Thursday, May 31, 2012

8 Prehistoric Creatures Ripped Directly from Your Nightmares | Cracked.com

I am still fascinated by these fantastic hybrid (reptile/bird/?) creatures that once ruled the Earth for more than 165 Ma (million years)….

Prehistoric Creatures

8 Prehistoric Creatures Ripped Directly from Your Nightmares | Cracked.com

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Coding Horror: So You Want to be a Programmer

Back in the day, I tried to learn assembly language on my Atari.  It was difficult and I was exposed to countless distractions.  I didn’t stick with it.  I did, however, learn Atari Basic.  It was fun typing programs from the back of computer magazines like Compute! (and getting them to work).  Fun, I believe, is the key word.  Stress and frustration pail in comparison to the joy of discovering and/or learning a new passion.

Coding Horror: So You Want to be a Programmer

Monday, May 21, 2012

6 Ridiculous Lies You Believe About the Founding of America

"History was written by the victors." -- Winston Churchhill
America

By Jack O'Brien,Elford Alley Published: May 15th, 2012 When it comes to the birth of America, most of us are working from a stew of elementary scho... read more

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Smart People Don't Think Others Are Stupid

Think before you speak.  Don't jump to conclusions (at least, not until you have all the facts)....

Smart People Don't Think Others Are Stupid
Picture by cool-slayer on DeviantArt

The woman seemed to be making some pretty good points, until she stopped with, “Ugh! Those (people she disagrees with) are just so stupid!!” She could have said Southerners,… read more

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

James Cameron Mining Asteroids: Is It Possible? - TIME

James Cameron Mining Asteroids: Is It Possible? - TIME

Astro-Girl

Note: Too bad we can’t mine asteroids for oil — only planetary bodies that support (or once supported) life can bless us with fossil fuels. Of course, there is the abiogenic hypothesis of petroleum origin to consider….

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Hunger Games: First Impressions

First and foremost: A well done book, film, radio drama, etc., must, at the very least, appear to be somewhat plausible for my mind to fit comfortably around whatever respective world is being offered -- no matter how outrageous the plot line and/or setting. The Hunger Games fits my definition of an implausible future or alternate universe. I, simply, could not accept the whole, combined premise of nuclear war, starvation (they all looked pretty, healthy and nourished), rebellion, districts and gladiator style human sacrifice (of varying ages and genders). Even a film like, Never Let Me Go (which greatly disturbed me), did not stretch credibility to the same degree.
That and a lack of character chemistry aside -- especially between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) -- the survival and action scenes were extremely satisfying. I would rate this movie no higher than three stars. It was good. Perhaps, if I had read the books, I would be more of a believer....

Friday, November 25, 2011

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1 (2011)

A solid four out of five stars -- I'm subtracting one-half star for a few prolonged (potential yawns) scenes and some overly gushy/mushy, cliched dialog; and, one-half star simply because it's not the greatest movie in existence. That being said, however, TBD proved to be a thoroughly intense and engaging, preternatural (Anne Rice word) romance/thriller. I can't wait for part 2. Without providing any spoilers (hopefully): Bella (Kristen Stewart) slew me with her emotional and extremely realistic wedding isle walk. There is a fantastic confrontation between Jacob (Taylor Lauther) and the other werewolves. Lastly, the ending moments (I won't tell you what happens) were suspenseful, riveting and all together satisfying. Highly recommended. Go see it!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Rand Not Too Grand!

Here I am worrying daily over the horrible treatment President Obama has consistently received (mostly from republicans) since his term began, and it seems that I've been worrying for naught -- the tea-people are proving to be the GOP's own worse enemy. Rand Paul must retract and/or clarify the Civil Rights comments he made (or refused to make) on the Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 9:00 pm).

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

President to Outline His Vision for NASA - NYTimes.com

President to Outline His Vision for NASA - NYTimes.com

Obama Space

It really is becoming laughable. Anything and everything President Obama supports, the republicans/tea-people (and a handful of misguided democrats) reject. Would any other president receive such hateful criticism for suggesting a (temporary) hiatus on the manned portion of our space program?

Sending people into space (at this time) is exorbitantly expensive -- and so much more can be accomplished (cheaply, in comparison) utilizing private industry, the international space station, sophisticated orbiting telescopes and advanced robotic probes while we work on a larger, more powerful booster rocket (and other technologies) for future manned missions (to Mars and beyond).

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Sad Demise of GeoCities

The demise of GeoCities will cause a great disturbance in the force.

A huge number of historic websites will, simply, cease to exist (except perhaps within the vaults of the Internet Archive).

It is nice to be able to taste human food, once again....

Girls of SciFi