In the fine instant tradition of the Dramatic Chipmunk (ok, prairiedog) that has been sweeping the Interweb like a firestorm, I give you ‘SHOCKING CATS!" You can thank me later.
[via presurfer]
SHOCKING CATS
Author: John
ArtRage 2
ArtRage 2 is a rather nice little illustration program that gives you the feeling that your working in the actual medium that is being simulated. I have a 4×6 Wacom graphics tablet with a pressure sensitive pen and all that stuff so I get a big kick out of being able to actually use the eraser in a program,. Oh sure, I could use Photoshop if I wanted to but that’s like chartering a bus just to go to the corner store. I like being able to doodle around with different kinds of ‘media’ effects with the pen. ArtRage 2 does just that and more. It’s easy to switch from pencil (variable lead hardness available by the way) to felt tip marker to acrylic paint just by clicking a button. It even blends paint like on a real canvas, except canvas doesn’t have layers and an erase feature. The whole thing reminds me of the old program ‘Fractal Design Painter’. That program is gone and any replacements cost quite a bit. ArtRage 2 is under $20US. Sweet!
ArtRage 2
Mechanical Fingers For Amputees
Not that I’d ever want to lose a finger myself but if I did I’d want something at least as good as one of these.
Mechanical Fingers Give Strength, Speed to Amputees-Wired Magazine
Chimera Embryos Need Rights Say Bishops
As my good friend Greg (who told me of this story) pointed out "Have these people not read The Island of Dr. Moreau?" Well said Greg!
Hybrid animal-human embryos created for medical research should be viewed as human and permitted to develop into children, Roman Catholic bishops have urged the British parliament.
Arrgh… My inner scientists cringes at this. Sure, we could use a race of lion men to defend our borders and what better to attend to the sick than bunny girls but I know that the Bishop has no concept of this utilitarian purpose and that any decent scientists with any sense of morals or ethics would never bring one of these monstrosities to term. Who is the mad man here, the man of faith or the man of science?
He probably thinks that the hideously deformed offspring would make a great argument that all science is evil and must be burned with the pure fires of mythic faith. He may feel that it also prove, so one might say, that god has mighty compassion for these poor creatures and has allowed them to live and we must worship him/it all the more because of it. If it’s the ‘every egg is a future contributor to the churches coffers’ (ok, a little crass there, I’ll admit that but by all accounts true) argument, then we might as well shoot all the teachers, lobotomize the scientists, and turn the calenders back to the year 1200.
Animal-human embryos need human rights, bishops say | Reuters
Fireworks…
I love this scene. Reminds me of when I moved to Arizona, tinder box of the Southwest, from the Dakotas. We had everything up there, the Fourth of July was a time when kids played with fire and dogs ran for cover. Few things are as fun as adult sanctioned patriotic pyromania.
Joe Dirt Quotes
Robotic People Sweeper
Now I’m all for robots helping in our lives but this is kind of weird. These are apparently photos of a series of robotic rescue devices. The idea is that they can gently (I hope!) remove people from places that firefighters can’t get to due to smoke of heat. I’m sure that there are newer versions that don’t look like something that is out of some sci-fi ‘robots are going to eat all humans’ kind of movie. At least I hope that is the case.
[via Tokyo Times]
Unmanned rescue robot ([robokiyu]) translated page via Google