I had to double-check to make sure… but now I can say that frigorific IS the best word ever.

Its definition? "Causing coldness; chilling."

So you could totally tell someone that their refrigerator (or mom) is frigorific!

I've been meaning to combine my interest in programming with electronics for some time now.

By the end of the week I should be getting an Arduino and some generic components in the mail. An Arduino is basically a microchip, programming board, and breakout board all in one package. This will allow me to write programs that interface with real-world components (motors, leds, various sensors, relays.. almost anything with wires).

My first planned project: a virtual sunrise alarm – a simple device that uses LEDs to simulate the colors of a sunrise/sunset, and control a motor that will open my blinds at a predetermined time. Using this, along with a custom set of blinds, will allow me to keep my room almost pitch black during the night, while still allowing me to wake up naturally with the sun. I figure this is a lot less jarring than a buzzer or radio turning on to wake me up. And if I don't work until later in the day, just by changing the alarm time I can make the sun rise later in the day. 😉

How's that for geeky?

Happy new year!
Welcome to the year 2009!
Happy (2010-1)!

I just read an article about a chemistry student in Canada who was pulled out of the shower and arrested for having a meth lab in his parents garage. Except it wasn't a meth lab – it was just his chemistry set. Even after proving that it wasn't a meth lab, he was still held in prison because his chemistry set contained chemicals that could be used to make explosives. If you follow any hobbyist newsletters or blogs you'll find stories like this every so often.

I think most homes have materials that can be used to make explosives, start fires, or kill/maim/cut/hurt someone if wielded with that intent… the reason we're allowed to have drain cleaner, bleach, ammonia, matches, knives, whatever in our homes is because we don't intend to use them in an illegal manner. The societal norm seems to be moving closer and faster to these knee jerk reactions that chemicals are bad, and that doing anything other than going to work and watching TV makes you a terrorist.

Most of human knowledge has undoubtedly come from hobbyists. People through the ages that, through curiosity or accident, have discovered an idea, material, or process that allows us to push our understanding of ourselves and the inner workings of the universe even further. But now, because of fear mongering from the media and from our government, curiosity is no longer encouraged – it's a threat. We don't trust each other anymore, we don't trust out neighbors, we don't trust the guy down the street just because of his name or appearance or religious beliefs. We're quickly becoming less tolerant in order to make ourselves feel safer – at the expense of our rights, history, knowledge, and future.

The irony here is that the more fearful and controlling we allow our society and ourselves to become, the more dangerous we are to each other. Instead of having a few truly dangerous individuals in the world, we suddenly have to police each other, because we're all criminals now.

Check out this video – this is crazy.

Reverse bungee jumping is almost exactly what it sounds like. Instead of starting at an elevated spot and jumping, you start on the ground and are RIPPED off the ground and flung into the air at high speeds by a bungee cord. At the peak of the "jump", you deploy a parachute and come back down (hopefully) safely.

I know what it feels like to fall short distances, but can't really imagine what it would feel like to be going the other way – to have the ground shooting away from you, to suddenly FALL UP…

Somehow combining two things that terrify me – skydiving and bungee jumping – ends up creating something that seems so awesome that I might actually consider doing it if presented with the opportunity.

EDIT:

Apparently, reverse bungee jumping is so amazing that there is a law in Nebraska prohibiting it. The law is pretty clear:

Reverse bungee jumping rides; prohibited.
No person shall operate a reverse bungee jumping ride in this state.

I'm going to be asleep when this posts.. and you should all be doing stuff that doesn't involve my blog, so I'll keep this short and sweet.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it's the awesomest you've ever had.. and if you don't celebrate Christmas, I still hope you have a really friggin awesome day!

I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time saying "infrastructure" without thinking I sound like an idiot.

Give it a try, say it out loud a few times.