I found a great photo of the mosiac floor mentioned in the last posting. Great detail. Beautiful.

Remains of ancient church unveiled - possibly the oldest in the world discovered Two mosaics inside the church -- one covered with fish, an ancient Christian symbol that predates the cross -- tell the story of a Roman officer and a woman named Aketous who donated money to build the church in the memory "of the God, Jesus Christ." The inscription, which specifies that Aketous donated a table to the church, indicates the house of worship predated the Byzantine era, when Christians began using altars in place of tables in their rituals, Tepper said. Remnants of a table were uncovered between the two mosaics.

Yoda busting a move.. nifty 1 minute movie.. worth a look.

World Jump Day Are you freaking kidding me? *sigh*.

THE ZOOMQUILT | a collaborative art project Use your mouse, clicking and moving up to zoom into this bizarre and fantastic piece of art. Amazing.

New nickel gets hint of a smile The new nickel front face will feature Tom Jefferson with a smile on his face. For the past two years, the Mint has changed the design of the nickel every six months to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition, both of which occurred during Jefferson's administration.

Scientists photograph giant squid - Sep 28, 2005 Scientists photograph giant squid - for the first time, we can see a live giant squid in the wild- photographic proof of an animal of legend living in the wild. Recently specimens of giant squids have been found in fishing nets and the like, however this is the first time we have been able to see a giant squid alive and interacting with it environment in the wild. It even left part of itself behind- read the full story to see the details.

Let's remember the Olympics... through stick figure comedy A very funny quick flash video examining the various sports in the Olympics.

DuckDoom - The Ultimate Pairing: download it here Remember Duck Hunt and that annoying dog? Remember Doom - the awesome paradigm busting original 1st person shooter? You do? Excellent - then download this melding of the two- no, you can't shoot the dog, but there is a BFG9000! Enjoy!

Don Adams passed on Monday He played Maxwell Smart / Agent 86 on the series Get Smart.. sigh, first Gilligan (Bob Denver) and now Maxwell Smart / Inspector Gadget.

Farewell Earth, you look great! The MESSENGER spacecraft on it's way to Mercury, looked back at Earth as it did a flyby on Aug 2nd. It took hundreds of images and they have been streamed together into a movie. Click on the links at the bottom of the page to watch it - absolutely worth it. Sobering data - the craft was further away than the moon when it took the last photo in the series. Incredible clarity and really reinforces the 'big blue marble' analogy we use for our home planet.

How out of touch can you be... The only thing that could be worse than this video ad is that somewhere, someone thought "Oh yeah, this will fly - people will love it.".

Some amazing satellite images, before and after, of the New Orleans area show the degree that the area has been devastated.

Remains of Old Ship Found in San Francisco The remains of a massive Gold Rush-era sailing ship dating to the early 1800s have been discovered at the site of a large construction project in downtown San Francisco. The ship was likely abandonded during the 1850s as Gold Rush Fever overtook the region.

Please, if you can spare it, donate to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Simple, quick and easy through Amazon and the payments go right to the Red Cross. Amazon has waived all fees for your donation, so every cent goes right through. Also, If your donation is $250 or more, Amazon.com will provide your name, credit card billing address, and donation amount to the American Red Cross, and the American Red Cross will provide you with a receipt for your donation. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling, and other assistance to those in need.

Su-doku! A great thinking game! Give it a try- a mental puzzle that takes a second to learn and is very addictive!

Google Moon - Lunar Landing Sites: "In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, Google has added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to the moon! Very neat- you can click and drag your way across the surface of the Moon with some incredible detail.

Eagle Eye Game Cassie found this site today - very nice. Smooth graphics, quick load. FUN GAME! Archery in your browser. Thanks Cassie!

Fireworks Hey, did you miss the fireworks for the Fourth? Here are some in your browser- crank up the volume and enjoy! (Hi Cassie!)

Dad! Look what I caught! A four year old was fishing in Lancaster County PA - in the Conestoga River when he made an interesting discovery on the end of his line- a 15 inch Piranha!

Deep Impact: The First Look Inside a Comet! What are comets made of? Are they solid rocks, or fluffy snowballs? On July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact mission will find out in a dramatic way. One part of the Deep Impact spacecraft will slam into comet Tempel 1, ending its life with a smash, while the Flyby spacecraft will watch the birth of a new crater. By studying the size and shape of the new crater, and the composition and motion of the stuff that flies away from the impact, the Deep Impact scientists hope to learn how comets are put together.

Reducing engine generated emmissions.. through sheep urine? By refining the sheep urine to pure urea and then combining the urea with the engine emmissions -> Ammonia from the urea reacts with nitrous oxides in the exhaust fumes and converts them to nitrogen gas and water, which is released as steam. Perfect.

French Police Dogs - training video Mental note- don't get in trouble where French police dogs would be used against you. Amazing footage- well trained and vicious.

The Sith Sense Challenge Darth Vader in a one on one mind reading session- Vader will attempt to use the Dark Side and read your mind - nicely done! Sponsored by a major fast food shop but again, well done.

Please call back during business hours... "Boy, I'm glad I was having these feelings of depression and self-doubt during the afternoon, not in the middle of the night!"

Fisherman hauls in 124-pound catfish. Tim Pruitt, casting his line in the Mississippi River on Sunday, hauled up a 58-inch long, 44-inch around blue catfish that weighed a whopping 124-pounds.

It's happened. Hollywood meets reality.

A blogger wrote this in his blog:

"Today I missed my Japanese class again, since I have gotten a bad throat. I only went to the class once this week, so I am probably so far behind now. I will catch up in the summer tho so no worries hehe. Anyway today has been weird, at 3 some guy ringed the bell. I went down and recognized it was my sister's former boyfriend. He told me he wants to get his fishing poles back. I told him to wait downstair while I get them for him. While I was searching them, he is already in the house. He is still here right now, smoking, walking all around the house with his shoes on which btw I just washed the floor 2 days ago!"

He was murdered by that same guy a short while later, along with his sister... His blog helped him identify his killer from beyond the grave.

The full story in the New York Newsday from May 16th 2005.

Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion Spread the seeds of the Organic Rebellion! Organic farmers don't use toxic and persistent pesticides on their crops- thus not having them enter our water and food supply and create dead zones in our oceans. Check out this great StarWars spoof and learn a bit about organic foods at the same time.

Scans reveal Tutankhamun's face Scans reveal Tutankhamun's face - Three teams of scientists have created the first facial reconstructions of King Tutankhamun based on CT scans of his mummy. The images are strikingly similar both to each other and to ancient portraits of the boy pharaoh, including his depiction on the famed golden mask he wore into the crypt.

Swiss wrap glacier to slow ice melt How sad is this- alarmed by the retreat of its Alpine glacier, a Swiss ski resort on Tuesday wrapped part of the shrinking ice-cap in a giant blanket in a bid to reduce the summer melt. What a shame that its come to this.

A New hot sauce? 16 MILLION Scoville Units? A hot sauce that could kill. Wonderful.

Sidewalk chalk guy Woah - amazing! Incredible perspective boggling works of art - on a sidewalk. Take a look at these pictures.

Fire - Can of Coke and a chocolate bar You are lost.. on the trail.. deep in the woods. Looks as if you'll be out there for a while- you'd better start a fire, for warmth later and to help signal for help. You pull off your pack and discover in horror that you have lost your matches and lighter! All you have left in there are the remnants of your poorly designed 'energy lunch'- a can of Coke and a chocolate bar. Are you without hope? Nope- you can get a fire started with those two items. How? Read the article and find out!

Pope Benedict XVI - What should we expect? The election of Pope Benedict XVI, while a joyous occasion, is an unfortunate step away from growing the Church in the spirit of Vatican II. His hard line views as evidenced by his actions over the years will stifle the evolution of the Church into what the Vatican Council's vision's entailed: a wide reaching inclusion-focused organization. It would be a true miracle if under this Pope's watch the Church moved towards widening the role of women within its organization (i.e. ordination) or permitting priests to marry. This is a shame, as continuous declining enrollment in seminaries will lead the Church into the crisis of not being able to minister to its flock due to a tragic shortage of priests. Just my opinion of course, however that's they way I see it.

It's not easy living on Dork Street You know, sometimes when I feel like life is difficult, I have to think that at least I don't have to deal with the same problem that Mario Saucedo lives with.

Philadelphia plans first U.S. citywide Wi-Fi network Originally slated to be a WI-FI hotspot around Love Park, a new announcement describes the new network to cover the city's entire 135-square-mile area, marking a U.S. first. The access pricing would be around $20 a month- about half the going rate from commercial providers. If they can pull this off, it should accomplish two things- a) showcase Philly as a much more 'tech friendly' location and b) reduce the barriers to internet access to low- and moderate-income communities. I'm surprised at the move, albiet hopeful for it's success. In the recent era of budget slashing and program cancellations in Philly, a new infrastructure build would the the last thing that you would expect to hear coming from the Mayor's office, though this initiative could certainly have positive economic benefits for the city.

