New Sikorski Layer?

I give you, the Titan Missile Silo.

Think or Thwim

Armadillos

Seems to be common to the regions our various contributors inhabit (except maybe Feshy, do you have these little armored road kill up there?) . A work discussion about them has brought me to some interesting facts (some I'd heard but never seen, some I'd never heard of).

1: They can carry leprosy. Their relatively cool core temperature (~93f) is a good breeding ground for the bacteria.
2: They give birth in the form of a monozygotic quadruplets. Four genetically identical 'dillo pups. This makes them useful for genetic studies. Essential even- since they are the only mammel that reliably does this.
3: They are made into insturments in some parts of the world. I find this disturbing for some reason.
4: They can curl up in to a little ball. I've never actually seen this, and this may not be something our brand of 'dillos can do. Ours apparently just jump up in the air, as though they did not care.
5: Overlapping scales are called "Scutes."
6: They can hold their breath for more than six minutes, and are not boyant unless they intentionally inflate themselves. When they do, they can double in size.
7: Dongle is good at sneaking up on them, but has yet to actually grab their tail. Which seems like a great idea.

An Engineer's Guide to Drinks: Martini

This lovely graphic (which I think we should have printed in cyanotype and strung on the wall of the TS Lair) has caused a little bit of a stir (miserable pun intended).

It seems Martinis are a controversial item, and being that we've got at least a couple of alcohol snobs in the set I figured it was high time we roll out the educated answers right here on Team Sikorski.

"Introduce the Gin to vermouth from across the room, and then put in an olive." -Churchill

It seems to me that most people want a cocktail glass of gin, but they want to call it a martini. A martini is, classically, between 2:1 and 5:1 gin to vermouth (sweet or dry, depending on your origin) with either an olive or a lemon peel twist. The gin should be cold, the ice should be minimal, and it should almost certainly not be shaken, but stirred carefully.

*ghasp* But wait! What about (fill in the blank)!

Before you get your knickers all a'ruffle, let me explain what you've probably been drinking. And note there's really nothing wrong with any of these drinks, only that calling them a "martini" is not technically correct.

"Vodka Martini:"
Made famous by the early days of Bond, and most likely the reason anyone knows about this drink at all. When substituting Vodka for Gin the drink becomes a "Kangaroo." Gin and Vodka are produced in very similar manners, except that Gin traditionally is distilled using juniper. Various kinds of gin can take on a strong juniper flavor (Tanqueray, Bombay, etc) or have a hint of cucumber (Hendrick's, NewAmsterdam, etc). Similar alcohols, but different noses to them. Vodka is distilled grain or vegetable starches.

"Shaken, not stirred:"
Also made famous by Bond, this process chips up ice which is then dissolved in to the vermouth. This is called "bruising," which has little to do with actually damaging the vermouth, but that it weakens its flavor (unlike whiskey, but that's for another post). A slurry of ice chips in a gin/vermouth drink is called a "Bradford." Our proper bartender friend explained to us over New Years that a five star martini is one which is produced without clinking the ice against the mixer, spoon, or each other.

So the venerable JB was drinking a Bradford Kangaroo. Which is fine, he's still The Man. And good luck explaining to a typical O-Town bartender what a Bradford Kangaroo is.

"Appletini, Pineappletini, etc:"
Since most of these are made with Vodka and crushed ice, well, you get the idea. I detest these not because they are bad drinks, but because they are simply cocktails, served in a cocktail glass, which happens to be the same glass a martini is usually served in. It makes it more complicated to order martinis proper. A cup does not a martini make. A perfect martini served in a mason jar is still a perfect martini. Not a mason jar.

Onion:
Most people know this one, but I've heard at least one person order "a gin martini with a bit of onion." This is called a Gibson, as in Charles Dana Gibson, not Debbie "Foolish Beat" Gibson.

Dirty Martini:
Not in quotes. As in this is still a proper martini, because it's Gin, Vermouth, and Olive. It just has some olive brine poured over.

So it's Martini night tonight, alright?

Competition with the Mayan calendar

Even in 150 B.C., the europeans were building far superior technology to those of the Americas.

Arguably the first computer

Wat?

...does it make them go down easier?

Wikipedia is ok, but...

Smugopedia has some style. I mean it's still overrated, but at least it's trying.

DIY Quadrocopter using an Arduino

Heres a link to the build. http://quaduino.org/ So... when do we start?

Cold Weather Shenanigans

So it doesn't get to freezing temperatures in Florida often. When it does, we feel the need to do things like this: freeze the beater honda in a block of ice

Music Video

Whats really cool about this is that he only has two cuts.

Who needs reality?

Watch in HD Fullscreen

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.