Isaac and Rugby

Just some quick pictures from Denise's phone of Isaac stretching off with the rugby team on Saturday. He also playing some touch with us before the match, and has been seen consulting the coaches regarding selection choices. You can guess who his recommendation is for #5 each game.

This week he also had an excellent time in the mud with his other rugby kid friends. How's that for training?

Web Development: The Web Twenty Years Later

This article discusses an important change in the way the internet is being developed. The discussion is led by Tim Berners-Lee, the man often given credit for inventing the world wide web.

He notes that the web was originally designed as an instrument to link documents to one another. This was what HTML (the basic tagging language the web is written) was designed to accomplish. More recently, with the wide spread development of API's, the web is becoming an instrument to link data together.

This important distinction turns the internet from a massive file display into a gigantic computer. We can now access, manipulate, and analyze data using only the web. Great stuff!

Picture: Found Picture of Isaac

I found this stray picture of Isaac with Chris and Deb's dog Pedro. I don't exactly remember which rugby game it was at, but its a cute picture.

Comics: Non Sequitur

I suppose some buttons just cry out to be pressed.

SXSW Interactive

The SXSW Interactive will be going on in Austin while we are there for spring break. Here's a few sites, maybe the locals have more information. Looks like its sort of based from the Convention center.

Here's another setup on 6th street by Ustream.

Music: Amazing Grace

I'll post this one for Gammy since she hasn't learned how to use the Blogger yet. Amazing Grace sung by Il Divo (the Italian name means celebrity, they were created by Simon Cowell of American Idol) at the Coliseum in Rome. There is definitely distinctive resonance in this structure.

The song, whose lyrics are based on 1st Chronicles 17:16-17, is used by Christian and non-Christian groups around the world symbolizing freedom and human rights. It was also used by the Cherokee Indians while on the Trial of tears. They were not always giving an opportunity to properly bury their dead, and sang a translation of this song.

Music: Thru You Project

Check out this guy's web site, for a project called Thru You. He has basically mashed together 100s of YouTube videos to create songs. Remarkable stuff!

Here's one of the tunes.

Security: Recomendations From Dave

Here are security download recommendations from Scripting News. My favorite, which is not a product, is to browse under a user which does not have administrative rights.

Hiking: Austin/San Antonio Difficult Hikes

Looking for more difficult hikes in Austin/San Antonio for spring break. I'll keep this as a list of possibilities

• Homestead Loop
• Inks Lake


• Enchanted Rock, More Enchanted

• Pedernales Falls
  

• Colorado Bend State Park
• Turkey Creek
• Hamilton Pool
  

I will add more as I find them. Enchanted Rock looks like a fun hike though.

Music: She's A Rainbow

One more song, from the Rolling Stones for my amor. This one is a cover, but a great tune.

Music: The Beard Song

Who doesn't like a good beard song every now in then.

Games:Ice Slide

Play This Game
the ultimate sliding game. Christian check this out!!!!!! from ISAAC

X-Men: New X-Men Trailer

Check out this new X-Men trailer. Sweet! Oh we love Wolverine - Shiny!

RockBand: Beatles

The Beatles are coming out with a version of Rock Band in September. Check out the website, its deliciously cryptic. I keep thinking there's something to click in that flat page.

Games: Music Game

This music game will test your ear.

Art: 3D Street Art

This movie shows a great demonstration of the artistic technique of linear perspective.

Quote: Kissing

Seems like a good quote for today, and fun too!

Maybe kissing is sort of like nature's coffee.

Scott Westerfeld, Midnighters: Blue Noon, 2005

More On Isaac's Great Catching

Apparently, Isaac's mother took some good pictures at his game Saturday. Thanks to Dad for forwarding the email. Pretty cool application, which looks like a movie.

Give Me Kindess

Oddly, this is an Abosult Vodka commercial. However, they seem to get it.

This commercial reminds me of a friend we saw this weekend at the rugby pitch. He is a fantastic entertainer, fire juggler, and artist. However, his best gift is a hug. When he hugs you, there is no doubt that he means to give you love and kindess, and he hugs everybody he meets.

