View From the Bushes

On occasion in the comments, people have asked me where I get the links I post in my blog. In the past I've been somewhat reluctant to mention one of my primary news sources because, for one, then there would be one less reason for people to read my blog, and lord knows I don't need that, and two, because frequently this particular source tosses in links which are euphemistically described as "NSFW" or Not Safe For Work. And while I realize that the chances of my blind 92 year old grandmother reading this (or anything for that matter) are pretty slim, but 90% of the time that something bad happens to me, it is precisely because three unlikely events all come together at the same incredibly bad moment.

That being said, I will go ahead and point you at Fark as the source of many of my links, including yesterday's link, which is why I felt compelled to reveal my source now. One of the comments mentioned that the site I linked to yesterday was unaccessible, which reveals something that happens quite frequently with Fark. See, Fark is a pretty popular website -- orders of magnitude more popular than some of the sites they link to, so when Fark links to a site and in effect redirects a huge portion of its traffic to a site with much less bandwidth, it often takes the site down completely, which I'm sure is what happened with yesterday's link.

To continue with the theme, here is a link I found today on Fark. It's about some nanotech researchers at MIT who are trying to develop a fabric that's soft and wearable, but when a magnetic field is applied, turns into a bullet proof vest. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross