One small step for Lego man

Yesterday, two Canadian high school students sent a Lego man carrying a Canadian flag into the stratosphere on a balloon and parachute system that they had created.  The balloon had a camera attached to the superstructure of the device, capturing some stunning images of the Lego man in space before the balloon burst sending him hurtling back to the Earth.

Teens Put Lego Man in Space

This is an awesome achievement, and something that I would love to try to do sometime in the future.  Kudos to Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad for this technical achievement.

Peace in Afghanistan

Here is an incredibly insightful article regarding the future of the war in Afghanistan.

Reality Checking Obama on Afghanistan: Five Questions on Ending the War

A Victory for WE

The great WE have spoken, and WE say find another way to control piracy.

After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill.

A guide to the online browser-based game: Lord of Ultima

Introduction

For my non-Lord of Ultima readers, Lord of Ultima is a browser-based empire building game that steals a lot of the same dynamics from the real world of global strategy and politics and smashes it into a browser-based, empire-building, massively multiplayer, online, long-term, real time strategy game. I am playing through this game, as a leader of an alliance, as this grants me some valuable experience in leading large groups of people, and learning how to drive people towards a goal without dissolution of the team.

Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act

Okay.  I understand, you are unhappy that people are jacking your the stuff that most people pay for.  Find another way to deal with it than censoring of the internet.  This will bring America down a dark and unpleasant path that we DO NOT want to go down.  The internet is what it is today because of the freedom that has been allowed.  Stifling this freedom is not going to advance any great cause, or champion any rights without sacrificing a lot more than you gain.

I hope Congress bats this down, or I will ensure that I vote to get everyone replaced in the next elections.

Iran and Pirates

I found an awesome article today, about the US Navy rescuing a group of Iranian fisherman who had their ship hijacked by Somali pirates.  This action speaks volumes about the character of the US navy and even the US as a whole.  We should always seek to be compassionate to people, whether they are members of a hostile and dangerous nation or not.  The meekness of the US Navy today heaps burning coals on the heads of Iranian leadership and reassures the people of Iran that we can distinguish between the tyrants in power and the innocent people who are trapped under their dictatorship.

US Navy rescues Iranian fishing boat from pirates