Today’s Splicky Mission:

You’re in a cage. Stay calm until you’re let out in one minute.

Malex goes to work, leaving Linus and Snufflefungus to clean house. Instead, they go on a questionable adventure. Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think!

If you're looking for more SIGGRAPH stuff, read the last paragraph.

I recently started experimenting with using Evolution Email as my primary email client. I've had a love/hate relationship with it in the past, but my recent obsession with GPG, coupled with Enigmail's various deficiencies, meant that my Thunderbird experience was drawing to a close.

I'm always tickled when applications try to be smart, especially in unexpected ways. So imagine my delight when I ran across the dialog box in the picture. Of course, any human being will tell you that the text in the message clearly does not refer to a present attachment. But ‘A’ for effort, Evolution!

And really, my ribbing is only half-serious, as I've forgotten to attach a promised file more often than I'd care to admit. So I can seriously see this dialog box saving my behind in the future.

As for new SIGGRAPH-related blog entries. Obviously, SIGGRAPH is over now, and Peter and I have returned home. I do have pictures, and I have every intention of blogging about the trip. It may take a while though, because my week-long absence has left me with a goodly amount of catching-up to do. So keep your RSS reader tuned to this frequency, but don't hold your breath. (All kinds of mangled metaphors! Score!)

ttyl!

--Alex Markley

Today’s Splicky Mission:

Eat a plum – not a peach.

Malex, Linus and Snufflefungus have a whale of a time when something unexpected shows up in the backyard! Also, people start speaking in rhyme? Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think!

Whee!

As many of you probably know by now, Peter and I are attending this year's SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles, California. What you may not know is that, to this date, neither of us had ever flown in an aircraft.

I don't doubt, from the demeanor of many of my fellow travellers, that the novelty of flying has long since worn off for them. For me, however, I've been quite enthralled by the whole experience. The incredible power of the craft you're sitting in is completely hidden except during takeoff and landing. For me, at least, it's hard not to draw parallels with roller coasters. Except this is the daddy roller coaster. And it has no rails.

By the time you read this, we will surely have arrived safely in LA. But as I write, we're cruising at 30,000 feet. The clouds float below us in a mocking sort of way, and the horizon recedes into a misty haze instead of appearing as a sharp curve like a well-behaved horizon should. In addition, en route to LA we passed over some pretty impressive mountainous terrain – not the least of which was the Grand Canyon – which had me gaping, open-mouthed, for minutes on end.

I've taken pictures, although my camera is still that cheap old snapshot cam. If you're the sort to look, I've attached a few of them to this blog entry. You also might want to explore the gallery.

There's a lot of stuff going down during this trip, most of which will be pretty amazing. I'm planning to blog about much of it, so you'd best stay posted.

ttyl!

--Alex Markley

Today’s Splicky Mission:

Find a ruby and bring it out of the mine.

Snufflefungus builds a birdhouse as part of an insidious campaign to trick Linus into having legitimate fun. Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think!

I happened to notice one evening, when I set my glass of water down into a beam of sunlight coming in through the window, that the refraction and dispersion cast the most beautiful caustics and rainbow highlights in the shadow of the glass.

I immediately realized that I simply must have a picture of it for my desktop wallpaper. So now you can too!

Today's Splicky Mission:

Stand on one leg for two seconds.