The Night Owl's Nest

Why I haven't posted anything for several months....

2011-03-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

I've been preoccupied fighting esophageal Cancer.

I won!

The 'take away': If you get heartburn as infrequently as twice a week, go to your doctor and be assertive as though your life depends on it, because your life depends on it!

Why does the Big Gummint spend $81.9 BILLION ANNUALLY for computers?

2010-09-12T04:25:00.001-07:00

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Carl Malamud recently, at the 2010 Gov 2.0 Summit, called out here the sloppy way our Government agencies have been, and are, wasting money and time in the ways that they buy information technology infrastructure (think - computers, data lines and the like).

The text of his speech is available here.
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Have you ever wondered how Google works?

2010-07-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here's how Google works.
Remember, this all happens about as fast as you blink your eyes!

Hat tip to Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture
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A Star Is Born ... But How?

2010-07-03T12:25:00.009-07:00

Did you ever wonder where you came from?
You start with two hydrogen atoms.
All that stuff about the birds & the bees came way later!

my head hurts from trying to understand this stuff...

How did the universe form
the first stars?

That is the question asked by Research Scientist Daniel Wolf Savin of Columbia University's Astrophysics Laboratory.

This is the apparatus used by researchers in the lab to simulate the chemistry of the early universe (not your typical telescope).

Credit: Daniel Wolf Savin, Columbia University

Then he went about finding the answer.
The National Science Foundation posted a video of Dr. Savin discussing this work here.
I'm fascinated with this, but I can't even wrap my brain around it. I'm so impressed with how people like Savin are pushing the boundaries of what is knowable.
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2010-06-24T20:38:00.002-07:00

Typically brain disorders are diagnosed by observing a person's specific behavior. This is, one supposes, analogous to diagnosing a heart attack by observing a person clutching their chest.
Here's a better way... Look at their brain....

After watching this video, your brain may join my brain in being stunned!
Then, let's both wonder how this technology might be applied to schizophrenia....
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2010-06-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

We human beings are a strange lot. We see problems that are easily solvable quite inexpensively -- yet we demand big, flashy and expensive solutions to these problems. And the big, flashy, expensive solutions don't solve the problems as well as the simple solutions. We human beings are a strange lot.
Here's how Rory Sutherland, initially a classics teacher and now Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, describes the world as it is -- and how it can be.
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A Doggy Summer for Memorial Day

2010-05-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

Barry Ritholtz is a financial strategist on Wall Street. He just posted this video on his blog The Big Picture while wishing everyone to enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend.

I agree with Barry. Enjoy the weekend! And remember why there is a Memorial Day. Remember the troops -- both past and present.
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A New Type of Phishing Attack

2010-05-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

A New Type of Phishing Attack

Aza Raskin, the Creative Lead for Firefox, has posted a report of a new type of Phishing attack here.

This one sneaks behind your back when you have multiple tabs open.

The folks over at the Internet Storm Center call it Tabnabbing. It fakes you into telling the bad guys how to log into your Gmail account. Then, they can steal all your contacts' info.

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A New Type of Phishing Attack from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Is That Prosperity Calling?

2010-05-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in an article entitled Is That Prosperity Calling? reports that the answer is -- Yes.
Through a mathematical study of anonymized telephone records, and other means, the team determined that communities with more diverse social connections tend to be more prosperous than communities that are more insular.
"The paper represents "an early illustration of the promise of computational social science," says behavioral scientist Noshir Contractor of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. This team's efforts show how such vast data can help to tease out longstanding puzzles in social science."
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‘A dead salmon perceiving humans can tell their emotional state.’

2010-05-19T19:31:00.002-07:00

Wired Headline: Scanning Dead Salmon in fMRI Machine Highlights Risk of Red Herrings

Neuroscientist Craig Bennett bought a whole salmon to use as a test subject while working out some new methodologies on an fMRI machine. So far, so good. A dead fish isn't going to become fatigued, get thirsty, or want to take a break to go to the bathroom.
The results were, uhhh, interesting.

While studying the dead fish in the fMRI machine, they showed it pictures of people and asked the dead fish to determine their emotional states. One scan result is shown above. Apparent brain activity in a dead fish!
So, once again we are reminded of the rigor one should use in science and research. Speaking of rigor, here is Bennett's methodology:

Without adequate rigor in analysis, one comes to the out-of-whack view so aptly described thusly by Bennett:
“By complete, random chance, we found some voxels that were significant that just happened to be in the fish’s brain,” Bennett said. “And if I were a ridiculous researcher, I’d say, ‘A dead salmon perceiving humans can tell their emotional state.’”
There was another, shall I say 'tastefully' humorous aspect in that, in this case, the subject "... can be reused via culinary post-processing."
Be thorough out there. And, please, be rigorous.

Hat tip to Alex French via Dave Farber's I.P. list.

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Pale Blue Dot

2010-05-04T23:47:00.003-07:00

It’s the twentieth anniversary (well, it was in February) of the famous “pale blue dot” photo – Earth as seen from Voyager 1 while on the edge of our solar system (approximately 3,762,136,324 miles from home). Carl Sagan’s words are well worth remembering:

"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

UPDATE 1: To correct the quote.

Were you ever tackled by Pat tillman?

2010-04-24T23:48:00.001-07:00

Bill Dwyre, former sports editor of The LATimes, writes here about the upcoming documentary film about how Pat Tillman's mother dug in and chased down the facts about how Pat was killed.

In this preview of "The Tillman Story", Dwyre indicts virtually the entire community of journalists. His article is entitled, "Pat Tillman film a haunting blindside". It's a look at how the Army tried to cover up the facts surrounding Pat's death.
The football references are apt: Pat Tillman was a terrific football player!
The Army owed his memory better. Journalists owed his memory better. This Nation owed his memory better.
"The Tillman Story" is due out in August. This is a film I gotta see.
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It looks like the news out of The Lower Merion School District just went off the cliff!

