Explorer: The indigenous lifeforms were easy enough to reprogram. I am in control of a creature with a penchant for finding metallic objects and clever enough for basic puzzle solving. With any luck I can use it to help secure the parts I need to repair my ship and get off this strange rock. It attacked me a couple of times, but the force shield held well enough. Down to forty percent power but I think the beast is smart enough not to try it again.

Creature: Alien put buzzy thing in my head, tells me to do things. I do what it tells because it points me to shiny things. I like shiny things. When it stops taking me to shiny things, I think I will kill it and eat it. I hope it is soon because my suit itches, and my helmet keeps fogging up.

accelerating

Big Jack: "Hey, I heard this is about Zorak."

Big Josh: *sighs* "That's what I heard. I thought we had put an end to him."

Derry Daring: "Who's Zorak?"

Big Josh: "Our oldest and most relentless enemy. He is evil of a most particular kind. Zorak possesses immense resources and, when we take them away, he rebuilds. He has one goal: the destruction of Big Jim and world domination. Hm. I reckon that's two goals."

Derry Daring: "The destruction of Big Jim?? Where is this Zorak?? I'll settle him real fast!"

Big Jack: "You can't 'settle' Zorak with a ball peen hammer, Derry! You get within eyesight of him and he'll have you either running in terror or frozen in place screaming."

Derry Daring: "I don't scare so easily! I'm a stunt rider! DDS!"

Big Josh: "I don't doubt your bravery, Miss Derry, but Zorak has an... ability. He can change his visage so that even the bravest are struck with the terror."

Big Jack: "He's some kinda mutant freak!"

Derry Daring: "Well, why's he after Big Jim??"

Big Jack: "Because Big Jim, and the rest of us Bigs, and the P.A.C.K., are the ones who have stood between him and his rotten goals. We thought he was gone!"

Derry Daring: "Gone how?"

Big Josh: "Our last battle was in a nuclear missile silo. Whiplash used his bolos to catch Zorak's legs. Zorak fell off the stair scaffolding and down through all the cables. He was practically decapitated and his body fell onto the nuclear missile. The missile had a long receiver antenna on the nose which impaled Zorak. He had also set the missile to launch towards Burkina Faso to start a catastrophic war between the United States and that nation. Big Jim managed to reprogram the missile just as it was launching and it instead launched into space, with Zorak impaled, and exploded in the upper atmosphere."

Derry Daring: "... He... Why do you think he's still alive??"

Big Jack: "Big Jim said he had a dream Zorak was here in Paprihaven."

Derry Daring: "He... Okay, sure."

═════════════════════════════════════

Derry Daring

1975, Ideal

Big Jim

Big Jack

1976, Mattel

Big Jim

Big Josh

1976, Mattel

Big Jim

Big Jim's Kung Fu Studio

1974, Mattel

"Apesar dos medos, convém não ser demais fútil nem demais acomodada. Algumas vezes é preciso pegar o touro pelos chifres, mergulhar para depois ver o que acontece: porque a vida não tem de ser sorvida como uma taça que se esvazia, mas como o jarro que se renova a cada gole bebido.

Os ganhos ou os danos dependem da perspectiva e possibilidades de quem vai tecendo a sua história. O mundo em si não tem sentido sem o nosso olhar que lhe atribui identidade, sem o nosso pensamento que lhe confere alguma ordem.

Viver, como talvez morrer, é recriar-se: a vida não está aí apenas para ser suportada nem vivida, mas elaborada. Eventualmente reprogramada. Conscientemente executada. Muitas vezes, ousada. Para viver de verdade, pensando e repensando a existência, para que ela valha a pena, é preciso ser amado; e amar; e amar-se."

[Lya Luft]

A long time ago, in a mainframe far far away ....

You were asked to reprogram the Star Wars universe of vehicles into a more digitized world.

We had 50 fantastic entries, from micro, to mini, to midi ships.

We asked our pool of Judges: Three from RebelLUG , a visual graphic guru, and two Designers to pick their favorites.

They looked at Build Quality, build execution: the Tron/SW cross over and overall presentation.

... and here are the results:

1ST PLACE:

Shannon Sproule's File Recovery Bus

Shannon nailed this competition - while not every judge voted for this build, every judge voted for one of his builds. Shannon did an amazing job of coming up with unique combinations that actually seemed like they could fit - in either world....

2ND PLACE

DeadFrogInc's www.flickr.com/photos/just0nebrick/43996523200/in/pool-39...

DFI - The judges loved this - it was so clean and well hit the right Tron lines and we could all really imagine a squad of these flying around the mainframe.

3RD PLACE

Scott's TIE Digitizer - TRON/Star Wars Mashup

Scott - the judges loved your take on the Tie Fighter - a great combination of Star Wars morphed into Tron.

Honourable Mentions

While these didn't make it in the top 3, they were still among some of the judges favorite builds:

alcloneproductions 20-T Railcrawler -

H2Brick's Hunter Program

Jeff's Sark's Destroyer

Thank you all for entering!

We'll be contacting the winners to collect their prize, and choice of trophies!

Participants can pick up one of these fine bricks at any RebelLUG attended convention.

Have fun?

Guess what, there's an even bigger contest coming up ....

SPACE JAM www.flickr.com/photos/97645378@N02/

Starting Dec 1st

A life threatening, system crumbling cybernetic plague, VIROT is a virus designed on the bacteriophage of eons past. This computer devourer is able to infect a hero’s core and either reprogram them for evil or shut them down for good.

Type A, the infection type, is small, nearly undetectable, with an emphasis on its rapid replication. Type B phages are a larger mutation that carry microscopic incision equipment used to inject nanites. These nano machines either act as miniature explosives, irreversibly damaging the hero’s Quaza Core, or act to change the materials within core, turning it into ANTI-QUAZA and sending the hero into a downward spiral of evil.

Hero Factory. We build H̷e̷r̷o̷e̷s̷ ……. Villains

Built for Hero February 2023

My first star trailing. It was hell of an adventure!! Read on if you want to know more.. ;)

Press 'L' looks great in large view!!

.

.

It was a clear night after 2 weeks of clouds. Wasn't the perfect night for star trailing 'coz there days after is full moon. Alternate option was to wait for moonset, which was around 3AM, so headed out at 2AM.

The only unseen condition which I never experienced before was CONDENSATION of moisture in the air on the lens!! I was lucky I got around 30 minutes window, all worked out pretty well, but then at 2:40 micro weather changes caused moisture started to condense on the lens, I tried reprogram the intervalometer to leave 15 sec gap between exposures and wipe the lens with cleaning cloth. Result, shifting in frames, camera movement, more noise. The best I got is this photo stacked from first 4 frames before the moisture.

8 min. total exposure. 4, 2 min exposures stacked in StarStaX

Used Star Walk on iPhone to located Sigma Octantis, its the Southern Pole Star, around which all stars appear to rotate. It's 5.6 magnitude star, 270 light years away, barely visible to naked eyes. For Northern hemisphere its Polaris which is very easy to locate.

Any thoughts on moisture? How to deal with it?

Day 102 of 365

+1 in comments

Breakers log

"its over, the battle, and we won.

But with a loss,

My squad.

I was assigned to my new squad on board the cruiser Destiny.

Terecon squad.

I met Decoy, Circuit, and the rest of the squad right away,

Circuit was the most interesting he was trying to reprogram a Battle droid before an officer came over and yelled at him.

Well I guess I better hit the mess hall and get something to eat.

Before our next orders come in.

BUM BUM BUMMMMMM

enjoy guys its not much of a build or story I just wanted to make something simple today.

Update 3 july 2014:

For the current 2D version see: www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/12537231674

For the current 3D version see: www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/6760414583

Finally the high-speed laser camera is ready.

What's new in this version?

- I currently use one of the fastest shutters available. The shutter-lag is only 3.3 msec. This is the time from the command to the moment the picture is taken. The internal Nikon D300 shutter-lag is normal arround 52 msec, a lot to slow for in-flight insects at closeup distance.

The used external shutter is the Uniblitz VS14 shutter. I used the naked body shutter, so the housing is a DIY version. The external shutter is now between the camera and the lens. This DIY housing is only 30mm wide. Because this shutter work as a macro ring, the infinit focus range is limited. But in my case the usable range goes from 17mm to 82 mm frame picture. This range is super ideal for small insects in-flight.

I use now 3 flashes, 2 x SB-80-DX and one ringflash the SB-29-S. This must result into better lighting. The ringflash is not connected to the macrolens but via a new DIY adapter to the frame. This results into a fix position as the macrolens lenght change with the macro setting. If this ringflash stay on the lens, the laser detection optics have not enough free to see the reflected IR signals.

In this version the lasers are a lot more accessible to adjust them correct at the ideal focuspoint of the camera. The results of this is a very high sensivity of the detector system, even at very closeup and high speed movements of the insects. The laser detection time is now 2x 60 usec or 120 usec, the shutter-lag is 3.3 msec, so I have set the flash delay at 3.5 msec to have a small save intervall.

The used photo detector diode is now the BPW41N. The detector have a integrated narrow filter. This filter is used together with IR lasers at 980 nm. The result is insensitive to the sunlight, one of the bigggest problem previous years. The new IR lasers are now very fast switching lasers and the power is a little higher, this results also into a higher reflected signal for the photodiode. results are smaller insects can be detected at higher speed.

The electronics are total reworked. The basic module is again the Terasic CPLD board (MAX II). The high voltage driver for the external shutter is adjusted to this new timings and extra signal are now avaible to open the external shutter during the adjusting procedure of the camera. The diafragma are now set manual on the AF105/2.8Dmicro lens because the camera c'nt drive this as the external shutter is now between lens and camera.

A lot of extra switches are now avaible for new functions. One of this function are the TTL power drive of the flashes via an external 6 position switch on the frame. A second switch set the ballans between the left and the right side into 6 positions. All this information is displayed on the LCD display.

All connection are now a lot reliable. The hole frame contains the electronic prints and all the connection cables. Extra highpower leds are avaible to work at night. This leds are powered via 4 external AA batterys so they give no extra load to the central power batterys (6xAA) for the hole controller.

