kottke.orgJason Kottke's weblog, home of fine hypertext productsBig black holes- September 12, 2008 It looks like black holes can grow to be as massive as 50 billion suns. How massive is that It's approximately 99 duodecillion kilograms....which is a 99 followed by 39 zeros. (Put another way, if you had 99 duodecillion dollars, you could buy as many PlayStation 3s as you wanted. Blows your mind, right) (link)http://www.kottke.org/08/09/big-black-holes Voice deepening gas- September 12, 2008 You know helium makes your voice go all squeaky Adam from Mythbusters demonstrates that sulfur hexafluoride makes it do the opposite. Must get sulfur hexafluoride. (link)http://www.kottke.org/08/09/voice-deepening-gas Speed skateboarding- September 11, 2008 HD video of two guys in powder-blue suits skateboarding down a hill at high velocity. This is insane, insane, insane...they even pass a car on the way down. Fast forward to 2:20 for the good stuff. (thx, dunstan) Update: Michael Sippey made a topological map of the route these guys took. (link)http://www.kottke.org/08/09/speed-skateboarding Some recent Merlin Mann goodness- September 11, 2008 Merlin Mann has been on a tear lately. He's been rethinking what he wants to do with 43 Folders -- a site he started four years ago to think in public about Getting Things Done (and other stuff) -- which rethinking has resulted in a bunch of good writing on weblogs, creative work, and online media. Some links and excerpts follow. How to blog, the best and most succinct blogging advice I've ever read: Find your obsession. Every day, explain it to one person you respect. Edit everything, skip...http://www.kottke.org/08/09/some-recent-merlin-mann-goodness About 311- September 11, 2008 The head IT guy for NYC is taking questions about the city's 311 system over at the Times' City Room blog. Here are his first set of answers. Here he talks about unusual calls they receive: For a few examples of those we can't ... well, we've received calls from people wondering who won "American Idol," or what the daily lottery numbers were. We've had people ask us why pets can't be claimed on income tax returns, how many planets there are, and whether we can provide various out-of-state ZIP..http://www.kottke.org/08/09/about-311 Bridal preparations- September 11, 2008 T&A is not my usual schtick here, but I found these photos of brides in their underwear -- most are pictured getting dressed for the ceremony -- appealing for non-obvious reasons (the titillation factor here is almost zero unless you're 12 years old). There's something about the natural, unguarded informality of the preparation in comparison to the fussiness and solemnity of the ceremony itself...it makes the wedding part seem artificial. It's also disturbing that all these intimate photos..http://www.kottke.org/08/09/bridal-preparations Best show poll results- September 11, 2008 Almost 4000 people have taken the best show on TV poll so now is a good time to take a look at the results. Here are the top five: The Wire: 16% The Simpsons: 8% Seinfeld: 7% Arrested Development: 7% The West Wing: 6% No other show got more than 4% of the total vote. As expected, The Wire topped the list1. Some notes: Arrested Development ranked 4th overall, way higher than I would have thought. People love this show more than the ratings and its duration (it was cancelled after 3 seasons)...http://www.kottke.org/08/09/best-show-poll-results Gone Baby Gone- September 10, 2008 Ben Affleck's status as a lightweight is hereby permanently suspended. This is a serious movie by a serious, thoughtful director. The film also fits into a theme that's been developing around these parts lately related to switched identities: Switched at Birth, The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar, and Don Draper. Rating: 4.05.0http://www.kottke.org/08/09/gone-baby-gone Bringing Pluto back to the solar system- September 10, 2008 Meg bought Ollie this ball a couple of weeks ago. It's got all the planets of the solar system on it, plus the Sun. But no Pluto. That's right, it's barely been two years since Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status and the toy manufacturers have already made the adjustment. It saddens me that Ollie has to grow up in a world where Pluto isn't considered a planet, although I take comfort that his textbooks probably won't be updated by the time he's in school. In the meantime, I've Sharpied...http://www.kottke.org/08/09/bringing-pluto-back-to-the-solar-system Scholium Project wines- September 10, 2008 Winemaker Abe Schoener, instigator of the Scholium Project, sounds crazier than Sean Thackrey. Schoener says he makes wine by accident, through a process of trial and error, and is unapologetic about his less drinkable wines. When Eric Asimov wrote about his dislike of one of the Scholium Project's wines, Schoener responded thusly: "I am so sympathetic to your reaction to my wine," he wrote. "I don't think that you said anything unfair about it. It is a kind of behemoth." He suggested that a...http://www.kottke.org/08/09/scholium-project-wines |