Seventy-five years later, he's still going strong. (I think XM Radio must have licensed every episode ever broadcast.)Thanks to George Kelley for the link.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Lone Ranger
Seventy-five years later, he's still going strong. (I think XM Radio must have licensed every episode ever broadcast.)Thanks to George Kelley for the link.
Ace Books Image Lilbrary Update from Michael Smith
Hi,
Happy New Year. It is the start of the new (Spring) semester and I need to get back to my day job. However, I have had the opportunity to do some substantial updates to the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY.
http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/ACE.html
In addition, while snooping through my files and databases and ZIP disks I havefound that the ACE IAMGE LIBRARY is now in its 10th year! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun and it means that this site has been a part of the NET for a decade. Strange to think. However, it would not have been as much fun as it has been without the contributions and comments from all of you. I want to thank all of the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY users who have sent new (or improved) images, artist and publication data, as well as questions and comments.
The ACE IMAGE LIBRARY has had a substantial update dealing with the access pages to each genre section (Science Fiction, Mystery, Western, and Potpourri). I have tried to make it easier to use as well as reduce the bandwidth-hogging issues that are common in graphics-rich NET environments (for instance, I still have dial-up (argh) access at home). Furthermore, some of the sections have gotten (in a word) unwieldy. So, the ACE SF Singles 5-digit numerical section has now been subdivided for easier access and use. This is a direct result of user comments asking if I could do something to make this portion easier to access. Please take a look at these changes and see if you think that they work. Remember, coders (and I am an old programmer with bad habits) have a tendency to think about how it is easier for them and I want this to work for the general user.
In addition, I have added over two hundred new images (and publication data) as well as cleaning up a lot of errors (in spelling, grammar, and punctuation) as well as improved images in many sections. However, I am still updating image improvement in the ACE DOUBLES section, so be patient.
I have been compiling more artist information as well as new images of the original paintings, drawings, illustrations, or preliminary drawings. I have been aided by many people who have allowed me to place these these on the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY site and I thank them again for their permission.
So, have fun. Remember, all errors are mine and any corrections are always appreciated.
Best regards for an enjoyable and interesting New Year.
Sincerely,
Michael
Happy New Year. It is the start of the new (Spring) semester and I need to get back to my day job. However, I have had the opportunity to do some substantial updates to the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY.
http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/ACE.html
In addition, while snooping through my files and databases and ZIP disks I havefound that the ACE IAMGE LIBRARY is now in its 10th year! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun and it means that this site has been a part of the NET for a decade. Strange to think. However, it would not have been as much fun as it has been without the contributions and comments from all of you. I want to thank all of the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY users who have sent new (or improved) images, artist and publication data, as well as questions and comments.
The ACE IMAGE LIBRARY has had a substantial update dealing with the access pages to each genre section (Science Fiction, Mystery, Western, and Potpourri). I have tried to make it easier to use as well as reduce the bandwidth-hogging issues that are common in graphics-rich NET environments (for instance, I still have dial-up (argh) access at home). Furthermore, some of the sections have gotten (in a word) unwieldy. So, the ACE SF Singles 5-digit numerical section has now been subdivided for easier access and use. This is a direct result of user comments asking if I could do something to make this portion easier to access. Please take a look at these changes and see if you think that they work. Remember, coders (and I am an old programmer with bad habits) have a tendency to think about how it is easier for them and I want this to work for the general user.
In addition, I have added over two hundred new images (and publication data) as well as cleaning up a lot of errors (in spelling, grammar, and punctuation) as well as improved images in many sections. However, I am still updating image improvement in the ACE DOUBLES section, so be patient.
I have been compiling more artist information as well as new images of the original paintings, drawings, illustrations, or preliminary drawings. I have been aided by many people who have allowed me to place these these on the ACE IMAGE LIBRARY site and I thank them again for their permission.
So, have fun. Remember, all errors are mine and any corrections are always appreciated.
Best regards for an enjoyable and interesting New Year.
Sincerely,
Michael
No-Class Chick Update
Family continues Oregon-bound roadtrip with dead grandma in RV | More Oregon News | NWCN.com | Northwest News and Weather: "HILLSBORO, Ore. - A bizarre investigation is underway in Hillsboro, after police said they were contacted by a family whose grandmother died during a recent road trip, yet they decided to keep driving with the body in their RV until they reached Oregon."