Total weight is now 7.2 kg. The ringflash have added here an extra load but I exect significant improvement for closeup shots where the distance from object to the front of the macro lens is only 105mm for a macro setting of 2.2:1 (17mm real live picture projection on the sensor).

This setup is really complex but I have chosen for optimum speed and performance. This Uniblitz VS14 shutter is one of the fastest version on the market that supports this integration.

There are a lot of details not to seen on the pictures like how the macrolens focus ring can be locked. Even on manual position, the lens can move slow out focus in long time. So I have loked the focus ring once the calibration is finish.

The hit rate of this camera system is near 100%. Only correct pictures are taken in full flight. This 3.5 msec shutter-lag guarantees a short movement of the insects between detection and the time that the picture are taken. The relative speed at closeup distance of fast moving insects are extreeme high. A normal camera show always a insects out the frame with the internal shutter-lag.

I have worked near 4 months on this design. The total cost is high. I have to buy a lot of new tools for the lathe and the miller machine. New lasers, tested multiple photodiodes, find the necessary aluminum parts, a lot of electronic components etc.. But now I'm ready to capture the beautiful insects once they commeback in spring.

How it's works:

-Detection system:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/5059169117/in/set-721576...

- Shutter integration:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/5192771746/

- Camera and external shutter:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/5194856127/

Overview of the setup:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/sets/72157625073020642/

The results just now are here:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/sets/72157625642148065/

Work at night for the moths:

www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/sets/72157626140837710/

The signal engineer reprograms a balky traffic light.

ADN - DNA

Sanar nuestro ADN, accediendo a su memoria genética de perfección que guarda un registro completo de toda la evolución humana, y reprogramar y modificar el ADN a través de las emociones, con un trabajo vibracional para la ascensión consciencial, y "volver a casa".

(L: PERCEPCIÓN INOCENTE)

Thanks to Skip the Frogman for the great additions ! Here is who I call Probo- IV ... Created to engineer and reprogram Probots ... For the new Droid contingent . Whose plans are to eliminate intelligent lifeforms everywhere .....

This photo was taken from a departing train at Canary Wharf station that serves the huge Canary Wharf business development. This development is the largest single part of the Docklands redevelopment, providing much of the ( Docklands Light Railway ) DLR's traffic. The main building, 1 Canada Square, is the tallest building in the UK and the second-tallest in Europe. The area is host to a number of banks and financial insitutions, and has become a financial centre second in importance in the country only to the City of London. The building of Canary Wharf prompted the DLR's Bank extension, to provide better links to the City.

Canary Wharf is the most substatial station on the DLR. Its trainshed spans 6 platform faces on three tracks, and the station is integrated the surrounding Cabot Place office and shopping complex. The platforms are at first floor level, and can be reached via lifts/escaltors from ground level, or by level access from the first floor of Cabot Place's shopping centre.

All three tracks have platform faces at either side, speeding up boarding and disembarking. Some trains from Bank or Stratford terminate here, while others continue to Crossharbour and Lewisham.

The original station at Canary Wharf was built with the rest of the initial system, but didn't open in 1987 as the decision had already been taken to rebuild the station, which was to be engulfed by the Canary Wharf office development. The station structure was instead dismantled, with parts used in the expansion of other stops, and the current stop was constructed on the site and opened in 1991. Interestingly, rather than reprogram the automatic train control software, trains initially stopped at Canary Wharf, even after the structure had been dismantled, although the doors weren't opened and the trains immediately started departed.

Information from this site

a few hours at the beach can reprogram your brain.. and that's a good thing in my case ;)

Baker-GGGGGGGG! AHHHHHHHH! WIST! WHITE!

Baker's body surged with electricity. He felt his very blood was on fire. Of course obtaining magnetic powers would be difficult. The machine had to rewrite his very DNA. Not to mention the plastic wires wrapped around him started melting, causing rings of dark, burnt flesh and plastic to criss-cross his body. Wounding him horribly.

To Put it simply, obtaining power, is not easy.

Baker-WHITE! Wist!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

White-Wist, you're worth nothing to Sionis anymore.

Wist-I am, the machine, the errors! You can't just get rid of me White!

White-Mask only wants you if you can make him money, which you can't anymore.

Preston-Yessh. You'rrrree worf noshing Wisst!

Wist-What are you talking about White! The machine!

The machine works perfectly fine. Your calculations, the one's that Clock went over, they're correct.

Wist-But how? The machine it's on low and yet.

White-It's not Wist. I rigged it (White smiled a toothy grin)

Wist-You...what?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The generators were overheating, as they had in all of Wist's previous tests, they were errors. Recurring over and over. Wist was stumped. He had no way how to fix it. Just as Baker had now way to escape the painful situation he was in.

Baker-OOOOOH! AAAAAH! WIST!

Acid from below splashed on Baker due to excess power being sent to the vats by the overheating generators. Luckily, Baker shut his mouth and closed his eyes to save his mouth and sight. However, the chemicals in the acid turned his skin a pale, unnatural white.

Baker-WIST! PLEASE! SHUT IT OFF!

As if an answer to his prayers the machine turned off, if for a brief moment, then, it made a new sound and started up again with an as painful, yet not as hot, electrical shock.

Baker-Noo...NO!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

White-See? You thought the machine was on low, yet it was on high, I modified the console screens and had Clock reprogram them. Your calculations were right Wist, you were just duped (White grinned once again).

Clock-Pretty damn easy too.

Wist-Alright.

White-'Alright'? You seem oftely calm.

Wist turned and looked down at Baker in the chair. It was working, the metal walls were creaking and the metal railings on the rafters swung down and were ripped off their supports. Baker was gaining magnetism. He was right, and White, Clock, and Preston were taking his achievement away from him. Still, he needed to know one more thing before...

Wist-Why White? Why only now do this.

White-Needed a couple guys dead first. The guys I recruited before. Ya wonder why they were so high up? And why would I just now choose some nobody drug-runner. It's not like I could have higher-ups in my boss's own criminal empire assasinated. I'd be in high-water, wouldn't I.

Wist-Clock, Presto-

Clock-Extra cash for us.

Preston-Yessh.

Wist-I see. Well at least now I know why. Why you'll pay,

White-What the hell are you talki-

Wist turned a dial on his belt, His powers were no longer reduced. Of course there was a reason he'd worn that belt to reduce him in the first place. But it didn't matter now.

Wist-You three took my life's work. My greatest achievement from me so...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baker looked up at White, Clock, Preston, and Wist. Almost as though to beg for mercy, For them to turn the machine off. It wasn't as painful as before but still.

Baker-What...what the hell?

Baker saw a gun in White's hands crushed by...nothing it was as though someone had used...magnetism.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wist sent White's crushed gun flying through Clock's skull. He turned and sent a lever right through Preston's glass dome. Then he grabbed White by the throat, ready to send all the iron in White's blood flying out his body, like bullets towards Preston. But his unreduced powers wear taking their toll, Rivers of blood flowed through each of his nostrils. He coughed blood on White. He reached down to turn the dial on his belt. However, White pushed Wist away and, dazed, Wist caused his own belt to fly off his waist, unleashing his full power.

The generators exploded. White was sent flying due to the iron in his blood, vats of acid exploded. The building started to clapse in on itself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baker crawled out of the ACE CHEMICALS roof exit as an abomination. He had somehow gotten out of the ruined building, but his skin was extremely pale, black burns around his body. But Baker didn't care, Cause, as he climbed onto the roof. The ladder swung upward towards him, he had his powers.

And soon. He would have power.

- (Federation commander) Hey stupid Blacktrons do you want to end up like you fallen comrades? HQ have also sent a drone of the Hoover-Sweeper model with combustion ex-annihilate Boom-Funk hellfire missiles do you really wanna die a painful death with all of your inner organs slowly overheating, I can already hear its Quark-chargers loading up for nasty organ frying time....

- (Blacktron soldier) NO please spare us, we were just force-conscripts Kidnapped like kids, trained in the shadow of the Supreme price of Daemonic Darkness!

We want to be deprogrammed, put a Cyber-bug in our heads so we can better and become good, we might even join the Federation peace-corps!

- (commander) no worries if you succumb to us, we will make sure to put a dozen cyber-bugs in your brains to reprogram your mushy bio-cortex, actually the first five years you will only be able to be tube fed and the medi-bots will wipe your bottoms when the have time for it, that is...

- (blacktron) Oh! No please kill us, let the drone slowly brun us to death! I don´t wanna become a Veggie-cucumber... Drone make a stew of our intestines boil us now!

- (Commander): Link-me-to-drone-fast-fast! Color code: B6 run stew-prg. Spare-non-overkill-overkill. color code: R3...

Ok, Blacktron, your wish is my command! Bye Bye!!!

Learned a valuable lesson when programming a GPS, if you ask for the city center, by golly, you will get the city center! We got off the ferry in Stromness and had programmed the GPS for city center. Didn't have time to reprogram it for the campground so off we go to the city center. The road in the photo must have been only 10 feet wide in spots. We were driving a motor home that was almost 8 feet wide. When we drove down this road, there were hundreds of people walking about and other cars both parked and driving towards us. My wife likes to tell of the lady who watched us go by with her mouth wide open and her eyes bulging out following us as we drove by. Fortunately, we found a local walking down the street and she told us where to turn to get out of there......sigh. We laugh about it now, but sure was stressed at the time!

As seen on 5th Street, San Francisco.

This Electric Monk is on a mission to manually reprogram native inhabitants of the Uncanny Valley.

I've had this monk minifigure sitting around for awhile, inspired by a certain character in "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency." I just never really had a good context to photograph it in.

Originally utilized by the Founders as tour guides in the city of Columbia, Motorized Patriots were later made part of Columbia's security system, guarding important areas of the city with immense hostility towards any opponent. With no real need to preserve themselves, they are formidable combatants, wielding heavy weaponry and armor.

Deeper into Columbia's collapse and civil war, the Vox Populi managed to reprogram many of the Patriots, turning them on their original masters. Rather humorously, the Vox dressed them in the likeness of Abraham Lincoln, despised by the founders for his beliefs in equality.

