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Rocket Shots

Soyuz rocket rolls to launch pad. A fine photoset of an otherwise routine Russian rocket rollout. I can tell that photographer Bill Ingalls loves rockets. His favs.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:38 AM on September 29, 2009 (34 comments)

On College and Cubicles

The Case for Working With Your Hands.
In the boardrooms of Wall Street and the corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue, I don’t think you’ll see a yellow sign that says “Think Safety!” as you do on job sites and in many repair shops, no doubt because those who sit on the swivel chairs tend to live remote from the consequences of the decisions they make. Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade, if only in the summers, so that their fingers will be crushed once or twice before they go on to run the country?

posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:46 AM on May 22, 2009 (88 comments)

The Audacity of Dope

With its $41 billion deficit spiraling out of control and federal judges ordering its prisoners released to relieve overcrowding, can legal marijuana save California?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:26 PM on February 12, 2009 (82 comments)

Is LEO too Crowded?

"They ran into each other. Nothing has the right of way up there. We don't have an air traffic controller in space. There is no universal way of knowing what's coming in your direction." An unprecedented collision of two orbiting satellites yesterday highlights the increasing threat of space junk.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:48 PM on February 11, 2009 (51 comments)

Ray Dennis Steckler, 1939-2009

Here's to Ray Dennis Steckler, the independent filmmaker who wrote, starred (as Cash Flagg) and directed influential films including The Thrill Killers, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and his masterpice The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. A visionary artist whose influnce is clearly seen in contemporary cinema, Steckler was prolific (producing movies from 1963 until last year), economical (his films were self-produced, shot on 16mm film and later Hi-8 video), and brilliant (as clearly evidenced in this dance sequence from Creatures, "The First Monster Musical"). It hasn't been widely reported yet, but fans are mourning his passing. He died in his sleep yesterday, January 7th, aged 70.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 7:53 PM on January 8, 2009 (26 comments)

Bob Wilkins, 1932-2009

If you were a fan of late-nite horror movies in Northern California during the 1970's, you likely spent Saturday nights watching Bob Wilkins, the droll, cigar-smoking host of Creature Features. An unlikely horror-show host, Wilkins' deadpan delivery and apparent disdain for the show's films (he reguarly suggested his audience change the channel) made Creature Features a show not to be missed. Bob Wilkins passed away today after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 7:20 PM on January 7, 2009 (24 comments)

Neal Hefti, 1922-2008

Neal Hefti, trumpet player, arranger, big band leader and composer for film & televison, has died. This may be his most loved work.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 7:52 AM on October 15, 2008 (35 comments)

The Ebay Solution?

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain may be computer illiterate, but his campaign does think highly of eBay. Sen. McCain and Governor Palin have each suggested eBay as a fix for the economy, tool for government reform, and strategy for homeland security. Perhaps it's because former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, in spite of disagreeing with parts of his technology platform, is co-chair of McCain's campaign?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2008 (24 comments)

Human Rights Blogger Killed by Russian Police

Magomed Yevloyev, who blogged human rights abuses committed by police in Russia's volatile Ingushetia region, was shot in the temple while in police custody today. The site, ingushetiya.ru (English version), reported the brutal anti-insurgent "Dirty War" tacticts committed by police against Ingushetia's civilian population.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 12:04 PM on August 31, 2008 (17 comments)

More was Lost than Just the Rocket

Lost with yesterday's third failure of Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 1 rocket were the ashes of actor James "Scotty" Doohan, who, along with astronaut Gordon Cooper and over two hundred other cremains, attempted to reach orbit not once, but twice.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2008 (38 comments)

Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, 1914-2008

Before developing exotic space propulsion systems like the ion engines on deep space probes, he developed guidance systems for Nazi Germany's ballistic missile, the V2. As Dr. Werner von Braun's Chief Scientist, he was one of the brilliant minds that founded the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and sent astronauts to the moon atop MSFC's Saturn V rocket. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, one of the last surviving rocket scientists extracted from Nazi Germany in Operation Paperclip, died today at 94.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:54 PM on May 27, 2008 (28 comments)

Polaroid Packaging, the Apple of its Day

The Branding of Polaroid 1957-1977: How we beat Eastman Kodak and its little yellow boxes at point of purchase despite a clunky product and an irrelevant corporate name. Graphic designer Paul Giambarba blogs about his experience creating Polaroid's iconic corporate identity, product packaging and print advertising while freelancing for Polaroid through the company's rise and fall.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 5:38 PM on May 22, 2008 (7 comments)

