effective methods that can encourage those suffering from this unpleasant disorder to seek treatment."
The informative PSA also suggests several coping strategies that can allow small-breasted women to lead a relatively productive life while securing the funds necessary to have their disorder remedied. These include giggling at anything a man says, wearing shorter skirts, and engaging in empty promiscuity.
Although the plastic surgeon general's office has had a long-standing and fruitful partnership with the media to promote the image of a healthy, ample-chested lifestyle, Saddler said legislation may be the key to solving this crisis. Last week, Congress proposed a bill that would earmark $600 million to provide high schools nationwide with educational programs and literature.
"The younger a woman is when she realizes that she has this problem, the better off we'll all be," said Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), head of the recently formed Itty-Bitty Titty Senate Subcommittee. "Of course, we support all women receiving treatment for this disorder, regardless of how old they are."
"But after they hit 45 or so, really, what's the point?" added Allard, referring to a condition known as aging, which is cited by the plastic surgeon general as another worrisome but treatable issue currently affecting 100 percent of American women.
Several studies have found that the dreaded aging syndrome also affects men, but, in those cases, is known alternatively as "dignification" and is generally considered to be an asset rather than an impairment.
Atomic and nuclear explosions.
The Sun - The Big Picture
An
animation of the sun, seen by NASA's Extreme ultraviolet Imaging
Telescope (EIT) over the course of 6 days, starting June 27, 2005.
(Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium)
When he was 19, David Savage lost his hand in a machine accident. Thirty-five years later, he had a replacement hand installed. Amazingly, the same region that controlled his hand when he had one kicked right back into gear to deal with his new appendage. This surprised scientists because other research has shown that once a limb is gone, the associated brain region quickly picks up other duties. From Science News:
When Savage had both hands, part of his right brain responded to his left hand, and a corresponding part of his left brain responded to his right hand. After the amputation, that same part of his left brain would have been sensory-deprived and thus ready to adopt duties of adjacent sensory areas, such as those for the right arm and possibly his face.New Hand, Same Brain Map
Much animal and human research has documented that such neural reorganization begins within hours of limb loss or debilitation...
"It's remarkable that an original neural pathway for the hand can be reinstated after years and years," (Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Jon) Kaas says.
Paul is NOT dead.
Paul goes into the studio, alone, no songs prepared at all. Thirteen
songs in thirteen days -- one each day -- Paul playing every
instrument, writing lyrics on the fly, ripping a line from a poem, the
next spontaneous, off the cuff, really gutsy. The album, Electric Arguments, to be released next month.
Maybe getting fleeced in a public and nasty divorce was the best thing to happen to this man. I've not liked much if anything I've heard since he split from Lennon, but I damn sure love this single -- "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" - it's ragged and rugged, the thing bleeds and howls and moans. I think I'm gonna buy the album -- Electric Arguments -- as soon as it's out.
Free download of Nothing Too Much Out of Sight here.
Maybe getting fleeced in a public and nasty divorce was the best thing to happen to this man. I've not liked much if anything I've heard since he split from Lennon, but I damn sure love this single -- "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" - it's ragged and rugged, the thing bleeds and howls and moans. I think I'm gonna buy the album -- Electric Arguments -- as soon as it's out.
Free download of Nothing Too Much Out of Sight here.
Stephen Levy toured the personal library of Priceline founder Jay
Walker and discovered nerdvana: a wunderkammer piled to the rafters
with the most pricelessly awesome nerd artifacts of all time -- an
original Sputnik, the Thing hand from the Addams Family, a globe of the
moon signed by every astronaut who's walked on it, an original of
Robert Hooke's Micrographia, an Enigma machine, etc. You know, I've
often turned my nose up at the absurd excesses of wealth, but this is
one guy who knows how to spend several million on really rad junk. I think I pee'd a little reading the inventory, I'm such a nerd.
Nothing quite prepares you for the culture shock of Jay Walker's library. You exit the austere parlor of his New England home and pass through a hallway into the bibliographic equivalent of a Disney ride. Stuffed with landmark tomes and eye-grabbing historical objects--on the walls, on tables, standing on the floor--the room occupies about 3,600 square feet on three mazelike levels. Is that a Sputnik? (Yes.) Hey, those books appear to be bound in rubies. (They are.) That edition of Chaucer ... is it a Kelmscott? (Natch.) Gee, that chandelier looks like the one in the James Bond flick Die Another Day. (Because it is.) No matter where you turn in this ziggurat, another treasure beckons you--a 1665 Bills of Mortality chronicle of London (you can track plague fatalities by week), the instruction manual for the Saturn V rocket (which launched the Apollo 11 capsule to the moon), a framed napkin from 1943 on which Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his plan to win World War II. In no time, your mind is stretched like hot taffy.
Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library
Spotted on Flickr, a cake (yes, that's all cake) made for the Lego Batman videogame launch party. The cake was created by cake designer Elisa Strauss.
I thought I'd offer some assistance to any super villains who may be looking for a menacing building to call headquarters. Admittedly they're quite noticeable so unless you have the necessary means to defend the building or are managing to operate under the radar, you may want to look for something underground. All chosen structures look either creepy as hell, flat-out brutal, or both, and as far as I know none or on the market at present so you may have to use underhand tactics to actually move in.