Tell me what you think!

We build the most advanced Kid Containment Units for placing your child in timeout. Fully enclosed, soundproof with a 2-way mirror, you can watch your child but they only see a mirror of themselves. You let them out when their timeout is over--or not! Advanced features include a water dispenser, speaker system, and LCD reader so your child can see a count down to their release.

Enjoy us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kidcontainmentunit

Other features:

- Audio controls (listen to them, they can't hear you) or fully mute their ridiculous crying!

- Temperature control with optional AC mount!

- Fully programmable timeout length and auto-open!

- High-performance interior plastic is indestructible and completely washable!

- Speaker system - play calming music or audiobooks to reprogram their subtle minds!

- Fully portable and includes attachable roller mounts and push bar - roll them around while shopping!

- Deluxe version includes a food slot for longer timeout sessions!

- Easy water hose hook up for easy cleaning!

- Great for noisy pets too!

- Rain and snow proof - keep them out in the backyard if desired

- Comes in 3 colors: Punish Me Purple, Government Control Green, and Bad Boy Blue

- Advanced Version includes remote video viewing and controls through your mobile phone, tablet, or over the web (Watch and control little Johnny from Hawaii!)

Digital

Please, make me your number one - for REPROGRAM NO 8.

OptiMace - Damian (Deformer Remix) Vs Cless

Project by: Adam Oostenbrink a.k.a Mister Adam

Check this! FREE

fremdtunes.com/2013/11/15/reprogram-8-deformer-optimace-c...

Toa of Sapphire

New lost Toa Hagah

Name: Kyrehx

Element: Crystal (Earth)

Mask: Mahō/Mahou

(Mahou Sentai Magiranger)

Powers: grants creative and different effects to his weapon and crystal projectiles

Abilities: Crystals grow on the lances blades for extra damage, deep penetration and explode after a short time and can be launched at rapid speed directed at an opponent, these crystals are far stronger & more durable then naturally grown crystals and even ice. To limit himself from being over powered, he choices three unique skills and abilities out of the many possibilities to better manage his powers.

this means he may know many ways to defend himself & fight back with his Crystal element & weapon, but picks three of his favorite offensives and defensive's, even traps, healing and anything that could become useful later. Kyrehx also has a one percent chance of creating a Toa Stone met, a higher chance for one to spawn is when requirements are met, however, the Makuta are aware and so are the Piraka, keeping an eye out for them and standing by in the shadows, waiting to steal it for themselves.

Toa Kyrehx comes from another universe similar to the canon/main time line, his home was also like Metru-Nui and part island Mata Nui, it too was conquered by the Makuta, but it was Miserix who was ruling with a proto-iron claw fist, he was far more successful than Terridax, who in this universe, Miserix's and Terridax's roles are reversed, Miserix as the main villain, while Terridax is completely left out, Miserix is above even the shadowed one as well, leading an army of Kanohi Dragons, even with far more aggressive, stronger and horrifying Rahi. lower ranked Makuta & Piraka raided villages and work sites, searching for Toa Stones and matoran with Potential, slaying all the Toa and capture every last matoran to later reprogram to serve Miserex, it would be later be reported of a Toa who can make Toa Stones, Miserix would make sure to take the advantage of this stone for himself to create his own Shadow Toa, ordering some lower rank Makuta & Piraka to keep watch for this mysterious Toa, following a lead to where Toa Kyrehx last was, with very few survivors left, he would have no choice to leave to another world, gather more toa and come back, moments before Kyrehx could depart, the piraka attack, the explosion blasted Kyrehx into a portal created by the Kanohi Olmak as it was warming up, Kyrehx flew through Time & Space, taking a similar Journey as Takanuva, even passing by him in a hurry as they both had a important mission to do, briefly stopping in Karda-Nui and even the Canon Timeline, but the Makuta had already awakened in the largest Robot body, would Kyrehx find more warriors and take back his home?

En exclusiva, los avances científicos que cambiarán la vida cotidiana.

Foto: Propia (cualquier copia o reproducción requiere del previo permiso y/o consulta al autor).

Si querés la foto, primero consultame por correo a nicofoxfiles@hotmail.com

Texto: Por Gustavo Sierra

Los médicos, los educadores, las amas de casa y hasta los carpinteros van a evolucionar en mentores, en maestros de unas máquinas que finalmente estarán entre nosotros para hacer las tareas básicas y las muy específicas. Un robot hará un banco de madera en pocos segundos y con la finura de un ebanista. Una máquina leerá nuestro aliento y nos diagnosticará, después de revisar nuestro ADN, porqué nos está doliendo el hígado. Las medicinas las tomaremos con un chip que irá rezumando la droga necesaria en el momento preciso para lograr sobre nuestro organismo el efecto exactamente deseado. Nos interconectaremos con nuestras computadoras de manera tal que pasaremos a ser parte misma de su memoria. Cuando salgamos a correr, nuestras zapatillas nos marcarán el ritmo justo para nuestro cuerpo: el chip adosado a la camiseta nos dirá si mañana nos conviene o no salir nuevamente a realizar ejercicios. Y tendremos tiempo para todo eso. Todas nuestras máquinas tendrán varias fuentes de energía alternativa. Y cada uno de nosotros generará alguna de esas energías en nuestras propias casas o edificios, que a su vez se conectarán a la red general bajando costos y limpiando el planeta. Quienes están pensando todo esto creen que el avance tecnológico, además, acortará sensiblemente la brecha entre ricos y pobres.

Este mundo será una realidad en 25 años, y es posible visitarlo hoy. Tomando la línea roja del subte de Boston, se pueden hacer las veinte o treinta cuadras que hay entre las estaciones Kendall y Harvard Square, y encontrarse con la mayor concentración de premios Nobel del mundo: algunos de los biólogos, filósofos, ingenieros, politólogos, antropólogos y médicos más renombrados del planeta. Allí, entre las universidades del MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) y Harvard, se está pensando y trabajando en todos esos proyectos que nos van a modificar la vida dentro de un cuarto de siglo. Ahí se encuentra la frontera del futuro, y se puede vislumbrar con mayor claridad cómo cambiarán para siempre nuestras vidas en apenas unos años.

Cruzando la calle desde la librería del MIT, donde se exhibe la selección más fascinante de ensayos que se pueda encontrar, se puede entrar al edificio del Centro de Ingeniería Química. Su director es el profesor Robert Langer, más conocido por aquí como "el aún no premio Nobel". No importa, tiene todos los otros premios. Cerca de 70, incluido el último el Príncipe de Asturias en Ciencia y Técnica. Publicó 37 libros y tiene 400 patentes de invenciones y otras 200 en estado de aprobación. A los 43 años, Langer fue el científico más joven en ingresar a las tres grandes academias científicas de Estados Unidos. Hoy, a los 60, se presenta con una energía fenomenal y su celular Blackberry en la mano, que revisa constantemente en busca de nuevos mensajes.

"Estamos trabajando en tres direcciones. La primera es la de crear nuevos tejidos y órganos. Nuestro objetivo es algún día poder fabricar nuevos páncreas, hígados o médulas para personas que están paralizadas. Y la forma en que tratamos de hacerlo es combinando células y plástico. La idea es que si podemos crear los plásticos correctos podamos combinarlos con células -que podrían ser células madre o las propias células del paciente-, y proveer las señales o los signos para decirles a esas células cómo fabricar tejido. Y ese nuevo tejido podría ser literalmente de cualquier cosa. Ya hemos hecho experimentos exitosos en animales, y algunos se probaron en humanos. Otra área es la que llamamos sistemas de liberación de fármacos. El primer paso es la creación de pequeños microchips que ponemos en el cuerpo para que "sientan" qué está pasando y liberen drogas en respuesta a esas señales. La siguiente idea en la que estamos trabajando es intentar liberar ADN para ver si podemos activar o desactivar genes que podrían ser útiles para evitar o combatir enfermedades. O si hay maneras de analizar la "cadena de silencio" en la que estos genes actúan.

-Esto quiere decir que está cerca del hombre biónico.

-No se si del hombre biónico, pero ciertamente un hombre más sano. Si una persona padece enfermedades que lo debilitan, podamos ayudarla.

-¿Podrá reemplazar el órgano afectado como la pieza de un lavarropas?

-Somos más complejos que un lavarropas, pero es cierto que en unos 20 o 25 años podremos reemplazar órganos sin mayores problemas.

En el laboratorio de Langer trabajan 125 investigadores. Y tienen más de 4.000 aspirantes para ocupar las 10 plazas que se renuevan anualmente. Trabajar con él trae un prestigio instantáneo. Cuando el maestro deja por unos segundos el Blackberry y avanza entre pipetas, congeladores y microscopios, nos encontramos con jóvenes científicos alemanes, italianos, brasileños y muchos, muchos asiáticos. Langer comenzó su carrera de la misma manera que sus pupilos, pero le aportó un plus de cierta audacia. En 1974 se graduó como ingeniero químico aquí mismo, en el MIT. Tenía más de 20 ofertas de trabajo en la industria petrolera, pero hizo algo muy extraño para esa época: se fue a completar un doctorado con el profesor Judah Folkman del Hospital de Niños de Boston, que era uno de los pioneros en estudios del cáncer. Terminó convirtiéndose en el referente de la ingeniería biomédica. Comenzó a trabajar con polímeros y desarrolló varias técnicas para dirigir las drogas que se usan en quimioterapia directamente hasta la zona afectada por el cáncer. Folkman, su mentor, lo caracterizó como "un mago a la carta, siempre sabe que conejo sacar de la galera".

-Soy optimista en cuanto al futuro. Si analizamos los descubrimientos científicos en los últimos 30 o 40 años, han sido fantásticos. Hace cien años no había aparatos de TV, no había aviones, no había autos. Ciertamente no había naves espaciales. Ahora, usted ve la tecnología informática al alcance de todos; la gente vive dos veces más en promedio que hace años, al menos en esta parte del mundo. Yo creo que a la Humanidad le ha ido increíblemente bien y relativamente en un lapso breve de su historia.