Bebe Barron, RIP

Bebe Barron, 82, Pioneer of Electronic Scores, Is Dead. Best known for the soundtrack to the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet -- the first full-length feature to use only electronic music -- she and her husband Louis Barron recorded the film's pre-synthesizer "electronic tonalities" with electronic circuits of their own invention. She never scored another feature film, but remained active in the avant-garde music scene.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:10 PM on May 8, 2008 (17 comments)

Verdict in Hans Reiser Murder Trial

Jury reaches verdict in Hans Reiser murder trial. He's guilty. More. Previous.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:24 PM on April 28, 2008 (101 comments)

Robots in Space

Welcome to the decade of space robotics. Jules Verne, Europe's shiny new automated transport vehicle, docked with the International Space Station today, where Canada's Dextre is flexing her circuits after moving in last month. Meanwhile, the Cadillac of Mars rovers, JPL's humbly named Mars Science Laboratory, is prepping for a fall 2009 journey to the red planet. Are we witnessing the beginning of the symbiotic relationship between robots and humans in space?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:18 AM on April 3, 2008 (26 comments)

North Korea's Soccer Hero

70 year old Pak Doo-Ik will lead North Korea's prestigious Olympic torch bearers to Beijing this summer. In the 1966 World Cup at Middlesborough, Pak scored the goal that lead his team to a stunning 1-0 upset win over Italy (video). Pak Doo-Ik and the team returned home as heroes, but ultimately fell under the suspicion of North Korean leadership. The team underwent "mental re-education" and were exiled, Pak Doo-Ik spending ten years as a forest laborer. Dear Leader Kim Jong-il later allowed Pak to coach North Korea's national soccer team, and a fascinating 2002 BBC documentary brought Pak Doo Ik back to the international stage.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:46 PM on March 27, 2008 (12 comments)

Wild Wolverines in Tahoe National Forest

Ferocious-looking mystery creature in Tahoe National Forest confirmed to be a California wolverine, thought to be extinct since 1922. A motion-detecting camera snapped a compelling photo behind the beast last month, and the California Department of Fish and Game just confirmed the discovery with a clear profile shot. Notably, both photos appear to show the same animal.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:06 AM on March 25, 2008 (53 comments)

Mars in Pictures

The evolution of Mars imaging from orbit: Mariner 4 (1964), Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (both 1969), Mariner 9 (1971) (all NASA), Mars 5 (1973) (USSR), Viking 1 (1975), Viking 2 (1976), Mars Global Surveyor (1996), Mars Odyssey (2001) (NASA), Mars Express (2003) (ESA), up to this spy-quality shot of an active avalanche taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005).
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:03 AM on March 5, 2008 (11 comments)

Death of a Browser, End of an Era

RIP Netscape browser, 1994-2007. AOL, who acquired the groundbreaking browser as part of a $4.2 billion deal in 1998, announced the end today. Good-bye or good riddance?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 2:47 PM on December 28, 2007 (99 comments)

Life Imitates Satire

In the increasingly surreal battle between the RIAA and music listeners, reality and satire can be hard to discern.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:27 AM on December 20, 2007 (50 comments)

Spirit's Swan Song?

Real robot drama is happening on Mars today. Spirit, racing for her life to find shelter before winter, injured and underpowered after four years of hard labor, may have made her most significant find yet. The broken foot she's dragged behind her for the past two years unexpectedly uncovered evidence of a once-wet Mars with conditions theoretically hospitable for primitive life.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 11:08 AM on December 12, 2007 (89 comments)

Save Skylab

While enjoying today's International Space Station construction mission, don't forget America's first outpost in space, Skylab. Launched in 1972, the experimental station, cobbled together from Apollo hardware, was abandoned two years later and plunged to Earth in 1979. Today, you can pitch in to save the rotting hulk of the Skylab trainer.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 11:03 AM on August 13, 2007 (17 comments)

Soviet Space Art

That the first space race was politically motivated shouldn't detract from your enjoyment of Soviet propaganda space art. More here and here.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 2:50 PM on August 2, 2007 (21 comments)

Email Overload

E-motional breakdown: The state of e-mail misery. Is email finally at the breaking point? My inbox is so oversaturated I need professional advice to avoid bankrupcy. Or maybe I'll just wait it out -- the kids might know best.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 5:09 PM on July 23, 2007 (32 comments)

Kerwin Mathews, RIP

Kerwin Mathews, 1926-2007. The genre actor may be best remembered as the title character in one of my favorite movies, the classic The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:08 AM on July 18, 2007 (8 comments)

Urban Coyotes Attack!

