Sticking with the 'pdf' theme for this week - PrimoPDF is a website which will convert your own files into PDF format. Simply upload the file - up to 10 MB - tell them your email address and then it will post the pdf-version back to you.
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The previous posting made note of the use of fibre optic cables which use light to transmit data - this post concerns the use of light - or at least the way our eyes and brains interpret light - in an optical illusion.
Originally found via BoingBoing here.
Here's another illusion which I came across since I first prepared this post a few months ago.
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Wired magazine produced a short article showing a little bit about the journey of data bits from the UK, across the Atlantic Ocean and USA mainland to a destination in California.
And all via fibre optic cables.
The map below shows Southport on the north-west coast of England where the data leaves these shores via the Hibernia Atlantic UK network.
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In the picture above, on the right, you can see a small, working, solar-powered, brass engine. (The spectacles are to provide a proper appreciation for the size of the model.)
These are the work of Syzmon Klimek from Poland. He has a website with pictures and videos of his astonishing work. The 'Internet Craftsmanship Museum' also has a page about him.
I have embedded one video of the brass engine below.
Originally found via the Make Blog.
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What if the Earth had rings like Saturn?
That is the question posed - and answered - by 3D artist Roy Prol in this YouTube video which is also embedded below.
I originally came across this item via Buzzfeed here.
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STS-130 is due to takeoff on Sunday delivering two major items - the 'Tranquility module' and the 'Cupola' - to the International Space Station.
With a planned lift-off at 4:39 am (local time, 9:39 am GMT) this will also be the last night launch for the Shuttle and consequently the last chance to see such a spectacular sight.
At the time I am writing this entry the final shuttle missions are due on :
My personal favourite from the Time magazine '50 Best Inventions of 2009' (as featured in the previous post here) was, #46, the Smart Bullet.
I like it NOT for the carnage it might create but because it reminded me of a rather old - and cheesy - film from the 1980's, "Runaway".
Along with Tom Selleck's moustache, Cynthia Rhodes big hair and shoulder pads, Gene Simmons (over-the-top rock star of 'Kiss' fame) maniacal bad-guy laughter, it had 'smart' bullets that keyed in to the bodyheat signature of a person and could chase them round corners.
You can see a trailer for the film embedded here from YouTube.
The Wikipedia entry for the film is here while this link (see the bottom half of the page) finds the film listed in the middle of '15 Awesomely Stupid Movie Weapons' - which is an interesting read in its own right. And to complete this set of links here's Scifylove.com's take on the film.
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Time magazine posted their list of '50 Best Inventions of 2009'. Their winner was the Ares rocket you can see in the picture on the left.
Take a look at the others in the list here and decide for yourself if they have things in the correct order. Maybe you can think of an invention that they should have included.
I realise that it is now a whole month into 2010 but I'm actually creating this article in November 2009. I thought I'd leave this to allow time for Time's readers to post their own ratings which might make for interesting reading.
Extra : today is a palindrome day - 01022010.
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