To explore how big that really is, take a look at the Scale of the Universe (click “play” below the ad that appears).

Update. Okay, that wasn’t very clear. The number 10²⁷ already has a name; it’s octillion. Hella would be the number prefix for an octillion units, like kilo is the prefix for a thousand units. In other works, an octillion meters would be 1 hella-meters. I edited the post to clarify.

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Hat tip: All Facebook.

The Universe is Hella Big, Almost… from blogan.

Yes, it’s real. For more information:

• NASA explanation with another video
• ArmsControlWonk counts the shock waves and explains

SDO Shockwave Destroys Sundog from blogan.

YouTube is preparing to drive a wooden stake into the heart of Internet Explorer 6. Kill it!

YouTube Serves Notice on IE6 from blogan.

I just discovered another “flippin’ case”:

When faced with two choices, simply toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you, but because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air,

You suddenly know what you’re hoping for.

You know it’s true.

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Hat tip: Minimal.

Coin-Based Decision Making from blogan.

Here are a few of my favorite resources.

There are many more resources you can use for virtual traveling.

• Google image search
• MapQuest
• Bing
• Yahoo
• Wikipedia
• YouTube

Do you use the Internet to “travel”? What are your favorite resources?

Update (2/15/2010). Here are a couple more resources I should have mentioned:

1. Twitter — Chances are, there’s someone on Twitter tweeting about the location you’re interested in. Tweeting about the location likely will result in your being followed by that someone. For example, I tweeted about Yosemite and was soon followed by @THEYosemiteBlog. Doing a people search for Yosemite resulted in a lot more hits.
2. Blogs — Finding blogs about a certain topic is easy. Google’s Blog Search or Technorati are great resources to find blogs.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestrated1/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Virtual Touring from blogan.

I haven’t posted much political stuff here recently, but I’ll make an exception for this because I don’t believe it’s particularly partisan (unlike the W version making the rounds).

And yes, I do.

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Photo credit. The Humble Libertarian.

Miss Me Yet? from blogan.

• Twitter-killing follow-up. (Scripting News). http://r2.ly/xcex #
• My first Buzz tweet. Not sure if you’ll be able to read this. Let me know. http://r2.ly/xcp7 #
• After 15 minutes I remember that Google is mean and distrusting and filled with side-goals that have nothing to do with delighting users. #
• When I first tried Flickr it was pure fun. Same with every other product that ended up being big in the social media space. #
• I got to the API and saw: No Twitter compatibility. That’s a big red X over the future of Google’s latest misadventure. Pfffft. #
• Google Buzz? Pfffft. (Scripting News). http://r2.ly/38gi #
• How do I get Buzz out of the user interface of Gmail? Show me where I opted in to this horror. I want the option. This is so f***ed up. #
• They put a virus into Gmail. They’re killing their own product. Fools. Stupid. Grrr. #
• There’s a command to turn off Buzz at the bottom of the Gmail page. http://r2.ly/xcq3 #

Ouch! I’m still waiting to try Buzz.

Buzz Kill from blogan.

Get the full picture at nakedpastor.

Love Isn’t… from blogan.

This is but one of Hugh MacLeod’s “love” series of prints.

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Credit: Image by Hugh MacLeod, displayed under Creative Commons license.

Love Is… from blogan.

It’s a lot sexier than a Segway. —Adam Savage

Too cool! And they’re available in Portland.

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Hat tip: BikePortland.

Self Balancing Unicycle from blogan.