Dr. Seuss Birthday

Today is the celebration of Dr. Seuss 105th birthday. The picture is from Google's main search page. Oddly enough, Isaac has a research presentation in school regarding Dr. Seuss and his writing. Good timing.

In other Isaac news, he had another touchdown catch in the final game of the season this weekend. What a great season, where Isaac began demonstrating his catching abilities during the games.

A non-poetic Dr. Seuss quote for Monday. A celebration of nonsense.

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.

Pictures: LIFE Phot Library

Google has acquired the LIFE magazine photo library, and provided a search index application to see them. I though you might find this picture of Elvis an interesting example.

Recognize this movie star?

Pictures: Ukulele Cowboy

It's Go Texan day in Houston. Our city is getting ready for the Livestock show and rodeo.

Here's our cowboy playing his ukulele. You never heard a cowboy singing "Tiny Bubbles" to his doggies on the lonesome prairie?

President's Budget

Found this website which shows the president's budget proposal. A New Era of Responsibility. While it is over 140 pages long, and seems to contain quite a bit of rhetoric that we've heard in the president's speeches, it is nice that they have it available and online.

NYTimes article notes the same sense of a political statement in the budget proposal.

DIY: Drawbot on Make

Another vibrating robot experiment. We could probably reuse our brushbot motors.

DIY: Sharpie Rocket

Office Supplies Rocket - video powered by Metacafe
A rocket built from office supplies. Watch your eyes!

Math: Non Sequitur

This is one of my favorite new cartoon strips. Christian and I were reading it the other day at Gammy's house.

Michael nailed the formal Latin translation for non sequitur, "it does not follow." However, it is also a literary device, commonly used for comedic purposes. Here's wikipedia's definition.

In other literature, a non sequitur can denote an abrupt, illogical, unexpected or absurd turn of plot or dialogue not normally associated with or appropriate to that preceding it.

In formal logic arguments, non sequitur is an argument where the conclusion does not follow its premises.

Video: Robin Hood

Check out the opening song from the cartoon of Robin Hood, "Oo De Lally", in Spanish. On this website, they even have the Chinese version.

Ukulele: Video Lessons

After a fun weekend where everybody played the guitars and ukulele, here's a link to further ukulele lessons.

Here's another, Hippie Guy (sweet), who also has an RSS feed.

Credit Crisis Explained

Here's a good series of videos, which attempt to explain the credit crisis.

Song: Forever Young

This song reminded me of a spectacular weekend with the family.

A Bob Dylan tune sung by Neil Young and Grateful Dead. I love this line, "May you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung." I find that the experience is often as gratifying as the eventual success.

Other links to follow up on:

• A possible method to back up Flickr photos
• Make video for simple robots (including a vibra-bot)
• US map of UFO hotspots, and how to report a UFO sighting

Music: New U2 Album

I've never paid much attention to MySpace, but here's the new U2 song posted before the album is released. Pretty cool stuff.

How about the lyrics, very important with a U2 song.

U2 - Get On Your Boots Lyrics

The future needs a big kiss
Winds blows with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too?

Night is falling everywhere
Rockets at the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But he won’t scare you

Hey, sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah

You free me from the dark dream
Candy floss ice cream
All our kids are screaming
But the ghosts aren’t real

Here’s where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real

You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are

That’s someone’s stuff they’re blowing up

We’re into growing up
Women of the future
Hold the big revelations

I got a submarine

You got gasoline
I don’t want to talk about wars between nations

Not right now

Hey sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah
Not right now
Bossy boots

You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are

Hey sexy boots
I don’t want to talk about the wars between the nations
Sexy boots, yeah

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, now
God, I’m going down
I don’t wanna drown now
Meet me in the sound

Space: Austin Marathon Meteorite

Denise had told us about the Austin meteorite, here's the video from CNN.

Apparently some UNT astronomy professors found part of the debris, which was caught on tape, in West, Texas. The pieces, which were suspected to be remnants of the satellite collision earlier in the week, were the size of pecans.

Google: Google Maps of Prado Museum

Check out this amazing Google Map implementation by the Prado Museum in Spain. Try zooming in on the pictures, you can see extremely detailed views.

