VR Goggles + RC Airplane = Much Coolness

This video, although from the French version of Google Video, shows an incredible DIY setup that someone built. It's a radio-controlled airplane with a pan/tilt camera mounted in it. The camera is connected to a pair of VR goggles, allowing the person to view everything from a pilot's seat perspective. Very cool.

"Permanently" Employed At Last!

After almost 4 years of working as a contractor, I finally got a "real" job. I became a full-time employee of ConocoPhillips on Sept. 1. I'm now formally a Systems Analyst for a global server support team. Since I built most of these servers, it only makes sense that I also support them. I really enjoy working on an Enterprise level. I have systems literally all over the world. From Bejing, ROC and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Moscow, England, Ireland and even Lagos, Nigeria...anywhere's there is oil, you can bet we have a server there. I've become quite adept at working odd hours, with all of the times zones we operate in. Thank goodness for VPN connections from home...as I get to do a good bit of support while sitting in this very chair in my computer room. It really feels good to finally be back to where I was almost exactly 5 years ago when RF Consulting went out of business.

Things at home have been great. Amy started school tonight to learn tax preparation, so she can do some seasonal work starting early next year. Griffin's still growing like crazy and has started 4-year old classes at the local elementary school. He's learning a lot and really enjoys getting to play with so many kids. He is still obsessed with weather and nature and can tell you more about tornados than you ever wanted to know. He's also still taking pictures whenever I forget to hide the camera. I've got lots taken by him and me that I need to post soon, since it's almost the end of Summer. I hope everyone had a good one this year. I'll do my best to post more often as we slide on into Fall.

The Size of our World

Mind-boggling comparison illustrations of some objects in our galaxy. The last pic is hard to get your mind around.

[link updated 6/12...thanks for the heads-up, Dad!]

Coke and Mentos Experiment

What happens when you take 500 Mentos and 100 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke and give them to 2 guys with way too much artistic inspiration (and perhaps a bit of influence from the Bellagio)?

Hear 'n' Aid - (We're) Stars

Probably the largest collection of big hair in a single video. Similar to the Band Aid project, this group of '80s heavy metal musicians joined to do their own song.

Featuring: Dio, Dokken, Judas Priest, Queensryche, Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, Spinal Tap, Giuffria, Journey, (Dave Murray & Adrian Smith) Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Yngwie Malmsteen, Y & T, Rough Cutt, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, Neal Schon, Vinnie Appice.

Evolution of Dance

Stand-up comedian does 6 minute demonstration of the evolution of dance. In addition to being pretty funny, it's also rather good. Definitely worth a look. How many of these have you done out on the dance floor?!

You Got a Star!

Wow! I'm not that much of a console gamer, but watching all the reports from E3 about the Nintendo Wii (pronounced: wee) makes me really want to play this system. Nowhere near as powerful as the XBox 360 or PS3, it appears that Nintendo is going to focus on gameplay. Watching the video above of Super Mario Galaxy, it looks like they're achieving their goal. This looks like a blast to play. The new Wii uses a totally unique control system that consists of two separate devices, one with directional controls and a trigger and another one dubbed "wiimote" which is spacially aware as well as motion and velocity sensitive. It can be used like a laser pointer for Duck Hunt or can mimic a conductor's baton, a baseball bat, tennis racket, golf club, fishing pole...they're really only just now scratching the surface of what they can do with these controllers.

You can checkout the Nintendo Wii e3 2006 Video Montage for some sneak peeks at the new games as well as demonstrations of the new controls. Looks very promising!

Getting tired of YouTube videos yet? Too bad! I'm not hearing anything but echoes in here anyway, so I'm posting another video. Speaking of which, kudos to YouTube for finally adding a volume control to their recently reskinned player. Add in their excellent rating and commenting system, and they have now far surpassed Google Video in my eyes. YouTube is now the Flickr of the video world. I'm sure they've got content providers like the television networks, AOL, and Yahoo! all looking over their shoulders these days.

