Happy Birthday Hard Drive (50th Anniversary)

The Past
The IBM RAMAC 305 (the world's first hard drive) was officially announced today (September 13, 1956). In 1952, in San Jose IBM opened a research lab managed by Rey Johnson, and one of its first assignments was to create a magnetic storage system that could hold 5MB of data.

Johnson's group coated platters with magnetic material and stacked them on top of each other. Data was fetched by a head that traveled up and down the stack of rotating platters.

Note: There is no sound in this video.



The Present
For comparison reasons, here is a more modern hard drive in action. In all ways the current generation of hard drives are far superior to the first generation (they're smaller, better, cheaper, faster, and have a greater capacity).



The Future
Hopefully in the not too distant future all these drives will be replaced by ones that use flash RAM (or something better). Its already in the process of happening, some first generation solid state drives are already shipping, but they're expensive (roughly about $30 a gigabyte).

For example, earlier this year Samsung started selling a 32GB NAND flash hard drive. The drive is about half the weight of a conventional hard drive, has reduced power consumption (uses about 5% of the power of a mechanical drive), and has no moving parts. It can read data three times faster and write data 1.5 times faster than mechanical drives.

Security: Update QuickTime Now!

The QuickTime media player has multiple security flaws that is putting your Windows computer (and if you have a Mac) at risk for malicious attack according to Apple. Hackers can create maliciously crafted movie and image files that could be used to execute harmful code on vulnerable machines by utilizing a buffer overflow error.

QuickTime 7.1.3 has been released as a high-priority update. This update fixes all the recent known vulnerabilities. If you have not already updated your computer, I would highly recommend that you download it and update it now.

Bonus Tip: If you select the 'QuickTime 7.1.3 for Windows 2000/XP' option on the download page, you can get Quicktime without iTunes.

Old Glory Robot Insurance (Humor, Video)

Do you fear robots? Old Glory is now offering robot insurance for $4 a month to protect you and your family. No health check, or age consideration. "For when the metal ones decide to come for you, and they will..." ;-)

Flying-car firm releases simulator, takes deposits

CNET News.com reports: "Terrafugia, a "roadable aircraft" developer that emerged out of MIT, has devised a flight simulator for its aircraft (which can be downloaded here). ... Potential buyers can also now plunk down $7,400, or 5 percent of the anticipated $148,000 purchase price, for a deposit on a Transition. The planes will come out in late 2009."

For those of you who have been waiting years to see a real production flying car (or a 'roadable aircraft' as Terrafugia wants it called) your waiting is almost over (well in maybe 2-3+ years). Hopefully Terrafugia will be able to deliver what they're promising, unfortunately I am not holding my breathe, I have heard these promises before and have been let down.

For example: Moller International SkyCar, was suppose to be the first vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle ever. It was also suppose to cruises at a smooth 350 mph, has a range of 900 miles, gets around 28 miles to the gallon. Anyone seen a SkyCar lately? IMHO: The Moller International SkyCar looks better the Terrafugia Transition.

Bird That Uses Cars as a Nut Cracker

An amazing video of a bird (or birds) in Japan (I think) that are useing cars to crack open nuts for food.

Before the Simpsons, there was the Simpsons

The Simpsons is one of the longest running cartoon series (the series premiered January 14, 1990). I remember first watching it on an obscure Fox comedy called 'The Tracy Ullman show' (1987-1989). The Simpsons were short cartoons that were featured in every episode before and after the ad breaks.

Simpson Crazy is now offering the ability to view these early episodes. One thing that you might notice when you watch these episodes is the crude animation and character voices. It sometimes will throw you off when you first watch them.

Enjoy...

Darth Vader Calls The Emperor (Humor, Video)

Darth Vader Calls The Emperor after the death star blows up. (Note: This is a very funny video, but its not for children. Also if you get offended easily don't watch it.)

Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager (Episode 3)

If you have not yet already watched "Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager" episodes 1 & 2, you may want to watch them to get the background story. I have included links to these videos below:

• Episode 1
• Episode 2

Episode 3
The continuing story of Chad Vader. Chad is Darth Vader's less-talented, less-charismatic younger brother, who is the day shift manager at a local a grocery store. In this episode Chad Vader returns after being demoted to night manager and tries to enact a plan to regain the day shift.

Microsoft Research Builds 'BrowserShield' (article)

eWeek reports: "Researchers at the Redmond, Wash., company have completed work on a prototype framework called BrowserShield that promises to allow IE to intercept and remove, on the fly, malicious code hidden on Web pages, instead showing users safe equivalents of those pages."

IMHO: I have to say that this is an innovative idea that will probably get copied by the other browser's in their on going war to add new features and gain more market share. I have heard it said that 'imitation is the greatest complement', but I know a great deal of people who will argue that point. Now I have to wait for my chance to try this out, and see how well it works.

Google Image Labeler

Have fun and help Google improve it's image search results relevance, so that other Google visitors can get accurate search results. When you press the Begin button on the page, you'll be randomly paired with a partner who's online and using this feature.

Then over a 90-second period, you and your partner will be shown the same set of images and asked to create as many labels as possible to describe each image that's displayed. When the labels match, you earn points and move on to the next image until the time expires. After the time expires, the images you've seen will be displayed with link to the web sites where they can be found.

Original Star Trek Getting a CGI Makeover! (article)

There are rumors that CBS may have secret plans to bring back the original Star Trek TV episodes with new state-of-the art CGI visual effects, and is HDTV enhanced. Personally I think it would be interesting idea, but I will wait until I see it before I draw any conclusions.

I wonder if Star Trek purist will boycott the changes to the updated show? Look what happened when George Lucas added enhanced CGI effects to the original Star Wars movies, a lot of fans were not happy.

Scam Alert: Jury Duty Scam

Snopes reports: "Identity thieves trick the unwary into revealing their personal details by telling them they've failed to report for jury duty and warrants for their arrest are being issued."

It has gotten to the point where we now can't trust information from any of the sources of communication that we have come to rely on (i.e.: e-mail, regular mail, and phone calls) to run our everyday lives. Every form of communication that we trust has now been corrupted.

To protect yourself, you now have to double-check the validity of each message that you receive to make sure its real before you should give out any of your information.

Also make sure to check out the following article for more information on how to protect yourself.

Google: These books are free (article)

CNET News report: "Google Book Search now offers PDF files of scanned books that can be downloaded and printed for free ... Readers can find the books by choosing the "Full view books" option on the Google Book Search home page before they activate their search. Once they have chosen a book from the results page, a download button is clearly visible on the top-right corner of the page."

Google Expands into Businesses Software Market (article)

PC Magazine reports: "Google Inc. is making its most concerted move beyond search and advertising into the business software market, starting with a set of Web programs for e-mail, scheduling and communications, ... The online search leader said it has created a software platform to run basic business activities —based on programs it already offers separately."

This will be in interesting product if Google starts to integrate all of its current services together (like Writely, Google Spreadsheet, Blogger, etc.) and provides a uniform interface and logon. This could provide a very powerful online office suite.

Google has been working to unify its applications experience, but still has a lot of work in front of it. They only recently announced a unified logon for its Blogger site which they have had for several years now.

A Silent PC (article)

PC Magazine reports: "High-performance personal computers are thermal nightmares. As GPUs and CPUs have become more powerful, their heat output has skyrocketed. AMD's top-of-the-line Athlon 64 X2 4800+ is rated at 105W, while Intel's Pentium D 840 runs even higher, at 130W ... The typical way to dissipate all that heat? Throw extra cooling at the system—in other words, add more fans. Pretty soon, you've got more fans in your system than a B-36 bomber had propellers—and your system is as loud, too. You can't control the heat output (without moving to lower-performing components), but you can control the noise. Read on to find out how."

With Personal computers running hoter, its getting harder to keep them cool, and keep them quiet at the same time. The original PC only had fan for the power supply, now a PCs can have fans for the case, CPU, power supply, and video card. Thats a lot of fans and that can create a lot of noise. This article offers some great advice on how to reduce it.