2010-04-17T20:05:00.001-07:00

It looks like the news out of the Lower Merion School District just went off the cliff!
Philly.com reported on Friday, April 16, 2010, that thousands of photos of who knows how many students have been discovered during the forensic investigation of the District's controversial laptop tracking activities.

"Blake Robbins was photographed by a laptop
while he slept in bed, his lawyer asserts.
The Robbins family provided this image."

Philly.com says, "... a lawyer for Harriton sophomore Blake Robbins filed a motion in federal court asserting that the system had secretly captured "thousands of images of webcam pictures and screen shots," including photos of students, the Web sites they visited and excerpts of their online chats."
I believe this is such a serious matter, with such wide-ranging implications, that, if I lived there, I would strongly consider moving any child of mine to a different school district.
Background information on this is located here.

UPDATE #1. April 18, 2010, PCMag reports that, "School Admin Takes Fifth Amendment in "Peeping Tom" Case".

Are we looking at the last of the dinosaurs?

2010-03-15T20:35:00.002-07:00

Are we looking at the last of the dinosaurs?

Matthew Allard reports in AlJazeera about the Komodo Dragon being on the endangered species list. There are only around 4,000 dragons left.

These giant lizards - the largest on earth - grow to around 10 feet long and 150 pounds!

Allard describes how a Komodo Dragon attacks its prey and upon what it preys. He says, "Coming into contact with a Komodo for the first time, you feel like you have stepped onto the set of Jurassic Park."

The Phoenix (nee Maytag) Zoo has two Komodo Dragons on display. I think they're pretty awesome!

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A discussion of Maritime Ship Design/Construction and Protection of the Environment

2010-03-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

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This is a deeply incisive discussion of modern Maritime Ship Design and Construction techniques and how they take into account the need to Protect the Environment. I find it quite reassuring, as I suspect does ExxonMobil.

Now, get back to work.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee discusses The year open data went worldwide

2010-03-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who "invented"
the World Wide Web

Post raw data on the internet, and watch what somebody does to/with it.

The internet is doing things we haven't yet thought of, and we are at the very beginning!

2010-03-06T15:10:00.003-07:00

In this (half-hour+) National Science Foundation (NSF) video, Kirk Johnson, Chief Curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, discusses how & why the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago.

Wow! With the impact of the Chicxulub meteorite impact, the surf must have really been up!

"Tikkun Olam" means "healing broken worlds".

2010-03-04T17:05:00.002-07:00

"Tikkun Olam" means "healing broken worlds".

2010-03-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Here's Jay Thomas telling David Letterman his
'Lone Ranger' story.

This is hilarious!!!

The former teenage hotrodder inside me
is still laughing so hard
tears are rolling down his cheeks!

.. Let's go looking where there isn't anything

2010-03-01T22:49:00.004-07:00

Astronomers pointed the
Hubble Space Telescope at
a completely blank --
-- completely black --
part of the sky.

Here's what they saw --
where there appeared to be
nothing.

in 3-D

Gives a sense of perspective
of how big we are(n't).
Stunning

I wish I were an Astronaut

2010-02-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

I wish I were an Astronaut, so I could play chess with nobody looking over my shoulder.

Photo editing by Michael Balzano

Wall Street Journal on FaceBook (NON) privacy

2010-02-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

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If you have a FaceBook account, read what the Wall Street Journal says about the latest FB privacy glitch (Were your private emails sent out in a blast email?).

Hysterical discussion on how NOT to make a presentation

2010-02-25T00:56:00.000-07:00

Hysterical discussion on how NOT to make a presentation by comedian Don McMillan.

Enjoy... and learn.
Thanks to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture for the link.
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.. School District Accused of Spying on Students via Home Webcams

2010-02-18T21:57:00.010-07:00

Today I am stunned!

This is all over the internet & the blogosphere today. Representative samples are at law. com, USAToday, ArsTechnica, eWeek.com, CNet News, and AZCentral.com (The Arizona Republic).
According to a Federal class action lawsuit, Robbins v. Lower Merion School District, school district administrators and teachers have been spying on students -- in various rooms in the students homes -- without either the knowledge or permission of the students or their parents, using webcams on laptop computers supplied to the students by the schools. The school authorities are alleged to have remotely activated the webcams over the internet.
In Robbins, the Plaintiffs argue that this spying violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act, as well as violations of the Fourth Amendment, federal civil rights laws and Pennsylvania's wiretap statute.
According to the lawsuit, "Many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress."
It seems to me that, if these school officials saw and/or recorded any sexual activities of any sort, they may also be in violation of relevant child pornography statutes.

We haven't yet heard from the Defendant school officials.

UPDATE 1. Dr. Christopher McGinley, Superintendent of Lower Merion School District, wrote here, "This feature has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop."

So, since the district has officially narrowed it down, which is it: Did the school believe student Blake Robbins lost the laptop; did the school believe student Blake Robbins stole the laptop; or, did the school believe student Blake Robbins misplaced the laptop?

Inquiring minds want to know.
UPDATE 2. The Associated Press (AP) reports here that the FBI is now investigating this case.
UPDATE 3. These videos from CBS & NBC News.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.

UPDATE 4. Stryde Hax blog reports here on the technical aspects of this situation.

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity

2010-02-17T15:10:00.001-07:00

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"The thesaurus might equate "disabled" with synonyms like "useless" and "mutilated," but ground-breaking runner Aimee Mullins is out to redefine the word. Defying these associations, she (s)hows how adversity -- in her case, being born without shinbones -- actually opens the door for human potential."

