The Wii's new web browser launched on the day I left town (and my Wii) for Christmas. I'm back now, and exploring the browser. I'm making this blog post from my Wii, in fact.
Typing with the Wii remote takes a long time. I've also had the browser freeze up twice, both times at gmail. Still, browsing the web from the Wii is a fun novelty for now. Time will tell if it is useful.
I'm travelling for Christmas, so postings might be a bit sparse. But in the airport this morning I saw on the waiting-lounge TV that scientists in Japan pulled a live giant squid to the surface. I felt excited and awed by the world in a way that I have become increasingly out of touch with as an adult.
Last year, the same Japanese scientists took pictures of a live giant squid at close to one kilometer below the surface. I thought that was exciting. Here, the many-tentacled creature is right at the surface! See for yourself here.
Unfortunately, it died soon after it was captured.
[UPDATE: Here's some video from Japanese news--note the stirring music.]
Check out the white-on-black console porn. On top is my newest addition, the Xbox 360. Sometimes I feel guilty about being such a giant consumer, but the itch is finally scratched (y'all knew I was joking before, right?). I know some friends are uncomprehending, but I was a good boy and waited until I got a nice deal on this. The wife has been very patient. Maybe I love her even a little bit more. There's a lesson for you, ladies: Don't be like this guy's chick (who is apparently making her beau shed a truly amazing game collection in order to buy her a gaudy hunk of compressed carbon).
Anyway, if you are interested in getting a $100 rebate on the 360, expand this mofo.
Here's reason 1,023,657 why I love the web: I never would have snagged a 360 for 25% off without it. First, I see this post at joystiq for a rebate offer if you buy a 360 at Micro Center. I think, $100 off is a pretty great deal, especially considering that I had told myself early on that I'd wait for a price drop before getting one. But then I think, what's Micro Center? I've never heard of this store. So again, internet to the rescue. Checking out the store's site reveals that there is a location out on Strong Island. I check the Long Island Railroad's schedule (online, natch) and discover it is a half hour trip. Better yet, Google maps shows me that the store is less than a mile from the train station. A $10 round-trip ticket and two hours later, I'm back in Queens, spraying Locust blood in Gears of War.
How did we function without the web?
Nerds: recall dominoes. Recall the game Mousetrap.
Do you know Rube Goldberg? Do you like little parts working together? Then you'll like Armadillo Run. You can play some tutorial stages and free levels if you download a demo. It's fun.
[via boingboing]
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya injured his arm by playing Guitar Hero. His injuries kept him from playing in this year's ALCS.
The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing the video game, and he did. Zumaya then pitched pain-free during the World Series, and went 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances.Umm... Good thing that problem got solved and Tiger pitching returned to form for the World Series.
The baiji, a species of river dolphin native to the Yangtze River, has been declared "functionally extinct" after a six-week expedition set up to find one of the animals failed, according to an AP report and the expedition's official website. Another story about the expedition appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week (in syndication here). Scientists put the blame on overfishing and shipping traffic.
River dolphins are amazing creatures. First, they look awesome. Second, they inhabit this curious little niche--relatives of ocean-going dolphins that evolved to life on the lazy river. Third, according to scientists, baiji are "shy and nearly blind." Finally, around the world they inspire some cool legends, often sexual in nature. According to the WSJ, the baiji is featured in an old Chinese "love story, where it turned into a beautiful woman like a mermaid." The pink river dolphins of the Amazon have inspired folk tales in which the dolphins turn into men at night, seduce human women, and impregnate them. (Interesting gender differences between those myths.)
Enough fun, though. I was really sad to read this news. Such a great, interesting animal gone forever because of what people do. Even if one or a few individuals turn up over the next few decades, the baiji is effectively lost. There are certainly not enough to constitute a sustainable population.
Boingboing has a post up that gets the pedantic science nerd in me going. I’ll need to reproduce it almost in full so you can understand. It begins:
David Pogue at the NYT has presented this classic airplane on a giant treadmill problem, and people are arguing about whether or not the plane would take off or not.
”Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off? I say no, because the plane will not move relative the the ground and air, and thus, very little air will flow over the wings. However, other people are convinced that since the wheels of a plane are free spinning, and not powered by the engines, and the engines provide thrust against the air, that somehow that makes a difference and air will flow over the wing.” (Here’s Pogue’s original post.)Continue if you like such thought problems.
I say yes. Let's assume the friction in the wheel bearings is negligible. Putting a plane on a treadmill is like putting it on an icy lake. When you fire up the jets, the plane is going to shoot down the lake and take off just like it would on a runway.