VeriChip Sells First Baby Protection System, in Talks with Military (article)

PC Magazine reports: "VeriChip, the company that makes human-implantable RFID chips, is looking to span its equipment from newborns to the military's enlisted. ... The company announced Aug. 24 that it has made the first sale of its infant protection, wander prevention and staff duress system to the Brampton Civic Hospital in Brampton, Ontario. Separately, the company confirmed a day earlier that it is in talks with the military to test its implantable chips in two branches of the military."

I just have one question, would you 'chip' yourself or your children?

Welcome to the Internet, Now Go Home.

Have you ever stopped to think about what its like for a person to come on the Internet for the first time? Not even knowing what "http://" means. These people are in for an eye opening experience the first time they get hit by a virus. Even people who have been using the Internet for a long time are not safe, they're getting scammed and their machines infected.

With all the spam, malware (i.e.: viruses, worms, spyware, etc.), scams, pornography and other threats that we encounter everyday, it can almost be overwhelming. For example, it now takes about 5-10 minutes after plugging a new unprotected computer into the Internet for it to become infected. That's like getting carjacked in about 5-10 minutes after buying a new car because you forgot to lock your doors.

The good news is that newer Windows systems running SP2 are more secure then they use to be. The firewall are enabled by default so their not getting infected the first time they're plugged into the Internet. Although, if you don't fortify your defenses right away, you will quickly get infected.

Knowledge is Power
To help protect you, I have listed some of the most common (and some uncommon) threats and scams that everyone on the Internet faces. Then I explain what you need to do to protect yourself.

• E-mail scams:
  
• Don't trust e-mail, because addresses can be spoofed (faked) and it's not a very secure form of communication.
• Avoiding downloading any e-mail attachments, they can contain malware.
  
• Never trust any unsolicited e-mails for products and/or services (AKA spam), they're almost always fake.
• Beware of authentic looking e-mails from a company that you might do business (such as a financial institution, PayPal, eBay, etc...) asking you to change your password, or revealing any type of private information (such as your credit card or web site account information) for one reason or another. This is known as 'Phishing' scam, these messages will include links to a legitimate looking web site that they will be use to capture your private information .
• Here is an article about some other types of phishing scams.
• If someone from a foreign country like Nigeria (and many others) contacts you wanting to give you a lot of money, its a scam. This is often known as 'The Nigerian letter scam', many people have lost their money and lives to these fraudsters.
  
• Online scams:
  
• Reshipping scams: Have you seen those 'Work at home, handle shipments, make big bucks!' e-mails? This is where an offshore 'company' tries to recruit people inside the U.S. to accept money and goods, who then ship it outside the country. Scammers use stolen credit cards to make online purchases, then have the products shipped to the person who is helping them. After the person receives the package, they then forward these items to the thieves, who resells them. They even use their victims personal bank accounts to launder money through. When the authorities finally catch up with all the illegal activity, the victim is considered an accomplish to the crime for participating in illegal activities, and generally will be the one who takes the fall.
  
• Online auction scams: Scammers claim to be selling valuable goods at outrageous discounted prices. The victims generally receive nothing or shoddy knockoffs that aren't worth the asking price.
  
• Online job posting sites: Fraudsters are posing as legitimate companies, looking for help. They do this in order to gain access to personal information on their employment applications.
  
• Be careful which sites that you trust to download executables, especially screen savers. This is a great way to get viruses, spyware, or other types of malware installed on your computer.
• Don't install Internet Explorer ActiveX components, or Firefox extensions from web sites that you don't trust. These plug-ins can contain malicious code that will infect your computer or destroy your data.
  
• Never trust public computers:
  
• Below is a list of things you should never do from the public computers that are available in libraries, airports, etc. You never know when any of these computers might have a keyboard logger installed or other types of malware on them that can grab your private information:
• Never log into a secure websites that require you to authenticate yourself with a username and password (such as your bank, work, etc.).
  
• Never enter private information (such as your social security number, bank account number, credit card number, etc.) from these computers.
  

Below is a list of suggestions of how to protect yourself online, and advice to make sure that your computer's defenses are strong:

• Protecting your computer.
  
• Make sure your computer's firewall is enabled. This will protect your computer from network based attacks. For more information on this subject checkout this article.
  
• Make sure your operating system, applications (including your browser) are patched and/or updated. It is also recommended that if these programs have any automatic notification or update options that you enable it. For more information on this subject checkout this article.
  
• Install and run the latest version of an anti-virus and anti-spyware application on your computer, and make sure it has the latest signatures. I would also recommend scheduling daily or weekly scans of your computer, and make sure that you get daily updates of the signature files for these programs.
• Protecting yourself:
• You will need some type of e-mail service that has spam filtering, and anti-virus attachments scanning. Most ISPs offer e-mail accounts as part of your Internet service package, but may not offer spam filtering and virus scanning. Although, there are several free e-mail services like Gmail and Yahoo Mail that offer these features.
• Don't submit your private information (such as: your social security number, credit card number, etc.) to a web site unless you feel that you can trust the merchant. Also make sure that the web site is using an encrypted SSL connection (look for HTTPS:// in the web site's URL, and the lock on your browser's window).
  
• Also just because a web site asks for personal or private information, don't give it up unless you're comfortable sending this information over the Internet or giving it to that company.
• If you're worried about your privacy, and how a web site is going to use your personal information make sure to read its privacy policy. Personally I believe the larger the company, the more I trust what's said in the privacy policy because they know they will get sued if they break it.
  
• Create strong passwords for all the web sites that you use a lot. Avoid writing these passwords down, if you can to store them somewhere find a good password manager that you can trust.
  
• When making purchases online, use a credit card they offer the best fraud protections. Debit cards and electronic checks don't offer you the same level of fraud protection.
• Check your credit card statements and credit report online regularly for any unusual activity. If you find some, make sure to report it to your credit card company and credit reporting agency.
  
• Backup your computers data regularly. This is going to be your best defense against losing data.
  
• Bonus tip: buy a cross-cut paper shredder to destroy personal documents and regular mail that you don't want. This can help protect you against identity thief.

Other resources:

• Microsoft Security at Home: If you're looking for a site that has easy-to-understand security tips and explanations, this site is one of the better ones that I know about. If you're fairly knowledgeable about computer security you will not find a lot of useful information here that you don't already know.
• The Different Types of Internet Threats (Part 5): This article contains some more useful information on some of following topics, such as: Staying Up To Date, Testing Your Defenses, and Disinfecting Your Computer.
  

Check out the Wheelsurfer

Have you ever wanted to drive a wheel? Then check out the Wheelsurfer. Its a gigantic wheel that you can drive, and impress your friends for about five minutes (before they start laughing).

This vehicle proves that you can buy anything you want on the Internet.

Tiny ion pump sets new standard in cooling hot computer microchips (article)

The University of Washington reports: "researchers have succeeded in building a cooling device tiny enough to fit on a computer chip that could work reliably and efficiently with the smallest microelectronic components. ... The device, which uses an electrical charge to create a cooling air jet right at the surface of the chip, could be critical to advancing computer technology because future chips will be smaller, more tightly packed and are likely to run hotter than today's chips. As a result, tomorrow's computers will need cooling systems far more efficient than the fans and heat sinks that are used today."

As computer chips become more and more powerful, cooling them has become a very HOT topic these days (yes, the pun was intended). Over the years I have seen a lot of COOL technologies to remove heat from these chips, such as:

• Air Cooling: A fan used in conjunction with a heatsink, is the most popular form of cooling computer chips today. The fans move air through the case to cool the components, the problem with this technology is that its loud. Also as components get hotter and hotter, this technology will lose its ability to adequately cool them.
  
• Liquid Cooling: Works really well, and is quiet, the problem is that it's expensive to buy and cumbersome to install. It uses different types of fluids flowing through pipes attached to heatsinks to remove the heat from the chip.
• IMHO: I think in the not too distant future the higher-end PCs will have liquid cooling as a standard option.
  
