I don't remember how I ended up there (really, I don't) but I happened upon the Gap.com women's clothing section the other day, and noticed that they have a new feature on their site. For certain items of clothing, if you hover your mouse over the image, a closer version will appear. This is great for really examining the details of the item you're considering buying. It's also great if you're a thirteen year-old boy. And no, I couldn't find any male clothing worth "examining."

We watched the Mythbusters tackle the "Airplane on a Conveyor Belt" issue last night. They did not really build a huge conveyor belt (they essentially used a long canvas tarp to pull the runway out from under the plane), and so the result (the airplane took off) won't really satisfy everyone. But, it remains the right answer.

Here's some background: the kottke post that started it all, the explanation for the scientifically minded (the comments are fun), and kottke's liveblogging of the Mythbusters episode.

Here's how I try to explain it. An airplane flying through the air is virtually no different than one "flying" on the ground. The one on the ground is not (yet) going as fast as the one in the air, and there's a miniscule amount of friction acting on the bearings in the plane's wheels, but really, they are moving under the same laws of physics. Airplane pushes on the air, and moves forward. What the ground, or the conveyor belt are doing to the wheels is largely irrelevant. No matter how fast the conveyor belt goes, all it is acting on are the wheels of the airplane, not the plane itself. It can make those wheels spin crazy fast, but the plane will still take off.

So there.

Oh, and I like the sentiment of kottke's t-shirt, but I'd like a picture of a plane on it, frankly. And a conveyor belt.

So we're thinking about what to do for our babysitter-enabled evening this weekend, and we realize that what we really want most is to have someone get our kids ready for bed. The bedtime routine of prodding, cajoling, and (usually) threatening the kids into their pajamas is a brutal gauntlet at the end of a long and tiring day. Can we hire a nanny to just get the kids ready for bed, then we'll come in and sing or read to them? That would be awesome.

Okay, not 21, exactly, but that's the best answer when a woman asks you to guess her age. It is her birthday today, and we have big plans. Okay, not exactly big plans, because we're parents of two kids under five, and she's a second-year college professor, but we do have a babysitter for Saturday night! Woo hoo! And I'm baking the Best Chocolate Cake today. Really. That's what it's called, and it must be, 'cause it's so good even I eat it (and I don't like chocolate). I love you, Sweetie.

Anyone else wondering when Apple will put an iSight camera in their freestanding LCD displays? Or if they ever will? I believe that every time someone at Apple takes a look at the issue, they flash back to the ADC monitors with their all-in-one Apple-only cable, and all the problems and bad press they got with those, and they shudder and move on to contemplate the Newton II as a more feasible project. But I sure would like an Apple display with a camera built in.

I took this photo a long, long, long time ago. With the kids home for MLK day, got no time to post. So here's what you get. There are a few more of this guy up on Flickr.