Google has just released version 3 of their awesome mapping software called Keyhole. The best parts?
It’s now free!!!!
They renamed it “Google Earth” or something like that. The great part about Google Earth is that you can see the high resolution satellite photos and zoom in close enough to recognize your house. Well, if you live in a metro area – that is. They also pop that into 3d using topographic information – so you can ‘tip’ the map on edge and see the topography. Not cool enough? You can ‘grab’ the map and pull it toward you – making yourself fly right along your route.
Wow.
Get it at: http://earth.google.com
Mick Mars
Mick Mars
Mick Mars
Mick Mars
Mick Mars
See, I’ve got a stats page for the Defenestrator that tells me all sorts of interesting but not necessarily useful trivia bits. One of them is “What search brought you here?” Curiously enough, the #1 searched thing wasn’t pinball, or soundboards, or even bedhead. It was Mick-freaking-Mars. I’m amazed that people search on that, period! As a reminder – Mick Mars is the guitar player for Motley Crue, and he was one of the guest hosts for Celebrity Bedhead week. Here’s a pic:
Just for laughs, here is the total list of what people were searching for:
1 18 56.25% mick mars
2 10 31.25% rockabilly
3 2 6.25% killing me
4 1 3.12% funniest pictures
5 1 3.12% meghant
Sorry, Meghan..
MARK MARK! Mark mark mark mark.. mark mark.. mark mark mark.. mark mark mark mark.. MARK!
I crack myself up.. *cough*
What noise does a dog with a cleft palate (*cough*hairlip*cough*) make?
Ahhh… June 21st.. One of my favorite days of the year.
Being that it’s the longest day of the year, it also means that from here on out, days are getting shorter (obviously). It also means that it will start getting cooler. As things get cooler, it means a higher likelihood of snow. As snow starts accumulating, it means a higher likelihood of skiing…
Get the picture? Here’s one just to get you by the next few months..
I got a chance to see one of my favorite bands on Friday night at one of my favorite venues. Heather, Jacqie and I went to see Gov’t Mule at the Minnesota Zoo.
When the weather is nice (and it was really really nice), there’s no better place to watch a show in the summer. The band sets up in the ampitheater where they have the bird show overlooking the big pond. One review equated it to being the house band at Fantasy Island. Here’s a quick pic of the stage and backdrop:
Gov’t Mule has been one of my favorite bands since I saw them play at Bunker’s Camp Heartland benefit about 5 years ago. They are a jam band, but they have a very soulful blues-rock edge and a lot of power. They are incredibly eclectic and have covered everything from Radiohead to Prince and everything in between. They also do a completely different show every night. Here was the setlist for the zoo show:
ENCORE
I’m So Tired
The entire show was very strong – but they found another gear or two in the last third of the show. Starting off “Blindman in the Dark” with the Bill Withers classic “Ain’t No Sunshine” was a masterpiece. The final jam of Mule > I’ve Been Workin’ > Mule brought the house down – especially when the band hip checked into “Jungle Boogie” during the solos.
Being a jam band – they attract a real hippy crowd. We did not fit in at all – but I’m happy to say that the 21-year-old girl with lots of jewlery, a little dress jacket, high heels, and hair extensions fit in even less. It’s also a never-ending source of amusement to watch hippies dance. I’m sure it feels cool – but it looks stupid. It’s also amusing to see at the normally suburban people go out in public in their once-a-year tie-dyes with glassy red eyes.
Here’s a pic of Warren Haynes giving a little love to the crowd:
The opening act, Xavier Rudd was surprisingly good. I normally hate singer-songwriters – but he had the instrumental chops to be worthy of respect. Any guy that can simultaneously play the lap steel, a digeridoo, and several drums is okay in my book.
One last shot of Xavier playing a Bob Marley tune with Warren sitting in:
SIGH I just wish I could make the Robert Randolph & The Family Band show at the zoo over the weekend of the 4th..
Ah, this is a great toy for making crank calls (note: beware of Caller ID) especially for Napoleon Dynamite fans.
BTW: Flash is required…
Unfortunately – my game room, wallet, and back (uh, and wife) can’t quite keep up with my desire to increase my pinball machine collection. Machines are 300 pounds (or more!), and average $1000. That’s a bit self-limiting.
There is a reasonably good solution that doesn’t involve larceny, a forklift, or a divorce – Visual Pinball! Visual Pinball (combined with a partner program VPinMAME) emulates old pinball machines onscreen in a very realistic fashion. Visual Pinball is a Pinball Construction Set of sorts – and people have recreated 100′s of the old tables. VPinMAME is a key portion as well – it runs the real code off of the machines, draws the displays, and makes the sounds. It emulates the CPU inside the machine.
The best part? It’s free! It, and all the tables, are available on the web at: http://www.vpforums.com. If you download it, be sure to follow the directions exactly. It’s a little tweaky.
The quality of the tables are uneven, some are awesome – some are terrible. In general though – the reproductions are very good. For example, here’s a screenshot of the Visual Pinball recreation of my Black Knight 2000 machine:
And – as another example, here’s the recreation of my Flight 2000 machine:
Latest at T3Imagery.com
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