• Peltier Coolers Works really well, and is quiet, but is very expensive. Basically it's a small thermoelectric refrigerator that sits on top of the chip to cool it. Peltier coolers have other problems, like they're power hogs, can generate condensation, and they produce a lot of heat themselves.
  

A modern day Trojan Horse Story

An Australian TV show called Chaser's War on Everything, wanted to find out if anyone had learned anything from the story of the Trojan Horse. They managed to get a huge wooden horse (with people inside) into many different places, such as:

• Television studio parking lots
  
• Sydney Opera House parking lot
• and more.
  

Stephen Colbert's Sound Advice: Internet Security

Stephen gives solid tips on how to protect your identity while surfing the internets.

Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells Undergo Successful Test (article)

Technoride reports: "The most attractive feature of SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) systems are their fuel flexibility. Because they can run on a variety of fuels, or electrolytes, SOFCs eliminate the need to provide hydrogen as a source of fuel. But being able to run on multiple widely available petrochemical fuels also frees American automakers from dependency on any one fuel in case of a shortage. Franklin Fuel Cells believes its improved SOFC technology is key in enabling smooth transition off of fossil fuels, the company has said."

It's an interesting concept engine, I wonder if we will ever see it in production. Although I am still waiting for the time when I can to run my car on water.

This Global Warming Fix Stinks (article)

Wired News reports: "Scientists agree that the planet is getting warmer because excess carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere acts like a pane of glass, trapping heat from solar radiation. Using less electricity and driving less are often recommended by climatologists to reduce carbon emissions. ... Paul Crutzen, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany, has a very different idea: He recommends injecting massive amounts of sulfur into the upper atmosphere so less sun will penetrate it."

The news and the weather have made us all to aware that the climate on our planet could be changing because of man made pollution and/or natural circumstances. Although the idea of injecting massive amounts of sulfur into the upper atmosphere, seems like a dangerous idea to me.

I am no expert in the field, but as the old adage goes, what goes up must come down. What type of effect will all that sulfur have on us and the environment.

Quotes of the Week

• "A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes that he has got the biggest piece." - Paul Gauguin
• "If you love life, don't waste time, because time is what life is made of" - Ben Franklin
• "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage." - Niccolo Machiavelli

Infineon Gets Order for US Passport Security Chip (article)

eWeek reports: "German chip maker Infineon said on Monday it had won a contract from the U.S. government to supply security chips for an electronic passport system."

Blue Oyster Spiral Fractal Zoom

No matter how deep you go, there's always more. This movie took quite a few days to calculate.

My Cubicle (The Music Video)

I am not sure of the name of the original song, but this is a very funny parirdy of it. I know some people whom the words of this song reflects their view of work, it's not mine but I have had days like this.

Federal judge orders halt to NSA spy program

CNET News.com reports: "The warrantless Internet and telephone surveillance program authorized by the Bush administration violates the U.S. Constitution and must cease immediately, a federal judge ruled Thursday."

Nintendo hopes Wii spells wiinner

USAToday reports: "Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Wii video game console is getting raves from reviewers and others who have gotten an early peek. ... The Wii (pronounced wee) sports an innovative controller: To hit a tennis ball, you swing it like a racket; to drive an SUV over treacherous terrain, you twist it like a steering wheel; to shoot a duck, you point it like a pistol."

Nintendo of America's new president and chief operating officer, Reginald Fils-Aime speaks with USAToday reporter Byron Acohido. About why he believes Nintendo, can retake top status in the billion dollar a year game industry.

Where to find the world's hottest startups

Business 2.0 reports: "As Web 2.0 success stories like Flickr and Del.icio.us prove, this kind of technology is dirt-cheap to implement and borrows data freely available from other websites. ... A lot of these global entrepreneurs are simply copying the biggest ideas in America's Web 2.0 canon. For every Digg.com, the popular U.S. site that lets readers nominate and vote on the most important news stories, there's a Yigg.de (the German version of the same)."

Here is an interesting article about Web 2.0 applications from around the world. Some of them are pretty interesting, and others are just duplicates of existing applications offered by other companies.

If you don't know what Web 2.0, Wikipedia defines it as: "a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes."

Easy Podcasting with GCast

Have you wanted to create a podcast but thought it was too technical, or lacked the hardware and software to do it. There is a free service called GCast that lets you record your podcast just by calling a toll-free telephone number. They will even automatically generate an RSS feed to it.

GCast also offers other podcast services and tools, such as:

• Free podcast hosting
• Free Podcast-safe music downloads (from GarageBand.com)
  
• Browser-based mixing tools
• An embeddable podcast player (can be placed into any HTML page)
• E-mail alerts
  

A New Way to Make Ultrasensitive Explosives Detectors (article)

The future of explosives detection lies in the form of nanoparticle research. Hewitt-Packard and University of California at Irving researchers have found a new way to make nanoparticle arrays that could lead to the development of extremely precise chemical sensors able to detect liquid explosives. This technique will make it easier and less expensive to produce the nanoparticles and thus more practical to incorporate this technology into security procedure. While a few more years are needed before this breakthrough will result in new scanning devices, it is reflective of a growing field of research in this volatile time period.

Have You Checked Out Live.com Recently

In November of last year Microsoft released their Live.com site, with a few basic services. Since then they really expanded their offering with several new web applications and services (for example: domain name and web site hosting). The site also offers really nice downloadable applications as well (see the list below).

I really like the consistent interface across most of the applications, and how some of them are integrated together. I hope to continue to see more of this in the future as they release new services.

If you're curious about the difference between Live.com and MSN.com. From my understanding, Live.com will host all the web applications and services, and MSN will continue to be the content, news and information provider.

Below is a brief summary of all the Live.com applications and services:

• Live.com: Create a customized home page, and add content you want to see (such as your message in your inbox, RSS feeds, and more).
• Windows Live Search: Search the Web, news articles, images, local business (maps) and more.
• Windows Live Expo: Place an ad, find something you want to buy, or post information for an event.
• Windows Live Mail: Has a new drop and drag interface, spam blocker, virus scanning, and 2GB of storage.
• Microsoft Office Live: Get a web site, 50 e-mail accounts, web traffic reports, and more
• Windows Live Gallery: Get add-ins and gadgets for your toolbar, Messenger Live, Live.com home page, and more.
• Windows Live Favorites: Get instant access to your Web favorites anywhere.
• Windows Live Custom Domains: Free web based e-mail for your Internet domain.
• Windows Live Spaces: Add photos, network, find new friends, create a blog. Has a lot more features then Blogger.
• Windows Live Shopping: Find clothes, computers, electronics, furniture and more.
• Windows Live Product Search: Search and compare products from several merchants across the Web.
• Windows Live Academic: Search articles from thousands of academic and research journals.
• Windows Live Local: Find businesses, get driving directions, and view satellite photos of where you're going to go.
• Windows Live Safety Center: Check your computer for viruses, tune-up your PC, and get rid of junk.

Downloadable Applications

The software listed below are applications that you download and install on your local computer.

• Windows Live Writer: This program was just released today, its WYSIWYG blog authoring tool that allows you to compose blog entries for Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others).
• Windows Live Messenger: Microsoft's next generation instant messaging client. Now includes VoIP and video conferencing.
• Windows Live Toolbar: Search the web, protect yourself against fraud, find files on your local computer.
• Windows Live OneCare: Microsoft's new anti-malware (virus, spyware, and more.), firewall, tune-up, and more.

Coming Soon to Live.com

Below is a list of applications that Microsoft is getting ready to release.

• Windows Live Book Search: Microsoft's online books searching service
• Windows Live QnA: Ask any question and get an answer.
• Windows Live Mail Desktop: Check and manage your online mail, including AOL, and GMail.
• Windows Live Search - Mobile: Search for a business, see maps and driving directions all from your mobile device

For the latest information, on new or updated applications and services check out the Windows Live Ideas page. This is where they post all the latest updates to the site.