-¿La crisis financiera que estamos viviendo puede detener la investigación?

-No es la primera vez que el sistema financiero tiene problemas. Y estoy seguro de que no será la última. Pero la ciencia continúa su camino en forma independiente. Avanzó antes y seguirá avanzando. Puede ser más difícil si no se consigue financiación en algunos casos -siempre es un tema-, pero supongo que los políticos y economistas harán lo que tienen que hacer y los científicos haremos lo nuestro.

Robert Langer es especialmente optimista sobre la nueva etapa política que se abre en su país. Conoció al presidente electo Barack Obama hace tres años, cuando la Northwestern University les entregó a los dos el doctorado honoris causa. "Desde entonces hemos estado conectados casi permanentemente por correo electrónico", cuenta. En su libro "La Audacia de la esperanza", Obama le dedica varias páginas a Langer, y habla de las profundas charlas que mantienen "para enderezar el rumbo de la investigación científica y académica en Estados Unidos".

-Déme un ejemplo de la aplicación de sus investigaciones en favor de los desposeídos.

-Los aerosoles. Junto a David Edward modificamos el uso de aerosoles que originalmente fueron diseñados para liberar distintos fármacos y ahora se utilizan para liberar vacunas, por ejemplo, contra la tuberculosis. Por ejemplo sé que la fundación de Bill Gates los está utilizando con gran éxito en África.

Gracias a la línea roja de subte, la estación Kendall es el puerto de conexión del MIT con Harvard. Son dos estaciones que se cubren en apenas 5 minutos. Allí trabaja el doctor Federico Capasso, un italiano que revolucionó la forma en que podemos conducir la luz creando un láser de cascada quántica, o un DVD de cuatro terabytes capaz de almacenar hasta 500 películas. A fines de los años setenta comenzó a trabajar en los laboratorios Bell, donde desarrolló diferentes conductores que hoy permiten ver la televisión por cable de alta definición o hacer llamadas telefónicas en las zonas más remotas del planeta. En los noventa se concentró en la nanotecnología, el control y manipulación de la materia a una escala menor que un micrómetro, es decir a nivel de átomos y moléculas.

Capasso tiene el aspecto del típico profesor chiflado y la impronta latina en sus venas. Termina de dar instrucciones a su asistente chino, manda unos mails, pone una foto de un micrón de un haz de luz en la pantalla de una de sus cuatro computadoras y pide que no se grabe nada hasta no definir exactamente los términos de nuestra charla.

-"Entre usted y yo, antes de empezar con esto. Hay un problema con el área general de la nanotecnología y la nanociencia. Tiene demasiada propaganda. Es muy emocionante, pero se le hace una propaganda desproporcionada cuando a la gente se le dice que esto va a tener un impacto en los próximos años. Olvídese de eso. La historia muestra que la tecnología tarda años en hacer impacto en el mundo real".

-Pero todo lo que hizo en los últimos 25 años tiene ya alguna aplicación práctica.

-Si, están los rayos láser que se trabajan a nivel industrial y el de cascada cuántica que pronto podría usarse, por ejemplo, para detectar enfermedades a través del aliento. Pero no se deje engañar con eso de que podremos resolver todo en los próximos 25 años.

-Todo no, pero ¿qué podríamos resolver?

-Podríamos prevenir muchas enfermedades. La medicina todavía tiene problemas con los diagnósticos. El tipo de láser que desarrollamos puede diseñar la longitud de onda usando la nanotecnología para emitir el rango en que la mayoría de las moléculas absorben la luz, que es un rango invisible. La idea es que si se pueden crear esas longitudes, un paciente vaya al consultorio del médico, inspire, exhale, y de esa manera salgan algunos ácidos. Amonio, pequeños rastros. El láser, que rebotaría para adelante y para atrás durante la respiración, podría absorber determinadas longitudes de onda, y las huellas de esa absorción podrían permitirle al médico saber de una manera no intrusiva cuál es el diagnóstico del paciente. Esta técnica también podría resolver el problema de la distancia. El aparato podría estar en una aldea en Bostwana y el médico en Buenos Aires, viendo todo por su computadora y listo para ordenar el tratamiento adecuado. Todo esto ya está muy cerca de ser una realidad.

El aquí famoso Capasso Group, que desarrolla todos estos avances, está integrado por apenas 20 estudiantes de doctorado, tres o cuatro profesores y el maestro en la dirección. Sus oficinas se concentran en una callecita de cuentos dentro del campus de Harvard. Pero las comprobaciones prácticas las realizan en el edificio de al lado, donde están algunos de los laboratorios de física más avanzados del mundo. El resto del secreto está en la atmósfera que rodea a esta zona de Cambridge, ahí, frente a Boston, apenas cruzando el río Charles. Aquí es donde los independentistas lanzaron en el siglo XVIII un cargamento de té al agua en protesta por los impuestos de los británicos, en la acción que lanzó la revolución de la independencia. Aquel espíritu rebelde, junto al deseo de la superación permanente, hacen posible este desarrollo científico.

"Un rasgo clave del espíritu de Estados Unidos es que aquí la gente tiene más libertad para hacer. Esta es una sociedad más dinámica, y además tenemos montones de recursos para trabajar, reflexiona Capasso. "Pero cuidado:yo no podría hacer el trabajo que estoy desarrollando si Harvard no tuviera Stanton, el edificio de aquí al lado donde funciona el Centro de Sistemas de Nanoescala, CNS. Sin eso, olvídelo. Hace falta el recurso. Pero también es necesaria la atmósfera. Aquí podemos atraer a algunos de los mejores estudiantes del mundo. En Estados Unidos la ciencia todavía es impulsada por los jóvenes. En Europa es un poco distinto, aún sigue siendo jerárquica. El poderoso profesor superior que está arriba todavía tiene demasiada influencia. Aquí, si usted es un joven talentoso no tiene que remitirse a ningún profesor; es profesor adjunto, tiene seis años para probarse. Todo eso ayuda a los mejores. No hay que rendirle honores a un mayor; el sistema empuja más de abajo hacia arriba, alienta mucho más a la gente más creativa e innovadora.

Algo de lo que habla Capasso se puede observar en el laboratorio que se levanta frente al suyo. Un grupo de científicos muy jóvenes trabaja allí en microbiología. Son diez entre profesores y alumnos, pero no tienen jerarquías. Corren una carrera contra el equipo de Craig Venter, el descubridor del mapa del genoma humano. Están investigando la forma de llegar a un "genoma sintético", por el que se podría transformar grasa o aceite de palma en combustible de bajo costo o reprogramar células para que produzcan las drogas que el cuerpo necesite.

Afuera del laboratorio, en los soleados jardines del campus, un pequeño revuelo de estudiantes y profesores que caminan de una punta a la otra entre estos magníficos edificios victorianos transmite desde lejos la sensación de que algo acaba de suceder. Y así es: hace apenas minutos se anunció el Premio Nobel de Química. Los ganadores son los estadounidenses Martin Chalfie y Roger Y. Tsien, y el japonés Osamu Shimomura, por el descubrimiento y desarrollo de la proteína verde fluorescente, que llamaron GFP. A través de esa proteína, los científicos lograron observar procesos que antes de su descubrimiento eran invisibles, como el desarrollo de las células nerviosas en el cerebro o la propagación de las células cancerígenas. Chalfie vive aquí cerca, en Cambridge, y se doctoró en Harvard. Muchos lo conocen y admiran por su trabajo.

"La semana pasada escuché a Chalfie en una charla que ofreció acá, y dijo que en 20 años vamos a conocer el cerebro como hoy conocemos el corazón. Y si se puede trasplantar el corazón es probable que en unos 25 o 30 años podamos trasplantar cerebros. ¡Yo quiero que me trasplanten el de Chalfie!", dice riéndose Ziang Chang, un estudiante chino, antes de salir corriendo al laboratorio donde trabaja en el diseño de una mano artificial.

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I'm a big fan of Doctor Who, so I thought I'd start a series of vector drawings of the eleven (!) different Doctors (so far).

Christopher Eccleston played the Ninth Doctor in 2005.

Sixteen years after the show was canceled, the BBC brought back a new and improved Doctor Who series in 2005. The new series has been going strong now for five seasons and is a huge hit in England, consistently receiving high ratings and generating tons of merchandise.

The SyFy Channel aired the first four seasons here in the States, but opted not to carry it after that. I guess they needed the precious air time for wrestling and shows about men pretending to see ghosts.

The new series finally has a budget that allows them to depict decent looking aliens and other planets. Don’t get me wrong, the old series had its charm, what with its cardboard sets and paper mache monsters, but it’s nice to see the show get the budget it deserves.

When the BBC first announced the show was coming back, fans wondered if the Doctor would be the same one from the old series, or if the show would be getting a reboot. After all, it would be tough to attract a new audience to a show with a 40+ year history, what with all that continuity and baggage.

In the end the producers decided not to go the reboot route, and #9 is the same Doctor we’ve known and loved for years.

The way they brought the series back was nothing short of genius, in my opinion. Since we last saw the Doctor in the TV movie in 1996, his home planet of Gallifrey has been destroyed under mysterious circumstances (which have since been partially explained) and the Doctor is now the Last Of The Time Lords, wandering time and space alone.

This very cleverly leveled the playing field for everyone. Fans who knew the continuity inside and out were as much in the dark about the Doctor's situation as new viewers. It was the perfect way to start the show up again.

Unlike the old series, which would stretch out a story over 4 or 6 half hour episodes, the new series features one story per hour long episode (with the occasional two parter).

I really liked Eccleston’s performance as the Doctor. He was moody, melancholy and guilt ridden (no doubt due to losing his home planet) and was obviously in need of someone like his new companion Rose Tyler to give his life meaning again. Too bad he only stuck around for one season (or “series” to the Brits).

This Doctor wasn't afraid to use force, often utilizing weapons of the era in which he found himself.

Unlike any previous incarnations, Doctor #9 spoke with a distinct Northern English accent. Rose Tyler asked the Doctor, "If you're an alien, why do you sound like you're from the North?" He replied, "Lots of planets have a North."

