T.O.C. Clan Forums - Blogs http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/blog.php en Sat, 19 May 2012 16:33:29 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/images/misc/rss.jpg T.O.C. Clan Forums - Blogs http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/blog.php Feathers Productions Presents - While the cats away The Feathers will play... http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/881-Feathers-Productions-Presents-While-the-cats-away-The-Feathers-will-play Sun, 13 May 2012 19:18:49 GMT special thanks to maddog for samples. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmjylTda25U special thanks to maddog for samples.
]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/881-Feathers-Productions-Presents-While-the-cats-away-The-Feathers-will-play <![CDATA[Feathers' Army in association with Mighty Flea Productions presents A day in the life]]> http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/879-Feathers-Army-in-association-with-Mighty-Flea-Productions-presents-A-day-in-the-life Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:52:03 GMT respect due to the Maddog for the samples, a spin off of "the story continues" SE1 EP1

]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/879-Feathers-Army-in-association-with-Mighty-Flea-Productions-presents-A-day-in-the-life The story continues.... http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/877-The-story-continues Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:39:26 GMT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lgy3nIsQQs ]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/877-The-story-continues And so the story begins... ep1 http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/870-And-so-the-story-begins-ep1 Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:15:55 GMT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgM_XAekZg ]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/870-And-so-the-story-begins-ep1 PlaywithFeathers - Breathstep http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/869-PlaywithFeathers-Breathstep Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:56:40 GMT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LyNlCal-Zw ]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/869-PlaywithFeathers-Breathstep playwithfeathers - where the name comes from http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/868-playwithfeathers-where-the-name-comes-from Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:22:36 GMT This is where the name comes from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPrd63WCZTo This is where the name comes from
]]> PlaywithFeathers http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/868-playwithfeathers-where-the-name-comes-from Whitney houston - dead! http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/866-Whitney-houston-dead! Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:23:33 GMT Whitney Houston Dead at 48 ... Whitney Houston Dead at 48


Whitney Houston died this afternoon ... a rep for the singer told the Associated Press.

Our sources tell us a member of Whitney's entourage found her in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel ... and called hotel security -- who then dialed 911. When paramedics arrived Houston was found unresponsive.

We're told police arrived to the scene within minutes and fire was already there on an unrelated call. According to our sources, paramedics performed CPR but it did not work and she was pronounced dead at 3:55 PM.

Our sources say there were no signs of obvious foul play, but BH PD detectives have begun a full investigation. We're told she was ID'ed by family and friends.

The singer famously battled drug addiction for years.

Houston was seen out in Hollywood on Thursday night ... and she did not look well (see below).


Houston won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 million albums world wide.

Houston holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University in Louisiana.

Houston had one child, Bobbi Kristina, with husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown were married from 1992-2007.


Source - TMZ ]]> Osiris http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/866-Whitney-houston-dead! Gamer dies http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/865-Gamer-dies Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:30:47 GMT Gamer Dies At Web Cafe - But No-One Notices People playing games during a Taiwanese computer games show A group of young people in Taiwan... Gamer Dies At Web Cafe - But No-One Notices


People playing games during a Taiwanese computer games show

A group of young people in Taiwan playing computer games at a show in Taipai

12:46pm UK, Friday February 03, 2012
A Taiwanese man who died while playing video games at an internet cafe was left for hours after fellow gamers failed to notice his death.

The body of Chen Rong-yu, 23, was found slumped in a chair at a cafe in New Taipei city on Tuesday night, according to local reports.

He was rigid on a chair with his hands stretched out towards the keyboard and mouse, police said.

He had been playing League of Legends.

Mr Chen's body had apparently been sitting there for up to nine hours without any of the 30 other people in the cafe noticing.

He was last seen by a waitress talking on the phone around noon on Wednesday.

An initial police investigation found he might have died of a cardiac arrest triggered by low temperatures.

The man's family said he had been treated for a heart problem in September of last year.

Police are still looking into the cause of the death.

They say they suspect that a combination of tiredness, lack of movement and the cold weather could have caused blood clots and a heart attack. ]]> Backtrack http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/865-Gamer-dies The graphics in games are turning out to be quite realistic. Spot the differences! http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/860-The-graphics-in-games-are-turning-out-to-be-quite-realistic-Spot-the-differences! Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:49:48 GMT
The last really good session of the game Battlefield 3 I played on my PC left me, I'm forced to admit, somewhat drained.


