cafe zeno 2007-10-31T22:16:01Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2007, sjc Enable Technoratic Claiming 2007-10-31T22:16:01Z 2007-10-31T22:08:17Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.464 2007-10-31T22:08:17Z I'm finally in the process of setting up my Technorati blog claims ... http://technorati.com/people/technorati/cavrak Technorati Profile... sjc sjc@uvm.edu I'm finally in the process of setting up my Technorati blog claims ...

http://technorati.com/people/technorati/cavrak

Technorati Profile

]]> Theo Jansen - Kinetic Sculptures 2007-10-25T12:13:48Z 2007-10-25T11:55:47Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.460 2007-10-25T11:55:47Z Theo Jansen, of the Netherlands, designs and buiids animari - large kinetic sculptures constructed of light materials resembling beach animals. After a firm push, the wind takes over, and the animals gracefully walk the beaches.... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

Theo Jansen, of the Netherlands, designs and buiids animari - large kinetic sculptures constructed of light materials resembling beach animals. After a firm push, the wind takes over, and the animals gracefully walk the beaches. ]]> Originally found in an email link from a former thesis student: Katherine Sharpe, Machines on a Beach, August 30, 2007, http://scienceblogs.com/seed/2007/08/machines_on_a_beach.php CBS 2.0 2007-10-20T14:49:52Z 2007-10-20T14:49:31Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.459 2007-10-20T14:49:31Z

CSI: NY Second Life Virtual Experience [Zuiker] Check out a first look at the upcoming CSI: NY Second Life virtual experience. Don't miss the episode everyone is talking about on Wednesday, October 24 at 10pm et/pt only on CBS.... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

CSI: NY Second Life Virtual Experience [Zuiker]
Check out a first look at the upcoming CSI: NY Second Life virtual experience. Don't miss the episode everyone is talking about on Wednesday, October 24 at 10pm et/pt only on CBS.

]]> Flash Mob Prayer Service 2007-10-20T14:28:15Z 2007-10-20T14:22:54Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.458 2007-10-20T14:22:54Z At precisely 1:25 on September 25, 2007, in response to a text message virus, 3,500 Purduvians appear at the Great Engineering Fountain to pray for success in Calculus 1.... sjc sjc@uvm.edu Academic Computing

At precisely 1:25 on September 25, 2007, in response to a text message virus, 3,500 Purduvians appear at the Great Engineering Fountain to pray for success in Calculus 1.

]]>
Found via google alert for [Sherry Turkle]: Flash Mobbing.., Flash Mob "Worshiping the Purdue Engineering Fountain", Harsimran's ENGL 108 Blog, Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007. http://elucidate108.blogspot.com/2007/10/flash-mobbing.html

]]> LEV and Thumpbot Play "Crazy" 2007-10-06T20:24:42Z 2007-10-06T20:11:43Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.449 2007-10-06T20:11:43Z Lev, the theramin playing robot, and his friend the percussionist, Thumpbot, play Gnarls Barkley's Crazy. More Crazy stuff on YouTube ... http://youtube.com/watch?v=19RJEnNUg1I... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

Lev, the theramin playing robot, and his friend the percussionist, Thumpbot, play Gnarls Barkley's Crazy.

More Crazy stuff on YouTube ... http://youtube.com/watch?v=19RJEnNUg1I

]]> Beep, beep. Don't blame me. 2007-10-05T00:06:56Z 2007-10-04T23:09:32Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.448 2007-10-04T23:09:32Z Beep, beep. Don't blame me. Blame Google. The satellites made me do it. They're talking to me. They told me -- Blame Richard E. Parent. "Holy Crap,' he started it. Blame Paul Martin, He started it first, and he... sjc sjc@uvm.edu
Beep, beep. Don't blame me. Blame Google.

google_sputnik_res.gif The satellites made me do it. They're talking to me. They told me --

Blame Richard E. Parent. "Holy Crap,' he started it.

Blame Paul Martin, He started it first, and he keeps doing it.

Blame the Russians. If it weren't for them, there wouldn't be satellites, and none of this would have started.

Beep, beep. Don't blame me. Blame the Russians.

sputnik1.jpg

50 years ago today, Sputnik 1 was launched into outerspace, signaling, on one hand, the beginning of the space age ("astro-geopolitics") and a new era in the cold war ("geopolitics").

I don't remember the details of that day, but I do have several impressions of it.