The Ninth Doctor’s costume was the simplest and most modern to date. In the past the various Doctors have all worn out-of-time faux Victorian era clothing; waistcoats, opera capes and scarves. This Doctor wore a plain t-shirt, pants and a leather jacket. For the first time he was actually wearing clothing that more or less fit the times. His costume remained unchanged during his series, with the exception of an occasional change of t-shirt color. Best of all, there were no question marks to be seen on his clothing (something that bothered me greatly about past Doctors)!

Much like the Eighth Doctor, the Ninth Doctor's TARDIS interior was a large steampunk kind of cavern, much more impressive than the original series' dinky interior. The Doctor mentioned more than once that the TARDIS was not just a machine but alive, which was backed up by the incessant breathing sound in the background of the control room.

The Doctor's sonic screwdriver finally made its triumphant return in the new series, something we hadn't seen much since the Fifth Doctor's era.

The sonic screwdriver was originally just that-- a high tech tool that supposedly used sound to loosen screws and open locked doors. As time went on, the Doctor began relying more and more on it until the producers of the original series thought it was being used as a crutch, so they began to downplay it sometime during Doctor #5's era.

The sonic returned with a vengeance in the Ninth Doctor's adventures. It's now more versatile than ever, seemingly gaining new abilities every episode. No longer does it merely open locks, now it can be used to gain access to computers, reprogram cell phones so they can call into the past, even remotely control the TARDIS. At times it seems more like magic than technology.

The Ninth Doctor was the first to use "psychic paper," a substance that would display whatever a subject thought he should see on it. If a guard would ask him for his pass, he'd show him the blank sheet of psychic paper, and the guard would see the appropriate credentials displayed on it, and allow the Doctor to pass. That would come in handy here in the real world.

Many important characters debuted in the Ninth Doctor's series, including his new companion Rose Tyler, her ex-boyfriend Mickey Smith, and former Time Agent and now immortal Captain Jack Harkness (who would go on to star in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood).

Several old foes returned to plague the Ninth Doctor, including the Autons (which were animated store mannequins) and his most famous nemesis, the Daleks.

The Ninth Doctor began the new series' tradition of utilizing the city of Cardiff, Wales, as a sort of home base. Many episodes of the new series have taken place in or around there. Coincidentally, the series is filmed at one of the BBC's studios in Cardiff. Imagine that!

Doctor #9 is a vector drawing, drawn all in InDesign. This was probably one of the easiest likenesses I've done so far. I sketched him from memory, and then when I looked up reference photos, I decided trying to match the reality would just muddy things up. The Ninth Doctor usually looked pretty mopey, but I opted for one of his rare smiles here instead.

It was tough trying to color his outfit. How do you color a jacket and pants that are both black without it looking like a solid blob? So I ended up having to cheat a bit and add some grays. Don't judge me! ;^)

Please forgive the ugly watermark on the illustration. I swore I would never add one to my art, because I know that 99.99% of my readers would never even think of stealing it. But earlier this year I had a run-in with an art thief who was not only stealing my work, but selling it as her own! Hence the watermarks. This is why we can't have nice things.

Want to see more? Check out my new blog! All the cool kids are doing it!

I'm also on Twitter for some reason.

This won’t accept the new £1 coins, so Jolly Roger will reprogram it.

Having a sleep disorder kept me from wanting to travel to places that would put me into a critical state of jet lag. I have enough sleep deprivation on a normal day so the possibility of creating a huge rift in my circadian rhythm always terrified me. However, wanting to see the world is a pretty powerful draw. I had a few opportunities for study in London and in Florence but the stars did not align in those situations. My husband has figured out how to show me the world with the least impact on my sleep as possible. The jetlag is a drag, no doubt, but if we plan to travel more than a few hours out of our time zone we just plan to stay long enough to deal with the jetlag which for me is more than just a few days. The one time change in the fall and spring both kill me. So imagine an 8+ hour jetlag. When we do travel I am torn between wanting to just sleep even though it is the prime hour of the day for seeing the world and actually seeing the world. It is painful, migraines persist and sleep walking and talking are not out of the ordinary when I am overly exhausted in a jetlag circumstance but every trip we have taken has been better than the last and I am so thankful for everything we have seen and done together and the people we have celebrated these moments with. It is not surprising for me to travel often in my sleep. Something impossible to do in my waking life. Seeing all these amazing places again and seeing some of my favorite people, reliving hilarious and beautiful moments is the magical aspect of my dream life that make me grateful for this unexpected outcome of my sleep disorder.

Tour – I woke, we were on a tour bus in London. We were on the open top deck and the sky was an amazing design of dark blue with white fluffy clouds lined up and hanging just out of reach like they seem to do over London. I can tell it is cold by what we are wearing but I am not cold. It begins to rain but we don’t care because we are so happy to be in this place seeing the beauty of one of my favorite places in the world. We do not get wet but the reflections of the world show off the lovely exaggeration of reflections of a city that only rain can create with the stoplights, and neon signs and plate glass windows everywhere. This dream is a lovely recurring dream of being in a lovely place with the lovely man I love, Truly, Madly, Deeply. Taking a bus to nowhere in particular and being content, feeling safe against the elements is how I feel while I am awake and I am not surprised to have my daily life and feeling validated through my dreamlife.

Venezia – it may be silly to say in print that I love Venice. I would imagine most people who bother to travel to such places, love Venice. It is a magical place and it would be hard to not love, even though I am sure there are exceptions. When we arrived it was late afternoon and the tide had risen above the banks of the canal and had flooded some portions of Saint Mark’s Square. We could still move about avoiding the water by walking on wooden platforms designed for these common tidal events. The flooding just added to the adventure. Our hotel was on the Grand Canal and was a gorgeous hotel decorated with deep reds and rich orange and gold colors. Our room was decorated with a dark maroon damask fabric wall covering and was just a lovely space on earth. I felt so lucky to be there. In this dream I woke (at home in Southern California) and looked at the ceiling. It was not the ceiling of my bedroom but some other. The room was dark. We headed out the door together and the Grand Canal was right outside our door. There were blue Murano glass light fixtures distorting the view of the waves as moved closely to look through them. I knew where we were as soon as we stepped outside of our hotel and that strange feeling of not knowing where we were disappeared. It is interesting that I so frequently dream of travel and have that feeling of not knowing where we are from time to time that to have it within a dream is so interesting. But I also find it interesting that I am almost never alone in my dreams, my husband is right there with me. That may be the strongest symbol of any within my dreams. His constant presence in my life as we see beautiful places and things together and easily walk through challenges.

Stoplights – Some of my favorite things to photograph are reflections of the lights of the city on a rainy night. And who doesn’t love a party? In this dream people were mingling about as if attending a party in a public space at night. There were familiar people at this party as if they were family members as well as friends who had gathered for an art gallery opening. The space was a corridor that had open arches on the left side to something like a plaza. It was raining out. Across the plaza there were colorful neon signs of businesses and traffic signals were all along the plaza as if it were also a street. The reflections of the lights were blurred on the wet ground. Everyone who knows me well, family and friends know of my dream project and have all been supportive of everything I am trying to accomplish through the completely reprogramming of my dreamscape. A family member sent me a message the morning after this dream indicating that she had seen me in a dream the night before but couldn’t remember what we were doing. I am sure we were at that party.

Water Spilled – there is a fountain in a building in San Francisco where the water falls through a skylight almost like a showerhead that rained down several stories of an open atrium to a shallow pool below. Tables of a nearby restaurant are situated all around this pool. It is an amazing and beautiful water feature to see and it was very unexpected to find on our way to restaurant. I love fountains. I suppose most people do. We have a small fountain in our yard right outside the window where we spend most of our time. In this dream I heard the water falling and looked up to see this beautiful skylight fountain and shower of water falling into the pool below. The ripples in the water reflected an image of another building the Clock Tower from the Embarcadero on the surface. This was clearly an impossible image but it was there just the same and it was a beautiful reflection as well. Part of me was attempting to rationalize the impossibility of this reflection and realized it was a dream that was simply presenting some of my favorite things to see. I suppose this dream was telling me that beauty can be found in unexpected places. We should not worry about analyzing the possibilities of beauty that may appear impossible but just enjoy it when we can.

The River – I love Chicago. We had an amazing trip a few years ago. While we were there a commercial was being filmed on Whacker Avenue and the bridge had been closed in front of the Tribune where an installation of the Marilyn Monroe statue was being exhibited. There were crowds to see the statue and with the bridge closed the size of the crowd grew. It was a momentary delay in our trip around the city. In my dream we were stopped at a red and white striped gate on the same bridge. It was the sort of gate that lowers to control traffic much like those at railroad crossings. We stood there for only enough time for me to look down the river to my right and across at the people on the other side. The gates lifted and the lights turned green. The bridge was open for us to move across. The crowd disappeared immediately leaving the city wide open for us to enjoy everything. The symbolism of being delayed only momentarily with a clear view of what was ahead of us is interesting validation of knowing the direction we are heading.

Lovers Locks – I dreamed of being in a castle, of walking around and feeling quite at home. I grew up in a lovely Spanish Mission Revival style home in Southern California that somewhat resembles a castle with thick walls and an entry rotunda. I am pretty sure this is where we (my husband and I) were-but not surprisingly a modified dream version. There was a grand staircase that curved down from the main entry of the entrance rotunda. The left side of the staircase was wide and open, with no railing like ancient European castles. My husband walked on that side and held my left hand and I put my right hand on the wall as we descended the steep staircase together. It was dusk with only a little natural light was coming in through a window above the staircase on our right. My hand made a trail of light along the wall as my energy connected and conducted through the structure. As we descended the steep staircase a bridge and a waterway was on our left. We crossed the narrow foot bridge and stopped in the middle to admire the locks that had been attached to the bridge by lovers who had traveled this same way. I smiled and sighed at the locks and my darling husband and the symbolism of this bridge and place. A statue of a winged lion and his keeper watched over us. The lion sighed at us. The symbolism of this dream is lovely. Being someplace familiar with my husband. Some place beautiful and seeing the representation of love with these locks and being validated by a winged lion statue is all such a strong representation of solidarity of love through potential risk.

