Creationist Kent “Dr. Dino”Hovind Goes to Jail

DinoI saw this and I just could not find any words that would do this justice [via Boingboing]:

Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and the Dinosaur Adventure Land creationist theme park in Florida ("where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!"), and his wife face more than 200 years in jail for tax fraud. (Previous post with background here.) Yesterday, Dr. Dino was found guilty on 58 counts, including not paying an $845,000 employee-related tax bill. From the Pensacola News Journal:

U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers released Jo Hovind until sentencing but denied Kent Hovind’s request to be released. He most likely will be detained at either Escambia County Jail or Santa Rosa County Jail until sentencing.

(Assistant US Attorney Michelle) Heldmyer said Kent Hovind was a flight risk and a "danger to the community."

His attorney, Alan Richey, argued that the Internal Revenue Service pursued his client because of his religious beliefs.

Kent Hovind, whose life’s mission is to debunk evolution, says he and his employees are workers of God and therefore exempt from paying taxes. He pays his employees in cash and does not withhold their taxes or pay his share as an employer.

Link to Pensacola News Journal article, Link to Scientific American’s "15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense"

Photoplane – Pinhole Camera of the Sky

Pinhole camera R/C rig

Pinhole camera of the skyCruising over city buildings, a small remote controlled plane attempts to hold steady, very steady. With a flick of a switch the ground controller send a signal that commands the plane to activate a small servo. One one thousand, two one thousand. The switch is reversed and the servo returns to its former position. The plane starts it’s decent to the field. What just happened? Would you believe that the plot of the remotely operated aircraft just took a photo of the buildings using a pinhole camera? By using fast film (ISO 1600) Daniel is able to take surprisingly sharp photos. Go have a look at his blog and take a look you might be inspired to build your own.

 

Photoplane-Pinhole

The Differential Analyzer Explained

I was running around the Internet a few days ago and happened across this web page on Meccano hobbyists. It gives a great explanation of how an analog computer works.

The Differential Analyzer solves differential equations by integration. It makes use of one or more wheel and disc integrators (or Kelvin-disc integrators), interconnected by shafts in various ways to suit the problem equations. The process of integration can be illustrated by the simple example of the acceleration of a car. This can be represented for input by a curved graph showing speed varying with time. Say one wanted to find out the distance traveled in a certain time, say five minutes. The period of 5 minutes can be divided into much smaller intervals of say 10 seconds each, and assuming a constant speed over each interval from the graph, a distance traveled for each interval is calculated. The sum of the distances traveled in successive intervals is then the total distance traveled. The smaller the interval taken the more accurate will be the result. This is called Integration, and is the function performed by the integrator in a continuous manner.

 Best of all, with a bit of work these can be made out of Meccano (Erector) sets.

The Differential Analyser Explained

Weird Al Yankovic on Japanese TV

Weird Al in JapanThe undisputed modern master of parody, Weird Al Yankovic, appeared on Japanese television back when his hit ‘Eat It‘ was soaring through the charts. You have to see this as it’s clear that ‘ol Weird Al was out weirded by the host and pretty much everyone on the stage. The giant lobster is surreal…

[via waxy] 

Weird Al Yankovic Performs “Eat It” On Japanese TV at TV in Japan

Virtual Reality Never Looked So Cool

360 headgear Aside from looking like you stuck your hed in a giant… somthing, this device is for virtual reality type simulations.

The still experimental 6-pound bubble-headed helmet has infrared sensors on top that detect which way the wearer’s head is moving. A projector in the back of the helmet displays corresponding images on a 16-inch screen right before the user’s eyes.

I’m sure in a few years they will have this cut down to a more manageable size. 

Newsvine – Headgear Shows Images in 360-Degree View