"A record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor and activist for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics"
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. Airport body Scanners

2010-02-10T11:46:00.001-07:00

We've all heard about the new "security" full-body scanners at airports. And we've all heard that those scans are immediately deleted for privacy reasons.

I don't believe it!

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan tells here about his experience at London's Heathrow Airport -- autographing copies of his full body scan.

. Get Ready For The SUPERBOWL... Commercials

2010-02-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

. You say you want to reduce the cost of healthcare?

2010-02-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

You don't!

George Whitesides is a Harvard chemistry professor. Professor Whitesides has developed a medical lab the size of a postage stamp that costs virtually nothing!

You won't implement Professor Whitesides' lab, because you can't make money out of it.

What a shame!

. BBC: Generic News Report by Charlie Brooker

2010-01-31T05:48:00.001-07:00

The absolutely
best news report
I've ever seen!

2010-01-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

This is so 'Gee Whiz'!

Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is growing new organs for people - and then 'installing the new organs in the people's bodies - replacing diseased organs with healthy organs!

AMAZING!

Israeli field hospital in Haiti a model for crisis care

2010-01-21T22:10:00.002-07:00

Update 1.

ABC News covered a birth on January 18th in the Israeli field hospital.

Jan. 19, 2010: Port au Prince, Haiti

Israeli field hospital a model for crisis care

Just in case you missed this news item on Tuesday.

Israeli field hospital a model for crisis care

An Israeli field hospital is up and running in Haiti, complete with electronic medical records and a neonatal ICU unit.

NBC's Nancy Snyderman reports.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Frank Zappa said, "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
This Israeli team really deviates from the norm in a very effective manner!

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Google Helping to Find People in Haiti

2010-01-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

Search giant Google is helping people connect with friends/family in Haiti. Get to the webpage here.

Free Google Voice calls to Haiti and (scroll down on that same page) a person finder in three languages.

Person Finder: Haiti Earthquake
English | Français | Kreyòl

What is your situation?
I'm looking for someone	I have information about someone
Currently tracking about 35000 records.

PLEASE NOTE: All data entered will be available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data.

Meet Marko. He's a computer systems engineer.

2010-01-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Meet Marko.
He's a computer systems engineer.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention,
he's 9-years-old!

Be sure to watch his video discussion
(it's a sidebar to the article).

I'm NOT afraid to fly, BUT I will NOT ride a motorcycle -- especially on Brice Street!

2010-01-14T23:42:00.002-07:00

Daniel Meyer, in his newest book,
"Life is a Road, Get on it and Ride",
explains here why
the Cops Won’t Patrol Brice Street
AND
why he won't ride his motorcycle
on Brice Street either.

You gotta read this to believe it!

Just don't read it with a mouthful of coffee (or anything else).

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. Why I am NOT Afraid to Fly

2010-01-14T00:24:00.001-07:00

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When someone else says it better than I can, I defer to their wordsmithing.
It boils down to --- the probability of being involved in a terrorist act is the same as the probability of getting Cancer from a Whole Body X-Ray machine.

    Ethan Ackerman writes, "Since the Schneier editorial brings up the subject of thinking rationally about small risks…

    "[People] following the debate around TSA's whole body scanning might have noticed that not too much ink has been spilled over the fact that these imagers are a source of x-rays - ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation (at the right dose and probability) can cause or increase the likelihood of cancer and other ailments.

    "But one reason there's not been a big hullabaloo is because the risks from these machines are rather small, though not zero. How small a risk? About as (un)likely as a terrorist attack, it turns out.

    "The risk of being on a plane subject to a terrorist attack is ~1 in 10 million. [1]

    "Similarly, a single backscatter scan corresponds to a 5% increased risk of fatal cancer in ~1 in 10 million cases. ( While reliable studies suggest that a scan-level dose would result in a statistically verifiable increase in fatal cancer risk in about 1 scan in 100,000, the “5% increased risk at 1 in 10 million” conclusion is supported with more studies than the former, and more statistically sound.) [2]

    "So how many additional cases of fatal cancer (or just debilitating cancer, or just cataracts) is it worth for us as a society to cause an innocent traveler in order to possibly detect a drug smuggler or would-be-bomber?

    "In how many people are we ok with just increasing the likelihood of cancer for this kind of security?

    "Can you give a number? The TSA and FDA already have.

[1] http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/12/odds-of-airborne-terror.html [www.fivethirtyeight.com]

[2] http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/AC/03/briefing/3987b1_pres-report.pdf [www.fda.gov]

"-The dose-adjusted nominal risk estimate of fatal cancer associated with exposure from a single backscatter x-ray scan is 0.0000005% for a member of the general public, at a 5% increased risk of fatal cancer per Sievert dosed and a single scan dose of 0.1 microSieverts.
"Although, I suppose, someone might argue that the risks are distributed slightly differently in that all of the cancer risk goes to the traveling public, while some of the terrorism risk is shared by people in the flightpath if a plane lands on them."
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. You Must Watch and Listen to Patrick Henry Hughes' Music!

2010-01-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

This young man plays piano by ear. And he plays trumpet in the University of Loiusville Marching Band!

Oh yeah: Patrick is crippled, and blind -- since birth!
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. 1963 - The Beginning of Computer Timesharing

2010-01-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

It's time for the "Way-Back Machine" (with apologies to Mr. Peabody) to take us all the way back to 1963 and the beginnings of computer time-sharing.

The IBM 7090 was a large mainframe computer that filled an entire room. 45 years later, your laptop is faster and more powerful!
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. Let's Go On A Trip -- A Long Trip

2010-01-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

The American Museum of Natural History has invited us on a trip to the edge of our known Universe.

It's very cold out there. Remember to pack warm clothes.