On the Road – We took a short road trip from Monaco across Italy to Venice within the past year. I was very impressed with the engineering of the Italian highways. They are smooth and for the most part a straight shot from one end of the country to the other as the highway tunnels through mountains and crosses valleys with bridges. This type of engineering makes for very fast travel by car but you do, however have to share the road with some very sketchy drivers. I have already mentioned that it is a good suggestion to pay a little extra for the rental car insurance and I will leave it at that. In this dream I relived this night road trip across the Italian countryside. I watched cars pass us and we passed cars but at a speed more like time travel. The trails made by the running lights of the cars along the way behaved like a long exposure image, an effect that I always love to capture and did on this particular road trip. I believe the symbolism of this dream presents my ongoing journey with this project, how enjoyable and beautiful it is as represented by the beautiful lights, my attraction to these light patterns and the feeling of happiness that surrounded the real road trip. I am eternally grateful to the people who made this trip possible (my darling husband and family and friends who drove and celebrated a few days of life with us).

My attempt to reprogram my dream life to only allow beautiful dreams to present themselves to me is as you can read going well. I have not had one recurrence of any nightmare since beginning this project. After having recurring nightmares for decades upon decades this is a very big change in my life. These dreams may seem very simple and uncomplicated to the reader, but for me these are magical and such a welcome change to what had been a terrifying and volatile journey every night that kept me from wanting to go to sleep. My words and the collage images I create are such simplified representations of what my dreams really look and feel like, but now I can’t wait to see where I am headed in my dreams.

At the end of this Year of Dreaming Dangerously: Awakening the Phoenix I will burn a printed copy of each dream collage in symbolic ceremony transforming and solidifying my new dreamscape programming that will bar nightmares from ever entering my dreamscape again.

This is what the unit looks like if you bought it from OMC back in the day. Now back then, we didn't have the internet, you have to order the rides by phone. You would have to call any of the ride companies like Jolly Roger, RG Mitchell or OMC Electronics. I think you would tell them what ride you would want, and possibly your credit card information (if those existed during the time) that's all I know. Once you got it directly from OMC, I don't know how they packaged it but what you would see is a super shiny Jupiter (as the firemen calls it from the show) with the firemen having eyes and badges. The top light, front back, button and coin reject button lights would also work out of box too. the back would also have an OMC sign which explains the location of where they're at, the phone number and the model of the ride. It would also come with either PMP/FMS controller board or a newly developed OMC's ROSie board. 2/3/4 from the factory. Nowadays, it is hard to find an still original OMC Fireman Sam since most of them are restored by Northern Leisure or other companies. They would take the OMC sign off and possibly reprogram the ROSie timer to make it say Northern Leisure and their phone number, or sometimes, throw in the V5 board. They would also throw in the Northern Leisure sign at the bottom of the base rather than on the vehicle. KidzStuff AU also distributed a few of them which I assume has a V4 board with rare and never recorded before KidzStuff AU's announcements.

Hace casi un año dijeron que estaría listo en 90 días

Foto: Propia (cualquier copia o reproducción requiere del previo permiso y/o consulta al autor).

Si querés la foto, primero consultame a arte_subterraneo@live.com.ar

Texto: Por Antonio Rossi.

El Gobierno nacional quiere arrancar el 2010 con un renovado impulso al Sistema Unico de Boleto Electrónico (SUBE), lanzado hace casi un año por Cristina Kirchner con la promesa de que estaría activo en 90 días y que funciona parcialmente desde mediados de junio.

Consciente de que la implementación definitiva de la nueva modalidad de pago para los colectivos, trenes y subtes tiene que estar lista para el segundo semestre del año; el secretario de Transporte, Juan Pablo Schiavi prevé concretar antes del 15 de enero dos avances significativos.

Por un lado, convocará a las cámaras de autotransportistas de pasajeros y a los concesionarios ferroviarios para conformar la "Asociación Civil del Transporte" (Acitra). Esta entidad específica nació del acuerdo firmado a mediados de diciembre, por el cual los dueños de las líneas de ómnibus y los operadores privados de los trenes accederán a la "coadmininstración y control" de recursos que movilizará el SUBE.

Y por otro lado, procederá a definir con los técnicos oficiales y los empresarios "la estrategia de instalación de las nuevas máquinas validadoras" que empezarán a colocarse en los colectivos y en los ingresos y salidas de las estaciones de trenes y subtes.

De acuerdo con los datos obtenidos por Clarín, los funcionarios de Transporte barajan dos alternativas para iniciar el desembarco de las primeras 2.000 nuevas boletearas:

La primera opción en juego es tomar como "eje" un corredor ferroviario e instalar los equipos en todas las empresas de colectivos que tienen paradas en las estaciones de esa línea. En este caso, los ferrocarriles que más chances tienen de ser elegidos como referencia para la colocación de las máquinas son el Urquiza y el Belgrano Norte, donde ya funcionan las tarjetas Monedero y Lista! que son compatibles con el SUBE.

La otra variante en estudio consiste focalizar el cambio de las boleteras en las líneas de colectivos integradas que pertenecen a un mismo grupo empresario y que operan tanto en la Capital Federal como en el Conurbano.

La elección de una u otra variable se tratará de establecer en forma consensuada con los transportistas para que no se produzcan cuestionamientos, ni demoras en la implementación del sistema.

El proyecto del SUBE surgió hace casi un año ante las quejas de los usuarios por la falta de monedas. En febrero de 2009, la administración kirchnerista anunció la instalación de un nuevo sistema prepago de boleto electrónico para todos los medios de transporte público de la región metropolitana.

Inicialmente, el debut del SUBE se iba a concretar en 90 días. Pero, por deficiencias de gestión y demoras administrativas, lo único que se pudo poner en marcha antes de las elecciones de junio fue una mínima parte del sistema sobre la base de las tarjetas existentes en el subte, dos líneas de tren y seis líneas de colectivos.

En el segundo semestre de 2009, si bien prosiguieron las licitaciones para la compra de los equipos y la entrega de tarjetas a los usuarios, en las calles y en las vías no se vio ningún avance concreto del SUBE.

Ahora, en línea con los pasos que dará con los empresarios, Schiavi salió a reprogramar con los funcionarios del Banco Nación que pilotean las licitaciones el cronograma de entrega de los equipos y programas del SUBE.

En el caso de las máquinas validadoras, la sociedad de Metronec, Indra y Siemens que se adjudicó la primera licitación deberá entregar los primeros 2.000 equipos antes de abril y completar los 8.000 restantes antes del 31 de julio. Por el lado de las lectograbadoras que se utilizarán para recarga de las tarjetas, la primera tanda de 5.000 máquinas -que fue adjudicada a la empresa G&D- comenzará a entregarse a partir de febrero.

En lo que respecta al sistema informático cuya provisión quedó a cargo de Siemens y Metronec, las primeras pruebas están agendadas para fines de febrero.

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Para comentar aquí debes agregarme como contacto y luego cuando me conecte agregarte (si te preguntas porque hago esto consultame por privado)

To comment here you must add me as a contact

We build the most advanced Kid Containment Units for placing your child in timeout. Fully enclosed, sound proof with a 2-way mirror, you can watch your child but they only see a mirror of themselves. You let them out when their timeout is over. Advanced features include water dispenser, speaker system and LCD reader so your child can see a count down to their release.

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kidcontainmentunit

Other features:

- Audio controls (listen to them, they can't hear you) or fully mute their ridiculous crying!

- Temperature control with optional AC mount!

- Fully programmable timeout length and auto-open!

- High performance interior plastic is indestructible and completely washable!

- Speaker system - play calming music or audio books to reprogram their subtle minds!

- Fully portable and includes attachable roller mounts and push bar - roll them around while shopping!

- Deluxe version includes food slot for longer timeout sessions!

- Easy water hose hook up for easy cleaning!

- Great for noisy pets too!

- Rain and snow proof - keep them out in the backyard if desired

- Comes in 3 colors: Punish Me Purple, Government Control Green, and Bad Boy Blue

- Advanced Version includes remote video viewing and controls through your mobile phone, tablet or over the web (Watch and control little Johnny from Hawaii!) [ Broadband connection required ]

reprogram new hires

plokoonremix.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/jabbas-torture-droids/

image credit: Alecconnell

I enjoy every comment, fav, and invite.

Only polite & tasteful comments please!

(radio broadcast from 326-330)

..in the spirit of keeping no secrets from the Commonwealth, I would like to inform you of a recent attempt of espionage on the Warwick Homestead settlement, one I haven't had time to Institutionalize. it seems some individuals thought it was a good idea to capture and reprogram old Gen-2 model Synths. there was a heavy Sentry bot and an Ironman already in the area. I'm sorry to inform those that went to the trouble, your attack was not successful

The series like the The Manderlorian will feature exclusively on Disneys Netflix style streaming service called Disney+.

The story will obviously take place in the potentially 26 years of Cassians life before Rogue One perhaps showing Cassian in flashbacks as a war torn child child from age of six years old which he says in RO having lost his father and probably mother. We will also probably see him rise through the Rebel ranks to his senior spy status as a Fulcrum agent like Ahsoka Tano and Agent Kallus potentially interacting with younger versions of other well known Star Wars characters like General Cracken,Bail Organa,Admiral Raddus,Mon Mothma, Draven and potentially a young Leia.

We may also get to see a bit of Saw Gerrera again potentially the SW Rebels crew and most likely K-2SO who will probably appear in the later series when Cassian comes across him intially as an enemy who tries to kill him before he ets the upper hand of the droid and reprograms it out of pity after damaging it badly. Thats just my theory though. XD

Cassian might start off like Han after his father is killed and potentially a mother as an urchin/petty thief and growing up to become potentially a smuggler or mercenary before General Davatis Draven of Alliance inellegence recruits him.

Cassian during the Clone Wars was also a soldier, pilot and Intelligence officer who served in the Confederacy of Independent Systems so they might go with that canon plot route.

