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Video: Arm Chair Reaches 98,268 Feet in New Toshiba Commercial
First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's

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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
11/16/09

In reply to Video: Arm Chair Reaches 98,268 Feet in New Toshiba Commercial
Wow, something on this page is causing 50% cpu utilization non-stop as soon as it loads.

If I close it, all is good. But starting this particular page blows. #toshibaspacechair
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Kakkoii
11/16/09

@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: Use Firefox. If you do, then update it and adobe flash. #toshibaspacechair
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
11/16/09

@Kakkoii: I'm using Firefox, and Flash is updated. It was specifically something either with the video or the ad that was showing. WHatever it was, when I closed this page, utilization dropped back to nothing. #toshibaspacechair
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/16/09

In reply to Video: Arm Chair Reaches 98,268 Feet in New Toshiba Commercial
So it cost like $3,000 to make a chair to destroy? I'm just trying to figure out what they would say to someone who may have been hit by this:

My husband was hit in the head by your falling chair and is now dead!

Yeah, but did you see the commercial? #toshibaspacechair
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fsusmithc2
11/16/09

@GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked: Also, the chair was a prop, made out of balsa. Not exactly oak we're talking about here. #toshibaspacechair
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/16/09

@fsusmithc2: I know it was balsa. It was listed right before the price. #toshibaspacechair
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fsusmithc2
11/16/09

@GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked: I just figured a few scraps of balsa gently floating to the ground wouldn't kill a man but hey, stranger things have happened right? #toshibaspacechair
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Frisky Unicorns
11/16/09

@fsusmithc2: Well, if the thing weighed about 4 pounds, and terminal velocity was 50 m/s, the force would be 90 newtons. 21 pounds of force. That would hurt. Probably wouldn't kill though.

Am I right? I am not an arithmetist. I work with people here. #toshibaspacechair
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The Lab
11/16/09

@Frisky Unicorns: How did you calculate the terminal velocity? You'd need to know the wind resistance. Are you just using some common value of terminal velocity, because something with a large size to weight ratio like this would have a much lower terminal velocity. #toshibaspacechair
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Navin R Johnson
11/16/09

@GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked: Maybe the chair wouldn't have hurt anyone but what about the two cameras? #toshibaspacechair
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Frisky Unicorns
11/23/09

@The Lab: I went the common value route. I used a slightly lower terminal velocity than that of a human skydiver, arms and legs spread. I also googled around for some other values, and found that close to 50 m/s seemed a good guess.

#tips
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Serolf Divad
11/16/09

In reply to Video: Arm Chair Reaches 98,268 Feet in New Toshiba Commercial
4lbs, including the3 camera? Wow... that's almost the most impressive part of this.

I wonder how much time ti would take a person to make the same fall? #toshibaspacechair
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/16/09

@Serolf Divad: Depends on what body position they took. But in the beginning, they would be both be falling at the same rate. #toshibaspacechair
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SundaySunday
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
I'm picturing the schoolyard on launch day. The group of boys lights off a Testors rocket with a He-Man duct taped to it which goes maybe 500 ft. up. The boys high five each other and start to snicker as the girls bring out the balloons and teddy bears.

"Teddy bears?!? Ha ha."

Later on: "19 miles?!! Wha???"
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admoseremic
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
Is this what would have happened without the space suit?

SFW.
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d_r_e
12/04/08

@admoseremic:

Probably so.
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Dolly
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
"If you haven't melted by now, you are not human."

It must be a bit frosty up in your neck of the woods. 19 miles, 62 miles, who cares? Have YOU ever sent a quartet of teddy bears that high? Seriously folks when I was that age I was chasing those girls around with sticks and pulling their hair.

I love love love the helmet made out of the bottom of a 16 oz. soda bottle.
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d_r_e
12/04/08

@Dolly:

I laughed at the helmet too! Sooooo cute.
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Curves
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
Awww.... I think this is a great way to get kids, especially girls, interested in science and space. That and its just cute as dickens.
(No, I dont know what that means, its some Palinism and seemed to fit.)
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Ibelieveinsandwitches
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
I just can't believe that they are still killing animals in space tests!

From Laika to these four poor bears. When will the bloodshed and senseless slaughter end!
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weatherman
12/04/08

@Ibelieveinsandwitches: if you look closely you can see that at least one of the bears is wearing a protective helmet that appears to be made out of the bottom of a soda bottle. I'm pretty sure at least that one survived.
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92BuickLeSabre
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
I like beer, spiders, and teddy bears as much as the next guy.

But seriously, have they already done everything else there is to do?

Are they just sitting up there thinking things like....

"Huh, what next? Let's see, what about cooked carrots?"

"Cooked carrots?"

"In space!"

"Ooooooh. Cooked carrots in space?!? Genius!"

This is not the way to convince me that we need to continue providing "sufficient" funding to NASA.
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92BuickLeSabre
12/04/08

@92BuickLeSabre: And yes, I am aware this wasn't NASA. But if this is what's going on up at the ISS, then the snark still stands.
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Bueller
12/04/08

@92BuickLeSabre: *hands a cup of coffee* FTA: "reaching the 19 miles high mark powered by a latex weather ballon made by the Space Flight club at Cambridge University. They were wearing special suits made by school children"
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92BuickLeSabre
12/04/08

@Bueller: Aaaah. I know. I read it. I don't care. I'm tired of stupid stuff in space.