New Segways Steer Like a Bike (article)

PC Magazine reports: "The maker of the Segway scooter on Monday unveiled the second generation of its self-balancing electric one-person vehicle. ... The redesigned scooter allows the rider to steer by leaning to the right or left, rather than by turning the handlebars. It also features a wireless electric key and alarm system."

This is the next generation Segway scooter, it look similar to the original one but is now easier to use. The people who own these devices generally love them, but personally I would have to find a really good application for one of these before I would own one. They're about US$5,000 to $6,000 depending on how you have it configured.

Science reveals secrets of invisibility

CNN.com reports: "Invisibility has long been a fantastical ability exclusively enjoyed by teenage wizards, super heroes and the ultra-advanced civilisations of science fiction. ... But more pragmatic-minded scientists and engineers now believe that invisibility-enabling technology may be within reach of lesser mortals as well."

Arthur C. Clarke was quoted as saying, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' If they get this technology to work the way its suppose too, it will almost seem like magic. I don't consider bending light waves around an object to just be an everyday event (at least not yet).

The military and law enforcement applications for this technology are incredible. Although, there will be only one privacy issue, there will be no privacy left. Think about this, someone or something can be planted where you are and you won't know its there unless you happen to bump into it or find it.

How to Reduce Telemarketing Calls

For years telemarketers have been bothering us at all times of the day on our phones trying to sell us their wares. Then a few years ago the FCC finally came to our rescue by creating the 'National Do Not Call List'. It's suppose to help reduce the telemarketing calls that we receive.

If you're getting bother by telemarketers, and want to reduce these calls Junkbusters offers the following suggestions to help reduce this type of annoyance:

1. Register your phone number(s) in the National Do-Not-Call Registry.
2. When a telemarketer calls, always say "Put this number on your don't-call-list." (If your Federal Do-Not-Call registration has entered into effect, you may be able to proceed directly to enforcement action against them.)
3. Use Junkbuster's Anti-telemarketing script, which probes whether the call was made by a telemarketing bureau. It also helps you probe whether the call was illegal under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and whether you can collect $500-$1500. You can print out copies keep by your phones at home. Like all Junkbusters products and services, it's free.
4. You can tell the Direct Marketing Association that you don't want calls from any of their member companies, though if you use the Federal registry this is unlikely to be of extra help.
5. Read Junkbuster's extensive guide on how telemarketers work and how to stop them calling you.
6. Your state may have a "Do Not Call" list where you can register your phone number. You can check your state in our guide, but most states coordinate with the National registry, so state registries have a similar effect to the National one.
7. Recording "out-of-service tones" (also known as SIT tones) at the beginning of your answering machine message will fool some telemarketers' computers into not calling your number again. Download the tones here. There are also lots of anti-telemarketing devices you can buy.
• Side note: For the people out there who would like to know the frequencies of these tone, they are: 985.2Hz, 1370.6Hz, and 1776.7Hz
  
8. If you want source documents describing your legal rights, start with Junkbuster's collection of the laws, rules and regulations governing telemarketing.
9. Junkbusters also maintains an extensive list of links to other sites concerning telemarketing.

Gore isn't quite as green as he's led the world to believe (article)

USATODAY.com reports: "Graciously, Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption. Better still, responsible global citizens can follow Gore's example, because, as he readily points out in his speeches, he lives a "carbon-neutral lifestyle." But if Al Gore is the world's role model for ecology, the planet is doomed."

There is an old saying that goes "Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk." I have to admit I am not personally living a 'carbon-neutral lifestyle', but at the same time I try not to waste energy or other resources. The problem with energy saving technologies is that they have only recently started becoming available at a reasonable price.

Personally I believe that the government should mandate guidelines that appliance and other manufactures must meet for their products. They should attack the biggest energy wasters first, then start with other products. Some people are against government mandates like this, but think of how many things would not have happened if the government didn't mandate it (i.e.: clean water, environmental policies, etc.).

Psst, Your Car is Watching You (article)

Time reports: "Few Americans realize that their cars can tattle on them. But among those in the know--civil libertarians, law enforcement agents and consumer advocates--a debate is surging over the black boxes technically called event-data recorders (EDRs). While some welcome them as a safety measure, others fear them as an Orwellian intrusion. Nearly one-third of vehicles on the road today--and 64% of this year's models--contain the little-noticed chips and sensors. Unlike flight recorders on airplanes, these microcomputers don't capture voices, but they can retain up to 20 seconds of data on speed, braking and acceleration in the lead-up to a crash. For virtually all Ford and General Motors cars, and for a few models from other automakers, accident investigators can buy a modem-like device to plug laptops into EDRs and download the information."

I read about this technology a few years back, but it now seems that it's going main stream. The technology was designed as a blackbox type of device for monitoring what happens in a crash just before the airbags were deployed. These devices have been used as evidence in several cases involving crashes to prove innocence and guilt.

Why "Nice Guys" are often such LOSERS (article)

I don't remember where I found this, but I though it would help whom consider themselves a "nice guy". It's not technology related, but the article has some worthwhile advice that is straight forward.

Here is an except from the article: "What's wrong with Nice Guys? The biggest problem is that most Nice Guys (tm) are hideously insecure. They are so anxious to be liked and loved that they do things for other people to gain acceptance and attention, rather than for the simply pleasure of giving. You never know if a Nice Guy really likes you for who you are, or if he has glommed onto you out of desperation because you actually paid some kind of attention to him."

Google warns on 'unsafe' websites (article)

BBC News reports: "Google has started warning users if they are about to visit a webpage that could harm their computer. ... The warning will pop up if users click on a link to a page known to host spyware or other malicious programs."

In May 2006 a research report showed that on average 4-6% of the search results returned in search engines contained sites that had harmful content on them. Below is a list of the most dangerous seach keywords that can contain spyware:

• Free screensavers
• Bearshare
• Screensavers
• Winmx
• Limewire
• Download Yahoo messenger
• Lime wire
• Free ringtones

Bottled Water: Is it Really Better? (article)

WebMD reports: "Once upon a time, most of us could walk across a parking lot or push a stroller down the street without a bottle of water in our hands. It doesn’t seem that way anymore." ... "most municipal systems and most bottled water sources are fairly equal in terms of contaminants and other health and safety issues."

Baiters Teach Scammers a Lesson (article)

Wired News: "They pilfer nearly $200 million from Americans annually and drive some of their victims to suicide, but Nigeria's notorious e-mail scam artists may finally have met their match -- and the results can be hilarious. ... British online vigilante "Shiver Metimbers" is leading tens of thousands of "scambaiters" in a crusade to shut down advance-fee fraudsters, grifters who spam unwitting victims with elaborate, e-mailed sob stories promising a share of nonexistent fortunes in return for upfront payments."

This article is a good read...

Best Free Online Storage Sites (1GB and More)

There are literally hundreds of storage sites out on the Internet that offer capacities that range from a few megabytes to a few gigabytes. I have visited a lot of them, and created a list of the best sites.

Only sites that offered 1GB or more of storage were listed, anything less was too small. If you need more storage (and fewer restrictions) many of these sites offer premium plans for a fee.

The sites are placed into two categories based on the type of storage they offer:

Temporary Hosting Sites
Are you looking for a place to temporarily hold a large file so that you can email it, or to host content (such as media) for your web site or blog. Then check out the list of sites below, they allow you to quickly upload just about any file where it can be access by people whom you make its link available to. The file you upload will generally automatically be deleted after a specific amount of time has passed.
Note: The amount of storage, and how long the file can be stored will vary, check the site's storage policy for specific details.

