The squirt gun was patented in the United States in 1899 by Gustav Reimann as an "instrument for squirting liquids to be used principally by cyclists to ward off dogs or highway robbers."

A false fire alarm does not mean fire alarms are useless. It means the trigger is too sensitive. Same here - reacting to a threat is not useless, just mis-triggered.

I agree with #4 - Real ninjas cannot be seen, until it is too late.

Aluminum is the Other Steampunk metal. How long until this thread becomes a discussion on the "proper" spelling of "Aluminium"?

@11 - Are you saying Steampunk is old-hat? Too true. :)

I love steampunk. Can we expect the next book from Cory to be a brass plated Victorian never-was?

@4 Most of the troopers I know are married professionals. Some of them are even pretty girls.

A die-hard anticommunist archaeologist might recommend a Marxist archaeologist to a student if the archaeology was sound.

This postcard was sent to me anonymously from Amsterdam. I have been getting these "Stuff on my Cat" cards for about five months from all over the world. The last one was from Thailand. It is still a mystery to me.

Enjoy your day of slack and/or quiet contemplation.

Perfect notepad app for your palm pilot.

Total Urinepunk.

"steampunk's devolution from a narrative form to a fashion affectation."

Many styles and art movements transcend their original media. Art Nouveau spanned typography, architecture and fashion. There was Pop Art film, fashion and novels, beyond just painting and lithographs.

This is not typically seen as devolution, but a reasonable progression of any interesting and evocative genre.

Decorative gears are fine. Artist and jewellers have often re-purposed old parts such as circuit boards for cuff links or vacuum tube pendants. Some may not like the look, but to reuse a once functional component as a decorative piece is a valid means of expression.

Swapped genitals in a field of mules? How cliché.

Is there an around the world service for this? Because I'm getting "Stuff on my Cat" Postcards from Amsterdam, Japan and South Africa (Flickr Pics of the postcards.

The card details aren't particularly personal, so I have no idea who is behind it.

I know sock-puppet phrenology like the back of my hand.

I'm surprised "life failure" isn't on the list.

Thanks for posting this. I just bought the Tungsten print.

Great work. The Maverick is a great piece to start from.

Here is a shot of the Blunderbassoon. A steampunk weapon I built.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drhaggis/1958380527/

There is indeed a real Hello Kitty Darth Vader costume, as seen at Dragoncon 2007.

May a shower of a thousand meteors fly thee to your recycle bin.

I predict that the "Giant Map Room" will be the must-have specialty room for 2008.

@BoinkBoink

These aren't royalties, these are residuals. Residuals represent deferred payment for the work they created.

A wheelbarrow of Gippers won't buy much in my burbclave.

I was involved in a discussion on this on Wikipedia. I posted a picture of a Thunderbird from a totem pole from a public park by the BC legislature in Victoria. It was brought to my attention that posting this picture was a violation of Tlingit property law.

I'm not a copyright lawyer, but I'm fairly sure there is no law protecting public art in public parks from public photography.

The New York Jedi are a great group.

The Calgary Star Wars Fanforce has been running a lightsaber combat class for about 2 years now. We are lucky enough to have found a martial artist who has developed a lightsaber program based on Chinese and Western sword work. It really is a lot of fun.