memespawn

spidercat — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:09:53 GMT

First: Better Off Ted
A new show about R&D director for a large mad science corporation

"We want to weaponise a pumpkin."

Protein structure determined in living cells which may, one day, allow for resolution of how proteins participate in biological processess within living tissues. It's biogeek stuff.

Scientists have developed a nanoporus material with more than 5000 square metres per gram

European scientists are working on post 4G technologies (1500 times the speed of upcoming 4G mobile networks in fact), experimentally able to deliver 12.5 gigabytes a second uncompressed wireless HD only requires 3Gb a second, has been developed - we'll probably see the frst uses of this in recording sports events, I'm presuming.

More mind reading stuff - scientists can now, by scanning someone's brain know more about where you've been

Science determines the chemicals that make Gouda tasty - on food science, an old but good one - molecular gastronomy, wherein foods are chemically examined to find out which things that you wouldn't go together actually will - who would have thought that Pineapple, Blue Cheese, and White Wine would have gone together? Now I want to try out some of these pairings, our of curiosity.

In space news, scientists appear to have sidestepped the "warm box" necessity - means of protecting electronics from extremes of temperatures or exposure to radiation, some commercially available designs having been tested down to 2 kelvin (that's 2 degrees above absolute zero, or -271 celcius). Which is some space age stuff right there, in and of itself, and one step closer to holding the stars in the palms of our hands.

Ultra thin chips developed for wearable electronics

Oh, and under certain conditions graphite functions as a superconductor; sodium becomes transperant (and not metallic) under high (but experimetally obtainable) pressure - which is interesting for the information this gives us about material sciences; patients who give up smoking before surgery have half as many complications; random network connectivity can be delayed, but at the cost of explosive crystallisation of connectivity once it begins; Nanofluids have been developed for high grade heating or cooling; Doctors have successfully removed 7 organs, removed a tumor and replaced all organs in a 7 year old girl who has now recovered enough to go home; When usicians play together, their EEGs beomce more synchronized; A new generation of oral vaccinne has been developed using dairy probiotics (which has already been used to immunise against anthrax exposure (80% survival in mice which is comparable with injected vaccinnes)) removing the need for adjuncts which stimulate the immune system at the site of injection (and co-commitent side effects) - bad news for the lactose allergent, I suppose.

Anyway, I've been finding this stuff interesting, and have been on a science kick (primarily due to ACW character creation, I suppose). Does anyone else find it interesting?

Science! (and other interesting links!)

spidercat — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:23:59 GMT

Most important is probably several researchers discovering a means of cheaply(er) and simply(er) synthesizing peptides, and deciding not to patent it but make it more open source. If you're not a biochem geek, this is very funky and excellent for further research.

A way of artificially creating human bones using a 3D printer, which can then be implanted into a body and mature into living human bone tissue.

An interesting data mining tool which seems to be seeking not links, but the answers to questions - of course I have no idea if it'll actually work, but it's definately fascinating.

On the further borders of MMI, a man who was missing an eye has had his artificial eye replaced with one which contains a video camera to transmit information to an external source. Which raises some privacy, and security issues. This isn't a camera that's directly linked to the optic nerve (those are still in the very basic stages, but are advancing rapidly), but one which records information.

The slightly alarmist step by step guide to destroying the world with Nanotechnology:

Mmm, grey goo.

When in doubt for crazy science, there's always Mind Control. It doesn't mention the Cyranoid effect, which is also interesting.

Luckily someone has already created warning signs for the future which are not only useful, but pretty.

In less techy links:
Regrettably the plans to suspend a geostationary banana over texas fell down in the last stages. Still, it's cool.
Regrettably I do not own a copy of Girraffe? Girraffe!
Finally, The True stories behind 5 famous images.

spidercat — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:45:04 GMT

I somewhow managed to mostly avoid the internet for a week, so this may have been posted already. If not, watch it:

Also:
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2009/02/biggest-animals-of-all-time.html

Various

spidercat — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:51:27 GMT

So: I agreed to do a blog with a friend. Where is a good place to start one?

