Courtesy a “funny pictures” thread on Fark…
Jan 092012
Jan 092012
I have worked out a few advertising rates for ads in APR. There are two types… text-only “classified ads,” and full-color “picture ads.” The short form:
Classified ad type 1: 200 characters for $5
Classified ad type 2: 300 characters for $7.50
Picture ad type 1: 3.4 in wide by 3 in high: $10
Picture ad type 2: 7 in wide by 2.5 in high: $25
Picture ad type 3: 3 in wide by 6 in high: $25
Picture ad type 4: 7 in wide by 5 in high: $55
And a full page ad (7 in wide by 10 high): $110
I have put together a PDF file showing these sort of ads in context. If you are interested in advertising in APR, please take a look at it and see what works for you.
Jan 082012
Still plugging away at it. It got back-burnered while I finished up APR V3N2, but now it’s been front-burnered… at least for a little while. The thing I’m finding is that working on a book, especially one you’re illustrating yourself, is time consuming. And it doesn’t pay. So I can only work on it for a little while till I have to switch gears back to something to bring in some funds. So, unless anyone wants to throw a nice fat grant at me…
Anyway, I’m currently chugging away on the “Post-Orion” chapter… which is currently sitting at about 60 pages… and may make it to close to 100 pages. Oy.
Jan 072012
S.Korea police investigating rumour of nuclear explosion in N. Korea
The national police said on Saturday they have launched an investigation into an earlier market rumour about a nuclear explosion in North Korea, trying to determine if speculators had intentionally spread the false report to make profits.
Jan 072012
NASA artwork from September of 1963 illustrating three configurations for Class II Nova designs. The Class II designs ere mid-technology designs… new engines and new engine types, but nothing crazy. Some stage reusability was expected, though not complete vehicle reusability.
A high-rez of this can be downloaded HERE.
Jan 072012
A little one-man watercraft called the Seabreacher:
[youtube NI5gW7b8U1k]
While undeniably cool, my ass hurts just looking at that thing smacking into the water…
The Seabreacher is a product of New Zealand. While that’s good for them… anybody else seem to recall an era when *Americans* developed such patently absurd/awesome/dangerous/fun things like this? I think when they started banning things like Lawn Darts, a lot of the fun and innovation got sucked out of American society by the lawyervampires.
Jan 072012
Guy brushes his cat via Nao robot avatar
Sure, it sounds kinda lame. But… it’s not. It’s *really* not. A telerobotically controlled humanoid robot (I would say “android,” but I’m too afraid of Lucasfilm’s horde of cloned attack lawyers descending upon me) that can walk around and manipulate its environment. Sure, it’s slow, cumbersome and clumsy… but it’s a hell of a step towards “Surrogates.” The fact that it was assembled with video game components is kinda spiffy too.
[youtube pxoL4bnLp0g]
Jan 072012
I have four books I’m selling… two copies of “Across the Space Frontier” and two copies of “The Conquest of Space.”
“Across the Space Frontier” was published in 1952 and written by Werner von Braun and Willy Ley and illustrated b y the likes of Rolf Klep, Fred Freeman and Chesley Bonestell. It was edited together from articles in Collier’s magazine and is arguably the source of the American publics 1950’s fascination with the conquest of space. The art within is spectacular.
There are two copies, neither with dust jackets:
“Across A:” Blue cover, has the word “DAMAGED” stamped into the front cover, but seems to be intact except for some minor banging around on the cover and spine. $35.00 plus postage.
“Across B:” Gray cover, some tearing on the spine but appears otherwise pretty much intact. Look as good when 60 years old you reach, you will not… $35.00 plus postage.
Also available, two copies of “The Conquest of Space,” written by Willy Ley and illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, published 1949. Broader in scope than “Across,” it is packed with some amazing space art and a lot of interesting designs and ideas. Also undoubtedly played a major role in the 1950’s space-race popularization.
The two copies:
“Conquest A”: First edition, fifth printing. No dust jacket, but otherwise in pretty good shape. $25.00 plus postage.
“Conquest B:” First edition, Seventh printing. No dust jacket, missing the last page, cover fairly worn. $15.00 plus postage.
If you want one or more of these books, please comment and state which one(s) you want. First come, first served. Postage in the US will be via media mail (unless something else is requested); airmail elsewhere.
UPDATE: All have been spoken for.
Jan 062012
This is, indeed, a hell of a set of photos:
http://lana-sator.livejournal.com/160176.html#cutid1
It seems a young lady by name of Lana Sator decided to wander into an NPO Energomash rocket-production facility near Moscow and take a bunch of photos. The place is… well, creepy, partially abandoned (though still in operation), and not at all guarded or adequately set up to keep out trespassers.
The complete photo album seems to be HERE.
The place looks like it would fit in with any of a number of post-apocalyptic movies. Perhaps a Weyland-Yutani facility that has been abandoned and taken over by some renegade Decepticons…
Jan 062012
This is sad.
Montana population estimated to surpass 1 million
As population density increases, the pressures on not only the environment, but on basic human liberties also increase. Especially unhelpful is “Californication,” where people who come to feel that their overly urbanized homes are unfulfilling, so they move to rural, forested, mountainous, etc. areas. That would be fine, except far too many of them bring with them the same attitudes and voting habits that made their previous homes unpleasant. I saw that in Colorado, where cities like Denver and especially the People’s Republic of Boulder were turning into some very un-western places. I’ve seen it out here in rural Utah, though fortunately at a very low level, and the people who have tried to bend the local ways to *their* ways have been largely laughed at.
And hell, one of the great things about the mountain west is that the low population density leads to nice dark skies. As populations increase, so does light pollution. Lose the skies, you lose some of the wonder of the universe, and people forget that there really is a bigger world out there.