1. Jin Mao tower, Pudong, Shanghai
photo sources: 1, 2, 3
photo sources: 1, 2, 3
1. Jin Mao tower, Pudong, Shanghai
Jin Mao tower is absolutely huge at 1380ft, a feature which will enable
you to survey the surrounding area for miles assuming cloud cover is
minimal. As for sturdiness, it's been designed by hardcore
architects/engineers and as a result can withstand winds up to 200km/h
and earthquakes to a maximum of 7 on the Richter scale. inside, the
building is home to one of the tallest atriums on planet earth (375ft),
a perfect place for henchmen to dispose of unwanted guests.
photo sources: 1, 2, 3
2. Moser tower, Naperville, Illinois
Moser tower is basically a bell tower and as such doesn't contain a
huge amount of habitable space for evil operations. The reason for its
inclusion here is purely an aesthetic one - of all the structures here,
it looks the best in terms of badassness - so I'd suggest maybe
building a lair underneath and using the tower itself solely as a
front. One potential positive is that, as it's essentially an enormous
musical instrument, you could adapt it to play any villainous music at
will. Alternatively, the giant bells could surely be used as some kind
of torture device if a pesky human were attached.
photo sources: 1, 2, 33. Fernsehturm Berlin, Berlin
The fernsehturm is a TV tower in Berlin and it's extremely tall at 1207ft. it could easily serve as a European headquarters and would be pretty difficult for non-airborne enemies to infiltrate as all the prime living space is located 669ft up in a sphere, its only point of entry located at the bottom of the tower's shaft on ground level. also, within the sphere is a revolving restaurant, a feature which could easily be transformed into a revolving control centre / spinning turret, although you may have to speed up the mechanism as it's currently making just one revolution per 30 minutes.
4. Oriental Pearl Tower, Pudong, Shanghai
As with the fernsehturm, pearl tower is a TV tower, but this one is located in shanghai and looks far more menacing and sturdy. It's basically a fernsehturm on steroids: instead of one supporting vertical column, it has 3. Instead of one large sphere, this one has 2. plus it's also taller at 1535ft. another benefit is that it's located just supercharged spitting distance from Jin Mao tower (see above), meaning a firmer grasp over shanghai could be quickly attained providing both towers were commandeered.
5. Taipei 101, xinyi district, Taipei
Taipei 101 has a lot going for it in terms of evil HQ suitability. Its height is a staggering 1670ft. it can withstand practically all natural disasters and presumably a few of the attacks you'll likely be subject to. visually, it resembles a giant evil robot and completely dominates the surrounding area, instantly sending out an intimidating message before you've even settled in. it's also the only tall structure to be seen in that particular area meaning attacks from all sides will be visible providing you have all corners manned.6. žižkov television tower, žižkov, Prague
There's not much that needs to be said about this one. It's an enormous, intimidating tower, and its supporting legs are covered with faceless babies. If you're the kind of super villain who's obsessed with image, look no further.
photo sources:
Nobels for Physics announced. The prize will be shared between three individuals, including one American teaching at the University of Chicago. The other two winners are from Japan, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa .
This is interesting, an interactive pole dance experiment that uses strain gauges to change the lighting and colors by Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi. The best part about this video is you get to see a couple Japanese hacker/engineers test it out. Well, at least that was my favorite part.
Somewhat related, here's a nice exchange about using a strain gauge from a scale to weigh a keg, clever!
Aptly named hardcore deconstructionists Fucked Up are slated to play a free, 12-hour show in NYC on Tuesday, October 14th.
The show will feature appearances from the likes of John Cale, Matt
Sweeney, David Cross, Mobb Deep, Akon, Vivian Girls, U2's The Edge, and
others.
Click image for full screen funnies.
Eren Göksel provides a step-by-step for drawing this apple. How to Create a Delicious Green Apple Illustration
Love Hate Punch is a punching bag that gives light if you hit it and if
you do your best it changes color from dark red to bright red to yellow
to white.
32-year-old reportedly shows up for sentencing still wearing the costume.
(Middletown, OH) -- Saturday night, people in the 3100 block of Wilbraham Road called police to report a woman wearing a cow costume was chasing kids, and blocking traffic. Michele Allen also allegedly urinated on the
porch of one neighbor.When officers arrived, they told her to go home. But later that night, they found her again, in the 2400 block of Verity, standing in traffic. This time, officers say, Allen smelled of alcohol and swore at them.
She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Allen plead guilty, Monday morning, in Middletown Municipal Court, and sentenced to a month in jail.
A Neurotic Scotsman Cannot Help Himself From Commenting On The Mistakes Made By Some Of America'S Favorite Film Characters
The Green Lantern movie is back on! Minus Jack Black! Early concept art is looking exciting, though sadly we'll never see Paul Newman in the role of Hal Jordan.
Diesel's SFW XXX viral will have you looking at pinball machines in a whole different light. And harmonica playing. And the maracas. And corn on a cob. The list goes on.
