Women's Facial Expressions

"QUANTUM SHOT" #203


Read Your Girlfriend as an Open Book

Finally, there is a guide to women's facial expressions and how to provoke each one in your own girlfriend. Note: use it at your own risk. The original was published here, so I did the translation, and intend to broaden the scope a little, with your help. Send in pics of other emotions, not covered here, for example: "uncontrolled anger", "sheer excitement", "love is in the air", "ecstasy from shopping" etc.








(images credit: esquire.ru)

Ladies, take heart! Male expressions are even easier to read, with a help of this handy smiley chart:


(image credit: Dan Wade, Emoticon Man)

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Link Latte 12

#12 - Week of June 2, 2007

13 Real Heists from Around the World - [fascinating]
Guy's Guide to Zombies - [hilarious video]
Catatumbo: The Everlasting Storm - [nature]
Do we get solid news or fluff? - [article]
Urban Cactus High-rise - [architecture]
Sinister Japanese Robot-Guide - [tech]
Newborn Panda (cute !!!!) - [animals]
Giant German plane from WW2 - [airplanes]
Picture of Our Life - [so true! ]
Photo gallery of mysterious Bhutan - [travel]
The Lighthouse - another amazing tower in Dubai - [architecture]
What's the point of an upside-down world map? - [oddity]
What the world eats - [interesting]
New Russian Limo for Red Square Parades (click on images) - [cars]
Here is how much the tree in your backyard costs - [surprising]
Great nature photography: Iceland, and more - [gallery]
Metropolis: stylish website - [flash]
What's a Cargo Cult? - [interesting]
Anger Management 101 - [humor]
Baloons! - [impressive]
Scenic Cruiser - very cool vintage bus - [vintage]
Gigapixel photo of Chicago - zoom in - [wow]
No Talent: Auditions for X-Factor - [funny video]

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History of the Tailsitter Airplanes

"QUANTUM SHOT" #202(rev) Link - article by Erlend Aaseth and Avi Abrams A vertical takeoff, level flight and a tail landing - first VTOL concepts These flying wonders, so called "Tailsitter" airplanes, are truly remarkable pieces of aviation history: mainly designed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, they were essentially an early attempt to eliminate the necessity of runways. (Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government, via) In the later stages of WWII the German company Focke Wulf came up with a spectacular design for a tailsitting fighter: the Triebflügeljäger. The idea was to create an airplane that would take off and land vertically on its tail. With the Allied bombardment devastating the country's armaments industry it was crucial for the Germans to have interceptors that could take off and protect German factories on a short notice. The idea was to station fighters near industrial areas and to get them into the air without the use of increasingly bombarded runways. However, the design came too late in the war for it to reach a prototype or any production stage. (images via) After the war the Americans (predictably) saw the potential in such design, and, with the danger of Western Europe falling under a Soviet control, the certain possibility of invasion and the possible denial of airfields, project Hummingbird was born in 1947. The idea was to develop an interceptor that could take off from virtually anywhere; there were plans to station them in fields and on military and commercial ships. There was even talk of a submarine based fighter! (more info) Both Convair and Lockheed were commissioned to make prototypes: the XFY-1 and XFV-1. These fighters featured turbo prop engines with contra-rotating propellers. A jet-powered version was also produced, called the Ryan X-13 Vertijet. The XFY-1 was the first tailsitter which achieved a vertical takeoff, level flight and a tail landing during test flights. The XFY-1, nicknamed "Pogo": (more info) XFY-1 (left) and XFV-1 (right): The XFY-1 was not as successful as the XFV-1. Landing gear had to be mounted in order to conduct test flights: 1954 - XFV-1 Lockheed "Salmon": (image via) Continuing into the the 1960s, Bell VTOL X-22 looked promising (being perhaps the grandfather of the Bell- Boeing V-22 Osprey): (image via) "The Coléoptère" was a French prototype, featuring so called "annular wing configuration" (designed in 1952, first flight in 1959): (images via 1, 2) The Coleoptere is perhaps the most strangely-shaped aircraft ever built, which provided inspiration for many popular science and science fiction illustrators at the time: (bottom right: rare image from the Soviet 1961 "Smena" magazine) Ryan Company's X-13 "VertiJet" (1953): The X-13 was a jet-powered prototype with a design that proved to be much more difficult to steer during takeoff and landing (compared to the prop driven ones). It did not have the benefit of airflow over the rudders produced by the props. Here's the engine of X-13: X-13 Vertijet during trials: (images via) Here's the X-13 prototype performing a successful test flight in front of the Pentagon officials: The Hummingbird project proved to be a difficult one. It turned out that tailsitter airplanes could not meet the performance requirements set by the Navy and the Air Force. In the end such designs were abandoned, and the dream of an aircraft that could take off and land on its own tail survived only in popular magazines and science fiction novels. (many images via highly-recommended French site) Modern concept vehicle designers keep the idea of VTOL alive and well in new projects: (images credit: Jose Garcia) Here is an old-style render concept from Jose Garcia: "This is a free interpretation of a concept design for a VTOL observation aircraft I saw 15 years ago in a 1960's British aviation magazine. It is based on the use of a Rolls-Royce Pegasus vectored-thrust jet engine" (left image) - (image via) And we finish with a "what might have been" concept from Jose Garcia, a 1949-vintage Soviet VTOL combat aircraft with its erector-transporter: (image via) For further reading please see: Fogonazos: VTOL prototypes Global Security: X-13 Global Security: XFY-1 Global Security: XFV-1 Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government. CONTINUE TO OUR "AMAZING AIRPLANES" CATEGORY! -> Erlend Aaseth, originally from a small Norwegian fishing village, now resides in Australia. His recently-started site Giant Earth is all about vintage technology and airplanes.. . . . Tweet

