Sunday, November 30, 2003
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Way To Break The News
Well, I was over in Shoppingtown the other day, when I ran into someone I used to work with at Mobil. I mean, not really work with, 'cos she was morning shift and I was afternoon/night, but we'd see each other most days and have the occasional chat.
So she was smiling broadly (she always does that) while telling me how her life had been going in the eighteen months since Mobil. She'd gotten married, she'd had a baby, and her husband had killed himself.
Now, I'd actually met the guy - he was a courier who'd drop by the servo, which I guess is how they'd met - and he didn't strike me as the killing-himself type. She was still grinning, and I wasn't sure if she was joking.
Nope, she wasn't. He really had.
I guess when people break news like that, they ought to give some sort of hint that it's kind of a bad thing. But she grinned away, so I had to take the plunge. It's not the first time this has happened to me, either - there was a time at uni when I ran into a couple of guys from high school who told me someone I couldn't stand had killed himself. One of them was grinning at me. I wasn't sure if they were having me on, at first, but they weren't.
I guess what I'm saying is - PLEASE DON'T GRIN AT ME WHEN TELLING ME ABOUT SOMEONE HAVING COMMITTED SUICIDE. I'm starting to get sick of it!
Friday, November 28, 2003
 Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago. -- Bernard Berenson Go Dave: DAVE'S BURNING OVER PARIS DAVID Letterman is seething after Paris Hilton's publicist convinced her to cancel a hotly anticipated appearance this week on Letterman's show. "The reason she canceled, she hired a publicist, this no-good, beady-eyed, weasel thug putz, publicist got ahold of her and forced her to cancel her appearance," Letterman raged. "I'm telling you, this guy is really lower than pond scum. This guy is, you know live bait? This guy is dead bait. You couldn't be oilier than this guy." Is Linux Desktop-Ready Yet...or Not? I had only two criteria: 1. My DVD player needed to work 2. My SMC 802.11g card needed to work Well folks, I can report that Linux is as useless on an off-the-shelf laptop as it was six months ago. Bombing Anywhere On Earth In Less Than Two Hours The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Air Force share a vision of a new transformational capability that aims to provide a means of delivering a substantial payload from within the continental United States (CONUS) to anywhere on Earth in less than two hours High-tech passport unveiled A NEW high-security passports featuring "floating" kangaroos and other anti-tampering technology said to help foil terrorists, people smugglers and other criminals, has been unveiled by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Tot locks up mum to watch TV TO have the television all to herself, a two-year-old girl in southwest Germany locked her mother in a bedroom, police said. Women inmates get paid makeover TAXPAYER are footing the bill for Christmas makeovers for a group of female Northern Territory prisoners, it was claimed last night.
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Remember, if You Panic, You're Only Helpling The Zombies
Check out this Java zombie simulator. It provides a nice aerial view of a city under a zombie attack. Given that there's no plucky band of heroes - or even just Ash - to stop 'em, they'll take over the entire place as you watch, unless the city draws a populated box with no way in or out, like it sometimes does.
And apparently, when zombies have no-one to infect, they just tend to stand around in groups. Typical.
Something I just had to blog...
