Done yesterday (20100612 Sa)

[mdlbear]

0612 Sa
  % 4ish; BPH.
  * up 8am; W=193.4; drugs, nose; coffee
  @ How a far-sighted 17th-century scientist saw the future (via ysabetwordsmith) 
  * getting ice and soda delivered from Safeway helps a lot.
  * pick up cake at Cosentino's.  Fruit for sangria; Martinelli's
  * placed order at ThinkGeek for awesomesauce, etc.
  . party.  Sangria.
  @ Queer Tropes (via ysabetwordsmith 
  @ How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally -- Engadget
  @ Ride Like the Wind (only faster) (From Andy Heninger)
    downwind faster than the wind
  @ CC-licensed book on learning games programming for kids - Boing Boing
  : connection from my desktop to the servers at work is down again.  So much
    for working at home.
  & cleaned out my camera's card.  Need bigger card (or newer camera)
  % I don't seem to be enjoying our parties as much as I used to.  Not enough
    new people to talk to, and a fair amount of work with no-one helping.  And
    a loud non-stop talker can make the living room someplace to avoid.  I
    like our friends.  but...
  @ How Scientists See the World
    from gmcdavid
  : ben.to is available.  Tempting.
  % everyone's gone home, but I'm on a bit of a sugar high.  Want to drink
    some cold water, but mustn't.
  * midnight: nose, bed

Getting the ice and soda delivered from Safeway made party prep a lot simpler than usual. I did have to go to Cosentino's and get the graduation cake, and fruit for sangria.

It was a pretty good party, but could have been better -- we I need to publicize more. I could probably have gotten some of my new coworkers to come, if I'd actually thought to tell them about it.

I sang a few songs, and had some nice conversations in the office. But there were no new people to meet; I miss that. I probably ought to try cross-posting the announcements on some communities.

One thing that helps a lot is having learned to pull back into the office when I get overloaded, which is (as it turns out) most of the time. Or the kitchen, doing food prep or cleanup.

Some good links under the cut, as usual. Probably the most mind-boggling is Ride Like the Wind (only faster) (from Andy Heninger during the party) -- a wind-powered car that goes downwind faster than the wind that powers it.

How Scientists See the World (from gmcdavid) is vastly amusing.

Comments

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Ride Like the Wind (only faster) (from Andy Heninger during the party) -- a wind-powered car that goes downwind faster than the wind that powers it.

Holy... How do they do that? I looked at the blog, and it all assumes you know the background and all that.

[mdlbear]

I think there's an article somewhere on the physics. Basically, though, the prop is driven by the wheels, and pushing against the wind. Power is actually being transfered from the wheels to the prop, rather than the other way around.

So as long as it's moving downwind, the prop is exerting a force against the wind that drives it forward. I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it.