Houston, we have a problem. About a bazillion birds too many have taken over your city! One or two birds is fine. Five or six on showing off their feathers and eating seeds from my feeders is even better. Hell, I’m even okay with 15 or 20 birds stopping by for a visit. But when you get into the thousands? That’s not cute — it’s a real-life Hitchcockian nightmare. Why are these drivers slowing down? Hurry home before you’re pecked to death! Read More: This Kitten Had A Bump On Its Head. What They Pulled Out Of It Will Make You Queasy I would take cover immediately. Even if they don’t attack, they’re bound to poo all over your car, head, and anything else left out in the open! Be sure to share this crazy footage (and remind me to never, ever visit Houston). Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/houston-blackbirds/
On Thursday, Mars’s Gale Crater was treated to a fantastic sight: a partial solar eclipse. An eclipse very similar to the kind we’re used to seeing from here on Earth, but with the sun blocked, in this case, by a different moon: Phobos, one of the two moons that orbit Mars. Fortunately for us, Curiosity was there to take a picture of Phobos’s transit. Also fortunately for us, as well, Curiosity took precautions to protect its vision as the transit took place. (As NBC’s Alan Boyle put it: “You wouldn’t want Curiosity to blow out its camera on Mars.”) So, to capture the image above, the rover’s Mastcam used a neutral density filter that protected Curiosity’s imaging system in the same way that can be seen from some point on Mars pretty much every day. And it will be only be a year before a transit can be seen again from the Gale Crater. But the relative commonality of the Martian eclipse doesn’t compromise its splendor. And Curiosity isn’t the first rover to capture that view. Below, via Bad Astronomy, is amazing video sent back by Opportunity in November 2010: the sun, eclipsed by one of Mars’s meandering moons. In Defense of Waze, Which Doesn’t Put Police in Danger Introducing the Supertweet Beware the Drone Laws The App Economy Is Now ‘Bigger Than Hollywood’ This article originally published at The Atlantic here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/17/mars-solar-eclipse/
The BBC reported a Jordanian politician threatened an opponent with a gun on live TV. No shots were fired and no one was hurt. Before pulling out the gun, the man threw a shoe at the other candidate. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/07/jordanian-politicial-brandishes-gun/
Somebody call Lando Calrissian, because we just discovered the real-life Cloud City. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/drinking-coffee-above-the-clouds-of-dubai/
The actors on the beloved science fiction series Star Trek are known for having great relationships with their fans. Listen as James Doohan recalls a letter from a fan that would change both of their lives forever… Read more: http://www.wimp.com/scotty-from-star-trek-remembers-the-time-he-helped-a-suicidal-fan/
When you think of your favorite musicians, it’s important to remember that even the most advanced instrumentalists started off as total novices. Learning an instrument can be a difficult task, and having the discipline to keep with it can be even more taxing. But thanks to my love of music I was able to take up band in elementary school, and in addition to mastering the euphonium, I was also able to teach myself piano and guitar in my free time. And while outside practice can be an important aspect of learning a new instrument, not every member of the household will be so keen on listening to you practice. But when it comes to this beginner flute player, her four-legged pal has already reached his breaking point. Whenever the young girl begins playing, her retriever can be heard in the background moaning and groaning for the music to stop. How dare she interrupt his nap like this? Eventually, the young musician can’t help but laugh at her pet’s reaction to her attempts at making music. This honest pooch is able to say what most of us are too afraid to tell our tone-deaf friends. You don’t need to speak dog to know that this little fella has had enough of his owner’s musical nonsense. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/flute-dog-havoc/
Even without dropping any hardware this week, Apple made a ton of news at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, unveiling Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 — along with many accompanying features in each. But how will these updates affect your Apple experience? Mashable hosted a MashTalk Hangout on Air Wednesday to answer these questions, and also discuss how these moves will impact other companies. What questions do you have about Apple’s latest unveilings? Share them in the comments below or tweet them with the hashtag #MashTalk. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/04/apple-wwdc-2014-hangout/
History of Windows Startup Sounds 1. Microsoft Windows 3.1 Startup Sound Back in 1992, 3.1’s startup sound was jarring and unpopular. This prompted Microsoft to create a more aurally pleasing version for its next operating system. 2. Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Sound In 1994 Microsoft asked Brian Eno to create a piece of music that was (in his words) “inspiring, universal, blah- blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental [and] emotional.” The resulting seven seconds — about twice as long as Microsoft’s initial brief requested — has made tech history as a recognizable “sonic logo.” 3. Microsoft Windows NT Startup Sound In 1996, Windows NT 4.0 revealed a fresh, futuristic sound. Legend has it that the shutdown sound played the startup sound backwards. 4. Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Sound Microsoft audio producer Ken Kato is credited with the creation of the Windows 98 sound. 5. Microsoft Windows 2000 Startup Sound Microsoft tinkled the ivories with its professional “2000” operating system. 6. Microsoft Windows ME Startup Sound The consumer-aimed “Millennium Edition” shared the same audio. 7. Microsoft Windows XP Startup Sound The startup chime (and other system sounds within XP) are based on live orchestral recordings. Composer Bill Brown worked with Emmy-award winning sound designer Tom Ozanich to create the audio. 8. Microsoft Windows Vista Startup Sound The Vista startup sound was a collaboration among progressive rock guitarist Robert Fripp, record producer, musician and composer Tucker Martine and Microsoft’s own engineer (and musician) Steve Ball. In a blog post, Microsoft described the tune as having “two parallel melodies played in an intentional ‘Win-dows Vis-ta’ rhythm,” with four chords — one for each color in the Windows flag. 9. Microsoft Windows 7 Startup Sound Finally, Windows 7’s default startup audio is the same as Vista’s. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/24/windows-startup-sounds/
