The CMU Mobot Race was this past weekend during carnival. Breadstick the snake bot from the Biorobotics lab put on the half-time show.
Go here to read articles, see photos, and watch a movie.
Wow. JT Leroy is not real.
Funny how no one seemed to question the fact that “he” never had his picture taken in public.
GO STEELERS!! (or Stillers, in Pittsburghese)
I’ve never seen so much black and gold in my life. I’ve seen everything from knit scarves to hand bags, not to mention the usual hats and jackets. There were so many guys wearing football jerseys when I rode the bus to school on Friday, that I think every player on the team was represented.
A joke to mark last weekends events:
Peyton Manning died. When he got to heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Colts flag in the window. “This house is yours for eternity, Peyton.” said God. “This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Peyton felt special and walked up to his house. On his way up the porch, he noticed another house. It was a 3-story mansion with a Black and Gold sidewalk, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Steeler flag and in every window, a Terrible towel. Peyton looked at God and said “God, I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but, why does Ben Roethlisberger get a better house than me?” God chuckled, and said “Peyton that’s not Ben’s house, it’s mine.”
Tomorrow is going to be all about Yinzers in full effect. I can’t wait.
My brother recently asked me what food I would choose if I could go back to San Francisco for only one meal. I said Indian pizza without hesitation. I dearly miss those Mission-style burritos, but Indian pizza cannot be had anywhere else; it’s a truly original San Francisco treat. Zante’s Pizza and Indian Cuisine is on Mission and 30th Street, and it’s always rated the “Best Place to Get Indian Pizza” in San Francisco (which is hilarious since it is the only place to get such a concoction). The story is that a pizza parlor was sold to Indian restauranteurs who didn’t want the pizza ovens to go to waste, so they invented Indian pizza with naan crust, curry spinach sauce, lamb and tandoori chicken. Brilliant!
Perfect cultural cuisine combos are rare and should be cherished. Luckily, I’ve found a similar creation here in Pittsburgh - the pierogidilla at Quiet Storm Coffeehouse on Penn Avenue. This vegetarian treat is like a giant mexican pierogi, if you can imagine that, with smashed potatoes, caramelized onions, saurkraut, cheddar, and sour cream all grilled together in a tortilla. It’s amazing, and happens to be the only thing getting me through final exam week.
This video was not created with the use of CG. Amazing.
In an age when CGI is commonplace, this makes the commercial all the more extraordinary. Every single frame was shot over two days - with the main sequence involving a 23-man camera crew and only one chance to get it right.
An entire block was closed off and special compressed-air cannons shot the balls into the air, while earth moving equipment poured thousands down the street. Not that you’d know it from the finished product, but these balls can do some damage, so all the cars were props and crew members went so far as to having protective shields and crash helmets.
But when you get it right, you get it right. The goal at the beginning was to deliver a “really simple, visual celebration of colour”. We think you’ll agree the results speak for themselves.
What is cooler than a city made of legos?
My dad, Douglas Lauck, died 25 years ago today on the same day as one of his favorite musicians, John Lennon. I honestly can’t believe it’s already been that long since their deaths.
Erik went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to light a candle for them both. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person. I was certainly there in spirit.
This is one of my favorite photos of my dad. No matter how I’m feeling, it’s guaranteed to make me smile.
I miss you, Dad.
Everything is covered in a thin layer of white. It looks amazing.
A group of us wannabe yinzers went to the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern for $1 beers and pierogies last night. (It happens every Thursday.)
Liberty Ave looked like a picture postcard of winter with the snow falling in front of the holiday decorations. It’s a good thing we had pierogies to keep us warm.
FUH2 on Flickr
I couldn’t resist the temptation to take an “FUH2” photo in front of the Carnegie Mellon Red Team Hummer unmanned robot (that recently lost to Stanford in the DARPA race).
It’s not very often you get to tell a yoga joke, especially one illustrated in photos…
The following is an example of Indian yoga versus Russian yoga.
Indian Yoga
Russian Yoga
Also, NPR has a good podcast this week on B.K.S. Iyengar’s recent visit to the US (under People & Places “Story of the Day”). There is also a text story.
Namaste.
Bill O’Reilly’s recent comments about the election in San Francisco are outrageous. He owes the entire city an apology.
“If Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it,” he continued. “We’re going to say, ‘look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.”
Watch the video to see it for yourself.
As overheard in the Hungarian Pastry Shop, across from St. John the Divine (Big Johnny D).
< she needs to get attention - greek yogurt - that is stellar! - too crowded - chocolate cookie, that one back there >
Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute t-shirt:
“Building the robots of today to destroy the aliens of tomorrow.”
Thanks to Jake for sending me the link to this blog for attentive listeners in Pittsburgh.
If you are a poor graduate student, like me, you might want to make a non-cash donation to help the hurricane Katrina relief effort.
United and American Airlines are both allowing customers to donate frequent flier miles to the charity of their choice. I just donated 3,000 miles to Operation USA and I urge everyone else to do the same.
The total number of miles donated online by United Mileage Plus members is currently at 27,338,000 and counting.
This Friday is the last day web users will be able to read Krugman and others for free. The NY Times is starting a new subscription service called TimesSelect for a ridiculously high $49.95/year.
This is a sad day for the blogosphere.
Please take some time to view a powerful and informative photo essay of New Orleans before, during, and after Katrina by Alvaro R. Morales Villa.
Apple and Motorola - technology’s new power couple, plan to release their new product next week.
Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with Ovum, a market research firm, said he had been told by an industry executive that the new phone, to be made by Motorola, would be marketed by Cingular Wireless. Mr. Entner said it would include iTunes software, which helps power the iPod.
The software will allow people to transfer songs from a personal computer to the mobile phone, then listen to the songs, presumably through headphones. “It’s a deluxe music player now on your cellphone,” he said of the device.
