Aces Full of Links: War of the Shotgun

July 1, 2005

War of the Shotgun

Optical Illusions - Free Picture Illusions (science, fun, illusion)

Optical illuisons are like hacking your brain. Browse some of these well-known illusions.

RaidenX - Presented By Flash Player (flash, games, 80s)

It’s a flash tribute ot the Raiden games of yore. I love those purple powerups! Scroller/shooter.

rmccown.org - GeoGoogleCacheMaps ™ (geocaching, gps, geography, maps)

Bob’s making it easy for us to upload GPS data and see it superimposed on a Google map. This rocks the party. Use GPSBabel, if you need to, to get your GPS data into GPX file format. Then, upload your less-than-25k file up to his service. Voila! Currently works with track files… but more features are in the works.

mq.swf (animation, flash, funny, japanese)

What if Michael Jackson were trapped in a bunch of old video games? If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, the answer is now before you.

Brainpixels - Extracting Video from Cat Brains (science, video, blog, neurology)

Are they really making progress in the ability to “jack into” the brain of another being (that being being a cat at this point)? This blog entry claims we are.

Harris Cyclery Articles (repair, bicycle, howto, reference)

I catch ribbing around the office for not having my bicycle repaired (there is a bike shop down the street). But I have confessed to having a fear of admitting that I cannot fix my bike myself. I’m hoping that the copious articles on this site will help.

2005 Newport Black Ships Festival (japanese, fun, recreation, summer)

The annual Japanese-American festival held in Newport, RI.

tetka.swf (wtf, flash, odd, funny)

Ever wonder what a human body would look like falling through a sky? Me neither. But this is just weird enough to add to the shotgun post.

How to Meditate (exercise, health, lifehacks, howto)

Meditation can help you become less connected to things. Wonder if it works with food cravings.

Penny Alcohol Stove (diy, howto, cooking, stove, camping)

This site describes how to make your own compact camp alcohol stove. Also, instructions on building a compact wood stove. I don’t camp anymore, but I love this stuff!

FoxIt PDF Reader : Lifehacker (firefox, free, software, tips)

FoxIt PDF reader for faster PDF reading. Also, some tips on speeding up Acrobat 6

wtfsticker.com (politics, humor)

Whiskey Tango Foxtrow. “W” is for whiskey.

Posted by James at July 1, 2005 8:39 AM

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Comments

Hey, that GeoGoogleCacheMaps thing is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

-=NotBob

Posted by: nwoCcM boB at July 1, 2005 2:52 PM

Waaaah, this one has me confused:
http://www.123opticalillusions.com/opt38.htm
Please explain. That way, I'll still feel like an idiot, but at least I'll know why.

Posted by: Julie at July 1, 2005 3:13 PM

It's supposed to have you confused.

The figures look like triangles, but they aren't. The hypotenuse of the composite figure is not a straight line (not in either case, I don't think.)

Print it out and hold a straight edge up to both and you will see.

Yeah - this one is tricky. But I've seen one that is worse. The disappearing leprechaun. I think Martin Gardner came up with it. Based on a similar principle, but a leprechaun disappears. And I can never tell where he goes. Very frustrating.

To this day it is the only illusion of that type that consistently confounds me.

Posted by: James at July 1, 2005 3:20 PM

Actually, it turns out it was Sam Loyd who invented the leprechauns puzzle. And here it is, with an explanation:

http://www.funkypages.com/leprechaun/index.php

Posted by: James at July 1, 2005 3:38 PM

And now I get what's happening.

Another childhood mystery solved.

Posted by: James at July 1, 2005 3:39 PM

You mean they CHEATED??? Wow, you're right. I did have to print it out to be sure.

I'd never seen the leprechaun one before. I actually found that one less confusing (and annoying). I expect trickery from irregular-shaped leprechauns, but I will never again be duped by innocent-looking triangles.

Posted by: Julie at July 1, 2005 3:50 PM

I was just a kid when I saw the leprechaun one, and I wasn't able to find a copy on the net lo these many years, once I had lost the original slips of paper I cut out of Scientific American.

The reason that the triangles don't bug me so much is not because of any expectation. I can see that those lines aren't straight, whereas with the leprechauns it takes me some more looking to see that the leprechauns are all a little bit taller.

And when I was a kid, I didn't notice that at all. Or think it was possible.

Stupid kid!

Posted by: James at July 1, 2005 3:58 PM