Just passing by...

Looking like the cover of a 1960's pulp Science Fiction novel, the ESA Rosetta probe took this picture as it passed by Mars the other day.

March of the Librarians

"Twice a year, tens of thousands of Librarians make a trek across the United States to congregate in one place. How they know where to go is unknown to us...."

Helpdesk

New users always need a bit of training.

Who says you can't "compete with free"?

Mike at Techdirt has a brilliant explanation of the economics behind "free". 

"Getting back to my series of posts on understanding economics when scarcity is removed from some goods, I wanted to address the ridiculousness of the "can't compete with free" statements that people love to throw out. If we break down the statement carefully, anyone who says that is really saying that they can't compete at all. The free part is actually meaningless -- but the zero is blinding everyone.

To explain this, it helps to go back to your basic economics class and recognize that, in a competitive market, the price of a good is always going to get pushed towards its marginal cost. That actually makes a lot of sense. As competition continues, it puts pressure on profits, but producers aren't willing (or can't for very long) keep selling goods at a direct loss. Sunk (or fixed) costs don't matter, because they've already been paid -- so everything gets pushed to marginal cost. That's pretty well accepted by most folks -- but it's still misinterpreted by many. They tend to look at it and say that if price equals marginal cost, then no one would ever produce anything. That's a misconception that is at the heart of this whole debate."

Attention-deficit musicology

Heard of the WFMU Sixty Second Song remix contest?

"With my attention span declining by an average of three seconds per year, I thought it was high time to hold a sixty second song remix contest. The rules are simple: take any "known" song (whatever that means, I know, I know...) and reduce it to sixty seconds or less. I'd like to get 78 of these, if possible, so enter as many times as you like! I'll be playing these on the air and posting many of them here as well."

Techniques used range from the obvious to the sublime


For those with even shorter attention spans, this has evolved a Ten Albums in Ten Minutes subgenre.

Particular kudos are due to Nirvana's Nevermind in 45 seconds  and the Beatles' Magical Mystery Minute

Cat playing the piano

Because.....well, because there haven't been enough links to cats playing the piano here.

Order of the Science Scouts

For the propagation of an ideal where science communicators can meet firstly, for drinks; secondly, for communicating; and ultimately, for networking.

Members are:

- not opposed to alcohol.
- fond of IPCC reports (especially the pictures).
- mostly in agreement with the "truth."
- into badges.
- grieving for the slow and miserable death of the Hubble Space Telescope.
- possibly possessed of supernatural powers.
- not in the business of total world domination
- committed to the constant and diligent presentation of science stories, be it to editors, producers, directors, educators, relatives and/or friends of various ilk, in an effort to lessen the gap that is this thing we call public scientific literacy.

http://scq.ubc.ca/sciencescouts/

Douglas Adams quotes

Eighty quotes from Douglas Adams, although some duplicates seem to have snuck in.

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
                                           - Douglas Adams

Gardner Museum now podcasts its Classical Music concerts

"Since the death of its eponymous founder in 1924, Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum hasn't moved a muscle. As per the stipulations of Gardner's will, the Raphaels and John Singer Sargents hang just where she left them. The sculptures haven't budged. Nor has the vase of dried thistle. Even the spots on the gallery wall left empty in a notorious (and unsolved) 1990 heist remain blank. In other words, the Gardner is about the last place you'd expect to be posting big numbers in new media. But last September, this little time capsule, filled with ornate tapestries and antimacassars, began offering free podcasts of its classical concert series. From September to October, it chalked up some 40,500 downloads from 83 countries, making it one of the most popular classical podcasts to date."

Full Article (FastCompany Magazine)

The Podcasts

Imagining the tenth dimension

Don't know how good the book it's based on is, but the flash animation is interesting.

Danger Alarm Clock

Forthcoming alarm clock design from Japan looks like a movie time-bomb, complete with exposed red, yellow, and blue wires.  Cut the right wire to turn off the alarm, but which wire it is changes from day to day.

Patent humor of the day

For your consideration, I give you published USPTO application 2006-0259306.

http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_CH/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.getBib/.ps/N/.c/6_0_69/.ce/7_0_3AB/.p/5_0_341/.d/1?selectedTab=fileHistorytab&isSubmitted=isSubmitted&dosnum=10569506#7_0_3AB

Pretty

Rather odd, but pretty
More, and more here too.

Rocketboom Casual Friday

I admit I've stopped viewing Rocketboom for a while; don't know if the material had gotten less interesting, or it just became too disruptive to watch videos in a crowded office space. 

In any case, today's show was rather sweet.  Worth seeing.