Japan to Beam Energy Down to Earth From Space in First Real Test of Orbital Power Transmission

While no launch date has been announced, the plan is still to launch a washing machine sized object into space. This device will collect the suns rays and then beam the energy that is collected down to an earth station using microwaves.  Then, this microwave energy will be used to provide power, like a power station. 

So it quite literally is beaming energy from space. Something Arthur C Clarke had hypothesized about more than 50 years ago. 

How cool!

https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/10/japan-to-beam-energy-down-to-earth-from-space-in-first-real-test-of-orbital-power-transmission/

Watch "What Happened to Walt Disney’s Weird Cinema Lens?" on YouTube

This is a well thought out story about the CinemaScope lens - the same one that Walt Disney used while filming 20,000 leagues under the sea. 

Your host not only tells the story, he got his hands on a lens, and was able to test it out … and in short it was amazing!

This story covers cinematic history in a fun way. It's worth 15 minutes of your time. 

https://youtu.be/Vg0ftclnwzI?si=iVGGyhdeU5k8T8Co

Wireless EV Charging Inches Closer as Breakthroughs Emerge - Autoblog

Here's an article about how different companies are taking on the idea of wireless ev charging - and how they're having great success in their laboratory environments. 

Now the real test will come in deploying it to the real world and ensuring cars manage to connect to them "right" or if somehow the devices can adjust to the receiver. 

But it is another cool leap forward. 

Imagine charging without having to plug in, in under 20 minutes. 

https://www.autoblog.com/news/wireless-ev-charging-inches-closer-as-breakthroughs-emerge

Soarin’ Round 2

I had a weird notion to restart a quest to top the soarin' game again 

So I started writing some code. And this time, I decided to capture the questions and answers in a database and use that to help up the percentage of correct answers. 

The game is "quirky" in the way it works, and there is some weird spacing that happens on some questions, but not others. 

So I had to write some additional functions to account for that. 

And the early results are good. It didn't take me long to get to a million and a half points. 

But with the top being at 13.6 million, it'll take some time to catch up; and no telling if that person will start playing as I catch up. 

well there's that

Maybe its just me, but calling it the "free state of Florida" is funny.  Florida was most definitely a slave state in the antebellum period.  

And while its nice that the gub-nor setup a commission (with our taxpayer dollars) to honor America's history, the results are kind of what you'd expect.  A lot of "history" distilled down to a sentence or two, with no hint of context, or any details.  And its very whitewashed.

For example, they note that Chief Osceola was the Indian chief known for his tactics in the second Seminole war, as he tried to protect his land; he was captured by trickery.  But they of course note the western name he was born with, and give no hint that the tribes were being brutally attacked and driven into reservations, so that settlers could move in ... And its done that way intentionally,

How about if we embrace actual history and move on?

  

Come on man!

As if we needed to have more to generally be concerned about, right on cue T-rump conducts several "bits of business" this week that are worth noting.

First, he quite literally is stealing from the treasury.  He wants to be repaid for legal fees in the suits brought against him by the government, which he lost.  

Second, he is offering a sort of financial bailout of the country of Argentina (mainly because the guy he backed won an election), while at home railing about helping actual Americans.

Third, there's a story about him offering for Qatar to build a military base here in the US.  I'll admit its confusing and there are many questions about what is really going on here, but quite clearly the US is allowing a foreign nation to create a military presence here in America.

And finally is this bosheet about the White House, and him treating it like his property.  He wanted to expand the ballroom (ostensibly so he can host wrasslin and fights for his amusement). Congress said "probably not, but you have to wait for us to approve any changes" - and so he proceeded to collect private donations from unknown parties and then just started demolition, without any sort of review.  

There are many, many issues with that last one, not the least of which is that the presidential emergency operations center was under the demolished portion.  But the sycophants do what they always do - and just wait in line to kiss the ring (or more appropriately to stick their noses up his bulbous arse)

Fun way to watch a game.

Games 3A and 3B of the World Series happened last night … and early this morning. 

I say it was two games(ish) because it went to nine (!!) extra innings!

Ohtani had tied it up, late, and it was clear they were going to extras. 

I wasn't *that interested* And was tired, so I went to bed….

I woke up at around 2am ET, and wondered how it went… 

It was still going on! 

I wondered if I could find a little play-by-play?

…I wound up finding a "reaction video" on YouTube.  The guy was doing a sort of play by play, while showing this real time video game view. It was wild, but really cool.

I know I've seen this with large companies doing this sort of thing for events (espn for football games, and whichever network for the Australian open tennis), but just some random guy doing it was crazy. I wonder how he managed to pull it off. 

It was a computer generated video game view of the game.