9/11 "Living Memorial" Dedicated in the Jerusalem Forest Hills

2010-01-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

Video of the dedication of the September 11 monument and Living Memorial in Jerusalem on Thursday, November 12, 2009.

Filmed and edited by the U.S. Embassy in Israel.

, We Should All Act More Like Dogs

2010-01-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

This morning, Bob Schieffer on CBS News' Face The Nation, said that we should all act more like dogs.

Bob Schieffer, CBS News, Face The Nation, Jan. 10, 2010

“I have no idea where this came from or who wrote it - if I did I'd give them credit - but a friend who knows I love dogs e-mailed the following, which I pass along today only because it seems a nice thing to share at the beginning of a new year.

It's a list of what we would learn if dogs were our teachers."

Even tho' I'm more of a 'cat person', I agree that we can learn much from dogs.

. Vint Cerf interview - The history & future of the internet

2010-01-08T22:56:00.001-07:00

Here's a 30 minute interview with Vint Cerf, Google's Chief Internet Evangelist.

It would be difficult to over-emphasize his importance to the development of the internet.

. GuyReplaces Finger With USB Drive!

2010-01-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Jerry Jalava lost a finger in a motorcycle 'incident'. So, instead of getting a prosthetic finger, he got a USB drive as a replacement finger.

This gives an entirely new meaning to the term 'Thumb Drive'.
Now he's thinking about upgrading to an MP3 player.
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This is amazing!

2010-01-06T20:59:00.003-07:00

This is a different kind of imaging.
This blew ... me ... away!

I'm not even going to write about it. I'm simply going to cut & paste, because TED.com says it better than I can.

"Neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity -- thoughts, emotions, pain -- while it is happening. In other words, you can actually see how you feel."
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Full Body Scanners & Child Porn

2010-01-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

The Guardian is reporting that full body X-Ray scanners at British airports appear, prima facie, to violate U.K. child pornography laws.
"The Department for Transport confirmed that the "child porn" problem was among the "legal and operational issues" now under discussion in Whitehall...."
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Is there a fear shortage?

2010-01-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Is there a fear shortage?

This is the question Seth Godin is blogging about here.
What do you think? Is there a shortage of fear? Do we need more fear?

What do you think?
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Watch this: You ain't gonna believe it. Even if you've seen it before.

2009-12-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

A Stunt Cyclist’s Tour de Fence

NYTimes reports here that Danny MacAskill, a stunt bicyclist can divide his life into two parts -- before his YouTube video came out and after it came out.

Remember, I told you so: You still can't quite believe it.
This video was filmed over the period of a several months in and around Edinburgh by Dave Sowerby, a videographer who has earned my admiration for his work and deserves great credit for the level of quality he has achieved.

'Romeo And Juliet': Just As You Misremembered It

2009-12-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

'Romeo And Juliet':
Just As You Misremembered It

Tell the truth - You really did sleep thru English class, didn't you.

Here's NPR's review of this charming recreation of the greatest love story of all time. The entire script was written from several people's somewhat off-the-mark memories of the details. It's a hoot!

Enjoy!

Happy New Year 2010!

2009-12-30T13:10:00.001-07:00

This just arrived in an email from a good friend of mine -- who is a devout Muslim.

So much for stereotypes.

Have a wonderful year everybody!
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Are you afriad of flying? That's irrational

2009-12-29T22:42:00.001-07:00

Jerry Lee Lewis should be quite proud. The New York Post's headline, after the December 25th attempt to blow an airliner out of the sky, was "Great Balls of Fire"!

NPR reports that, "... risk experts say that Americans are simply reacting — by not overreacting — in a way that reflects the circumstances.

"The response makes absolute sense given the evidence, the nature of this weekend's events, and this risk in general," says David Ropeik, a risk communication consultant...."

NPR further reports that passengers are citing inconvenience as their predominant concern.

The most dangerous part of any flight was, is and will remain, the car trips to and from the airports.

Have a nice flight.

Save your electronic toys with rice -- Yes! Rice

2009-12-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

This item over on LifeHacker tells about saving a mobile phone after a 30 minute soak in a puddle during a rainstorm.

In addition to being delicious & nutricious, rice is so versatile.
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Exponentials R Us

2009-12-28T00:21:00.001-07:00

In an article on xconomy.com, Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, tells us that Exponentials R Us.

He wrote, "Forty years ago, in 1969, Neil Armstrong left footprints on the surface of the moon. It was an extraordinary accomplishment."

He goes on to point out that, the same year - 1969, the very first message was sent over Arpanet - predecessor to the internet.

Continuing his discussion of Exponentials R Us, he lists several phenomenal advances in computer science - that have led directly to major changes in the way we live out lives. Then he suggests some areas to watch over the next decade or so.
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A book review: The Zombie Survival Guide

2009-12-27T00:53:00.002-07:00

The Zombie Survival Guide

Jake Halpern teaches writing at Yale University.

Here he tells us, via NPR, about "Beware, Zombies: This 'Guide' Will Save Humankind". You can hear the interview here.

Carlos Kleiber conducting the Bavarian State Orchestra in Johann Strauss II "Unter Donner und Blitz"

2009-12-23T19:33:00.002-07:00

I love the way the late Carlos Kleiber conducts an orchestra. I believe he provides an excellent example of how to manage people. Here he is clearly in charge of the performance -- but not by 'commanding' the band. He does it by leading them and giving them the space for each of them to exercise his or her own creativity.

Did you notice his left hand when he rests it on the bar behind him? It clearly shows how relaxed he is. He further demonstrates his confidence in the musicians' abilities by sometimes not even waving his baton -- during the playing. And his smile shows how much fun he is having all while the the band is making beautiful music. He is extraordinary!

We are very fortunate that such technologies as YouTube allow us to travel back in time to see such a genius in action.

