Two US Navy dolphins discovered an antique torpedo off the coast of San Diego, CA. The Howell torpedo is one of 50 produced, remarkable as it is the first locomotive torpedo developed and was fly-wheel powered. Surprisingly this marks the 24th recovered!
An early naval torpedo was discovered deep in the ocean by two Navy dolphins in the coast of Coronado, California. According to the Los Angeles Times, it may have failed to detonate 150 years ago.
"Dolphins naturally possess the most sophisticated sonar known to man," the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program's website explains. Using animals "can effectively replace a full-sized naval vessel and its crew, a group of human divers, and the doctors and machinery necessary to support the divers operating onboard the vessel."
New York City police officers arrested a woman who was video recording them from a public sidewalk as they conducted some type of “vehicle safety checkpoint.”
The officers apparently stole a memory card from a camera, which turned out to be the wrong one, allowing us to view the video.
We'd like to thank and congratulate our sponsor Upstream Color on this week's launch of their DVD and Blu-ray. It's a film written and directed by Shane Carruth, one The Los Angeles Times calls “intense and hypnotically powerful” and The Playlist describes as “a romantic examination of love, who we are as lovers, what our love does to one another, and how that’s connected to the nature of all things.” Visit UpstreamColor.com for more.
The app, which is available for both iOS and Android, allows users to modify their photos with a plethora of Snoop Dogg-style virtual stickers designed by illustrator Munk One. Once your new or existing photos are properly decorated, you can share them via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter alongside the hashtag #snoopifyapp.
Kindle Serials hold the hope of performing like an old time radio show. I enjoy looking forward to them.
Very much in the vein of the Magicians by Lev Grossman, Gooseberry Bluff is set in a future where magic is real and taught. The first episode hooked me as a Federal Bureau of Magic agent is sent undercover to investigate a community college professor's disappearance, apparently related to a larger demonic summoning/terrorist plot.
Schwartz uses 30-40 page installments to develop the story very well. I hope this format catches on.
This folding hammock is really great! I bought it with the hopes of taking it camping but I've been using it, nearly daily, on my deck.
This is far-and-away the best $40 I've spent on a silly camping idea! It is sturdy and it works. The frame takes a few minutes to set up the first time, aligning some pins and holes, but it's very simple and well built. It is also heavy and only for dedicated car campers or beach trippers.
A few weeks back I shut off my DirecTV service and I haven't looked back. Upon realizing how much satellite TV service cost and that I rarely, if ever, watched it, I decided it was time to try streaming as my prime delivery method. The Roku 3 came highly recommended.
I plugged the $99 Roku unit right into my former DirecTV's HDMI cable and was immediately off to the races. Setting up my Netflix and Amazon Instant accounts was a breeze. Picture quality is terrific, at 720p and 1080p. The device itself is pretty responsive and doesn't spend a lot of time between menus or switching "channels."
"Channels" are how Roku organizes content. The Netflix channel loads just like an app and I can page through all the same features and search options as on the AppleTv, iPad, iPhone or webpage. I haven't tried any of the independently available channels yet, as I am very happy with the content available through Roku's catalog. I've been told there is a very, very wide range of stuff available independently.
It has been over a month. The only downside to this transition has been the hundreds of calls from DirecTV failing to woo me back with expensive offers.
It seems we love mine collapses at Boing Boing. The earlier posts got me to thinking about the Lake Peigneur disaster. The story is amazing but oh so familiar, a wayward oil company makes an error and mistakenly drains a lake into a salt mine. It is incredible and you can watch!
Goldie Blox and The Spinning Machine is a game designed to encourage young girls to get into engineering. I gave my 6-year-old daughter a set for her birthday and she loves it!
Kids join Goldie via a series of short stories. They build, along side Goldie and her pals, the same machines she does! The machines largely spin characters around pirouette-style, and the designs are never complex! Its really engaging!
Building with Goldie's Blox is easy. There is a stable board where axles and posts slot in cleanly. Children wrap ribbon around them and use cranks to wind, tension and spin things. The stories are well written and very simply walk kids through the basics. The designs are easy to follow. I was really pleased with how well designed the whole game is. Engineers, go figure!
Finding engaging toys and games that expose my daughter to mechanical engineering, science and just how the world works is difficult. The first time she played with Goldie, my daughter built machines for 3 hours. I'd say this game does a good job.
I really love Computer Jay's work. The passion and effort he puts into his music, video and programming boggle my mind. The 8bit style game he wrote to stand beside Savage Planet Discotheque is a lot of fun too!
Mark Ernest Pothier is a Kindle Single author I have been watching. Since reading his story The First Light of Evening I've been waiting for his next. The Man Who Owns Little was released a few days ago and I read it last night.
Pothier has mastered the skill of allowing your past experience and memories to fill in blanks and flesh out his characters. The Man Who Owns Little is simply a conversation between two long term friends, via post, analyzing how their relationship has changed and perhaps why. I really enjoyed how there are no judgements and there is no right or wrong. The story is about friends who think and experience life so differently trying to understand one another. Pothier leaves it up to the reader to determine what really happened.
If you love The Big Lebowski you'll probably enjoy The Dude and the Zen Master, a collaboration between Jeff Bridges and Zen teacher Bernie Glassman. Evidently Bridges and Glassman have been friends for years and thought a critical analysis of the Dude's words and actions was in order.
Pretty much all I know about Zen comes from reading some Alan Watts, thus I'm unqualified to speak to how much Zen learning you may take away from this entertaining book. Start out simply looking to chuckle or remember a few great scenes from a favorite movie, and you won't be disappointed. Recall Jon Stewart's reminders that The Daily Show is a comedy. This book is for fun and if you read it as such, you won't be disappointed.
A sort of side note or unexpected takeaway from the book is that I really enjoyed the glimpse into Jeff Bridges' life and experiences as an actor. He shares quite a bit and clearly works very hard.
