The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

25 Greatest Science Books of All-Time This list was published this month in Discover magazine. I would welcome any of these on my "wish list" and will be watching ebay to find rare editions or even reading copies if that's what it takes to get these added to my libarary. 1. and 2. The Voyage of the Beagle (1845) and The Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin [tie] 3. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) by Isaac Newton (1687) 4. Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632) 5. De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres) by Nicolaus Copernicus (1543) 6. Physica (Physics) by Aristotle (circa 330 B.C.) 7. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) by Andreas Vesalius (1543) 8. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) 9. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976) 10. One Two Three . . . Infinity by George Gamo...

Only The Gods are Real... A few weeks ago I purchased the book The Sandman by Alisa Kwitney. Her introduction to the King of Dreams quickly drew me into a world I have been vaguely aware of but more or less disinterested in for the past 15 years. Sandman has turned out to be one of those rare joys when you discover something comletely new and fascinating by accident- the pleasure of discovering something that you have long overlooked. Exploring Neil Gaiman's other work, I just finished American Gods , which won the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards for Best Novel in 2002. If you have any interest in religion or ancient mythology, this book is absolutely worth reading. The themes have been explored before (think of Thor and Odin from Douglas Adam' classic Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul) but Neil's prose kept me turning the pages till late at night then filling my dreams till early morning. Interesting Links: http://www.frowl.org/gods/gods.html http://www.rambles.net/...

Nothing on DirecTV tonight? Has the wife commandeered the TiVO with Chick Flicks? Try YouTube! Bonus- If you're into juggling be sure to check out Vova and Olga Trying to beat the World Record in 11 club passing ... and the many related videos.

So you want a day off So you want a day off? Let's take a look at what you are asking for! There are 365 days this year. There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have 2 days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work. Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91 days available. You spend 30 minutes each day on coffee break. That accounts for 23 days each year, leaving only 68 days available. With a one hour lunch period each day, you have used up another 46 days, leaving only 22 days available for work. You normally spend 2 days per year on sick leave. This leaves you only 20 days available for work. We are off for 5 holidays per year, so your available working time is down to 15 days. We generously give you 14 days vacation per year which leaves only one day available for work and I'll be damned if you're going to take that day off!

I'm In Love With My Car Words and music by Roger Taylor (Queen) The machine of a dream Such a clean machine With the pistons a pumpin' And the hub caps all gleam When I'm holdin' your wheel All I hear is your gear When my hand's on your grease gun Oh it's like a disease son I'm in love with my car Gotta feel for my automobile Get a grip on my boy racer rollbar Such a thrill when your radials squeal Told my girl I'll have to forget her Rather buy me a new carburetor So she made tracks sayin' This is the end now Cars don't talk back They're just four wheeled friends now When I'm holdin your wheel All I hear is your gear When I'm cruisin' in overdrive Don't have to listen to no run of the mill talk jive I'm in love with my car Gotta feel for my automobile I'm in love with my car String back gloves in my automobile.

Excellent Op-Ed piece on New Orleans "Will New Orleans Recover?" Nicole Gelinas Excerpts: ...No American city has ever gone through what New Orleans must go through: the complete (if temporary) flight of its most affluent and capable citizens, followed by social breakdown among those left behind, after which must come the total reconstruction of economic and physical infrastructure by a devastated populace... ...New Orleans has no real competent government or civil infrastructure—and no aggressive media or organized citizens’ groups to prod public officials in the right direction during what will be, in the best-case scenario, a painstaking path to normalcy... ...Sure, the feds must provide cash and resources for relief and recovery—but it’s up to New Orleans, not the feds, to dig deep within itself to rebuild its economic and social infrastructure before the tourists ever will flock back to pump cash into the city’s economy. It will take a miracle. New Orleans has experienc...

Why Hillary Can't Wait Till 2008! Verry Funny Stuff: http://www.michaelhodges.com/stuff/funny/2008cc1.swf

Grocery Star Wars . Starts a bit slow but well worth the three and a half minutes to watch. The audio is hilarious- click on the "meet the puppets" link if you miss any of the characters names (like Obi Wan Cannoli or Tofu-D2). Very well done!

Renewable Energy Resources NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory Home Power Magazize - Guide to Photovoltaics Systems Premier Power Solar Electricity Specialists Mr Solar.Com Grid Connected System Kits Altair Energy Turn Key Systems National Geographic Article Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough

April Quotes Roundup "Never confuse movement with action." (Ernest Hemingway) "A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance." (Benjamin Disraeli) "The things that we love tell us what we are." (St. Thomas Aquinas) “For every complex problem there is a simple solution- And it is wrong.” (Anon) "No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days." (Max Planck) "I decline utterly to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire." (Winston Churchill) “In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time -- literally -- substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprep...

