Day: May 7, 2006

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

Chris

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This digital collection integrates over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text relating to the American Indians in two cultural areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast and Plateau. These resources illustrate many aspects of life and work, including housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, and employment. The materials are drawn from the extensive collections of the University of Washington Libraries, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (formerly the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society), and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle.

(via Linkfilter)

Instapundit and the Wrongness Singularity

Chris 1 Comment

HA!

So in fact, Reynolds has managed to fit five units of wrongness into only four declarative statements! This is the hackular equivalent of crossing the Chandrasekhar Limit, at which point your blog cannot help but collapse in on itself. It is unknown at this point whether the resulting end state will be an intermediate neutron-blog phase, or whether the collapse will proceed all the way to a singularity surrounded by a black hole event horizon. We may have to wait for the neutrino signal to be sure.

The Enterprise vs. The Death Star

Chris 7 Comments

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I think I’ll file this debate under the Geek category. (for the record, I’m voting for the Death Star. I’m not even sure the Enterprise could take on an Imperial Shuttle.)

It has come to our attention that there apparently was (and possibly still is) a debate over which would win the machino-et-machino match-up: Death Star vs. Enterprise. Newsgroup chatter be damned!! Let’s decide this for real, folks! Steve, Enterprise, led by Kirk and Co. (of course) up against the Death Star (with Darth Vader, no Emperor) – who controls the universe at battle’s end?

STEVE: You’re joking, right? How could an argument as one-sided as this ever linger over the (supposedly) intelligent memebers of the internet community? I’m so shocked I don’t even know where to begin… I guess I’ll start off with the obvious. The death star can pulverize a PLANET! Even with Scotty “givin’ her all she’s got,” there’s no way the Enterprise could withstand even one hit by that thing. And that’s just the main gun. There are also thousands of smaller surface weapons, each of which would cause Kirk & Co. to go flying over the bridge railing if they hit the Enterprise. And of course, hitting the Enterprise wouldn’t be difficult at all considering it’s as manuverable as an ocean liner. Also, did I mention Tie-fighters? Swarms of them would descend on the Enterprise and blast it into smithereens. Also, did I mention the tractor beam? It would grab onto the Enterprise and hold it still while the main gun is warmed up…

(via Linkfilter)

Pictures of a Laser Test Facility

Chris 3 Comments

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Some great high res photos of a facility in New Mexico which the NY Times claims to be testing how to take down enemy satellites with ground based freakin laser beams.

The Bush administration is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit.

The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive. No treaty or law forbids such work.

The laser research was described by federal officials who would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of the topic’s political sensitivity. The White House has recently sought to play down the issue of space arms, fearing it could become an election-year liability.

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Related:
Wikipedia’s entry on the Starfire Optical Range.
(via Monkeyfilter)

The Oozinator by Hasbro

Chris 7 Comments

Eh, I’m going to label this children’s ad as NSFW. And yes, it’s a real product.

From Hasbro’s website:

Sneak up on your opponents with a surprise bio-ooze attack! Just when they think you’re coming at ‘em with water, blast ‘em with a shot of icky bio-ooze! Shoot out globs of gooey bio-ooze and then drench ‘em with water! It’s a double blast attack that’ll keep your opponents on their toes and running during every water fight. With the OOZINATOR blaster you don’t just get soaked, you get drenched!