News: Astronomical Observing News (12/27 to 1/3)
This week's AON may be a little short, but the ones to come will be packed full with information. I am really hoping for the skies to clear so I can observe soon!
This week's AON may be a little short, but the ones to come will be packed full with information. I am really hoping for the skies to clear so I can observe soon!
This week's AON is pretty short, but there are also lots of clouds because it is winter. However, that just makes the few days of open sky way more valuable!
University video game design programs have been spreading like wildfire around the world over the last ten years. They allow students, researchers and game developers to work on their craft in an academic environment away from the harsh realities of the market, and have led to some interesting products like Fl0w from USC and Ulitsa Dimitrova from Germany. Both games take on topics not often addressed in mainstream games and do so in simple, poignant ways that aim to influence the rest of the ...
The Humble Indie Bundle has become like an unpredictable little gamer Christmas. It helps indie developers get their games exposure, helps gamers get cheap DRM-free games via the most user-friendly online purchasing process ever, and helps the world at large by raising money for Child's Play and EFF.
I was going to update the first list of 15 Brilliant Google+ Female Photographers to Circle, but then I kept coming across so many amazing women that I decided to create another post highlighting their work. I received many great suggestions from +Kelli Seeger Kim (who takes some beautiful pictures herself), +Suzanne Haggerty, Google+ Photos Community Manager +Brian Rose, and many others.
One of the biggest video games events of the year is about to happen in Japan tomorrow, when the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) kicks off. If you've never heard of it, just think of it as the E3 of the East—a video game extravaganza open to both businesses (Thursday and Friday) and the public (Saturday and Sunday). And even though it hasn't officially started, TGS has already released some grand announcements, specifically about Nintendo's future lineup and a precipitous drop in their share prices.
It's no secret that the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is being used in low-budget indie films, as well as big blockbuster movies from Hollywood. But it's also become a staple for television commercials.
Google+ Hangouts are proving to be a proficient platform for teaching and communicating in real time with others. If you're someone who creates instructional content online, you may want to consider using the platform for your next project.
Public Radio Exchange (PRX) has teamed up with music intelligence company The Echo Nest to bring us music lovers Bandito, an easy way to find out what's going on with our favorite artists. Their new mobile app uses the existing iTunes library on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to find your most-played bands and singers, serving up the latest news from around the web on them.
Exploring a new city is tough if you're all by your lonesome. But if you have your iPhone on you, you're not alone at all... there's tons of great apps available for discovering the city around you. We've previously featured an app that helps you decide on what bar or club to attend, as well as one that shows you the hidden world unbeknown to most tourists (sometimes even the local population). When it comes to dining out, Yelp helps considerably, but it doesn't provide you with personalized ...
If you're lucky, your digital camera has a built-in intervalometer that lets you operate the shutter regularly at set intervals over a period of time. Why would you be lucky? Because you can create some very awesome time-lapse videos, like the horribly beautiful eruption of a volcano or vivid star trails in the night sky. You can capture the stunning display of the northern lights or even document the rotting of your favorite fruit.
Lady Gaga and Polaroid's upcoming Grey Label Camera Glasses can record video and snap pictures, but who really wants to show the world what they're up too on those mini LCD screens? It's nothing more than a fancy gimmick between a pop star and a failing company. Isn't the intention of camera glasses to capture things around you as they are? Drawing attention to yourself with clunky video-displaying eyewear kind of defeats the purpose, but that's why they're "fashion" glasses and not practical...
Have you ever wanted to ride a rollercoaster while listening to Lady Gaga? Or have the Star Wars theme auto-play when you enter your house? You can with Minecraft. Search Youtube for a popular song + Minecraft, and chances are there will be a video for it!
What's the Difference Between Ales and Lagers People often ask me, "Nick, what is the difference between Ales and Lagers?" Well, as you may or may not know, there are two types of beers -Ales & Lagers. All beers are made from the basic combination of water, hops, malts, and yeast. However, Ales have been around for thousands of years longer than lagers. So, what makes lagers and ales unique? Here are a few steps to figure out the process:
ANIMATED FEATURE: Thanks to Tom Berger for another animated movie review!
We were invited to my Wife's Cousins house for Thanksgiving Dinner and I wanted a unique but fabulous dessert. I had Doug find us a recipe and this is what he came up with. It is a Pumpkin Bread Pudding with a caramel whiskey sauce. By that, I mean a Bread Pudding made with Pumpkin Bread, that has a cramel Bourbon sauce drizzled over it when its done. This required that we find a good recipe for Pumpkin Bread. I also put Doug on this bit of research and he came up with a whopper of a recipe. ...
What's more important in maintaining a healthy body weight? Eating healthy food or simply reducing your calorie intake?