Regarding the video above: I've been looking at photos of The Sultan's Elephant the past few days. I just noticed that the grande finale and other videos were up on YouTube. The Sultan's Elephant is a very strange performance art exhibit that has been in London for the past week. It's made up of a large troupe of people who control and guide these MASSIVE "puppets" down the streets. The largest is a wooden elephant with a house built into it and a very freaky marionette girl. The "space capsule" appeared in street overnight, later to open and have this girl come out. In the video, she's leaving the city. I can't imagine the amount of practice and coordination this type of performance would entail.

Their promo:

"The Sultan's Elephant is a spectacle you've only imagined... Created by theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, it tells the story of a sultan from far-off lands and his magical, time-travelling mechanical elephant. Forty feet high and 42 tonnes in weight, this beautiful creature will capture the hearts and minds of everyone who sees it.

The Sultan's Elephant is played out over four days in the streets, squares and public spaces of central London. Whether you dip into it for three hours or follow its progress for three days, this breathtaking show will live in your memory forever."

Fed-Ex Flights Dodging Thunderstorms

This is a great time-lapse radar image of Fed-Ex airplanes coming into Memphis, TN during stormy weather. It's amazing to me how they smoothly route these guys around the weather and feed them in from multiple routes.

Mechanic's Tale: The Flushing of America

While we're on the subject of automobiles, I just read this article by David Flint that was very interesting. It's a warning to consumers (and shop owners) regarding the constant push of today's repair shops towards fluid "flushing". Seems that much of the time these recommendations have a lot more to do with newer technology making them easy money than about any actual needs of your vehicle. The author suggests that this is "Just a Nightline away from scandal."

Hmmmm...reminds me, I think I have an oil change due. Driving 500 miles a week will do that to a car. I'm not looking forward to >$3 a gallon gasoline.

Careful what you ask for, Chevy!

Recently, Chevrolet asked consumers from the Internet community to create some ads for it's new SUV. I don't think they were expecting results quite like this.



Of course, Chevy's pulled most of these "offensive" ads, so lots of people have been posting theirs on YouTube. Check out lots more of these (sometimes) funny parody ads. Here are a few of my favorites:

Consumer Driven Ad, Yo
What Would Jesus Drive?
SUV God

BTW...I actually have several friends/family members who drive these monsters...so no offense, guys. Views expressed in these videos do not necessarily represent the opinions of this site...etc...etc...blah, blah.

Kid-Friendly Web Sites

Last year, when Griffin was first really "getting" the computer, I wanted to set up something really simple that he could use by himself, if he wanted...a place that he could explore on his own without feeling like he needed help all the time. I quickly whipped up this Kid-Friendly startup page in Notepad and set it as the start page for the browser on his computer. Before long, he was playing games, listening to songs and having a great time. Of course he was very proud of himself that he could do so much of this without assistance.

Anyway...I keep adding things to this page, at his request, and it keeps growing. The subject matter varies, from kid's websites to stop-action animation to zoo webcams to optical illusions. I've kept things in the original order I added them, because now he seems to be progressing to slightly more complex websites. The first dozen or so links are to sites that have very good interfaces for children who do not yet read, which is relatively rare out there. In fact, it surprised me how many really bad "educational" sites were out there. It took me quite a bit of searching and real-world child-testing to find some that were worth adding. These days, Griffin thinks there's a .COM for everything..."Daddy, can I go to cheesy macaroni.com?". The thing is, most of the time, there really is a site for whatever he's asking about.

So, if you have a young one, say from 3-6 yrs old...feel free to point them to this page and let 'em loose. It may require a little guidance in the beginning, but before long, they'll be surfing solo and you'll have the Egg Song permanently etched into your brain.

Let me know if you run into any dead links or problems.

Dream Theater Play Sold Out Show at Radio City Music Hall

I guess when your favorite band can sell out Radio City Music Hall, they can't be all bad. For the final show of their 20th Anniversary Tour in support of their latest album Octavarium, Dream Theater played for over 3 hours to a packed crowd. Joining them during a portion of the show was a 20+ piece orchestra. Audio and Camera crews were present and there will be a CD and DVD released soon.