I also think Cassian operated in the Anoat sector as a spy which means we could see him interact with a young Lando played by Donald Glover as Bespin is in that system.

Pao the Rebel gorilla commando could also appear in the series.

Toa of Sapphire

New lost Toa Hagah

Name: Kyrehx

Element: Crystal (Earth)

Mask: Mahō/Mahou

(Mahou Sentai Magiranger)

Powers: grants creative and different effects to his weapon and crystal projectiles

Abilities: Crystals grow on the lances blades for extra damage, deep penetration and explode after a short time and can be launched at rapid speed directed at an opponent, these crystals are far stronger & more durable then naturally grown crystals and even ice. To limit himself from being over powered, he choices three unique skills and abilities out of the many possibilities to better manage his powers.

this means he may know many ways to defend himself & fight back with his Crystal element & weapon, but picks three of his favorite offensives and defensive's, even traps, healing and anything that could become useful later. Kyrehx also has a one percent chance of creating a Toa Stone met, a higher chance for one to spawn is when requirements are met, however, the Makuta are aware and so are the Piraka, keeping an eye out for them and standing by in the shadows, waiting to steal it for themselves.

Secondary Kanohi: Mangai Mirukama

(Miru x Kakama)

the upgraded mask of speed allows the user to launch at high speed that rivals a comets fury and acceleration, Toa Kyrehx is covered in crystal armor for extra defense and damage, impacting the target at full force. The increased speed allows the user to perform the Nova Strike, a powerful tackle that rockets at rapid speeds that breaks the sound barrier, a trail of bright light follows behind the boosted sprinter and leaves a large creator from the assault. This special ability takes some time to charge & alot of energy. it also lets the user soar while dashing at mach speed. The user can still run with great agility while the nova strike charges up again, this experimental mask also keeps the user safe in his own speed force. max speed rivals Samus's speed boost

Toa Kyrehx comes from another universe similar to the canon/main time line, his home was also like Metru-Nui and part island Mata Nui, it too was conquered by the Makuta, but it was Miserix who was ruling with a proto-iron claw fist, he was far more successful than Terridax, who in this universe, Miserix's and Terridax's roles are reversed, Miserix as the main villain, while Terridax is completely left out, Miserix is above even the shadowed one as well, leading an army of Kanohi Dragons, even with far more aggressive, stronger and horrifying Rahi. lower ranked Makuta & Piraka raided villages and work sites, searching for Toa Stones and matoran with Potential, slaying all the Toa and capture every last matoran to later reprogram to serve Miserex, it would be later be reported of a Toa who can make Toa Stones, Miserix would make sure to take the advantage of this stone for himself to create his own Shadow Toa, ordering some lower rank Makuta & Piraka to keep watch for this mysterious Toa, following a lead to where Toa Kyrehx last was, with very few survivors left, he would have no choice to leave to another world, gather more toa and come back, moments before Kyrehx could depart, the piraka attack, the explosion blasted Kyrehx into a portal created by the Kanohi Olmak as it was warming up, Kyrehx flew through Time & Space, taking a similar Journey as Takanuva, even passing by him in a hurry as they both had a important mission to do, briefly stopping in Karda-Nui and even the Canon Timeline, but the Makuta had already awakened in the largest Robot body, would Kyrehx find more warriors and take back his home?

I’m heading off to the Foresight Conference and then a pilgrimage to the Venter Institute. (This photo by Ronnie Antik is from TED earlier this year.)

Full disclosure: in all of my prior writing and blogging about Craig Venter (from TED, our life sciences conference and elsewhere), we had no economic ties to him, and working with him was just a dream. He now has a company called Synthetic Genomics, which I am very excited about, and we just became investors, and I joined the Board.

For the curious or those as equally excitable as I, here is a summary of that earlier blogging:

Craig Venter set sail around the world to shotgun sequence the millions of viruses and bacteria in every spoonful of sea water. From the first five ocean samples, this team grew the number of known genes on the planet by 10x and the number of genes involved in solar energy conversion by 100x. The ocean microorganisms have evolved over a longer period of time and have pathways that are more efficient than photosynthesis.

Another discovery: every 200 miles across the open ocean, the microbial genes are up to 85% different. The oceans are not homogenous masses. They consist of myriad uncharted regions of ecological diversity… and the world’s largest digital database.

From the collection of digital genomes, we are learning to decode and reprogram the information systems of biology. Like computer hackers, we can leverage a prior library of evolved code, assemblers and subsystems. Many of the radical applications lie outside of medicine.

At the Venter Institute, Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith are leading the Minimal Genome Project. They take the Mycoplasma genitalium from the human urogenital tract, and strip out 200 unnecessary genes, thereby creating the simplest synthetic organism that can self-replicate (at about 300 genes). They plan to layer new functionality on to this artificial genome – to make a solar cell or to generate hydrogen from water using the sun’s energy for photonic hydrolysis – by splicing cassettes of novel genes discovered in the oceans for energy conversion from sunlight.

Venter explains: “Creating a new life form is a means of understanding the genome and understanding the gene sets. We don’t have enough scientists on the planet, enough money, and enough time using traditional methods to understand the millions of genes we are uncovering. So we have to develop new approaches… to understand empirically what the different genes do in developing living systems.”

The limiting factor is our understanding of these complex systems, but our pace of learning has been compounding exponentially. We will learn more about genetics and the origins of disease in the next 10 years than we have in all of human history. And for the minimal genome microbes, the possibility of understanding the entire proteome and metabolic pathways seems tantalizingly close to achievable. These simpler organisms have a simple “one gene : one protein” mapping, and lack many of the nested loops of feedback that make the human genome so rich (and humbling… When burned on a CD, the human genome is smaller than Microsoft Office).

Much of our future context will be defined by the accelerating proliferation of information technology – as it innervates society and begins to subsume matter into code. It is a period of exponential growth in the learning/experimentation/feedback cycle where the power of biotech, infotech and nanotech compounds the advances in each formerly discrete domain.

And it should be a wonderful time for explorers like Craig Venter – sailing through the frontiers of the unknown – and for the curious, in an era that will feel like an innovation Renaissance.

Woke up, got out of bed, walked the dog, fed the dog, turned on the computer(oh, who am i kidding, the computer's always on), managed Flickr, read the NY & LA Times(online), then decided a nap is what i needed.

and that's when the dream began:

-My building was a hotel room, and at the top was a catered meal, where one of the servers was a guy i'd met at a film shoot a few weeks earlier.

-Trying to check in, i left my bags in the elevator, then had to rush down the stairs, and of course, back up the stairs, to catch them.

-Both Jason Schwartzman, Sarah Silverman and Jenny Lewis live in my building. Jason Schwartzman I'm not so impressed with, hasn't done a good movie in awhile, but i take care to ask Sarah Silverman about Jimmy Kimmel, as i'd heard he was ill. I call him Jimmy, then apologize for being so familiar.

-They are shooting a movie right next to my building, which makes parking impossible, and so i have to park far away, causing me to walk quite a ways to get back to my apartment, where, at the front steps, i find Electrocuted. She looks, well, she looks like she just woke up, crusties in the corners of the eyes, hair matted down on one side, dried drool at her lips. I know, weird. it is a dream. but i've been trying to get ahold of her for weeks, so i figure, she's here, why not finally take more pix. so i take her up to the apartment, where she's acting all weird and depressed, down in some deep hole, and i'm at a loss.

-Avolare shows up, knows just what to say to Electrocuted, she gets freshened up, and now we're all doing a photo shoot, only Avolare keeps turning her head to the side, much likeOlivia does in many of her photos. So it's up to me to reprogram her model's instincts.

Then I wake up. The moral of the story is:

be careful what you do before taking a nap. or, never have two flickr models in the same place. or, never live in a hotel or near a movie set.

A Tactical "Tomahawk" Block IV cruise missile is escorted by VX-30 Bloodhounds F-14D Tomcat BuNo 163415, BH-201, during a controlled test over the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) western test range complex in southern CA, 10 November 2002. During the second such test flight, the missile successfully completed a vertical underwater launch, flew a fully guided 780-mile course, and impacted a designated target structure as planned. The Tactical "Tomahawk", the next generation of Tomahawk cruise missile adds the capability to reprogram the missile while in-flight to strike any of 15 preprogrammed alternate targets or redirect the missile to any Global Positioning System (GPS) target coordinates. It also will be able to loiter over a target area for some hours, and with its on-board TV camera, will allow the war fighting commanders to assess battle damage of the target, and, if necessary redirect the missile to any other target. Official U.S. Navy photo.

I purchased three of his space photography books as an Xmas gift to myself in December. Here are some quotes from his TED2014 Talk:

“What’s the most dangerous thing you have ever done, and why did you do it?

I know what the most dangerous thing is that I have ever done, because NASA does the math. If you look back to the first five Shuttle launches, the odds of a catastrophic event was 1 in 9.

So it’s a really interesting day when you wake up at the Kennedy Space Center, and you are going to go to space that day, because you realize that at the end of the day you’re either going to be floating effortlessly, gloriously, in space, or you’ll be dead.

You go into the suit-up room, the same room that our childhood heroes got dressed up in, that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin got suited in to ride the Apollo rocket that would take them to the moon. And I got suited up… and then driving to the launch pad, in the distance, lit by the huge xenon lights, is your spaceship, the vehicle that is going to take you off the planet.

And then each astronaut crawls up into the space ship. And at that moment, What has been a lifetime of dreams and denial has become real.

The Shuttle is the most complicated flying machine ever built. And in the astronaut business, we have a saying: There is no problem so bad that you can’t make it worse.

[On the ISS] You are on a million pound creation going around the world at 5 miles per second… allowing us to see the world to see the world in a way that is impossible through any other means, to be able to look down at the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of the turning orb, like a self-propelled art gallery of fantastic, constantly changing beauty that is the world itself. And you see, because of the speed, a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes for half of a year.”

The last scary part was going home in the Soyuz: “You are riding a meteorite home, and it's scary to ride a meteorite.”