The first impression was of the people in the neighborhood standing around in their yards after dark, looking up at the sky. My mom, my dad, my sister and I were outside. Mext door, the Braco family was out, Nono and nana Braco, their daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs Rattica, and their granddaughter Joanne were out also.

Would we be able to see it? What would it be like to see it? Would we even know it if we saw it? We didn't see it, and I don't think we ever saw it. (The US satellite Echo was the first one we say - it was a giant balloon in outerspace, designed especially to be easy to see. You couldn't miss it.)

We never did see it. The next night I was the only one outside. A couple of days after that, I gave up.

The closest I got to sputnik was with my Hallicrafters Shortwave radio. I was able to pick it up several times. I remembered the frequency as something like 21 Mhz - an easy band to listen too - generally clear of static. (A web search today identified the frequency as 20.0005 Mhz, just a notch about WWV, the standard time station.) [1]

Beep, beep. Don't blame me. Blame Sony and the RIAA

signals-front.jpg

While looking for Sputnik sounds, I came across a great site that preserves old sounds.

Signals from Outer Space. Actual recordings of the Signals Broadcast by the first Earth Satellite. October, 1957.

Side A features the satellite signals. When I first heard them, I just thought that they were strange. Later, working in the predecessor of UC Berkeley's Space Science Lab, I recognized that they were "telemetry signals." (I'm sure that somewhere on the web is the signal decoding algorithm that would turn the noise into data.)

Side B features a radio-dramatic re-enactment of the Sputnik launch, done in appropriate 1950's news feature style. The countdown is in Russian. The tagline recognizes that this is a step "for mankind."

The narration maked me wish for Jean Sheperd's telling of this story, but google failed me.

Beep, beep. Don't blame me. Blame Unix


Beep, beep. Don't blame me.

I don't try to drive my car, eat an egg mcmuffin, and chat on my cell phone. At the same time. Ever.

]]>

Notes:

[1] Ralph H. Didlake, KK5PM and Oleg P. Odinets, RA3DNC , Sputnik and Amateur Radio, AARL, September 28, 2007. http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2007/09/28/03/

[2] Waxidermy, Signals from Outer Space, http://waxidermy.com/2006/05/26/signals-from-outer-space/

]]> Puppy Robot Gets a New Head at the Robot Head Store 2007-09-08T15:12:57Z 2007-09-08T15:07:46Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.438 2007-09-08T15:07:46Z Puppy Robot is a Nokia 770 internet tablet robot who gets his head upgraded to a Nokia 800. Thanks to the built in video camera, Puppy Robot can now shows us the world from a dog's eye view. The... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

Puppy Robot is a Nokia 770 internet tablet robot who gets his head upgraded to a Nokia 800. Thanks to the built in video camera, Puppy Robot can now shows us the world from a dog's eye view.

The Puppy Robot Project Group ((Jari, Keijo, Markku, Marko and Satu) have documented their adventures at https://garage.maemo.org/projects/robot/

]]> Norwegian kids make a roller coaster loop using train tracks 2007-07-02T14:33:07Z 2007-07-02T14:32:11Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.404 2007-07-02T14:32:11Z sjc sjc@uvm.edu

]]> Google introduces Street Views 2007-06-02T22:40:56Z 2007-06-02T22:26:18Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.403 2007-06-02T22:26:18Z Google Map's Street View is a more human oriented alternative to the "Birds Eye View" from Google Earth. Now you can see how many tables there are at that sidewalk cafe.... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

Google Map's Street View is a more human oriented alternative to the "Birds Eye View" from Google Earth. Now you can see how many tables there are at that sidewalk cafe.

]]> Hai, Irasshai, doozo. 2007-04-17T13:32:51Z 2007-04-17T13:27:55Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.399 2007-04-17T13:27:55Z "Hai, Irasshai, doozo" is "Nice Guy Jin's" musical rap adventure based on the familiar Japanese shop greeting; in this case, we're visiting a sushi shop and asking for various menu items, most of which are not available. This particular... sjc sjc@uvm.edu

"Hai, Irasshai, doozo" is "Nice Guy Jin's" musical rap adventure based on the familiar Japanese shop greeting; in this case, we're visiting a sushi shop and asking for various menu items, most of which are not available. This particular clip is from Fuji TV's program "Kochi Kame".

