The Evil Eyebrow

Category: Fun

  • Armageddon will Destroy the Internet

    The Armageddon will destroy The Internet. At least, that’s my thought on the topic.

    This random thought came out of a random websearch using the terms “Bicycle” and “Armageddon”, the story behind which is really too involved to cover here. Anyhow, I came across this site, which asked, “Would the Internet survive Armageddon?” This question was asked in the context of “during a post-apocalyptic world, what services could reasonably be expected to survive?”

    My opinion arises from the term “Armageddon” which has one very specific connotation: The End of the Biblical World. I think if the final battle is fought between God and Satan, the internet is going to be a casualty.

    Outside my pedantic stance on the term “Armageddon” the question posed at the link has some good answers. If you’re interested in writing post apocalyptic fiction, I recommend you read it.

  • I'm Broadcasting Psychic Turbulence into Upstate New York

    Chris has been receiving my brainwaves. He needs to wear his tinfoil hat1 to keep me from taking over his brain and utilizing his body as my diabolical zombie-esque servant.

    1No Warranty is expressed or implied concerning the utility or efficacy of this product. Any alien abductions will be attributed to incorrect manufacture. No zombies were harmed in the creation of this posting. All rights rejected. Do not place in eye.

  • Scientology vs. The Weekly World News

    This was gacked from SF Signal

    We are all in mourning for The Weekly World News, which will fold its pages soon. Bat Boy will no longer grace our supermarket shelves, and I, for one, will miss him.

    But, in case you’ve ever wondered which is weirder, The Weekly World News or the Cult of Scientology, please take this quiz. I scored 80%!

  • Broke My Rule

    I broke my rule of avoiding all Harry Potter related news. It seemed safe enough, and it turned out to be horribly amusing predictions from someone who doesn’t take the Harry Potter universe very seriously. Definitely worth the read.

    The best quote from the whole article is this one, concerning killing off main characters at the end of a series:

    Just imagine: At the end of Return of the Jedi, during the celebration on Endor, a young Ewok, drunk on victory and bourbon, carelessly throws a thermal detonator into a bonfire, wiping out the entire main cast. A grateful galaxy is thus spared the pleasures of eighteen-hundred “Expanded Universe” novels and countless slashfic stories where Luke shows a bound and gagged Han Solo what “The Force” is all about.

  • Bad Spock Drawings

    Thanks to SFSignal for alerting me to the Bad Spock Drawings website.

    Wow. People will collect anything…

  • Harry Potter 7!

    We are 26 days away from the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Have you reserved your copy yet? Have you figured out where the last horcruxes (horcrae? horcruxi?) are? Do you have a guess about R.A.B.? Do you think Snape is evil (I don’t)? Will Neville be slaughtered in massive magical mahem? Does Harry become Darth Harry?!

    It’s all way too exciting for us Harry Potter fans. Jenn and I will have the book shortly after midnight of July 21 and I’m pretty sure we’ll be done by noon. Don’t call us that day, we’ll be reading or asleep.

    By the way, be aware when reading the wikipedia article I’ve linked to that I think 1/4 of it is crap, with respect to the speculation.

    It is now time to re-read the series so I’m wholly up to speed.

  • Favorite Photo of the Week

    Saganami Island Tactical Simulator

    I received my personal copy of the Saganami Island Tactical Simulator yesterday. This is a game, based on the Attack Vector game engine by Ad Astra Games. It is a true physics-based three-dimensional space naval combat simulator. It uses Newtonian1 physics in the sense that if you’re moving at a certain speed in a certain direction, you will continue at that speed in that direction until you apply thrust to change your vector. f=ma. Action, reaction. Inertia. I love it. No zooming banks like an X-Wing or the Starship Enterprise.

    This game appeals to me for several reasons. One, I’m a big fan of the Honor Harrington series of books by David Weber, in who’s uninverse this game is set. Two, it purports to be a reasonably easy system to handle, once you get used to it. Three, it’s true physics! Things take time to move from place to place and you have to vector your thrust correctly to end up on the correct heading. That’s cool.

    I started going through the manual last night, playing some of their practice exercises to get used to the way it works. Ack! It would be much easier if there were someone who already understood the mechanics. As it is, I got to page 5 and my brain started to hurt. I’ll work on it more tonight.

    This is definitely a niche game, not for everyone.

    1 I haven’t gotten through the rulebook yet, but I don’t think the game takes into account relatavistic effects (Einstenian physics). No need to account for the weirdness of relativity when your battle fleet is assaulting another fleet at a closing velocity of 0.8 c. Perhaps that is at the end of the manual.

  • Xkcd to the rescue…

    I have tried to handle comments like the ones exhibited in this day’s xkcd comic. It can be difficult to do, especially in a crowded setting at a public information meeting.

    Thankfully, there are people who can draw it in a manner that makes us engineers feel better.

  • Grading Papers

    My wife is a professor. She spends approximately 169 hours per week during the school year grading various things. She never avails herself of my (constantly) offered assistance. She insists upon a high and rigourous method for grading, unlike other tried and true methods.

  • Go Straight to Hell. Do Not Pass Go…

    Jesus will be back, and he’ll be pissed.