Devices: GPS For The Traveler

Consider this deal for the traveler in the family. A GPS unit for only $60 seems reasonable.

Binary: Learn To Count in Binary on Your Fingers

What a great skill to have, count to 1023 in binary using both hands.

This can be used to quickly figure out the binary calendar discussed earlier.

Fossils: LA Fossil Cache

Apparently, they found an almost intact mammoth.

For all of you budding comparative anatomists out there, what does the joint in the picture look like?

I see a nice ball and socket joint, maybe a hip.

DIY: Snap Circuits

We've done some work with a breadboard, but these guys look much easier to put together. I understand their coming out with a green version which uses hand cranks, solar panels, and wind for the energy sources.

Guitar: When Should Lesson Begin

I've wondered when guitar lessons might begin for a child. Check out this kid on YouTube. He began taking lessons at 9 and is now 12.

Isaac has been asking about learning chords, which makes me very happy. Maybe he's asking to make me happy, who knows?

Football: Great Game For Isaac

Isaac had two touchdown catches in 3 total receptions this Saturday in his flag football league. Two of catches were long, over the shoulder catches which were quite spectacular. In this league, any catches are rare, but the combination of a long throw and catch was cheered by the surprised crowd.

Obviously the picture isn't of Isaac; his hair isn't that long, but it sort of looked like that.

Golden Gloves 2009

Abuelo's Golden Gloves competition. Take a look at the entire picture set.

Disney XD

Disney has a new site with games and some TV shows available. Isaac enjoyed these when he was younger, and it seems like the new site is designed for a little older kids. You can't go very wrong with Iron Man and Spiderman.

Amazing Animation

Check this out. Amazing work. Looks like there's more at this site.

Natural Selection: Neanderthal Genome Project

We completed the "Teddy Graham" natural selection experiment last night with rave reviews from the predator. While the bitter tasting "Teddy" was evolutionarily selected; in our experiment, he eventually met the same fate as the sweet tasting, extinct "Teddy". That is, consumed for dessert.

Along the same lines, there was a story this morning on NPR about a project deciphering the genome of a Neanderthal. While the Neanderthal our humans closest evolutionary relative, and the two species co-existed, the humans were naturally selected and the Neanderthals became extinct about 30,000 years ago.

Happy 200th Birthday Darwin: Natural Selection Experiment

Today is the celebration of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. While there are many articles discussing his contribution to science, this page discusses an experiment to teach young kids the concepts of natural selection. The experiment is conducted using "Teddy Grahams" cookies, and also seems like a good excuse to eat some cookies.

Pictured is Google's image to celebrate Darwin's birthday.

For further reading, here's the NY Times article. It reminds me how revolutionary Darwin's observations and writings were. They occurred before Mendel's genetic experiments, the discovery of DNA, and genome mapping. All of this from the observations of a 22 year old naturalist on board the ship called the Beagle.

Quote of the Day: Spelling and Reading

Interesting the things you take for granted after reading the English language for so long. While helping Isaac to read and spell, we are finding that it is not always as easy as it seems.

If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur. Doug Larson

Valentine's Day Song: City Love

A pre-valentine's day song for my lover. I never care to catch a cab, or fall asleep to the sound of sirens; but, I don't remember life before her name.

I never liked this apple much
It always seemed too big to touch
I can't remember how I found
My way before she came around

I tell everyone
I smile just because
I've got a city love
I found it in Denisia
And I can't remember life before her name

She keeps a toothbrush at my place
As if I had the extra space
She steals my clothes to wear to work
I know - her hairs are on my shirts

I tell everyone
I smile just because
I've got a city love
I found it in Denisia
And I can't remember life before
The day
She called up and came to me
Covered in rain
And dinnertime shadowing
And as her clothes spun, we spooned
And I knew I was through
When I said "I love you"

Friday evening, we've been drinking
2 AM, I swear that I might propose
but we close the tab
split a cab
and call each other up when we get home
falling asleep to the sound
of sirens

I got a city love
I found it in Denisia

From the battery
To the gallery
It's the kind of thing you only see
In scented, glossy magazines

And I can't remember life before her name

Bathroom Humor: Use the Fart Luke

Sorry, I had to put this one on for the boys.

