|
 Re-watched Silver Linings Playbook tonight. Great movie. A nice way to end what was otherwise a disappointing and unproductive day...
Pictured: Scorpion Weed. Grows in the desert once every few years. Smells terrible and causes skin rash, but looks beautiful :)
Reading "the news", I'm struck by how much news has morphed into opinions about the news. It's no longer considered wrong for writers, editors, and especially headline writers to slant stories. They've always done it, but now they're doing it without guilt or restraint. Meh. 
It's hard work filtering the news, I tell you, it's hard work :)
 Pass the popcorn: Dorian (Satori) Nakamoto chased by reporters, denies founding Bitcoin. And "real" Satori Nakamoto claims he is not Dorian Nakamoto. Yay. Meanwhile, from the Bitcoin Foundation: Bitcoin has no leader, is decentralized by design. Who would have thought a new currency would make such great theater? (Okay, Neal Stephenson did :)
BTW must say, Newsweek's return to prominence based on this scoop is typical, right? They didn't get their facts right, but they made "news".
 Never mind personal drones: For sale on eBay: one lightly used Soviet "bear" bomber. Wonder if the seller would accept Bitcoin?
Must try this: the Google Glass App that tells you how others are feeling. Based on realtime analysis of a video stream. Hmmm.
 Chef Watson prepares food at SXSW. Awesome. I don't know what real-world applications IBM has wound for Watson, but as a PR generator it is unsurpassed. Wonder what's next?
If this is real, I want one: Two college students invented an adapter that allows 3D printers to print in full color. A 3D printer like my MakerBot 2 prints pre-colored plastic filament; the idea is that the plastic is colored in realtime, just before it is fed into the printer. By appropriately compensating for the distance between the coloring device and the printhead, you could print anything in full color. Wow.
 This is wild: the magical chain fountain. One of those things where you understand the physics but you still can't believe it ... like sailboats and airplanes. I love that it can even be done with spaghetti :)
| 
Today the leaders in the 2014 Iditarod mushed along the Yukon in -20F weather, slight wind but otherwise "nice". Each team's strategy has played out, and now the pack are all together for the final third of the race and the push into Nome.
Martin Buser and Aliy Zirkle are running one two, in the small checkpoint city of Nulato, with Kaltag to go and then Unalakleet at the Bering Sea. They're closely followed by Nicolas Petit (where did he come from?) and Jeff King. 
A whole host of challengers is not far behind, including Mitch and Dallas Seavey, Sonny Lindner, Aaron Burmeister, and Robert Sorlie. Any one of those teams could win. It now comes down to exhaustion and patience. There is still a long way to go...