• SendOver - 2GB Storage
• MegaShares - 1.5GB Storage
• Badongo - 1GB Storage
• BIGfileupload - 1GB Storage
• TrasferBigFiles - 1GB Storage
• YouSendIt - 1GB Storage

Online File Storage
Are you looking for a site that specializes in online file storage, and won't automatically delete your files if you have not used them in a while. These sites are great for holding backups of your files, or acting as a transfer point for moving data from one computer to another computer (such as from home to work and back).
Note: Most of these sites have some type of transfer limits (i.e.: how much you can upload or download) which vary from site to site.

• Streamload MediaMax - 25GB Storage
• Inbox.com - 5GB Storage
• Mozy - 2GB Storage
• Box.net - 1GB Storage
• eSnips - 1GB Storage
• Openomy - 1GB Storage
• Orbitfiles - 1GB Storage

Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager (Episode 2)

The continuing story of Chad Vader. Chad is Darth Vader's less-talented, less-charismatic younger brother, who is the day shift manager at a local a grocery store.

Get Your Car Stolen, And Not Get Paid By Your Insurance Company

Is your car equipped with a transponder anti-theft system? This is where the ignition key is embedded with a tiny computer chip that transmits a unique radio signal to the vehicle's on-board computer. Without this radio signal, your car won't start.

If your car is equipped with a transponder anti-theft system, and your car get stolen your insurance company may not pay your claim if this system was not damaged. Your insurance might assume that this is some type of fraud, because this system is suppose to prevent this type of theft.

Read the article it has a lot of good information in it. Also check out the following post.

Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager (Episode 1)

Chad Vader is Darth Vader's less-talented, less-charismatic younger brother and is the day shift manager at a local a grocery store.

BABYLON 5 Returns!!

Ain't It Cool News reports: "During last weekend's San Diego Comic Con...at a panel that (evidently) didn't enjoy the "in your face" notoriety of, say, TRANSFORMERS or SPIDERMAN 3... producer/writer/director J. Michael Straczynski (JMS, or "Joe") made an announcement regarding the future of this little concept he has called BABYLON 5. ... The thrust of the news is this: straight-to-video BABYLON 5 adventures...involving B5 characters in an anthology format...should arrive late next year. Written and directed by JMS."

I would love to see the B5 series return, it is probably one of the best sci-fi series of all-times. So far 'Ain't It Cool News' is the best source of information that is available about new series.

Popularity Dialer

Have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.

With 'The Popularity Dialer', you can plan ahead. Via a web interface, you can choose to have your phone called at a particular time (or several times). At the elected time, your phone will be dialed and you will hear a prerecorded message that's one half of a conversation. Thus, you will be prompted to have a fake conversation and will easily fool those around you.

Microsoft's TouchLight makes 3D hands-on (video)

Cnet reports: "TouchLight technology, slated to be released by the end of the year, lets users move and manipulate three-dimensional images with their hands. CNET News.com's Neha Tiwari talks with David Harnett, Microsoft's senior director of IP ventures, about how the technology works and what practical uses it will have."

In the movie "Minority Report" (2002), do you remember the scene where Tom Cruise who played Chief John Anderton would manipulate data on the computer screen by moving his hands around in mid-air. This technology from the movie is here today, its pretty impressive and it should only get better. Watch the video to see more.

Are Your Electronics Robbing You?

Did you know that when you turn off most of your electronic devices (such as your TV, computer, A/V hardware, etc...) their still drawing power, and could be costing you a lot of money in wasted electricity? When most electronics are turned off, they go into a 'low-power' or 'standby' state instead of going all the way off. Sometimes in this low power state they can consume as much as a quarter to half the electricity they would draw as if they were on.

Another big waster of electricity is the power adapters (AKA transformers) on all of our other electronic devices we have sitting around the house and office, like: cordless phones, answering machines, etc. These power adapters will still draw power even when the device is not being used.

With the skyrocketing cost of energy, we need electronics that go to the next level and shut off completely instead of going into a low-power state. Its been said that the standby states consumes about eight percent of all domestic electricity.

Recently the UK government outlawed standby switches on electronics, and requires energy efficiency be built into new devices. The technology required to make our electronics more energy efficient would not be hard for manufactures to implement into new product, but they have no incentive to do it. Until governments, and consumers push the electronic manufactures, we will not see a change in the status quo.

Saving Energy:
Besides the obvious stuff you do to save energy, like: buying more efficient appliances and electronics, turning off devices that you're not using, etc. Here are some more suggestions:

• Plug your computer, monitor, and other peripherals (such as: printers, scanners, etc.) into a power strip. After you turn off all your electronics, turn off the power strip.
  
• BITS makes a power strip that automatically cuts power to all your computer accessories when you turn your computer off.
• Unplug power adapters that are not being used, or a better solution is to plug these devices into a power strip and turn it off when they're not in use.
  
• If you use your computer and monitor sporadically throughout the day, activate the low-power states to save energy. This especially important if your computer is left on 24 hours a day.

Google To Launch Ad-Free Open Source Project Site (Article)

NetworkWorld reports: "Google is adding open source project hosting to its menu of services, said Greg Stein, a Google engineer and chairman of the Apache Software Foundation. Stein was scheduled to announce the launch in a talk Thursday at O'Reilly Media's Open Source Convention in Portland, Oregon. The new service, to be located at code.google.com, competes with VA Software Corporation's SourceForge.net. Unlike SourceForge.net, which carries both text and banner ads on project web pages, Google's service will be ad-free."

Free Voicemail (Avoid Unwanted Calls)

Do you hate giving out your personal phone number to companies that you know will use it for telemarketing, or when you place an ad online or in a newspaper. PrivatePhone will give you a free personal phone number and voice mailbox.

You can give out the phone number to anyone you want to contact you, without giving out your personal phone number. They can leave you a message, and you can call them back when you want too.

Phishing: Beyond E-mail

Note: Use caution when dealing with any merchants, creditors, or financial institutions that contact you directly. Its getting harder and harder to tell who is real thing and who is an identify thieve trying to steal your private information. The advice provided below is just some basic guidelines you can follow for handling these situations. Ultimately you have to make your own decisions on how you want to handle it.

A few weeks back I posted an article warning about "Vishing" (or voice phishing). If you don't know what vishing is, this is where identity thieves send you an legitimate looking e-mail from a company that you may recognize (such as a bank or major online merchant) that asks you to call a phone number to correct a problem (such as a credit card or account information being stolen). The phone number is to a voice response system that will try to fool you into revealing your private information (such as your account numbers, PIN, social security number, etc.).

There is also another variation of this trick where the identity thieves are calling people using a recorded message and VoIP (Voice over IP) services to mask their real identity. The recording instructs the caller to call a specific number to correct a problem with their account. The phone number is to a voice response system that will try to fool you into revealing your private information.

The only way to beat this threat is to call a trusted number (such as the one from the phone book, on the back of your credit card, or off a statement that you receive) and verify the information that way. Avoid trusting the phone numbers that they provide you over the phone. Another trick is to ask them information about your account that only the real financial institution would be able to know, such as a recent transaction.

New Scam: False Collection Agency Letters
Now these people have turned to sending realistic looking collection agency letters using standard mail. Generally these letters will state that you owe thousands of dollars to a creditor that you have never heard of.

Be careful about calling these 'collection agency' it could be some thief trying to get your personal information (such as your social security number) by claiming that their trying to 'verify your identity'.

If you get one of these letters and you know that you don't owe the money, don't respond to this request. You might also want to consider double-checking your credit report for any references to the creditor trying to contact you.

After you verify that this might be a fraudulent request, send these letters to your state's attorney general's fraud investigation division.

Remember: Common sense is your best defense.

Tsar Bomba 50 Megatons (The largest nuclear weapon ever)

The Tsar Bomba was the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed or detonated. It was detonated at 4000 m altitude the 30th of October 1961 at Mityushikha Bay test range, Novaya Zemlya Island. It had a yield of 50 Megatons.

Monty Python's Holy Grail meets Star Wars

If you like this, also make sure to check out the following post.

