Skyehaven's Cool Thing Of The Day

Blog change

2009-01-26T18:30:00.002-05:00

I have decided to host my own blog. This blog has now moved to http://www.skyehaven.net/blog/

Thanks for reading here and I hope you'll follow me to my new home!

Steak on the hoof

2009-01-26T10:31:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, it was cold in Alaska. No, I mean cold . Really, really effing COLD.

The cool thing about this isn't the fact that a caribou froze standing up. It's the comments, which range from "he'll thaw out and be ok" to Monty Python jokes. It's nice to see that some people still enjoy the classics.

Another Time Waster

2009-01-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

It's pretty AND it sounds good. What more can you ask for?

Book Gore

2009-01-24T20:04:00.002-05:00

I'm an avowed bibliophile. My proudest moment was when I purchased massive bookshelves and actually had enough shelving room in my house to hold all my books. So, on one hand, I'm finding it a little painful and somewhat gory to look at book art , but it's so damn cool that I can't stop looking at it.

Ghost Towns and the like

2009-01-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

I've always thought of ghost towns as a kind of romantic remnant from the American West. It hadn't even occurred to me that ghost towns might exist all over the world. Click the link and take a tour of someone's list of top 10 abandoned places.

Things that make you go "hmm"

2009-01-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

I know I did.

Presidential Inauguration

2009-01-20T08:52:00.002-05:00

I will rarely bring politics to this blog, because generally speaking, that's not what I want this blog to be about. But the fact that we're inaugurating our first African American President today is pretty damn cool. So is the hub on CSPAN. I'll be tuned in most of the morning from work to see history happen. Whether he was your candidate or not, I hope you'll tune in with me.

Meme "Award"

2009-01-17T23:36:00.005-05:00

Wow...my very first blog award! Now I know that some folks are actually looking at this. Don't get too excited though, I'm not sure how I feel about this whole meme thing...

Here are the rules...The rules for the Honest Scrap award -

The honorees are to:

A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

Simple. Or not.

**************************************************************************************

1) I tend to be far more comfortable around men than around other women. I think that's part of why I enjoy gaming and ham radio and what not...most of my hobbies usually appeal more to men than to women. Or maybe I'm just still a tomboy at heart.

2) I spent a year as an over the road truck driver. I've been in all the continental 48 except for VT and ME. Taking a shower in a truck stop (which is free if you've filled up) is an interesting experience. I don't think I'd have been comfortable enough to do such a crazy thing (the truck driving, not the shower) without my husband...but I'd always wanted to try it when I was a kid. My dad used to drive truck and something about it struck me as romantic. I'll admit, getting paid to drive around and see the country is pretty cool, but it's also a hard life. I wouldn't give up that experience for anything, but I never want to do it again.

3) I don't have power surges. Forget that. I have effing hot flashes. And I'm proud of them...I consider them a badge of honor. The same with my gray hair, though for a different reason.

4) I am jealous of my son. There are so many opportunities now in education for kids that just weren't there when I was in school.

5) I wish I could take back the years and do college right. I seriously messed it up the first time around and just don't see that I'll ever have an opportunity to try again.

6) I still secretly enjoy the occasional bodice-ripper novel.

7) My favorite snack these days is chocolate pudding. I never used to buy it, but it's become a more attractive treat because neither my husband nor son will touch the stuff, so I can keep it all to myself.

8) When I grow up I want to be a meteorologist.

9) My teeth are like stars.

10) I really can't think of anything else that's terribly interesting about me to write about. I don't like writing me or my family. Kinda crazy that I have a blog, I suppose... but I keep stumbling on nifty stuff that I want to share with people, and this is the easiest way to do it. So, keep on coming back here if you're a fan of random "Oh, cool, look at that!" kind of stuff. But I think this is all the soul baring I'll be doing here.

My seven ~~victims~~ award winners should count themselves as lucky. I found this to be a somewhat painful experience and I won't inflict it on anyone I actually like. But if the meme appeals to you, feel free to nominate yourself.

Citizen Science At Its Best

2009-01-16T16:10:00.003-05:00

For those who have always wanted to travel to space and feel somewhat let down by the previous generation, who went to the moon and then stopped, Galaxy Zoo is for you. It's an online catalogue of the best images that were taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), made available to the public. A group of astronomers in the UK came up with this crazy idea to get web surfers to help them catalog these images so they could actually start doing real science with them. In many cases, the participants in Galaxy Zoo were the first people ever to have looked at these galaxies. The first iteration of the website is "done", so to speak. The galaxies there have gotten a total of millions of clicks and papers are being published. Which is cool enough all on its own, in my opinion.

What makes it cooler is that there's going to be another round of classification of the absolute best of the best images from the SDSS, asking the participants to go into even more detail in their classifications.

But it gets even cooler. The group that put Galaxy Zoo together has been astounded by the response they received from Joe Armchair Scientist and have offered to allow other science groups out there with more data than they can classify use of the engine the GZ Team developed. I'm not sure how interested I am in looking at hundreds of photos of elephants, for instance, but I'm sure there's someone out there who is!

Cool Bar Trick? Science? Both!

2009-01-15T20:56:00.003-05:00

I stumbled upon a pretty cool bar trick video on the net. I wish I'd known about this back when I was tending bar in college. I bet I could have made some extra cash off the drunks...

