Okay, readers of this blog will know that I already believe in a divine being. However, the fact that the SciFi channel is creating a BSG spinoff is actual proof. Okay, that and beer. Whatever works for you.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 12:52 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I will be too old to visit when it's completed, but I'm looking forward to at least seeing construction being on a permanent moon base. Excerpt:

Nasa, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is developing a plan to send people back to the Moon half a century after it was first visited by Apollo astronauts.

Only this time Nasa intends to stay on the Moon by building a lunar base permanently manned by astronauts who will help prepare the groundwork for an even more ambitious manned mission to Mars.
...
The 2008 mission to the Moon will be the first of many robot missions that will culminate in a manned lunar landing between 2018 and 2020, the first since Apollo 17 in 1972.[ed. note: If you'd have told me back in 1972 that we wouldn't have visited the moon again before my 40th birthday, I'd have assumed that you were insane]

As a lifelong scifi buff, the thought of visiting the moon and staying there for a while is pretty exciting.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:33 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Then again, I better have passed the damned thing. Otherwise, someone might have asked me to return my master's degree. Heck, they might have made me return my undergraduate degree, too.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Quiz found via Insults Unpunished.

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Not getting enough caffeine in your diet? Do you find that drinking lots of coffee/soda to get your caffeine is too burdensome? Have I got an invention for you. Excerpt:

And now ThinkGeek Labs is proud to present the most revolutionary caffeine delivery system available: Buzzaire.

Buzzaire is, quite simply, a caffeine inhaler. One squeeze, one inhale, and you've just rushed 150mg of caffeine into your blood stream. Mints or drinks have to go through your digestive tract first before partying in your blood (or through your skin, in the case of caffeinated soap). But the lung/blood barrier is the fastest way (other than injection or IV) to get caffeine into your system. Not only will you get one heck of a rush, but you'll also freshen your breath! A hint of peppermint oil in each puff will give you a little extra perk with its peppy zing. Buzzaire can beat up your air!
...

Caffeine Comparison Chart

Drink/Food           Caffeine Content 

12oz Can of Coke         34mg 

12oz Can of Mt. Dew      37mg 

12oz of Jolt Cola        78mg 

10oz Bottle of Bawls     80mg 

8oz of Brewed Coffee     70-120mg 

One breath of Buzzaire   150mg 

Update: When you want a shower that induces a coronary in the morning.

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Well, it isn't cheap, but it sure is handy: the SlimTRAK GPS device.
Excerpt:

Weighting in at only 3.6 ounces, the all new SlimTRAK real time tracking system makes all others obsolete! No more complicated wiring or GPS antenna mounting. Due to new state-of-the-art "high sensitivity antenna" technology, the very small SlimTRAK tracker is completely self contained, including 4 standard "AA" batteries that power the unit for a full 3 months. Of course, if you prefer a permanent installation, connection assembly with battery back up is also available.

INSTALLS IN SECONDS
Once activated, SlimTRAK can be installed anywhere in the vehicle, including trunk, under seat, in glove box, or any other convenient location. For covert applications, our custom fitted waterproof magnetic case allows for quick installation under the vehicle or under hood. Unit can easily be moved from one vehicle to another. Also great for protecting heavy equipment, boats, industrial equipment and dozens of other items.

EXTREMELY EASY TO USE
No rocket scientist need here! Unit operates using GPS and GSM communication technology. To track your vehicle, simply access the SlimTRAK website from any internet active computer, type in your password, and a detailed map with tracking information appears. Info includes time, speed of vehicle, street address of vehicle and last stop. Updates every 5 minutes, to keep you on target. Unit can be programmed for for faster or slower update frequency, if desired. Toll free customer support assures that all your questions be answered promptly.

No, the $845 price tag isn't cheap, but it's still a pretty effective way to track your car. And, if you're interested, it could be used to track pretty much anything else, such as your briefcase, suitcase, etc. If the airline loses your luggage, you can tell them where to find it. Pretty darned cool.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:59 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Pi Day today( March 14, 3.14- get it?). Today is also the day that we celebrate Albert Einstein's birth. Happy B-Day, Albert.