Compare the two. John's photo, top, is faithfully recreated in a scene from the Arma 2 video game
The noise of gunfire and rocket explosions, the speed at which things changed, the way it was impossible to tell from where incoming fire was coming, and the charge for enemy positions were both exhausting and exhilarating. I was desperate for another go.

But it reminded me uncannily of a long, bloody day in Libya on 24 September 2011.
A very interesting article.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16745015 ]]> Irmo http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/860-The-graphics-in-games-are-turning-out-to-be-quite-realistic-Spot-the-differences! Photo of the Day http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/857-Photo-of-the-Day Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:51:04 GMT *Marine Catfish, Japan* Image:...
Marine Catfish, Japan



A school of juvenile marine catfish masses over the sandy bottom of Suruga Bay off Japan’s Izu Peninsula

Source: National Geographic

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]]> Maddog http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/857-Photo-of-the-Day Explore the Solar System - Mars http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/856-Explore-the-Solar-System-Mars Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:38:00 GMT
Mars

Mars was among the first bodies in the Solar System to be viewed through a telescope. Early astronomers saw faint surface features along with evidence of changing seasons and speculated about an advanced Martian civilisation. Though these ideas are comical today, the search for more primitive life continues.

NASA's Mariner and Viking probes in the 1960s and 1970s found a cold, apparently lifeless planet with huge volcanoes and canyons and evidence of past surface floods.

More recently, six-wheeled rovers have confirmed that water ice exists below the surface.
Photo: Mars taken by Mars Global Surveyor (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
About Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the highest known mountain within the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature.

Until the first successful flyby of Mars occurred in 1965, by Mariner 4, many speculated about the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. This was based on observed periodic variations in light and dark patches, particularly in the polar latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents; long, dark striations were interpreted by some as irrigation channels for liquid water. These straight line features were later explained as optical illusions, though geological evidence gathered by unmanned missions suggest that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface. In 2005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles, and at mid-latitudes. The Mars rover Spirit sampled chemical compounds containing water molecules in March 2007. The Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2008.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Martian trojan asteroid. Mars is currently host to three functional orbiting spacecraft: Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the surface are the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and its recently decommissioned twin, Spirit, along with several other inert landers and rovers, both successful and unsuccessful. The Phoenix lander completed its mission on the surface in 2008. Observations by NASA's now-defunct Mars Global Surveyor show evidence that parts of the southern polar ice cap have been receding. Observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.

Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye. Its apparent magnitude reaches −3.0 a brightness surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. Optical ground based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 km (186 miles) across when Earth and Mars are closest, because of Earth's atmosphere.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005, is currently making a detailed survey of the Red Planet. The spacecraft's instruments include a spectrometer, radar and a high resolution camera powerful enough to pick out the six-wheeled rovers Spirit and Opportunity from orbit.

The probe is looking for evidence that liquid water persisted for a long time on the Martian surface and is studying the planet's mineral make-up and weather patterns.
Photo: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's view of the rover Opportunity (circled) at the rim of Victoria Crater (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Mars Exploration Rover

Starting in 2004, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission sent two unmanned robotic probes, Spirit and Opportunity, crawling across the Red Planet's surface. The six-wheeled vehicles found strong evidence of past flowing water, including apparent ancient lakeshore deposits.

Their mission was designed to last 90 days. However, both probes vastly exceeded their predicted lifetimes and in 2009, though showing signs of age, they were still responding to mission control's commands.

Photo: Artist's impression of Spirit on the surface of Mars (NASA)

Mars Pathfinder

The Mars Pathfinder mission demonstrated a new landing technique and showed that it was possible to send a robotic wheeled rover to explore another planet.

Before it hit the Martian surface in 1997, a cluster of airbags inflated and enveloped the probe. Already slowed by its heat shield, parachutes and rockets, the craft bounced across Mars until it came to rest. The lander opened and sent a robotic vehicle, Sojourner, down a ramp to photograph and sample the surface.
Photo: Sojourner leaves tracks on Mars (NASA/JPL)
Deimos

One of a pair of irregular, small moons orbiting Mars, Deimos was discovered by the American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877 along with its fellow satellite, Phobos.

