I am a NaBloPoMo Dropout…

Le Sigh! I did not manage to post every day in November, so I guess I am a NaBloPoMo failure. But, I have an excuse don’t I always! I looked back over the posts I was making and realized that I was posting things I normally wouldn’t just so I would have a post for that day, and I wasn’t happy with that. I would rather post less often and post something interesting not boring semi-interesting than to post a bunch and not be happy with it. So, I am going back to posting things when they strike my fancy. LOL!

In the spirit of stuff striking my fancy….. I give you a computer they have taught to think like a cat. Now, at first, I thought “Cool!”. Then I took a moment and looked at my cat considered the implications of having a computer that thinks like a cat. Really…. consider it… do you really want a computer who thinks like a cat? My own cat is capricious, does what she wants, does strange things for no apparent reason, and I have seen her tease the dog, just for fun. Oh wait… never mind! My computer –already- acts like a cat at times, doing what it wants instead of what I want it to!

Just in Case You were Worried about 12/12/2012

I love when the doomsayers and fanatics grab onto a specific date and start predicting the End of the World. Let’s see, there was the Y2K bug. Uhuh.. computers continued to function, more or less, even until today. Then I remember the world was supposed to end on Jan 1, 2000, even without the Y2K bug (which was only going to destroy technology after all), then when that didn’t happen they realized the new Millennium actually started on Jan 1, 2001, so they changed the day… and still the world didn’t end. This is not a new thing, there have been doomsayers for all of human history, and probably before. I can picture an early human, soon after words were invented, “Ugh! World go away if too many people” or some other such nonsense.

The current End of the World scenario is based on two very different theories. One being the end of the Mayan Calendar. Uh, No! It is only the end of the current calendar cycle, and the Mayans aren’t happy you are trying to make disaster movies out of it. LOL! The second is the ‘discovery’ of a planet that wanders around and is set to crash into ours. Again… Uh, No!

Curious about where these ideas all came from and what the actual scientists have to say about them? Check out this Link from NASA. I think they may be a little more reliable than the guy standing on the street corner wearing the sandwich board and telling you to sign over all of your worldly goods to him before the world ends and you are considered a sinner!

Zombie Chicken Award

This is such a perfect award for the month of October... I mean, Zombie Chickens!

Gayla has moved her blog over to Unfussy Living, and she passed this super cool, seems made for October, award on to me. The description of this award is as follows:

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken--    excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all."

So let me see who should I pass this on to? I definitely don't want 'the wrath of the zombie chickens', but still, this award must be passed on to people who will appreciate Zombies in general and Zombie Chickens in particular. On the other hand, I'm betting that anyone who follows my silly blog would probably appreciate Zombies Chickens just 'cause. Anyway, I pick these 5 for my victims recipients.

Rebecca at Provocation of Mine(d)

MissHeather at Singing With My Heart

Indigo at Shattered Prose

Rachel at Life 'N Stuff

and finally Dan at Slapinions

If you don't already read these people, you should. I would definitely wade thru the Zombie Apocalypse to be able to read whatever they have written.

Wordless Wednesday

 

In Celebration of Star Wars Day...

Happy Star Wars Day! Today is Star Wars Day. No seriously, it is. I saw mention of it in several places around the web, so it must be so. Why today? Because it is May the Fourth. Get it? May the Fourth be with you....

In celebration of Star Wars Day, I give you the following video.

Odd Things That Capture My Interest...

I wanted to make a blog entry this evening, but I was staring at a blank screen and the little blinking curser and I couldn't think of a single interesting thing to say. First I thought I would tell the story of my trip to the DMV today, but it actually wasn't unpleasant, and my friend Rebecca had a much better story about her visit today over at her blog. Then I thought I would write about what the Hubs and I did on his day off yesterday (and today), but we really didn't do much and my big purchase of the day yesterday was Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi which was finally out in paperback... but, I haven't read it yet and just buying it wasn't really all that exciting......

Now What? AHA! I know! I'll fall back on the bookmarks in Firefox in the little folder called... Wait for it.... Possible Blog Entries. Yeah, I'm kind of boring like that. Sigh! So, What have I thrown in there recently. Hmmmm...

You can Go Here and enter your name and it will be included with others on a microchip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in 2011! I'm such a geek, I did this one. It would be a great way to get the kiddos interested in the space program. After you enter your name, be sure to look around. There are a lot of cool things. Like being able to talk to the virtual Dr C. about Mars. You type in the questions and he answers them. Yes, I am a space geek. This was neat, and would be a great jumping off place for a study of the universe, the space program, or anything else you or your children might be interested in. It's part of the Nasa main site.

This link just amuses me. Dog Tags with the location of Earth on them.... just in case the little green - uh, I mean gray guys -stop by, pick you up, and accidentally drop you on the wrong planet. These dog tags will be all you need for some one (or thing) to be able to locate Earth and hopefully drop you back off here. A real bargain at $12.99 + 2.50 shipping and packaging. The perfect insurance against being left wandering around the universe like Arthur Dent......

O.k.... How about one more.... Tweenbots. How cute is that name? What is a Tweenbot?

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Go to the link and see how some friendly New Yorkers help the little robots get to their destination. In the creators own words:

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination.

The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers.

Pretty Cool, Huh? People can be kind and helpful, even in New York and even when they can't expect anything in return. Gives you hope for the human race!

There you go, three links to odd things. Just goes to show you some of the really weird things that I find amusing/interesting. Hope you enjoyed them!

Still Amused...

Back in December I linked you to the story of Otto the Octopus. I was amused with his antics and offered up the story for your amusement.

Today I give you a new story of Octopus intelligence, curiosity, and mischievousness. This time it happened at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and involves their female two-spotted octopus.

Seems little missy was feeling in need of some excitement, so she created some. The story can be found here at National Geographic News. The Aquarium itself also released a press release about the incident, and you can see the CNN Video here. There is also an entry in the official aquarium blog. Oh, and one more link, this is a set of pictures on Flickr where you can see her a little better and appreciate just how pretty she is. They are copyrighted, so I am just linking to them. Enjoy!

This Amuses Me...

 

 

Go here and check out the story of Otto the octopus. It amuses me that they had to do a stake out of his enclosure to figure out how he was doing it. He also periodically rearranges his tank to better suit his taste. People often do not give creatures such as these enough credit. They are much more intelligent than most people think. I did find the website for the aquarium where Otto lives, but it wasn't in English, so I didn't link to it.