I should be getting a new, powerful computer soon. I will not be filling its insides with cooking oil, no matter how well this would cool it and cut down fan noise.

Technorati tag: CPU, Cooking Oil

How to add Google Maps to any web page in less than 10 minutes.

Technorati tag: Google Maps, HTML

I just found this in my links and, just in case I’ve never posted it before, I thought I’d post it here.

This service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. We aim to cover all subjects and languages. There are now 1996 journals in the directory. Currently 492 journals are searchable at article level. As of today 83385 articles are included in the DOAJ service.

Technorati tag: Open Access, Science Journals

No, I’m not going to tell you how old I am.

I have got the day off work as well.

The collision that spawned the moon was relatively minor. That’s the conclusion of the longest and most detailed computer simulation ever done of the impact.

Technorati tag: Moon, Asteroid

A climber was left hanging on to the end of a rope for eight hours in freezing temperatures after falling 150ft during an ice climb.

He was attached to two companions when he fell past them, leaving them trapped on a ledge and unable to help him. All three were saved by an ice screw that held the weight of the experienced mountaineer.

They were climbing Kiwi Gully on Hell’s Lum crag in the Cairngorms when the accident occurred on Sunday afternoon. One of the trapped climbers used his mobile telephone to call for help.

I have to say I can’t side with the farmers on this one. The NFU are unhappy that their members won’t be able to rake it in growing crops for conversion to biofuels because the oil companies are considering the much greener alternative of making it from straw and green waste.

(The oil companies are considering the greener option? Am I in bizarro world?)

Technorati tag: biofuel

Does anyone know where I can get this model in the UK?

It’s a Ford street rod called The Rodent in 1:32nd scale by Revell-Monogram. I think it’s an old Snap-Tite model repackaged, along with several others, as part of the “Night Crawlers”. There are also The Serpent, The Stinger, The Widow, The Lizard and The Nightflyer.

I’m having Mad Max visions and, more specifically, I remember the first page of a graphic novel by Pepe Moreno called Rebel which had a machine gun toting hot rod Ford being chased through the rubble of New York. (Other Rebel links- destroying the World Trade Centre, buy the graphic novel on Amazon.)

Technorati tag: Ford, Street Rod, Revell, Monogram

One of the web’s oldest and friendliest plastic model car websites, they claim. There are kit reviews, tutorials and a gallery of models.

Technorati tag: Scale Models, Model Cars

I’m about to set up a section of the Scale shop called Small Scale Customs, where I’ll sell cars for model railway layouts. The difference is, I’ll be taking other people’s cars and detailing or customising them. Some of the cars will be ones that occur to me but I’ll also be taking commissions.

The race ready Mini is the third car to be added to SSC’s forecourt, after the Capri and Beetle. I noticed that the little car was all decked out in sponsor’s logos and race numbers but was lacking a roll cage. I drilled the fastening lug out of the chassis and popped it open then fashioned a roll bar, rather than a full cage- I figured if this was an old school rally car I could get away with it, from a paper clip.

Click for a larger picture

Whilst I was in there it seemed right to do a little painting. The distinctive oval speedo was painted white. I would have put decal dials on it if I’d thought to look for any. The switches arrayed under the speedo were painted silver, as was the gear lever. If I do this again I’ll remove the little plastic knobble and replace it with a wire leaver and add a handbrake as well.

One neat little detail in the standard kit was the Recaro style bucket seat for the driver. I painted the plastic tub red and left the padding black. The other seats and the door inlays were painted tan. I guess this was a stock Cooper and the passenger seating stayed. In reality, the rear seat would have been taken out to save weight, but I wasn’t quite ready for that level of scratch building.

Click for a larger picture

With the internal detailing completed I superglued the car back together. External detailing only goes so far as picking out the door handles with silver. I may add a sump guard to hide the hole where I drilled out the attaching lug.

Click for a larger picture

The car’s finish is a bit too shiney for a working race vehicle, but I reckon it’s between rallies and has been spruced up and cleaned ready for its next outing.

The car can be bought for £6 (plus £1 p&p), payment by PayPal.

Technorati tag: Small Scale Customs, 1:72nd Scale

Despite the fact that it can outperform most of the cars that give the Top Gear presenters wet dreams, I don’t think the X1, electric concept car from Wrightspeed, is going to be doing a timed lap piloted by the Stig any time soon. Clarkson couldn’t make any milk float jokes if presented with the truth.

Check out a ride along in this video.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Electric Car, Wrightspeed