When Wild Coyotes in San Francisco Attack (previously).
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:31 AM on July 16, 2007 (27 comments)

Boots Randolph, 1927-2007

Boots Randolph has died. The Nashville saxophonist's signature was the hit Yakety Sax, better known to some as the Benny Hill Theme Song. Boots was one of the A-Team studio musicians who defined the Nashville Sound. He played with Elvis, recorded hundreds of albums both as backup and headliner, and never retired from performing. Listen to his music.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:34 AM on July 10, 2007 (13 comments)

The Brain That Wouldn't Die movie review

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is the best public domain movie I've seen all week. Abe Baker's spooky original jazz score is a staple in sci-fi B movies. The monster is played by Eddie Carmel, subject of Diane Arbus' A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970, in his first screen appearance. And I can't overlook the feminist take on this postwar gorefest. See for yourself.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:23 AM on June 28, 2007 (23 comments)

Celebrity Computer Pitchmen

William Shatner hawked Commodores. IBM tried the cast of M*A*S*H, but without Alan Alda, who played Atari. Bill Cosby was a Texas Instruments man. Compaq gave us some funny ones with John Cleese. Bill Bixby pushed Tandy with a straight face. Buzz Aldrin, The Pointer Sisters, Tommy LaSorta, and Tip O'Neil pitched the Amiga. I guess I should include George Plimpton's Intellivision spots. Apple's covered by everyone else. Who did I miss?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:35 PM on June 21, 2007 (41 comments)

Immortality in a Pill

UNBELIEVABLE??? But this invention was invented by the famous Alex Chiu himself. And if you can't trust Alex Chiu technology, you can't trust nobody's technology. Alex Chiu (previously) is back with Gorgeouspil, a pill that turns a user prettier each time it's taken.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 2:01 PM on June 20, 2007 (38 comments)

Microwave Cookery

The cavity magnetron is the secret weapon that saved Britain in World War II. In 1946, Dr. Percy Spencer stood too close to a magneton and invented the microwave oven.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 12:15 PM on June 19, 2007 (22 comments)

N1 Scale Model Launch

The Soviet Union’s answer to Saturn V, the massive, complex, and top-secret N1 rocket, failed win the moon race after four disastrous launch explosions between 1969 and 1972. In 2004, Polecat Aerospace had much better luck launching their 1/16 N1 scale model.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:56 AM on June 13, 2007 (17 comments)

Urban Coyotes

Wild coyotes roam San Francisco.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:39 AM on June 6, 2007 (60 comments)

History of Western Civilization Video Series

The Western Tradition, an outstanding 52-part instructional video series about the history of western civilization, is available as free streaming video.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:13 PM on May 31, 2007 (13 comments)

Accident Prone

I hope STS-117 isn't delayed by this train wreck like it was from that hailstorm last March.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:06 AM on May 3, 2007 (24 comments)

The Chambers-Patterson-Bigfoot Conspiracy Revealed!

Did John Chambers fake the Patterson Bigfoot Film? If it weren’t for John Landis’ big mouth, maybe no one would have figured out that John Chambers was the man behind the monkey suit in the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film. Of course Chambers denied it (and we’re still waiting to hear back from Landis).
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 1:45 PM on April 23, 2007 (23 comments)

Four Decades into America's War on Drugs

America's forgotten war. Are we winning?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 3:23 PM on April 11, 2007 (39 comments)

Tonight We're Gonna Design Like it's 1999

Where is Kai Krause? If you were a web designer back in the day, you probably used Kai’s Power Tools (my how web design has grown). A user interface visionary, Kai bailed at the dot.com peak (just in time) and retired to Byteburg, a 1000 year old castle in Bonn, where he peacefully lives and works today.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:21 AM on April 6, 2007 (46 comments)

Revisiting The Economy of Attention

The currency of the New Economy won't be money, but attention -- A radical theory of value. It's with great hesitation that I post an article that refers to the Internet as "cyberspace", but I found this article revolutionary when I read it almost ten years ago. Does MetaFilter prove it right after all these years?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:13 AM on April 3, 2007 (40 comments)