Moogie made these ass-kicking shark-attack cupcakes (complete with body parts!) for a Shark Art Contest. First prize! Shark Attack Cupcakes
Michael Moore's newest movie Slacker Uprising is available for free download, the "first major major film to be released in such a way," according to the Associated Press.
"This film, really isn't for anybody other than the choir," said Moore.
"But that's because I believe the choir needs a song to sing every now
and then."
Caveat:
Caveat:
- It is probably not the first film to do this, but certainly one of the first major films (if it is considered major or not *shrug*).
- Free only for US and Canadians for some reason, but it might work anyway as it only asks to confirm your location.
- There is also online viewing on the Lycos Cinema platform and looks like YouTube has 10 min chunks.
Search Engine Battle!
MSN vs Google
MSN vs Yahoo!
Yahoo! vs Google!
MSN vs Google
MSN vs Yahoo!
Yahoo! vs Google!
Hey Kids,
Just got my invite for the Stargate Worlds Beta, but sadly the servers are only up on Wednesdays at 4:30 PM PST, when I'm at work, to ensure my continued participation in the beta process, I need to play during those times, if you're available for an hour or so on Wends, please, drop me a line by commenting below.
-RobDurdle.com
Just got my invite for the Stargate Worlds Beta, but sadly the servers are only up on Wednesdays at 4:30 PM PST, when I'm at work, to ensure my continued participation in the beta process, I need to play during those times, if you're available for an hour or so on Wends, please, drop me a line by commenting below.
-RobDurdle.com
Pickering and the Female Computers. In 1881, Edward Pickering,
the director of the Harvard College Observatory, became so impatient
with a male lab assistant's work that he famously declared his maid
could do a better job. Rather than take offense, his 24-year-old maid, Williamina Fleming,
instead took him up on the offer. She ended up working at the
Observatory for the next 30 years, supervising the tedious work of
cataloging photographic plates, but also discovering variable stars and
novae, helping to develop a classification system--and, perhaps even more importantly, hiring nearly 40 female assistants, many of whom went on to have distinguished scientific careers.
These "computers," as they were called, were a bargain for Pickering: at first the women worked for free; after a number of years he rewarded them with a salary--about 30 cents an hour, roughly half of that of the men who did the same work. As he wrote in his 1898 annual report, the women computers were "Capable of doing as much good routine work as astronomers who would receive larger salaries. Three or four times as many assistants can thus be employed."
(As a side note, the US Naval Observatory also employed female -- and male -- computers around the turn of the century. In 1906, the computers were paid equally, $1200 a year for both men and women. But only men had the opportunity for advancement, as, among other things, the most prestigious jobs at the USNO required a military commission, which wasn't available to women.)
Thanks to Pickering and his maid, women were able to make an indelible contribution to science. The most notable astronomers to come from his lab were Antonia Maury, Annie Jump Cannon, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Their discoveries and innovation helped usher in an age of science and inquiry in astronomy, and helped pave the way for women in the field. Noted a student of the eminent astronomer Vera Rubin (who herself got her doctorate in astronomy at Georgetown University in 1954 by taking night classes while her husband waited for her in the car): "American astronomy became preeminent because of two discoveries: Hale discovered money and Pickering discovered women."
These "computers," as they were called, were a bargain for Pickering: at first the women worked for free; after a number of years he rewarded them with a salary--about 30 cents an hour, roughly half of that of the men who did the same work. As he wrote in his 1898 annual report, the women computers were "Capable of doing as much good routine work as astronomers who would receive larger salaries. Three or four times as many assistants can thus be employed."
(As a side note, the US Naval Observatory also employed female -- and male -- computers around the turn of the century. In 1906, the computers were paid equally, $1200 a year for both men and women. But only men had the opportunity for advancement, as, among other things, the most prestigious jobs at the USNO required a military commission, which wasn't available to women.)
Thanks to Pickering and his maid, women were able to make an indelible contribution to science. The most notable astronomers to come from his lab were Antonia Maury, Annie Jump Cannon, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Their discoveries and innovation helped usher in an age of science and inquiry in astronomy, and helped pave the way for women in the field. Noted a student of the eminent astronomer Vera Rubin (who herself got her doctorate in astronomy at Georgetown University in 1954 by taking night classes while her husband waited for her in the car): "American astronomy became preeminent because of two discoveries: Hale discovered money and Pickering discovered women."
Jack Nicholson, circa 1978, showing off his hydrogen powered car. The accents of the broadcasters, in case you're wondering, are east coast Canadian, possibly Newfoundland.
It sounds like a bad Newfie joke: the Newfoundlanders who had never seen a black person before and tried to scrub the colour off his skin. But the story is real: in 1942, Lanier Phillips was the only black survivor of the wreck of the USS Truxton off the coast of Newfoundland.
Like the white survivors, he was half-dead and covered in oil when he
arrived on shore, and the women nursing the survivors were puzzled when
they could not clean the black colour off his skin. What happened next
affected Phillips' self-perception and prompted him to push for equal
treatment in the US Navy. He went on to become the first African American US SONAR technician, and continues today, at the age of 84, to speak across the US about his experience with the people of St. Lawrence.