Music: Toto Africa Cover

Here's another very good "solo multi-track" recording, similar to the John Williams theme played several months ago. Besides, we're suckers for a good Toto cover!

There's a few more here at Coverville, one of the very best podcasts around.

DIY: Paper Circuit Board

From the Evil Mad Scientist, a paper circuit board using electrical conducting pens. Perhaps a cool science fair/birthday idea?

Music: I'm Feeling Good

We definitely need to add this to our daily playlist. Nina Simone's, "I'm Feeling Good". "It's a new dawn; It's a new day; Oh, I'm feeling good!"

Ubuntu: Community Philosophy

I found myself considering the notion of a "normal" childhood this morning. My thinking was that there are so many varieties of family and community, that "normal" is almost impossible to accurately define.

I found this interesting subject on a friends blog, relating to the subject of community and, oddly enough, operating systems. The word ubuntu comes from the Zulu word meaning "humanity to others," it is also a popular Linux operating system. The ubuntu philosophy describes self in terms of community.

I am who I am because of those around me

Who really wants to be "normal" anyway, I choose to surround myself and my family with diversity, positive energy, and sometimes a bit of chaos.

FHA Refinancing

Fell 1 basis point to 5.48 with a range of 8 to 4.88.

We Love Basketball Stories

A pure jump shot is hard to come by. This one is spectacular.

FHA Refinance

Rates rose two basis points today to 5.49 with a range from 4.88 to 8.0.

One Man Star Wars

Check this guy out (Charlie Ross)! I found out about him from this blog on Wired Magazine, Geek Dad.

Apparently, he does theater shows where he reviews all 3 original Star Wars movies. Sweet!

Stimulus Package Analysis

NY Times has an article regarding the stimulus package which the House passed yesterday. The article breaks the package down into its components, and describes how each piece may help the overall component.

1. Tax Cuts - question whether people will spend tax breaks or payoff debt or save.
2. Aid To States - relatively effective for struggling states (consideration: states cannot print their own money, the federal government can).
3. Infrastructure - question value to economy, may just increase deficit
4. Education / Health Care/ Alternative Energy - little near term help for economy
5. Automatic Stabilizers - Food stamps and unemployment benefits

Song For My Lover and My Son

Everywhere you can run, but with you its much more fun. So let's run.

FHA Refinancing Bank Rates

I'm trying to measure changes in the FHA Refinancing Rates in order to time a mortgage refinancing. They are at historic lows; however, the stimulus bill being voted in the house today aims to lower them even more.

Trying a daily post to track these using BankRate.com. Wouldn't it be nice if they had a RSS feed (maybe someone does, but I haven't found it).

Fell 3 basis points today to 5.47 with a range of 8 to 4.88 percent.

DIY: Make Your Own Hula Hoops

Our fire juggling friend we met at rugby also makes these hula hoops. Here are the instructions on making your own. The trick is, you can make heavier hoops so adults can more easily remember how to move their hips.

Art: Jackson Pollack's Birthday

Today is Jackson Pollack's Birthday. Watching the video, the most interesting thing to me is his commentary on texture. He uses broken glass, pebbles, string, and other objects, as well as the paint to create the texture.

Picture: Space Shuttle Panel

Check out this large image of the space shuttle control panel.

60 Minutes: Obama Commentary

Dad pointed out this commentary by Andy Rooney last night on 60 minutes.

Inauguration: Makers

Not sure I posted this quote in its entirety, but I love it. Seems to be speaking to the do-it-yourselfers. Reminded from a Make magazine article.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. President Obama

Games: Scriball New Physics Game

New flash physics game, Scriball. You'll have to learn to work the mouse, and develop the hand-eye coordination.

Happy Year of the Ox

The Ox is meant to bring prosperity through hard work. Happy New Year!

Flat Screen Monitors

While working from home this morning, I noticed we probably need a new monitor. Maybe Denise can find one more inexpensive than this one.

Here's another with built in speakers.

Happy Friday!

Physiology: Endurance Improves As You Age

I got this article from a road bike newsletter I receive. It comes from issue number 337.