2009-12-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Watch the water droplet bounce -- Yes! Bounce -- on top of the water.

Ain't science cool!
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Avoid getting worms by taking Cocaine? I don't think so.

2009-12-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

As if I needed another reason not to use cocaine, now from PopSci, via BoingBoing, we learn here that more than two thirds of the cocaine distributed in the United States is laced with a veterinary deworming drug! The drug, levamisole, was removed from the U.S. market (for Human use) in 2000. However, although levamisole is still available to deworm your pets, I don't recommend substituting cocaine as a dewormer. But, I'm not a Veterinarian.
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How Mr. Splashy Pants got his name

2009-12-20T10:07:00.001-07:00

How Mr. Splashy Pants got his name

Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, tells, on TED, the real-life story of how a humpback whale became a Web star. The real lesson of Mister Splashy Pants is how to do something serious and important while having fun doing it. Meme-makers and marketers (that includes you & me) in the Facebook age should take note.
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ASU BioDesign Institute making BioFuel more competitive - by creating self-destucting microbes!

2009-12-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Developments like this will help the United States stop borrowing money from China and shipping that money to the Middle East to buy oil from OPEC countries.

"An Arizona State University research team has developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing lower-cost, renewable biofuels."

The results were published here in an online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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NSF Scientists Discover Erupting Volcano 4.000 feet Undersea

2009-12-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

The National Science Foundation tells here about eruptions from the West Mata Volcano. There are videos with sound here and here.

Pilot Jessica Cox on Inside Edition

2009-12-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

AVweb reports, "Jessica Cox, of Tucson, Ariz., was born without arms, but she hasn't let that define her role in life, and last week she scored a first when she earned her Sport Pilot certificate using only her feet to manipulate the controls of an Ercoupe. "I highly encourage people with disabilities to consider flying," Cox said. "It helps reverse the stereotype that people with disabilities are powerless into the belief that they are powerful and capable of setting high goals and achieving them." Cox, who is 25, won an Able Flight scholarship and trained with instructor Parrish Traweek in his Ercoupe 415C. "What is most incredible about Able Flight is the relentless faith and support not only from the board but also from the other pilots who have succeeded in the program," Cox said. "Thank you, Able Flight, for helping me make history as the first licensed pilot to fly with only her feet!" Since the Ercoupe design has no rudder pedals, no special modifications were required for Cox to fly it.

The rudder and aileron systems are linked, and both are controlled with a single control yoke. The yoke also controls nosewheel steering on the ground. Cox also drives a car and types on a computer using her feet. She works as a motivational speaker and is writing a book about her life."

FEMA & FCC moving toward Emergency Notification System

2009-12-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Gateway Interface for Wireless Carriers

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Federal Telemedicine News reports that FEMA and FCC have adopted design specifications to develop a gateway interface so that wireless carriers can provide customers with timely and accurate emergency alerts and warnings via cell phones and other mobile devices.

Ride on a U2 spy plane

2009-12-15T21:26:00.001-07:00

Ride on a U2 spy plane

I believe comments from me are not herein required.

The birth of an elephant

2009-12-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

This sounds like the beginning of a joke:
So this elephant gave birth....

But, it's not a joke. It is real.
The elephant did give birth.

amazing video .. elephant being born ---
VERY GRAPHIC !!--- (but real)

(This year) Chanukah begins at Sundown today

2009-12-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Chanukah is the only holiday dedicated to religious freedom.
This year I'm celebrating with Neil Diamond's cover of The Chaukah Song.

Capitalism at work - making money in clean energy

2009-12-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Physorg.com has an item saying, "The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday."

"Wind turbines off the coast of Spain. The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday."

I figger WWF is either the World Wrestling Federation or the World Wildlife Fund, but I'm no expert in these matters. ;-)

Nonetheless, there are big profits being made and to be made in clean energy.
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World's First Robot vs. Human Pro Wrestling Match Ends in KO

2009-12-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

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Gizmodo reports on a very interesting pro wrestling match - It must be seen to be believed. And, as with the rest of pro wrestling, you still don't have to believe it. But, it's fun.

ロボットvsプロレスラー

2009-12-10T22:00:00.001-07:00

The National Science Foundation is discussing how the United States currently leads the World in computer science, and why computer science is not taught at the K-12 school level - and how other Nations are requiring computer science in K-12, and pulling ahead of the U.S. Then they discuss the the National Security danger that creates and reasons why we need to get back into the game and how to do that.

Ever get pulled aside for secondary screening at an airport? Ever wonder why?

2009-12-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

According to Wandering Aramean, TSA has "accidently" released their Screening Management Standard Operating Procedure. Cryptome has a copy of it here. Wired.com has the story here.

The Largest Machine in the World

2009-12-06T09:54:00.001-07:00

C|Net Interview:
Inside CERN
with an LHC scientist

"The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is one of the most ambitious experiments of all time and following a year of shutdown, it's finally started to do its business again. So we thought we'd have a chat to someone directly involved in the experiments to get a sense of what it's like to work in geek heaven.

"Paul Jackson is a particle physicist from SLAC and Stanford University, based at CERN. He's working on the Atlas experiment, looking for the Higgs boson--the so-called "God particle." Read on to find out whether he's about to kill us, what would happen to you if you stood in front of the LHC beam and what CERN's favorite snacks are. (Also see our definitive guide to the collider, CERN and the Higgs boson.)"

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The Old Chicken & Egg Question -- On a Cosmic Scale!

2009-12-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Which came first, the Quasar or the Galaxy?

Quid pro quo? Quasar HE0450 seems to be pulling in gas from a nearby galaxy then blasting out matter to create new stars.

Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

Need a good Sunscreen? Wrap yourself in a coral reef!

2009-12-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Coral Reefs Act Like Sunscreen

Protector. A coral skeleton irradiated with ultraviolet radiation, fluorescing yellow.

