six very interesting tidbits

A robot wants your job. The clothing retailer Zappos.com uses robots in its warehouses. Check out the first minute or two of this video, but I recommend the whole thing. Regarding the robotic warehouse environment, one human worker says, “It’s more serene.”
Rooks make hooks. In this video there’s a bird that seems smarter than me, [...]

back in the saddle

I’ve gotten back on the bicycle again for the first time since last year’s unfortunate elbow destruction. The bike is repaired. The repair-person told me that my particular make of bike, a Bridgestone XO-3, has a certain cachet as a city bike, and I could probably get a decent price for it if I sold [...]

make sounds, tell lies, grow teeth

It’s that time of year when the Seattle International Film Festival and the Northwest Folklife Festival bring out a blossom of creativity. At SIFF I saw a documentary about a local but internationally known “sound sculptor,” Trimpin. “Trimpin: the Sound of Invention” captured the man’s childlike approach to making sounds. The director and Trimpin took [...]

naturally 7

fun with max

I received a thought-provoking spam, as evidenced by the image below. This happy couple is about to…do what together? It’s one of those things I’d prefer to leave to the reader’s imagination. I notice that the man is reaching for the woman’s stomach…again I think I’ll just leave off there.

burlesque & guys & dolls

I went to the gala Seattle debut of “A Wink and a Smile” Friday night. It’s a debut if you don’t count last year’s film festival showing. That’s the one from the team that made the sensational Master Nashwan film, then went on to make real movies, such as “A Wink and a Smile,” a [...]

successful missions and the menace in space

Herschel, Hubble, & Planck sounds like a law firm. Following up on the last post, the news certainly is good so far. Herschel and Planck successfully launched, and should be sending detailed info about our universe when it was just a cute little baby cosmos. And the Hubble repairs are doing well so far. No [...]

a wish for rockets

Yeah, I saw the new Trek movie on the IMAX screen last night, but first let’s consider some real space travel. I’m wishing success to the following space missions:
Tomorrow (Monday, May 11) the Atlantis is scheduled to leave for a Hubble space telescope repair mission. They are going to swap out some old hardware, like [...]