Daily Bits

Elemental Love: We Love the Periodic Table

by

periodic-coffee-table
I was never good in Chemistry, but I did more than pass my courses. Still, I cannot explain the attraction I have for everything related to the Periodic Table. Who doesn’t find it fascinating? Hate it or love it, the Periodic Table has something about it that you just can’t ignore.

“Part professional nerd” Eric Curts got my undivided attention – and more – today when I discovered a poem that he wrote and posted in his blog recently. Professional nerd he may be, but Eric seems to be a man who is in touch with his sensitive side – something that one can’t say about a lot of men these days, eh? 😉

Dubbed Elemental Love, the poem integrates some elements in their symbol form. Now it is up to you to dig up those memories of the Periodic Table and remember what the two-letter symbols stand for. It’s not that hard – especially if you have been fixating on the Periodic Table in the past several years.

Elemental Love
In the light of the Ag moon
With the stars and Hg above
I Pb you to a quiet place
And told you of my love

I drew a breath of O
And smiled brave and bold
With my Ne the ground below
I offered a ring of Au

With just a Ni to my name
You said “Yes” thereupon
I kissed you on your Cu lips
Now my lonely days Ar

In case you need some help (shame!), here are the elements used in the poem (in random order): copper, lead, silver, nickel, argon, oxygen, gold, neon, and lead.

Source: Holy Geeks!

A Sea of Tweets: Another Way to Show Japan Your Support

by

It has been over a week since the first earthquake hit Japan and tsunamis wreaked havoc. Some of us may have already moved on with our lives, reading the occasional news report of what’s going on in Japan. Others may be getting their act together with regard to disaster preparedness. Have you showed your support for the victims of the quakes and the tsunamis in one way or another?

Last week, we published an entry about a fundraising drive for Japan. It is not too late to chip in. You can also check with the Red Cross to see what you can do to help. While not everyone may have a lot to spare, there are other ways by which you can express support.

Here is one interesting initiative that I discovered: A Sea of Tweets. This movement is spearheaded by artists Mark Skwarek, Tamiko Thiel, and John Craig Freeman, who are converting tweets into paper cranes and placing them in front of Mt. Fuji and along Japan’s coastline. The act is purely symbolic, but the message is strong and clear: there are people who care and want to show their support.

How do you participate? It is rather simple: just use the hashtag #seaoftweets to your tweet, and it will be counted and converted to a paper crane.

To learn more about this movement, visit A Sea of Tweets. More than using the hashtag, please remember to look at other practical ways you can send some help. Even the tiniest bit of help will be appreciated!

The Dating Game Goes Social

by

The Dating GameRemember that TV show which helped singles meet the person of their dreams? Quirky and funny, The Dating Game was one of the most popular TV shows in the old days. If I remember correctly, The Dating Game was even franchised in different countries. Not much has changed in the face of dating in that people are still on their own quests to find their perfect match. If anything, dating has merged with technological developments, creating new options.

Everyone knows about online dating and how it has become a viable alternative for many people. 3G Studios, a Reno, Nevada-based developer, has introduced a new element into the equation: a dating game that can be played with real people via social networks. Surprising? Not really. Silly? Probably.

The format of The Dating Game is not totally different from the TV show. A game will have a bachelor, or a bachelorette, seeking a date. There will be three potential dates who remain anonymous until the bachelor/bachelorette makes a decision. He or she will be asking personal questions which each of the contestants must answer. After several rounds, the person seeking a date will make his or her choice and gets to go on a date with the winner. Of course, the date may either be virtual or for real, depending on the people involved. The game is available for Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster – among others. (So people still do use Friendster???)

This new game raises a lot of questions, one of which is with regard to security. The developers deals with this issue by allowing avatars instead of photos. Personally, I think that if someone wants to play a dating game using his or her social networking account, then security would probably not be an issue for that person. Then again, if you take a look at that screenshot above, you might have second thoughts about playing the game.

In any case, if you are single and you find yourself having nothing to do this weekend, grab The Dating Game for free. Or you can read a book. That’s probably more productive.

