Teglon

Pumpkin

The Teglon is a fictional tiling problem from Anathem. Is akin to Penrose Tiles. The idea is that you have a set of some number of different tiles. The tiles are polygons with a bit of curved line painted on the face. The solution to this puzzle has to satisfy two requirements. The first is that the tiles must completely cover a regular decagon (a ten-sided polygon). The second is that the bits of line must all connect to form a single continuous line that leads from one vertex of the decagon to another. Like, I said this is a fictional puzzle, at least so far as we know, so it was nice to find this pumpkin where someone had engraved the solution. However, they left off the tiling pattern, so you will just have to work that out for yourself. Be forewarned, several historical people in this novel lost their minds trying to solve this puzzle.
     The web game Entanglement has some similar features.

Factory Five 818

Factory Five 818 Sports Car Introduction Video
The video isn't as thrilling as the one for the Alfa-Romeo 4C, I mean it's full of guys spouting tech-speak. This car is pretty cool. It's a kit-car you can build in your garage that will deliver near super-car performance. All you need is about $20 grand and a couple of months of time, or a year if you only work on it on Saturdays, all of which makes if a fraction of the price of the Alfa.

Dance

Oleg Zhezhel and Team Ukraine by D A N I K|Сборная Украины по художественной гимнастике|Клип
Все о художественной гимнастике

Posted by НОК України та олімпійська команда/NOC of Ukraine and the Olympic Team on Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Update March 2022. It was only available from Facebook, but the Facebook embed doesn't work anymore, but the video has found its way to YouTube, so we have a video again. Not sure why I posted this in the first place.

Quote of the Day

Larry Johnson Trying to follow what russia is doing through american media, and vice versa, is like trying to have a newborn explain rocket science.

Quote of the Day

Protractor, Ruler & String

Cord and Erasmus, siblings, exchange a few words:

[Cord:] "Do you need transportation? Tools? Stuff?"
    "Our opponent is an alien spaceship packed with atomic bombs," I said. "We have a protractor."
    "Okay, I'll go home and see if I can scrounge up a ruler and a piece of string." - Anathem by Neal Stephenson, p. 334.

I almost howled, but everyone else here is asleep and they probably wouldn't have appreciated hearing from me at this hour.

Agua Verde Castle

Google Streetview Screenshot

Driving back from Benson this morning I spied this big white building sitting on top of a hill. It appeared to have a tower at one end which made it look like it might be a church. It must be big, it's a long way away. A little Googling reveals that is a private residence. Here's a better shot.

Agua Verde Castle

Tucson, Vail & Benson. Castle in the center.

Benson, Arizona

Drove 30 miles down Interstate-10 to Benson, Arizona, this morning for breakfast.

Dead scorpion on the garage floor. Too much carburetor cleaner.

Nash Metropolitan outside Reb's Cafe. Truly Nolen is a pest control company. Iaman tells me that Truly has restored hundreds of cars and has them on display all over.

Steam Engine outside Reb's Cafe. At first I thought it was a tractor, but closer inspection reveals that there is no connection between the engine and the wheels. There are gears, jackshafts, chains and pulleys for fat cables. There is also a big cam that turns about the same speed as the engine. It looks to be for a trip hammer, but no hammer in evidence.

Reb's Cafe where we ate. Good food, good service, low prices. Stack of funny books on every table.

Stopped at the ACE Hardware Store where I saw this $100 ax. I can't imagine spending that much on an ax, but I then don't use one all day long, or even every day. Actually, I probably haven't picked up my ax in years.

Nothing says bulldozer like giant wrenches.

Psycho gnomes for your magic mushroom garden.

They take water seriously around here. That's a water meter attached to the fire hydrant. The hose is connected to a pipe stand for filling water trucks, for construction purposes I imagine. I don't think the fire department has to pay for the water they use.

Direct TV transmission station. Four (count 'em, four, great big, fancy satellite antennas.

Click to embiggenate.