I like the idea of getting something like this, letting it record your every move, then after downloading your pictures to your PC, geo-tagging each of them based on the ”Time Take” timestamp. Seems like a nice “Low-Tech” solution to geo-tagging.
“This two-faced device doubles as a Bluetooth GPS receiver to navigate your course and allows you to “record your routes” in order to plot points on Google Earth and disseminate the map to your envious pals. Moreover, you can use the device to more accurately tag where your travel photos were snapped along the way….Designed to last a whopping 32-hours without a recharge, the BT-Q1000 can make your next journey a whole lot more memorable for $119 when it lands later this month.
QSTARZ BT-Q1000 GPS data logger syncs with Google Earth
Mum, one day I will be able to come home for dinner….
Slashdot: First Ever Scramjet Reaches Mach 10
A group of US and Australian scientists successfully tested a supersonic scramjet engine in the Australian Outback on Friday. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a rocket carrying the engine reached mach 10, and climbed to an altitude of 330 miles before the apparatus re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. “Australia’s Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) said it was believed to be the first time a scramjet had been ignited within the Earth’s atmosphere … Scramjets are supersonic combustion engines that use oxygen from the atmosphere for fuel, making them lighter and faster than fuel carrying rockets. Scientists hope that one day a scramjet aircraft fired into space could cut traveling time from Sydney to London to as little as two hours.”
First Ever Scramjet Reaches Mach 10
Documentary on an Aussie beach “tribe” called the Bra Boys. My brother mentioned it to me ages ago, only just got around to seeing it, not sure if he has yet (??).
Anyway, going into it I wasn’t sure what to expect, perhaps another look at this strange Aussie habit of carving hero’s out of those who are not always the most law abiding of citizens (Aussies love Chopper, I certainly loved the movie). In the end it felt a lot like a movie about surfing, which it seems, is pretty much all the Bra Boys do all day.
It was interesting to me to get a perspective on some of the things that have happened at home while I have been away. The 2005 Beach Race Riots in Cronulla for example, and even the Bra Boys themselves, who I had never heard of. The documentary (complete with Russell Crowe voice over)however came across a bit too much like marketing for the group, lots of “we’re just misunderstood” type undertones.
With that said, it seemed to me that the “leader” of the boys did have their “communities” interests at heart, even if they considered getting into running battles near their beach “protecting” their community. If the documentary is to be believed they also offered some of the local boys, in what is a very poor urban area, a sense of family, one in which drugs and smoking is forbidden in favour of surfing. It felt a little bit like what playing basketball is to young black men in “the ghetto”, with the guys who lead the Bra Boys actually being professional surfers.
I will always be very nervous of any glorification of this type of group, I cant help but wonder what it must be like to be in their community and somehow find yourself on the wrong side of one of the boys.
Continuing this weird obsession with things soviet, here is a great post that talks about East Germany’s Trabant. There are a couple of videos, but I like this one the best due to the way they delicately make the car fit together.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaF5JCMC-ts]
These guys are pretty creative, must get around to watching some more of their stuff:
Master pranksters The Yes Men crashed the Gas and Oil Exposition 2007 in Calgary this week, impersonating a rep from the National Petroleum Council at a keynote in which they proposed to convert people who died from climate change disasters into fuel.
Boing Boing: Yes Men crash oil expo, propose turning corpses into fuel
This is a pretty cool bit of research, it seems plants sharing a pot can recognise if the plant they are sharing it with is a sibling or not:
“When plants share their pots, they get competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbours get them. It appears, though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when they share a pot with family they don’t increase their root growth. Because differences between groups of strangers and groups of siblings only occurred when they shared a pot, the root interactions may provide a cue for kin recognition.”
Reminds me of something I learned in Africa, tried to find a link on it but couldn’t. There are trees there that when they are being fed on by elephant (or other animals) will increase the production of chemicals that capable of upsetting the animals stomach. This of course is to contribute to the survival of the plant by ensuring it is not completely consumed. The *really* interesting part is that its not just the tree unfortunate enough to be a meal, but all the surrounding trees also start to produce the chemical as well, further ensuring their survival. Who said plants cant talk?
I love this stuff, nature and evolution never ceases to amaze. It’s capacity for creative problem solving humbles the greatest of human innovation.
I do wonder though, where does this leave Vegetarians? James? <sly grin>
…with Petra away, I think I might have started talking to my blog….
Did a double-header movie night. Just watched Shooter (IMDB 7.1 (?!?), so I gave it a shot), I knew it would be bad and it didn’t let me down.
Anyone know how many “super human, amazing military man retires but is then convinced to return for one last mission” movies there have been? Is no one embarrassed about pitching these movie “ideas” in Hollywood? Who writes these things? Do the actors read it and go “Wow, this is AMAZING, how did you come up with this?”, I have got to be the guy who talks him into coming back from retirement. Oh please! please please please please.
It has a small completely predictable twist, but it also has slow motion sequences, the unbelievable and some really bad facial expressions. I think it was custom built for two audiences:
1) American “Deer Hunter” types
2) JFK Conspiracy Nuts (I mean that in a nice way)
If this was Marky Marks first movie, I would have suggested he stay with the Funky Bunch…
My ice cream was great though, Australian Home Made Belgian chocolate…confusing eh?
P.S. Oh yeah, and Mark, I always liked Heavy D & the Boyz better.
P.P.S. Yes, in future I will blog all my movies, that way I can search my blog to work out if I have seen them before or not…yes, my movie memory is THAT bad…
Its all about the history of the word FUCK.
I initially couldn’t imagine how they could make an interesting documentary about just that word, but they did. It comes with a serious side, with them delving into recent actions of the FCC and how as a word it’s continuously butting up against freedom of speech.
Got me interested in learning a little more about a guy called Lenny Bruce.
Oh, and it was dedicated to Hunter S Thompson, so Cam, you would LOVE IT….
That Dutch flies are a lot more annoying than Aussie flies.
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