Archive for the 'Whimsy' Category

Philipp Lenssen (of Google Blogoscoped) says that the following banner ad (which I presume he designed) is one that he would click on, and I’m happy to oblige:

This short-and-sweet PDF e-Book, God’s Debris by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, is absolutely free for personal use, and without Digital Restrictions Management or other strings attached. From his synopsis:

Imagine that you meet a very old man who—you eventually realize—knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life—quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light, psychic phenomenon, and probability—in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God’s Debris isn’t the final answer to the Big Questions. But it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what’s wrong with the old man’s explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage.

The Google Mars map browser lets you “fly” across the surface of Mars and zoom in on any feature that interests you.

In 1976, Viking photographed a mountain in the Cydonia region of Mars that looks somewhat like a face:

However, more recent photos of that spot show more detail and don’t look like a face at all.

There’s a better face on Mars though, the “happy face crater“, also known as Galle crater:

(NASA photos)