Friday, May 15, 2009

Graffiti from Pompeii (ADULT CONTENT)

In the year 79 CE, a volcano named Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the Roman city of Pompeii under a thick layer of volcanic ash and killing its inhabitants. This city lay buried, preserved for the ages until being discovered 1748. Pompeii has given us unique insight into how the ancient Romans lived and worked, due to the circumstances of its death it has been preserved very well. One thing we have learned is that Graffiti was just as common in ancient Rome as it is today. Only back then it was carved in stone.

This website has translations of much of the graffiti found on the walls of Pompeii buildings. As warning: like modern graffiti, much of this graffiti is definitely not the sort of thing you want your children reading. It contains explicit references to sex and other such things, so if you are offended by that sort of stuff you probably won't want to follow this link. But I found it terribly interesting. It proves that the ancient Romans were kind of like us.

Check it out.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

io9

io9 is one of my favorite science fiction websites. It collects science fiction and fantasy related stories from all over the internet, and also has some original content. It's the place I go to see what's new in the world of SciFi. Check it out.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Update

Normal posting will resume tomorrow. Thanks for sticking around.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Changes

Dues to a variety of factors, I'm switching to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Joseph Wu's Origami Page

I love to make things with origami, which is the Chinese and Japanese art of paperfolding. You know, like those little paper cranes. I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself (and I do) but I'm nothing compared to the genius of Joseph Wu. Joseph has pictures of all the wonderful things he's folded, and even some instructions for a few of his models. Even if you don't like to make origami, you can still marvel at this guy's artistic skills. Check it out.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

GIANTmicrobes

Have you ever wanted to cuddle up to a soft plush ebola virus? Neither have I, but somebody must, because GIANTmicrobes sells them. In fact, you can get everything from the common cold to flesh eating bacteria in plush, squeezable form! They are all modeled after the real form of said pathogen, as seen in a microscope. If you or one of your loved ones feels the need to own a cuddly white blood cell, this is the site for you.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Museum of Unworkable Decives

For thousands of years humans have dreamed of creating a perpetual motion machine, a machine that could do useful work while functioning without any sort of input forever. Science says that this is impossible, but that hasn't stopped people from trying. The Museum of Unworkable Devices has extensive information on perpetual motion machines past and present, as well as detailed scientific explanations on why they won't work. It also has some optical illusions, and a few drawings by Escher and the like. Check it out.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Tsui Design & Research Inc.

I live crazy artists, don't you? It's my philosophy that artists are supposed to be nuts. That's just the way it ought to be. Eugene Tsui of Tsui Design and Research Inc. is a delightfully demented artist who designs weird buildings and funky unisex clothing. He's great! Check it out.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Nova Online

If you're like me, and I suspect that you are, you love the PBS television series Nova. For the uninitiated, Nova does in depth reports on various science and history-related topics and airs on America's Public Broadcasting Station. A great site to visit is Nova Online's video section, where you can view tons of Nova episodes online for free! It's pretty cool. Note that I do not know if these videos are available to viewers outside of America. If they are not, sorry guys. Go check it out!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Bent Objects

Bent Objects is a blog of human-like figures that the author makes out of paper clips and other small objects. It's good for a few laughs. Check it out.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Exit Mundi

Have you ever wondered how the world is going to end? Who hasn't? Exit Mundi is a website cataloging the various ways that humanity could bite the big one, from nuclear war to a robot uprising to spontaneous existence failure. Check it out, if there's still time.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Hero Machine

If you're like me, you've always wanted to be able to draw that awesome superhero you came up with when you were twelve and have been secretly daydreaming about ever since. And if you're like me, you can't draw a straight line, much less a person. Fortunately for us, there's Hero Machine. Hero Machine allows you to mix and match parts, body styles, colors, and so on to create your very own superhero. You can even print it out! Now if DC will just return my calls...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Acme Klein Bottles

Have you ever wanted to own a bottle with a one sided surface and zero volume? Than a Klein Bottle is what you're looking for! Made by joining the two edges of a Mobius strip together, a Klein Bottle is a four dimensional, one sided, non-orientable, zero volume surface with no inside and no outside. Unfortunately, a true Klein bottle could only exist in four dimensional space. But the good folks over at Acme Klein Bottle have the next best thing; a three dimensional emulation of a real Klein bottle. And they're for sale! That's right, starting at $35 you can purchase your very own Klein Bottle, and even a Klein Bottle hat! If you're like me and don't have any money, you can at least ogle the wares. They've also got cartoons, haiku, and limericks related to their fine product. Check it out.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Daily Kitten

The Daily Kitten posts a picture of a kitten every day at 3:07 PM. That's all. Hey, it's a kitten! What more could you ask for?

Monday, April 20, 2009

Polite Dissent

There are tons of comic book blogs out there, and I love them. There is enough comic book history for thousands of blogs to dig into and still not cover every angle of the geekiest form of art. Polite Dissent is a website and analyzes not only comic books, but also TV series from the point of view of a doctor. Scott will dig into the latest comic books and tell you whether the medicine and surgical procedures in them are even remotely plausible, and on which points they pass and fail. He also does this with TV shows, most notably House. Of all the blogs on the internet, I have never found another one that fills this niche. Check it out.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Martin Bower's Model World

Each of us has a gift, something that makes us special, something that we do really well. For me it's writing blog posts about other people's websites that I found while randomly hopping about the internet while I ought to have been doing more productive things. For Martin Bower it is making models. Martin Bower is a skilled model maker who has produced models for movies, TV shows, books, and other forms of media. He has worked on Space 1999, Dr Who, Flash Gordon, and was the Supervising Modelmaker for the movie Alien. Martin Bower's Model World is Martin's official site, and you can find some great pictures of his models there. My favorite is the model of the Martian Tripod he designed for an aborted photo-novel of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds. Check it out.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Curios and Antik Guns

People seem to be fascinated with putting weapons into things that by all rights ought not have weapons in them. Curios and Antik Guns has a collection of pictures and info on things such as keys, rings, watches, crucifixes, and fish hooks, all of which fire bullets. A short read, and I haven't checked up much of the rest of the site, but I thought it was cool.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Radioactive Quack Cures

Around the turn of the twentieth century a wide variety of products were made that were supposed to use radiation to cure whatever happened to be wrong with you. Radiation was new and exciting, and many people thought it could have all sorts of health benefits. Nobody yet knew what dangers this new technology held. Radioactive Quack Cures has pictures and information about many of those curious devices. It includes pictures, promotional material, information about what the products are and where and how they were made, and whether they actually contained anything radioactive. From Radium Bread to Thorium Toothpaste, you can find it all in here.