Thursday, November 16, 2006

Links

Links for your reading and viewing pleasure. This afternoon: Viva Pinata

First off, from Brad Ruminer, links to two spectacular photographs that he took himself. Here are the descriptions:
The first one is a photo I took of the sun through a specialized Hydrogen Alpha filter that allows you to see the photosphere and prominences of the sun.
Picture 1

The second is a shot of M42, the Orion Nebula located below Orion’s belt in a small cluster of stars. I shot this on my 11 inch Celestron telescope while giving an astronomy demonstration to our Cub Scout pack.
Picture 2

They're both spectacular.

Next, from Sirius, a link to the winners of the Digital Camera Magazine photographer of the year contest. See the photos here.

If you're wondering what could happen if you don't get a recalled Sony laptop battery replaced, Daniel Quock sent in a link to a spectacular video that you can see here. This is with a generic battery, not Sony brand, but it gives you an idea of what can happen.

If you've been looking for just the right Christmas gift for the man who has everything, how about a machine gun-equipped robotic sentry? Sure, it's 200k, but can safety ever really be too expensive? It's from Samsung and there's information and a video (that's darkly comic) here.

Scott Ray sent in a link to Ben's Game, which is a video game created for kids with leukemia--inspired by a kid (Ben) with leukemia. Here's an excerpt:
Throughout Ben Duskin's battle with Leukemia, he played computer games, which helped him get through the treatment process. He also began to think about the need to have something positive that helped other kids battle their illnesses. So when Make-A-Wish approached him to grant his wish, he decided to design a video game that would be helpful for kids like him who have cancer -- a way to fight back and relieve some of the pain and stress involved with treatment.

Ben worked with a senior software engineer from LucasArts named Eric Johnston, and you can read about the story and download the game here.

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