Coincidentally, I happen to be reading Life of Pi right now. So I've got that going for me, too.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:52 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Okay, it's actually hydrogen or helium, but lofting balloons with wireless repeaters for cell phone coverage, instead of traditional towers, is a pretty cool idea. Excerpt:

Extend America and Chandler, Ariz.-based Space Data Corp. are developing the technology, which is believed to be the first to use disposable balloons to provide cellular coverage.

A trial balloon will be launched in the next few weeks to test the idea, said Schafer, who left office in 2000 after eight years as governor.

"To cover every square mile of North Dakota, it would take 1,100 cell towers," Schafer said. "We can do the whole state with three balloons."

If successful, the hydrogen-filled balloons could be drifting across the stratosphere above North Dakota this summer, providing cellular coverage at a tiny fraction of the cost of building cellular towers.

Nifty idea. Cheap, too.

Update: John Cole notices something that I missed. Excerpt:

While it is interesting, I am posting this simply because it amuses me that for the first time I remember, a story refers to a trial balloon that actually is a TRIAL BALLOON.

I am easily amused.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:48 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Via Dean comes this article about a self-aware robot. The article doesn't mention it, but I believe its name is SkyNet.

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Repeat from last year. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

This, I loved:

Translation to follow upon request.

BTW, here is the Taylor series expansion for the natural log Euler's constant. Behold:

Substitute "1" for x and there you have it.

Update: As someone else noticed, the series expansion is for the root used in the natural log: e, also know as Euler's number, Euler's constant(not the Euler-Mascheroni constant), or Napier's constant. Sorry for any confusion.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:59 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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If it isn't already dead, then this website is guaranteed to play Dr. Kevorkian to it.

Thanks to Bane for the link.

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Is Firefox your browser of choice? If so, did you know that you could hack the browser to improve navigation and tab browsing? Then this article is for you.

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Harvey posted a quick fix to a problem that I'm certain fellow MuNuvians have experienced: inability to retrieve the trackback URL for a post. Being the geeky sort of dork that I am, I'd already figured it out for myself, but didn't post about it because I'd assumed everyone already knew it.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. My wife feels the same way. She reminds me frequently that other people's brains do not work the same way that mine does, to which the proper response is "Thank goodness."

Anyway, it's kind of cool, so check it out.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 12:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another security flaw that allows someone to take over control of your computer, huh? Why can't Microsoft make regular errors in their programs? Things that force you to reboot your computer occassionally, or lockup your keyboard, or simply stop functioning? Oh wait, Microsoft still has those errors in addition to the more egregious security flaws. Isn't that special?

Words for the future today: embrace the Penguin.

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What if everything you know is wrong? If this report has any truth to it, I'll have to unlearn a lot quantum physics. Then again, quantum physics was always my weakest course, as I preferred the more concrete stuff.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:04 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Guess what's going to be released on DVD this December 20? If you guessed the widescreen DVD of Serenity, you guessed right. YEEEAAARRGGGHHH!!!!

Uh, that last statement can be translated as "I've just pre-ordered my copy."

It's time for all of us Serenity/Firefly fans to start talking this up. Big DVD sales this Christmas season.

Update: Via Harvey comes some pictures from DragonCon, notable not for its excessive supply of geeks, but rather the photo of Jewel Staite someone was able to snap. Almost as cool as the signed photos of Elizabeth Gracen I got at Syndicon in 1998.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:21 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Cimictus
The Beatles

Inlecebrae
The Temptations

Lapides provolventes
The Rolling Stones

Ille quis
The Who

Mortui grati
The Grateful Dead

Simitatores
The Monkees

Pueri litoris
The Beach Boys

Illi silices
The Flintstones

Insula gilliganis
Gilligan's Island

Zona crepusculi
The Twilight Zone

Opus: quod fiere non potest
Mission: Impossible

Dies felices
Happy Days

Navis amoris
The Love Boat

Iuvenes inquietesque
The Young and the Restless

Pretium iustum est
The Price is Right

Posted by: Physics Geek at 10:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nescio quid dicas
I don't know what you're talking about

Nemo hic adest illius nominis
There is no one here by that name

Ita erat quando hic adveni.
It was that way when I got here

Nihil declaro
I have nothing to declare

Vescere bracis meis
Eat my shorts

Noli me vocate. Ego te vocabo.
Don't call me. I'll call you.

