One of the most famous of the late Monsignor Ronald Knox's witticisms was a verse built on the Berkleyan idea that things exist only when they have an observer:

There once was a man who said: "God
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
Continues to be
When there's no one about in the Quad."

This promptly drew the anonymous reply:

"Dear Sir, Your astonishment's quite odd;
I am always about in the Quad;
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by Yours Faithfully, God."

The Southern Cross appears on the national flags of many countries in the Southern hemisphere. It features prominantly on both the New Zealand and Australian flags, causing confusion for people unfamiliar with them.

Flags depicting the Southern Cross: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

I was researching keyboards a few months ago when I was ordering a new computer. I found this graphic on Cherry MX Mechanical Switches quite informative: http://www.gamersedge.co.uk/wp...

From: http://www.gamersedge.co.uk/20...

On reflection, I will keep my Logitech G105 for my new computer - it seems to be more durable than my previous keyboards. Also, I find that back-lighting is useful on modern black keyboards to increase the contrast level.

One issue that an all-women space crew could have is that some of them could be too small to fit into space suits. Women under 5’5" can’t wear NASA’s current model, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMUs), because they are not made small enough.

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
http://www.npr.org/templates/s...
http://www.businessinsider.com...

I'm pretty sure that it will involve the use of Dextre, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) on the end of Canadarm2. Dextre, sometimes called the Canada Hand is the most sophisticated space robot ever built. http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/i... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

As if Prime Minister John Key does not have enough problems, Kim Dotcom has revealed that he will drop a bombshell on him. He is warning that something big will come out on September 15, just five days from the election. He says WikiLeaks founder and fugitive Julian Assange, who's holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, is set to take part in a pre-election attack on John Key. The addition of Mr Assange confirms the event will be about New Zealand's spying.

http://tvnz.co.nz/vote-2014-ne...

When the Firebirds fall from the Sky

"...Fully autonomous vehicles are the solution".

There's an aviation joke that says something similar: The cockpit of the future will contain a pilot and a dog. The pilot is there to feed the dog. The dog is there to bite the pilot if he tries to touch anything.

Him too? I had heard of Qian Xuesen (known in the USA as Hsue-Shen Tsien) who also was one of the founders of JPL and ended up founding China's space program as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q... https://news.ycombinator.com/i...

I remember reading news stories that during the 9/11 attacks that the telephone networks were set to record conversations in the hope of retrospectively tracing terrorists and their sympathisers. Afterwards, there were multiple stories of terrorist "chatter" being monitored by the government. Given all of this, I was left wondering why there were no reports of mass arrests of terrorist sympathisers.

The last energy-saving light bulb that I've bought turned 1 year on July 1. It's a Philips 1055 lumens/13 watt LED that's roughly equivalent to a 75 watt incandescent. I had prevously been using a 800 lumens/15 watt CFL, but I thought it was too dim, and swapped it to our hallway. We have had mixed experiences with CFLs in our house. We found that in our dining room they would only last a few months, I think that they didn't like being turned on and off all the time and they were right in front of a hot fireplace. I would keep the CFL in my bedroom going all the time at night until I went to bed, negating some of the potential energy savings. Used this way, I seemed to get at least 2 years out of them, but they would get quite dim for a few months before they would fail. I have deliberately been switching off my LED light bulb whenever I go out of my bedroom, so far it's still going strong. I paid 24 NZ$ for it and I calculate that at roughly 6 hours a day of usage at NZ $0.24 per kW/hr I have more than recovered the initial purchase price in power savings, if it were to fail tomorrow I would be happy to get another just like it.

By chance, the last energy-saving light bulb that I've bought turned 1 year yesterday. It's a Philips 1055 lumens/13 watt LED that's roughly equivalent to a 75 watt incandescent. I had prevously been using a 800 lumens/15 watt CFL, but I thought it was too dim, and swapped it to our hallway. We have had mixed experiences with CFLs in our house. We found that in our dining room they would only last a few months, I think that they didn't like being turned on and off all the time and they were right in front of a hot fireplace. I would keep the CFL in my bedroom going all the time at night until I went to bed, negating some of the potential energy savings. Used this way, I seemed to get at least 2 years out of them, but they would get quite dim for a few months before they would fail. I have deliberately been switching off my LED light bulb whenever I go out of my bedroom, so far it's still going strong. I paid 24 NZ$ for it and I calculate that at roughly 6 hours a day of usage at NZ $0.24 per kW/hr I have more than recovered the initial purchase price in power savings, if it were to fail tomorrow I would be happy to get another just like it.

I remember reading about this many years ago. It's because the monkey (and other animals doing similar things) is just picking things at random. The money managers, on the other hand, are being swayed by emotion and the current perceived wisdom, they end up acting together to distort the market and ruining the areas of their interest.

My thoughts entirely. If the smartwatch is low on energy you could just shake your wrist. No need for a charger, and never needs a battery replacement. Maybe have a small solar panel on the front to keep it going when it's not on your wrist.

HOTOL technology has not been abandoned, it is now being actively developed for the Skylon unmanned space-plane by Reaction Engines Ltd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

http://www.reactionengines.co....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...