The article describes why older people seem to get better in long endurance sports than younger. For example, many of the ultra-marathon winners are over 40 or 50. See the Badwater Ultamarathon, where the average participant was 47.

This is a good review of muscular physiology. Older people show more endurance, because they lose nervous innervation of fast twitch muscle fibers.

ED'S NOTE: I just heard from an excited Gabe Mirkin, M.D. He often rides more than 200 miles a week. He's 74 years old. So the news he sent to RBR is vitally encouraging to him and, I suspect, will be heartening to you too.

Here's Dr. Mirkin's message:

"I have noticed that younger riders can easily pull away from me in short bursts, but I keep coming back on them and seem to be better able to keep up with their accelerations as the ride progresses.

"The January 2009 issue of Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews investigates the entire world's literature to show that endurance improves as you age. Wow!

"Maximal muscle contraction force occurs when you do a single muscle contraction with all your might. Even though older people are not as strong as younger ones, many studies show that they can retain maximal force after many contractions far longer than younger people can.

"Here's the theory and evidence to explain why aging improves endurance:

"Muscles are made up of millions of individual fibers just as a rope is made up of many different threads. Each muscle fiber is enervated by a single nerve. As you age, you lose nerves throughout your body. And when you lose the nerve that enervates a specific muscle fiber, you also lose that fiber.

"Muscle fibers are classified as type I endurance fibers [also called slow twitch] and type II strength and speed fibers [fast twitch]. With aging, you lose far more nerves that enervate the strength and speed fibers than those that enervate the endurance ones.

"So, with aging, you lose strength but you retain a greater proportion of endurance fibers.

"Muscle fatigue comes from the accumulation of waste products that occurs while food is converted to energy to power muscles. With the same percentage of their maximal muscle force, older people accumulate far lower levels of these end products than younger people do. Therefore, even though older people are relatively weaker, they can maintain their forceful contractions far longer and they have greater endurance.

"This exciting recent data will encourage me to train even harder."

DIY: Garage Climbing Wall

Also an interesting idea we've been considering for a while for our resident master climber. Seems like we might require a taller garage however.

Pictures: Missing Tooth 2008

A couple of shots when Isaac had a tooth fall out last year. Also the last of our picture dump from the old camera.

Posting all of the pictures has made me so grateful for my family. Here's a little quote of the day, to celebrate happiness.

Happiness arises in a state of peace, not tumult. Ann Radcliffe

President Obama's Inauguration Speech

Unbelievably, Isaac told me he had not watched any of this at school. We will review later, but an amazing moment.

Pictures: Sleeping and Reading

Some random pictures of sleeping and reading with Isaac. Remember when you could take a nap with the kid on your chest? Can't do that anymore, but this was just as good.

Here's the set.

Star Wars Yoga

Easy to confuse Yoda with Yoga. Here's the Star Wars Yoga version. I like the "Downward Facing Wookie".

DIY: Laser

Check out this instruction for building a laser in a mint tin. Sounds like a potential birthday project.

Inauguration Speech

Here is the text to our President's speech on CNN. While listening to short clips at work, this quote struck me as being inspirational.

... people will judge you by what you can build, not what you can destroy.

Pictures: Summer 2007 Astros Trip

Here's the picture set when Denise got us tickets to the Astros game. Great fun!

Hiking: Lake Texana

We took a trip to Lake Texana State Park on Sunday to go hiking. While I forgot the camera to capture visual evidence, I can report it was a great hike.

When we voted on our favorite parts of the hike, two favorites were selected. Isaac and Leo liked the lake front beach the best. Isaac found an amazing hive of roly-polys under an old tree, and Leo loved splashing into the lake while tirelessly chasing sticks.

Denise and I enjoyed the strip of prairie where the hawks seemed to be hunting. At least 30 to 40 hawks circling the electric easement hunting for rabbits and mice. Leo was extremely energetic to help the hawks hunt rabbits, but we decided to practice his on-leash heal command instead.

This Henry David Thoreau quote reminded me of the hiking.

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.

Online Farmer's Market

I'm sure it is not possible to replace the joy of physically going to a farmer's market, but here's an online version called Foodzie and the article in the NY Times.