Credit: R. Reef et al., PLoS ONE 4 (11) (November 2009)

"By Charles Choi
ScienceNOW Daily News
30 November 2009
"Living on a coral reef is a bit like living in a tanning bed. As the sun's rays shine through the water and reflect off the reef, they strike corals, their symbiotic photosynthetic algae, and other inhabitants from above and below. So what keeps these creatures from being fried? A new study suggests that coral acts as a sunscreen, absorbing UV light and limiting the harm it inflicts on the reef's denizens."

Migrating Lakes? Yeah, You Read That Right -- Migrating Lakes!

2009-12-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reports evidence that Methane lakes on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, appear to migrate!
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"Wave of Discovery: Harnessing the Ocean's Power" -- Science Nation

2009-12-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

From National Science Foundation comes

"Wave of Discovery: Harnessing the Ocean's Power" -- Science Nation

Comfortable Dog or Stupid Bird?

2009-11-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

You make the call.

Itay Talgam teaches how to manage people, and he teaches it differently than anyone else!

2009-11-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

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Itay Talgam, a protege of leonard Bernstein, following a decade of Conducting, transformed himself into a consultant to some of the largest corporations in business. He teaches how to manage people.

Here he explains to the TED Conference what he does & how he does it.

The most retarded leopard seal pup in the world?

2009-11-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Off the coast of Antarctica,
a female leopard seal "adopted",
and attempted to feed,
the National Geographic photographer
who had come to Antarctica to photograph her!

Paul Nicklen describes his most amazing experience as a National Geographic photographer - coming face-to-face with one of Antarctica's most vicious predators.

Spanish gov't to guarantee legal right to broadband

2009-11-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

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Beginning in 2011, Spanish government to guarantee legal right to broadband

Anywhere in the Country!

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quantum physics is one thing, but a quantum sense of humor.....

2009-11-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh... and think....
And that's a good thing.

Well, this is big news! But, it won't help cook the meals or clean the house.

2009-11-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Beeb reports that, while the drug Flibanserin failed as an anti-depressant, it does have an interesting side-effect. It's like a Viagra for the female libido.
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United Nations Censors Reception for Book

2009-11-15T18:23:00.001-07:00

The United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demanded removal of a poster advertising the book Access Controlled about freedom of speech on the internet.

The sound quality of these videos is sub-par, but they were shot live in the real world.

     "If we cannot discuss topics about Internet
     censorship and surveillance policy at a forum
     about Internet governance then what is the
     point of something like the IGF," said Ron
     Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the
     University of Toronto's Munk Centre for
     International Studies and one of Open Net
     Initiative (ONI)'s principal investigators.

More video available here (sorry, no embed):
http://www.youtube.com/user/fikratube#p/a/u/0/axMpYddEomc

      "Deibert, one of the organizers of the reception,
        said he will file a complaint against the
        censorship of the event and send it to the
       United Nations Human Rights Commission."

Computer World has the story here:

"An anti-censorship group holding an event Sunday at the United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demanded removal of a poster that mentioned Internet firewalls in China."

Thanks For Being an Honest and Responsible Citizen

2009-11-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

You're standing on the balcony overlooking your back yard at home. You notice a black garbage bag over there in the corner of your garden. You investigate and find that it contains a shotgun & some ammunition. You take all of this to the nearest police station and turn it in.

Here is how the police thanked former soldier Paul Clarke, age 27, for 'doing his duty' as a good citizen.

Beyond Security Theater

2009-11-15T09:59:00.014-07:00

It has been said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between firefly and firefight. (apologies to Mark Twain)

Bruce Schneier is an internationally recognized expert on security matters. In his essay Beyond Security Theater, he discusses the very real differences between security and security theater.

Schneier recommends that we replace existing security theater with real security measures. Security is harder work, and requires more steadfastness, than security theater -- BUT, the major difference is that while security theater makes some people feel more secure, real security actually makes all of us more secure.
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A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

2009-11-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

                                 No entry. A scanning electron
                                   microscope image of the gold film,
                                     which didn't let much light
                                               through its holes.
                                            Credit: J. Braun et al

By Karen Fox
ScienceNOW Daily News
13 November 2009
The way light moves, with its fixed speed and its ability to act like either a wave or a particle, often leads to some of the most curious paradoxes of physics. A new one has just been found: Make holes in a film of gold so thin that it's already semitransparent, and less light gets through.
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MAtrix Ping Pong

2009-11-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

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Linus Torvalds & Jim Zemlin dicuss the Linux Operating System

2009-11-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

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A half hour video chat

Japan Linux Symposium Keynote:
Linus Torvalds & Jim Zemlin

Tuesday, 27 October 2009 17:30 Linux.com

In his brief introduction, Zemlin highlighted some key numbers that are a part of the Linux ecosystem.

2,700,000. Number of lines of code added to kernel in the last year according to the recently updated "Who Writes Linux" paper from the Linux Foundation.

10,923. Numer of lines of code added to the Linux kernel every day.

5,547. Number of lines deleted every day.

1. There's only one Linus Torvalds, founder of Linux.

After his introduction, Zemlin sat down with Torvalds, who discussed the huge growth of Linux, how it came to be, and where it's going.
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2009-11-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

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From Gizmodo

EyeWriter Allows Man To Paint
Despite Paralysis

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Before disease took his ability to move, Tony Quan was an amazing graffiti artist. Now he is completely paralyzed, save for his eyes, and still an amazing artist. Seeing how he works left me with tear-streaked cheeks.

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First computer to sing - Daisy Bell --- Even Before the HAL9000

2009-11-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

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Why Did the Dying, Evil HAL Computer Sing "Daisy" in 2001 a Space Odyssey?

