Skyehaven’s Cool Thing of the Day

I’ve recently taken a second job doing transcription work for a library in Australia. They have hours and hours of oral history sitting in their vaults that must be transcribed so it can be cross-referenced and used for research into the early 1900′s in the area. One of the most interesting parts of this job is listing to people’s memories of the Great Depression in Australia.

In a bit of synchronicity, my husband recently stumbled across Clara on YouTube. She has a popular online cooking show in which she shares Depression era recipes and her memories of growing up at the time. Clara’s also preparing to release a DVD and a cookbook of her recipes. With the recent economic downturn, this seems particularly timely.

Attention all fans of the Lord of the Rings movies, those who just like nifty tech stuff, and every little girl who ever wanted to grow up to be a mermaid. A double amputee in New Zealand has done it. With the assistance of WETA and a healthy imagination, she has developed a mermaid tail prosthesis to help her swim. Be sure to check out the video; it’s both heartwarming and geek tech drool-making.

This is too cool for words.

Having had cancer myself, though thankfully with no need to go through chemotherapy, I commend the iron workers of Dana-Farber for engaging in a simple action that brings joy to children struggling with a terrible disease. Kudos to them!

I can’t decide if blublu makes really cool street art, or if this is some sort of incursion by alien entities.

You can get a high quality video of Muto here and have a gander at some of BluBlu’s other projects

Once or twice a year, a novelty headline emerges about a picture of Jesus or the Virgin Mary showing up on some devout person’s toast. The discoverer generally gets their 15 minutes of fame, some casino or crazy collector pays way too much money for said item on e-bay, and the story goes away. But one day soon you will be able to inscribe a complete message from Jesus, or Satan, or yourself on your daily bread.

If that’s too religious right for you, perhaps you’d be more entertained by drawing your favorite Dilbert cartoon on your toast, an inspirational quotation, or just a loving message to your significant other. The sky’s the limit with the…well…it’s just in the concept stage and I don’t think it actually has a name yet. But I’ll be paying attention to Brookstone’s website, as I’m positive this will contribute to the breakfast of the future!

How does a photo with something along the order of 1.4k megapixels grab you? I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing cameras that can do this in the stores any time soon.

Be sure you zoom in on some of the buildings in the background to see the secret service men on the roof tops.

His crime was looking up the truth. Now you too can see our solar system in much the same way Galileo did. You even have the option to get a Galileoscope already built or as a kit to share with your kiddos. If you haven’t been outside with them recently to look at the stars, please do. Astronomy is often a child’s first introduction to real science. I’ll never forget my husband sitting down with our son when he was about three, using a paper plate to explain non-Euclidian geometry with him. Did any of it stick? Nah… But it’s the conversation that counts.

There’s probably going to be lots more really cool stuff coming out this year having to do with astronomy, since it’s the International Year of Astronomy and all. Which is pretty darned nifty in and of itself.

Revisiting a previous post, I just want to let everyone know that Galaxy Zoo 2 has gone live. If you’ve ever wanted a chance to participate in something bigger than yourself and make a valuable contribution to our understanding of the universe, here’s your chance. Turn off the TV and go help with something that’s huge.

Wolfgang’s Vault has to be one of the coolest sites ever on the web. This is nothing new; it’s been around a long time but isn’t nearly as widely known as it should be. It’s full of recordings of bands who performed at shows promoted by Bill Graham, a prominent concert promoter at the time. Want to hear a classic live performance from Led Zeppelin? It’s there. Are the 80′s more your thing? A Flock of Seagulls is there too.

Check it out. You won’t be sorry.