At first glance, there seems to be a wide assortment of granola; however, I bet you can't get a picture with that bearded bikini wearing guy named Leslie.

Wikipedia: Just War Theory

I was doing some reading regarding the Israeli / Gaza conflict, and was considering often heard refrains regarding "Just War Theory".

I found a good review of the philosophical history on wikipedia. You've notice how I reference wikipedia quite often, so I was very surprised and delighted to find a familiar name in the Further Reading section. However, the reference I was interested in is one of the few without a hyperlink. I would be happy to donate my services.

Update: Here's further web footprint. Wow, even Amazon (very impressive). Maybe, one day, there will be a blog also.

Longboard Tricks

Wanted to show Isaac these cool longboard tricks. Using a helmet of course!

Hydroponics: Nancy Knows Hydroponics Too

Wouldn't you know, Nancy knows about hydroponics too. She pointed to a website with a ton of information and even supplies. In one article, Dr. Resh even describes how a hydroponic system is perfect for space travel.

All of you studying Latin know what hydroponic means? Hint: the pure form of the science is not necessarily "soilless". The answer is in this introductory article.

Robots: New Robot For Programming

This new robot is designed to help kids learn programming and robotics concepts. Not sure of the cost or anything, but it looks interesting.

DIY: Solar Thermally Pumped Hydroponic System

Interesting project with some physics to make it work (don't they all). I had to look up hydroponic, it is growing plants without soil. This solution uses perlite instead of soil.

How it works (this is my best guess). The bottom bottle holds the nutrients for the plant. Temperature change caused by passing clouds or day to night, cause water vapor and the nutrient to flow up into the top bottle (which holds the plant). The changing temperature creates thermal energy enabling a pumping system which, apparently, illustrates the "Ideal Gas Law" (still need to do a little more research on how this works).

Games: Rockband Online

We had such a fun time at the New Year's Eve party playing rock band. A great way to get the kids and adults playing together.

Turns out Rockband is online for Wii games today.

Pictures: Bristlebot Birthday

Lots of great pictures from Isaac's 7th birthday celebration. Bristlebots and moonwalks were tons of fun!

Here's the set.

DIY: Battery Clip

We needed this one for the bristlebots, but can use it for future projects.

Pictures: Surfing

The longboard pictures are from 2007, the surfing pictures are from Summer 2008. Speaking of surfing, I hope our Surfside Beach is still there next summer.

Here are the sets: longboarding and surfing.

Pictures: 7th Birthday Face Painting

Pictures from Isaac's 7th birthday. Uncle Michael gave an awesome technical demonstration on camouflaged face painting. Not sure you can see the boys faces in the picture due to their disguise, but they had an awesome time.

We're convinced Uncle Michael could make a bundle doing this at carnivals and shows. There's even a blog of face painting.

Here's the rest of the set. Not sure we mentioned it previously, but the best method of viewing these picture sets in Flickr is by using the Slideshow.

Books: Another Reading List

Modern's 100 best English language novels of the 20th century.

Pictures: Rock and Roll

Here are various pictures showing our awesome rocking.  As Jack Black says, "One great rock show can change the world."

Here's the set.

Pictures: Hiking in the Big Thicket Park

I just got a large volume of pictures off our camera tonight. I'll give them out a little at a time so we don't bore you too much.

This one shows our adventures on New Year's 2009 at the Big Thicket Park North East of Houston. A great adventure, with new plants and unusual bridges (how about Leo).

Here's the rest of the set.

Songsmith For Creating Music

Microsoft has a new application which creates music for songs which you sing into the PC.  Might be worth a try.

Friday Link Dump

Quote: "He not busy being born is busy dying."  Bob Dylan

Web 2.0 calculator.  Have to admit, I type most of my calculation directly into Google, but this is interesting.

Electro-Harmonix guitar effects.  Looking to enhance the acoustic pickup.

Happy Friday!

Football: The First Down Line

A video describing one method of creating the yellow first down line during the football games.  I agree it is a great advantage to watching games on television.  I would suggest adding a yellow touchdown plane, to see if players "break the plane" when attempting to score a touchdown.

Much easier to judge a try in rugby, isn't it.