Bored with your GPS? NavTones just released “Celebrity Voice Packs” for the TomTom navigation device, including Mr. T. You heard me: Mr. T can now give you driving directions. What’s not to love about THAT?

Listen to the voice sample, fool!

In 1936, Alan Turing conceived of a machine that helped lay the groundwork for modern computing. These extremely simple machines, dubbed Turing machines, are in theory able to simulate the logic of any known computer that can possibly be constructed. While Turing originally conceived of his machine only as a thought exercise and never constructed it, it is possible to build and program a simple version of Turing’s computer for only a few dollars worth of basic office supplies.

This is a fun afternoon project for all ages, and a great way to introduce both kids and adults to the fundamentals of computer programming.

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This is one of my favorite government publications ever: Distinguishing Bolts from Screws. Sure, for most bolts and screws it’s pretty easy–or is it?–but for all of the specialty fasteners in-between, the difference can get a bit hazy. Why does it matter, you ask? Apparently, they are subject to different import tariffs! Ouch. The poor engineers who have to deal with design changes because of this. And people wonder why it costs so much money to design a car or anything else.

My second-favorite government publication: Suspicious Activity Report-Casinos and Card Clubs. Casinos can use this Internal Revenue Service form to report customers who they believe might be a terrorist. I understand reporting this to the police or the FBI… but the IRS?

I guess we all know who wields the real power. 🙂 Yes, yes, in truth I can think of good reasons to do this… if someone ended up extorting money from me, I guess it seems there should be some kind of tax implication. And after all, it was the IRS that did in Al Capone. But still, it wasn’t a form I would have thought of! How on earth do people ever find these things come tax time?

Click for larger view, or download the high-res image.

This image is hybrid 2D\3D. The underlying female form is a 3D mesh, but the hair and other details were added later in 2D.

The AC3D “sculpted prim” exporter for Second Life has some unique capabilities versus other sculpt map exporters; it is one of the very few that is capable of exporting an arbitrary polygonal model. While not all models are good candidates to become sculpties due to limitations of the sculpted prim format, a surprising number of models can be converted quite well–including many pre-existing models that were never designed for Second Life.

This tutorial provides a quick walk-through on how to setup a pre-existing model for import into Second Life using AC3D.

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