Both moons are grey in colour, cratered and generally similar in appearance to asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter. One theory is that both moons were once asteroids that were captured by Mars's gravitational force, but this has not been confirmed.
Photo: Deimos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
Phobos

One of a pair of irregular, small moons orbiting Mars, Phobos was discovered by the American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877 along with its fellow satellite, Deimos.

Both moons are grey in colour, cratered and generally similar in appearance to asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter. One theory is that both moons were once asteroids that were captured by Mars's gravitational force, but this has not been confirmed.
Photo: Phobos taken by the Mars Global Surveyor probe (NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)




Source: BBC

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]]> Maddog http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/856-Explore-the-Solar-System-Mars Photo of the Day http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/850-Photo-of-the-Day Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:31:29 GMT *Stratus Clouds, Greenland* Image:...
Stratus Clouds, Greenland


Eight hundred miles south of the North Pole, stalactite-like stratus clouds—churned by 90-mile-an-hour winds
and the light of a bruised dawn paint an apocalyptic portrait over Inglefield Bay.

Source: National Geographic

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]]> Maddog http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/850-Photo-of-the-Day Photo of the Day http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/848-Photo-of-the-Day Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:02:01 GMT *Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Bahamas * Image:...
Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Bahamas



An oceanic whitetip shark and diver swim in the Bahamas

Like the picture? Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Source: National Geographic

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]]> Maddog http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/848-Photo-of-the-Day Explore the Solar System - Earth http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/847-Explore-the-Solar-System-Earth Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:58:02 GMT
Earth
What makes this lump of rock so special? Maybe this will help

Earth, the third planet from the Sun, is unique in the Universe as it is currently the only planet known to support life. It has a single natural satellite, the Moon, and is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System.

Earth's distance from the Sun is thought to be one of the key reasons why it is home to widespread life. Our planet occupies what scientists sometimes call the Goldilocks zone. Its distance from our star means it is neither too hot, nor too cold to support liquid water - thought to be a key ingredient for life. Astronomers are searching for rocky planets like ours in the Goldilocks zones of other stars.
Photo: The Earth rising behind the Moon taken by the Apollo 16 crew (NASA)
About Earth

Earth (or the Earth) is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet, or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 6]

Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its surface within one billion years. The planet is home to millions of species, including humans. Earth's biosphere has significantly altered the atmosphere and other abiotic conditions on the planet, enabling the proliferation of aerobic organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer which, together with Earth's magnetic field, blocks harmful solar radiation, permitting life on land. The physical properties of the Earth, as well as its geological history and orbit, have allowed life to persist during this period. The planet is expected to continue supporting life for at least another 500 million years.

Earth's outer surface is divided into several rigid segments, or tectonic plates, that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of the surface is covered by salt water oceans, with the remainder consisting of continents and islands which together have many lakes and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. Earth's poles are mostly covered with solid ice (Antarctic ice sheet) or sea ice (Arctic ice cap). The planet's interior remains active, with a thick layer of relatively solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a magnetic field, and a solid iron inner core.

Earth interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon. At present, Earth orbits the Sun once every 366.26 times it rotates about its own axis, which is equal to 365.26 solar days, or one sidereal year.[note 7] The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.4° away from the perpendicular of its orbital plane, producing seasonal variations on the planet's surface with a period of one tropical year (365.24 solar days). Earth's only known natural satellite, the Moon, which began orbiting it about 4.53 billion years ago, provides ocean tides, stabilizes the axial tilt, and gradually slows the planet's rotation. Between approximately 3.8 billion and 4.1 billion years ago, numerous asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the greater surface environment.

Both the mineral resources of the planet, as well as the products of the biosphere, contribute resources that are used to support a global human population. These inhabitants are grouped into about 200 independent sovereign states, which interact through diplomacy, travel, trade, and military action. Human cultures have developed many views of the planet, including personification as a deity, a belief in a flat Earth or in the Earth as the center of the universe, and a modern perspective of the world as an integrated environment that requires stewardship.
Aurora

Beautiful lights sometimes seen in the night sky in northern and southern regions of the Earth are caused by the interaction of the solar wind - a stream of charged particles escaping the Sun - and our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere.

