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[sjlimmer]

Perhaps this belongs more in Science & Nature, but oh well.  I love the tilings of M.C. Escher (and find that they have some tangential relation to my research), and I suspect that many of you do as well.  I came across the web site of a researcher who has developed a way to turn random pictures into Escher-like tilings.

Since I know we have some dachshund fans around here, I thought I'd post a link to this one.

[St_Zartan]

Oh Christ of course there's a Linux one

When it comes to slapping emblems of their little subculture on every available surface in every available context, those people are in a dead heat with the potheads.

LINUX ISN'T A SUBCULTURE I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW BLAH BLAH INSTALLATION BASE OF SEVERAL MILLION BLAH BLAH WINBLOWS BLAH BLAH +++

NO CARRIER

[wombat]

The spouse has a laptop from work with Linux on it, and it has the most amazing array of screen savers, but every time I look at them what I see instead of say, a wonderful bouncing cow, is all these sad lonely men, programming screen savers instead of having sexual relations with ladies.

(Honestly, I say this in the most sympathetic possible way, being someone who is married to a computer nerd.)

[St_Zartan]

The spouse has a laptop from work with Linux on it, and it has the most amazing array of screen savers, but every time I look at them what I see instead of say, a wonderful bouncing cow, is all these sad lonely men, programming screen savers instead of having sexual relations with ladies.

There are some people - lots of people, if I had to make an honest guess - for whom there are things more personally fulfilling than having the sex.

I'm not sure that making screen savers should be one of those things.

[Pedro Picasso]

I walked into a game store and was instantly the subject of Geek Arousal.  This isn't a videogame store, mind you.  It was a board game store.  Games ranging from whatever crapopoly you fancy to the most obscure garage cardboard.  (Bohnanza, Carcassonne, and Bang are some personal favorites.)  There were teenagers and pre-teens in the back playing out dice based battles between painted miniatures.  (I'm sure many of us are familiar with Warhammer.)  The pheremone level in the place was palpable.

I don't know why I'm so attracted to these hobbies.  I recently find myself compelled to purchase little platic cards which punch out pieces of tiny model ships that you can assemble and play in some sort of buckaneering game.  I've heard this game isn't even fun, yet I want it.

These things are electrifying.  I recently came across a Lego solar panel.  They say it lacks the voltage to run the standard Lego motor, but if you really want to you can couple it with a honest-to-the-day-I-was-born Lego fuck*ng capacitor!.  Why do I want to build toys and *****s with small assembly bits?  I don't know, but I absolutely want to.

My need to program useless bits of fluff has dissipated now that it is my occupation to do so, but if my employer required that I tell stories whose outcomes were determined by twenty-sided bits of plastic, I'm sure my enthusiasm for doing so would wane and I would find myself wanting to create a screensaver which simultaneously emulated rain and props from the Matrix.  I almost found myself thinking up games I could program using Google Maps yesterday.

Anyway, the point is that there is some draw to do these thing that can be equated to sexual desire or hunger or the need to pop backing bubbles when you see them.  I've been experiencing this a lot recently, and the only thing stopping me from submerging myself bodily in obscure hobbies is a lack of time and money.  I'm sure many of you can relate.

_______________
Fervent.

[AlohaDawg]

What was the topic again? Oh yeah... I really liked the "Busby Berkeley Chickens". I love using the term "Busby Berkeley Number" and I'm glad I'm not the last person alive to do so.