Fantasist's Scroll

No, this is neither a joke nor a trick.
Vampire bats are actually quite agile and amazingly fleet of foot. You wouldn’t think it to look at them, especially considering the fact that they’re bats, for pity’s sake! Everyone knows that bats fly, not run! WRONG!
Thanks to boinGboinG, I present you with Running Vampire Bats.

Enjoy the Freaky Friday Fun Link!

Mythbusters tried this.
But, these guys did it! I’m late for work, so I’ll keep it short, but there are some folks that have created a primative solar death ray. Even better, they published information about it on the web! Right there at Home of the Solar Death Ray.
Another cool link brought to you by Gizmodo.

Hey, I’m in a hurry and it’s Friday, so if you have more time than I do, click the link!

A favorite topic of mine.
Of course, you poor people who are regular readers here, besides being often frustrated at my lack of content, know that I love invented worlds. In fact, I’ve been playing a game in one called Ghyll. The game, as you might be aware, involves creating a fictitious world by way of writing a fictitious encyclopedia. It’s been loads of fun. But, we’re not the first folks to do it. I know of at least one other invented encyclopedia that describes a world other than our own: the Codex Seraphinianus.
Not only did the somewhat mysterious author invent a world as vast as his imagination, but he also invented a language and script to go with it. So, this entire book, which is now quite rare, is in an unknown language. A dead language of dreams. The entire book is like an artefact from aother world. And it’s quite beautiful.

I hope that makes up for last week’s less than spectacular Friday Fun Link!

Yep, we’ve got one.
Considering the funding cutbacks at NASA, this seems like a really “forward thinking” document to me, but the United States Government has a non-armmament space treaty. Or, more specifically, “TREATY ON PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF STATES IN THE EXPLORATION AND USE OF OUTER SPACE, INCLUDING THE MOON AND OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES“. Basically, it says that we’ll all play nice up there. It’s not clear who actually signed this treaty, but it does mention that there are copies in the following languages: English, Russian, French, Spanish and Chinese. I find that all interesting in light of the so-called “Star Wars” program and all the research the Russians did into space-based weapons platforms.
Anyway, it’s the most fun link I could find this Friday. So, go have fun reading the boring government document!

Remember this game?
I’ve talked about it here before. I am the Holy Empire of Megaria in the NationStates game. I saw this months ago, played for a bit, and then quit. Well, I went back recently and tried to sign into my country’s account, but was told that it was deleted. So, naturally, I tried to revive Megaria, but, alas, I could not. But, then, I saw that I could have the old gal brought back from the dead! And, so I have.
In any case, if you haven’t played with this, go check it out. It’s really sort of fun, in a geeky way. And, if you come, look for the “Ghyll” region. I thought I’d go ahead and create that space for all my fellow Ghyll scholars to join, should they start to play.
Enjoy!

Finally!
Well, after all the requests I’ve gotten for translating someone’s name into Tengwar, Sindarin or Quenya, finally someone has come up with an automatic transliterator. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain to someone in e-mail that I don’t know how to speak any form of Elvish and, therefore, cannot translate their favorite [Insert Relative Here]’s name into said language. So, imagine my reliefe and delight when I saw the Elvish Transliterator at 17 Web Place!
Now, I can just send everyone there. Of course, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of their application, but, frankly, I don’t care. I’m just overjoyed to have somewhere to send everyone who wants an Elvish name for their tattoo or boat or whatever, but doesn’t care quite enough to actually learn how to write in Tengwar themselves.

Besides, it’s Friday and an Elvish Transliterator has got to count as fun! So, go ahead, click the link and check it out.

This is the coolest book since the first encyclopedia!
To me, it is, anyway. I’ve been borrowing a friend’s copy of Facts About The World’s Languages and really enjoying it. I saw it on the shelf at his house back around Thanksgiving time and fell in love with it. It’s a little rich for my blood, right now, but I know that I’ll eventually get a copy. In a nutshell, Facts About The World’s Languages has basic phological and morphological thumbnails of virtually all the world’s known languages. It is super, super cool to see the phonogical analysis of major languages all laid out in easy-to-read tables and summarized in neat, little paragraphs. For one thing, it pretty well shows people making up their own languages how to layout such a description. For another, it’s providing me fodder for my own ideas about language creation. Best of all, it’s helping me do the hard parts, choosing a phonology and displaying it for others to read! That, for some reason, is the hardest damn thing for me. I just have a really hard time getting my head around the different labels for the syllabic descriptors. Frankly, I just can’t remember the difference between a labiodental consonant and a straight labial consonant and all that sort of thing. I guess it doesn’t really matter that much, but it bothers me.
In any case, this is the coolest bit of language-related inspiration that I’ve seen in a very long time. It neatly lays out complicated morphological systems in a way that makes sense to me. And, the short histories of the various languages are fascinating, as well. But, these thumbnails go into fairly good detail. For instance, they include influences from other languages, the probable evolution of the language, as well as the geographical history of the language. Really, it’s completely captivating.
In short, Facts About The World’s Languages is a great book that will be the object of lust and envy of every conlanger who sees it on your shelf. Go buy one!

A new way to fund NASA?
Well, I’d sure buy some! Hey, why not? The side benefits of the space program have always been a reason to continue that kind of work, so why shouldn’t they make some money off it?
Okay, so they don’t have Martian Sea Monkeys, yet, but, according to this article on Slashdot, they might. At least, they’re convinced enough of the possibility of microbial life that could survive freezing for thousands of years that NASA is talking about sending probes to retrieve the little buggers from the Martian “ice ocean” that’s been recently discovered. Personally, I think it would be cool to have Martian life in your very own home, like those “living dinosaurs”, the Triops.
Well, I guess, we’ll have to wait for a Mars mission to know if they exist, but the thought sure is fun!