Ride of the Valkyries

Ron Paul has more boots on the ground than any other candidate. Check out this awesome video.



Ride of the Valkyries indeed.

Sun, Oct 14, 2007  Permanent link

Galaxy Crash Simulator

I found a lovely Java applet that simulates galaxy collisions. Enjoy!

 http://burro.cwru.edu/JavaLab/GalCrashWeb/ 

Sun, Sep 30, 2007  Permanent link

New X Prize Aims For The Moon

When Burt Rutan and his ingenious Spaceship One claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004, space-loving philanthropists started scrambling to come up with a new and bigger challenge. Spaceship One was such a success that countless billionaire eccentrics and high-tech companies wanted to sponsor the next contest.

Eventually, things got sorted out and Google emerged as the main sponsor for the new challenge, aptly named the Google Lunar X Prize.

The goal: A 100% privately funded craft must successfully land on the moon, travel on the lunar surface for at least 500 meters, and transmit a defined data package back to Earth.

The prize: A $30 million total purse size. $20 million goes to the first team to complete the mission, $5 million goes to the second team to complete the mission, and a $5 million bonus award goes to the first team to complete additional tasks, such as traveling more than 5,000 meters on the lunar surface, discovering ice, or surviving a frigid lunar night.

The coolest part about this mission, in my opinion, is the data package that has to be transmitted back to Earth. It is called a "Mooncast," and must include the following:

• High resolution 360º panoramic photographs taken on the surface of the Moon;
• Self portraits of the rover taken on the surface of the Moon;
• Near-real time videos showing the craft’s journey along the lunar surface;
• High Definition (HD) video;
• Transmission of a cached set of data, loaded on the craft before launch (e.g. first email from the Moon).

Teams will be required to send a Mooncast detailing their arrival on the lunar surface, and a second Mooncast that provides imagery and video of their journey roaming the lunar surface. All told, the Mooncasts will represent approximately a Gigabyte of stunning content returned to the Earth.

I can't wait to see how this new X Prize plays out. The Ansari X Prize was a spectacular contest, and this new Google Lunar X Prize should be even more exciting!

Finally, I bring you the promo videos:

Mon, Sep 17, 2007  Permanent link

Ron Paul for 2008

Dr. Ron Paul, Texas congressman, practicing OB/GYN, and contender for the 2008 GOP nomination, is making waves in US politics.

Now don't let his GOP aspirations fool you. He is at heart a Libertarian, and all the Republican politicians hate him with a passion.

Ron Paul is the only Republican who voted against the Iraq war and voted against the Patriot act. He also promises to immediately pull out of Iraq if he gets elected. Ron Paul sticks strictly to constitutional principles, and is known in the Capitol as "Dr. No" for consistently voting against any and all bills that go beyond what the constitution permits the federal government to do.

He also wants to abolish the inflation tax (where the government prints more money for it to spend, causing the value of the dollar to fall), which is something no other candidate even mentions.

In effect, Ron Paul combines the economic freedom of Republicans with the social freedom of Democrats.

People have been saying that he is a longshot candidate that has no chance to win, but he is currently leading in GOP straw poll wins (even above Romney). While the media reported heavily on Mitt Romney's Iowa straw poll win, they didn't spend much time reporting on Ron Paul more recently winning the Alabama and New Hampshire straw polls.

If you like social freedom, economic freedom, and a non-interventionist foreign policy, you should take a look at Ron Paul and see what he has to offer.

And now, the videos:

Wed, Aug 22, 2007  Permanent link

Daft Punk Electroma Movie

Reduced to 3 minutes, that is.

Tue, Aug 7, 2007  Permanent link

Become an Atheist Minister

That's right! I, Aaron Kinney, atheist and anarchist, have just become an ordained minister at the Universal Life Church.

Ordination is free, and getting licensed to conduct weddings is only $5. You can even get a doctorate of divinity for only $29.99!

If you are like me, and you don't dig that dogmatic religious stuff, you'll be pleased to know that this church is so open-minded that its almost impossible to have a worldview that conflicts with their church tenets.

Universal Life Church tenets:

To promote freedom of religion
To do that which is right

You gotta be one weird son of a bitch to screw those tenets up!

Mon, Jul 30, 2007  Permanent link

Daft Punk at the LA Sports Arena July 21, 2007

Absolutely sick show. A few Space Collective buddies were in the crowd as well. I recorded most of the set, and uploaded the videos onto YouTube. Embedded here for your viewing pleasure:

Sun, Jul 22, 2007  Permanent link

God vs. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Law of Conservation of Energy, aka the first law of thermodynamics, is a very fundamental part of physics, and is instrumental to our understanding of the universe.

But it also has profound theological implications. The second law of thermodynamics is often thrown around by God lovers as an attempt to justify their faith empirically. But little do they realize that to assume one law of thermodynamics is to assume the whole set. And the first law of thermodynamics damns their invisible friend to the dustbin of mythology.

The first law of thermodynamics says that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can only change forms. Stephen Hawking phrased it beautifully when he said (to paraphrase), "Matter can never be created; it has nowhere to come from. And it can never be destroyed; it has nowhere to go."

The matter and energy in this universe can change forms, but can never be created, nor destroyed. And this makes the notion of a creator superfluous since he has nothing to create. His work was done for him ahead of time by the very nature of existence itself.

It is very interesting to look back before we discovered this law and see that, throughout time, the mystics have insisted that their creator is an eternal being. Yet in the light of today's knowledge, we now know that the universe itself (the alleged creation), is eternal. The truth is a bit less complex, yet a bit more awe-inspiring, than the age-old creator fantasy.

Mon, Jun 25, 2007  Permanent link

MC Hawking Part Deuce

Again, MC Hawking lays down the law (of conservation of matter/energy) on those Orwellian flock fondlers:

Wed, Jun 20, 2007  Permanent link

MC Hawking

Many people know of Stephen Hawking's work in the field of astrophysics, but few people are aware of his exploits as a lyrical terrorist. Check it:

Wed, Jun 20, 2007  Permanent link