Frankly I'm disappointed.

Frankly I'm disappointed. There was some talk a while back about naming an element after either David Bowie or Lemmy Kilmister. But Tennessine?  It just makes me think that "Unobtainium" was a reasonable name! :P
http://phys.org/news/2016-11-tennessine-element.html

there’s no way of knowing that you’re infected, but it’s been associated with a number of mental disorders, such as...

there’s no way of knowing that you’re infected, but it’s been associated with a number of mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

So my cats really have driven me crazy.
http://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-the-mind-altering-cat-parasite-controls-our-immune-response

Not sure just how secure this would be.

Not sure just how secure this would be.

Originally shared by Amy McGarity (German Pearls)

How to use microsoft excel as a password keeper. An easy to follow tutorial and free template to store your passwords in one, safe location.
#microsoftexcel #excel #tutorial #password
http://www.germanpearls.com/excel-password-keeper
http://fpme.link/OuJYhG

Supposed to be QUICKER to use. Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_multiplication.

Supposed to be QUICKER to use. Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_multiplication.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RussianMultiplication.html

Yesterday's ideas of the future tend to date rather quickly, because they usually miss the unexpected developments...

Yesterday's ideas of the future tend to date rather quickly, because they usually miss the unexpected developments that come  next. I was struck how there's no television as they knew it in 1967, but there is private (3D?) recordings of performers. Also, in almost the whole of the house, there only seems to be one device with a QWERTY keyboard, and when the man of the house decides to send a message, he WRITES one using a stylus. Why wouldn't he just do a video recording?

I know this actress's voice from somewhere but I can't place it. I thought maybe Diana Muldaur? But surely that can't be her? I love the computer voices as well. :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1p6fmPzoJk&feature=share

I was trying to link to a Doctor Who image (see http://asset-d.soupcdn.com/asset/3247/6306_d652_500.jpeg) and I got...

I was trying to link to a Doctor Who image (see http://asset-d.soupcdn.com/asset/3247/6306_d652_500.jpeg) and I got THIS message instead! Geez, never seen one of these before, and hope not to see another either!

Interesting choices.

Interesting choices.
http://www.guidingtech.com/31357/notepad-plus-plugins/

And here's an unusual idea, It converts TextMate (see http://macromates.com/) to NotePad++ themes!

And here's an unusual idea, It converts TextMate (see http://macromates.com/) to NotePad++ themes! Seems a bit like cheating. I guess this was originally made for someone who used to use TextMate and moved on the NPP.
http://framework.lojcomm.com.br/tmTheme2nppStyler/

I've used Notepad++ quite a bit and hadn't realised today that it had themes.

I've used Notepad++ quite a bit and hadn't realised today that it had themes. Here's an online page that can make one of those for you.
https://notepad-kobzar-editor.appspot.com/editor.html

Io: Facts about Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon

http://www.space.com/16419-io-facts-about-jupiters-volcanic-moon.html

The pure dream of space exploration.

The pure dream of space exploration.

Originally shared by Ian FS

A peculiar property of all these high-temperature superconductors is that just before they enter the superconducting...

A peculiar property of all these high-temperature superconductors is that just before they enter the superconducting state, they invariably first enter the pseudogap state, whose origins are equally, if not more, mysterious than the superconducting state itself.

gosh.
http://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-have-discovered-a-new-state-of-matter-in-superconducting-materials

This is a day to potter around on a webcomic, and fuck about with social media.  Time for lunch.

I do like the Windows free file and font managers that are available here.

I do like the Windows free file and font managers that are available here. The file manager is yet another Norton's Commander inspired dual pane thingamie. While I prefer FreeCommander, this one's OK. The Font Manager does the basics - it shows installed fonts, but also allows you to browse other fonts and keep them in both groups and sets. You can also compare several fonts at the same time. Very handy when choosing a font for a design purpose, like webcomics.
http://www.xiles.net/

So is a South Park episode coming true?

