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Category: 01-January

January 31: Diet Coke + Mentos

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 31, 2013

Yes, Mentos DO have this effect. We did an experiment here and it was pretty impressive. Works much better with warm soda, though…

And this brings me to the end of another broadcast day. I’m transcribing my own history timeline in Excel, so I can keep track of important dates and what happened when. Tomorrow, in class, I’ll be able to expand on the things I’ve put in there, based on what the prof. says. At least this way I should be able to track his random access memory. (And boy, was it random yesterday). Book’s dense, but I’m trying to chunk it out.

Saturday I get to put together a preliminary art bin. My X-Acto knives will finally get the workout they deserve. Then, PIRATE FEAST!

Sunday’s busy with services, a birthday visit to friends and eventually a reset for the week to come.

Bonus:

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January 28: Amazing Pendulum Wave Effect!

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 28, 2013

This is just cool, and it replaces the original video I was going to use because the original wasn’t as pretty to see. More in Amazing Science Stuff this week. Seems somehow appropriate, given today’s Challenger anniversary, that I should concentrate on science.

I’m working my way toward putting the rest of my junk away, and this includes digitizing and storing all my CDs. Also redoing the electronics connections so they’re neater and easier to operate. Switching back to video transfer soon.

And my books for school arrived today. I’m scared to look in the box. Got work-related homework to catch up on. Gonna be an interesting week.

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January 27: Starlings on Otmoor

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 27, 2013

Ah, thank you, Irony. I forgot how you tap me on the shoulder as I come home basking in the warm glow of a movie that’s all about letting go.

Sometime between the end of high school and my first year at New Paltz, I took the time to create a backgammon/chess board out of plastic canvas. I was, at the time, quite a fan, because it never warped and was a snap to work with. And I was addicted to backgammon in my first year at New Paltz, so this board got a LOT of play time. It used to have an acrylic base that went with it as support, and somewhere along the line I lost one of the pips, but I still had the board, 30 years after that first year there.

Sadly, no amount of plastic can stand up to my baseboard heaters.

I just found the board, which fell off the shelves in this morning’s manic shuffle of puzzles and games from shelf to shelf, leaning on the heater behind my sideboard.

Or, rather, what’s left of it, as one whole section of backgammon board has melted into a permanent chaise lounge shape completely unsuitable for playing backgammon.

Curse you, oh, Irony. I knew I had too many backgammon boards. Did you have to take this one? Really? Feh.

Well, fine. I defy you, Irony.

I intended to post this as an end to Animal week and the start to Awesome Nature week. So here we go. Natural beauty. Enjoy.

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January 25: My dog can Skype!

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 25, 2013

And so, I survived the trip around the beltway and back, with a new sound card (pci-e), a new firewire expresscard and an optical audio cable for the sound system. In theory, I should have fixed all the issues I’ve got with hardware in one trip to Microcenter. And I got good Chinese food from Seven Seas while I was out there.

Since part of the point of this exercise is to be able to Skype with reliable sound, seems appropriate somehow.

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January 21: Kittens vs Scary Things

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 21, 2013

I’m late, but I have an excuse – I was moving furniture – again. And installing a keyboard drawer. So there’s that.

To make up, here’s two (related) videos. Cats and scary things. It’s the music that makes it…

kitten vs a scary thing:

kitten vs TWO scary things:

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