Croc Update (Prehistoric Edition)
Photo of skull at link.
Bristol University | News from the University | Baryonyx: "An unusual British dinosaur has been shown to have a skull that functioned like a fish-eating crocodile, despite looking like a dinosaur. It also possessed two huge hand claws, perhaps used as grappling hooks to lift fish from the water.
Dr Emily Rayfield at the University of Bristol used computer modelling techniques – more commonly used to discover how a car bonnet buckles during a crash – to show that while Baryonyx was eating, its skull bent and stretched in the same way as the skull of the Indian fish-eating gharial – a crocodile with long, narrow jaws."
Bristol University | News from the University | Baryonyx: "An unusual British dinosaur has been shown to have a skull that functioned like a fish-eating crocodile, despite looking like a dinosaur. It also possessed two huge hand claws, perhaps used as grappling hooks to lift fish from the water.
Dr Emily Rayfield at the University of Bristol used computer modelling techniques – more commonly used to discover how a car bonnet buckles during a crash – to show that while Baryonyx was eating, its skull bent and stretched in the same way as the skull of the Indian fish-eating gharial – a crocodile with long, narrow jaws."
The Sarah Connor Chronicles Again
I watched a little more than half of the second episode. The action scenes started with Summer Glau and a Terminator throwing each other through Sheetrock walls in pretty much a repeat of a scene from the previous night's show. What's with this fascination of shoving people through walls? I stuck with it a while longer, but there was nothing compelling in it for me, so I gave it up.
Monday, January 14, 2008
UFO Update
I used to live and teach in Brownwood, not too far from Stephenville by Texas standards.
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO - Yahoo! News: "STEPHENVILLE, Texas - In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
'People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times,' said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. 'It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts.'"
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO - Yahoo! News: "STEPHENVILLE, Texas - In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
'People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times,' said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. 'It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts.'"
EW's 100 Greatest Websites
Yes, it's another list I'm not on.
The 100 Greatest Websites | 1 | Best of the Web | News Notes | The Best of the Web | Entertainment Weekly
The 100 Greatest Websites | 1 | Best of the Web | News Notes | The Best of the Web | Entertainment Weekly
Gator Update (Doggin' It Edition, Part II)
Calls pour in about dog who survived Sunday's gator attack: "DELRAY BEACH — As a trapper prepares this afternoon to try and nab two gators who attacked three dogs near a pond on Sunday, calls are pouring into the county's animal rescue shelter inquiring about a puppy that survived the attack.
The dog, a Labrador mix, is being held for observation because it bit a bystander during Sunday's excitement, and animal care workers are hoping the owner will come forward so they can determine whether the dog has been given a rabies vaccine."
The dog, a Labrador mix, is being held for observation because it bit a bystander during Sunday's excitement, and animal care workers are hoping the owner will come forward so they can determine whether the dog has been given a rabies vaccine."
Mona Lisa Update
German experts crack Mona Lisa smile | Reuters: "BERLIN (Reuters) - German academics believe they have solved the centuries-old mystery behind the identity of the 'Mona Lisa' in Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait.
Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, has long been seen as the most likely model for the sixteenth-century painting.
*************
Now experts at the Heidelberg University library say dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October 1503 confirm once and for all that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for one of the most famous portraits in the world."
Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, has long been seen as the most likely model for the sixteenth-century painting.
*************
Now experts at the Heidelberg University library say dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October 1503 confirm once and for all that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for one of the most famous portraits in the world."
Civil Liberties? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Civil Liberties!
Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Dancing Spychief Wants to Tap Into Cyberspace: "Spychief Mike McConnell is drafting a plan to protect America’s cyberspace that will raise privacy issues and make the current debate over surveillance law look like “a walk in the park,” McConnell tells The New Yorker in the issue set to hit newsstands Monday. “This is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we’re going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens.”
At issue, McConnell acknowledges, is that in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States in order to protect it from abuse. Congressional aides tell The Journal that they, too, are also anticipating a fight over civil liberties that will rival the battles over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."
At issue, McConnell acknowledges, is that in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States in order to protect it from abuse. Congressional aides tell The Journal that they, too, are also anticipating a fight over civil liberties that will rival the battles over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
This time, in darkness.
Rice researchers make a dark discovery | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "In the iconic movie This is Spinal Tap, lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel said of his band's black album cover, 'It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.'