So is a  South Park episode coming true?
https://techcrunch.com/video/airspace-can-catch-high-speed-drones-all-by-itself/582f2ddf869ea92525d252eb/

I'm all for this.

I'm all for this. I would have thought that inventing a new language would be a sure fire sign of intelligence, whether organic or not

Originally shared by Karl Hansen (a2brute)

TechCrunch: Google’s AI translation tool seems to have invented its own secret internal language. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwoLLDoDI
http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwoLLDoDI

You never know when this might come in handy.

You never know when this might come in handy.
http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/ascii-to-binary.htm

I came across this in a TechLife magazine.

I came across this in a TechLife magazine. I'm less interested what's currently shown on the curve than the curve itself. It's about like an inverted "grief cycle: Innovation Trigger; Peak of Inflated Expectations; Trough of Disillusionment; Slope of Enlightenment; and Plateau of Productivity.

I had assumed that things went like this: Initial idea; proof of concept demonstration; promotional prototype; initial (but flawed) execution; second wave versions; finalized versions (including cheap knockoffs and unintended limits/applications).  :P
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3412017

I see a vast potential for robot fart jokes.

nailed it! :P

nailed it! :P

Originally shared by Saqib Abdullah Azhar

An alternative to AddBlockPlus, which I've used for years. Am trying this now. The dashboard has MANY options.

An alternative to AddBlockPlus, which I've used for years. Am trying this now. The dashboard has MANY options.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

Music to code by...

Music to code by...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lAfMT5FIZE&feature=share

Ha ha ha - drawing with the mouse for an Artificial Intelligence!

Ha ha ha - drawing with the mouse for an Artificial Intelligence!
https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/shared/Z0aUFaP9uT3R

I didn't know about the screen capture and conversion functions!

I didn't know about the screen capture and conversion functions!
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/awesome-vlc-features-know/

Can't this be a bit sooner?

Can't this be a bit sooner?

Originally shared by Tomasz Nowakowski (Astro Watch)

Sticking words in dead scientist's mouths is a long established practice online.

Sticking words in dead scientist's mouths is a long established practice online. Sometimes it's hard to spot the difference.
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/huffpo-science-section-engages-in-dishonest-quote-mining/

A more rigorous discussion of this.

A more rigorous discussion of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZacggH9wB7Y

There's more than one way (superposition) to interpret what and why something will happen in Schrodinger's animal...

There's more than one way (superposition) to interpret what and why something will happen in Schrodinger's animal cruelty experiment. What was really just a thought experiment about quantum mechanics, has become a ubiquitous explanation instead, and often gets quoted as FACT rather than just one interpretation (the Copenhagen one) of many. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZacggH9wB7Y for a more academic list of these.

So you could say that there's a "superposition of interpretations"!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQzAHxD2KM&feature=share

I mostly us Notepad++ nowadays, but PSPad can be a useful raw HTML editor.

I mostly us Notepad++ nowadays, but PSPad can be a useful raw HTML editor.
http://www.pspad.com/en/

I feel dense just looking at this!

I feel dense just looking at this!

Originally shared by John Bowdre

Neutron stars are fascinating.

This cool infographic provides a visual approximation of their incredible density (hint: smash 500,000 Earths into a sphere ~20km across and you'll be close), but their story is actually even more interesting than that.

Neutron stars are born, so to speak, from the supernova death and subsequent gravitational collapse of a large star with 10-30 times the mass of our sun. That gravitational collapse squeezes the core of the star tighter and tighter - beyond the density found in a white dwarf star, to that found in atomic nuclei.

At its surface, the neutron star is composed of ordinary atomic nuclei (likely iron) crushed together into a solid lattice, with a sea of electrons flowing through the gaps between them. Deeper down, the nuclei hold ever-increased numbers of neutrons - so many that the usual nuclear forces would not be enough to hold the nuclei together. Only the absolutely insane gravitational force is able to hold the neutrons together in this configuration. (If you could, hypothetically, scoop up a teaspon of this stuff, it would not only weigh 900 times as much as the Great Pyramid of Giza, but also (more problematically) explode apart with such force that it would obliterate the unfortunate planet you attempted to weigh a chunk of neutron star on. Whoops!)

