got a spacey idea…NASA will fund

Care of The Guardian, I heard of NIAC – NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts.

“The NIAC was formed for the explicit purpose of being an independent source of revolutionary aeronautical and space concepts that could dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its mission. The Institute is to provide highly visible, recognized and high-level entry point for outside thinkers and researchers.”
from here

Basically, they fund projects that sound as if they are ripped from the pages of the latest space sci fi novel. Past grantees have included the space elevator – no need for shuttles, just catch the elevator! Also, a revamp on the traditional spacesuit – looks like they are finally working on the girlie fit version.

psp makes sense now

I have had a psp since you could have a psp care of a fantastic going away present. Sadly, although a gorgeous machine it sat on my shelf…until Santa Alice bought me SSX tour for Christmas. Settings: music volume==0, ambient sounds==10, it now all makes complete sense. The screen is just big enough to fill your view with the same lovely mountain scapes as the console game although it can get a bit disorientating as the distance you can see ahead doesn’t seem as far. The music didn’t seem as great hence the volume==0 but Alice tells me that one of the selling points is that I should be able to load the psp with my own music and play it instead…I have a feeling however that it prolly won’t play well with itunes.

betty and cab live again on archive.org

I have had my head very much in organisation mode for the last 6 months or so. But I promised myself that in the new year I would make sure to re-connect with my favourite domain. And right on cue I find Betty Boop on archive.org. Check out the fantastic Cab Calloway rendition of St James’ Infirmary in Snow White for an inspiring bit of dance animation (compare it with the live opening sequence of Cab in Minnie the Moocher). All of the Betty Boop library is in the public domain and therefore available free of copyright. Which reminds me, the other new year’s resolution is to really spend some time on video editing this year. Maybe Betty goes to the moon?