What do “The Jetsons” and “The Transformers” have in common? DARPA! USA Today reports that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking for ideas to develop a flying car, not unlike those seen on the 1960s cartoon show, the Jetsons. The project, dubbed “Transformer (TX),” which USA Today muses is reminiscent of the 1980s cartoon where robots morphed into vehicles and saved the day, will: Demonstrate a 1 to 4 person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the warfighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions as well as IED and ambush threats. The vehicle…
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It seemed like everybody lined up to honor Michael Jackson after his death this summer, and yesterday the Library of Congress bestowed its own posthumous accolade on the late singer: “Thriller” will be the first music video added to the National Film Registry. “Thriller” showed that music videos could be entertaining films in their own right — more than just a commercial for an album. The 14-minute film was directed by “Blues Brothers” auteur John Landis, featured narration by the awesomely creepy Vincent Price, and inspired prison dance troupes all over the world. Each year, the Library of Congress selects…
Attention NORAD Tracks Santa fans…Santa arrives at the North American Aerospace Defense Command tomorrow for his annual mission brief! NORAD will have video and a full report on its NORAD Tracks Santa site (WARNING: site plays music) and facebook page.
Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen was hard at work judging the first annual Commandant’s Chili Cookoff on Dec. 10. It was all for a deliciously good cause: raising funds for the National Capital Area Combined Federal Campaign, according to Allen’s blog. And from his comments there, it sounds like it was tough: However, as much as I tried, I couldn’t match the intensity of Command Master Chief [Petty Officer Steven] Cantrell who obviously has grasp of the intricacies of fine chili. Ultimately, Allen chose U.S. Army Col. Kevin Hawkins’ steaming batch of Airborne Ranger Chili as the “Commandant’s Choice.” Hawkins’…
I have to take my hat off to FedLine commenter “Still another NRC engineer,” who just posted what may be the best comment in our blog’s thirteen-month history: A Poison parody called “Talk Nerdy To Me.” This was his response to the heated discussion sparked last week on our blog post “The NRC Dating Service?” (And for those not familiar with Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminology, “EDO” is the acronym for the agency’s Executive Director of Operations.) The original “Talk Dirty To Me” video can be found here — sing along as you’re waiting for your agency to let you go…
Despite the experience of a certain Cincinnati radio station (see below), it turns out that turkeys can fly…just as long as they’re on an airplane. That’s the word from TSA, which has posted a list of holiday travel tips on its blog. Turkeys are permitted carry on items. As are pies (mmm…pie). The complete list of food related dos and don’ts is as follows: Foods: Pies are permitted, but they are subject to additional screening if our officers see any anomalies. (Additional screening of pies does not include our officers tasting the pie, no matter what they tell you…) Cakes,…
It seems like everybody’s got a new idea for attracting new talent to the federal government these days. But Jim McDermott, chief human capital officer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, thinks he’s found a foolproof way to convince young engineers to come to his agency: Find them dates. “There are incentives, and then there are incentives,” McDermott told a crowd of human resources officials at the HCMF Conference in Arlington, Va., earlier today. “When we’re hiring, we say, ‘Is there a significant other in the picture?’ If there’s no significant other, I tell them, ‘We can help.’ ” McDermott said his…
What may be the most expensive consolation prize in NASA history will soon be aboard the International Space Station. A $5 million treadmill named for political satirist and faux TV pundit Stephen Colbert will be one of the first items unloaded this afternoon from a cargo container docked at the station, according to the Associated Press. The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, now as elevated as its namesake’s ego, will soon be used by astronauts to stay healthy and strengthen their muscles in the zero-G environment. Earlier this year, NASA started an online poll allowing Web site visitors…
As a condo dweller with precious little outdoor space, I naturally love Home and Garden Television (HGTV). And like many network viewers, I’ve drooled over the spacious HGTV “Green Home” in Port St. Lucie, Fla., which the network is raffling off. But I did not realize the home had a government connection: It’s EPA certified! I also didn’t know EPA certified TV prizes, but according to this EPA press release the home has “earned EPA’s Indoor AirPlus and Energy Star labels.”
If you’re killing time before the inauguration and looking for a laugh, head on over to Nancy Pelosi’s official YouTube page. The highlighted video, which we’ve embedded below, appears to be a parody of the Bush administration’s Barney Cam videos. But this one has a twist that we’re never gonna give up.