Friday fun: Mars:2020:Springtime

Here a hilarious piece of animation to celebrate the successful landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars:



This great piece of work by nickjsky was originally uploaded to YouTube in Aug 17, 2006.  Check out his comments regarding the video here, and give him a thumbs up for his excellent work.

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: POrtal: Terminal Velocity

This video has been making the rounds this week, and even though it has been posted elsewhere it's so cool that I just have to repost it here:



You can be certain that I'll be playing Portal this weekend..

Thanks to Jason Craft for posting this video.

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Music for a Monday: Sascha Funke - Mango (Original Mix)

I don't know what it is about this video, but I love it and I thought I would share it with you:



Thanks to eggbirdtherooster for not only posting this video on Youtube, but for also introducing me to Sascha Funke.

Maybe some day I will visit the Netherlands and make the trip from Delft to De Lier.

Cheers ~ Jim

Friday fun: Real Tracking and Shooting Portal Turret

After watching this I find myself in a quandary. Do I go and play Portal for a few hours, or do I get cracking on my Arduino project(s).



I think I'll get cracking with the Arduino.

Thanks to kss5095  for post this on Youtube.  Best of luck on your project!

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: How To Survive A Robot Uprising (aka Robopocalypse)

Hmm, so what about Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?



Thanks to epipheo for post this on Youtube!

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: Darth Vader and the Imperial March on Bagpipes and Unicycle - The Unipiper

Umm, words fail me:



Thanks to squiddkidd for posting this on YouTube. Check out the Unipiper on Facebook: www.facebook.com/theunipiper

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

New Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR For Sale

And now for something other than a Friday Fun post.

I have a New Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR for sale. When I say new I mean "never used and still in it's original unopened box".

A quick scan of listings on Amazon and eBay indicated that the going price for a used / refurbished Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR is somewhere between $500 and $1000.

I will accept bids on the SL-HF-2000 until June 1st, 2012. The minimum bid is $500 unless someone makes me an outlandish offer for a quick sale :)

Purchaser will pay for shipping unless you live in the Seattle area. Since the box is to remain unopened the conditions are "as is".

You can email me at betavcr@miba51.com if you have any questions.

I also have another Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR that I haven't used for a long time, but I want to hold on to that until I transfer some tapes to DVD. If you live in the Seattle area and you can readily transfer the tapes to DVD for me then you can have this used Beta for $250. I'll even throw in an old Sanyo Beta that you can use for a tape rewinder.

Of course this may all seem a little preposterous to many people out there, but I don't want to deal with eBay, and this is the best way I can think of for finding a good home for these VCRs.

This posting will be deleted either once the "new" Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR has been sold or after June 1st.

Cheers ~ Jim Cox

Friday fun: Arduino PIR Alarm

Here is another great project courtesy of makemagazine featuring John Park, host of Make: Television, showing how to build a PIR (passive infrared) based motion alarm using an Arduino.



More information on the Arduino PIR Alarm can be found here: http://makeprojects.com/Project/PIR-Sensor-Arduino-Alarm/72/1

You can buy the PIR here: http://www.makershed.com/product_p/mkpx6.htm

As John points out, because of their cold body temperatures this PIR alarm is ineffective against zombies, but may be useful against other beasties!

Have a great zombie free weekend ~ Jim
PS: I forgot to follow up the last post regarding the Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR that is still in the box. I'll try to follow up later this weekend.

Friday fun: We Code Hard.mp4

As I have said before I am not a big fan of rap, but video is worth posting:



Thanks to my friend and fellow CoConut Rogelio for sharing this on FB and G+, and thanks to abdulshahbazkhan for originally uploading this to YouTube.

For those of you who read this blog you may have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately. Sorry, but work and other issues have a higher priority. I do plan to post more frequently in the future and hopefully I will have time to work on my Arduino project and post about it as well as my studies in networking (I am working towards some sort of certification).

Have a great weekend ~ Jim
PS: Anyone out there in need of a Sony SL-HF-2000 Beta VCR that is still in the box? I will be posting about that later in the weekend.

Friday fun: Simon's Cat in 'Santa Claws'

Apparently I missed this Simon's Cat video from last year, so here it is for 2011:



You'll find more Simon's Cat videos here, and be sure to check out the Simon's Cat homepage.

Happy Holidays ~ Jim

Friday fun: What Up Dog (Chill I'ma Cat)

I am not the biggest fan of Rap, but being a cat person I must say I enjoy this video from czg123 - What Up Dog (Chill I'ma Cat):



Check out czg123's YouTube page for more great videos.

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: Mr Bean goes to the dentist

Ouch! It's been almost a month since my last blog entry. Just before that last entry I visited the dentist to get a crown on the #4 tooth, and because of the damage it was necessary to install a pin in the tooth in order to secure the crown. Apparently this increases the chance of eventually requiring a root canal from 8% to 16%, but unfortunately it increased my chances for needing a root canal to 100% due to an infection and I ended up having an emergency root canal the Thursday before last.

Now you know the inspiration for tonight's Friday Fun video:



Things are getting back to normal and hopefully I will be able to start moving forward with my Arduino project(s) as well as another project involving cutting the cable and the alternatives to cable TV.

That's it for now, have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: Steve Jobs - His Funniest Moments -

We all lost a champion of technology with the passing of Steve Jobs. The video below is a tribute to both Steve Jobs, and his humor:



(NOTE: Sound varies, so you will need to adjust as you watch)

Many thanks to Randyvdmeer for posting this video on Youtube. Here is the original URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beIZ04uOT1E

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: 1958 Newsreel: Army's Explorer satellite is launched

Today (Sept. 9) is my 53rd birthday and being a space geek I know that NASA also turns 53 later this year so I thought it would be neat to post the newsreel below that features the launch of the Explorer 1 satellite:



According to this Wikipedia article NASA officially became operational on October 1 of 1958, so I guess we have a few more weeks to prepare for the party. Any thoughts on how to celebrate NASA's 53rd?

By the way, thanks to HistoryReDefined for posting this video on Youtube!

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

Friday fun: Representatives of the three largest groups of tuna consumers gather to reach consensus.

It looks like the cats and dolphins may have reached a consensus, but the humans just stood around and babbled:



Thanks to viper18276 for posting this on Youtube, and the usual suspects on Facebook who pointed it out to me!

Have a great weekend ~ Jim