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You can file this under Funny Because It’s True.

Yesterday I downloaded and installed a new game for Linux– I’m always on the lookout because Alex and Kyra have a Linux computer and they like new games. It’s called Armagetron, which basically means it’s the light-cycle game from the movie “Tron”. But rather than the typical lots-of-colored-lines version, this is a fully three-dimensional game, where the viewpoint follows the light-cycles and can be adjusted through three dimensions. The sound is sweet, because it uses volume changes and even Doppler shifting to simulate the light-cycles whizzing past each other.

Although it will only run on my computer (theirs doesn’t have a 3D accelerated graphics card), they were thrilled to sit and watch me play for a good half hour. Then Laralee got in on the action, and she and I played a team game where it was us against the AI… with split-screen display. Sweet.

Who says free can’t be good?

Talk about great neighbors! There are several people on our block (well, okay, technically it’s a “circle”) who are really interesting and fun. And today one of them sent Laralee a fabulous bouquet of flowers.

One would expect me to do that perhaps, but a neighbor? Now I’ve got to think of something… especially considering that Valentine’s Day fast approaches…

Kyra already has the “look at me, I know I’m cute” look…

The boys are going to be in trouble as soon as they get over their cootie problems.

Multiple choice:

1) Zack with a Hot Wheels race track.
2) Comically colorful phallic symbol.

Alex just got home from school and had these cool marshmallow-and-toothpick “sculptures” to show me. One is a house (fairly obvious) and the other is a mousetrap (not so obvious). Apparently the mouse– which he explained he didn’t have time to build– sees the marshmallows and goes into the little box and gets pounded with unimaginable marshmallow-and-toothpick force.

One wonders what a marshmallow-and-toothpick mouse might look like…

In keeping with tradition, Laralee and I watched “Groundhog Day” this evening. I don’t remember for sure if we’ve watched it on February second every year since we’ve met, but it’s pretty close. It’s a fun little movie, always entertaining, and gives us an excuse to do something on such a wacky holiday.

Now we put the DVD back on the shelf to gather dust until February 2, 2005…

Back in My Day, when we’d get candy in some kind of case it was either a Tic Tac box or a Pez dispenser. Then came things like Altoids (The Curiously Strong Mint) in a little tin. No big change.

For Alex’s birthday, one of his friends gave him a bunch of candy inside a dispenser shaped like… a cell phone. But wait! It wasn’t just a cheap plastic case that opened to reveal candy, it was a cheap plastic case that opened to reveal candy and also had buttons you could push to get a variety of beeps and boops, and a bright red LED in the “antenna” that flashes.

So the kids have been running around the house, making calls to their friends on this little candy cell phone. We keep hearing the beeps and boops as they hold imaginary conversations. It’s really quite funny, although I think it reached its peak when Alex received a telemarketing call this morning:

(Beep, boop)

Alex: “Hello?” … “Yes, this is Alex.” … “No, thank you, I’m not interested.”

(Beep)

I asked him what was going on, and he said it was someone trying to sell him something.

Boy, when the telemarketers get hold of candy cell phone numbers, you know the Apocalypse is near.

Today was Alex’s seventh birthday. It’s amazing how time flies… next thing I know, he’ll be asking for the car keys and I’ll be laughing hysterically as I explain about insurance rates for sixteen-year-old boys, and how the bank turned down the second mortgage on the house to pay for it.

In any case, he’s growing up to be a great young man. In addition to his smarts and good looks (inherited, no doubt, from the father he resembles so much), he’s genuinely a good kid and a good example to his younger sibs. We just had parent-teacher conferences the other day, and his teacher opened the conference with, “Well, this is my favorite conference because there’s really nothing to talk about. Alex is doing great.” That’s exactly the kind of stuff I love to hear.

So after a crazy evening with five (!) of his friends at a sleepover, and an inundation of presents, we begin another year of watching him mature and develop. What an honor and privilege it is to be a dad.

Every junior high kid knows there are three forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. You take a solid and heat it enough, and it becomes a liquid. You take the liquid and heat it still further, and it becomes a gas.

In high school, many kids learn there’s a fourth state of matter: plasma. Heat a gas enough, and it becomes ionized and turns to plasma. The fire in a standard wood-burning fireplace is an example of a plasma.

But a few years ago, researchers discovered a fifth state of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate. It only occurs at extremely low (near absolute zero) temperatures, and involves a radical phase change in the arrangement of subatomic particles.

And this week, researchers announced a sixth state of matter: a fermionic condensate (that’s a mouthful!). Again accomplished at very low temperatures, it has the interesting property of twisting the laws of quantum dynamics to allow subatomic particles to exist in states they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.

Why is this newsworthy? (Or, more precisely, journal-worthy?) Because I think it demonstrates how scientific knowledge continues to increase at a breakneck (actually exponential) pace. There are amazing discoveries every day– many of which are never heard by the general public. I don’t expect high school textbooks to include discussions of, say, Bose-Einstein condensates any time soon… but it’s important to realize how incredible these scientific advances are.

Coming soon? Room-temperature superconductors (based on fermionic condensates) that will revolutionize the generation and distribution of electrical power. Now that would be newsworthy!