Basketball Dunk with a twist.. You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Unbelievable. Watch it and judge for yourself.

The process of choosing the next Pope. Written very clearly and visually, this mini tutorial explains the steps necessary in choosing the Pope, who is involved and so forth.

Vatican: Pope's condition 'has worsened' - Apr 1, 2005 "The general conditions and cardio-respiratory conditions of the Holy Father have further worsened. A gradual worsening arterial hypotension has been noted, and breathing has become shallow," the Vatican press office said.

Louisiana family discovers its Camry's quirk due to cocaine. Interesting.. you take your car to the dealer for repair and... well, you should just read the article.

Vatican source:John Paul II given last rites Pray for the Holy Father. He has a high fever and his health is deteriorating.

An amazing bit of driving.. A tugboat, with a full load of coal attached to it on a barge is approaching a drawbridge... but the bridge isn't opening and the current is strong and fast! What happens? Click and see the story in pictures- AMAZING!

Legally Blind Golfer Gets Hole-In-One Excellent...

For scientists- 13 things that do not make sense Unanswered questions- sure, we've got them. Here is an overview of 13 separate items that still need answers - scientific evidence that can't be ignored yet can't be explained away. From what caused a massive signal detected from the region of Sagittarius in 1977 to dark matter to the placebo effect. Interesting article that opens more questions than it answers.

Ah great. Just great. Just saw that I'd have to watch (ack) the next episode of the.. *fights bile* 'OC' on Fox to see a new Star Wars Episode III trailer. Nah. Sorry, not worth it.

Taking threats seriously.. a bit too seriously. An 18 year old high school student is behind bars after the discovery of a 'plot' to attack a high school by raising hordes of undead zombies. Yes. Zombies. When asked, the youth maintains that it was a short story he wrote for English class. Not to be taken in so easily, the Winchester, KY police force tossed the obviously extremely dangerous youth behind bars. (I mean, hey, if he can raise the dead and cause them to attack people, he's a danger to himself and others. ) Facts (evidently not 'important' to the police) were that the story never mentioned any specific high school, teachers, students, local residents. A note to those afraid of literature- paper burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Local coverage also at: LEX18 a local KY television station.

From the 'Are you kidding' department.. A coat purchased at a used clothing store as part of the Professor Marvel's costume in the Wizard of Oz movie turned out to be once owned by.. L. Frank Baum himself! Yes! A coat owned by the author of the Wizard of Oz ended up on screen worn by Frank Morgan who portrayed Prof. Marvel and the Great and Powerful Oz himself. Is this coincidence too good to be true? Nope! It has been confirmed by several members of the film crew. It turns out that Morgan discovered Baum's name sewn into one of the coat pockets. The tailor and Baum's widow were contacted, and both identified the coat as having once belonged to the late author.

Tomb of Saint Paul Found? ""Nobody ever thought to look behind that plaque" states Giorgio Filippi, an archaeologist on the project. Archaeologists discovered the sarcophagus on what would have been the ground floor of the 4th century basilica "St. Paul Outside the Walls" in Rome. It was found under the altar next to a marble plaque that reads, "Apostle Paul, martyr."

NASA Researchers - signs of life on Mars... now. Certain signs are being spotten on Mars that would indicate the presence of underground life- methane is being generated there.. how? Could be underground forms of life that are heretofore unknown. Good article at space.com lays out the case.

Come to Papa! "Robot 'learns' to walk like a toddler" - using feedback systems that tell the robot it's 'falling' forward and systems to use that information to 'catch' itself with the next leg, this robot can learn to walk the same way that humans do. Why is this important? Well, this system allows the robot to walk using gravity to assist it- the same way we do. Other robots move every body part and joint.. using much more energy. This robot uses a tenth of the power to move that other ones do. A great... uh.. step forward for robot design.

"I need a LOOONG distance operator" A German patent was granted and production has begun on a cellular telephone that allows you to... well, talk to your 'dearly departed'. Sort of. It's a one way phone that connects to a speaker that's.. well,.. buried. Read the article for more info- strangely disconcerting, the whole thing. Especially when you read why the inventor came up with the idea.

