Moon Landing Denial: Out of This World

Yesterday was Moon Day, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 14 moon landing. As someone that has always been intently interested in space, I took some time to research the event through various resources. As with any humanity-changing event, the detractors have taken it upon themselves to naysay the US exploration of the moon and proposed some rather elaborate conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good conspiracy theory. The Di Vinci Code had me looking at the Pope with a raised eyebrow. These are the same types of people that believe the attacks on 9/11 were orchestrated by the government, AIDS is a man-made disease, and Scientologists & Jews run Hollywood. Its these types of shaky premises that make a good story, but offer little foundation.

Moon Day has help tame some of the rumors started by the moon landing deniers with new photos showing the original moon lander and the astronaut footprints on the surface of the moon. While this evidence certainly won’t convince a denier of the scientific truth, its a validation to those of us that want the evidence. The new satellite images come to us as a result of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, which launched on 18 June. LRO’s mission is to photograph the moon to scout for future mission sites. So far, LRO has located five of the six Apollo missions that landed on the moon’s surface. read more

Who do we blame for Auto-Tune?

A lot of complaining has been going on over the use of Auto-Tune in popular music. Auto-Tune is software that corrects the pitch of a sound wave digitally. It has been use by many popular singers including Madonna, Rascal Flatts, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Kanye West and countless other top-40 pop singers. It came to the forefront this year when rapper Jay-Z released his newest single, “DOA (Death of Autotune),” which proclaims the practice of using Auto-Tune is gimmick. Rappers such as T-Pain have become the poster child for the technology, utilizing the correction technique for all of his songs. Are rappers of the future supposed to sound like robots?

So who is to blame for all this Auto-Tune drama? The inventor of the proprietary software, Andy Hildebrand, takes pride in his creation as he give a reporter at PBS’s NOVA a full demonstration (see above video). Don’t blame Andy for the sudden Auto-Tune abuse though. He points the finger at Cher, who let the secret out with her song Believe. Since 1996, the software has been in use to correct certain words within songs. As the video highlights, Hildebrand’s software was initially intended for more subtle pitch adjustments. As the reporter points out, Auto-Tune is simply “Photoshop for audio.”  read more

We Built This City…On Cardstock

Godzilla taught us much about rage, kindness, and the need for a good urban planner. Who hasn’t wanted to stomp their own city after a bad day? Rather than destroying billions in municipal infrastructure, you can now topple an entire skyline by building it yourself, out of paper. For the cost of a few sheets of paper, an Xacto knife and your time, you can create New York or Chicago in miniature.

Wurlington Brothers Press for offering free downloadable papercraft model kits of several major landmarks of New York City and Chicago. Want a mini-John Handcock Tower for your desk? Done. Re-create Times Square? Its your ink cartridge…go nuts. read more

The Dirty Have Risen and Transformed Into Consumers

I know I usually talk about food so…I like movie popcorn. I do NOT like the new weird Skittles. There—done with that. Now on to what’s really irking me today.

I feel dirty, and not the good kind of dirty. I’m feeing the kind of dirty that comes from being tricked into watching a two-and-a-half-hour commercial and liking it. Yep, you probably all ready know where this is going. I went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I love it. Who doesn’t enjoy fighting, transforming giant robots shrouded in over the top, amazing special effects? Don’t look at me, because the inner nerd sings majestic when Optimus Prime puts his fist all the way through another robot’s face.

There was a scene where jets are taking off from a Navy carrier and soldiers are working their high-tech radar stations and I’m thinking, “Wow! That looks like an awesome job.” Inside my head, a little warning is going off—the one that goes off when I’m at the check-out counter picking up all the impulse items. I NEED an extra memory card, toothbrush, bug spray and mascara. I NEED to join the Navy, Air Force, Special Forces and….no I don’t. Try and tell me that isn’t an advertisement for the military. It totally is, and I’m not sure I care. read more