Links to things I have talked to people about:

Battlestar is returning on the 16th of January. One website that I've always very much enjoyed was Bear McCreary's discussions about the music that went into battlestar here. It's fascinating reading, even if only for the (chillingly awesome) translation of the lyrics of the Gaius Baltar Scene in series 4 - which post contains some spoilers here

Scientists making evil AI to release into world of Warcraft

Monkey uses mind control to control robots

TV Tropes a collection of various tropes, originally just from TV, ubt also from books, comics, and film (and real life).

I'm sure there's other stuff - so what else have I said I should provide you the link to?

Birthday Party Date

spidercat — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:14:44 GMT

For some strange reason, I'm thinking of when to hold my actual birthday party.

So birthday party: Saturday January 17 2009 - the third saturday of January.

Is there some reason that I should avoid this day? Some awesome event, or happening upon it? You have a week to object, or else I'll claim it.

Continuing my habit of planning parties a bit before other people think is reasonable, how would people feel about having an end of the world themed party in 2012, when the Aztec/Mayan/Incan calenders run out? Not that I think the world is going to end, but it's a good excuse for a party, yes.

So I'm back

spidercat — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:29:59 GMT

Well, a bit earlier than this, but I've done the basic unpacking. I thought of napping until a bit later in the day, but there are no blankets on my bed - which I'll have to ask housemates about. Still, I'm curled up in my room again and I have a flavoured milk drink (which were impossible to find overseas) so everything is fine.

If you sent me a SMS or tried to ring, I didn't get it - probably something to do with taking my phone overseas.

If you've posted something on your livejournal (or something has happened in world politics you think I should know about - I was really quite disconnected) then please leave a note here (or send one privately, I guess). I won't be reading backwards on livejournal any further than this message.

Possibly there might be a more interesting message later.

Just in case you don't know (and RPGs)

spidercat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:15:05 GMT

On saturday I'm leaving to America. Apparently I suck at publicising this properly.

Talking tonight on the new episode of A Colder War made me realise how much I enjoy doing this. It's always fun creating these things. I think I really do enjoy collaborating on them just because of all the energy that that brings to the subject.

4 things

spidercat — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:11:29 GMT

Jet li and Jackie Chan are doing Forbidden Kingdom - Based off Journey to the West (which also had Monkey baserd off it).
The trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE7ny2bfXF0
Unfortunately, it appears to have shoe-horned in whitey
The other trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BVo23wypgQ (more plot elements)

On the other hand, Machine Girl, about a schoolgirl who gets her arm cut off by ninja yakuza, and so replaces it with a minigun (oh, japan) looks terrible. Or awesome. Or terribly awesome.
The trailer: http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/disfigured-school-girl-heavy-weaponry-first-machine-girl-trailer/

I mentioned a movie with lot of spirals, because it came up in conversation - UZUMAKI
The trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd8a6BJT2cc

Finally, expendable, a short film story about the life of a minion of supervillians:

Unbirthday + New Years Party Reminders

spidercat — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:50:05 GMT

Just reminding everyone, I did mention several months ago that I was going to be having an unbirthday and a new Year's thing. People seem not to remember my throwaway comments from three months ago (which, hey, fair enough), though, so thought I'd remind.

New Years - December 31st
Birthday - Saturday 19th of January (third saturday of the month)

Both will be at my place in Sydenham.
We're still pulling details together, but they're likely to be casual affairs.Unless someone proposes something amazingly awesome.

Questions?

Alcohol related link: One person, three days, 216 drinks for medical purposes.

Consume the old. Devour the new

spidercat — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:42:36 GMT

I'm thinking of having a birthday thing the third weekend of January. Is this a problem for anyone? I realise it will be hot then, but we have air conditioning, so hey. New Year?

I've been using a scalpel recently in wax work (as opposed to the usual wax carving tools), and have remembered why I liked doing it. It's a lot sharper, and so a lot easier to get clean lines, which means more detail. It's also really good for negative space work. Overall: fun. Not best for everythign, but fun.