Apparently, this is a clip for a Chemical Brothers track. Not some of their best work, but I kind of like the clip.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation. -- Kin Hubbard I, Cringely: Digital Hubris: Apple's Tablet Computer Might Finally Be That Link Between Your PC and TV Source Claims SCO Will Sue Google A source claiming to be in the know says that the SCO Group is going to sue Google for not paying its Linux taxes. SCO builds BSD case with GNU/Linux users SCO has outlined its grievances with BSD code and says it plans to take this up with end users, rather than focus on determining who was responsible for allowing the code to slip into the Linux kernel. Spray-on contraceptive A SPRAY-ON alternative to the contraceptive pill has been developed by Australian scientists. Want to try the 'Orgasmatron'? US doctors are casting around for female volunteers to test an 'Orgasmatron', an implanted device that will trigger instant ecstasy, the weekly British magazine New Scientist reports in next Saturday's issue. Man Suspected Of Selling Explosives To Children MODESTO, Calif. -- The man suspected of selling old sticks of dynamite to children in a Modesto neighborhood has turned himself into authorities, but his girlfriend says he didn't do anything illegal. Chips are down for McDonald's Fast food corporation McDonald's has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for a campaign that trumpeted the brilliant simplicity of their recipe for fries -- the humble potato and nothing else. Woman Allegedly Charges $36,000 On Dead Man's Card A woman in Deland, Fla., was arrested for allegedly charging thousands of dollars worth of items on a deceased elderly man's bank card, according to Local 6 News.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2003
It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. -- David Brin The Wall of Fame Meet the real star of Lord of the Rings - a 1,600-box server farm.  New Twists on the Milky Way's Big Black Hole The supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is heftier than thought and rotates at an amazing clip, new research shows. NASA, Air Force Achieve Key Milestones On New Engine NASA, the U.S Air Force and two prime aerospace contractors have successfully completed testing of two key rocket engine components — critical milestones in the development of innovative engine systems that could, within decades, power a new generation of American space launch vehicles  When Cash Is Only Skin Deep A Florida company has announced plans to develop a service that would allow consumers to pay for merchandise using microchips implanted under their skin. Preparations Underway For The Soyuz Launch Of AMOS-2 The AMOS-2 broadcasting and communications satellite is undergoing final checkout at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in preparation for its launch on a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat vehicle next month.  Prospects Brighten For Future Superconductor Power Cables New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggests that next-generation, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire can withstand more mechanical strain than originally thought. As a result, superconductor power cables employing this future wire may be used for transmission grid applications.  US passes anti-spam bill The US Congress has approved the first law aimed at stemming the flood of unsolicited email - spam - into the inboxes of computer users. The "Yes, You Can Spam" Act of 2003 I've been taking a look at the "CAN-SPAM" Act that Congress now appears set to pass, and it is nothing but trouble. It's clear that only the Direct Marketing Association, Microsoft, AOL and a handful of others had any input into the law, because it's carefully crafted to allow the big marketers free reign. And the loopholes it provides them will be more than big enough to provide aid and comfort for the smallest and sleaziest of spammers as well. Turkey and Gravy 'in a bottle' A NEW Turkey and Gravy Soda tastes, well, pretty much like you would imagine. But that's not stopping people from buying it. GM fluoro fish earn their stripes THEY look like any other zebra fish - until you put an ultraviolet light next to their tank and they glow brightly. Rembrandt found in rubbish A TINY Rembrandt print worth around STG800 pounds ($1900) is to be auctioned after it was found in a box of trash in a charity shop.  Man 'hasn't eaten' for 68 years AN Indian man who claims divine inspiration says he has survived 68 years without eating, drinking or relieving himself, baffling doctors who are unable to prove him an imposter. 
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Words of Wisdom?
From alt.books.tom-clancyWhy does anyone think that this terrorist war has so much to do with religion?
Bin Laden wants to be the new Mohammed, which would give him control of a
formless nation of 1.5 BILLION citizens, and the power that would come with it.
His objective is political, not religious. He wants to be the biggest kahuna
around. A lot of people think that way. Some are politicians. The rest are
madmen. The two groupings overlap
Wherever the Prophet Mohammed is now, he is probably displeased that the
religion he founded on sound and admirable principles is being perverted, not
unlike Christianity by the crazies in Northern Ireland. in Catholicism we call
this blasphemy.
Religion rarely causes war. Rather, it defines the respective teams in wars
which are always about economics, one of the few facts that Karl Marx got
right. Anyone on the NG who gets numerous porn spams on the 'Net will
understand that people will do damned near anything for money. Even very
uncomfortable things
The average Muslim wants the same things that the average Christian or Buddhist
wants: a nice house, an steady job, and a better life for his kids—this is
what the polling date in Iraq shows rather explicitly. Our newsies do not
report this, of course.
If there is anything America has demonstrated to the world it is that all
people are pretty much the same. We have every culture in the world represented
here. Bring them here and the first generation works at menial entry-level jobs
and tries to get its kids educated. The kids become doctors and lawyers, and
their kids run for Congress. Along the way we also get some decent baseball
players. During World War I the Army, which is a very progressive institution,
tested its draftees and proved that Blacks were smarter than Jews. (This may be
why people declare that the SAT and other mass tests are biased, by the way.