Aaaarrrgghhh!

(And you're right, I haven't had my coffee yet - and only half a cigarette. Aaaarrrgh!)
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Shnyzx
12/04/08

In reply to First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space
Not technically space, but damnit if we can't kill some inanimate teddy bears without proper breathing apperatii!
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bbfreak
12/04/08

@Shnyzx: Agreed, 19 miles up? Space? 62 miles up or you can't even talk about space and even then its meh. Which again is why Spaceshipone/Spaceshiptwo are at best only a good start and why rockets are the only ticket to the ISS & beyond.
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d_r_e
12/04/08

@bbfreak:

Have you guys ever sent anything up 19 miles into the air?

Yeah, didn't think so.
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frigg
12/01/08

In reply to Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's
The shots are beautiful and what this guy achieved is amazing. But you can't really compare the beauty of these shots to what NASA captures with Hubble. The images taken by Hubble are just the tip of a science juggernaut. The data that's generated by "big science" reveals insights into the universe beyond beautiful wallpapers. For example, Hubble can capture images from the nascent universe shortly after the Big Bang. Not sure how far back in time you can go from your backyard.
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Sora57 is rendering
11/30/08

In reply to Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's
My cat wears that galaxy on the top right on his collar. Seriously, though, all images from nasa missions are photoshopped/manipulated in some way or another. Composites of many photos with enhanced colorization, etc. Tough to tell what you would REALLY see out your window if you were flying around up there. Maybe a toolbox from the latest shuttle mission?
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UberDuper
11/30/08

@Sora57:

These images are pretty much what you would see if you were capable of seeing these objects with the naked eye. The H9C is a "one shot color" camera. Basically a standard bayer filter CCD like what you'd find in a prosumer digital camera.

In fact, if you took a 15 minute exposure of Pleiades (the one with all the blue stars) using a Canon XTi with a 600mm lens you'd get similar results, tho extremely noisy and less detailed. It takes many more exposures and processing to bring out the wisps and the detail of the above photo.

In most cases, Photoshop is just used to adjust luminance, saturation or color balance when it needs to be corrected. Sometimes it's used to tighten stars or add those pretty star bursts (not on these photos tho). Sometimes it's used to do a layered image when you have a really bright object next to a dim one and you can't get the dim one without blowing out the bright one. Most photographers try to stay true to the original.

UD.
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Sora57 is rendering
12/01/08

@UberDuper: Thanks for the good info. I'm not suggesting anyone is creating material that is not there-- I do believe that that the photogs try to accurately present what is out there. It's just that with long exposures and color enhancing and layering photos to show dim objects otherwise hidden by bright objects, the naked eye would not see what these cameras and their processing are capable of displaying. And that's fine with me.
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enchanted goose
11/30/08

In reply to Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's
ok so basically the pictures are just photoshopped? okay back to hubble...
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Jesus Diaz
11/30/08

@enchantedgoose: can you read?

Do you think that Hubble's photographs are not post-processed.

Read. Learn. Comment.
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JDisnidiet
12/01/08

@Jesus Diaz: Learn English, then write.@antitrust311: Aw, isn't that precious. Lil' Antitrust struggled in another country. That's just so cute. Therefore, Jesus gets to write in pseudo-English, and he tries so hard. He obviously never heard of hiring a proof reader or using a spell check program. Nope, he's an immigrant and publishes his drivel on the internet. Therefore anything goes, and we should praise him. I think not - he is illiterate in at least one langauage, and if he wrote in Spanish, then we could check his work in that language.

I truly don't care what you do at work, as I don't have to read it in English or Japanese. And since you are a betting person, what can I say, but you lose.

Glad to hear Jesus is from Spain - I was concerned that Mexico shared a border with Blighty.

And, I shall continue to read and comment on Jesus' writing - at least for now, this is a free country.
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Gann
12/01/08

@JDisnidiet: The internet is a free country? Assuming that was just a poor analogy and you do not in fact believe that the internet is completely contained within America, allow me to point out that the freedom you enjoy is at the whim of the almighty banhammer. I would describe it more as a benevolent dictatorship than a "free country".
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JDisnidiet
12/01/08

@Gann: I was referring to the country in which I live. You know the one, where Al Gore invented the internet, before eating a planet, er, fighting global warming.

So bring on the banhammer, as you call it, if you think that would do any good. Even if I didn't point out the terrible writing that goes on here, I could still read it and know that it was bad. And keep defending Jesus - it endears you to the wise, literate and powerful, and we all know how they do so like toadies.
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Gann
12/01/08

@JDisnidiet: I suppose it wouldn't matter to you if I pointed out that nothing I said actually defended Jesus.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/30/08

In reply to Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's
Truly beautiful. I so want one.
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WEGGLES90
11/30/08

In reply to Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's
How long are these exposure times?
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max crabb
11/30/08

@WEGGLES90: I prefer not to use that old "let me google that for you" insult, so here's a wiki!

[en.wikipedia.org]

(And now I'm going to look up how to hot link in html!)
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IN THE FACE!
11/30/08

@max crabb: doing textbook HTML won't help you here, you have to do the normal html tags but not close them and move to a new line (i.e. no >). I only bother using HTML when I want to post a pic, doing it for links on this site is a PITA.
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Video: Arm Chair Reaches 98,268 Feet in New Toshiba Commercial

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