Remember that terrifying death-of-HAL scene from Stanley Kubrick's classic '2001: A Space Odyssey,' in which the evil computer drones its " childhood" lyrics to Daisy Bell?

It turns out that 'Daisy Bell' was a nod to the IBM 7094, which, a team at Bell Labs programmed the first computer to sing in 1962. The popular tune from the late 19th century was chosen as part of a demonstration of speech synthesis which was previewed by Arthur C. Clarke, who also co-wrote the screenplay, paid a visit to a friend at Bell Labs where he was was treated to a performance by the IBM 7094, and later, inspired by what he'd seen, reproduced it in the dramatic death scene of HAL 9000.
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Announcing The Launch of 301 Works - A Short URL Archive

2009-11-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

November 11, 2009

Announcing The Launch of 301 Works

Big news for little URLs today, as the Internet Archive announced that they will be taking the lead on 301works.org, an effort designed to add permanence and reliability to the operation of URL shorteners.

From the release:
The Internet Archive and founding companies announce today the launch of 301Works.org, a service to archive shortened Universal Resource Locators (URLs). This will enable redirect services to incorporate these shortened URLs when a member company ceases business activities.

The use of shortened URLs has grown dramatically due to the popularity of Twitter and similar micro-streaming services where posts are limited to a small number of characters. Millions of shortened URLs are generated for users every day by a wide variety of companies.

But when a URL shortening service shuts down, the shortened URLs people put in their blogs, tweets, emails and web sites break. Unless users have kept a record of each shortened URL and where it was supposed to redirect to, it’s not possible to fix them.
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Microsoft Makes the Web a More Dangerous Place

2009-11-12T21:53:00.001-07:00

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Hotmail requires tracking cookies for logout

And where do you think you're going?

By Chris Williams

12th November 2009 15:19 GMT

"Hotmail users are now unable to log out of their account if the browser they are using does not accept third party cookies.

"The move by Microsoft raises security concerns, particularly as PCs on corporate networks and in cybercafes and libraries are often set to reject cookies."

This NOT a matter of "What were they thinking?" It IS a matter of "What! Were they thinking?"

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Google says. and Tells How, the Web Can Go Faster

2009-11-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Use compression to make the web faster

Monday, November 09, 2009

Every day, more than 99 human years are wasted because of uncompressed content. Although support for compression is a standard feature of all modern browsers, there are still many cases in which users of these browsers do not receive compressed content. This wastes bandwidth and slows down users' interactions with web pages.
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Clingstone: House on a Rock at Rhode Island

2009-11-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Clingstone, an unusual and such a vintage, 103-year-old mansion in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, survives through the love and hard work of family and friends.

Henry Wood, the owner, runs the house like a camp where all skilled workers welcome. The Jamestown Boatyard hauls the family’s boats and floating dock and stores them each winter in return for a week’s use of the house in the summer.
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How to sink pirates

2009-11-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

How to sink pirates

Nov 12th 2009
From The Economist print edition

The decline of music piracy holds lessons for other industries

Illustration by Claudio Munoz

YOU open a window on your computer’s screen. You type in the name of a cheesy song from the 1980s. A list of results appears. You double-click on one of them, and within a few seconds the song is playing. This is what it was like to use Napster a decade ago; and it is also how Spotify, another free online-music service, works today. The difference? Napster was an illegal file-sharing service that was shut down by the courts. Spotify, by contrast, is an entirely legal, free service supported by advertising. This shows how much things have changed in the world of online music in the past decade. It also explains why online music piracy may at last be in decline.

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While Celebrating 40 Years of Sesame Street, A Sad Obituary

2009-11-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

From the Archive

Apr 5th 1997
From The Economist

From 1997: Jon Stone, who put laughter into learning, died on March 30th, aged 65

"ANYONE can play on the emotions of children. Jon Stone's gift was to teach them useful things while they were falling about with laughter or gripped by a story. What cunning tricks adults do play on children. But perhaps they are grateful later on. Millions of otherwise deprived children have learnt at least the rudiments of knowledge—how to count and spell—by watching “Sesame Street”, an American television show that Mr Stone helped to create. It doesn't sound much, numbers and letters, but unless you make a start you'll never become a brain surgeon. Many Americans who got to university were happy to acknowledge that they grew up on “Sesame Street”."

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Oceanographers Develop "Swarms" of Robotic Ocean Explorers

2009-11-12T10:47:00.003-07:00

Oceanographers Develop "Swarms" of
Robotic Ocean Explorers

In an effort to plug gaps in knowledge about key ocean processes, the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s division of ocean sciences has awarded nearly $1 million to scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The Scripps marine scientists will develop a new breed of ocean-probing instruments: Autonomous underwater explorers, or AUEs.

Very Exciting Music!

2009-11-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Playing Mambo from " Westside Story " &
Danza Final (Malambo) from " Estancia "

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A Jewish Mother in Your Cell Phone

2009-11-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

How nagging text messages can make you healthier and richer.

Newsweek reports that financial institutions (think savings accounts) and health care companies (think both clinical trials & simply taking your medicine when you should) are finding that text messages to mobile phones are very effective ways to get people to do what they should do & what they have self-identified that they want to do.

Looking at "Nothing", Astronomers Find Earliet Known Galaxies

2009-11-11T16:27:00.001-07:00

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D

antimatter detected in lightning

2009-11-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

Signature of antimatter detected in lightning

Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons,
not just electrons, are in storms on Earth

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected gamma-ray flashes associated with terrestrial storms — and, surprisingly, some of those flashes have contained the signature of antimatter.

This Will be HUGE for Telemedicine & Rural Healthcare

2009-11-10T14:18:00.005-07:00

November 9, 2009 12:45 PM PST

How your cell phone can diagnose disease

by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore

The hardware added to this cell phone costs around $10.