Blacks spoke English Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe did not.) Now, today
I doubt that anybody would be so bold as to suggest that any group is smarter
than Jews. What makes people succeed are strong families and respect for
education. The Jews had and still have these advantages. I hope I'm not going
too fast for anyone here,
Religion is what we all choose as our way of talking to God. To succeed a
religion MUST elevate the spirit and give us hope for the future. Islam does
this well for over a billion people. It is not a religion made for and by
psychopaths. It's a way to talk to God, not Lucifer.
Recognition of this fact—the practical utility of religion—is a foundation
stone of the United States of America. The First Amendment of the Constitution
is supposed to protect freedom of religion, though there are some today who try
to transform it into freedom FROM religion, which is a stand worthy only of
contempt. In "The Sum of All Fears" I tried to propose that if we recognize
religions by the good things they uphold, we could defuse much of the
perversions which come about from people who in fact if not in form spit upon
the faiths they claim to represent and promote.
The smartest thing we Americans can do today is to embrace Islam and its
values. To do so would go a long way toward isolating the Islamic "guerillas"
from the peasant sea in which they must swim to survive. But when does the
government do anything smart?
Appeal to a man's best instincts, and you will see those instincts. Treat him
as a sociopath will help to transform him into one.
TC
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
OFFICE WISDOM
From the BBC show The Office
Original Text
Personally I like No. 11
David Brent's Office Wisdom
1. Eagles may soar high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
2. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
3. There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough.
4. Process and Procedure are the last hiding place of people without the wit and wisdom to do their job properly.
5. Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.
6. Never do today that which will become someone else's responsibility tomorrow.
7. Every time you open your mouth you have this wonderful ability to continually confirm what I think.
8. Show me a good loser and I'll show you a LOSER!
9. Put the key of despair into the lock of apathy. Turn the knob of mediocrity slowly and open the gates of despondency - welcome to a day in the average office.
10. It's the team that matters. Where would The Beatles be without Ringo? If John got Yoko to play drums the history of music would be completely different.
11. What does a squirrel do in the summer? It buries nuts. Why? Cos then in winter time he's got something to eat and he won't die. So, collecting nuts in the summer is worthwhile work. Every task you do at work think, would a squirrel do that? Think squirrels. Think nuts.
12. When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
13. Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
14. If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail.
15. If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.
16. Never do today that which will become someone else's responsibility tomorrow.
17. You don't have to be mad to work here! In fact we ask you to complete a medical questionnaire to ensure that you are not.
18. If you treat the people around you with love and respect, they will never guess that you're trying to get them sacked.
19. If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
20. You have to be 100% behind someone, before you can stab them in the back.
21. If work was so good, the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.
22. Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.
23. There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude-quoting idiot'. Go figure.
24. Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do.
25. Make good use of your cylindrical filing unit, the one you mainly keep under your desk.
26. Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and never quit are idiots.
27. If you're gonna be late, then be late and not just 2 minutes - make it an hour and enjoy your breakfast.
28. Remember the 3 golden rules: 1. It was like that when I got here. 2. I didn't do it. 3. (To your Boss) I like your style.
29. The office is like an army, and I'm the field general. You're my footsoldiers and customer quality is the WAR!!!
30. Set out to leave the first vapour trail in the blue-sky scenario.
31. Statistics are like a lamp-post to a drunken man - more for leaning on than illumination.
32. A problem shared is a problem halved, so is your problem really yours or just half of someone elses?
33. Is your work done? Are all pigs fed, watered and ready to fly?....
34. You don't have to be mad to work here, but you do have to be on time, well presented, a team player, customer service focused and sober!!
35. I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some b*stard with a torch, bringing me more work.
36. Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them.
From the BBC show The Office
Original Text
Personally I like No. 11
David Brent's Office Wisdom
1. Eagles may soar high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
2. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
3. There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough.
4. Process and Procedure are the last hiding place of people without the wit and wisdom to do their job properly.
5. Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.
6. Never do today that which will become someone else's responsibility tomorrow.
7. Every time you open your mouth you have this wonderful ability to continually confirm what I think.
8. Show me a good loser and I'll show you a LOSER!
9. Put the key of despair into the lock of apathy. Turn the knob of mediocrity slowly and open the gates of despondency - welcome to a day in the average office.