Of course, the rules of the universe do still apply to neutron stars. Stars rotate (our sun rotates once every ~24.5 days), and when the core of a massive star compresses and collapses into a neutron star it retains most of its angular momentum. You've seen a figure skater pull their arms in toward their body and thus spin faster? The same applies here: as the mass of the core pulls in tighter, it reduces the star's radius (and thus its moment of inertia) causing the neutron star to spin incredibly fast - often several hundred times per second.

Neutron stars are generally detected from their electromagnetic radiation, which is thought to be caused by particle acceleration near the neutron star's magnetic poles. Those poles aren't necessarily aligned with the neutron star's rotational axis, resulting in a directional beam of radio waves and other radiation. And, remember, these things are spinning fast, sweeping that beam across the universe like a rotating red or blue light atop an old police car. When seen from Earth, such beaconing neutron stars appear to rapidly pulse - which is why they get called pulsars.

This is seriously cool stuff! Be sure to dip into the linked Reddit thread to learn more about these incredible objects.

(h/t Jason England)
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/5a0xad/just_made_a_visual_representation_on_how_dense/

Being a tailor or seamstress just became more complicated.

Being a tailor or seamstress just became more complicated.

Originally shared by ScienceDaily
http://dlvr.it/Mg0J8G

The next round in this saga.

The next round in this saga. A few days ago it was rumoured that IT ACTUALLY WORKS and allegedly the paper on it was leaked - see http://www.news.com.au/…/n…/757094f568430af8139264e60b3a9d2f.

Thing is though, that that paper hasn't officially been released yet, and the leaked details may be out of context or plain ol' faked. Talk to me again when it's confirmed.
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/nasa-emdrive-warp-drive

You should see the non-compact version!

You should see the  non-compact version!

Originally shared by Ed S

We all want compact, reliable and efficient computers, don't we? Here's a quick trip from the Jacquard loom to the attack of the mutant camels. (About that - be sure to check out Jeff Minter's site with a bio and history of llamasoft:
http://minotaurproject.co.uk/jeff.php
)
If you need more, click through to the interactive documentary of Jack Tramiel: Jack and the Machine.
https://medium.com/@dschmudde/a-brief-history-of-machine-personalities-f7116c85c2ed#.qkbu4u1h7

This is an old 2010 article.

This is an old 2010 article. It may have been either discredited or updated by now. But the idea that young adults (ages 18-25) can be affected by this is intriguing, because it might support the suppression of derogatory terms and names    But does the same thing happen after that age range?

It's also the sort of report that gets grabbed and quoted by folk for their own agendas.. Quantum Mechanics (usually called Quantum Physics" by its appropriators)  used to be one of these, used to support all kinds of unlikely conclusions. In practice it's akin to quoting the 10% of the brain" myth - an appeal to authority  which relies on people's ignorance of the the source.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-brain/201010/sticks-and-stones-hurtful-words-damage-the-brain

UltiCast 3D printer add-on allows users to easy cast silicone for soft robotics

Originally shared by 3ders.org

UltiCast 3D printer add-on allows users to easy cast silicone for soft robotics
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20161110-ulticast-3d-printer-add-on-allows-users-to-easy-cast-silicone-for-soft-robotics.html #3dprinting
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20161110-ulticast-3d-printer-add-on-allows-users-to-easy-cast-silicone-for-soft-robotics.html

Aussie boffins up to - well good - again.

Aussie boffins up to - well good - again.

Originally shared by Engadget

Australians researchers have built a better qubit http://engt.co/2fBGkk0
http://engt.co/2fBGkk0

Want a list of Australia's gangsters ??

