Awesome stuff you see on the internet

[Snowy]

Nice one Nick.
Having spent many an unhappy day flying over the GAFA (Great Australian Fuck All) the "lakes" were actually something that broke the monotony. Always changing, there one day gone the next. From memory some of them are salt as well and dry out into salt basins (or was some Aussie taking the piss when he told me that)?
Quite likely as I am prone to take piss a bit myself.

[Hooroo]

@Snowy

That made me smile. I can't imagine any Australian not knowing what the GAFA is.

[NTA]

@Snowy said in Awesome stuff you see on the internet:

From memory some of them are salt as well and dry out into salt basins (or was some Aussie taking the piss when he told me that)?

That's legit. Out in the centre of the country there are certainly big salt lakes such as Lake Eyre that form salt pans like the ones in the USA

[Snowy]

@NTA They certainly looked like you could set a land speed record on them which is why I got interested (actually I just wanted to go for a hoon on some incredibly dangerous motorbike).

@Hooroo Yeah, Aussies will know the GAFA but I dumbed it down for other nationalities

[NTA]

Lake Eyre - rough location:

Timelapse link below. Thing about the lake is, if you miss the rains by a couple of weeks, it won't look much different.

Google Earth Timelapse

Explore the dynamics of our changing planet over the past three and a half decades.

Some fucking amazing photography to be had out there if your timing is good

[Snowy]

That is indeed an awesome photo and one of the places I was thinking of WRT "lakes".
An hour or two on airway from ADL to HKG.

[antipodean]

@Hooroo said in Awesome stuff you see on the internet:

@NTA What's the story with the lake? Irrigated farms taking its toll?

Nothing. Simply relies on rainfall. Given the winter Canberra's had it's basically full again now.

Lake Eyre used to be an inland sea. If climate change has the resultant sea level rise some are predicting, it will be again.

[taniwharugby]

@antipodean isnt Lake Eyre one of the lowest points in Aus or the world, not under water?

[antipodean]

@taniwharugby yeah it's something like 10m below sea level IIRC.

[Tim]

https://gfycat.com/SadNimbleAbyssiniancat

[NTA]

@antipodean @taniwharugby google says lowest point in Lake Eyre north is 15m below sea level.

[Crucial]

The GAFA is far from having FA to see, you just need to be on the ground not in the air. I would rate my trips driving through the outback as some of the best travel experiences I have had. The subtleties of the landscape are quite noticeable and fascinating when on the ground and there aren't too many accessible places in the world where you can camp out knowing that there are probably no other humans in a 50km radius of where you are.

[Snowy]

@Crucial Agreed about on the ground (although there is an awful lot of it). I was talking about flying over it twice a week for 5 years and the "lakes" were the interesting bits.

[NTA]

Tomato farm at Port Augusta (near the GAFA) which uses a solar thermal storage tower powered by reflecting array. Runs desalination and heating for the greenhouses.

[NTA]

Out looking for Christmas lights tonight. I've got some my house, and they're OK. But THIS prick... This prick nailed it.

[taniwharugby]

SOmeone else may be able to embed this...is pretty cool

National Geographic

Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.

National Geographic

Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.

[Bovidae]

@NTA Good to see someone is using Trans-Siberian Orchestra for their Christmas music.

One of the houses in my area was using the Star Wars soundtrack.

[Tim]

@Bovidae Beyond Yacht Rock did a podcast on heavy metal/hard rock xmas songs this month ("Power Carols").

Ytmp3: Fast & Free YouTube to MP3 Converter - (Unlimited Downloads)

Ytmp3 offers a fast and free YouTube to MP3 converter to download unlimited songs, videos, and playlists from YouTube in high-quality MP3 format.

[Bovidae]

@Tim I'll check that out.

Another Christmas lights display with TSO music:

[dogmeat]

Dec 18, 2016  /  TECHNOLOGY

45 Fun Questions to Ask Amazon Alexa

While you’ve likely used your Amazon Echo to play music, listen to podcasts, or order stuff online, you can also use the technology to ask Alexa some silly questions.

39 Questions asked of Amazon's Alexa

She seems to have a better attitude than Siri ad she raps

ALEXA, CAN YOU RAP? by Internet Sounds