“You can now look back at what was an incredible experience. You have taken the dreams of that 9-year-old boy that were impossible and dauntingly scary, and put them into practice, and figured out a way to reprogram yourself, to change your primal fear, to allow you to come back with a set of experiences … that could never have been possible otherwise.”

Photo by John Werner of the MIT Media Lab Camera Culture group.

Toa of Sapphire

New lost Toa Hagah

Name: Kyrehx

Element: Crystal (Earth)

Mask: Mahō/Mahou

(Mahou Sentai Magiranger)

Powers: grants creative and different effects to his weapon and crystal projectiles

Abilities: Crystals grow on the lances blades for extra damage, deep penetration and explode after a short time and can be launched at rapid speed directed at an opponent, these crystals are far stronger & more durable then naturally grown crystals and even ice. To limit himself from being over powered, he choices three unique skills and abilities out of the many possibilities to better manage his powers.

this means he may know many ways to defend himself & fight back with his Crystal element & weapon, but picks three of his favorite offensives and defensive's, even traps, healing and anything that could become useful later. Kyrehx also has a one percent chance of creating a Toa Stone met, a higher chance for one to spawn is when requirements are met, however, the Makuta are aware and so are the Piraka, keeping an eye out for them and standing by in the shadows, waiting to steal it for themselves.

Secondary Kanohi: Mangai Mirukama

(Miru x Kakama)

the upgraded mask of speed allows the user to launch at high speed that rivals a comets fury and acceleration, Toa Kyrehx is covered in crystal armor for extra defense and damage, impacting the target at full force. The increased speed allows the user to perform the Nova Strike, a powerful tackle that rockets at rapid speeds that breaks the sound barrier, a trail of bright light follows behind the boosted sprinter and leaves a large creator from the assault. This special ability takes some time to charge & alot of energy. it also lets the user soar while dashing at mach speed. The user can still run with great agility while the nova strike charges up again, this experimental mask also keeps the user safe in his own speed force. max speed rivals Samus's speed boost

Toa Kyrehx comes from another universe similar to the canon/main time line, his home was also like Metru-Nui and part island Mata Nui, it too was conquered by the Makuta, but it was Miserix who was ruling with a proto-iron claw fist, he was far more successful than Terridax, who in this universe, Miserix's and Terridax's roles are reversed, Miserix as the main villain, while Terridax is completely left out, Miserix is above even the shadowed one as well, leading an army of Kanohi Dragons, even with far more aggressive, stronger and horrifying Rahi. lower ranked Makuta & Piraka raided villages and work sites, searching for Toa Stones and matoran with Potential, slaying all the Toa and capture every last matoran to later reprogram to serve Miserex, it would be later be reported of a Toa who can make Toa Stones, Miserix would make sure to take the advantage of this stone for himself to create his own Shadow Toa, ordering some lower rank Makuta & Piraka to keep watch for this mysterious Toa, following a lead to where Toa Kyrehx last was, with very few survivors left, he would have no choice to leave to another world, gather more toa and come back, moments before Kyrehx could depart, the piraka attack, the explosion blasted Kyrehx into a portal created by the Kanohi Olmak as it was warming up, Kyrehx flew through Time & Space, taking a similar Journey as Takanuva, even passing by him in a hurry as they both had a important mission to do, briefly stopping in Karda-Nui and even the Canon Timeline, but the Makuta had already awakened in the largest Robot body, would Kyrehx find more warriors and take back his home?

copyright Susan Ogden

I have left the season of dreary behind as of 6:30am and have landed in sunny, but slightly coolish Florida. After retrieving one piece of luggage which they said they had no room for in the overhead (they lied), and picking up the rental car, i had a fight with the GPS, which insisted i needed to “take route 95 South toward Richmond” ... which would have been great if i was in Virginia! 3X, i had to reprogram it until it FINALLY realized i had put in Florida!

Then it proceeded to take me about 30 extra minutes to get to my folks house, because it told me to exit # 240 to Kissimmee Creek Road....which is 3 blocks from their house...however, as i exited onto the ramp there was a sign that the toll was electronic and only to be used with a “SUNPASS” unit...no cash was accepted and there was a $100.00 fine for stiffing them on the toll since they take a photo of your license plate. MAJOR frustration as i tried to think straight enough whether to back up on the ramp...and go 52 freaking miles to the next exit that took cash money...no lie.....52 MILES....or just say screw it and risk the $100.00 fine.

i ended up calling the police...who gave me the number for highway partrol...who gave me the number for the Sunpass Customer Service Department...who told me to just go thru the electronic toll....at which point i burst into tears! i told him i could not afford a $100.00 fine...i just wanted to pay the damn $1.28 for the toll without having to drive another 100 miles to get to my parents house!! He then told me that as long as i had a rental car, it SHOULD be equipped with Sunpass and the worst that would happen is that i would get a bill for $1.28 on my charge! When he finally convinced me i was not going to get in trouble and get fined, i made it to my parents house in less than 10 minutes! Florida exits are SO weird and i made sure i let him know that! Who in their right minds have exits 50+ miles apart that accept only Sunpass and no cash!!!?????

OK....rant over....ready to relax and have a quiet evening with my folks....who look great and seem to be doing well....please God do not let that last comment jinx anything!!!

Have a fantastic Friday! i will be here enjoying some warmish until the 23rd!

Neuronal circuits in the mouse retina. Cone photoreceptors (red) enable color vision; bipolar neurons (magenta) relay information further along the circuit; and a subtype of bipolar neuron (green) helps process signals sensed by other photoreceptors in dim light.

Melanie Samuel, a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and who received a 2016 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, wants to learn to reprogram the connections, or synapses, of brain circuits that function less well in aging and disease and limit our memory and ability to learn.

More information: directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/07/13/creative-minds-reprogram...

Credit: Brian Liu and Melanie Samuel, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston

This image is not owned by the NIH. It is shared with the public under license. If you have a question about using or reproducing this image, please contact the creator listed in the credits. All rights to the work remain with the original creator.

NIH support from: National Eye Institute; Common Fund

Space pilot Smeg Cash-money is tired on his way back to the solar capital planet, he is really tired, flying these 248-hours-lan missions really gets to most pilots in the end, but then again, the pay is double and you get a week free afterwards...

Smeg has already started to dream away, planning his leave with loads of money.... he is almost at home now, nothing can go wrong this close to the capital planet...

Let´s see, what shall he do with his money an free time?

Perhaps he should visit that sleazy tri-phone stirp-club again, naaah, just to much money just down the drain, or rather down the pants of dancing tri-phones...

Perhaps he should pay a visit to the party-world, naah wait last time he got mugged when he was drunk talking to that Razna-kaargh babe, nah that place is to lawless for him...

When Smeg is at his best dreaming away his radar starts beeping like a clown with a hooter at some ancient circus...

the scanner identified the blips as interstellar asteroids breaking apart by gravity in their new system...

No Smeg had to make a choice,

should he put his shield on full power and just blast through the swarm, of cause breaking all federation rules or should he spend time and reprogram the navigator to avoid these annoying boulders, that would take him a few hours extra...

Smeg had made his choice, he communicated to base: Hey Base I have a problem with my communication program, I will turn it off and reboot it, so don´t worry, I am still alive!

...he turned of the communicator and put his shields on Max, prepared himself for the bumpy ride, thinking for him self, great that I am this close to home, the shields will waste all the Power-pack storage I have left, there will just be enough for a landing...

...Later when Smeg has passed the grovel collection for some distant world, he started planning for his leave again...

he gets interrupted by a weird metal on metal screeching sound... then the screen started flashing with a big nasty ALARM! ALARM! Robotic Parasite detected.

...he peeked through the upper corner of the windscreen, he saw glowing robotic eyes and mechanical legs moving about, shit, he thought, Shit, This Mama is as big as my fighter...

He put on his communicator again...

He Said: Mayday, Mayday, Smeg to HQ, I have a parasite bug attached, I can waste it, all get ready with their blasters when I come in with my slow mode hover landing!

now the Bug had spotted the juicy little pilot in the cockpit, He had already had enough of raw energy he sucked through the piping and though in his alien-robotic head something that could be translated to: Need minerals, energy levels at max, harvest Carbon, water and minerals...

...it started to gnaw away at the crystal windscreen, Smeg was having a fit inside, hoping that he could reach base before his metallic mandibles had made a breakthrough of the windscreen...

...Luckily for Smeg he managed to reach HQ and land where a gang of blaster-troops shot the nasty insectiod cybernetic being in to tiny extragalactic pieces of alien trash...

Smeg, was alive, but was put in quarantine because of close encounter with extragalactic aliens, but as his commander said: luckily you will be available for the next mission back then... and he also said: Luckily there is no way to waste all your wage in the small chamber you will be spending this upcoming week!!!

Chapter One.4

After successfully striking Amy the Android with lightning, Alex Light discovers Amy the Android's weakness. If he can charge her with enough energy, he may be able to reprogram her allegiance.

Will he be able to overcome her strength or will she reign supreme?

Check out FACEBOOK for more info on these pictures!

------------

Credits:

Photography: Alex Zyuzikov & Amy O'Neil

Lighting: Alex Zyuzikov

Editing: Amy O'Neil

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Chapter One is coming to an end! Let us know your thoughts! Have you enjoyed this series? Have any super awesome ideas for us? Get ready for a fun Chapter Two!

Don't forget to add me or Alex as a contact so you can follow along!

(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)

Image paired with the article:

Reclaiming the Radical Imagination: Challenging Casino Capitalism's Punishing Factories

www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21113-disimagination-machi...

Name | Commander Hector Kepp

Class | Jet Trooper

Weapon | Modified HK-G36 (DC-G36)

Legion | Phantom Pack

Hector inherits the abilities from both Rex and Cody with a Battleborn heart, leadership, Strategist and skilled with assault rifles.

Extras: The jet pack who was originally owned by Mandalorian was found by Hector himself and taken back to Kev (The Engineer/Pilot) to reprogram the pack itself. When tested into battle, it allowed Hector to secure areas more effectively and save him from close calls.