Not a whole lot to post about so here are some simple flash physics games. I find the simply elegance of these games/simulations appealing. I can still remember the day when these would have been considered advanced and marveled at for hours...ahhh simpler times.

I can remember my college roommate, Jon Platt, and I spending way too much time playing a simple orbital simulation on the University of Illinois PLATO computers. It was either that or actually doing our physics labs, so it was an easy choice.

A new and improved version of "What American Accent Do You Have?" is out and now with result mapping. Last time my accent was described as "The Midland." This time, I'm "Neutral":

Having grown up in the Chicago suburbs, far enough away from Wisconsin not have a northern influence, I would say the quiz is still spot on and confirms the fact that I do not have an accent.

What American accent do you have?

[Update #1:] Mary scored a "Neutral" too, so maybe there's hope for the boys to not have too much of a southern drawl.

[Update #2:]

Donelda scored a "Northern - That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for."

In May a website started that I only recently found called Military Motivator. It is a takeoff on the well known inspirational posters but with a military theme. The site encourages reader contribution and so I created and submitted five of which four were used (one really wasn't that great). You can make your own too (on any subject). Here are two of the ones I made with three more after the jump.

GRATITUDE: How do you thank those who most bear the burden of ultimate sacrifice?

FIRE POWER: Knowing that when each side calls up to heaven, your side will deliver the good!

FOG OF WAR: Only those that have put their life on the line get to second guess a soldier in the field.

U.S. NAVY: Providing the greatest office views since 1794.

PARTY TIME: Having a few friends drop in.

Yesterday's celebration of Flag Day pushed my original YouTube video, "National Anthem: Star Spangled Banner," over the 20,000 views mark! As of this post it has 20,257 views, 74 comments, a rating of 84/100 and has been favorited 101 times.

[Update 7/9/07: 25,000+ views]

[Update 8/28/07: 30,000+ views]

[Update 10/14/07: 35,000+ views]

[Update 11/16/07: 40,000+ views]

[Update 12/18/07: 45,000+ views]

[Update 1/16/08: 50,000+ views]

[Update 4/25/08: 75,000+ views]

According to the Internet Movie Database, filming started this week on the movie version of my absolute favorite cartoon as a kid, Speed Racer!

It is being directed by the Wachowski brothers (Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta) and USA Today reports that, "unlike those darker movies, Speed Racer is going to be very bright, very family-friendly...and it will have great effects like the Matrix, just with the car."

I won't hold my breath on the "family friendly" aspect. Hollywood pretty much attributes a different meaning to those words than I do. However, I am still very excited about the movie which is scheduled for a May 2008 release date.

(Click on the Mach 5 to hear the Speed Racer theme.) Go Speed Racer Go!

If the first week of posts is any indicator GeekDad could be the greatest blog ever! I mean, its geeks and dads...what could be more cool? An ex-NFL player dad? I don't think so, sounds like a one trick pony. Hey, ya wanna hear about how my dad did roids in the big league? Nah, we heard about that last week when he was going in for his kidney dialysis.

Instead, how about, ya wanna make oobleck, create stop motion animation, fly combat gliders, install a Lego autopilot, capture a spider web, learn to talk backwards, make a video game out of drawings, prove the theory of relativity in the minivan, or build the world's cheapest aerial video platform? Heck yeah! Your dad is sooo cool!!!

Did you happen to catch Wheel of Fortune the other day? It was a pretty easy puzzle. After all, the clue totally gave it away.

(And, yes, I'm aware they're not "clues," they're "categories.")

You can create your own dancing paint-person at Pictaps.

Very busy lately, so not much posting. I only have time to pass on a message from Will and Drew to go Elf Yourself!

Update...Drew now has a message for you!

Last night it snowed 10" in Tulsa. It was an all time record November snowfall and particularly amazing considering Tulsa averages just 9" of snowfall a year. The entire city is shut down today. Nothing is open. And, I got to stay home and play with the boys! Unfortunately, Will could only watch as Drew and I made snow angels, built a snowman, threw snowballs and played in the deep snow drifts:

After playing around our home, Drew and I went sledding down the hills which are part of a flood retention reservoir near our house. For over an hour, Drew sledded down while I chased after and hauled his sled back up. A couple of times while I rested, Drew carried his own sled up the steep snow covered hill, "like the big boys do." He was so exhausted afterwards, he had to be carried home. After getting into some warm dry clothes and having a snack, Drew almost immediately fell asleep for a long afternoon nap.

