Awesome unique homes

I like the hobbit house.

http://www.viralnova.com/unique-homes/

Ford Mustang Electric Drag Car Does 0 To 60 MPH Under 2 Seconds

Ford Mustang Electric Drag Car Does 0 To 60 MPH Under 2 Seconds, Targets 200 MPH

Classic 1968 Mustang converted to electric drive with the "Zombie 222" package by Mitch Medford.

I'd love to see more classic car conversions like this.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098780_ford-mustang-electric-drag-car-does-0-to-60-mph-under-2-seconds-targets-200-mph

China's tesla model s knockoff

Youxia X Is China's Tesla Model S Knockoff

I think the styling looks pretty cool. The light-up front nosecone is interesting.

http://insideevs.com/youxia-x-chinas-tesla-model-s-knockoff/

From the NBA to Starbucks

Former NBA All-Star Vin Baker battled alcoholism after 13 seasons in the league, and eventually lost almost all of his $100 million career earnings.

Now, Baker is much happier, if not as visible, in his new job as a Starbucks barista. The Providence Journal has the full story of how Baker, 43 and newly-married, has turned his life around and is now in training to become a Starbucks manager.

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/07/29/vin-baker-nba-starbucks

787 near vertical takeoff

Boeing has released a new promotional video which shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a near vertical takeoff as well as pulling off some amazing maneuvers all in preparation for the Paris Air Show 2015. This level of agility in a full fledged passenger plane that’s more than 200 feet in length and has close to a 60 meter wingspan is certainly a sight to behold.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/06/boeing-787-dreamliner-near-vertical-takeoff-is-a-treat-to-watch/

Tonight she comes by the Cars

I always liked this video.



The girl in the video is Tara Shannon, and there's a cool interview at

http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-girl-in-video-tonight-she-comes.html

Tesla wants to go a million miles

If you think 200,000 miles on a car is good, how about a million miles.

So forget about the new Ludicrous mode and going zero to 60 faster than falling from the sky. The real news is that Tesla is working hard to make your car go 1,000,000 miles or maybe more. As an owner, that has to be the best news of all.

http://www.teslarati.com/tesla-million-mile-power-train/

Microsoft wants you to pay for Solitaire

The future is here...

Microsoft wants you to pay for Solitaire, again, in Windows 10

Yes, there is a monthly subscription offer buried within Windows 10. To play Solitaire.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2953158/windows/microsoft-wants-you-to-pay-for-solitaire-again-in-windows-10.html

I can't think of anything I'd rather do than pay to play solitaire.

Computer Age by Newcleus

Here's some old skool beats from the 1980s, Newcleus.

"This is the story of their search for and discovery of a place where they could be free to be themselves. A place like Earth."

"Are we under their control or are they under our control or what..."

and here's another awesome track, Space is the Place.

Dr. Crypton

I sure do miss the days of old, when I would eagerly await the next issue of Science Digest in the mail. It was such a good magazine that I had to have a subscription.

I remember how much I enjoyed the Dr. Crypton articles. According to wikipedia, Dr. Crypton is Paul Hoffman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hoffman_%28science_writer%29

http://thephtest.com/paulhoffman_bio.html

I remember reading "Timid Virgins Make Dull Company and Other Puzzles, Pitfalls, and Paradoxes (1985)" and all about triskaidekaphobia.

Games Magazine Nov/Dec 1981

Games magazine had this contest to identify the 52 games on its cover. "Winner takes all!"

I think I wanted every single game...

Inspector Gadget Kartoon Krew

I remember this tune from 1985. Chief, I'm on my way!

Why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

Two sentences explaining why your self-driving car won’t have a steering wheel

Research that Stanford has done shows that drivers resuming control from Level 3 vehicles functioning in autonomous mode take 10 seconds just to attain the level of ability that a drunk driver possesses. And to get back to full driving competence takes 60 seconds.

“You can’t just be tootling along on the freeway and the car says — ‘Oh your turn!’ Meanwhile the person is like ‘What?’ ”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/07/21/two-sentences-explaining-why-your-self-driving-car-wont-have-a-steering-wheel/

Man saves car on train tracks (2010)

This guy put himself on the line literally to push a stalled car off the tracks, nearly getting wiped out in the process. I like the emotional response after the event.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250458/Hero-Argentina-pushes-van-safety-stalled-railway-crossing-train-approached.html

Just remember kids, it's not a good idea to drive around lowered train barriers, which is what created the situation in the first place.

The Ten Most Infuriating Car Interiors Ever Made

The Ten Most Infuriating Car Interiors Ever Made

Do you like buttons? Then I have the car for you!

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-infuriating-car-interiors-ever-made-1696345565

4 wheel steering

I always thought it'd be cool to have 4 wheel steering. Here's a video showing the 1988 Prelude 4WS.



Red Green's 4 wheel steering is pretty good too.



And an article about the prelude's 4 wheel steering system.


http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/milestones-the-honda-preludes-fourwheel-steering-20140919-10hpaj

Lightdims from ptouch scraps

I usually end up with some ptouch label scraps, especially when I'm making labels with less margins than normal. So if the left margin is less than an inch, it will kick out an inch of scrap and cut that off before it prints the label.

Lightdims are little stick on labels that you use to cover up super bright leds.

Bright blue leds on computer monitors are the worst offenders.

