Engineering school students look at the DelFly bionic robot during a demonstration at the International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Robots in Nantes April 7, 2011. Some 200 bio-robot technicians from 17 countries participate in the three-day event to show the latest developments in robots inspired from the animal world. (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)
Comedy genius and true-born nerd Chris Hardwick (@nerdist) invited me to join him as a guest on his very popular and very funny podcast. Here it is! Chris and his friendly LOL-sidekicks and I talked about what would happen if NPR and E! Television got married; the origin of Boing Boing; and the mainstreaming of geek culture.
Fourteen years after his death, the FBI has released a set of heavily redacted documents on the murder of Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace, (1972-1997), the rapper known as “Notorious B.I.G.” The FBI closed the case in 2005 without determining who killed him. More at Time Magazine.
Photo, via Wikipedia: “Two women operating the ENIAC’s main control panel while the machine was still located at the Moore School. ‘U.S. Army Photo’ from the archives of the ARL Technical Library. Left: Betty Jennings (Mrs. Bartik) Right: Frances Bilas (Mrs. Spence)
Mashable: “YouTube has been dabbling with live streaming across a variety of sectors in recent years — from concerts to Q&As; with U.S. President Barack Obama — and now the video-sharing site is ramping up those efforts by expanding its live streaming efforts and opening them up to select partners.” (via Nick DeMartino)
Here’s one odd effect a government shutdown would have: NASA would likely have to scrub the launch of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission, currently scheduled for April 29. If Republicans and Democrats cannot agree to budget terms by midnight tonight, Washington will effectively run out of money and the government will close. If that happens, according to a NASA memo distributed today, only operations critical to protect life and assets would continue. So, operations to support the astronauts on the International Space Station would go on during a shutdown, as would any operations critical to prevent the loss or damage of NASA assets. And if a launch were in progress when the shutdown went into effect, that launch would continue. But for new shuttle launches, and other new projects: an indefinite delay.
In it, a young mother and child from the island of Kessenuma Oshima happen across a statue called the michibiki jizo — the guiding bodhisattva. According to local legend, the soul of a person that is about to die appears before this particular jizo the day before they pass away. The mother and child are shocked to see a whole parade of spirits appear before the statue — male and female, old and young.
When they return home, the father laughs it off as a figment of their imaginations. But the very next day, when the family is fishing at the seashore, the tide pulls out and doesn't come back in. Minutes later, a massive tsunami wipes out the entire town as the mother, son, and father watch escape to a hilltop. They are the only survivors.
Given the fact that Kessenuma is in the headlines today for the very same reason, there is no doubt that this "fairy tale" is based on a true story. It's particularly haunting in light of the ancient stone markers that dot the Japanese coastline warning of tsunami from times of old, a literal message to future generations from ancestors long since shuffled off this mortal coil.
