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CoolGov links to an interesting site in which 24 hours of air travel in the continental United States are graphically displayed in a QuickTime movie; the picture above is a snapshot from the movie. The data comes from the FAA’s Enhanced Traffic Management System, which tracks “traffic surges, gaps, and volume based on current and anticipated airborne aircraft.” Check out the site and definitely download the movie.
To help keep track of the plethora of advanced Google search options and features, check out the Google Cheat Sheet, which summarizes things pretty nicely but doesn’t mention some of the cool beta projects like Google Maps yet.
In what can only be described as one of the most horribly blatant examples of hypocrisy demonstrated by W and his administration, the Justice Department is trying to prevent former American Gulf War I prisoners of war from “collecting nearly $1 billion from Iraq that a federal judge awarded them as compensation for their torture at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s regime” by fighting them in court. The most ironic twist of all could be the fact that “Many of the pilots were tortured in the same Iraqi prison, Abu Ghraib, where American soldiers abused Iraqis 15 months ago. Those Iraqi victims, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said, deserve compensation from the United States.” WTF?!
Slashdot reports that a project modeled after Stonehenge has been completed in New Zealand:
Stonehenge Aotearoa is not a replica of the ruin on Salisbury Plain in England. It is a complete and working structure designed and built for its precise location in the Wairarapa. It is however, similar in size to the original Stonehenge. Stonehenge Aotearoa consists of a 30-metre diameter circle of 24 monoliths, capped with lintels. Each monolith rises 3 metres above the ground. The stone circle encompasses a central design incorporating a 5 metre high obelisk, a compass rose, and a 10 metre long analema which traces the Sun’s path through the constellations of the Zodiac. Extending from the centre and beyond the circle of stones are 6 causeways with additional stones that mark the rise and set positions of the Sun at the solstices and equinoxes.
The web site has a very nice diagram showing the layout of the site along with the various astronomical alignments. Although I didn’t really need another reason to visit New Zealand, this is certainly something to add to the list of sites to see there…
The Department Of Defense reported that “The Navy will commission the newest nuclear-powered attack submarine Jimmy Carter on Saturday, Feb. 19;” it will be the third (and final!?) Seawolf class attack submarine. Former President Carter is a graduate of the Naval Academy and is the only president to have qualified in submarines.
I think that this is pretty cool, although I couldn’t help but chuckle at Fark’s comment that “Inside sources reveal plans include killer rabbit detecting sonar and revolutionary peanut shape designed to avoid detection.” 🙂
I watched the whole damn video of David Hasselhoff singing “Hooked On A Feeling” for some reason, so I needed to spread the horror so that I don’t feel so dirty. As Norm MacDonald often said, “Germans love David Hasselhoff.” I have no idea why…
The Baby Name Wizard’s NameVoyager has a cool graphical interface for seeing the popularity of baby names over the last century.
Not every joke in the 100 Funniest Jokes of All Time is a winner, but there are some pretty funny ones…
The Onion reports that “a new videotape of Osama bin Laden broadcast on the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera Monday beseeched Allah to grant all Americans a "crappy Valentine’s Day,” with a scathingly negative message:
This Feb. 14th on the Western infidels’ calendar, may all Americans receive no valentines from their beloved ones… May the homemade construction-paper mailboxes taped to the desks of the American schoolchildren remain empty, as well. May whomever you ask to “bee yours” tell you to “buzz off.” … Paper hearts shall be rent and trod upon, and dreams of love delivered stillborn. Body language shall be misinterpreted, crushes unrequited, and sincere expressions of affection mocked. Invitations to dinner will be rejected, just as Americans have rejected Allah, the one true God.
I hope you can still enjoy your Valentine’s Day after such a harsh rebuke. 😉 Perhaps X-Entertainment’s assortment of video game Valentines will cheer you up…
Google added another feature to its already impressive list with Google Maps. The tour of its features explains why it has entered the online mapping fold:
Maps are great for getting around, but online maps could be a lot better. So Google decided to make dynamic, interactive maps that are draggable — no clicking and waiting for graphics to reload each time you want to view the adjacent parts of a map. Want to be able to type in the name of a region or neighborhood and see any part of it as easily as with a regular street map? Now you can with Google Maps.
I found it a little buggy in Firefox, but I guess it is still in beta. Overall, it was pretty smooth, and the directions feature seemed to work well. If they fix the bugs, Google Maps might just be able compete with other established mapping sites, especially considering the close integration it can provide with search results.