10. It's the team that matters. Where would The Beatles be without Ringo? If John got Yoko to play drums the history of music would be completely different.
11. What does a squirrel do in the summer? It buries nuts. Why? Cos then in winter time he's got something to eat and he won't die. So, collecting nuts in the summer is worthwhile work. Every task you do at work think, would a squirrel do that? Think squirrels. Think nuts.
12. When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
13. Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
14. If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail.
15. If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.
16. Never do today that which will become someone else's responsibility tomorrow.
17. You don't have to be mad to work here! In fact we ask you to complete a medical questionnaire to ensure that you are not.
18. If you treat the people around you with love and respect, they will never guess that you're trying to get them sacked.
19. If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
20. You have to be 100% behind someone, before you can stab them in the back.
21. If work was so good, the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.
22. Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.
23. There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude-quoting idiot'. Go figure.
24. Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do.
25. Make good use of your cylindrical filing unit, the one you mainly keep under your desk.
26. Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and never quit are idiots.
27. If you're gonna be late, then be late and not just 2 minutes - make it an hour and enjoy your breakfast.
28. Remember the 3 golden rules: 1. It was like that when I got here. 2. I didn't do it. 3. (To your Boss) I like your style.
29. The office is like an army, and I'm the field general. You're my footsoldiers and customer quality is the WAR!!!
30. Set out to leave the first vapour trail in the blue-sky scenario.
31. Statistics are like a lamp-post to a drunken man - more for leaning on than illumination.
32. A problem shared is a problem halved, so is your problem really yours or just half of someone elses?
33. Is your work done? Are all pigs fed, watered and ready to fly?....
34. You don't have to be mad to work here, but you do have to be on time, well presented, a team player, customer service focused and sober!!
35. I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some b*stard with a torch, bringing me more work.
36. Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them.
Quality Journalism
I just caught this piece of Chicken Little-ing that was in Saturday's edition of the finest rag in town, the Courier-Mail. Oooh, 'Newspaper of the Year', it reckons. When a paper's Assistant Editor can be that bloody stupid, I submit the 'newspaper of the year' should pull its head out of its arse.
In brief, the article is about the introduction of digital radios into Queensland (specifically, Brisbane, but there's more to come) policing. These radios are encrypted, and OMFG teh police are KEEPING SECRETS we're THREE DAYS from EVERY POLICEMAN IN AUSTRALIA BEING CORRUPT help help we're being REPRESSED!
Now, the article makes it sound like the radios were introduced, like, yesterday. They've been in use for about two or three months. That's right, the restriction of media freedom that *is* radio encryption is so bloody important that a breathless article about how now the police have no checks on them can come in a couple of months after the fateful event occurs. Now there's a man with his finger on the pulse.
Working, as I do, at the Police Communications Centre, I have a fair idea of the kinds of information flow that happens in and around crimes and crime scenes. And I can state, here and now, quite categorically, that Mr. Koch's (I prefer not to pronounce the last bit as a guttural) fears are:
BULLSHIT.
As any investigative journalist, nay, someone with a functioning brain, would know, police corruption is not something that happens over the police radio. I'm sorry, but police do not say they're stopping off at illegal brothels for free nookie, they do not record that they let someone off because their bribe was big enough, they do not talk about how they beat suspects with phone books. Even, and this is the really tricky part, even if they actually do those things. Which most, if not all, of them don't.
As for his claims that police will not inform the media about crimes and such if it does not reflect police in a favourable light? Again:
BULLSHIT.
Everything that comes through the PCC, of a certain type - everything - goes to the media section. We do that. People should know the big things going down. And because we are not on the scene, we don't know how the police are going to turn out. You see, it doesn't matter. We pass it over. Not only that, his characterisation of police traditionally disliking their own media section came as something of a surprise to the police I work with. If he was an investigative journalist... he'd have found this out already.
