Weird Things - Latest Comments

Re: Microsoft’s Illumi-Room Is Baby-Step To Holodeck

Mark Triskaid — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:07:46 -0000

Nice! My only fear is that it leads us one step closer to invasion by malign photonic life forms (if Star Trek voyager is anything to go by). :p

Re: Giant Snails Invade Florida!

Matthew Walton — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:03:33 -0000

There's one more thing to write on my list of places not to move to...

Re: Giant Snails Invade Florida!

busterggi — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:40:58 -0000

Quick, call Dr. Doolittle, he has experience with giant snails.

Re: Podcast: The Mystery of Monkey Island

René Christiansen — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:47:36 -0000

I loved this episode, how cool it must have been to be on the hunt for Money island. With a Master in History, this was a very interesting episode for me, and I hope that Andrew will follows up on his findings.

Re: Podcast: My Own Private Vigilante Botnet

Gregory Muir — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:02:22 -0000

I came here just to post what you two already have. :)

Rule 34 is experimental and revealing the AI is real spoilerific territory whereas murderous botnet is the back of the book blurb for Daemon. I like Stross a lot but Daemon is a far better execution of the concept. It sounds like its just going to be a stupid police procedural with a twist, Law and Order retread. But it moves so far beyond that simple premise it's not even funny, just awesome. The writer really pushes your suspension of disbelief and you keep thinking no, something like this couldn't happen but like Stephen King, your man brain scoffs and your monkey brain believes.

Re: Podcast: My Own Private Vigilante Botnet

Jaye Sunsurn — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:45:29 -0000

Rule 34 Charles Stross; is also a variant of the AI that seeks out people related to a subject and attacking each person in interesting strange methods. A little more sci-fi and due to the reference to 'Rule 34: If You Can Think Of It... There Is Porn Of It' at times quite perverse, but entertainingly so.

Re: Podcast: My Own Private Vigilante Botnet

Brad — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:34:31 -0000

Your story idea about the AI botnet doing keyword scanning and launching attacks (and much more) already exists - Daemon, which is awesome, and Freedom(tm), which is good but gets kinda preachy, by Daniel Suarez.

Re: Double Complete Yeti Sighting

Ken Peleshok — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:51:02 -0000

Totally real. Convince me otherwise I dare you

Re: Podcast: The Mystery of Monkey Island

John Holchin — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:36:01 -0000

The Cleveland Zoo has a monkey island. It is a bit smaller in scale, but it was built around the same time and his a free range exhibit with only a moat separating us from the animals. It's pretty neat, but I do wish that I could go back in time to see either place in full 1930's glory.

Re: Podcast: The Mystery of Monkey Island

Mike Norton — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:08:15 -0000

Thought I would mention the intro clips for the last couple weeks, with justin talking about bandwidth being provided... all have strange sounds coming from the right channel, after that everything is great as usual keep up the good work fellas

Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

Walter Woods — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:09:59 -0000

What was the TED talk you mentioned? I'm only finding some guy with an android when I google it.

Re: Podcast: Blow and Hoe

jsquire — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 03:53:18 -0000

Concerning your discussion of vigilante superheros: If you are stopping a crime in progress you are not a vigilante, you have a legal right to do so, defend others, etc. It is only if you hear about a crime and then take it upon yourself to go out and find the perpetrator and mete out "justice" that you become a vigilante.

Re: Most Desirable Woman In Brazil Right Now Has Imaginary Virginity Up for Auction!

Eric Wallin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:36:17 -0000

I guess this is a "the grass is always greener" situation. The men over there are just tired or all the borrrring curvy beauties. Now they're ready for some cold, dead eyed hard rubber love'n.

Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

JustinRYoung — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:31:10 -0000

Oh hell no. We were just under time constraints.
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Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

Patrick Fisher — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:02:12 -0000

Odd that Brian was not even mentioned in this episode... Has he been fired?

Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

Michael Corley — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:13:01 -0000

I can only hope to be approached by one of these fine young women on the Skypes. I'm sure that *I* will soften her heart and lead her to the path of the light!

Re: Zombie Perfume For the ‘Preppers Will Make You Socially Acceptable to the Walking Dead!

busterggi — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 07:29:59 -0000

Nope, I know what a liquesent corpse smells like - better to smell like anything else.

Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

JustinRYoung — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:48:05 -0000

Oddly enough, with WB behind it it could be a lawsuit.
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Re: Podcast: Salacious Skype Schemes

Jaye Sunsurn — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:36:11 -0000

I pose this question which I am a little concerned about when it comes to Kickstarter. Kickstarter is NOT a mall where you pay your money and you get your product... eventually. You are an investor, you pay to help possibly make something real. But it can potentially not come together, not get made, die on the vine. My question is this... WHAT happens if the $2M+ goes to the Creative Team behind Veronica Mars and for one thing or another... they try hard but it doesn't come together. What happens then? How does that affect the Kickstarter model? People will be less inclined to cry foul when your little widget or video game falls through, this however... it could seriously destroy trust in the Kickstarter model as a whole.

Re: Most Desirable Woman In Brazil Right Now Has Imaginary Virginity Up for Auction!

busterggi — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 13:02:31 -0000

At least she won't order the lobster.

Re: Podcast: Smoking Crater

Gregory Muir — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:23:28 -0000

The Adama Maneuver was bad physics. Sure, the ship caught fire because reentry, right? And it could if velocity vs the local atmosphere were high, if it didn't arrive at rest. But then the vector was straight down as if gravity was to blame. What's more, the speed would have to me a high Mach multiple that would shred any fighter launching into such a slipstream. Think Challenger torn apart due to aerodynamic forces.

They could have preserved the scene without the fireworks. But this was never a show that let possibility stand in the way of doing something that seemed cool.

Re: Podcast: Double O Heaven

somerandomguy — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:49:32 -0000

What I don't understand is why people who call themselves skeptics don't apply this same skepticism to the "official story." Instead, they just assume that whatever the government and media tells us is true. Shouldn't they be subject to the same scrutiny that you give to a conspiracy theorist?

Specifically regarding the Sandy Hook thing, there are so many inconsistencies in the official story. You shouldn't be so quick to disregard what the conspiracy theorists have to say. Most of them raise valid concerns. It's not that they're trying to be insensitive, they are just trying to present the evidence. It just so happens that the evidence doesn't line up with what we are being told.

I really don't understand how someone could look at all the evidence and not think that something is fishy about the official story. I mean, heck, look at all the interviews with the families. No tears at all. Many of those people look way to happy to have just lost a child. Watch that Robbie Parker interview and try to tell me that something weird isn't going on there.

If you don't believe the conspiracy theories, that's fine. But you also shouldn't get upset if people are being skeptical of the "official story." Skepticism is a very good thing, but it works both ways.

Re: Podcast: Thunderwell

Richard Latimer — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:38:45 -0000

I find it amazing that Andrew has this inability to see the negative side of this inter-retinal laser projection argument.

I don't think we're going to be worried about advertisements as much as pranksters and terrorists. If you're telling me that local businesses are going to be able to use this technology near their own buildings, but everyone is generally going to denying permissions, then it has to be cheap enough to justify what little gain would be had.

So these tiny, cheap projectors are going to be able to be easily affordable. Imagine someone who wants to kill a number of people, projects images and sounds coming from one direction, only to have the people fleeing come right to where he wants them.

The laser blocking glasses or contacts will be necessary for at least law-enforcement to catch anyone who would be using these projectors nefariously.

Re: Podcast: Thunderwell

Dan Pratt — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:06:32 -0000

Just for fun, I assumed that the manhole cover from the Pascal-B underground nuclear shot didn't succumb to atmospheric drag (as it, of course, must have... Andrew) and continued skyward at the calculated rate of 56km/sec. At this velocity, the cover would now be 99.7 billion km from Earth. In comparison, Voyager 1 is only 18.5 billion km from Earth.

Setting my astronomy app for 4:35pm on August 27, 1957 (the shot time), we find that the star Beta Canum Venaticorum was nearly directly overhead the Nevada shot site (Lat 37.04903 N; Long 116.0347 W) . This star has been listed as "among the most astrobiologically interesting stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun" (ref 16 in Wikipedia entry for Beta Canum Venaticorum). At the rate of 56km/sec, the manhole cover should reach beta CV in about 147,450 years. By then, it should be nice and sterile.

This exercise makes me wonder about all the un-incinerated artifacts that may have been catapulted into space from the fringes of the bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki... (Never mind the flash-frozen dinosaurs from the KT asteroid impact.)

Re: Podcast: Thunderwell

Alex Murdoch — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 09:58:52 -0000

I'm having a fantastic time listening to this show. If you could see the smile on my face as Justin, Andrew and Brian work themselves into a complete and utter lather over laser projection, you would be amazed. I'm trying to get cleaning done on Sunday morning with the kids playing in the livingroom and they keep asking what I'm laughing at. This is so much like the arguments I used to have in University with my friends. Wish I was there!