Battlestar Galactica PC Mod

by

Here’s another DIY project for you. It may be a tad more complicated than the DIY mobile phone stand I wrote about the other day, but you will not regret looking at these images.

Battlestar Galactica may very well be the best sci-fi TV show ever created, and those who fell in love with it know the emptiness that the end of the show brought. If you think I am exaggerating, go get the DVDs and watch!

So anyway, this guy called Boddaker must have been a hardcore fan, as he created a modified PC set up about three years ago, based on BSG. It may be three years old, but I think staring at the images will never get old. Words will not do his creation any justice, so here, take a look – and have something ready to wipe that drool.

The set up in all its glory.

The most welcome sight for many a pilot in the show – and the stressed out viewers as well.

Ingenious use of the logo.

Roslin’s favorite weapon. This one’s not so deadly and looks prettier, I think.

And how many times did DRADIS give you a near-heart attack while watching the series?

If those images are not enough to satisfy you, here is a video from the creator.

And if you want to give this a try yourself, here are the specs.

  • EVGA nForce 590 SLI motherboard
  • AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ CPU
  • Two EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics cards in SLI
  • 4GB (2x2GB) Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red DDR2 800MHz
  • Cooler Master 850W modular PSU
  • Pioneer slimline slot loading DVD drive
  • Logitech G15 keyboard and G9 mouse
  • IZ3D 22″ 3D monitor
  • Western Digital RaptorX 150GB HD (x2)
  • Swiftech pump, blocks
  • Black Ice Stealth 360 radiator
  • PC Ice clear fluid
  • Primoflex red tubing
  • 10″ LCD
  • 2.5″ LCD (x3)

You can probably one-up this guy simply because of developments in technology, but he will always be the first to execute such a concept.

Via bit-tech

Printing in 3D with Bone

by

3D printing is fast growing in popularity, and while access to 3D printing may not be that prevalent yet, the interest is definitely there. People have been printing all sorts of things in 3D these days – even chess sets! I don’t think there’s anything cooler – as of now – as what Juliana Meira do Valle and Michael Storey have done. Juliana is a DXArts/Art major and Michael is a Mechanical Engineering major. That is a perfect combination for this kind of project, don’t you think?

Basically, they decided to make meal to use as material for 3D printing. With this meal, they printed out, well, bones. How did they do it? They had two recipes for the bone meal.

Initial Bone Recipe

Powdered Bone Meal — 5 parts by weight.
12x Powdered Sugar — 1 part by weight.
MaltoDextrin —- 1 part by weight.

The other recipe resulted from the fact that they needed something stronger.

Secondary Bone Recipe

Powdered Bone Meal — 4-5 parts by weight.
UF plastic resin glue — 1 part by weight.

The result? Awesomely realistic bones!
3d Bones

This project has huge potential in many different aspects. Think about it – if someone can create “real” bone material, then 3D printing can be used for a host of medical purposes! Less critical – perhaps – but no less interesting is printing out entire skeletons for museums and similar purposes! Mark my words, we are going to hear about 3D printing a whole lot more in the months to come. In the meantime, hats off to these two students!

Via Open3dp

Why Pi Is Wrong

by

2Pi
I am going out on a limb here and throw a challenge to hardcore Pi lovers out there.  It feels weird, to be honest, as I have made it a point to “celebrate” Pi Day ever since I heard about it.  In fact, yesterday, I joined countless other people around the world in making a toast to 3.1415…

One day after International Pi Day, however, I discovered a video by Vi Hart, who is a self-proclaimed anti-Pi person. So why is Pi wrong? Allow Vi to explain it all to you – with a nice looking raspberry (I think) pie to boot.

Indeed, every math student who had to struggle with all those formulas might agree with Vi.  I have to be honest and say that I love how Vi neatly illustrates how Pi makes things confusing.  Still, I am not about to abandon the idea of celebrating Pi every year.  If, however, you want an alternative to Pi, check out The Tau Manifesto.

Via Vi Hart