“I’ve learned you have to be careful when you get lost in an idea. As an artist, you have to get a little lost. Otherwise you won’t discover anything interesting. But you have to avoid getting so lost that you’re unable to walk away and keep exploring.”
–Kyle McDonald. “When Art, Apple, and the Secret Service Collide: ‘People Staring at Computers.” Wired ThreatLevel blog. July 12, 2012. Web.
“By Monday, if you can’t read this online, those customer support lines will be your only solution.”
–Associated Press. ”Thousands Could Lose Internet Monday after Malware Attack.” The Wall Street Journal. July 8, 2012. Web.
“We’re working with the US government to define regulations that allow commercial exploitation of asteroids. Unlike oil reserves or even the oceans, which are limited, resources in space are infinite. . . . Asteroids called carbonaceous chondrites, also known as dirty iceballs, are up to 20 percent water. You can use solar energy to break up water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which is rocket fuel, so you can create filling stations for deep space operations or oxygen and water for human consumption. Launching water beyond Earth orbit costs $20,000 per kilogram using the lowest-cost launch vehicle, so you save a lot by mining it in space. We’ll also be looking for what I call strategic metals. Another category of asteriod is rich in platinum-group metals such as palladium and osmium, which are used in medical devices, computer hard disks, LCD screens, and other electronics. They’re rare on Earth, but not in space.”
–Ted Greenwald. “The X Man.” Interview of Peter Diamandis. Wired July 2012: 88-96. Quote on page 96.
“With tuition looming, I didn’t dare spend a bent penny. I couldn’t buy candles, or ink, or paper. I had no jewelry to pawn, no allowance, no parents to write home to. No respectable moneylender would give me a thin shim. Hardly surprising, as I was a rootless, orphan Edema Ruh whose possessions would fit into a burlap sack. It wouldn’t have to be a large sack either.”
–Patrick Rothfuss. The Wise Man’s Fear: Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two. Daw, 2011. Kindle edition. Quote in chapter five.
“This Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator would be a great addition to any kitchen. Includes deep crisper drawers, wonderful door storage, and plenty of shelves for all your food needs. The freezer compartment has a slide-out basket in addition to door storage, so that you can stock up on freezer items and save your family money. This Kenmore refrigerator would be a great addition to any home.”
–Product description. Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator. Sears. July 2012. Web.
“Today, in a special seminar held at CERN, the two collaborations operating large multipurpose detectors,CMS and ATLAS, presented new and convincing signals from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that could be coming from the Higgs boson.
This fundamental particle was predicted nearly fifty years ago in the framework of the Standard Model, the theoretical model that describes just about everything observed so far in the world of particle physics. Without the Higgs boson, this model however failed to explain how particles acquired their mass.”
–Pauline Gagnon. “New Baby Boson Is Born, Weighing in at about 126 GEV.” Quantum Diaries. July 4, 2012. Web.
” . . . state legislatures tend to move with the speed and agility of hobbled zombies; for instance, it remains entirely illegal for someone who has participated in a duel to hold public office in West Virginia. Which unfortunately means that the Mountain State will never be governed by an Immortal from Highlander.”
–Brendan L. Koerner.”Dear Mr. Know-It-All.” Wired July 2012: 26, 30. Quote on page 30.
“Once in a generation, the Blood Moon begins its fell cycle, bathing the realm in a pallid light. Compelled by its sinister presence, the restless dead rise from their graves, vampires hunt for unwary prey, and witches engage in nocturnal rituals. Worse yet, the horrifying Werewolf prowls the night, seeking heroes with whom to share his curse.”
–Product description on the back of the box containing The Blood Moon Expansion for Talisman, revised 4th edition, 2012.
Posted in Cool stuff, Quote, Reading
“. . . Charles described an incident that had occurred in the bar when Hemingway and Fitzgerald were having a nightcap [at the Paris Ritz]. A beautiful young woman came in on the arm of an elderly gentlemen, and Scott sent a groom to fetch a box of orchids, which he then sent to the lady with his compliments. The young lady promptly sent the orchids back to Fitzgerald, who, in his moment of rejection, took one out and slowly ate it, petal by petal. Later that night, Fitzgerald returned to the bar, this time with the young beauty in tow. The bar regulars were very impressed and thereafter referrred to the maneuvers as ‘the orchid ploy’.”
–A. E. Hotchner. “A Legend as Big as the Ritz.” Vanity Fair July 2012: 132-146. Quote on page 141.
“[Benny, Jackson's cat,] would walk into the living room, look around, and look at himself–literally take stock, his paws, his tail–and his bewilderment was palpable. It was as if Benny, bus driver and eternal bachelor, had hit his well-worn La-Z-Boy, tired from his ten-hour shift, eaten a Swanson’s Hungry-Man and fallen asleep, fork in hand, only to wake up curled in a donut bed next to a dying fern, his nose in his own ass. He walks out to the living room, trying to shake off a bad dream he’s already left behind, and freezes in realization: ” . . . a cat? I’m a freaking cat?” The talk flicks of its own accord and he jumps. He tries, unsuccessfully, to navigate a world with four legs, paws, and claws. He takes a step, examines his new body. He looks around the room from a vantage point he’s never experienced before. He wants to get to a mirror pronto to see what the hell is going on, but the only one is above the bathroom sink. With his left rear leg still obviously causing a problem, there was no way he was going to jump from the floor to the sink just so he could witness the horror. He dragged the leg behind him and would often whip back in midstride and gnaw at it like it was an unwelcome visitor, grooming it obsessively like if he could just give it a bath it wouldn’t be so annoying.”
–Jackson Galaxy and Joel Derfner. Cat Daddy. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin, 2012. Quote of pages 78-89.
