The Washington Post made a recap of Star Wars in the style of Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War. But YouTuber OneNerdShow already had the exact same idea and he executed it way better too.
via The Awesomer
The Galactic Civil War

OS X: NetSpot is a free utility that makes it easy to map out your wireless network, do a site survey if you have a particularly large one to manage, and to visualize where signal is strong and weak, and what might be getting in the way.

We’ve mentioned NetSpot before, but the app has come a long way since then. For one, the app fully supports Wireless AC routers and access points, makes it easy to manage those access points if you want, and includes a channel and strength analyzer that can run in the background. One click and you can see how strong your network is, and watch it in real time as you move across your house or apartment, or between rooms.

The app also builds a live heatmap of your network (or the network you’re connected to—you don’t have to use it on yours, obviously) so you can see the strong and weak points, ideal if you’re somewhere where the network is spotty, or you can’t pinpoint where the access points are physically located, but you are free to move around. You also get built-in speed tests, support for multiple networks so you can see how your Wi-Fi and your neighbor’s overlap (and if there’s channel interference), and more.

NetSpot is completely free, but there are professional versions with more features for network administrators or companies looking to outfit their admins with solid survey tools. You can read the differences here, but the free version will be fine for most people. Hit the link below to check it out.

NetSpot

via Lifehacker
NetSpot Maps Your Wi-Fi Network and Diagnoses Signal Problems for Free

via Dilbert
Dilbert 2015-12-20

The science of rainbows: it’s something we’re all taught in grade school. Airborne water droplets act like little prisms, bending and splitting light. Mix enough water and sunshine, and you get a brilliant bow of color.

The reality is quite a bit more complicated.

Some rainbows have a second, inverted bow, caused by the reflection of light off the primary. Occasionally, we’ll see a darker band of sky between the two arcs. Sometimes, we even witness bright fringes—so called “supernumerary bows”—on the top and bottom of the rainbow.

And when the sun draws low in the sky, rainbows start to lose colors. As light travels a longer distance through the atmosphere to reach our eyes, the shorter wavelengths get scattered away. Eventually, we’re left with nothing but a lovely red smear.

A brilliant double rainbow after a rainstorm. Image via Peggy/Flickr

For decades, rainbows have been classified in textbooks based on the average size of their water droplets. But water droplet size alone can’t explain the diversity of rainbows we see in nature.

By sorting hundreds of pictures of rainbows based on the visibility of the six colors and the presence of accessory bands, a team of atmospheric scientists has now come up with 12 different classes—including a rainbow that lacks green, a red-and-blue rainbow, a yellow and orange/red rainbow, and a monochromatic red. They presented their findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting this week.

So, if you’re ever lucky enough to spot a strange, partially-colored rainbow, there’s now a classification scheme that’ll tell you exactly what’s going on. Diffuse red rainbows, for instance, only occur near sunrise or sunset, when the sky is filled with tiny water droplets.

As with many other natural phenomena, the truth about rainbows is turning out to be far more beautiful than we imagined.

[National Geographic]

[Science News]

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Follow the author @themadstone

Top: Rainbow at sunset, via Steve Jurvetson / Flickr

via Gizmodo
There Are Twelve Different Kinds of Rainbows

In Karl Taylor’s last video, he encounters a troubling client just in time for the premiere of The Force Awakens. Copyright/DMCA Notice: The RSS entry was originally published on Photography Bay. RSSID#794326
via Photography Bay
Darth Vader – The Photographers’ WORST Client!

Everyone from Family Guy to Robot Chicken, from Saturday Night Live to independent filmmakers have all skewered Star Wars to great comedic effect. Out of the literally hundreds of parodies out there, these are our faves:

Shorter Bits:

Lando Learns Never to Make a Deal with Darth Vader

Princess Leia Attempts to Record Video Plea for Help

Star Wars Toy Commercial

Death Star Napkin Design Sketch

Kevin Spacey Playing Christopher Walken Blowing the Han Solo Audition

Death Star Architectural Standards Not Up to Code

Emperor Gets the Phone Call After Death Star Destruction

Kevin Spacey Playing Jack Lemmon Auditioning for Chewbacca

"The Force Awakens" Auditions

Longer Bits:

George Lucas in Love (i.e. The True Inspirations for Star Wars)

"Troops" ("Cops" Parody)

Auralnauts: Kenobi Visits Kamino, Part 1 – "Larry"

Auralnauts: Kenobi Visits Kamino, Part 2 – Bass Wars

Excerpt from Clerks: "Death Star Contractors"

Got any favorites that we missed? (I’m sure we’ve overlooked a bunch in the Robot Chicken library alone.) If you’ve got a good one, please link to it in the comments!

via Core77
The Funniest Star Wars Parodies of All Time

Guns Save Life, Inc. has filed suit against Cook County’s blatantly unconstitutional new ammunition tax, and along with that, the recently passed firearms tax in Guns Save Life v. Ali. The suit relies in part on the United States … Read More

The post Guns Save Life Sues Cook County Over Ammunition, Gun Taxes appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

via The Truth About Guns
Guns Save Life Sues Cook County Over Ammunition, Gun Taxes

Today’s forecast calls for Star Wars. But I don’t have to tell you that. You’re living it. Star Wars fever is at an all-time high. Be careful not to get spoiled people. Anyway, meteorologist and awesome pun-maker…
via MightyMega
The Weather Today: Star Wars. Nothing but Star Wars…

via kottke.org
Angry blacksmith takes on 9/11 truthers