D&D Blackmoor Resources Dave Arnesons Blackmoor Page Classic D&D Adventures for Download Including: DA1 - Adventures in Blackmoor DA2 - The Temple of the Frog DA3 - City of the Gods DA4 - The Duchy of Ten

RPGs In Perspective: A History of Role-Playing AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ROLE-PLAYING GAMES A Preliminary Taxonomy for Role Playing Games TSR Archive TSR Product List

Conan RPG Resources Check out Krakows "Lost and Found" resource on Conan RPGs . "Black-haired and sullen-eyed was Conan, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth. Cycles of legend revolve around his name, glimpses of a world before history, where evil wizards performed dark sorcery, and where the fate of an empire turned on the strength and skill of a single sword..."

The Museum of (future) Media History (1984-2014) Summary Of The World: Googlezon And The Newsmasters EPIC: Watch Robin Sloan's vision of future media in the short film EPIC 2014 which documents the history of media from 1984-2014. From the EPIC 2014 Transcript : In the year 2014 people have access to a breadth and depth of information unimaginable in an earlier age.Everyone contributes in some way. Everyone participates to create a living, breathing mediascape. However, the Press, as you know it, has ceased to exist. The Fourth Estate’s fortunes have waned. 20th Century news organizations are an after-thought, a lonely remnant of a not too distant past...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Finally! The movie adaptation for the Douglas Adam's classic is set for release April 29, 2005. The World Premiere Trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is now playing on Amazon.com Looks like its going to be awesome!

Fedora Core 2 FC2 nVidia 3D Driver Support Howto Download the latest graphics driver for Linux straight from nVidia Linux Driver Portal Page and save the package in a convenient location. Login as root and shut down your xserver to install from the command line: $/sbin/init 3 Change to the download directory and make sure the package is executable: $chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run Install the package (accepting the license agreement and ignoring the warnings): $ sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. In the Device Section change: Driver "nv" to Driver "nvidia" In the Modules Section add: Load "glx" Comment out or delete the following lines if present: Load "dri" Load "GLcore" Save your changes and restart your x-session: $init 5 Login as with your normal user and test with the commands glxgears or tuxracer. Have a ...

SLR Photography My mother recently gave me her old Canon A-1 SLR that I remember so well from the 1970s. Of great interest are the assortment FD lenses (Canon, Vivatar and Tamron aftermarket brands), multipliers and other goodies that were at the bottom of the camera bag. They are probably not compatible with todays hi-res Digital SLRs, like the Canon Digital Rebel I've had my eyes on. If there are not, there's a huge market for a digital SLR body or some type of adatper that would bring new life to these lenses.

Howto Create DVD Home Movies Using Linux: Here is a guide I put together to help you capture video from a miniDV camera and create homemade DVDs using linux. I have a Sony DCR TVR-18 MiniDV and run Fedora Core 2 (FC2) on a Shuttle XPC (detailed system specs ). I use the DAG YUM/APT repository to manage package installation dependencies when possible. Read this for more information about mixing repositories. I've been extremely happy with DAG. Most of my installation headaches were resolved after I dropped Livna and Fedora Extras from my YUM configuration. 1. Introduction - Kino Installation Tips from Linux Journal . This article from December 2004 provides a nice overview of the tools required to get your camcorder working with Kino via the Firewire/IEEE 1394 interface. If you're using the DAG YUM repository you might want simply try to install kino first and let YUM indentify and resolve the package dependencies for you. From the command line type (as root...

Neal Stephenson Resources I just finished Stepehson's The Diamond Age (Hugo Winner and Nebula Nominee). I n my opinion The Diamond Age is his best novel written todate, although I haven't read Cryptonomicon and I have yet finish The System of The World, which concludes his Baroque Cycle master piece. Check out these links if you interested in some of his other work: Neal Stephenson Bibliography Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast In The Beginning Was the Command Line The Great Simoleon Caper Crunch (Disco 2000 Anthology) As Stephen Bury Interface Cobweb

[adult swim] Last week I discovered [adult swim] just in time for my fall vacation. Featured nightly from 11pm - 5am ET on cartoon network, [adult swim] brings the best anime directly into your home. Combined with the "TiVO Season Pass" and you get anime "on demand" without the hassle of renting DVDs. Seach a9.com or animeNfo Top100 for more information on boxed sets and movie editions that are worth collecting on DVD. There are over two dozen programs available from[adult swim], and each espisode is usually 20 minutes excluding commercials. Check out the clips and daily schedule fom [adult swim] for more information on each series. Personal favorites include: Cowboy Bebop Full Metal Alchemist Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Sealab 2021 Witch Hunter Robin