Brian Yee

WLK releasing, STS-126 launching — big exciting weekend. Kinda antsy waiting for it all…

Getting ready for WLK release tonight. Probably not going to dress up like Gamestop suggested….

If you’re not familiar, Durian is a fruit from southeast Asia that has an odor so distinct foul that it is banned from many places.   Well, someone had some in my office yesterday — and after a little scare that there was a gas leak in the building (it turned out to just be Durian), I had to find out how it was, with the following conversation:

(3:24:41 PM) brian-yee: how was the durian ?
(3:24:56 PM) brian-yee has set the topic to: Toybox 1 Questions and Durian, how was it?
(3:25:15 PM) chris-czub: stinky and it left a funny garlicky/onion taste in my mouth
(3:25:21 PM) chris-czub: it’s the most conflicted i’ve ever been over food
(3:25:29 PM) chris-czub: because the initial taste is sweet and custardy
(3:25:58 PM) chris-czub: then the taste of rotting sewage and onions sneaks up behind you and clobbers you, rubbing itself all over the inside of your mouth before laughing at your misfortune
(3:25:59 PM) chris-czub: yes
(3:26:21 PM) brian-yee: wow

Thanks to Chris for his review of the Durian.

Shorpy.com is a great photo site for history buffs.   The site collects photos from the Library of Congress’ archive, processes them for contrast and posts them in high resolution.  Some are over 2000 pixel along the long edge which allows you to clearly see details in the photos and really get immersed in what’s going on.

Most are from 1910 - 1930, but there are some excellent color photographs of the World War II era as well.

A Model T, sitting in the show room in 1924.

I’ve started to import old content from the various incarnations of the site (starting with some of the first content from 2001!) with the help of the Wayback Machine.

Many of the internal links to the site are inoperable now, but I’m trying to find that old content (mostly pictures). I need better backups.

On this sign outside Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, check out the distances to Rome:

I also have to question the distances to Mecca.

These beautiful images, taken from the Landsat Program, show the strange way things look from >250 miles up.  The Bahamas image of the sand beneath the ocean is breathtaking.

Link (via kottke).

mmmm…..Bi Bim Bop

trying to understand these new-fangled web technologies

NASA released the updated manifest for the last 10 space shuttle flights a few days ago.  If you’re interested in seeing a launch, there are only 10 left.  After mid-year 2010, the next manned launched likely will not occur until 2014.

Two more shuttle flights are planned this year, in October and November, five in 2009 and a final three missions in the first half of 2010 to bring the program to a close.

NASA had planned to retire the shuttle Atlantis after a final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission in October, but the orbiter will make two more flights beyond that, one in 2009 and another in 2010, to provide additional processing margin. Atlantis and Discovery will fly three more times each and the shuttle Endeavour will make four more flights, including the 10th and final mission.

Link to Flight Manifest