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione
I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult

Canis meus id comedit
My dog ate it

Die dulci freure
Have a nice day

Fac ut vivas
Get a life

Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem
Stand aside, little people! I am here on official business

Utinam barbari spatioum proprium tuum invadant
May barbarians invade your personal space

Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt...
You know, the Romans invented the art of love...

Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant
May conspirators assasinate you in the hall

Magister mundi sum!
I am the master of the universe!

Radix lecti
Couch potato

Unitam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant
May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy

Cogito ergo sum
I think, therefore I am

Cogito ergo doleo
I think, therefore I am depressed

Senito aliquos togatos contra me conspirare
I think some people in togas are plotting against me

Nihili est - in vita priore ego imperator romanus fui
That's nothing; in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor

Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est
Yes, that is a very large amount of corn

Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est
The check is in the mail

Non illigitamus carborundum
Don't let the bastards grind you down

Nonne macescis?
Have you lost weight?

Minime senuisti!
You haven't aged a bit!

Id tibi praebet speciem lepidissimam!
It looks great on you!

Capillamentum? Haudquaquam conieci esse!
A wig? I never would have guessed!

Braccae tuae aperiuntur
Your fly is open

Subucula tua apparet
Your slip is showing

In dentibus anticis frustum magnum spiniciae habes
You have a big piece of spinach in your front teeth

Abutebaris modo subjunctivo
You've been misusing the subjunctive

Heus, hic nos omnes in agmine sunt!
Hey, we're all in line here!

Non, mihi ignosce, credo me insequentem esse
No, excuse me, I believe I'm next

Nonne de novo eboraco venis?
You're from New York, aren't you?

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:28 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Why are you doing this to me? Torture? My sister took 4 years of Latin... that wsa torture enough.

Posted by: vw bug at October 13, 2005 09:28 PM (MNp8q)

2 Dude, I LOVE this post. I got it bookmarked so I can insult and impress fellow bloggers all at the same time!

Posted by: Hube at October 15, 2005 06:24 PM (PQ2xq)

3 Non coito ergo dole...

Posted by: triticale at October 18, 2005 08:09 AM (Wok6N)

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Make your inner geek happy with the Hobbit Name Generator, which will generate both your hobbit name and your elf name. Here are mine:

hobbit name: Gorbulas Gamgee-Took of Bywater

Elf name: Angrod Telrúnya

So. What are your names?

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Quo signo nata es?
What's your sign?

Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi
Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog

Viri sunt Viri.
Men are slime.

Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt.
You know, the Romans invented the art of love.

O! Plus! Perge! Aio! Hui! Hem!
Oh! More! Go on! Yes! Ooh! Ummm!

Spero nos familiares mansuros.
I hope we'll still be friends.

Mellita, domi adsum.
Honey, I'm home.

Valui ad satanam in computatrum meum invocandum.
I succeeded in summoning satan into my computer.

Isto pensitaris?
You get paid for this crap?

Absum!
I'm outta here!

Certamen Bikini-Suicidus-Disci mox coepit?
Does the Bikini-Suicide-Frisbee match start soon?

Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere,
I'm going to have to hurt you on principle.

Tam exanimis quam tunica nehru fio.
I am as dead as the nehru jacket.

Ventis secundis, tene cursum.
Go with the flow.

Totum dependeat.
Let it all hang out.!

Fac me cocleario vomere!
Gag me with a spoon!

