plus la change plus la meme chose

Ah, the burdens of empire... T.E. Lawrence's letter to the editor on British involvement in Iraq in 1920. Depressingly familiar.

http://www.gwpda.org/1918p/mesopo.html

40th Birthday of the Internet

When Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message, it was "What hath God wrought." For Alexander Graham Bell it was "Come here, Watson. I need you." Armstrong on the moon referred to a "a giant leap for mankind."

The first internet message was sent 40 years ago on October 29, 1969. According to Leonard Kleinrock, a computer scientist in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the fist node of the internet, then referred to as ARPANET, was in UCLA. A second node was established at Stamford. The transmission itself was simply to "login" to the Stamford Research Institute (SRI) from UCLA. The UCLA people succeeded in transmitting the "l" and the "o" and then as they attempted to send the "g," the system crashed. Hence, the first message on the Internet was "lo".

Log entry showing the date and the critical entry.

Penguins: Good for Your Health

Incredible story in Sports Illustrated of how the Pens got cardiac arrest patient Pat Celesnik back on her feet: Two Turns For The Better.

Excerpt:

The weird thing was, Pat's progress began to parallel that of the Pens. Pittsburgh made the playoffs and was up 3--2 against the Flyers; the next day Pat took her first gulps of air without a ventilator. The Penguins fought past Philly in the first round; a few days later Pat left the ICU for acute care. The Pens rallied from two games down to beat the Capitals in a thrilling seven-game series; Pat began taking her first real food, applesauce from a cup. When Pittsburgh dropped the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals to the Red Wings, however, she endured a string of lethargic days. Recalls Pat, "Then the game after that they won, and I thought, O.K., we're going to be all right."

Of course, I'm wondering how many critically ill Flyers, Capitals and Redwings fans cashed it in by the end of the playoffs.

NASA's Ares I-X launches

NASA's first design change in about 30 years sees action today. Pretty exciting- keeping my fingers crossed that Ares I-X is the first step to the Moon and Mars.

Timelapse video building Ares I-X-

Free mp3s on Amazon

The Orange Mountain Music Philip Glass Sampler Vol.I is free on Amazon.

I am Tony Stark -- Part Deux

Sean, Is this what the final costume will look like, and will you be able to fly in it?

I am Tony Stark

Over the past couple of weeks my Dad and I have been working on my halloween costume. I just wanted to show you guys. I am Tony Stark before he finishes his suit, while everything is still a proto-type. Tell me what you think there will be many pictures on facebook in the coming days.

For authenticity purposes we connected all the pieces together... or at least made it look like they are all connected. The yellow line in the second pictures goes to the chest piece and then there are separate wires from the second picture going to the hand 'repulsor' ... thing

A truly bizarre Halloween miracle

INSTRUCTIONS

Make sure both videos are fully loaded before you play them. Turn off the sound to "THURSDAY!" (a movie that I made that you may be familiar with). Then start playing danse macabre. As quickly as you can, start playing my movie. It's slightly unnerving.

I have yet to figure out if I should see the hand of Heaven or Hell in this...

Soupy Sales dies at 83

Pie-splattered comedian Soupy Sales dies at 83

It's come to this

Well, it's come to this: The Catholic Church promoting itself as a haven for high church sexists and homophobes. Why the Vatican Wants Anglicans.

More on Zombie Strategy

One of the big zombie questions is whether, when the invasion comes, it's a good strategy for the untutored like me to try to team up with a bunch of Role Playing Gamers who have gamed, like, hundreds of zombie scenarios and who, consequently, will have given the matter a lot of serious thought.

Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg says no: "Even if you've gamed this a million times, when the zombies come, I'd still rather be embedded with with a bunch of Navy SEALS caught completely by surprise." See The Zombie Mob.

the other balloon

This gives us some ideas on how to make soccer or perhaps any sporting event more exciting -- shoot objects randomly through the air during play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsRvLG8PDjE

yadda yadda yadda black hole....yaddda yadda yadda

again we're all doomed

Link

anyone hear about the kid who got in the balloon and flew away? yah this isn't that article

Barefoot Running

A few days ago, Uncle Peter had mentioned reading an article on barefoot running and the potential benefits. Intrigued, I googled and read some interesting articles. While I will not be hanging up my running shoes anytime soon, the research on human locomotion with and without shoes is fascinating. The best part of the google search however, is shoe companies trying to capitalize on the barefoot trend. Example- Vibram Five Fingers and Nike Free. Nike once again nails it with the commercial-

How Useful Are You?

If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you be in jumpstarting technological advancements?

7/10-Got lucky on a few guesses- I would be worthless as an inventor-as Kottke points out, inventions are not made from multiply choices.

I thought this was appropriate for this blog.

I want my Higgs boson, Part II

God may have an inordinate fondness for beetles, but he rather hates Higgs particles. This spells trouble for the Large Hadron Collider. Some physicists suggest that "the hypothesized Higgs boson, which physicists hope to produce with the collider, might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveler who goes back in time to kill his grandfather." The Collider, the Particle and a Theory About Fate.

Obama gives apple pie a bad name

Barack Obama saves Chevy, eats apple pie, and wins the Noble Peace Prize. Rush says it is a bad thing.

Macavity, Meet Jeoffry

According to Robert Pinsky, the best poem ever written about a cat. The "Jeoffry passage" from Christopher Smart's (1722-71) "Jubilate Agno."

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon
**his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For tenthly he goes in quest of food.
For having considered God and himself he will consider his neighbor.
For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness
**he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit
**without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness when God tells him he's a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incomplete without him, and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of
**the Children of Israel from Egypt.
For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God
**to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
For he is of the Lord's poor, and so indeed is he called by benevolence
**perpetually—Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.
For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
For he is docile and can learn certain things.
For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience upon approbation.
For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
For he can jump over a stick, which is patience upon proof positive.
For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom.
For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
For the former is afraid of detection.
For the latter refuses the charge.
For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
For he killed the Icneumon rat, very pernicious by land.
For his ears are so acute that they sting again.
For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.
For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.
For the electrical fire is the spiritual substance which God sends from heaven
**to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep.

**********************************—Christopher Smart

For Pinsky's commentary, see In Nomine Patris et Felis.

How to demogogue health care and feel good in the morning

Pop Fiction | The New Republic

Jonathan Chait on conservative nonsense.

A Unified Theory on Superman's Powers

Here's the abstract of a new paper seeking to explain Superman's powers.

From Jason Kottke

Pitchfork Ranks Top 200 Albums of the Decade

2000s was a pretty good decade, Top 200- Top 20.

Possible Worst Music Video of all Time

Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish.

Crazy End to a High School Football Game

Bad coaching- if you put two back in case of a fake, make sure they know to let the ball go or knee it.

First step towards the human body being converted to energy

not really, but using blood to make lamps is kind of weird.

Link

Avalanche Skier POV

Terrifying-his breathing gets more and more labored. The Skier's view into the sky look as though it was scripted for a movie.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.