I mentioned to someone the reason why the common drawing of a heart looks nothing like an actual biological one, and how this comes from the seed of a natural contraceptive. A tale of ecological mismanagement, and natural birth control 2600 years ago.

Then of course, there's the tesla inspired floating lightbulb which takes less energy to run than a normal light bulb.

And, of course: German Physicists who claim to have broken the speed of light.

Finally, the skull of pacman

Some of humor in the following is a bit suss, but hey, historical mech fighting:

Every love story is, first and foremost, a mystery

spidercat — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:29:27 GMT

Enhancement today: apparently an israeli company is marketing the first "internal bra" http://blog.bioethics.net/2007/08/enhancement-today/

When I first read that article, I thought it was talking about MMI. Which is a quite different thing, ohlordyyes.

Which brings (obliquely) to mind thoughts on evil. It seems so... banal and impotent as a concept sometimes.

lullabies are a beautiful concept, however.

spidercat — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:02:00 GMT

Going to Melbourne Sunday through Tuesday.
Still unsure if I'll be working at Sexpo on saturday.
Have: A flood of spiders (old news, I know)
Some people have not seen How it Should Have Ended. Star Wars Episode IV is particularly good (in the archive section)

Steampunk rayguns

spidercat — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:03:55 GMT

Silver: I have begun collecting images, symbols, and designs that I like recently. If you have one that you particularly like, give it to me.

spidercat — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:46:20 GMT

I just went to see Transformers. I will say only three things:
Praise Megatron, Founder of Modern Civilisation!
Optimus Prime is watching you make out.
Vending-bot is awesome.

Friends interlaced, Cash for little work, Weddings

spidercat — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:56:01 GMT

The relationships between people I know continually surprises me. In some situations I presume that people know each other, when they've never met and fit together like lego pieces from one of those cooler older kits that were more general before they all became about movie tie ins - which confuses me slightly but whatever. I should find out if I still have my bucket of lego, I used to have quite a lot. Sometimes, people from wildly disparate groupings know each other, or have relationships that I wouldn't have picked - a case in point being the fact that I knew someone and his brother seperately for a period of at least several years (I think about 4 years I've known one, and 2 1/2 years I've known the other) but never known that they even knew each other let alone that they were brothers. Which threw me. I guess that I should just presume that human relationships are like a spiderweb. A four dimensional spiderweb whose linkages are a lot closer than would otherwise be presumed. Presumably the fourth dimension would be time, with the other three being the usual spatial dimensions since I'm not sure human relationships can be described using quantum relationships. Even if geckos apparently use weak atomic force to climb walls, and plants use vagaries of quantum mechanics to sample all available energy pathways in order to select the best one for photosynthesis. Which is cool.

If you're looking for some extra cash, ring Bek, from Analyze on 9793 1041 (if you live in Sydney). They run discussion groups there - the most recent one I went to was being shown a Wii, PS3, and 360, getting a chance to play with each, and then giving my opinion on each of them, but there are a variety of things that they discuss. Generally the cash is pretty good for the time involved, and the times take into account the fact that people work, so it's usually pretty easy to get to them even if you work.

I have recently been to several weddings, which I always enjoy. It's a very different experience being in the audience of a wedding as opposed to a performer at a wedding - something that some people may not know about me is that I have been to possibly hundreds of weddings due to the fact that I used to be part of a choir that sung professionally at them. Which is how I learned to sightread music. So, yes. Many weddings. But: being part of the actual process and having a stake in it (through knowing the people involved and actually wanting them well) gives an entirely new perspective on the process. Someone once told me that marriage is much like Voltron, where people are better together then they are seperately. I would add to this that you get a giant sword with which to attack Alien invaders, which is a metaphor for... uniting together to face those elements of society who would rip you apart?

Sometimes I think I should work on my metaphors before I begin speaking (or in this case, typing). Perhaps I should simply stop trying to find linkages between what I'm saying and the original point of my message?

