The Big Think

Farewell Galileo. And thank you.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I musf follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, p 82

Just found out an old friend is going to be driving around the world in a Land Rover. The trip is for Parkinson’s research. Read here for details. I don’t know if it’s public knowledge that he’s going yet, so I won’t steal his thunder by saying who it is.
They have a “take me with you!” program where you can join the trip for a few weeks. Sounds like a good project for a documentary filmmaker.
Cool! I just noticed that Steve Wozniak is on the Advisory Board.
“I think it’s marvelous when anyone gets off their butt,” Chapman says. “And it’s not just a selfish ‘I’m going to drive around the world’ thing. They’re doing it properly, with a capital ‘P.’ ”
*UPDATE* Turns out the team members were announced a while back. The friend I was talking about is Rolf Potts. Wish I’d have known about the trip Rolf!

Ever want to build your own underground Hobbit Hole? Here’s how.

I’m building a big prop for an upcoming show. Can’t say much about it except to say it’s fun to build in my workshop again. Wood is expensive and adds up quick. I’m just glad someone else is footing the bill. The client is going to do the finish work (the part I hate), so all I have is the fun construction stuff. Erin remarked how quickly I put the basic structure together. Now that I have the right tools and have my shop semi-organized, it’s amazing how much more efficient I am. Lots of fun.

Holy cow. Craig Wallace turns junkyard scrap into low-yield fusion.

from Inside Mac Games:
In a move sure to rock the gaming industry , Worlds of Warcraft will feature cities , each controlled by a different race, in which you can perform “quests” involving shopkeepers, before moving out into the larger world. “We’re trying to decide if we want to include swords as well, but we don’t want to throw too much at the player at one time,” said an anonymous insider.