Cities made of...well, just about anything

2009-01-14T21:06:00.003-05:00

What can you build a city out of? Well, some people apparently think jell-o is a good building material. Other people prefer pots and pans. And I thought legos were cool? Have a gander at some cityscape are with unusual media. What's your favorite?

h/t Shari

Ninjas, obviously

2009-01-13T19:12:00.003-05:00

Not that Bruce Lee was a ninja. And not that this is real. It's a Nokia phone commercial. But it's fun to pretend that it could be real.

A weather nerd's wet dream

2009-01-12T16:43:00.003-05:00

Ok...so not mentioned in my little blurb thing is that I'm something of a weather nerd. I particularly follow hurricanes. It started as self preservation here in FL in the summer of '04 and continued because I became fascinated. Mount Rainier put on a nifty show recently. This is in no way hurricane related obviously, but it's weather related, and it's pretty darned cool to look at.

Zen...In A Violent, Blowing Up Kind Of Way

2009-01-11T21:03:00.002-05:00

Provided without comment

Caveat: If you play around with this, I accept no responsibility if you ignore the things you're supposed to be doing.

The World Clock

2009-01-11T00:27:00.004-05:00

Ever wanted to know what the global temperature is, how many people are currently in the world. or how many bicycles have been produced? If so, the World Clock is a must see webpage. Seeing those numbers just ticking away is pretty staggering.

A Cool Million

2009-01-09T19:14:00.002-05:00

Origami with money ...it combines a cool art form and money. What's not to like?

Of course, I doubt that anyone has extra money laying around these days that they want to make art with. This must be from the '90s.

Cold hands...warm heart

2009-01-08T21:07:00.002-05:00

That's the old saw, right? The folks checking out the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in Harbin, China will almost all have warm hearts, then. I've always been fascinated by the ice hotels and whatnot, but I'd never heard of this festival until just recently. Here are some photos from the 2008 Harbin festival to keep you entertained.

You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

2009-01-06T13:17:00.002-05:00

Well, Ok....not really. This shark is already dead. "What's cool about a dead shark?" you ask? I am SO glad you asked! The Auckland Museum in New Zealand will be streaming the necropsy of a great white shark live, this Thursday, 11a-1pm NZ time. I'm terrible at math, but I think this translates to 5pm-7pm Eastern on Wed, as in tomorrow. But don't quote me on that.

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet!

2009-01-03T11:31:00.002-05:00

I saw these amazing performers on TV a while back. Every member of this group of Chinese dancers is deaf. I would love to learn more about them and how they manage this routine so flawlessly when they can't hear any cues.

Trick shots + dominoes = <3

2009-01-02T13:12:00.001-05:00

Domino tricks are cool. Pool trick shots are cool. Combine the two and it's simply too cool for words.

Get a jump on next year's Christmas presents

2008-12-30T10:19:00.003-05:00

Kids toys have gotten cool beyond belief. Why couldn't I have run across this AWESOME toy a few weeks ago. I guess I'll have to suck it up and get it for next year...I just don't know if I can wait that long to give it to him.

The Original Wizards In Winter Christmas Display

2008-12-25T18:28:00.003-05:00

Some of you may have seen Carson Williams' Christmas Light Display before. If not, the video is certainly worth watching! The coolest thing about this, though, is that Carson managed to turn his cool but rather modest Christmas light display into a career.

Now, THAT'S cool!

Winter Solstice

2008-12-20T15:18:00.002-05:00

So, tomorrow is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Some ancient religions marked the winter solstice as the beginning of the new year, as the sun begins its journey back towards the north along our eastern horizons. Many of those ancients constructed primitive calendars that enabled them to mark the solstices and equinoxes as they happened.

The Tomb at Newgrange is one of the oldest of these. The link is a webcam to watch sunrise at Newgrange live, as it happens.

Oh...and happy New Year!

Wash me

2008-12-20T14:47:00.004-05:00

Most people wash their cars when they get dirty. Scott Wade turns his dirty car into amazing works of art.

Does it have a funny bone too?

2008-12-20T07:30:00.002-05:00

A mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater, a remote control submersible's camera has captured an eerie surprise: an alien-like, long-armed, and—strangest of all—"elbowed" Magnapinna squid.

Northern Lights from the Other Side

2008-12-17T12:11:00.002-05:00

This is only my third post, and you're likely already noticing a pattern here. That's because I flat out think space is cool. Period. I doubt anything that anyone could tell me would change my mind. But that's not the only thing I think is cool, promise. Something different tomorrow!

Not Pigs In Space

2008-12-16T22:01:00.002-05:00

This beats the Mentos in soda hands down.

The Elephant's Child

2008-12-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

But there was one elephant, a new elephant--an elephant child--who was full of
'satiable curiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions! He lived in Africa, and he filled all Africa with his 'satiable curiosities.

-Rudyard Kipling

Much like the Elephant's Child I have been blessed, or cursed, with a 'satiable curiosity. I also have the good fortune to be able to spend a reasonable portion of my day looking around the internet at most anything that catches my attention. From time to time, I stumble across things that strike me as pretty cool. So, I thought I'd start a catalog.