First supernova seen in real time
Yup they had three full sensors looking at it when it went boom – the event started in Februari. BBC The Register (which has a nice link to an animation)
Month: August 2006
Big national databases
The UK is on guard after a huge database containing loads of trivial details of everyone under 18 and accessible to around 400,00 people is called ‘unsafe’ – duh. At the same time the US is parading it’s huge counter terrorism database – which no one will ever hack. Really. You’d have thought they’d have Read more about Big national databases[…]
Digital Tablet
I bought a Logitech digital pen once, and it turned out to be a total white elephant – you could only use it on special (and expensive) paper that seems to reflect the optical laser to itself. So you were stuck carrying around the pen, the noteblock and post-its because you couldn’t use it on Read more about Digital Tablet[…]
US Army and Navy recalling inactive servicemen
It’s like the draft, but only for people who have enlisted and are now out of service. The US armed forces are huge, but now it looks like they’re fighting too many fights and can’t sustain it with their regular forces. How long before they institute the draft?
Nimbuzz
Nimbuzz is the new Skype for mobile phones – free phonecalls and text messages to other mobile phones connected to the Nimbuzz network (over GSM, not GPRS/UMTS/etc). It seems to be out for a lot of brands, including a version for the Palm Tungsten C as well as the usual crop of Nokias etc. It Read more about Nimbuzz[…]
Ethical Stem Cells
Currently stem cell useage requires the embryo be destroyed, which is why it is termed unethical in the puritan United States. Professor Robert Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Massachusetts, US, and lead author on the paper, said: “We have shown for the first time you can create human embryonic stem cells Read more about Ethical Stem Cells[…]
HOWTO change your car brake pads
It looks fairly easy and it costs a lot at the mechanic. This is a good guide that should have you done in an hour or so.
Dark Matter Proved
We can no longer ignore it – dark matter exists and has been proven using the Chandra and Hubble telescopes. This is the press release Here’s a discussion on it
JCB goes for land speed record
Yup those big bulldozers – they’ve built a yellow car to beat the previous 1973 land speed record for diesel cars. It’s called the Dieselmax. The driver will be the same guy that drove Thrust SSC to breaking the sound barrier and land speed record in 1997, Wing Commander Andy Green. The Guardian has a Read more about JCB goes for land speed record[…]
Fighter Pilot Quotes
A good list of them here
Tom and Jerry Censored
One complaint is all it took for Turner to review Tom and Jerry cartoons and decide to edit out most instances of them smoking. This really reminds me of the good old Stalinist days where Trotsky and any other ex-ranking member who had displeased the iron man was edited out of any movies or photographs Read more about Tom and Jerry Censored[…]
Flying Cubes
Note: I got this email in from Moondust, but thought it was well worth posting here. This compares interfaces from Ubuntu, Mac and Windows – it’s great how far Linux has come: it looks way better than Mac and Windoze… So, check out these videos and tell me which interface you’d rather use. 1. Windows Read more about Flying Cubes[…]
The Ultimate Briefcase
I’ve been looking around for a laptop case that can hold all my other stuff, as well as looking stylish and have a shoulder strap. The first thing I looked for were pilot cases, but these rarely come with a strap and for us non-pilots, have impractical innards. The ultimate for us business types seems Read more about The Ultimate Briefcase[…]
DIY Cryptbook
Use Linux to create a cryptographically protected laptop. Cheap and easy.
LCD vs Plasma
Is Plasma the new Betamax? With LCD becoming bigger and cheaper, and not having the problems it used to (ghosting) or the problems of Plasma (burn-in, black degradation and lifecycle) it’s starting to look that way.
Driftbox
This little gadget affixes to your windsheild and gives you data through GPS information about your drifting performance, accelleration, etc. At $750,- it’s the cheapest alternative – it’ll give value for money, but the display is a little small.
The liquid plot
Here’s a chemist’s take on the plausibility of the London liquid bomb plot, followed by commentary on what he calls Potemkin security. He references Schneier, and goes on about the practicality of security against these kind of plots (as almost everything can be impregnated with nitrates, such as clothing) and the practicality of guarding against Read more about The liquid plot[…]
Planets sorted out
As a result of scientific study, the IAU has now decided that instead of 9 planets, our solar system contains at least 12. So time to change your solar system map and re-remember the new planets. The new definition of a planet is: A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for Read more about Planets sorted out[…]
3D Video Camera
This camera allows for 3D live motion pictures through per pixel rendering. Looks very cool.
Galactic Civilisation II
Galciv2 is an extremely moddable turn based galactic conquest game. It looks attractive, has a huge user base, has no copy protection, is affordable and frequently releases updates. It now has an expansion pack in the works, you can preorder. Not bad!
Flickrstorm
This tool allows you to search Flickr and download the images all in one go when you are ready.
Someone leeching your wireless?
This hack is awesome – instead of blocking an unauthorised user over your wireless connection, this guy uses dhcp to assign unkown mac adresses to a different network segment. Then he uses iptables to redirect all the traffic to a squid proxy, which uses mogrify to modify all the image content by turning the images Read more about Someone leeching your wireless?[…]
Print your WoW Character
In 3D! First you convert the character to VRML and then feed it into the printer. These guys have 2 links to people who will do the printing for you.
More natural breast enhancers
Besides the stuff in the milk by the small Italian mountain village, a Japanese company has created chewing gum which enlarges the breast size by 80% in around 70% of people within 2 months, and a 95% success rate for most women (which I thought was an odd one…). Other effects are firmer breasts, less Read more about More natural breast enhancers[…]
Lightning!
And many more cool pictures here!