Star Trek

Music for the week...yes and no...



This guy (the guy who makes these videos) has apparently been around a while...in fact when I showed some of these to my wife, she explained to me that she had seen most of them a long time ago. So shoot me. It helps if you're familiar with World of Warcraft; there is a lot of material that references the game as much as the contents of the songs.

An essay on John Kennedy and the Cold War. There isn't much in there new if you study history beyond your high school or college textbooks, but if you don't...

Is green energy a fad that has run it's course? (In the long run, no...but the artificial stimulation of the green energy market may be in trouble.)

Sarah Hoyt on "Ungovernable" Americans.

The book of moe dictators.

Animated gif of the refit of the Enterprise from the TV series version to the movie version. The article the gif is taken from, about whether the Enterprise was updated, or was in fact an entirely new starship.



Everything you ever wanted to know about the Kennedy Assassination. (Cynics view, although plenty of time is given to discussing conspiracy.)

Are you worried about all of the horrible things that can happen if you take a cruise? If you aren't, you will be.

I had mentioned when I built my current computer that the namesake, Saya, was from Blood: The Last Vampire. Although, technically, it was the version of Saya from Blood +. Because it's a dual-processor system, you see. In Blood +, Saya is a twin of Diva. Clever? Maybe not. I'm now working on the next computer, which will be named Sena. Because I'm using a 90-degree-rotated case, everything's up top. And while it won't be dual-processor, I will be Crossfiring two Radeon 6870's, so the computer will still have two big ones.



Ok, I'm done being childish. The character is cute, I like the color scheme, and while the...attributes...stack (snerk) up nicely, how can you resist this smile?

But not to start with.



Some links to do with the song and artist:

The artist of this rendition is The Southern Sons Quartet, the song is Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.

Did you know China is building a Stargate? If it was Japan or South Korea, I would be worried. Don't they know what could come through that thing? But it's China, so I'm kinda assuming it will just fall down.

The two big (inherent) problems with Star Wars video games are 1) Everyone is a Jedi 2) Like in other video games with "moral" sides, there is no consequence for being evil. Oh, excuse me, DARK. They aren't evil, just different. They choose the path less traveled. They eat jawas, but it's ok.

The Namib Beetle, which previously inspired the creation of Moisture Vaporators (that's mentioned in the article as well) has now inspired the Stillsuit. What's a Stillsuit?

Also on Wired.com, this short article about the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Big E, the CVN-65, the FIRST CVN, has been decommissioned. This is a very sad thing, although the third ship of the Ford-class supercarrier, the CVN-80 will be the next Enterprise. On the other hand, the Enterprise CVN-80 won't enter service until 2027. Odds that we ever see it in the water? I give it 65 against, 35 for.



Final voting trends from the 2012 election. I.E., which states voted more Republican than 2008, and which voted more Democrat than 2012. The numbers say this past Presidential election will be one for the history books. In essence, it is truly amazing that Barack Obama won re-election. How Obama managed to hang on, and/or how Romney managed to blow this chance will make for a ton of scholorship.

Back to Star Trek; how NASA could build a warp drive. Of course, that title is a bit misleading. NASA couldn't and wouldn't. But maybe it COULD be done, in general.

Things you thought you knew about Star Trek that aren't actually true.

Restoration of the original Enterprise prop by the National Air and Space Museum.

The Economics of Star Trek has often been discussed. Primarily the issue that the economic system of the Star Trek Universe is impossible.

Global Sea Ice Reference. Gotta stay on top of stuff like that.

Politics of the social web. It's a picture, and it's based on polling. No essays or arguments.

Dry-dock for U.S.S. Texas not an option right now. The leaks are under control, but BB-35 will need help in the long run. Especially if she's ever going to repel the Russians.

Japanese bullies will be arrested, probably. Turns out that the gang of bullies were all the children of well-connected community and business leaders.



Follow-up to Gamer Sexual Harassment story (This Asshole).

This story won't be relevant soon. Or maybe it isn't relevant now, which is a shame. Because this is kind of the point a lot of people make about China. Chinese Diver Wins Gold; Is finally told her grandparents are dead and mother has cancer. Those things were not recent developments in her life.