Not My Favorite Episode

Flamboyant San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli [warning: wants to be your favorite] was dubbed the "King of Torts" for redefining consumer rights and winning huge personal injury settlements. The first attorney to take on big tobacco, he represented victims of Bhopal Union Carbide, the Exxon Valdez, and KAL 007. His clients included Jack Ruby (pro bono), Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and The Rolling Stones, and he was peripherally involved in the Zodiac Killer mystery. He may be best known as Gorgan from the Star Trek episode "And the Children Shall Lead".
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:25 PM on April 1, 2007 (15 comments)

Moon Camera

“When a few of the space pioneers sat down to sketch out how a practical space camera should look one of them had suddenly exclaimed: ‘That's starting to look like my Hasselblad’." NASA originally didn’t think much of space photography until Walter Schirra brought his Hasselblad 500C along on his Sigma 7 Mercury flight. Impressed by the results, NASA responded by commissioning the Hasselblad Data Camera, a stripped-down HasselBlad 500EL that accompanied all Apollo missions to the moon. In the hands of moonwalking astronauts, the Data Camera’s custom medium format film and Zeiss Biogon 5.6/60mm lens captured images of remarkable clarity, color, and sometimes composition. What's your favorite? [warning: frameset - try the "Full Hasselblad Magazines" link].
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:37 AM on March 30, 2007 (32 comments)

Faith-Based Weight Loss

Gwen Shamblin's faith-based weight loss program, The Weigh Down Workshop, has been so successful that in 1999 she spun off her own Evangelical church, now found in over 100 cities worldwide. Her weight loss methods are not without controversy, and her church has recently been in the news.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 12:33 PM on March 27, 2007 (24 comments)

The History of K-Tel

Philip Kives, the "K" in K-Tel records, built his pioneering record label by cramming up to 24 songs on low-fi compilation LP’s (later cassettes, 8-tracks, and CDs) and aggressively marketing them with TV ads. What's your favorite K-Tel album?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:48 AM on March 26, 2007 (33 comments)

Astronaut Rock

Max Q, named after the aeronautical engineering term, is the only astronaut rock band (but not the only musical astronauts). Not to be confused with the barbershop quartet.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:11 AM on March 23, 2007 (7 comments)

Cranks of the Dark Ages

The dark ages of western Europe – nasty, brutish, and short -- did nevertheless produce technical innovations in metallurgy, agriculture, and, as identified in the Utrecht Psalter, a groundbreaking simple machine: the crank.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:15 PM on March 8, 2007 (22 comments)

Truth is Creepier than Fantasy

Lancelot the Living Unicorn (actually a white angora goat whose horn buds were grafted onto the center of its skull by mystic Oberon Zell-Ravenheart), a popular attraction of the Marin County Renaissance Faire, Marine World Africa USA and Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, continues to elicit fond memories in spite of being exhibited by a horrific murderer.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 12:29 PM on March 5, 2007 (28 comments)

Volcano on Io

Space volcano. The New Horizons space probe, en route to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, captures an amazing image of the Tvashtar volcano on Jupiter's moon Io.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 9:21 AM on March 2, 2007 (9 comments)

Ben Laposky, the Father of Computer Art?

Pioneering electronic artist Ben Laposky began creating his “Oscillons” – abstract artworks created by photographing Lissajous figures off a cathode-ray oscilloscope – in the early 1950’s. Some consider him the father of computer art, and the beauty and clarity of his work is astonishing.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:49 PM on January 23, 2007 (12 comments)

It's Cheaper to Throw Them Out

Are reusable spacecraft history? Tonight's space shuttle launch was spectacular. Watch them while you can; there are only fifteen launches left before NASA retires the shuttle, and with it the concept of reusable spacecraft. Turns out that, despite previous efforts, governments just can't make the original, common-sense idea of reusable spacecraft economically feasible. Leave it to private industry to figure out how.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 10:02 PM on December 9, 2006 (37 comments)

Natural Contraception in the Ancient World?

Silphium was the wonder plant of the ancient world. Originally identified by Greek colonists in North Africa, the plant - a species of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) - grew only in a dimunitive area near the coast and could not be cultivated. Silphium was popular as a spice for cooking, but its notoriety stems from its alleged medicinal qualities, particularly its use as an herbal contraceptive (the "I love you" heart symbol may have originated from the shape of silphium's seed pods and its use in sex). So valuable was Silphium that it became an important component of the ancient world's economy and appears on coins. It's also among the first species recorded (by Pliny the Elder) as going extinct, probably by grazing sheep or uncontrolled harvesting. Or is it?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot at 5:09 PM on December 7, 2006 (21 comments)

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