Today, I’ve been thinking about my career as a blogger, asking the question, “how the hell did I end up here?” I never liked writing essays, stories, or pretty much anything on paper. My grades in English from high school through college were mediocre. Everything changed when I wrote that first blog. You see I’m …
Author Archives: robotchampion
Creativity: giant colored pencil art installation, that “both awes and threatens”
JeannieJeannie: The Echigo-Tsumari Art Field is a fantastic and wonderfully impractical art space in Japan, where artists from around the world have scattered large-scale installations across 160 kilometers of land. In the midst of this art field is this set of giant colored pencils from Cameroon-born artist Pascale Marthine Tayou, titled “Reverse City:” enormous colored pencils hewn from …
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NFL moves toward slimmer players, former players explore healthy eating
There is a new trend in the NFL, slimming down those plump players. After years of super-sizing lineman with each team stocking a dozen 300 pound players, speed and agility is starting to get wins. The stars in the NFL last year were at much healthier weights in the mid-200 pound range. Players with a …
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West Coast Great White Sharks are endangered – population around 340
A group of environmentalists have petitioned the federal government to put West Coast Great White Sharks as an endangered species. From an L.A. Times article: The northeastern Pacific Ocean population of great whites is genetically distinct and in danger of extinction, according to the petition. Researchers have estimated that there are about 340 individuals in …
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American wind power reaches 50-gigawatt milestone
From the AWEA press release: The 50 gigawatts (GW) online today means that U.S. wind turbines now power the equivalent of nearly 13 million American homes, or as many as in Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, and Connecticut combined. In addition, 50 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity: Represents the generating power of 44 coal-fired …
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Apple stores saw 300 million visits last year, there are 311 million in the United States
From Jim Dalrymple of The Loop: According to Apple, the company has seen almost 300 million worldwide visitors so far in its fiscal 2012…To give you some type of comparison, by July 2011, the population of the United States was estimated to be 311 million people. There is also an interesting data point from Apple’s …
Surf event: Handplane Demo Day – try out new surf toys for free – (this Saturday)
Another demo day for y’all to come out and play with some surf toys. The poster says it all: I’ve been to several of these and make sure to bring some surf fins (wetsuit optional with the water so warm). Of course, many people will be bringing their own homemade products for you …
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Mars rover Curiosity test fires the laser – pulverizes a rock just for fun (and science)
Johnny Five, aka the Mars rover Curiosity, continues its scientific journey. The nuclear-powered laboratory in-a-box pulled out it’s laser to blast a rock that got in its way. From NASA: The mission’s ChemCam instrument hit a fist-sized rock named “Coronation” with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivers more than …
Communist propaganda posters from the Soviet Union, 1917-1991
An amazing set of 1,500 posters from the U.S.S.R., via Ben Perry on Flickr. Since their propaganda, and slightly foreign, you will have to guess their intended meaning. What does the government want you to think/feel/believe?
Apple the most valuable company ever – worth $619 billion
Apple Becomes Most Valuable Publicly-Traded Stock Ever Microsoft’s market capitalization peaked on December 30, 1999, reaching an intraday high of $119.94 per share. With Microsoft having documented 5,160,024,593 outstanding shares the company would have had a market capitalization of $618.89 billion on December 30. Apple’s most recent quarterly filing listed 937,406,000 outstanding shares as of …
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