The New Pocket-Sized Theme Park Concept How great of an idea is this- a portable immersive theme park walk through attraction: interactive with the guests with real puzzles to solve, special effects and the like... for less than a $1million to build and fits in 6,000 square feet (including a gift shop and cafe). Did I mention portable? Right now it in Boston.. but it may be on it's way to a city near you.

Extra husk leaves on Wisconsin quarters? Looks like there is some sort of problem (intentional or otherwise, we don't know yet) with some of the new Wisconsin state quarters that is turning a 25 cent coin into a coin worth hundreds of dollars! Check your pockets, folks. The quarters, which appear to have an extra leaf on the left side of an ear of corn, are being sold on eBay and in coin shops for hundreds of dollars. In some of the coins, the leaf is tilted up; in others, it is tilted down. Still unknown as to how the flaw happened- some speculate that it was intentional, as the 'flaw' is so accurate- it truly looks like extra leaves on the corn stalk. Click to read the whole story, with photos of the quarters. Also- here's a good link to a photo set that shows what they look like: Photo Set

Amazon Prime It's clear that the Street has grown impatient with Amazon, which has fallen short of analysts' expectations for the last three quarters. And now Amazon has launched a costly customer loyalty program that CEO Jeff Bezos described as "expensive for Amazon.com in the short term." Dubbed Amazon Prime, the program offers unlimited free two-day shipping on Amazon purchases for a flat annual fee of $79. Obviously it's a deal that isn't for everyone, but if you're anything like me, you'll likely have made your money back by April. ;-) Interesting program.. certainly makes you head back to amazon for any online purchase. Overt customer loyalty program: yes. Will it work: yes.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Carbon burial 'is climate option' Here's a good approach- pump carbon dioxide into oil wells that are nearing the end of production: this allows the CO2 to help push out any remaining oil and stores the CO2 in the old well.. instead of venting it into the atmosphere and contributing to the greenhouse effect. The ability to get the last bit of oil from the well could help reduce the cost of storing the CO2 in there.

New tests on the Shroud of Turin show that it's much much older than thought. Quote from the article: "A determination of the kinetics of vanillin loss suggests that the shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old" Great article linked here.

It's hard to believe.. SBC, originally a 'baby bell' is currently in talks to potentially purchase AT&T. Story

Search Engine Relationship Chart (tm) Interesting for those 'geeky' minded of us- this is an interactive screen that demonstrates the interrelationships between the major search engines. Nifty.

So long, Johnny.

Artificial Spider Silk - finally. Someone let Pete Parker he's obsolete For years, scientists have been trying to either a) milk spiders (not possible, just annoys the spiders) or b) build their own spider silk. Why? Because it's amazingly strong vs it's weight- so it's exciting to hear researchers at the University of Wyoming in Laramie have decoded the genetic formula for spider silk. With the genetic formula, they can even customize the silk to desired flexibility, strength etc. Link takes you to the article on National Geographic.

What does 255,000 look like? It's hard to conceive that many lives taken in the tsunami tragedy. This page helps you put that number into context. Link on the title.

Tsunami Videos:

Mirrors: 2 3 4 5 (11.5 MB) of a Tsunami hitting Phuket Beach, Thailand

Mirrors: 2 3 4 5 6 (3.4 MB) An entire.. village? town? washed away.

Mirrors: 2 3 4 5 (1.6 MB) from Thailand

Mirrors: 2 3 (783 KB) from Penang, Malaysia

Mirrors: 2 3 4 5 (7.6 MB) from Sri Lanka.

Mirrors: 2 3 4 5 6 (10 MB) from Patong Beach, Thailand. English translation of the audio.

Mirrors: 2 3 (6.2 MB) Filmed on beach

Mirrors: 2 3 4 (6.2 MB) Amazing video, demonstrating the true impact of the wave.

Mirrors: 1 2 3 4 (1.3 MB) From Kenya, fishing boats being tossed around like toys in the water.

Mirrors: 1 2 3 (2.6 MB) From an unknown location, filmed by a British tourist.

Amazing story of survival: Excerpt from the linked story: "In Malaysia, the crew of a fishing boat brought in an Indonesian woman they had rescued four or five days after she was sucked out to sea. The woman, from Aceh, had clung to a floating sago palm and survived on its fruit. "

Briton Surfs Tsunami, Survives British surfer was lucky enough to surf out the first massive wave before the full 30' tsunami hit- he was able to ride it into a hotel restaurant and get to safety before the full force of the second wave hit. Full story linked to Reuters.com