]]> The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup (Tokyo, December 2006) 2007-01-18T23:20:49Z 2007-01-18T23:09:09Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.382 2007-01-18T23:09:09Z The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup was held in Omodate Hills, Tokyo, Japan in December 2006. The competing robots are all based on the Manoi AT01 humanoid robot kit and featured both stock and customized robots. The competitions, watched... sjc sjc@uvm.edu 0A.jpg

The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup was held in Omodate Hills, Tokyo, Japan in December 2006. The competing robots are all based on the Manoi AT01 humanoid robot kit and featured both stock and customized robots. The competitions, watched by standing-room only crowds, included 5-meter sprints against the clock with both R/C and autonomous divisions, plus two minute demonstrations/performances scored by an expert panel of judges. The article by Lem Fugitt on BotMag.Com contains a detailed description of the comptition as well as a video clip of the robots in action.

]]> [1] Lem Fugitt, The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup! Biped Robot Competition Leaps Forward, BotMag, December 10, 2006 - Tokyo, Japan. Story and Photos byLem Fugitt , www.robots-dreams.com. Article at http://www.botmag.com/articles/kyosho_athlete_humanoid_cup.shtml

[2] Lem Fugitt, Manoi Athlete Humanoid Robots; Kyosho raises the ROBO-ONE bar, Robot Magazine, Winter 2006. p. 40.

]]> Casta Diva 2046 2007-01-07T15:42:45Z 2007-01-07T15:13:03Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2007://1.379 2007-01-07T15:13:03Z This is a music video trailer for Wong Kar-Wai's 2046. Snippets from "Casta diva" often appear as in film sound designed to cover over a heated disagreement in the manager's apartment. (The manager is a classically trained tenor, his... sjc sjc@uvm.edu Playlist

This is a music video trailer for Wong Kar-Wai's 2046. Snippets from "Casta diva" often appear as in film sound designed to cover over a heated disagreement in the manager's apartment. (The manager is a classically trained tenor, his headstrong daughters often test his patience.) The aria is sung by Angela Gheorghiu and the London Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Evelino Pidò.


]]> The film itself stars Tony Chung as Chow Mo-Wan, a womanizing author of nearly-erotic fiction, who writes Hong Kong newspapers to make money for his nightly debauchery. Chow lives in room 2047 of the Oriental Hotel, which shares a wall with room 2046. Several of the films equally independent women live in 2046.

2046 is the title of one of the serialized novels that Chow writes, but there 2046 is a zone on the planet earth in the year 2046 to which many escape but few return.

[1] 2046 soundtrack, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/soundtrack

[2] 2046 imdb entry, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/

[3] 2046 homepage, sony pictures, http://www.sonyclassics.com/2046/main.html

]]> What's Next ? 2006-11-28T14:42:57Z 2006-11-28T14:30:01Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2006://1.378 2006-11-28T14:30:01Z As the markets swing into the Christmas buying spree, folks are beginning to think about what's instore for next year ... especially the MacExpo coming up in January. A possible "iPhone" continues to generate the major buzz, and was... sjc sjc@uvm.edu Keitai

As the markets swing into the Christmas buying spree, folks are beginning to think about what's instore for next year ... especially the MacExpo coming up in January. A possible "iPhone" continues to generate the major buzz, and was the first suggestion posted to the Keitai List.

This mockup was created by Christopher DeSantis who described the project on his blog at the http://christopherdesantis.blogspot.com/2006/07/italk-mania_07.html . His original video is on Google; the version here is from YouTube - because it makes a nicer blog entry :).]]> Wood Frog Freezing (Ecophysiological Cryobiology) 2006-09-26T19:55:42Z 2006-09-26T19:48:16Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2006://1.366 2006-09-26T19:48:16Z

The video describes the freezing and thawing process of the wood frog (Rana sylvatica).... sjc sjc@uvm.edu The video describes the freezing and thawing process of the wood frog (Rana sylvatica). ]]> Wood Frog Freezing Survival, Laboratory for Ecophysiological Cryobiology, Miami University of Ohio,
http://www.units.muohio.edu/cryolab/projects/woodfrogfreezing.htm

]]> The Return of Morizo 2006-09-20T15:37:40Z 2006-09-20T15:33:34Z tag:sjc.blog.uvm.edu,2006://1.362 2006-09-20T15:33:34Z Asahi http://www.asahi.com/photonews/NGY200609190002.htmlMorizo was reintroduced ...... sjc sjc@uvm.edu NGY200609190005.jpg
Asahi http://www.asahi.com/photonews/NGY200609190002.htmlMorizo was reintroduced ...

]]>