Bathroom Tech: 10 Most Bizarre Products (article)

Gearlog reports: "Check out our list of the ten most bizarre bathroom tech items, in order of bizarreness."

There are some very bizarre products available for your bathroom. One of my favorites is the fish bowl toilet. Check out the article for more information.

The Best Nuclear Option (article)

Technology Review: "The U.S. Energy Department's fuel-recycling initiative could be a distraction from a more achievable goal: reviving today's nuclear industry and averting some carbon emissions in the short term."

With all the worries about oil and other fuels that we use for power, it seems like nuclear will be our best option for the future. This technology is not without its problems and other concerns, but there is not a lot of other choices out there. This technology has evolved radically since the 1970's. Maybe its time we give it a second chance???

A plane you can print (article)

New Scientist Tech reports: "An unmanned aircraft made from 'printed' parts rather than traditional machine-tooled components has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, UK."

Here is a new idea using an existing technologies. I am pretty sure that these 3D printers are going to drastically be refined if this type of manufacturing takes off. Read the article for the complete story.

USB Missile Launcher

This has to be one of the best USB gadget invented in a long time. I am pretty sure it will provide 5-10 minutes of entertainment before you get the boarded of it.

---

Calling 411 For Free (updated)

If you want to call 411 from your cell phone, it will cost you about $1 or more. This is a little too expensive for my taste.

The great news is that there are free alternatives for finding phone numbers, but you will have to listen to ads to get your numbers:

• Free 411 (1-800-FREE-411): Automated 411 phone service that requires you a listen to a 15 second ad to use the service.
• 1-800-411-METRO (6387): You listen to more ads, but you get to talk to a real human and the service connects you to phone number for free.
• 1-800-555-1212: Automated toll free directory assistance, no ads, and live operators during the day.
  

There is also:

• Google's SMS: Type something like "pizza san francisco ca" and SMS to the following number to 46645. You will get a few listings that match your query.
  

PC vs. Apple Mac (video)

Here's a parody of Apple's PC vs. Mac commercial starring Christian Finnegan and Nick Kroll. It's pretty funny... (Rating: PG-13)

Magnetic memory' chip unveiled (article)

BBC reports: "A microchip which can store information like a hard drive has been unveiled by US company Freescale. ... The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge."

This technology is the is the most significant development in computer memory for about a decade. The advantages of MRAM vs. Flash is: MRAM has faster read/write speeds and data doesn't degrade over time.

William Shatner Loves Lucy (video)

This video is trippy, but very funny video. Its William Shatner singing the Beatles 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. For those who might ask if this this is really him sining it, the answer is 'yes'. Mr. Shatner had a very short career as a singer.



Bonus Video:
If you can handle it, here is a video William Shatner singing Rocketman. I couldn't watch it all the way through, it was too painful (my ears, the pain). They should have called it 'Captain Kirk' sings Rocketman, because 'each' 'word' 'is' 'pronounced' 'like' 'its' 'very' 'own' 'sentence'. ;-)

Stealth radar sees through objects undetected

OSU ElectroScience Laboratory reports: "ElectroScience Engineers have invented a radar system that is virtually undetectable because its signal resembles random noise. The radar could have applications in law enforcement, the military and disaster rescue. Eric Walton, senior research scientist in Ohio State's ElectroScience Laboratory, said that with further development the technology could even be used for medical imaging."

I hate quoting from a press release, but this is the best information on I can find on this technology. I couldn't even find a public name for the technology. All that said, if this technology lives up to it claims it will have some amazing applications.

Judge Deals Blow to SCO in $5 Billion Linux Lawsuit (article)

newsfactor.com reports: "The holidays came early for devotees of the Linux operating system when a judge last week threw out the majority of claims brought against IBM by the SCO Group in its $5 billion intellectual property rights case."

This is hopefully the beginning of the end of this lawsuit. The judge dismissed 182 of SCO's original 294 claims. SCO failed to comply with repeat requests to hand over to IBM and the court with specific information about the lines of code that they claim were stolen.

AOL may offer free high-speed Internet (article)

Reuters reports: "Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit may offer its full menu of services, including e-mail, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter."

In the late 1990's AOL was signing up millions and millions of people, in fact they could barely keep-up with the growth. Now they're losing hundreds of thousands every quarter. Their dial-up business is dieing. They're now trying to save themselves by offering their services for free, and supporting themselves through advertisements.

Classic Dr. Demento D and D Spoof (video)

Below is a excerpt from the video's description (with corrections): "We've all been there. You spend a week crafting a campaign, just to try to work some idiot through it while they fire off magic missiles 'at the darkness', some other jerk keeps changing his character's attributes and this weenie who eats all your snacks and Mountain Dew keeps hassling you for some virtual play in a virtual pub. ... This is machinima set to the classic Dr. Demento D and D spoof."

Wiring Like a Pro (article)

PC Magazine reports: "In a world of wireless this and wireless that, sometimes we all find ourselves begging for a little bit more - a little more reliability, a little more bandwidth, a little more speed, a little more security, and heck, even a little more free time to enjoy this world that offers so much more. In order to feed this technology crave, we need to go back to the basics and connect our dots with copper."

Unfortunately most audio/video electronics don't support wireless connections. This forces you to run wires behind furniture, along the baseboard, etc. If you want to have a professional looking installation, then you will want to have the wires run behind the walls.

If you're a DIYer looking for a good tutorial on how to properly run computer/video cables and what tools you need. Then checkout the following article.

Mach-Lorentz Thrusters (can you say impulse engines)

CNet reports: "Only time and money separate the current state of rocket propulsion science from the engine rooms of Star Trek's Starfleet, according to a university professor. ... James Woodward, a history professor at California State University in Fullerton, presented his research into Mach-Lorentz thrusters Wednesday at the Future in Review conference here. Mach-Lorentz thrusters (MLTs), assuming they can be scaled up from lab tests, could provide a new source of propulsion"

Mach-Lorentz Thrusters are based on the work of two men. Mach's principle which suggests that all particles in the universe have an effect on each other. Also Hendrik Lorentz work, who conducted research into the movement of charged particles in a magnetic field.

MIT research may spell end for the battery (article)

The Boston Globe reports: "Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology think they're on the verge of making traditional batteries obsolete. ... The researchers are working on a new device that uses carbon nanotubes to store and release electrical energy in a system that could carry as much power as today's lead or lithium batteries."

The really exciting news about these batteries is the fact that they can be charged really fast. They can also be charged ones of thousands of times before wearing out.

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: What You Need to Know (article)

PC Magazine reports: "the battle to replace the DVD has finally reached consumers. The consumer electronics industry is attempting to replace the millions of DVD players and DVD-ROM drives across the globe. The problem is it can't decide which format to replace them with: Blu-ray or HD DVD. ... Each format has its own heavyweight industry backing. HD DVD is supported by Toshiba, Intel, and Microsoft, which will offer an add-on HD DVD player to its Xbox 360 game console this fall. Blu-ray is supported by Samsung, Pioneer, and Sony, which will build a Blu-ray drive directly into its upcoming PlayStation 3 game system, also available this fall."

Also checkout the following articles:

• HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray Format Wars
• 10 Reasons Why High Definition DVD Formats Have Already Failed

New Type of Phishing (uses Voice Response Systems)

PC Magazine reports: "Websense Security Labs has reported a heretofore theoretical attack called "vishing," or voice phishing. The attack involves an actual phone number and a voice-response system (or is that "phoice-response system"?) to collect personal information."

I have to admit hate the new name that they're giving this type of attack (i.e.: 'vishing'), but I didn't create it. I think the new name is only going to confuse people about the subject more then they might be right now.

Its getting harder and harder these days to tell what's e-mail from a real business and what's a new type of phishing attack. As important as email is for some of us, the one thing that you have to remember is that 'e-mail is untrustworthy'.

To protect yourself, you should do the following:

• Don't download and run attachments in e-mail.
• Don't trust links or phone numbers provided in e-mails.
• Go to the site yourself rather then trusting a links in the e-mail, or call the company using a existing phone number that you trust.
  
