Author: Dave

Solid Rock Churches

On a high volcanic rock plateau in Ethiopia stands a unique Christian holy site, Lalibela. In the 12th century, a crossed-shaped church called the House of St. George was built by cutting away the surrounding rock to leave a 12 meter by 12 meter cross. It is formed out of a single rock without a single seam. The interior was also hollowed out from rock. Lalibela has eleven stone churches, which are connected by tunnels. They were built by a ruler named King Lalibela in the 12th century.
from World Heritage Site UNESCO

link icon Video explaining the history http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/video

Awesome aerial pictures of Africa (which lead to this discovery)
link icon http://www.eyes-over-africa.com/

Travel Video on Youtube showing various angles and countryside.

Books Technology

Getting Things Done

As I’ve learned I may have been practicing this new productivity method with this blog. I started this blog to make a note of one interesting thing or discovery a day. And maybe spread some of that information to others who may have similar interests as mine. I haven’t been very succesful in updating it everyday, in fact as you can see from the calendar on the side bar, I’ve left big gaps with no posts. But I’ve realized that I’ve also created a little depository of interesting things I’ve gleaned that I can go back to later. I will investigate this method better.

link icon NPR story

Art Everyday Things

Plastic Bag Crochet

Cristen says we consume 1 million plastic bags a minute worldwide. So she’s come up with a creative way to reuse them, crochet them into hats, koozies and purses.

link icon
Cristen’s Blog

Internet Media Technology

Good use for annoying CAPTCHAS

Post author By Dave
Post date January 18, 2008
No Comments on Good use for annoying CAPTCHAS

I never knew it had a name but those annoying requirments to enter distorted characters to prove I’m a human are called CAPTCHAS.

“CAPTCHA” is a contrived acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.” wikipedia

Now one of the computer scientists credited with the development of these want to do something constructive with all that wasted time entering useless words and characters.

This led me to think about other uses for wasted energy. Think of all that energy created at health clubs across America. Stair Masters, stationary bikes, weight machines… that energy should be captured and turned into electricity! I believe a popular fitness club could produce enough energy to power itself!

Entertainment Random Thoughts

Interesting Optical Illusion

Post author By Dave
Post date January 17, 2008
No Comments on Interesting Optical Illusion

By viewing an inverted color picture and then switching to a black and white version of the picture, to your eye it appears in color, at least until you blink. This optical illusion relies on a principle called “Chromatic Adaptation”.

Government Technology

US Military’s Ray Gun

Raytheon has created a “ray gun” type weapon called Silent Guardian for the US military. It emits an invisible beam of high-energy radio frequency. The non-lethal beam heats up the moisture on the skin inflicting pain.

I was unable to find any video of the weapon being demonstrated on anyone, but here’s a radio story of the demo for reporters and a video from Raytheon’s web site of the equipment.

link icon All Things Considered, October 29, 2007

link icon Raytheon promotional video

Books Government History

Sitting US President Under Enemy Fire

Post author By Dave
Post date January 15, 2008
1 Comment on Sitting US President Under Enemy Fire

In a little known battle just outside Washington DC during the American Civil War, President Lincoln came out to see the battle and became the only sitting US President to come under enemy fire during a war. In fact a surgeon standing next to him was wounded by a confederate sharp shooter.

The story is chronicled in Marc Leepson’s book Desperate Engagment.

link icon Marc Leepson’s Web site

link icon Marc Leepson appears on CSPANs BookTV and tours the battlefields describing events. (WARNING may only be enjoyable by die hard History and Civil War Fans)

Media Random Thoughts Technology

Google Ad triggers

I always find it incredibly interesting what verbiage in my post trigger the relevant Google ads on the right. Of course they are trying to sell you something, but it’s always interesting how it picks up on the words or phrases it thinks it can monetize. For instance, overnight ALL my ads turned into “diet” ads the moment I posted the word “diet” in a previous post. It will be interesting if a STRONGER word or phrase will break that hold that the word diet now has on the ad producer.

Media Technology

GPS triggered audio tours for your next car trip

Post author By Dave
Post date January 10, 2008
No Comments on GPS triggered audio tours for your next car trip

Company produces GPS triggered audio tours. Finally, a innovative use for all those GPS receivers out there.

link icon http://www.intellitours.com

link icon NPR Morning Edition radio story

Internet Media SOI Blog

Impressive online game

Not being into video games much these days, it doesn’t take much to impress me. But I think most would agree this site offers a veritable feast of eye candy. I can only imagine the amount of design work that went into this project.

link icon ~~Get the Glass~~

It’s since been moved here:

http://www.crazygames.com/game/get-the-glass