A recnet sutdy desecivrod taht hnuams are rkalmarbey clbpaae at rndaieg smbelacrd wdros when the fsrit and last lteetrs wree kpet icantt. A follew (or gorup of feollsw) at a bolg caleld "001% PO-gr" hvae put a vrey ntfiy ltitle gdaegt OINNLE that will sclmrbae text for you to tset this apsoimtsun. Ntalalury, I had to psot tihs post sbmleacrd. Naet, eh?

Perpetual Motion, fooey!

In these petrol-hungry days, the notion of 'alternative energy' comes back into our consciousness once again. Solar, Nuclear, Wind, Hydrogen, Grain Alchohol, French Fry Vat oil are all being given the gimlet eye as we try to come up with a Life After Oil (which will, I think, occur in my lifetime). The recent issue of MAKE (one of my favorite periodicals) was on bizarre "edge" science, and featured a series of vignettes on that old hoary chestnut, perpetual motion.

We all like getting something for nothing, hell, I know I do-- and some amazing concepts have been developed in the pursuit of "free energy." The waterwheel comes to mind, and the wind generator. But the fact is they aren't 'free energy'.. there is a substantial amount of loss involved no matter how smart you make the mousetrap.

But we continue to dream.. a machine that could run by itself, into perpetuity..

Thanks to the miracles of the Internet, Donald Simanek has collected a rather extensive collection of images and devices and blueprints of machines that attempt to cheat the laws of energy conservation, and it can be found at The Museum of Unworkable Devices. I strongly recommend a trip there if you are a fan of the absurd and the unworkable.

The first thing you notice when you look at some of these drawings is the elegance and sophistication that went into the building and design.



My particular favorite category is the shifting-mass overbalanced wheel, which can be viewed above.. there are many varieties of this concept in Mr. Simanek's museum. Well worth a visit!!

Presenting

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Count-Palatine Nizz the Sentient of Mousehole by Sea Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

(I like this one better than my other name)

Now you can!

Check out Cheese Cam! Click on the graphic below.

I am the Diet Coke of Evil

This is what comes of promising your ailing grandpap that you'd only use your powers for good.

What Fantasy Archetype Are you?
The Seasoned Veteran Friend You are the Seasoned Veteran Friend! You resemble Aragorn (Lord of The Rings), Merlin (Arthurian Legend), Han Solo (Star Wars), The Marquis (Neverwhere), Sirius Black (Harry Potter) and Chase (Wizard's First Rule). You are exceedingly loyal, tricky and hardy. You regularly pull the Unlikely Hero, Mentor and Pillor-of-Strength Love Interest out of trouble and into safety. Beware The Traitor, who will make your job intensely difficult. And don't coddle the Unlikely Hero too much, he has to learn how to fend for himself. Anyway, everyone admires you and your resourcefullness / reliability - good going!
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

I was hoping for "Unlikely Hero"... can't win 'em all.

Okay, I can live with Purgatory!

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Is there a By Popular Demand Fan out there?

I noticed this search in my user REFERRAL stats (e.g., what they clicked on to make them come here) last night:



The exact duplication of the phrase "antagonist in ANY Oprah Book Club NOVEL" including the odd capitalization, makes me think that the person making that search copied it directly from the infamous ROUND FIVE (the Oprah Round) of our last game of By Popular Demand, "Wuerthy". The inference I make is that the person might be playing along and trying to score the game themselves, or doing some research, or maybe they are just dying to know more about antagonists in Oprah Book Club novels, and it's all a cosmic coincidence... wait.. naaaaah. In any event, stranger, I hope we can get you interested in the next round, which will have a HISTORY THEME.

Happy Birthday, you old Blog, you!

Today is (roughly) the second anniversary of ANOTHER POINT OF SINGULARITY here on BLOGGER.COM. I ran a previous incarnation, the POINT OF SINGULARITY, on Xanga for a few years before bailing to come here, so all in all I've been a so-called "serious blogger" for about five years, and I maintained a web presence (not really a blog but kind of a catch all static webpage that got updated often enough) fairly constantly since about 1997. Why? Well, in part, web development was my job for a while, and you get into the habit. For another, I enjoy sharing not just my thoughts with other people, but also something they can put to use in a hobby sense (particuarly, in the wargaming hobby). Some of my earliest "resource pages" saw a lot of mileage over the years, being referenced in many places and used again and again (such as the PBeM Emporium, on the web since 1997, and my Wild West Skirmish page, which has been around about the same amount of time). About four years ago I started getting out of the static web page stuff and devoted more time to blogging style web pages. Why? Well, it's easier to update for one thing, and generally pretty network friendly wherever I go. Constantly updating pages (as I did back in the Emporium's heyday) gets very old, very quickly. I just can't do it any more. A blog post, though, that takes a few seconds.

During the last year or so, I've noticed the traffic for this blog has gone up dramatically. Part of the explanation for the traffic is undoubtedly the fact that I'm not shy to link to a post of my own in another forum-- after all, I took the time to write it, why not have someone read it? Some folks have come back,and I even have a few regular customers, you might say (judging from the traffic reports). That's a lot of fun, and I appreciate that they think this thing is worthwhile enough to return occassionally.

During the year since the LAST anniversary, I've also noticed a lot more critical reaction to some of the posts that I have put on here. For instance, I recently received my first hate mail about a post that dared to question the policy of reimbursing GMs for conventions. I have also been called (literally, at my house) for posts that were critical of individuals in this or that group. Yes, I have people who scan this blog on behalf of other people, with the express purpose of reporting back to the 'offended person', to try to whip up trouble for yours truly. I'm not exaggerating. I've always been somewhat astounded that people take posts on a hobby so deadly seriously. Especially when there are so few of those "hobby organization" posts to begin with! As a result of the new "Label" feature on the current incarnation of Blogger.com, I've been able to categorize posts better, and thus have found that it's become easier to collect statistics on any topic posted here. For instance, oh, just taking something out of the blue, it turns out that the term "HMGS" only shows up in less than 2% of the posts on here. Don't take my word for it, count it yourself. And when it does, it always ignites a sh*tstorm, so to speak. Oh well, it should hardly be surprising in an age that values perception over substance.

In closing, I'll be continuing on here for another year at least. I enjoy this pastime. If I offend somebody with something I write, feel free to comment on the "Post Comments" section. Heck, if it's that important I'll post your point of view on the subject, no skin off of my nose.

Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope you continue to read in 2007.

Mister Nizz