I’ve been saying that a lot since 2009.
Inside the ‘Star Trek’ Universe of New Shows and Kids’ Fare on Paramount Plus
The computer generated “cast” of “Star Trek: Prodigy:”
Buh?
Meh.
Feb 242021
Feb 242021
A video about the Boeing Resource Carrier designed to fly oil from far northern Canadian sites to ports. One wonders if this concept could be employed today to take the place of the recently cancelled Keystone pipeline…
More about the RC-1 is available in US Transport Projects #5.
Feb 242021
Razorfist rants with a freakin’ *passion* here about a metalhead who was arrested by the FBI for… well, existing in the wrong place, it seems.
Feb 242021
Fry’s hasn’t been relevant to me since I left California in 2004, but I recall their stores being pretty spiffy. But I’ve seen a number of YouTube videos in recent years that make them look like ghost towns, so this doesn’t shock me:
Report: Fry’s Electronics going out of business, shutting down all stores
The day of such stores is likely about as over as that of the shopping mall.
Feb 222021
A NASA press conference livestream with some interesting vids. At 11:58 to about 15:00 you can see multiple camera angles of the actual landing… on the skycrane looking down at the suspended rover, on the rover looking up at the skycrane, on the rover looking down at the surface. Various still images start at about 28:44. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to image the rover, the skycrane, the heat shield and the parachute scattered on the surface at 37:25… but more interestingly, a still image of the actual landing in process at 38:07, where you can see the parachutes fluttering away and the rocket exhaust scattering dust on the surface. The first audio recording from Mars is at 41:21, with a cleaned-up audio at 42:26 giving the sounds of winds on Mars. It’s not spectacular audio, but it’s better than anything produced by astrologers, gender studies majors or critical race theorists. Engineering rigor for the win. AGAIN.
Nuclear powered cars, baby!
Feb 222021
This is… huh. As pointed out by others, imagine the media firestorm if Trump had babbled out something like this:
We coulda had the platinum plan but instead we get this: pic.twitter.com/61oav6TpTe
— Malcolm Fle✘ (@Malcolm_fleX48) February 22, 2021
All sales are final.
Feb 212021
Work on the “Enterprise” continues…
Feb 212021
One of the things about art is… what’s the “right” version? These days most concept art is probably produced digitally so the colors are mathematically defined, at least in the original. They are of course easily tweaked… but the original can in theory be infinitely reproduced without alteration. But with old-school art, reproduction methods varied in accuracy. Photos would make paintings look different based on lighting and film stock and a myriad of other variables. And then simple *time* causes colors to change and fade in prints. So… what’s “right?” Whatever looks best, I suppose.
So here is a slightly differently version of a piece of art I posted about late last month. The colors are distinctly different: last months post was brighter and more vibrant; this one is more subdued. Click here for the full rez version.
As comparison, here’s the one from a month ago:
Feb 212021
This is an interesting case:
Local UofM Student Makes Case of Racial Profiling-UMPD Responds
Short from: a guy writes on Instagram of his horrifying interaction with racist cops. Cops respond with a video of the incident which show that it was remarkably benign 9to the point where at the end of the *brief* interaction, he asks *them* for a ride). So the question is: did the guy lie intentionally? Or did his brain step up the event in his memory, perhaps after being egged on by others? Did mental illness or drugs twist his interpretation of the event… or was it ideology?
So far, there do not seem to be any indications of consequences for the person who posted the false story. Even his identity seems to have been scrubbed. But given that this sort of thing, as we’ve seen, can lead to riots, arson, assault and death, you’d think that there *should* be some sort of investigation, with the end result being that the guy either needs assistance for his mental illness or legal consequences for incitement to riot, attempted domestic terrorism and insurrection, given that he explicitly uses his false story to support a policy of destruction of the rule of law. If this was not the result of mental illness, he should at least face expulsion.
Feb 212021
United Flight 328 out of Denver was a it more exciting than usual yesterday. The engine disassembled shortly after takeoff; imagine how thrilling that flight would have been had it done so well out over the Pacific on its way to Hawaii.