He was wrong.
A scientist at Rice University has created the darkest material known to man, a carpet of carbon nanotubes that reflects only 0.045 percent of all light shined upon it. That's four times darker than the previously darkest known substance, and more than 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette."
Rice researchers make a dark discovery | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "In the iconic movie This is Spinal Tap, lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel said of his band's black album cover, 'It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.'
He was wrong.
A scientist at Rice University has created the darkest material known to man, a carpet of carbon nanotubes that reflects only 0.045 percent of all light shined upon it. That's four times darker than the previously darkest known substance, and more than 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette."
Those SoBs!
SPORTSbyBROOKS � NY Post Parks Simpson Twin Behind ‘Boys Bench: "The NEW YORK POST reports that it hired a woman who resembles Jessica Simpson to sit in the stands at Texas Stadium yesterday in order to distract the Dallas Cowboys during their playoff game against the New York Giants."
Anna Nicole Smith Update
Anna Nicole Smith's Daughter Forced To Wear An Eye Patch - Starpulse Entertainment News Blog: "Tragic Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter is suffering from a disorder which is making her cross-eyed. One-year-old Dannielynn Birkhead is being treated for strabismus, and is wearing an eye patch in a desperate bid to correct the problem."
Space Update
Today's Mercury Flyby To Be the First Since 1974 - washingtonpost.com: "Right around noon today, if all goes as planned, a spacecraft called Messenger will swoop past the planet Mercury and begin two days of unprecedented picture-taking and data-collecting.
The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years by an emissary from Earth, will mark a key moment in a NASA mission that will ultimately place the first satellite into orbit around the tiny planet that sits closest to the sun."
The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years by an emissary from Earth, will mark a key moment in a NASA mission that will ultimately place the first satellite into orbit around the tiny planet that sits closest to the sun."
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Anybody watch this besides me? I was curious, but now that I've seen one episode, I don't think I'll tune in again. Summer Glau was great, but I missed Linda Hamilton. And Arnold. One question: If Terminators can't shoot any better than the one on the show last night, how did the machines ever win?
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Zero Cool -- John Lange
After reading Deceit I felt the need to read some leaner books. I started with this one from 1969, another of Michael Crichton's early pen name novels that I'm sure I've said before I prefer to his current work. This one finds radiologist Peter Ross headed for a conference in Europe, where he's to read a paper. He never gets a chance to to that, however, because before long he's involved with two groups, one threatening to kill him if he performs an autopsy and another threatening to kill him if he doesn't. Naturally there are beautiful women involved, along with eccentric villains, a McGuffin, and the cops.You can trust me on one thing: nobody other than the doctor is what he or she seems. There are plenty of twists and turns, and while it's not believable, it's fun because it's so fast and about halfway tongue-in-cheek. I'm glad I picked this one up.
Gator Update (Doggin' It Edition)
Alligators attack dogs behind Delray Home Depot: "DELRAY BEACH — One dog remains missing today after alligators swarmed it and its two companions in the lake between a Home Depot and Interstate 95 Northbound.
Fire rescuers situated on the interstate worked themselves through the thick sawgrass to get to the lake while more rescue units waited on the other side, behind the Home Depot off Linton Boulevard. It was from there that witnesses apparently saw an alligator moving in on three dogs and call the fire rescuers, said Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Russ
When units got there the alligator grabbed one of the dogs and pulled it down, Accardi said. Officials on boat tried searching for it but haven't found anything. Upon being rescued a second dog ran away, while the third, a 7- to 8-month-old puppy, was too shocked to move."
Fire rescuers situated on the interstate worked themselves through the thick sawgrass to get to the lake while more rescue units waited on the other side, behind the Home Depot off Linton Boulevard. It was from there that witnesses apparently saw an alligator moving in on three dogs and call the fire rescuers, said Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Russ
When units got there the alligator grabbed one of the dogs and pulled it down, Accardi said. Officials on boat tried searching for it but haven't found anything. Upon being rescued a second dog ran away, while the third, a 7- to 8-month-old puppy, was too shocked to move."
This Is Pretty Scary
YesButNoButYes: Top Ten Celebrity Tongues: "On the heels of the Gene Simmons tongue post, we turn our attention to the rich and famous. Who’s got the best, longest, most interesting tongue in Hollywood and beyond? When it comes to tongues who's most well endowed – here are 10 nominees."
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