Over the years, I've taken a lot of crap for my somewhat fanatical admiration of this progressive-metal band. But, I'm really proud to see them still making fantastic new music, gaining recognition for their talents and enjoying themselves all the while. Love 'em or hate 'em...you have to respect them for following their own path and continuing to succeed without any radio or television airplay whatsoever. They are some of the hardest working musicians out there. Plus, they are all 5 really decent people on top of that. So, for those of you who asked surprised "You mean, they're still together? Have they done anything since Pull Me Under?"....uh...yes and YES!!

The setlist for the final show was as follows:

01. The Root of All Evil
02. I Walk Beside You
03. Another Won
04. Afterlife
05. Under a Glass Moon
06. Innocence Faded
07. Raise the Knife
08. The Spirit Carries On
~~~intermission~~~
09. Overture
10. About to Crash
11. War inside My Head
12. The Test That Stumped Them All
13. Goodnight Kiss
14. Solitary Shell
15. About to Crash (reprise)
16. Losing Time / Grand Finale
17. Vacant
18. The Answer Lies Within
19. Sacrificed Sons
20. Octavarium
~~~encore~~~
21. Metropolis Pt. I

Note: The second set and encore featured the 20+ piece orchestra


Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater's drummer and "spokesman" said earlier today

"Without going into too much detail (I promised myself and my family some rest and time away from the computer), I have to THANK all of you in attendance last night at Radio City Music Hall for helping to make last night's show one of the most incredible evenings of my life.

"Of the hundreds of shows (maybe thousands at this point?) that we've done through the years, never before have I been moved on stage as much as I was last night. There were several points in the night where I was literally brought to tears by the power and emotion in the air.

"I just wanted to thank our AMAZING fans from all over the world that helped make last night so electric and magical from start to finish....you guys were the ULTIMATE audience last night!

We always dreamed of playing with an orchestra one day and last night's performance surpassed my wildest expectations. Jamshied Sharifi (our beloved arranger & conductor) and the incredible musicians behind us rose to the occasion and lifted our music to a whole new orgasmic level.

I cannot wait to share this evening with all of you that weren't able to attend via the upcoming DVD and CD sets that I will be working on in the coming months. (No rest for the wicked...or at least me!)

I truly believe last night was the PINNACLE of our 20-year career thus far and an incredible ending to the latest chapter in DREAM THEATER history.

How the hell will we top it???????????

Give me some time, and I'll think of something!"

Buck Owens, RIP

When I was in first grade, I glued together multiple pieces of paper, carefully drew out a guitar and colored it red, white and blue. I cut it out with my scissors and played air guitar for my classmates. I was imitating Buck Owens who starred on Hee Haw with his red, white and blue guitar. Sadly, Buck passed away yesterday at the age of 76. He was a gifted songwriter and guitarist who exposed a generation of folks to country, bluegrass, redneck comedy and hot girls in corn patches. To Buck, Saaaaalute!

Gory Details Project

Leave it to the artsy types to come up with this kind of stuff. This is one of those type of sites that you should probably just avoid...but I can't help but rubberneck a bit. When you catch snippets of stories including "My ear was now leaking disgusting yellow fluid.", "I haven't had a tofu burger since, let me tell you.", and "I was up all night thinking I had a tick in my arm..." How can you not want to hear the rest of the story? Here's their description of the project:

"THE GORY DETAILS PROJECT represents an attempt to capture on audio a scandalously unscientific survey of first-person medical emergency narratives -- stories describing your broken bones, burns, cuts, poisonings, or any other accounts of personal medical traumas you'd care to share. The recordings will be streamed and archived and (in some cases) incorporated into live performances, music, and video."

So, if you want to hear some cringe-worthy audio (and I'll admit, I have no idea why you would), this is the place.


[Audio files probably not work safe. If you don't already have Real Player or Quicktime installed, just download and install the codecs using Real Alternative or Quicktime Alternative.]

The Rise and Fall of E.T. the Atari 2600 videogame



Neat music video for "When I Wake Up" by Wintergreen. Tells the story of the ill-fated Atari E.T. game. I remember this one the Christmas it was released. What a terrible game...but a cool video.

Winter is almost over.