• Don't rely solely on technology (spam filters, firewalls, anti-virus, etc.) because it can't protect you 100% of the time.

Data Brokers and Buyers Anger Congress (article)

Eweek reports: "Almost every piece of personal information that Americans try to keep secret - —including bank account statements, e-mail messages and telephone records - —is semi-public and available for sale."

Its scary how easy it is for anyone to obtain information about yourself, from bank account numbers, to your phone bill, and much more. All the person has to do is be willing to pay a few hundred dollars for the information.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars (video)

There are not a lot of good Star Trek parodies in my opinion, but this is one of the better ones. This video asks, 'what would happen if the starship Enterprise encountered the Death Star?' Watch the video to find out.




Also make sure to checkout my other post called the 'Best Star Wars Parody/Fan Films'.

PC Pitstop: Vista Readiness Center

PC Pitstop has recently released their new Windows Vista Readiness Center. Windows Vista is Microsoft's next generation operating system. The PC Pitstop readiness test quickly analyzes your computer to find out if its hardware meets Microsoft system requirements to run the new operating system.

Note: This site requires Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher in order to work because it uses ActiveX controls to check your computer.

'Transformers' Web Site Goes Live

The official web site for the upcoming 'Transformers' movie has recently come online. The site includes very little except a countdown timer showing how long until the premier of the first Transformers trailer on the 4th of July.

Check out the IMDB or Wikipedia for more information.

Mind Games (Color Test)

Here is a very simple game that puts both halves of your mind against each other. It displays the name of different colors, in a color other then the word. For example, red, blue, orange, etc. You have for seconds to correctly identify the word before you have to move on to the next one.

Have fun...

Search Engine Partnership Chart

Most people use Google for search, but there are several other smaller search engines out there competing for the crumbs from Google's table. A lot of these smaller search sites rely on results provided by larger search companies.

To see all the relationships between these companies, check out the following site. It shows all the relationships between these search engines.

Microsoft Rolls Out Robotics Dev Kit (article)

PC Magazine reports: "Robotics has captured the minds and imagination of those inside and outside the technology market, but as a market unto itself, robotics can barely get its act together. Microsoft today announced during Robo Trend Inc.'s RoboBusiness Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, a set of development tools that it believes can help unify this fractured market."

Read the article for all the details, or if you want to get more information on Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS) check out this web site.

Lyrebird unbelievable Jungle Bird Mimics Bird and Human Sounds

The unbelievable Lyrebird jungle bird can mimic other birds and human noises (such as: car alarms, chainsaws, cameras shutters, etc.)

iDon't.com (Are you an iSheep)

I recently came across a site called iDon't.com, which is a site that mocks iPod owners. Then asks if iPod owners are sheep? The iDon't.com site is a really viral ad Web marketing campaign launched by SanDisk few weeks ago. SanDisk's is using the site to promote its Sansa flash drive player.

Personally I don't own an iPod, and I hope and pray I never do. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing technically or aesthetically wrong with the device. I am just not crazy about the cult following they have or the DRM (digital rights management) encoded music it uses. I know people who have spend thousands of dollars to download this DRM encoded music and load it on to these devices.

Personally, give me a legal copy of a CD any day. I prefer the format, its more portable from device to device then any DRM format. I can also play it in my home stereo, computer, car stereo, or portable CD player. Then 10 years from now, I will still be able to play it (granted that the media last that long, and its not all scratched up).

I also want to state I am not against DRM encoded media. As I have always said that I believe that an artist and their publisher has its right to protect their investment. But I as a consumer have the right to choose the format I want to access my media in.

Although If I am going to use a DRM-based media format, I will use the Windows Media format primarily because I believe its just as good as iTunes and its supported by several different devices.

Nissan Pivo (Prototype Car)

The Pivo is a new prototype car from Nissan that is possibly the most unique cars you have ever seen to date. The cabin can spin a 180 degrees so backing up is the thing of the past.

The car itself it kind of ugly (but beauty is in the eye of the beholder), but it has a lots of very advanced features.

Jet Turbine Powered Bike (video)

I don't believe I need to say anything other then, 'why would you do this'? (watch the video if you want to know what I mean)

Liquid Armor (article w/video)

ScienCentral News reports: "Flexible full-body protection that could save our troops' lives and limbs is at the top of the list for many researchers and technology companies. One such product could soon make its way to Iraq. As this ScienCentral News video explains, the secret ingredient is a liquid that could turn lightweight material into full-body armor."

The way this product works is it basically makes strong materials (such as Kevlar) even stronger when its comes to impact resistance. This is an amazing product, and its going to probably have several of commercial applications as soon as people discover it.

Virgin Galactic Updates on Plans For SpaceShipTwo (article)

Virgin Galactic has revealed plans to build SpaceShipTwo (SS2) that will be larger than the original SpaceShipOne. The new craft will carry 6 passengers and 2 pilots to an altitude of about 140km (about 87 miles) above the Earth.

SS2 will be carried into the air by a large aircraft, where it will then be dropped and then fire its new hybrid rocket motors. Passengers will be able experience 5 minutes of weightlessness. After that SS2 will then decelerates back to Earth through the atmosphere, where the passengers will experience about 7Gs of force.

Read the Universe Today article for more information.

The Dirty Secret of China's Economy (article)

BusinessWeek reports: "Yes, China is a remarkable growth story. But it is also fast becoming an ecological wasteland, home to world-class smog, acid rain, polluted rivers and lakes, and deforestation. Environmental problems play a role in the death of some 300,000 Chinese people each year, according to World Bank estimates."

China is an amazing economic growth story, but has the prosperity come at the cost of their people and the environment. The current population of China is about 1.3 billion people, with an increasing percentage of those people moving from poverty to prosperity. With that prosperity comes increased demand from the middle class for raw material, resources, etc...

Google Checkout (aka Gbuy) preparing to launch (article)

ZDNet.com reports: "Google Checkout — what the press calls GBuy — is getting closer to launch. Just minutes ago, checkout.google.com was given a CNAME record pointing to checkout.l.google.com which resolves to a ton of IP addresses. This probably means they have some pretty impressive load balancing going on and the product's uptime and performance is very important. "

SaveTheInternet.com (Net Neutrality, just say No)

The current hot political topic on the Internet these days seems to be the battle over 'Net Neutrality'. If you have not heard about it, its about Internet Service Providers (ISPs) wanting to control what content you access by setting up 'tiered service' to limit your ability to access different sites. They can do this by slowing down your connection to that site, or by blocking access to it all together.

You might ask why would the ISPs want to do this? Well, its about them trying to make more money by charging web site owners fees so that you can get fast access to their site. Its also about them setting up exclusive deals with sites, and giving them preferential treatment. So in theory the ISP can hinder or block your access to one site, so that you will go to a site that has an exclusive arrangement with that ISP.

A site called SaveTheInternet.com is trying to start a grass roots movement against 'tiered Internet service'. Their asking visitors to call or write their congressmen to stop the ISPs from implementing tiered service. Also, to support the cause, an all female rock group called 'The Broadband' has created a new single entitled, "God Save the Internet." (IMHO its a really good song.)

If you still don't understand Net Neutrality, the video below includes a dramatization that will hopefully make it a little clearer. If you understand Net Neutrality the video is still pretty funny to watch.

---

Building the Ultimate Home entertainment System

Do you want to own your own home entertainment system, with an LCD projector, 100"+ screen and PVR (Personal Video Recorder), but think its too expensive? If you're willing to construct it yourself, I can point you to some resources that will help you build this equipment and save you thousands of dollars.

In the articles below you will find almost everything you need to know, to build your own low-cost home entertainment system with a video projector, screen, cables, and DVR.