The Earth's magnetic field traps some of the particles and sends them on a collision course with molecules in the atmosphere. As a result of these repeated, tiny crashes, energy is released in the form of light.
About an Aurora

An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae) is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by the Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere. Aurora is classified as diffuse or discrete aurora. Most aurorae occur in a band known as the auroral zone which is typically 3° to 6° in latitudinal extent and at all local times or longitudes. The auroral zone is typically 10° to 20° from the magnetic pole defined by the axis of the Earth's magnetic dipole. During a geomagnetic storm, the auroral zone will expand to lower latitudes. The diffuse aurora is a featureless glow in the sky which may not be visible to the naked eye even on a dark night and defines the extent of the auroral zone. The discrete aurora are sharply defined features within the diffuse aurora which vary in brightness from just barely visible to the naked eye to bright enough to read a newspaper at night. Discrete aurorae are usually observed only in the night sky because they are not as bright as the sunlit sky. Aurorae occur occasionally poleward of the auroral zone as diffuse patches or arcs (polar cap arcs) which are generally invisible to the naked eye.

In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights), named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas, by Pierre Gassendi in 1621. Auroras seen near the magnetic pole may be high overhead, but from farther away, they illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the Sun were rising from an unusual direction. Discrete aurorae often display magnetic field lines or curtain-like structures, and can change within seconds or glow unchanging for hours, most often in fluorescent green. The aurora borealis most often occurs near the equinoxes. The northern lights have had a number of names throughout history. The Cree call this phenomenon the "Dance of the Spirits". In Europe, in the Middle Ages, the auroras were commonly believed a sign from God (see Wilfried Schröder, Das Phänomen des Polarlichts, Darmstadt 1984).

Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis (or the southern lights), has almost identical features to the aurora borealis and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral zone and is visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, South America and Australia.

Aurorae occur on other planets. Similar to the Earth's aurora, they are visible close to the planet's magnetic poles.

Modern style guides recommend that the names of meteorological phenomena, such as aurora borealis, be uncapitalized.
Moon

Despite centuries of study through increasingly powerful telescopes, the Moon really only began to reveal its secrets during the Apollo landings in the 1960s and 1970s.

Scientists studying rocks returned by the astronauts believe the Moon formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a planet-sized object smashed into the early Earth and sprayed molten rock into orbit around the battered planet. It is thought these orbiting fragments slowly came together to form the Moon.
Photo: The Moon taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts (NASA)
About the Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,[nb 4] and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. It is the largest natural satellite of a planet in the Solar System relative to the size of its primary, having a quarter the diameter of Earth and 1⁄81 its mass.[nb 5] The Moon is the second densest satellite after Io, a satellite of Jupiter. It is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face; the near side is marked with dark volcanic maria among the bright ancient crustal highlands and prominent impact craters. It is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun, although its surface is actually very dark, with a similar reflectance to coal. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have since ancient times made the Moon an important cultural influence on language, calendars, art and mythology. The Moon's gravitational influence produces the ocean tides and the minute lengthening of the day. The Moon's current orbital distance, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth, causes it to appear almost the same size in the sky as the Sun, allowing it to cover the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipses.

The Moon is the only celestial body on which humans have landed. While the Soviet Union's Luna programme was the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft in 1959, the United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar orbiting mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972—the first being Apollo 11. These missions returned over 380 kg of lunar rocks, which have been used to develop a detailed geological understanding of the Moon's origins (it is thought to have formed some 4.5 billion years ago in a giant impact event involving Earth), the formation of its internal structure, and its subsequent history.

After the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by unmanned spacecraft, notably by the final Soviet Lunokhod rover. Since 2004, Japan, China, India, the United States, and the European Space Agency have each sent lunar orbiters. These spacecraft have contributed to confirming the discovery of lunar water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles and bound into the lunar regolith. Future manned missions to the Moon have been planned, including government as well as privately funded efforts. The Moon remains, under the Outer Space Treaty, free to all nations to explore for peaceful purposes.

So is Earth a lovely place to live? I think so!

Tomorrow we explore Mars



Source: BBC

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]]> Maddog http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/847-Explore-the-Solar-System-Earth Skyrim Theme - 8 bit version http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/846-Skyrim-Theme-8-bit-version Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:10:27 GMT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVABQuSAm1s ]]> Osiris http://www.toc-clan.co.uk/entry.php/846-Skyrim-Theme-8-bit-version