PhantomX Hexapod

I am a sucker for robots, and when I saw this home-made robot, the unfulfilled robotics engineer in me woke up once again: 

You can buy one of these hexapods at Trossen Robotics. They are great around toddlers!

* CD Player Repurposed

For as long as I owned a smartphone, it has been a hassle to use it as a GPS without a proper holder to keep it visible to me while not blocking anything else, so it always ended up sideways in the cupholder between the two front seats. Finally, a few days ago, my search was over when I came across nGroove MT5000 by Mountek - a successful indiegogo project, that mounts to the CD player of my car which had long become useless due to the very same smartphone's (the one that it would be holding up) ability to house mountains of my music playable via Bluetooth.

Today I received my nGroove MT5000, and immediately took it out for a ride. Not only it is very simple to install but very versatile with its rotating and expanding snap head to house any smartphone or tablet without obstructing my view of the dashboard or windshield. This was one of the best investments I've made both for my car and my phone.

Death By Goosebumps

I've always loved the sound of bagpipes, and having Scotland as my birthplace has engraved that in me. Today when I found out about he European Pipe Band Championships held in Forres, Scotland, and listened to some of the bands, I just died of goosebumps.

A Curvaceous Symbol

Treble Clef is my second favorite symbol after the OM symbol. For years, I've looked at that symbol guiding me through my classical guitar, and choir classes but never once wondered how it came to be. This article in the Smithsonian magazine give the history and evolution of this curvaceous symbol.

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct

I just pre-ordered Electric - the new album by Pet Shop Boys that is due to be released on July 16th, 2013. Click on the band's link to get a taste of their delicious new music!

Dirty Thunderstorms

Although sounds like the name of a killer punk rock band, dirty thunderstorms are weather phenomena that occur when lightning is produced in volcanic plumes due to the static electrical charges generated when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles collide.

Vatnajökull

Located in Vatnajökull National Park, Vatnajökull is the largest and most voluminous glacier in Iceland occupying 8% of the total area of the country. Under its enormous icecap, it covers several volcanoes some of which are still active. Due to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands some 340 miles (550 km) away!