I liked this item because one of the questions it asks involves "Don" and "Dawn" which are two very distinct words which sound nothing alike...unless you were born and raised in Oklahoma. I swear, every native Oklahoman I've met pronounces them the same. The other is the fact that it confirmed the fact that I have no accent.

(I tried centering the box but wound up centering the red bars too since it's not an image but rather a table. I could center the box and then individually left justify the cells, but I'm too tired. Besides, I'm fairly certain I'm the only one that cares.)

[Update:] Mary took the test and scored: "The West - Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.

We've all been very busy lately so not much time for blogging. For the first time that I can remember, we all took a nap together today...Mommy, Daddy, Drew, Will...and Joey (the cat)...were all sacked out in bed for a lazy afternoon snooze.

The picture is a rainbow on our carpet that appears during certain times of the year when the early morning sunlight comes through our front skylight at just the right angle. The intensity of the colors is really amazing...Roy G. Biv in all his glory.

Given Google/YouTube's latest political shenanigans, deleting or flagging as potentially "inappropriate for some users" conservative YouTube videos while far more shocking and inappropriate leftest and jihadist videos go untouched, I went in search of another free video hosting service and after comparing a few, I found Vimeo (video with an "m" instead of a "d" so that it contains "me," as in "me video").

Signing up took less than 10 second and I was uploading my first video only a few seconds thereafter. The first area in which Vimeo whips up on YouTube is availability of the video after upload. With Vimeo, my video was available to everyone immediately when the upload finished. With YouTube, I've upload four videos, two were available in 5-10 minutes, one took over an hour and one took more than half a day. As to probably the most important consideration, quality, I think Vimeo may also be superior. Finally, reliability, for which YouTube has been touch-and-go lately, will be determined after more usage.

This video was shot in September at Bricktown in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during the Okie Blogger Round-Up 2006. I was on my way to dinner with Charles Hill and Michael Bates when I saw Bricktown's huge Old Glory waving against a perfectly clear blue background and just had to stop to take some pictures and video footage.

Some time ago, I got a hankering to play some old Nintendo games that I used to play with friends. I looked around at old consoles and determined that I didn't want to waste a bunch of money on old equipment and cartridges knowing full well that I really only wanted to get a quick fix and wasn't likely to play them much afterwards.

I searched the internet and found there were software emulators for the console, Nintendo 64, that played the games I remember playing years ago. After a little research, I picked the emulator Project64. Next, I needed a controller. First choice for maximum authenticity was to purchase a used Nintendo 64 controller and a USB adapter. However, no adapter was available locally and I was too impatient to wait a few days to get one by mail order. So, it was off to BestBuy to pick up a Logitech RumblePad 2 Game Pad. Besides immediacy, this also had the benefit of being able to use it for other non-Nintendo games.

Now, I suppose I could have just played the game on the my computer but that wouldn't fully duplicate the same sit-on-the-couch and play-on-the-TV experience of the real thing. So, using our laptop and a cable or two I was able to hook everything up to the big screen. In no time at all I was up and running old classics like Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario 64 among others. I also took the opportunity to download a bunch of games for Drew and Will: A Bug's Life, Elmo's Letter Adventure and Number Journey, Tigger's Honey Hunt, Tom and Jerry and...Drew's favorite...Toy Story 2.

These are a few screen shots from Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. They don't do the game justice as I wasn't able to get a good action screen shot while, at the same time, working the controller.

I make a lousy Simpsons character.

Perhaps you can make a better one yourself.








[Update] Va va va voom! Mary created her own self-portrait!

I must say, her character looks more like her than mine does me.

Here are the top ten best photos we took this past year with links to the original posts:

Best Use of a Mammal as a Cushioning Device:

Best Outdoor Life Appreciation:

Best Look Towards t