If you haven't heard me obsess about the Tesla Roadster, you haven't been around me much recently. Here's a video.
Now Tesla has announced the new sedan - the Model S - which will cost around $60,000 (as opposed to $109,000 for the roadster). They promise a model under $30,000 within 4 years. I'll definitely be getting one as soon as I can!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Matt Dancing
The perfect example of someone following his dreams.
It seems silly at first, but watch it all the way through, and see if you aren't impressed on multiple levels. He's a bit of a modern-day Richard Halliburton.
Check out his full website here.
It seems silly at first, but watch it all the way through, and see if you aren't impressed on multiple levels. He's a bit of a modern-day Richard Halliburton.
Check out his full website here.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Virginia rape law
I saw this on TV tonight, and was floored. It reminds me of the rape of Dinah in Genesis - where Dinah (one of Jacob's daughters) is raped, and the assailant offers to marry her, which was an acceptable solution at that time. Well apparently, that is currently also an acceptable solution in Virginia! - at least until tomorrow, when it will finally be removed from the books. Under the current law, if a girl aged 14-16 is raped, the man is not allowed to face criminal charges if he offers to marry her.
The law goes off the books tomorrow - nearly 4000 years after Dinah. Of course, the rapist in Dinah's day was not really protected. Dinah's brothers tricked him by saying that he could marry her as long as he and all of his extended family and servants were circumcised. On the day of circumcision, when they were still weak, they were slaughtered by Simeon and Levi - every last one of them. Jacob (God's favorite), who had been quiet about the rape, was upset with his sons because he thought it would cause trouble for them, and later, on his deathbed, he cursed the two who had done it. The curse was that their tribes would eventually be scattered, which of course did happen, though the Levites would become the tribe of the high priests, with Moses as their most distinguished member.
There are many outdated laws on the books, but this one caught me particularly off guard.
The law goes off the books tomorrow - nearly 4000 years after Dinah. Of course, the rapist in Dinah's day was not really protected. Dinah's brothers tricked him by saying that he could marry her as long as he and all of his extended family and servants were circumcised. On the day of circumcision, when they were still weak, they were slaughtered by Simeon and Levi - every last one of them. Jacob (God's favorite), who had been quiet about the rape, was upset with his sons because he thought it would cause trouble for them, and later, on his deathbed, he cursed the two who had done it. The curse was that their tribes would eventually be scattered, which of course did happen, though the Levites would become the tribe of the high priests, with Moses as their most distinguished member.
There are many outdated laws on the books, but this one caught me particularly off guard.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Atheists who believe in God
Now this is amazing. It's a set of statistics published by beliefnet, including these:
21% of atheists say they believe in God.
The group that answered the questions in the most similar way to Evangelicals was Muslims.
57% of Evangelicals believe that many different religions can lead to eternal life.
Check out the rest of the stats here.
21% of atheists say they believe in God.
The group that answered the questions in the most similar way to Evangelicals was Muslims.
57% of Evangelicals believe that many different religions can lead to eternal life.
Check out the rest of the stats here.
Remote Control Face
Here's an interesting development in technology. It's still really rudimentary, but it seems that it will have profound consequences once they start refining it. This guy created a computer program that recognizes facial expressions and will send computer commands based on what it sees. This has to do with the possibility of robot teachers (not sure how I feel about that!), but I could see this being applied into cars, computers, etc. For instance, if a sound is too loud, perhaps a future version of the software could recognize the facial expression that says it's too loud and adjust it accordingly - the same with brightness. It will also allow better communication once the voice recognition software is more developed.
There is a video of him demonstrating and talking about the software here.
The other thing this reminds me of is the new surface computer that Microsoft is working on. They say the keyboard may be completely obsolete in the next 15 years!
There is a video of him demonstrating and talking about the software here.
The other thing this reminds me of is the new surface computer that Microsoft is working on. They say the keyboard may be completely obsolete in the next 15 years!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
30 Days
This is one of my favorite shows. If you don't know about it, it's Morgan Spurlock, who made the film Supersize Me. For each episode, a person goes to live for 30 days with a person or family who has a completely different experience from what they have lived. Some of my favorite episodes have included living on minimum wage, spending 30 days in a prison as an inmate, working in a coal mine for 30 days, and my personal favorite from this year - an avid hunter who lives with vegan animal rights activists. There are certainly people who believe that Spurlock has a slant, but from my perspective, he's pretty even-handed. It's amusing that shoppers rated Season 1 3/5 stars in the Fox Store, but 4.5/5 on amazon.com.
It's on during the summer on FX - Tuesdays at 10. The first two seasons are also on DVD. Really worth checking out! Here's a trailer for the show, and here's the main website.
Here's the trailer for Supersize Me, which won him Best Director as Sundance.
It's on during the summer on FX - Tuesdays at 10. The first two seasons are also on DVD. Really worth checking out! Here's a trailer for the show, and here's the main website.
Here's the trailer for Supersize Me, which won him Best Director as Sundance.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Octopus Camoflage
Nature again - so astonishing. Check out this video of the camouflage techniques of the octopus.
And here's another, simpler, one, but which seems even a bit more amazing.
I found these while reading this article on Slate.com.
And here's another, simpler, one, but which seems even a bit more amazing.
I found these while reading this article on Slate.com.
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