This is Kjell Lindgren. He’s a NASA astronaut who just got back from 5 months on the International Space Station. There are two reasons why this picture is hilarious:
His wife is flawless and makes bad space puns to make him do household chores.
I have that shirt. Thousands of people have that shirt. That shirt is available at Target. Which means actual astronaut Kjell Lindgren, with his wardrobe already full of NASA-issued and logo-emblazoned clothes, was at Target, saw a NASA shirt, and was like, “Yes, I am buying this because this is what I want to spend my actual astronaut salary on.”
tl;dr NASA employs a bunch of fucking nerds
It gets better.
Courtesy of Wikipedia, here’s the poster NASA released for his mission to the ISS:
NASA confirmed for a bunch of fucking nerds
*wipes single tear*
They’re just too beautiful.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.
NASA personnel are, like, the top nerds. The alpha nerds. The absolute nerdiest nerds. The nerds other nerds look to for nerdspiration.
Today the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders is 4000 under the sea off the coat of Baja California enjoying the spectacular display of deep sea fireworks that is a Halitrephes maasi jellyfish swimming past the camera aboard the ROV Hercules operated by the E/V Nautilus crew.
We’re starting this year with deep sea fireworks, and a spirit of exploration! When something remarkable floats by in the middle of sampling operations, our team quickly switches gears to marvel and document.
The frilled tentacles of the Halitrephes maasi jelly came into view at 1225m in the Revillagigedo Archipelago off Baja California, Mexico. Radial canals that move nutrients through the jelly’s bell form a starburst pattern that reflects the lights of ROV Hercules with bright splashes of yellow and pink–but without our lights this gelatinous beauty drifts unseen in the dark.
How I Teach Men Not To Talk Over Me: from one feminist to another, when basic respect is lagging and conversations are impossible
I’ve done this to several men, and they catch on rather quickly. You’ll be able to have a conversation right then and there, and it works long term too – they might’ve forgot their manners by the time you talk to them again, but by repeating this, they’ll eventually learn to let you talk without you having to do this at the start of every convo. Source: I have a very stubborn older brother, who eventually learned too.
1. When they interrupt you, stop talking. Don’t try to raise your voice or battle them. Be completely quiet and wait.
2. Ignore everythingthey’re saying. Do not actually listen – just wait until they shut up. Don’t make a point of anything they say, do not answer to anything they say, do not refer to anything they say here. Literally do not listen a single word. Let them rant as long as they want.
3. When they finally shut up and wait for your reaction, say: ”I wasn’t done talking.”
4. Start over whatever you were saying when they interrupted you. I don’t care if it was a 10-minute explanation of rocket science. Start. Over. Repeat you original thought, but do not add anything related to what they just said while talking over you. That gives them the idea that it’s okay to interrupt you, you’ll still listen and pay attention and they’ll get their point clear without having to listen to yours. (It’s especially funny when you get done and they expect you to keep going talking about whatever they talked over you. The face when it sinks in that you didn’t listen a single word is glorious.)
5. If they interrupt you again, return to step 1. If you find yourself repeating the cycle over 3 times, tell them: ”you’re not letting me speak. Either you listen and wait for your turn, or our conversation ends here.” If they try to make excuses, laugh it off or keep interrupting, end the conversation. Prove them that if they wont let you speak, they’re not worth your time.
Why does this work? First, because sometimes talking over is internalized and men don’t actually notice they’re doing it. Being vocally called out makes them realize it and pay attention to it – especially if it happens more than once. Secondly, by refusing to aknowledge anything they say when they interrupt you, they’ll soon realize they will not get their own point across if they keep doing that. Peoole and especially men have the need to be heard and paid attention to when they talk – when you make it clear that by talking over you, they will not have your attention, they’ll learn to wait until you’re done, because they know that’s when you will be paying attention and actually listening.
Go my darlings. Have some actual conversations where your point of view is just as valid as his. Demand the basic respect of being heard. You can actually have some interesting conversations with men when they’re forced to listen too, when being louder is not going to make them feel like they’re dominating the conversation or winning the argument.
… I am not entirely sure what just happened. Exploding balls of men with shields catapulting from palm trees. A man just sliding around this invasion on his shield, then Captain America-ing like 10 dudes with it.
Bollywood effects departments are having way too much fun.
Ok…like…No. Those would very quickly be exploding balls of dead or badly broken, nearly dead dudes. But I’d still watch this awesome shit all day.
Also, fierce dude is hot.
Lucky for you, both parts are on Netflix, complete with captions. And while that’s part of the final fight sequence to the second movie, it’s not the only fantastic one, and they are fantastic. Not just the CGI (and I’ve seen movies with twice the budget that couldn’t match the CGI), but having a cast full of professional dancers doing archery and sword fighting and all these acrobatics? Oh and the music is hellishly catchy, I may start randomly humming the Mahishmati theme all the time.
(Fierce dude is Prabhas, he plays Shivudu/Baahubali)
There are some gorgeous shots in both movies (the framing, the lighting, hnnnn)
And there’s also Devasena, who is incredibly kick ass…
40% of Detroiters have no internet access. The Detroit Community Technology Project and similar projects across the city are skipping over the telcos altogether and wiring up their own mesh broadband networks, where gigabit connections are transmitted by line-of-site wireless across neighborhoods from the tops of tall buildings; it’s called the Equitable Internet Initiative.
This is possible in part because of the ubiquitous abandoned dark fiber, which runs under the streets of Detroit, as it does across many US cities, unused and dormant. The project relies on “digital stewards” who undergo a 20-week training program that teaches them to pull fiber, configure routers, and install and service microwave antennas, as well as teaching their communities to use the services delivered over the internet.