Building the Projector:
To make the projector, check out the following site (Lumenlab). Here is a brief except from the site: "You can build an HDTV projector that rivals units costing many thousands of dollars! Our free builder guide will get you started and our user forums will give you the critical support you need. Imagine a 120" HDTV screen in your living room. You can use it for Power Point presentations, video games (PlayStation 2, Xbox), DVD movies, HDTV and more. Building it yourself means you control the quality and the cost. I should warn you though - this can become a very addictive hobby."

Building the Screen:
To make the screen check out the following article (Make a 100" Screen for under $100). Here is a brief except from the article: "As the price of entry level home theater projectors drops below $1,000, the price of professional quality projection screens has become increasingly objectionable for new home theater enthusiasts. Nobody who spends $1,000 for a projector is interested in spending another $500 to $1,500 for a screen. You can always use a white wall, but there is no frame, and walls usually have texture that shows up in the image. Not only that but the color of the white paint on the wall is rarely conducive to giving you good color balance."

Building the Cables:
This is a article and video podcast on how to make high quality A/V cables. Here is an except from the article: "Say goodbye to the bank-breaking audio/video cables at your local electronics superstore. Save your money and build out your home theater DIY style. With a total running time of 45 minutes, Kevin and Dan talk to a broadcast engineer to demonstrate how to make your own high end A/V cables for a fraction of the cost and a 'monster' savings."

Building the DVR:
This is a article and video podcast on how to make a MythTV system. Here is an except from the article, "Tired of shelling out hard earned cash to download the program listings of your DVR? Want to backup your videos but don't want to deal with the hassle of DRMed files? Kevin Rose & Dan Huard show you everything you need to know about the free and open source PVR alternative, MythTV."

You don't have a use MythTV for your PVR, there are several other alternatives out there such as Windows Media Center, and other software. There are also several other pre-built solutions that are available at most local electronics stores.

Running Wires
This is an article on how to make some basic cables and run them behind walls for new home entertainment system.

Robonova-1 Robot (video)

Robonova-1, is a humanoid robot for educators, students, and robotic hobbyists that is fully programmable. The robot can walk, run, do flips, turn cartwheels, dance, stand on one leg, lie down, pick itself back up, turn a flip, and do push-ups, and more. You program it with PC software that is included. Watch the video below to see it in action.

The robot is available two ways: as a kit, so you can build it yourself, or pre-assembled, also known as "RTW" or "ready to walk" for those looking for instant gratification.

Smart Dust used in Iraq?

Have you ever heard of 'Smart Dust'? Well, the military has had it in development for the last ten years. Basically its a miniaturized RFID like device about the size of a rice grain that can be used for tracking people.

The smart dust can be made to look like dirt, and can be placed on people's clothing. Each device has a unique id number assigned to it, that can be track by troops or aircraft when sent a special 'interrogation signal'.

Smart dust is believed to have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was also believed to have been used in the recent death of the al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

Iraqi Sandstorm (Video)

This is an amazing video of an Iraqi Sandstorm. I have to admit after watching this I have a new found respect for them. Its amazing how they look like they're not even moving until they're right on top of you.

Life as a Guy (video)

I hope you enjoy this video. The animation is crude, but its very funny...

Proposal to Implant Tracking Chips in Immigrants (article)

LiveScience reports "Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has proposed implanting the company's RFID tracking tags in immigrant and guest workers. He made the statement on national television on May 16."

The VeriChip is a very small RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag about the size of a large grain of rice. This device can be injected directly into a person's body. It also has a special coating that helps it to bond to living tissue and not to move.

A special RFID reader broadcasts a signal into the antenna of the VeriChip. The chip uses the signal to draw its power to send back its data. This allows the VeriChip to operate without ever needing batteries.

Special forces to use strap-on 'Batwings' (article)

A German company called ESG has developed strap-on wings for use by special forces to fly into combat. The wings will allow a soldier to be dropped from an airplanes at high altitude, and soar for up to 120 miles in total silence and without being picked up by radar. Once the soldier is above the target, they deploy their parachute.

Here is a picture of the strap-on wing. To be honest it looks like something I saw from a G.I. Joe cartoon. I can't remember if G.I. Joe or Cobra was using it.

QuadSki: Its a Quadrunner and a Jet ski

The QuadSki is a jet ski that turns in to a quadrunner at the push of a button. Here is a video of it in action.

Its suppose to travel up to 50 miles-per-hour on land or water, and its powered by a 140-horsepower engine. On a full tank of gas is suppose to have a 372-mile range on land or two hours of boating on the water.

I really want one... Now all I have to do is see if anyone will give me it for free.

One Laptop Per Child First Public Demo

The One Laptop Per Child project recently demonstrated its first working laptop prototype at the Red Hat Summit. In the video below, Christopher Blizzard a member of Mozilla Corporation board demonstrated the device.

The ruggedized laptop will weigh about two pound, running Fedora Linux, with mesh networking built-in. Each unit will sell for about $130 to $140 to governments starting in April 2007.

Scientists ponder invisibility cloak (article)

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports: "WASHINGTON -- Imagine an invisibility cloak that works just like the one Harry Potter inherited from his father. Researchers in England and the United States think they know how to do that. They are laying out the blueprint and calling for help in developing the exotic materials needed to build a cloak."

The material technology required to make this cloak of invisibility sounds almost science fictionish, but the scientist believe that one day we will be able to create it. Basically the way it works is that light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation would strike the cloak and simply flow around it. To an onlooker it would appear as if they're seeing right through the cloak.

In August of 2003 Wired did an article called "Being Invisible" about a type of 'cloak of invisibility' but far less sophisticated then what is being talked about above. Here is excerpt from the article: "With recent advances in optics and computing, however, this elusive goal is no longer purely imaginary. Last spring, Susumu Tachi, an engineering professor at the University of Tokyo, demonstrated a crude invisibility cloak. Through the clever application of some dirt-cheap technology, the Japanese inventor has brought personal invisibility a step closer to reality." Here is a video to show you what I am talking about.

Best Star Wars Parody/Fan Films

Below are my picks for all-time best Star Wars parodies and fan films. When you watch the videos you will notice that they all vary in video quality from really good (i.e.: I.M.P.S.), to really bad (i.e.: Tie-Tanic). I also tried to find versions of these videos that use the Google Video service so their easier to view, but some of them were not available from there.

So here is my list:

• I.M.P.S.: The Relentless: IMHO, this is the best Star Wars fan film (ever). (Note: This file is about 200MB+ in size.)
  
• MTV Movie Awards 2005 Star Wars Parody: A hilarious and well edited Star Wars parody featuring Jimmy Fallon
• Troops: Hilarious take-off on Cops, using Storm Troopers.
• Ryan vs Dorkman: One of the best amateur lightsaber battles ever done in a fan film.
• Hardware Wars: The grand daddy of all Star Wars fan films. It was probably created in the late 70's, and its very cheesy but very funny.
• Tie-Tantic: A hysterical Titanic/Star Wars cross parody. (Note: The video quality of this file is really bad, but watchable.)

Honorable Mention

• Triumph vs. Star Wars Geeks: This is not a fan film or parody, but if you have not watched Triumph (the insulting comic dog) take on the Star Wars geeks then you're missing some great comedy. (Note: some content in this video is PG-13)
• Star Wars Kid: I almost hate to list this video because of its background story, but in many ways its really part of the of the Star Wars fan film/parody culture. (Note: There are several remixes of these videos available all over the Net.)
  

The truth about global warming - it's the Sun that's to blame (article)

The Telegraph reports: "Global warming has finally been explained: the Earth is getting hotter because the Sun is burning more brightly than at any time during the past 1,000 years, according to new research."

For years I have been saying the climate shifts that we have been seeing over the last few decades have not been caused by pollution like so many people believed. I have stated on more then one occasion that natural events can cause these shifts in the Earth's climate as well. I have even posted a few articles here of the last few months to make my point.

Although this story doesn't completely rule out green house gases as a possible contributor to the climate shifts we have been seeing in the last few decades. The primary culprit now appears to be an increase in brightness from the sun.