Wow, we've had a really mild Winter this year. That probably means that this Summer will be a killer. Regardless, Griffin and I have been trying to take full advantage of the wonderful weather. We discovered that there is about 3 square miles of woods and pasture land just a block away from our house. We've spent many hours following the cow paths past stock ponds (tanks.) and fallen trees. Flannel comes along and has a blast chasing tennis balls over and over again. When we get back home, she can barely hop up in her chair to sleep, which isn't unusual. You'd sure never know she had hip problems to watch her darting down and back up a hill to catch a ball on the 2nd bounce.

After getting up early this past Sunday morning, Griffin and I decided to go to the zoo. It was a wonderful time, with all of the animals out and about where we could see them up close. I think we both ran each other out of steam. It was quite a birthday weekend for the little guy and his parents. Here's some final pics that didn't make it into his birthday collection.

Hope everyone is doing great. I'll post more when it's Spring!!

Happy 4th Birthday, Griffin!!

The pride of my life, my one and only son Griffin, turns 4 years old today. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. We had a really fun party for him at Chuck E. Cheese last night. Everybody got to stuff their faces and run around and play games until they were ready to drop. I've posted up a new photo gallery of the party. I'll follow up soon with some other misc. shots I've taken over the past few months.

YoYo Man

When I was about 12, my friends and I went to the local Western Auto, where a Duncan man was giving a yoyo presentation. We learned how to "Walk the dog" and "Rock the cradle", but we never saw anything like the tricks this guy performs.

Easiest Fishing Ever!

Live Actions Simpsons Intro

Incredible attention to detail. Entire Simpson's introduction done with live actors.

500kV Switch Opening in Nevada Desert



Wow!

The Most Toxic Place on Earth

The Most Toxic Place on Earth

Before 1960 the Aral Sea was the world's fourth largest inland body of water. An abandoned Soviet Bio-weapon test base and pollution from farming has led to the area becoming highly toxic. Cancer has increased tenfold and 10% of children die in their first year. In June 2004, scientists predicted the sea would vanish within 15 years.

BBC Report

Satellite Images


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Lost Tulsa Interview on Tulsa Times

[Reposted from Lost Tulsa ]

For those of you who either missed the show last Saturday, or live out of range of our local PBS station, I've posted the Tulsa Times interview up for viewing.

A couple of notes. First of all, I was incredibly nervous...and it's apparent. I didn't even realize that my vocabulary contained the phrase "..what have you.", but after seeing myself repeat it 4 or 5 times, I've vowed to eliminate it forever. I also had a killer case of cottonmouth, which I just couldn't seem to get over throughout the interview.

There are a couple of corrections I'd like to make. I watched them bulldoze the remainder of the Will Rogers Theater into a big pile of rubble sometime around '84, rather than the late '80s. It had been closed since 1976. Also, the photos shown during my comments near the end about Tulsa's Lost Twins were not quite what I'm talking about (and those aren't my shots, either). They are cool pics of former Tulsa drive-ins, but that's already been covered very well over at TTM. The twins I'm speaking of include the ones mentioned in the interview (Park Lane and Boman) and others well known for their lively Midnight Movies.

Enjoy the video. Try not to laugh too hard. I've been asked by Denver Foxx to speak with him on his KRMG show Saturday morning. I'll try to record it and post it up too...since it'll be at 7:30am.

Holiday pics

Late as usual, but here are some holiday pictures. I spent more time enjoying time with family and much less time with my camera flashing in their faces. I was really happy to be able to visit with everyone. The unfortunate result is that there are fewer pics of everyone than I'd wished for.

I hope this new year finds everyone doing well. We're looking forward to the suprises and challenges that will come our way.

Dodge Challenger Concept Pics

During my last years of high school, I used to go visit a salvage yard way out at the south end of Garnett, near the river. I'd sit inside this wrecked 1970 Challenger, gripping the t-handle shifter and dreaming of the day that I could drive such an awesome example of Mopar muscle.

Now, with all of the "retro" cars being released such as the Charger, Mustang and Mini Cooper, Dodge is seriously working on a modern version of the Challenger.

If these pics are anywhere close to the final production design, I'm going to be doing a lot of drooling when these things hit the streets.