Now why did the QPS invest in a multi-million dollar encryption dooberwacky for the radios? It's fairly simple - we deal in people's shit. A lot of things that police need to know (are the people here suicidal, are the people there sane, are the people elsewhere living in piles of their own shit, what are the occupant's names, what sort of traffic history do they have) are things that really don't need to be announced to the world at large. Or at least to anyone who might happen to have a scanner. With the encryption, police can pass their personal mobile numbers over the air for other coppers to contact them without worrying that some freak with a scanner, a pen and some paper's going to start prank-calling them. (And the mobile thing can come in very handy, so don't scoff.) We can say that certain houses belong to QPS members, without worrying about some dickhead with a scanner and a grudge trying to set fire to it.
And that's not even mentioning the criminals that keep scanners in their houses or vehicles the better to evade police...
But one final thing before I end this rant... I'm quite fond of this little paragraph of his.
It is not being melodramatic to state that this move is the most serious threat to police accountability in Queensland since Tony Fitzgerald brought down his 1989 findings that the service was then riddled with corruption.
No, Mr. Koch. It's not melodramatic. It has to make some vague kind of sense to be melodramatic. Tony Fitzgerald was the opposite to a threat to police accountability. What is melodramatic is your claim that there will be nothing newsworthy because police won't tell the media anything. Or maybe it's not melodramatic, just piss-poor lazy, given that it's a journalist's job to find things out. Heaven forbid.
In summation, Mr. Koch, your article is paranoid, self-important, opinionated, irrational...
BULLSHIT.
In other news, Escape Velocity: Nova is evil, evil.
In still other news, I'm currently as hoarse as a hoarse thing.
Monday, November 24, 2003
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Not a Suprise... Really...
When people wonder why followers of Islam have such a poor reputation in Western Countries, you only have to wait until people do something stupid like this, to a member of their own family no less. My favourite quote"I'm only doing this for your own good - I love you like a Muslim sister.Then again, when Dad's locked up in Guantanamo merely because he thought it would be fun to run around Afghanistan with a rocket launcher, he can only try to follow the example he's been taught.
Friday, November 21, 2003
Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier. -- Blore's Razor 'Spyware' steps out of the shadows Late in July, an e-mail that hit employee in-boxes at a British credit card and finance company carried a secret payload--"spyware" capable of recording confidential corporate data and sending it over the Net. Cisco security initiative In an unusual alliance among staunch competitors, Cisco Systems will collaborate with three of the largest computer security firms to fight virus and worm attacks. I, Cringely Natural Deselection: Not Even Microsoft Will Last Forever, but They Plan to Try Key Found to Why Sun's Magnetic Poles Flip Every 11 years the Sun's magnetic field flips, but scientists don't know what triggers it. A new study shows that big eruptions of superheated gas, called coronal mass ejections, may play an important role. BSD developers speak out on SCO campaign In view of the latest SCO lawsuit news conference, we have been talking to BSD professionals to get their opinions, including one of the principals in the AT&T vs. Berkeley Software Design, Inc. lawsuit settlement of 1994; a disillusioned former SCO employee; and several other BSD developers. We reveal major UNIX? IP violations This week The SCO Group hinted that BSD distributions would be next under the Utah microscope. SCO this week said it was "examining" the AT&T settlement to see who might have leaked the ancient AT&T-derived UNIX? code and put it into a BSD distribution. Did SCO Really Reveal the Code to IBM, as Darl Claims? You may have noticed that in the teleconference on Tuesday, SCO CEO Darl McBride made the claim that they have shown the code to IBM in discovery and that IBM knows exactly what code is in dispute.
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Why is this Woman Crying?
Because the Israeli Defence Forces detonated an explosive belt they found in her house. To my way of thinking, the logical step to avoid this kind of thing is to not keep explosive fucking belts in your house!!!. Of course, I'm probably just not being sensitive to her cultural need to be able to blow up school children or something like that. Then again, it does seem to be a time-honoured tradition amongst certain well-respected leaders in today's society...