Each local mesh is designed to wire together a neighborhood on an intranet that would continue to function even in the event of internet outages, providing a resilient hub for organizing responses to extreme weather, natural disasters, and other crises.
Many of these stewards started out with little or no tech expertise, but after a 20-week-long training period, they’ve become experts able to install, troubleshoot, and maintain a network from end to end. They’re also aiming to spread digital literacy, so people can truly own the network themselves.
“We want to make sure that we’re not just installing all the equipment, but also educating the community,” said Rita Ramirez, one of the stewards working on the project in Detroit’s Southwest neighborhood.
One component the groups are most eager to build out is the intranet that will result from connecting so many homes (about 50 in each neighborhood) to a shared wireless connection. They are encouraging local residents to take advantage of that intranet and build shared tools like a forum and emergency communication network that is completely localized and secure.
In a city that is rebuilding after a decade of economic turmoil, the internet can no longer be a luxury for the wealthy. Detroit’s renaissance won’t happen without each of the city’s diverse communities having access to the basic tools of modern work, education, healthcare, and communication. All of Detroit (or, certainly, more than 60 percent) needs access to the internet and the current structure established by Big Telecom hasn’t made this an easy goal.
“Communication is a fundamental human right,” [Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project] said. “This is digital justice.”
while you were living under gender roles, i studied the blade
Men are on average more muscular than women and can wield heavier weapons more easily, so it’s a practical advantage for the woman to prefer the rapier and the man to prefer the longsword. Gender roles? I’d rather win than try to “rebel for rebellion’s sake” and lose.
surprise both swords were used in totally different time periods for totally different purposes and this is a joke post no one cares
Not to mention long sword vs. rapier. The rapier has more speed and precision then the long sword. The long sword is crazy heavy for a hand held weapon and would quickly die.
Several Of The Above Points Are Shit-Wrong And I’m Going To Tell You Why: A Point By Point Dissection By Me
Point 1: “Both swords were used in totally different time periods for totally different purposes.”
Partially right. A rapier is indeed suited to a different fighting style than a longsword. The slender, blade with a highly developed tip makes the rapier an amazing thrusting weapon, designed to pierce through the holes in chainmail or the seams between plates. They can be used to cut, but their primary focus is to thrust. A longsword, however, has a much thicker and heavier blade as well as a longer hilt that gives it the ability to be wielded in one OR two hands (it’s often referred to as a ‘hand-and-a-half’ sword because of this) enabling it the leverage and strength to cut (or bash, but that’s far less ideal as it could damage the blade) far more easily.
Rapier:
Longsword:
HOWEVER, there was at the very least a large period of overlap in the uses of longswords and rapiers. The difference in their utility (besides cutting vs thrusting, the longsword was largely a military weapon and the rapier was largely a civilian weapon and for dueling) saw to it that they could coexist. The longsword as we know it has been found to date back at least to the 14th century, if not earlier and was used in sporting duels and tournaments up until the 16th if not the 17th century (though its military use ended long before its sport use did). The rapier was first created (or at least first recognized by scholars as being created) around 1500 in Spain. Even if we take only the centuries during which they saw the most use (longsword = 14th-16th cent. and rapier = 16th-17th cent.) there was still a whole century of overlap.
Point 2: Rapiers are lighter than Longswords (and also the point that longswords are “crazy heavy for a hand-held weapon”).
This is wrong. Rapiers are, on average, around 2-ish lbs (1kg). Longswords are also, on average, around 2-ish lbs (1kg). This is for your STANDARD LONGSWORD, a hand-and-a-half sword that can comfortably be wielded in either one or two hands. Of course, both can reach higher or lower weights, but the top of the weight range for them tends to be around 4 lbs. The heavy fuckers you’re probably referring to are true 2-handed swords, such as the montante or the zweihander. Even then, they don’t get too much above 7 or 8 lbs. You know what weighs around 7 or 8 lbs usually? Most newborn babies.
(in order top to bottom: a 1-handed sword, a longsword, a montante)
For reference, other hand-held weapons? Shotguns run between 5 and 8 or more lbs. An M60 machine gun? Around 23 lbs. Handguns are between 2-4 lbs.
So yes, a longsword is heavy…when you’re comparing it to, like, a knife or to not wielding anything.
That’s a video-game-ism so that 1) you don’t feel like shit when you get wrecked by an opponent wielding a fuck-off huge sword and 2) they don’t have to program in proper form, technique, and handling of said sword.
Point 4: “Women can’t wield longswords.”
Really now?
(Have some more videos because tumblr won’t let me embed any more.)
Longswords just aren’t that heavy. They really are not. A good one balances in the hand and feels almost effortless to hold. They are a real pleasure to handle and I think everyone should get the chance to do so at least once just to understand what I mean.
Shitty wallhangers are fuckoff heavy, but that’s because they are made from crappy materials, are not properly shaped/tapered, are too thick, are poorly balanced so they feel even heavier than they are, and were never actually intended to be *used*.
Now, within the modern field of western martial arts women are often pushed towards rapier and subtly discouraged from longsword. The weight and strength issue is raised, and there is concern from their male opponents about women getting hurt–rapier thrusts tend to land softer because the blade flexes, while longsword cuts tend to leave more bruising and risk more damage, especially in organizations that have very different rules for rapier and longsword.
But as a woman who was pushed into rapier and smallsword for a decade before discovering that longsword was her true passion, I am glad to see people disputing this gender divide.
Hearseeno 