A man in Detmold, Germany, has been fined for insulting his wife, saying she “lies like Churchill”. “The court agreed this went too far.” — RealTimeWWII (@RealTimeWWII)

I could not stop laughing for a minute or two.

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so I do not have to go into the technical details. What I find far more fascinating than the technical details of this august machine, are the implications when you take a look at the history of computers.

ENIAC started operating (it did not go online, that was impossible back then) in 1946 and was swithed off (after being transfered once) at 11:45 p.m. on October 2, 1955. few computers today are used that long. Technological progress means your cutting-edge machine is rather obsolete two years from now.

ENIAC weighed in at 27 tons and needed its own barracks (being some 30m long). Its power-usage was so immense, there was a jke going around, claiming the lights in Philadelphia dimmed when ENIAC was switched on.

And now, it is not sixty years since ENIAC was switched off and where are computers today? Everywhere. They are by several orders of magnitude faster, smaller, lighter, and more efficient than the engineers working on ENIAC could have dreamed. Notebooks or touch-pad computers, let alone smartphones, were not even the stuff of science fiction yet, when ENIAC was built. Just read the classic literature of the times, like the Lensmen novels, you will see what I mean.

So, ENIAC is a shining example of how far technological development can take humanity within one lifespan. Computers are everywhere now, they have radically change our lives in the last 30 years, they have made the ætherweb possible and this is were we waste our time now are immensly creative and productive.

And here’s a snippet from the original newsreel, introducing ENIAC to the American people:

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Yes, I know. It is a blurry video of a bear with a fish in its mouth.
My guess is, it was filmed somewhere in North America.

Who would really think this was a mammoth? The answer is: Plenty of people. We want to believe, that is the simple truth. We are hardwired for believe. And I actually would love to see real footage of a mammoth grazing in Siberia. I am a cryptozoology enthusiast myself, but I know chances of mammoth still being around are remote at best.

The video above is not even fun to watch. It is really depressing and anticlimactic.

And to round this rather sad entry up, here is a beautiful depiction of a herd of Wooly Mammoths by Mauricio Antón.

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One specialist who is usually not found among these highly paid people with a low life expectancy is a personal style advisor.

Well, there is now help for the mad scientist of world and taste, since none other than the famed Simon Doonan himself has the following tips of what to wear if you want to be a well-dressed Mad Scientist in the workplace:

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Tana Creatures takes parts from industrial machinery and industrial processes and recycles them to create machinery producing music in surprising and wonderful ways.

In their own words:

Our lab gave birth to both l’Océan and Esperimento Pirofonia musical machines. Within the last 10 years, we’ve designed, developed and built machines working with water, air and fire: Those machines are the performance core along with bass guitar, mixer and computer effects.

As mentioned above, Tana Creatures cooperates with Esperimento  Pirofonia, the project has a Myspace Page (curiously enough…), their machines have also been used in the productions of Nuke Satori Banzai. The range of music employing Steampunk elements has just gotten broader again.

The sound-mechanical instalations of Tana Creatures in acion look and sound like this:

And this is a still from one of their performances:

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After a little browsing I found a suitable and due to winter sale  reasonably priced pair of boots:

Which I purchased. When they arrived I was most please, not only with the boot but also with the logo, which is this:

This rather interesting logo incited me to visit their website. Now I have to warn you, the site is very modern, very hip, very trendy and I find it quite appaling. Their collection is also rather modern and hip, but… and this is a rather big but, a

BUT

so to speak. There are quite a few shoes and boots compatible with the wardrobe of a gentleman of the Steampunk or Dieselpunk persuasion, and not only the boot pictured above.

Since I need another replacement come warmer weather, I know for which exact model I have to look and I know where to find it.

Quite fortunate I stumbled upon this particular brand of boots and shoes, I think.

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Now is this one epic piece of a teaser-video or what? Not only is it Steampunk, no, there is a Cthulhu Cultist on board!

Let us hope and pray to the Great Old Ones  Dirigible Days takes off. I have already signaled my extreme interest in supporting the project, since I am a Steampunk and Cthulhu Cultist.

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Another one of these things I found on the web.

Its path has been so winded, I could not find the artist who created it.

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