Techmeme Leaderboard is a new rating service going live today according to TechCrunch in a post titled: Techmeme Leaderboard To Launch, Attacking Technorati’s Last Stronghold.

'… top blogs will be ranked on presence – “the percentage of headline space a source occupies over the 30-day period.” Discussion links are not taken into consideration – only full headlines are counted."

The problem I might have with this approach is that Techmeme doesn't capture a lot of technical posts and I'm disappointed in the level of traffic it drives.  Maybe with the new Leaderboard, Techmeme will drive more traffic than before…we'll see.

Miniature Jets and rockets was a fascination I had, as a kid … but of course I never really had one, except the water propelled type that would shoot up about 100+ feet (as I recall it, the water rocket was supposed to go up 1000 feet, but I'm sure it did not, must be my memory, or child fascination that exaggerated the distance).   Seems like some people, like John Williamson, really get off on seeing miniature jets flying - I guess I must be one of them!

"…Basically they (Miniature Jet Engines) are a simple empty tube with a fuel injector and a reed valve in the front. No throttle and they start and stop instantaneously, and this also makes you jump! Radio Control and good piloting skills are essential!"

But I remember the same stuff that goes into making a Miniature Jet Plane fly, can also power a mobile device, like your cell phone, according to New Scientist.

"…Engineers have moved a step closer to batch producing miniaturised, jet engine-based generators from a single stack of bonded silicon wafers. These chip-based “microengines” could one day power mobile electronic devices."

And if you wanted to build a Miniature Jet Engine – you could just follow the instructions on the HOW TO BUILD MINIATURE JET ENGINES Page:

"….here are 4 miniature engines that offer enormous power for their size. These engines can be used to power miniature boats, trains, cars, (jet) planes, or whatever! Providing as much as 1 h.p., they can power even large-size models. Or, the builder can choose to scale them up to achieve even greater power."

Today, I saw a YouTube video titled: 1/5th Scaled MIG-29 Looks, Sounds and Probably Tastes Like a Fighter-Jet on Gizmodo that had me transfixed; here's the video:

1/5 Scaled Mig 29 – First Flight – video powered by Metacafe

I think if you go in about 3:15 seconds, you'll see the the Miniature MiG-29 Jet flying and then it's hypnotic rapture for the rest of the clip.

"… the team has seemingly created a sweet RC scaled MIG-29, costing between $5,000_$15,000 and the replica was fitted with two turbine engines, which were not tested at their full capacity…".

Also, I got interested seeing what kind of buzz was created by this video, or videos like this one, since there's a community built around Miniature Jets that must be pretty enthusiastic – it's not something you build unless you know what your doing and you love Miniature Jets.

But what I found here, was Blogpulse data was not much help, since the spike represented only one blog post; so I figured I'd look elsewhere to see what the video I'd just seen about a Miniature Jet MIG-29 might have created – especially since it appeared in Gizmodo.  Figured TalkDigger might help with finding out the Buzz on both the term "Miniature Jet" and the Gizmodo URL that features the MIG-29 Miniature Jet.

Turned out that TalkDigger didn't help much either – so I opened up my Compete.com Search Analytics account that still has some credit on it since I was a beta tester for it earlier this year.

Quantcast also has a keyword research tool but it doesn't have enough data on Miniature Jet to tell me anything.

But if nothing else, I can  enjoy watching the MIG-29 Miniature Jet Movie above.

read more »

Merging the real world, our world, with Virtual Worlds is a dream for some, a reality for others.  The Gate (or Hole in Space, Reloaded) is a project that will happen in Brussels next week.

"…The Gate is an installation connecting real life and Second Life, a junction point, a door between two worlds and two representation spaces. Basically, it is a simple window between both worlds where real users and SL users see each other and can meet. A view of the SL Gate is permanently projected in the real life venue; when an avatar comes in front of The Gate, it is visible in the public space; when one arrives physically in front of the door in the public space, he/she can interact with the SL user currently in front.

The result will be a kind of happening where the virtuality of SL is transferred in the physicality of our public space and vice-versa; a stage for performance and interaction, something between a breakdance platform, an inter-dimensional portal and a peep show through parallel universes."

There's certainly "interest" in creating a merging of both "worlds":

"…The Gate is installed on Odyssey, an island in Second Life dedicated to art and performance. In the opening hours of iMAL (October 5 – 6, 11 AM – 7PM [2AM - 10AM SLT]; October 7, 10AM – 8PM [1AM - 11 PM SLT]), people, avatars and performance artists are kindly invited to come, perform and interact at The Gate, both in real life and in Second Life. During the vernissage on October 4 (8:30 – 12 PM [11:30AM - 3PM SLT]) Second Front, the first performance art group in Second Life, will use The Gate as a in-between stage in front of iMAL visitors and SL passer-by."

I'll try to attend the performance in Second Life but I'd like to be part of something similar to this.