EDIT: Apparently I've had particularly prominant collarbones recently. Thankyou?

Curiosity

spidercat — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:57:59 GMT

Those of you who I said I would inform when the new Kushiel book came out in softcover, well... I have now.

I don't tend to use this much anymore, except to view my friends page. What would people reccomend that I use it for? Nothing? Review of books, or other things (people who know me know that I read things occasionally)? Strange facts, pictures or videos? Rambling discursions on philosophy or science? Talking about upcoming RPG stuff, and other related work news? Other?

Or just keep this as a thing I post in when something catches my fancy. Which is likely to be in another 6 months or so, given how I work.

Thus Concludes

spidercat — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:09:53 GMT

Like all good experiments, this one involves mice.

That's a lot of ink

spidercat — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:13:07 GMT

lots of smaller bits

spidercat — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:36:55 GMT

10 Things I Hate About The Commandments

spidercat — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:37:19 GMT

spidercat — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:07:58 GMT

Beat The Devil - With Clive Owen, Gary Oldman and James Brown.

What's with all of you people who I know not knowing one another? You're making it so much more difficult for me to interact with you all, what with the constant interaction, and having to introduce people to one another. I mean, honestly. The gall of you people with your non-compound intelligence, and linear views of time.

worth it

spidercat — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:49:08 GMT

I beat you at English (yes, I am petty)

spidercat — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:39:05 GMT

People were yesterday telling me that my use of "declaim" as a descriptive was incorrect, and that I should instead be "proclaim"ing things. I countered that no, declaim was a perfectly acceptable usage, but was told that it was not. Hah:

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

declaim
v : recite in elocution [syn: recite]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Declaim \De*claim"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Declaimed; p. pr. &
vb. n. Declaiming.] [L. declamare; de- + clamare to cry
out: cf. F. d['e]clamer. See Claim.]
1. To speak rhetorically; to make a formal speech or oration;
to harangue; specifically, to recite a speech, poem, etc.,
in public as a rhetorical exercise; to practice public
speaking; as, the students declaim twice a week.

2. To speak for rhetorical display; to speak pompously,
noisily, or theatrically; to make an empty speech; to
rehearse trite arguments in debate; to rant.

Grenville seized the opportunity to declaim on the
repeal of the stamp act. --Bancroft.
Declaim \De*claim"\, v. t.
1. To utter in public; to deliver in a rhetorical or set
manner.

2. To defend by declamation; to advocate loudly. [Obs.]
``Declaims his cause.'' --South.

I also mentioned that crazy music projection touchscreen... thing. Look here:

Capitalisation provides EXTRA emphasis

spidercat — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:19:43 GMT

You know one day, I should really just bow to the inevitable, TEAR out my heart, and replace it with a SEETHING cauldron of caffine and malice.

The malice gives extra flavour. It's sweet, and tastes a lot like victory, only more hollow somehow. Some people prefer sugar, but for me it's always been caffiene, malice, and occasionally VENOMOUS BLACK BILE which RISES from the crushed hopes and dreams of children.

Incidentally, I will be working at Warringah Mall today. Hopefully I will be able to unleash righteous PAIN filled vengence upon those that annoy me. Or give them weak plastic bags so that their shopping spills on the floor.

And they called me petty.
...
Well, no, they called me pretty. But we're never going to speak of that again, oh no. All photographic evidence was PURGED, and shall never been seen again.
Except that nothing is ever deleted on the internet.
CUSS!

But if you're in the vicinity, drop by, certainly.

1081

spidercat — Wed, 17 May 2006 13:16:46 GMT

I sit in my cubicle, here on the motherworld.
When I die, they will put my body in a box and
dispose of it in the cold ground.
And in all the million ages to come, I will never
breathe or laugh or twitch again.
So won't you run and play with me here among the
teeming mass of humanity?
The universe has spared us this moment.
And in all the billions of years to come,
it will never pass again.