Month: March 2006

A smattering of some of the most famous illustrators of the last 125 years.

This series is a delicate mixture of pathos and surrealism as expressed, at least in part, by Andre Breton:
‘Surrealism rests upon believing in the higher reality of certain forms of associations, up to then neglected, in the almighty power of dreams, in thought’s free play.’

Man skydives with turbine engines strapped to his feet.

Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip…and why? Welcome to the Food Timeline.

Einkorn became widely distributed throughout the Near East, Transcaucasia, the Mediterranean region, southwestern Europe, and the Balkans, and was one of the first cereals cultivated for food.

Almonds were being collected from the wild by the inhabitants of Franchthi Cave by 10,000 BC, and in Turkey, Syria and Palestine by that time or soon afterwards.

For the past two weeks, Dr Wainwright has been examining some of the billions of mysterious particles which fell in a series of “red rains” over the south-west Indian state of Kerala between July and September 2001.
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It has been proposed the particles that have the rain its colour are life forms from outer space – and if that is true, it raises the possibility that life arrived on this planet in the same way and life on any other planet is likely to be related to us.
The theory is supported in a new report by Indian physicist Godfrey Louis, who has been working on the red dirt and its possible origins for five years.
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Amazingly, according to Dr Louis, they seem to be able to split and replicate, despite apparently containing no DNA – the chemical reproductive code which is common to all life on Earth.

Update: Popular Science

The Sea Of Cortez is the lair of diverse and incredible creatures; some so great, so powerful, so lethal, they have spawned legends.

Video

They’re among the most successful predators of all time, and their ancestors were grabbing our forefathers with suckers and snapping them into bite sized bits with a beak-shaped maw before our forebears had legs!

In fact, some biologists guess that the over 300 squid species constitute the largest biomass of any animal group. If you’re talking about sheer tonnage, squids may be the most successful species on our planet.
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Around Baja, more gruesome stories are told about people getting killed by squid than by any other sea creature. Imagine a swarm of 50-pound animals capable of swimming more than 20 miles-per-hour, equipped with voracious appetites and over 1,000 suckers, each containing about 20 gripping teeth strong enough to tear human skin (correct, that’s 20,000 teeth!).

Most of us want to practice the things we’re already good at, and avoid the things we suck at.

… if you’re 30 today, if you take up the guitar tomorrow, you’ll have been playing for TWENTY years by the time you’re 50.

Basic editing tools like crop, rotate, resize

Join the “New York 4” in NYC using Google Maps.

You are operating a powerboat on a fair sea when a crew member falls overboard on the port side. You should take a hard turn to the _______?

The name marlinespike is derived from the tool that is used for splicing. It can be a tapered metal pin or carved of wood.

Once a rope is onboard a boat and is given a specific purpose, such as dock line, halyard, etc. it is called a line, not a rope.

Boating Tips
Tutorials
More knots