Fuck you UGO. RIP 1UP. RIP Listen Up.

Now that’s an impressive list of album credits.

Lovely open source planetarium software. Get it here.

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.

www.stellarium.org

Yes. Yes. And yes.

www.laroux.co.uk

I soooo want to buy one of these. But after hours of research, I’m not going to. They’re currently priced at around AUD $120 (delivered), which makes them nearly half the the price of a ‘real’ Dobsonian scope. They are incredibly cute though…

Take half a baguette, 2 Sanitarium vegetarian hot dogs, some tomato sauce, plenty of Masterfoods American mustard – and you’ve got yourself one hell of a classy dinner.

It’s so good to hear Jim simply saying “hello”, “yes”, and occasionally cackling away in the background on Off The Hook. The show’s just not the same without him.

After a hiatus of nearly 2 years, I’m loving it more than ever. I even bought some stupid top tube saddle bags – just big enough for a sandwich and my GPS.

My cheap Yuntong Smart Balancer from HobbyKing.com (luv ‘em!) arrived a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been using it a lot, and I’m happy to say that it actually seems to work. The ability to balance “offline” (while not charging) is surprisingly useful, because I can balance my LiPos while my charger is busy doing other (NiMH related) things. $19? Crazy price. I sometimes wonder if HobbyKing is too good to last.

I’m a big fan of disposable coffee cups, but instead of buying 1000 disposable polystyrene cups to use at home, or even buying a DCI “I Am Not A Paper Cup”, I finally found an alternative – I bought a Dunkin’ Donuts plastic cup, and had it shipped all the way from Melbourne FL to Melbourne AU. And I couldn’t be happier. It seals perfectly, looks ridiculous (bonus!), and doesn’t drip when you drink from it. The manufacturer (Capitol Cups) was stamped on the bottom of the cup, so I’ve ordered a few more at a bargain price (same cup – different design), plus a couple of spare lids, from their retail store at www.favoritecoffeecup.com.

I never dialed into a BBS – but I did have a Vic-20, and I’ve still got my Atari STe. Which is probably why I’m totally enjoying the 5+ hours of BBS: The Documentary so much. Anyone remotely interested in the history of computers, technology, and communications should see it. This is the kind of film that kids in school should be made to sit though.

www.bbsdocumentary.com

I love drum machines when they’re done right.

Tick tock….

I took my new $19 ’stunt’ kite out for a fly today. It’s been at least 20 years since I’ve flown a kite, and I’d forgotten just how much fun it is.

I was lucky enough to stumble across this relatively unknown Japanese SNES/Super Famicom release back in the golden days of the Super Wild Card. It’s still one of my favourite games of all time (I’m playing it on the GP2X these days), it’s also one of the best SNES/Super Famicom soundtracks I’ve ever heard (up there with The Chaos Engine).

Pinball FTW.

Victorian bushfire appeal 2009

I’m posting this on my new EeePC 901.

I had a bit of trouble deciding between the 1000H and the 901, mostly because I prefer the larger keyboard on the 1000H – but I really wanted something tiny that I could carry around easily, and the 1000H isn’t actually that much smaller (or lighter) than my ancient old Portege. So I went for the 901, which was nearly $200 cheaper, and I’m glad I did. I expected that the tiny keyboard on the 901 would be a bit fiddly to use, and it is – but I’m slowly getting used to it, and as long I remember to avoid using the misplaced right shift key (which could easily be ‘fixed’ by remapping it), my typing is around 80% the speed and accuracy as it is on a full size keyboard. I’m also very happy with the 901’s trackpad – two finger scrolling, three finger right click, etc… I’ve almost stopped reaching for the mouse that isn’t there. For the first time in my life, I think I’ll be able to get used to working without a mouse.

With the sad passing of what we all came to know and love as 1Up Yours, comes a phoenix from the flames…