kengr

For some reason a variation on the old Pillsbury jingle keeps popping up in my head.

At first it was just:

Nothing says lovin'
like something from the coven
and [blank] says best

The blank was irritating and finally I came up with "Avesbury" to fit the rhyme.

Now, mind you most of the fictional references to Avesbury that I've encountered were in Cthulhu Mythos stuff. Mind you, "coven" can work in that context so it's maybe acceptable.

Now part of me wants to *write* it. But the rest of me is going "Hell no!"

So I'm throwing it out there from anyone does like writing that kind of thing.

Today's https://grrlpowercomic-feed.dreamwidth.org/ pointed me at this video



which led me to this

(Image was an undescribable thing with text)
What do you get when you cross a cow with an octopus?

A visit from the ethics committee and immediate withdrawal of your funding

siliconshaman turned me on to this stereotypical bit of British humor

I'm the schools patent attorney. So I'm used to getting shown oddball items that researchers have come up with. This one was a bit odder than usual. She had a laptop, a small rodent in a cage with something electronic attached to one wall and a sort of skullcap.

"As you know, we've been doing a lot of research on brain activity in mammals. Both detecting specific patterns and using implants to send info to the brain."

I nodded, wondering where this was going.

She turned on the laptop and set it so we both could see, and she plugged a USB cable from the cage into it. Finally she picked up the skullcap and held it out to me.

"The subject rodent has implants that receive signals from the sensor in this cap. It responds to them by moving to the sensing pad in the cage and poking it at a location corresponding to what the user is thinking."

She put on the cap, pushed a button on it, and the animal moved to the solid side of the cage. On the laptop, the cursor moved to make selections

I thought it might be some sort of prank until she let me try the cap. All I had to do was think about moving the cursor and it did.

"So why the animal? Why not just interpret the signals directly on the computer?"

"They aren't easy to decode, but apparently they are similar enough between species that the animal's brain can interpret them reliably after a short period of training. This is the most conveniently sized lab animal that can do the job. Being cute when not being used is a bonus."

I nodded again. I could see that watching it run around the cage and play once the cap was switched off would be relaxing.

"So, let me this straight? You want to patent this assistive technology?"

"Yes, that's right. We want to patent this design of computer mouse..."

The Freefall webcomic has been having Sam Starfall (a squid like alien in a protective suit that make him look somewhat humanoid) telling his people's myth of how they stole fire from the gods.

It starts here:
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3400/fc03304.htm

In keeping with ysabetwordsmith's post about the eagle triad, here are links to a series of *wonderful* cartoons showing the wide variety in animal behavior, substituting humans.

Very funny and mostly worksafe (possibly completely worksafe, but I don't know your workplace)

http://humoncomics.com/cuttlefish
http://humoncomics.com/spotted-hyena
http://humoncomics.com/cute-seahorses
http://humoncomics.com/milkman-discus-fish
http://humoncomics.com/tamarin-daddy-daycare
http://humoncomics.com/birds-of-paradise
http://humoncomics.com/the-ruff-bird
http://humoncomics.com/side-blotched-lizard
http://humoncomics.com/kiwi-bird
http://humoncomics.com/bonobos
http://humoncomics.com/ants
http://humoncomics.com/crab-spider
http://humoncomics.com/harvestman
http://humoncomics.com/grouse
http://humoncomics.com/anglerfish
http://humoncomics.com/tidarren-argo
http://humoncomics.com/whiptail-lizard
http://humoncomics.com/reef-fish
http://humoncomics.com/red-sided-garter-snake
http://humoncomics.com/gorilla

A couple of oldies to repost for your enjoyment.

https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog-entry/59704/christmas-wish

https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/48206/christmas-workshop

ps. Ysabet? Do you think that Christmas "bush" would fit into Terramagne?

I saw this gizmo when they were putting out the Christmas stuff a few weeks ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAjydslLXTQ

List price was supposedly $12.99. But the had it "on sale" for $9.99. It looked interesting and I figured I 'd get one when my social Security check posted.

Well, today I noticed they'd cut the price down to $5. So I got one.

It's a bit noisy, but not bad. The really good part is that the noise isn't a whine and not exactly a buzz. You know it's running, but it's not annoying.

The box doesn't mention the sensor that the notes for the video do, but I suspected something of the sort.

The rotor blades are "hinged" where the attach to the hub so they fold up if they hit anything.And they usually makes the motor turn off. Nice safety feature.

The lights make some very pretty patterns reflecting off the blades.

They also have a version that instead of a ball, is a pink unicorn.

Simple, mindless fun.And not especially fragile (I'd been woried about that, but several crashes indicate that it is at least *somewhat* sturdy.

A google search for "hovering ball" will get you listings from a lot of stores. With prices varying from $3.49 to $9.99.