Everything you need to know about the FarmVille Orchards and how to Master Trees in FarmVille! **Please scroll down and check out my awesome Tree Mastery Chart**
Happy Whore-o-ween! It's that time of year again for ladies to shed their inhibitions, show off the booty, and debase themselves. It's no great surprise that Jersey Shore is 2010's most popular costume choice.
Tips a secret prank for Jeff and Johnny to read , or the element of surprise will be lost.
Yeah it's... that's a good movie there Thanks to Tom Berger for another animated movie review!
The Telegraph presents 2009's most spectacular stunts. This year's roster of adrenaline junkies include the craziest daredevils of their fields: wingsuiting, parkour, motocross, climbing, sky diving, auto racing, and more.
With Smart Shapes you can easily create complex objects like arrows, stars, rounded rectangle, and even 3-dimensional objects with click and drag ease. In this Fireworks 8 video tutorial you will learn how to use smart shapes. Make sure to hit "play tutorial" in the top left corner of the video to start the video. There is no sound, so you'll need to watch the pop-up directions. Use Smart Shapes in Fireworks 8.
Fill up a balloon or some similar material with water. This should be no ordinary balloon but the biggest one, one could possibly make. Launch it down from a building or some huge height in the air on one of the jackass star's car when he is parking. Bam's would probably be the funniest. This is short and sweet, but would be very funny. The size of this should be very extreme.
Want to perform an eye miracle and always look bright eyed like Hollywood stars? In this video, we give you some tips and ideas to make your eyes sparkle and shine. Tracy will share with you what ingredients you should be looking for in eye care products as well as lifestyle tips for better skin appearance & overall health. Many of these products can be found in your local drug store. Example Products:
There isn't much going on this week, but be sure to try viewing the Spica-moon conjunction. It will be hard to view with the full moon, but it will be spectacular if you can snag a peak.
Grab your binoculars and telescopes, because there's a lot going on in the night skies this week. The usually dim Little Dipper will appear brighter as it moves to the right of Polaris, creating a cool effect with the Big Dipper. There's also a first-quarter moon and a really good view of Saturn. If you know of something else, share with us in the comments below!
This year is a leap year, which means today is leap day! I will be explaining why this happens and some special conditions below in the AON. Plus, there is a new feature this week—elongation! Be sure to check it out below.
There are a lot of events going on this week! As I mentioned last week, there will be new features from now on. Check them out in the info section below!
Note: This shower is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The Quadrantid meteor shower is one of my personal favorites, mainly because of the amount of meteors it produces. You can sight more than 100 meteors per hour- that's more than 1 meter per minute. Even though that doesn't sound like much, it will make your observing experience much more exciting. The peak is short, typically lasting no more than an hour or so. It is more easily observed on the fourth, with its peak at 1:00 AM EST.
It's once again Monday, which means it's time to highlight some of the most recent community submissions posted to the Math Craft corkboard. I also thought we'd take a look at building a model that has appeared in numerous posts. It's the simplest of the intersecting plane modular origami sculptures: The WXYZ Intersecting Planes model.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
Increasingly, I'm turning to Google+ as a source of news, and it looks like I'm not the only one. On Thursday, news of a small earthquake broke on both Twitter and Google+. One curious user, +Keith Barrett, decided to try and find out which social network was faster with the news. Turns out it was a tie. As Google integrates Google+ more closely with the rest of its services, and more users post relevant stories, I think we'll start to see Google+ as a place that can create and break stories,...
COLOSSUS n pl. COLOSSUSES or COLOSSI a gigantic statue 60 points (10 points without the bingo)
By now you’ve heard about the iPhone 4S announcement, possibly through our article about Apple’s newest smartphone. However, the star of the show was not the only announcement, so here are a few other announcements that were served along side the main entrée this morning. Let’s talk iCloud, iPod, iOS, and more.
Bingo! No, this isn't the game where balls fly around in machines and players dab their cards with daubers. In a game of Scrabble, bingo refers to the bonus a player receives when emptying their rack in one turn, which gets them an extra 50 points on top of whatever their play was. Even if you had two blanks on your rack and didn't utilize any premium squares on the board, you'd still have an impressive 56-point turn (at least) by using all 7 of your letters.
The 2011 Toronto International Scrabble Open (TOSI) took place last weekend, with former World Champion Adam Logan beating out all of the human competition for the $3,000 grand prize. But when it came time to take on the Quackle program in the Human vs. Computer Showdown, he lost his first two games and won the last two, ultimately losing with a measly 28-point differential of the combined total scores. But he still came out three grand happier.
This week has been pretty exciting for both Facebook and Google. Facebook announced a slew of features that seem on the surface to copy Google+. For Google+ users, a lot of improvements, updates and features were implemented, and they're seeing a lot more overall integration with their Google account.
It's been five long years since Dead Island was first revealed to the public, but today the zombie game finally saw the light of day with its release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. When the first teaser trailer came out from developer Techland, Dead Island looked nothing more than a cheap Resident Evil ripoff—on an island.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.