Kaltxi! New Words from a New World!

(click for podcast)

By this time, it would be surprising to find anyone who hasn't heard of James Cameron's new blockbuster, Avatar. The most exciting thing about it - at least to me is the Na'vi language!

The Na’vi language is the constructed language of the Na’vi, the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of the fictional moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. Na’vi was designed to fit James Cameron's conception of what the language should sound like in the film, to be realistically learnable by the fictional human characters of the film, and to be pronounceable by the actors, but to not closely resemble any single human language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%27vi_language

Even better, there is a terrific community already discussing and providing resources to learn the language at http://www.learnnavi.org - check it out!

They have the vocabulary, and linguistic background - even simple phrases:











I've also created a simple lookup tool at http://navi.mrklingon.org


In other news - I've rebuilt a number of my pages using Google pages:

• http://www.mrklingon.org
• http://klv.klingonword.org
• http://mndbible.klingonword.org

In addition, you'll now find the complete Mando'a vocabulary available, as well as a Mando'a version of the Universal Translator Assistant!

Back to the Shipyards.....

(click for podcast)



Building a spaceship, and exploring a new universe.




http://www.delta7studios.com/






The new universe.....





http://podiobooks.com/title/quarter-share

http://podiobooks.com/







Bonus! Klingon software!







http://www.twobrotherssoftware.com/tlhaq/


Music, "The Lucky Black Cat" by James Curran, from Archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/jamescurranluckyblackcat

Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun to Be With

(click for podcast)

Wouldn't it be FUN to have a plastic pal - your very own robot - well you CAN!

Of course... not all robots are fun...

Here's Marvin, everyone's favorite paranoid android, with genuine people personality!



http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/19/boing-boing-tv-tanks.html






https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/BEAM_robotics

BEAM robotics

The word "beam" in BEAM robotics is an acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics. This is a term that refers to a style of robotics that primarily uses simple analog circuits, such as comparators, instead of a microprocessor in order to produce an unusually simple design (in comparison to traditional mobile robots) that trades flexibility for robustness and efficiency in performing the task for which it was designed. ...

he basic BEAM principles focus on a stimulus-response based ability within a machine. The underlying mechanism was invented by Mark W. Tilden where the circuit (or a Nv net of Nv neurons) is used to simulate biological neuron behaviors. ...

Other rules that are included (and to varying degrees applied):

1. Use the lowest number possible of electronic elements ("keep it simple")
2. Recycle and reuse technoscrap
3. Use radiant energy (such as solar power)

http://www.streettech.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1618

Boing Boing tv: Tanks-A-Lot / Mark's Vibrobot

Posted by Xeni Jardin, October 19, 2007 10:21 AM | permalink

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/15/howto-make-a-vibrobo.html
http://boingboing.net/videos/vibrobot.mov

PROMO: http://www.spacecasey.com/

Music:

Title:	I played my concertina
Performer:	Arthur Osmond.

Action!

(click for podcast)

---

NEW! Try the Star Wars Phrasebook in Java!

(https://swlanguages.mrklingon.org)
(http://members.aol.com/jpklingon/uta/GALDict.html)

---

http://www.panicstruckpro.com/revelations/

http://mashup.starwars.com

http://origamiaerospace.blogspot.com/

http://origamiaerospace.blogspot.com/2007/10/flight-of-paper-x-wing.html



Music
Corellian Shipyards - From "Revelations" soundtrack http://www.chrisbouchard.co.uk/

Empire!

(click for podcast)

Reflecting on the popularity of "Empires" in Science Fiction stories.

• CoDominium (Niven and Pournelle
• Barrayar (Lois McMaster Bujold)
• Manticore (David Weber)

Do it yourself - build your own space empire with a Free "4X" (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) game:

FreeOrion - www.FreeOrion.org



Music - from the Cylinder Preservation Project:
The US Marine Band - Emperor's Manoeuvre

Hacking Your Way Into Space!

(click for podcast)

How to hack your way into space

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/how-to-hack-you.html

Way up there!

You can also find the video at http://www.archive.org/details/OrigamiAerospace-TestFilm

Play / Download (help)

64Kb MPEG4 (1.2 MB)
256Kb MPEG4 (2.9 MB)
Windows Media (6.7 MB)

Here's my first attempt at creating a film using Air Rockets. I used a snippet from NASA's Columbia Anthem Gets Grammy Nod, and two flights put together.



http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/airRocket/index.html

I recently showed off model rockets for some neighbor kids this week, and I built one of these to show off some almost free rockets that you can blast off.

I tested it indoors (big mistake) then had to work to clean the smudge off the ceiling. These are more powerful and fast than you'd expect. Out doors it disappeared (almost) higher than the trees. After two launches it was lost in the trees. No matter - a little paper and tape and I've got two more ready for flight.


More Rocket Fun!

Googling around and I found a terrific rocket simulator/design tool at NASA!
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/rktsim.html

This amazing thing does simple ballistic, water, and solid engine rockets. Even better - it does AIR ROCKETS! (pictured). Clicking on the links, it turns out there is some pretty sophisticated information and math for rocket scientists.


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MUSIC: "Way Up There" Columbia Anthem Gets Grammy Nod

The Wheel Turns

(click for podcast version)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_jordan
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tongue

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Jordan.html
Author Robert Jordan Dies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 17, 2007

Filed at 3:23 p.m. ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Author Robert Jordan, whose ''Wheel of Time'' series of fantasy novels sold millions of copies, died Sunday of a rare blood disease. He was 58.

Jordan, whose real name was James Oliver Rigney Jr., was born and lived in this southern city most of his life. He died at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston of complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, his personal assistant, Maria Simons, said Monday. The blood disease caused the walls of Rigney's heart to thicken.

He wrote a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal in the early 1980s. Then he turned his attention to fantasy and the first volume in his Wheel of Time epic, ''The Eye of the World,'' was published in 1990 under the name Robert Jordan.

Jordan's books tells of Rand al'Thor, who is destined to become the champion who will battle ultimate evil in a mythical land....

LANGUAGES!

• http://www.wotmud.org/game/glossary.html
  
• http://www.wotmud.org/directory/oldtongue.php
  

WOTMUD IV
Wheel of Time MUD

http://wotmud.org/

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/

Title:
The armourer's song

[Robin Hood. Selections]

Performer:
Frank C. Stanley.

Issue Number/Label:
8074: Edison Gold Moulded Record

Year of Release:
[1904]


The armourer's song