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Furious activity is no substitute for understanding. -- H. H. Williams   Why Linux Is Wealthier Than Microsoft Linus Torvalds can muster more creativity from his far-flung rank and file than Bill Gates can from his corporate monolith   Sun and AOL form StarOffice pact for cheap desktops Fresh off a major Linux desktop win in China, Sun Microsystems has found a PC friend closer to home with AOL now piloting a program to ship sub-$300 desktops running StarOffice. SCO To Expand Its Lawsuit Beyond Linux The man who claims there are Unix copyright violations within the Linux open source operating system is taking his fight to the Berkeley Software Design (BSD) community, which maintains an open source "genetic" version of Unix SCO hires bodyguards for execs The debate over SCO Group's claims on the Unix and Linux operating systems has never been polite. Molecule by Molecule, NC State Scientists Design a New Transistor When amazing new computers and other electronic devices emerge, they will have been conceived and incubated in university laboratories like that of Dr. Chris Gorman, professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University. There, the scientist and his multidisciplinary team are working to build, molecule by molecule, a nanoscale transistor. Is Space Mining Feasible? There is a large amount of precious minerals on the Moon and Mars. Would it be feasible to bring these valuable materials back on Earth? Space.com says that mining specialists and space engineers, who gathered at the latest Space Resources Roundtable, think the answer is yes. Ebola Vaccine Tested On Human  Electron micrograph of Ebola virus (Photo: AP) A volunteer has received the first human inoculation of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent infection by Ebola, a highly lethal African virus that some officials fear could be used as a weapon of bioterrorism. Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow
After spending some time last month trying to develop alternate graphic presentations for kinematic ratios in winged flight, I decided to try to answer one of the timeless questions of science: just what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Epson Develops World's Smallest Flying Microrobot Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") has developed the FR ("Micro Flying Robot"), the world's smallest (according to Epson) flying prototype microrobot. Epson developed the FR to demonstrate the micromechatronics technology that it has cultivated in-house over the years and to explore the possibilities for microrobots and the development of component technology applications.  Defining, Designing and Defending NASA's Post-Shuttle Spacecraft NASA's Orbital Space Plane is touted as the nation's next space vehicle aimed at providing crew rescue and transfer for the International Space Station (ISS). If given a go-ahead, the project may well serve as needed backbone, quite literally, to spearhead the rekindling of human space venturing beyond low Earth orbit.   Easter Island's statues await facelift The steep side of dormant Rano Raraku volcano is the most photographed spot on mysterious Easter Island.  This one looks a little like Learch. Delphion's Gallery of Obscure Patents From the unusual to the bizarre
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Printer On-Line
Yes, I now have an ex-demo office printer, a Minolta Magicolour 2300. A laser office printer. A colour laser office printer. A network colour laser printer. Which seems to be working.
And here's a hint as to what image printed out for its test run...
Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists. -- John Kenneth Galbraith HP Launches Athlon 64 PCs, Compaq "X" Gaming Brand Hewlett-Packard Co. has rolled out its first PC to use the AMD Athlon 64 microprocessor, while launching a separate effort to attack the gaming market. AMD: Days are numbered for 32-bit chips Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) will probably stop producing 32-bit processors by the end of 2005, a senior AMD executive predicted during a Monday panel discussion on AMD's 64-bit processors at Comdex. SCO admits: Linux jihad is destroying our business By law, companies must provide apocalyptic forward-looking scenarios in their SEC filings. They need to show they've thought of everything, to fend off potential class action suits just in case the sky really does fall in. But in a filing yesterday the SCO Group gave a strong hint that while it anticipates riches from IP licenses, its current business is falling apart. SCO CEO: Novell-SuSE breaks SCO contract Novell Inc.'s $210 million planned acquisition of SuSE Linux AG will put it in violation of a non-compete agreement the networking vendor has with The SCO Group Inc., and could possibly lead to legal action, SCO CEO Darl McBride said Monday in an interview. Uranium Pebbles May Light the Way South Africa seems an unlikely place for the launch of a global revolution in nuclear energy technology. Nomad MuVo NX It's an easy USB drive that requires no drivers but plays MP3 and WMA files well, and records, too. And has a neat little LCD screen.  Clocked by Two Smoking Barrels The world's only double-barreled cannon is now proudly displayed on the lawn of the Athens City Hall, about a hundred miles off Route 1. It is a monument to every geek who ever had what seemed to be a really good idea at the time. Nanotube Cable Can Connect The Earth And The Moon  Researchers from the Institute of Problems of Microelectronics Technology and Extra Pure Materials (Russian Academy of Sciences) have designed and tested a new device for production of a new promising material -- nanotubes. The researchers believe that it is exactly the material a transport cable can be produced of to connect the Moon and the Earth.
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