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?

Prehende uxorem meam, sis!
Take my wife, please!

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Nihil est-in vita priore ego imperator Romanus fui.
That's nothing-in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor.

Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
Yes, that is a very large amount of corn.

Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!
Stand aside plebians! I am on imperial business.

Oblitus sum perpolire clepsydras!
I forgot to polish the clocks!

Vescere bracis meis.
Eat my shorts.

Sic faciunt omnes.
Everyone is doing it.

Vacca foeda
Stupid cow

Fac ut vivas.
Get a life.

Raptus regaliter
Royally screwed

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
Let's all wear mood rings!

Insula Gilliganis
Gilligan's Island

Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

orbes volantes exstare
Flying saucers are real

Latro! Fremo!
Woof woof! Grrrr!

si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus lainis alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
If you can read this sign, you can get a job in the fast paced, high-paying(!) world of Latin!

balaenae nobis conservandae sunt
Save the whales!

sona si latine loqueris
Honk if you speak Latin!

ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum!
Don't you dare erase my hard drive!

Huc accedit Zambonis
Here comes the Zamboni!

alterum ictum faciam.
I'm going to take a mulligan

lapsus nivium!
Avalanche!!

Quid est illa in auqua?
What's that in the water?

Pistrix! Pistrix!
Shark! Shark!

Furnulum pani nolo
I don't want a toaster

Latine loqui coactus sum
I have this compulsion to speak Latin

Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos!
You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me my money back!

Ut si!
As if!

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.
I think some people in togas are plotting against me.

Noli me vocate, ego te vocabo.
Don't call me, I'll call you.

Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules.
If I were you, I wouldn't walk in front of any catapults.

Canis meus id comedit.
My dog ate it.

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.
I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.

Re vera, potas bene.
Say, you sure are drinking alot.

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!
May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy!

Non sum pisces.
I am not a fish.

Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur.
Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out.

Non est mea culpa.
It's not my fault.

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.
It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!
God, look at the time! My wife will kill me!

Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.
In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags.

Nullo metro compositum est.
It doesn't rhyme.

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema.
I don't care. If it doesn't rhyme, it isn't a poem.

Quomodo cogis comas tuas sic videri?
How do you get your hair to do that?

Feles mala!
Bad kitty!

Neutiquam erro
I am not lost.

Hocine bibo aut in eum digitos insero?
Do I drink this or stick my fingers in it?

Re vera, potas bene
Say, you sure are drinking a lot.

Illiud Latine dici non potest
You can't say that in Latin.

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.
Only you are can prevent forest fires.

Fac ut gaudeam.
Make my day.

Sola lingua bona est lingua mortua.
The only good language is a dead language.

Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit.
To boldly go where no man has gone before.

Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
You do not know the power of the dark side.

Clamo, clamatis, omnes clamamus pro glace lactis.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Magnus frater spectat te...
Big Brother is watching you....

Monstra mihi pecuniam!
Show me the money!

Lege atque lacrima.
Read 'em and weep

Vacca, vacca, vacca
Cow, cow, cow.

Id est mihi, id non est tibi!
It is mine, not yours!

Tempus incognitum.
Time unknown.

Labera lege...
Read my lips...

Credo Elvem etiam vivere.
I believe Elvis lives.

Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes.
If you can read this, you have too much education.

Si tu id aeficas, ei venient. Ager Somnia
If you build it, they will come

Cogito sumere potum alterum.
I think IÂ’ll have another drink.

Noli nothis permittere te terere.
DonÂ’t let the bastards get you down.

Duc, sequere, aut de via decede.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Paucis verbis, quid est deconstructionismus?
What, in a nutshell, is deconstructionism?

More to follow. Lots more.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Season Two of Battlestar Galactica kicks off this Friday. Missed Season One? Not to worry; the Sci-Fi channel is running a BS marathon on Wednesday. And if you want to refresh your memory about how last season ended, you can watch the entire Season One finale online. Best of all there are no commercials.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 12:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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