Nils Sandin › Likes

That can only fly for about 10 minutes before their wings break...and they require an external battery. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Hmm. My voice usage is down, but I use my cell phone for work calls, making appointments, and talking to relatives, so my trend is not nearly as extreme is yours. - Stephen Mack #TeamMomo

My cell phone # is posted on the blog and in my email signature, and even RSS signature, via Feedburner. My #1 reason to make calls is to talk and walk while on Fitbit, but I haven't been doing that much of late, obviously. - Louis Gray

"Have you ever uploaded a photo to Facebook, Instagram or Flickr? If so, you'll probably want to read this, because the rules on who can exploit your work have now changed radically, overnight. Amateur and professional illustrators and photographers alike will find themselves ensnared by the changes, the result of lobbying by Silicon Valley and radical bureaucrats and academics. The changes are enacted in the sprawling Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act which received Royal Assent last week, and it marks a huge shift in power away from citizens and towards large US corporations. How so? Previously, and in most of the world today, ownership of your creation is automatic, and legally considered to be an individual's property. That's enshrined in the Berne Convention and other international treaties, where it's considered to be a basic human right. What this means in practice is that you can go after somebody who exploits it without your permission - even if pursuing them is cumbersome... more... - Son of Groucho from Bookmarklet

The Act contains changes to UK copyright law which permit the commercial exploitation of images where information identifying the owner is missing, so-called "orphan works", by placing the work into what's known as "extended collective licensing" schemes. Since most digital images on the internet today are orphans - the metadata is missing or has been stripped by a large organisation - millions of photographs and illustrations are swept into such schemes. - Halil

so where does that leave us??? - Halil

"I continue to have a soft spot in my heart (and head) for the 1980 Crown International comedy Galaxina. I honestly don't know why, except that it's part of the post-Star Wars space opera boom, and that, as awful as it is, I can't help but enjoy the damned thing. Anyway, here's a selection of Galaxina lobby cards that showcase the film's more interesting visuals, including Chris Walas' alien "rockbiter," the funky spaceship miniatures... and the admittedly stellar Dorothy Stratten as the titular android." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

Wow, that web site is amazing! - Adrian

:) - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart from Android

Fun movie - Nils Sandin

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, Put up your hands or we'll ummm never mind." #firecontrolfail #shootdontshoot - WarLord

"It is awfully hard to move stuff from the surface of our planet into orbit or beyond. [...] I took a look at the amount of ‘stuff’ we’ve managed to get off Earth in the past 50-60 years. It’s actually pretty hard to evaluate, lots of the mass we send up comes back down in short order – either as spent rocket stages or as short-lived low-altitude satellites. But we can still get a feel for it." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

"When the Space Shuttle flew it amounted to about 115 metric tons (Shuttle + payload) making it into low-Earth orbit. Since there were 135 launches of the Shuttle that amounts to a total hoisted mass of about 15,000 metric tons over a 30 year period. Take a look at [an oil supertanker]. This kind of tanker, fully loaded, is about 550,000 metric tons. That’s thirty-six times more mass... more... - Mark H

"University of Washington researchers and scientists at a Redmond-based space-propulsion company are building components of a fusion-powered rocket aimed to clear many of the hurdles that block deep space travel, including long times in transit, exorbitant costs and health risks." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

Good videos at the link explaining the process and the comments are interesting too; there's a link to the research paper there as well. - Mark H

"It was reviewing movies that made Roger Ebert as famous and wealthy as many of the stars who felt the sting or caress of his pen or were the recipients of his televised thumbs-up or thumbs-down judgments. But in his words and in his life he displayed the soul of a poet whose passions and interests extended far beyond the darkened theaters where he spent so much of his professional life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times for more than 45 years and for more than three decades the co-host of one of the most powerful programs in television history (initially with the late Gene Siskel, the movie critic for the Chicago Tribune, and, following Siskel’s death in 1999, with his Sun-Times collogue Richard Roeper), Ebert died Thursday, according to a family friend. He was 70 years old." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

:-( - John (bird whisperer)

"Space tethers hold intriguing potential for satellite manoeuvring, attitude control and even power generation. But about half of all orbital tether tests have either failed to deploy or snapped, probably due to micrometeoroid impacts. This scanning electron microscope image shows the new design of an ultra-thin and hopefully snap-proof solar sail tether soon to be tested on Estonia’s ESTCube-1, which is being launched into orbit along with ESA’s Proba-V satellite on the next Vega rocket in April." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

"Harnessing manufacturing techniques from the microelectronics industry, this aluminium tether measures just 50 micrometres across – across half the diameter of the average human hair – with a smaller 25 micrometre wire interweaved onto it. The University of Helsinki’s interweaving technique, with several wires joined together every centimetre, will hopefully keep the tether intact to run an electric charge down it, even if all but one subwires in the tether are cut. " - Mark H

"Europeans do not operate under the constant specter of litigation, which haunts and distorts American life. Europeans don’t put signs near fireplaces warning that they get hot and you ought not stick your arms in them.  They’ll serve you wine and beer at a public festival in a proper glass, and you won’t need a wrist band.  Outdoor restaurants frequently feature playgrounds—yes, even those that serve alcohol on the premises—and they generally don’t have signs that warn that children play at their own risk. They assume you know that.  Schools have rules about not bringing toy weapons, but if your five-year-old hides a squirt gun in his backpack, you don’t need to worry.  No one is getting suspended.  You can also fix him a peanut butter sandwich or cookies with nuts.  If you daughter scrapes her knee, the school will put on a Band-Aid, even if you haven’t signed a release form." - Morton Fox from Bookmarklet

At work- a university- only first aiders can apply plasters. If I were to give out peanut butter sandwiches without warnings... Mark is right, we have our own pettifogging rules. - Pete #TeamMonique

Warning: 11.5 meg PDF - DAMMIT, MR. NOODLE

"The key piece in this puzzle is Louis Gray" - Eric - seven eleven

"Rain situation was big again." - MafiaX from Bookmarklet

Kimi Raikkonen wins easily season opening in front of the Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. - MafiaX from Bookmarklet

Hopes that Star Wars actors Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill will reprise their roles on screen have been raised by the saga's creator. Speaking to Bloomsberg Businessweek, George Lucas revealed that the trio had been "in final stages of negotiation" when his Lucasfilm company was sold to Disney last year. That deal will pave the way for a new Star Wars film, directed by JJ Abrams. But Lucas would not confirm whether the "negotiation" had been successful. Lucas' remarks coincided with an interview with Fisher in which she said she would return to the role of Princess Leia in the new film, due out in 2015. However, that was swiftly followed by a retraction from a representative, saying the 56-year-old actress had been "joking". Both Hamill and Ford are said to be open to the possibility of returning as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, according to Entertainment Weekly. When Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05bn (£2.7bn) last year, it said it planned to make a new trilogy of... more... - CarlC, spelling expert from Bookmarklet

The original Star Wars, released in 1977, tells of a young farm boy (Hamill) who joins forces with a space bandit (Ford) to liberate an imprisoned princess (Fisher). All three actors returned to their roles in the two sequels, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi. But none of the trio appeared in the three Star Wars prequels - The Phantom Menace, Attack of the... more... - CarlC, spelling expert

I will admit that I'm already in. #allforit - CarlC, spelling expert