Instead of buying lightdims, I'll just cover it up with a little bit of ptouch tape cut to fit. It doesn't cover it up completely, so multiple layers are usually necessary. You could also use a permanent marker to darken the label too.

Coast to Coast electric world record broken

The electric vehicle (EV) coast-to-coast world record was unofficially broken by a team of 6 with an elapsed drive and charge time of just 58 hours and 55 minutes.

What amused me was this bit at the end: "The team of timekeepers followed the drivers in a Chevrolet Suburban."

http://americanrecycler.com/8568759/index.php/news/category-news-2/1097-two-electric-vehicle-world-records-broken

Ford Mustang GT Apollo Edition

I really like the paint job and styling on this 2015 mustang special edition. It would seem like such a shame to even drive this and to get it dirty. It'd be the ultimate garage queen.

Looking at the rear seat though, are those exposed fasteners I see? Wow, looks like a police car back there. I suppose that you wouldn't really have anybody riding there would you?

All it needs is some 1950s afterburners.

http://hiconsumption.com/2015/07/2015-ford-mustang-gt-apollo-edition/

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/news/2015-ford-mustang-apollo-edition-world-article-1.2293350

Sears Catalog 1983

"This Christmas I asked Santa to send me back to 1983 so I can reclaim the joy that the above pages gave me."

http://nerdbastards.com/2009/12/24/sears-christmas-nerd-style-part-2-1983-rules/

Fireworks accidents

Every year around July 4th, there's thousands of people setting off fireworks and severely injuring themselves or someone else. What's really ridiculous is that all of these are totally preventable.

This year, there happened to be 2 NFL players who in separate incidents managed to lose fingers.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25236708/report-jason-pierre-paul-has-right-index-finger-amputated

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/07/08/tampa-bay-buccaneers-cj-wilson-fireworks-accident-hand-injury

I thought this article from salon was spot on.

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/04/the_case_for_banning_fireworks/

Exile Amiga longplay

Back in the day, I had the exile demo and I played that over and over again. I never got anywhere, but the game had this great atmosphere which kept you entranced.

One of the great things about the internet is that someone, somewhere knows how to play the game better than I ever could.

Secret Agent Mission One for the Apple II

I always thought this was cool back in the day. Now I've finally seen the ending of it. Classic. Watch out for that nurse!



and here's a nice writeup about the game:

http://gamingafter40.blogspot.com/2014/03/adventure-of-week-secret-agent-mission.html

Smokin' hardware

I've got some really smokin' hardware here. Only it's the bad kind of smokin' hardware.

My displayport video card is dead. I could actually see something flash momentarily where a short had burned something up.

The culprit: A displayport adapter cable.

I tore the cable apart and what did I find? An insulation sleeve that doesn't fully cover the ground from the connector. That could be the source of the short.

Capacitors 'splode' on motherboard

Well, I've been hit with the 'sploding' capacitor. I suppose I should be lucky that the system lasted for 10 years or so. There was residue on the case opposite these bad capacitors where the electrolyte had gone flying.



There ought to be a public service announcement about bad capacitors.



I was able to resurrect the system by booting it on a dell optiplex 745. Strangely, I didn't have any mouse or keyboard control so I couldn't click off the "found new hardware" dialog. So I disabled all of the built in hardware (except for the video) and pulled all the expansion cards. After it found the keyboard and mouse automatically, then I could reboot with all of the normal hardware enabled.

Road insanity

Just what every kid needs

Home of Cool: Kids Bedroom Design with 100″ Ceiling TV

Every kid wishes their parents were cool enough to do something like this – and one fortunate child got their wish: a bedroom with a built-in super-size television installed in the ceiling to be viewed from below. Who cares about the best bedroom size or style when you can have the ultimate entertainment system hovering right over your bed?

http://dornob.com/home-of-cool-kids-bedroom-design-with-100-ceiling-tv/

Subaru from the outer solar system

More svg dots

I like this pattern with overlaying blending. The color effects are cool. You may need to zoom in to see it better.

blend_test_with_opacity.html

Making SVG dots in javascript

I thought I'd try to make an SVG dot pattern in javascript. Figuring out the blend mode is kind of tricky as I wanted it to blend the dots with multiply. It works on firefox with "mix-blend-mode" set to multiply. Chrome seems to ignore the blending.

What good is this? Maybe I'll try to render some dot matrix printer patterns to SVG to preserve the "dottiness." It does seem a bit slower than just using a regular bitmap.

Oops, I have to set the file to "Public" or googledrive wants you to login to view the files.

SVG_test_dots.html

SVG_test_dots2.html

Redbox - did you really want just one?

The last couple of times I went to the Redbox kiosk, I was really only interested in watching one movie. So I selected the movie, and then pressed the "pay" button and then Redbox asked me if I wanted another movie for $1 off. I replied yes and happily chose another movie.

If I'd chosen both movies first and then pressed "pay" I wouldn't have gotten the discount.

The next time you go to the Redbox, see what happens if you just want one.

Garbage Warrior - Michael Reynolds

I watched this documentary about Michael Reynolds and how he builds houses out of recycled materials like old tires, aluminum cans and glass bottles. The concept is pretty cool.

Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.

http://www.garbagewarrior.com/

http://earthship.com/blogs/author/biotecture/

http://earthship.com/blogs/2015/06/its-a-funky-off-grid-house-take-a-tour-of-albertas-first-official-earthship/

TNT Amusements restoring arcade games

It's really good to see these old machines get restored so beautifully.