(Credit: Ozcan Research Group/UCLA)

"To picture the next-gen microscope, don't picture a microscope at all. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, is adapting cell phones to sample biological images.

"This is no iPhone app. Ozcan, who formed the company Microskia (on the heels of the UC Berkeley team that developed CellScope), has built a prototype whose cell phone camera sensor can detect a slide's contents at a cellular level--reading, for example, an increase in white blood cell count that might indicate a new infection or injury. That information can then be forwarded wirelessly to a lab or hospital."

A Voice of Reason From Within the Movie Industry

2009-11-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Rutger Hauer to Hollywood: Don't fear tech

The actor who played a murderous artificial life form in "Blade Runner", costarred in "Batman Begins", and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", in essence, tells the movie industry to learn from history instead of continually trying to stop history from happening.

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Best Wishes Kareem

2009-11-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

Abdul-Jabbar treated for leukemia

One of the greatest basketball players of all time, and an intensely private person, goes public about his health to educate others.

The Night Owl's Nest

Why I haven't posted anything for several months....

Why does the Big Gummint spend $81.9 BILLION ANNUALLY for computers?

Have you ever wondered how Google works?

A Star Is Born ... But How?

A Doggy Summer for Memorial Day

A New Type of Phishing Attack

Aza Raskin, the Creative Lead for Firefox, has posted a report of a new type of Phishing attack here.

This one sneaks behind your back when you have multiple tabs open.

The folks over at the Internet Storm Center call it Tabnabbing. It fakes you into telling the bad guys how to log into your Gmail account. Then, they can steal all your contacts' info.

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Is That Prosperity Calling?

‘A dead salmon perceiving humans can tell their emotional state.’

Pale Blue Dot

Were you ever tackled by Pat tillman?

It looks like the news out of The Lower Merion School District just went off the cliff!

Are we looking at the last of the dinosaurs?

A discussion of Maritime Ship Design/Construction and Protection of the Environment

Sir Tim Berners-Lee discusses The year open data went worldwide

"Tikkun Olam" means "healing broken worlds".

.. Let's go looking where there isn't anything

I wish I were an Astronaut

Wall Street Journal on FaceBook (NON) privacy

Hysterical discussion on how NOT to make a presentation

.. School District Accused of Spying on Students via Home Webcams

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity

. Airport body Scanners

. Get Ready For The SUPERBOWL... Commercials

. You say you want to reduce the cost of healthcare?

George Whitesides is a Harvard chemistry professor. Professor Whitesides has developed a medical lab the size of a postage stamp that costs virtually nothing!

. BBC: Generic News Report by Charlie Brooker

Israeli field hospital in Haiti a model for crisis care

Google Helping to Find People in Haiti

Person Finder: Haiti Earthquake English | Français | Kreyòl

Meet Marko. He's a computer systems engineer.

Meet Marko. He's a computer systems engineer.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, he's 9-years-old!

Be sure to watch his video discussion(it's a sidebar to the article).

I'm NOT afraid to fly, BUT I will NOT ride a motorcycle -- *especially* on Brice Street!

You gotta read this to believe it!

Just don't read it with a mouthful of coffee (or anything else).

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. Why I am NOT Afraid to Fly

. You Must Watch and Listen to Patrick Henry Hughes' Music!

. 1963 - The Beginning of Computer Timesharing

. Let's Go On A Trip -- A Long Trip

9/11 "Living Memorial" Dedicated in the Jerusalem Forest Hills

, We Should All Act More Like Dogs

. Vint Cerf interview - The history & future of the internet

. GuyReplaces Finger With USB Drive!

This is amazing!

Full Body Scanners & Child Porn

Is there a fear shortage?

Is there a fear shortage?

Watch this: You ain't gonna believe it. Even if you've seen it before.

'Romeo And Juliet': Just As You Misremembered It

Tell the truth - You really did sleep thru English class, didn't you.

Here's NPR's review of this charming recreation of the greatest love story of all time. The entire script was written from several people's somewhat off-the-mark memories of the details. It's a hoot!

Happy New Year 2010!

Are you afriad of flying? That's irrational

Save your electronic toys with rice -- Yes! Rice

Exponentials R Us

A book review: The Zombie Survival Guide

Carlos Kleiber conducting the Bavarian State Orchestra in Johann Strauss II "Unter Donner und Blitz"

Avoid getting worms by taking Cocaine? I don't think so.

How Mr. Splashy Pants got his name

ASU BioDesign Institute making BioFuel more competitive - by creating self-destucting microbes!

NSF Scientists Discover Erupting Volcano 4.000 feet Undersea

Pilot Jessica Cox on Inside Edition

FEMA & FCC moving toward Emergency Notification System

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Federal Telemedicine News reports that FEMA and FCC have adopted design specifications to develop a gateway interface so that wireless carriers can provide customers with timely and accurate emergency alerts and warnings via cell phones and other mobile devices.

Ride on a U2 spy plane

Ride on a U2 spy plane

The birth of an elephant

(This year) Chanukah begins at Sundown today

Capitalism at work - making money in clean energy

World's First Robot vs. Human Pro Wrestling Match Ends in KO

ロボットvsプロレスラー

Ever get pulled aside for secondary screening at an airport? Ever wonder why?

Person Finder: Haiti Earthquake
English | Français | Kreyòl

Meet Marko.
He's a computer systems engineer.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention,
he's 9-years-old!

Be sure to watch his video discussion
(it's a sidebar to the article).

I'm NOT afraid to fly, BUT I will NOT ride a motorcycle -- especially on Brice Street!

C|Net Interview:
Inside CERN
with an LHC scientist

Japan Linux Symposium Keynote:
Linus Torvalds & Jim Zemlin