http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... ed-us.html]It's just an immature torosaurus.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Okay. Was reading Eva fanfic earlier today (which as we all know, CAN'T be good for the soul...) when a description from the self-insert author about what the Eva's REALLY are... and what Rei really is. Stuff I'd known about already but hadn't thought of in awhile, and the ideas... 

...bounced off a little memory fragment from another, possibly equally sick american show...

And I'm finding myself going... "No... nonononononono no... NO! AGH! BAD BRAIN! STOP that!"

And... I think I'll just leave this here for someone else to pick up. Share the pain, as it were... 

Dr. Fuyutsuki: [after examining the test type EVA-00 for the first time What the hell is this thing made out of, Gendo? 
Gendo Ikari: [suspiciously Erm.. Nothing. Just applied macro genetics based in part on what we found in Antartica. 
Fuyutsuki: Come on... 
Gendo: All right, fine, I might have used a few unorthodox parts. 
Fuyutsuki: Just tell me one. 
Gendo: [mumbling An... orphan. 
Fuyutsuki: A what? 
Gendo: [clearing his throat An orphan? 
Fuyutsuki: Did you say... an ORPHAN? 
Gendo: [weakly Yeah, a little orphan boy. 
Fuyutsuki: It's powered by a forsaken child!? 
Gendo: [defensive Might be, kind of - I mean I didn't use the whole thing! 

EVANGELION: "CAREERS IN SCIENCE"

The Bell City Salary Scandal
You get a city manager who had a salary of nearly $800k. Chief of police has a salary of $457k. A CFO with a salary of 200k. Council members earning 100k for part time positions. All on a city of 2 square miles and 40,000 folks. So how did they did it?
Possible vother fraud?
I wouldn't be surprised if several someones goes to jail for several crimes. I wouldn't even be surprised if several someones decided to decamp for foreign parts before that happens. I wouldn't be more surprised if an audit finds Bell deep in the hole.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Turns out it's http://www.sibfox.com/]$6,000 up front.

No joke: the Russians domesticated the Siberian silver fox - mostly just to see if they could - and now the fruits of this domestication are available for the low, low price of six grand.

Admittedly, I wish that I had the cash to pony up for a tame fox. Probably wouldn't get along with the rottweiler or the sheltie, though. Oh well.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

From Mark Sachs of Afterlife Blues: 

"Your link for today is Pacific Star because what they did is so cool."

So I'm doodling in Sketchup, trying to put together a decent model of the Gnarlycurl, when I get to this section of the writeup:

Quote:The top of the pyramid is equipped with a variety of "airlockvators" in sizes ranging from "single human" to "Wave Convoy and a couple friends" clustered in the center, where the shaft used to hollow out the interior was cut, and a 100ft wide ramp (with man-scale stairs on either side for when the gravity is shut off) leads down each of the outer faces to allow access on those occasions the Gnarlycurl lands on a planetary body.

Finally we get some back story in the threat, and it looks like we'll get to see some of the AEC weapons in action. Vita's upgraded

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sen ... oha_force/]MangaFox list page link.

...that Microsoft did not include native support for Blu Ray movies in Windows 7?
I'm not really counting this as a strike against Microsoft because it's a copyright issue.  Neither Apple or Canonical (Ubuntu Linux) have been able to get their own native support either.  So you know who I blame.  *Glares in the general direction of the MPAA.*

Okay, I was thinking about it during work today and Mal's post back over in Inspirational Sites reminded me.  I think I got a real solution here and the best part is that it plays off the Mecha Fen.
The solution, IMHO, lies in Eureka Seven.
In that anime, there exists in the atmosphere a damn-near magical substance called Transparent Light Particles, or Trapar for short.  These particles were non-toxic, although in great densities it could displace actual atmosphere, but that was a rare occurrence.  the thing is, though, that aircraft/ships and mecha could optionally 'surf' the trapar (it had the odd ability to react energetically with specially treated surfaces, producing lift) or simply pass though it as long as it wasn't too much denser than the air.  Normally, in the anime, they were worried about the trapar not being thick enough.
All that said, what if the Fen could apply it to the atmosphere of Mars?  It could be used to improve the viscosity of the atmosphere, especially in the higher altitudes where that would be very useful.  *Recalls a certain incident involving the Soviets.*  And, hey!  Sky-surfing mecha!  (And just sky-surfing in general.)  What's not to love about that?

http://io9.com/5597827/googles-master-p ... e/gallery/]Photographic evidence, circa 2005.  Includes such things as "remake Babylon 5", "orbital mind control" and "cattle mutiliations".
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.