Extreme Off-Roading

"QUANTUM SHOT" #201


Some off-roading can border on suicide.

Don't get me wrong, I own a Jeep and will go off road with the first opportunity. However, some of the following shots stretch the realms of possibility and can be deemed either Photoshop or "simply nuts".

We'll start with the Hummers climbing exercise on The Lions Back, Moab, Utah:
(found on Pic.Tiexue.net, pictures courtesy The Hummer Network, photographer Bill Damm)









For the first person perspective going down, click here


Scary roads do not get "better" than this:
Carhuaz Valley road in Peru on the way to Chavin De Huantar ruins.





(images credit: Terrax)


Meanwhile in the US mountains...
Flat Iron Mesa in Moab, Utah:


(image credit: Whitey)


Black Bear Pass, Colorado


(images credit: RJsfun)





Webster Pass - top shelf road:




Schofield Pass - Devil's punchbowl with snow:




Cliffhanger - Moab, Utah:


(images credit: RJsfun)

"The Cliffhanger is the worst feeling because it's less than 3' to a very very long freefall."


Santa Fe Peak, Colorado, and switchback road near the top of Mt. Antero:





(images credit: Octoberist)


Bridge at the Rollins Pass:



Looking down when driving across the bridge:


(images credit: ArloGuthroJeep - updated info)


Shelf road on Radical Hill:


(image credit: DaJudge)


And probably the hairiest of all -
Negotiating top of the Pearl Pass, Colorado, in a thunderstorm:


(images credit: 86Original)

Send us your own scary / exciting extreme off-roading pictures, for the next adrenalin-charges post.

Off-roading's Humble Beginnings

The 20s had more mud and fewer roads, of course.



Also Read: Most Dangerous Roads in the World, Parts 1-4

Keep up the off-roading fun with Jeep Accessories from AutoAnything. We've got all the auto parts you'll need to take on the most barren landscape. Get yourself covered up with Bestop or get some Truck Seat Covers!

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