Originally shared by Aymii keegan

Want a list of Australia's gangsters ??
Here they are !!!
Some of these bad boys and girls will stop apipeline ..
Freeway ..housing construction .. U name it ..
Lot of them need paparazzi too ..
lots and lots of missing photos folks ..

Check out who in ur town .. The real celebrities .. 👍🏽😎
http://www.ala.org.au

And lastly (for now).

And lastly (for now).
https://elainthemiddle.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/learning-styles/

Citations

https://elainthemiddle.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/citations/

Should I buy Poser 11?

Should I buy Poser 11? Smith Micro have a sale on at the moment (ends 13th Nov), and I can upgrade from Poser 9 to Poser 11 for $US 49.99.

I bought Poser 9 some years back as part of a package with other SM products. I use Manga Studio (now Clip Studio Paint) a lot, but I never got around to using Poser at all. I was going to use it mainly for creating both avatars, poses and animations for Second Life / Open Simulator. What happened was that in-between when i bought it and now, I completed a Masters in Fine Art, and really didn't have the time to explore Poser at all. But now I do. I already have a version of DAZ as well, but haven't done anything with that for the same reasons.

So for the purposes mentioned above - avatars / poses / animation - is it worth my while upgrading from 9 to 11? What do I gain by doing that? I already use Qavimator and I have_ DAZ_, so is i9t worth it?

Comments please.
http://my.smithmicro.com/poser-11.html

Pepakura Designer is a Windows application which makes unfolded patterns from 3D data.

Pepakura Designer is a Windows application which makes unfolded patterns from 3D data. Pepakura Designer features to automatically unfold 3D polygon-mesh models, and allow you to edit them. Pepakura Designer allows you to create real paper craft models from digital data!

Seems a bit specialized!
http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/index.html

At the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a new threat has emerged: "brain jacking".

At the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a new threat has emerged: "brain jacking". With the increase of brain implants, so comes the threat of unauthorized control of those brain implants.

Shades of certain Doctor Who episodes.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/brain-plasticity-yes-you-really-can-change-your-brain/

This will keep the physicists occupied for a while.

This will keep the physicists occupied for a while.

Originally shared by Ethan Siegel

“During the last decade, when neutrino masses were constrained for the first time (via neutrino oscillations), it surprised many that they were found to be very low in mass, but to have definitively non-zero masses. Why is that? The general way of explaining this — the see-saw mechanism — typically involves additional, very heavy particles (like, maybe a billion or a trillion times more massive than the Standard Model particles) that are extensions to the Standard Model; without a new particle, their tiny, tiny masses (just a billionth of an electron’s mass) are completely unexplained. Whether see-saw-type particles exist or there’s some other explanation, these massive neutrinos are almost definitely, in some way, indicative of new physics beyond the Standard Model.”

When you think about the Standard Model of particle physics, you very likely think about all the matter, energy, particles, antiparticles, forces and interactions of the Universe. And you might legitimately worry that this is all there is. With the LHC confirming that there’s no low-scale supersymmetry or collider-accessible extra dimensions, and that all the decays and branching ratios align with the Standard Model’s predictions, that worry seems well-founded. Never fear; we know there’s more! The Standard Model may be wonderful for what it does predict, but we know with absolute certainty that it can’t be everything. From dark matter to massive neutrinos, from the strong CP problem to baryogenesis and more, there are five very strong pieces of independent evidence that show there’s more to the Universe than what we presently can explain.

Come see if you can identify all five independent lines of evidence for new particles and interactions beyond the Standard Model!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/11/04/five-independent-signs-of-new-physics-in-the-universe/

Three GIFs That Make Pi Instantly Understandable | Nerdist

http://nerdist.com/three-gifs-that-make-pi-instantly-understandable/

Apparently you can still buy and put together a MICROBEE!

Apparently you can still buy and put together a MICROBEE!
http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/classic-plus-kit-computer.htm