Skyfall

One of things I like best about spy movies is the way they take you on a virtual tour of the world. This time one of the highlights was Shanghai. This picture gives you some idea of what it's like, but it doesn't hold a candle to the scenes from the movie.

We also paid a visit to Hashima Island. I knew I had seen this place somewhere before, and I was right. I found some old, tiny photos of it. Suprised that I kept them, they were so little. The villain claims he started a rumor that caused the place to be abandoned within a matter of days. It's true that it was abandoned quickly, but that is because Mitsubishi decided to shut down the coal mine there, which was the only reason for anyone being there.

Update: This place was a coal mine for years, which means they were digging tunnels underground, which means, given the location, they were digging tunnels below sea level. God forbid you ever sprang a leak.

Pic of the Day

LaGuardia airport in New York City two weeks ago, when the storm hit. From Military Photos dot net.

Click to embiggenate. Looking at the big version I just realized there are no planes in the picture. 

Imagine that.

e-volo

You may have seen the multi-rotor flying toy helicopters. These guys have scaled one up to be big enough to carry a person. I can't imagine that they will be able to get any useful range using electric (battery) power, but a few years ago nobody dreamed you'd be able to make an electric flying anything. I was dreaming of making something like this a while back, but I was thinking about using a bunch of lawn mower engines, maybe 8 or 10 arranged in a circle, much like they have done here. I was worried about stability though. Stability of the machine in the air, and of my checkbook on the ground, so I didn't pursue it.

Manhattan Blackout

Two weeks ago, when the storm hit. From Military Photos dot net.

Quote of the Day

Found on:

We just want to play games.

Life in Israel is a Little Different

If you want to go to war, you don't need to travel half way across the globe like the Americans do. I mean, it's just commuting distance. The tank'll be there in the morning, see you guys at 8 o'clock sharp, hey?

WWII American Home Front

WWII American Home Front (dead link), a set on Flickr.

So this is the way Flickr works. I uploaded these photos and put them in a "set" and then "shared" the set to my blog and I got this bunch of thumbnail images. Click on any image and it will take you to the larger version. From there you can step through the whole set using the Next and Previous buttons.

I found these photos on The Atlantic dot com thanks to a link on Military Photos dot net (dead link). I thought they were pretty cool so I uploaded them to Flickr. While I am going through them, checking the captions, making up titles and so on, I discover that they are from the Library of Congress's collection of photos which is also hosted on Flickr. There are 17,000 of them. This particular group is from their collection of color photos from the 30's and 40's, of which there are 1,600.

You will notice that there are 24 thumbnails here. There are 45 pictures in the set I got from The Atlantic. I am not sure who decides which photos get a thumbnail and which don't.

Update December 2016 labeled dead links. Flickr account is dead, so no photos until I come up with a replacement.