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Planet Dave! Wednesday, March 24, 2004
British Justice System Fines People For Being Innocent
What could be worse than spending 25 years in prison for a crime you didn't commit? How about recieving a bill for 25 years of room and board?
Congress to Test Air Screening Program
From /., "The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday it will order airlines to turn over passengers' personal records in the next couple of months to test a computerized passenger screening program that could keep dangerous people off airlines, reports Yahoo/AP. The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would rank all air passengers according to the likelihood of their being terrorists. Suspected terrorists and violent criminals would be designated as red and forbidden to fly. Passengers who raise questions would be classified as yellow and would receive extra security screening. The vast majority would be designated green and allowed through routine screening. But some say the project would violate privacy rights, while others are concerned it would cost the private sector too much money. The Air Transport Association, the trade group for major airlines, has come up with seven 'privacy principles' that it says the government should follow in implementing CAPPS II." Oh, I'm just thrilled about Big Brother powers going to people like this.
High Quality Mud Ball
Ok, I remember doing this sort of thing on the beach when I was little. I had no idea it was considered an art form in some places. (If I knew that, I probably wouldn't've wasted my time with it.) If created properly, they're great tools for Grsplunk production.
Lockheed's High Altitude Airship
From /., "Lockheed Martin has just awarded a contract to UniSolar Ovonic regarding development and delivery of flexible, lightweight solar cells for the U.S. government's High Altitude Airship security project. The proposed 500-foot-long dirigible is to fly at a stratospheric 70,000 foot altitude - above both jet stream and severe weather. The thin-film solar technology, although low in peak conversion efficiency, can potentially deliver a whopping 2500 watts/kilogram. This is the same technology as the previously discussed GE organic LED project - just with the physics in reverse. Broadband communication blimp, anyone?"
Lifting The Lid On Computer Filth
From /., "There's a story over at BBC News about how work stations contain nearly 400 times as many microbes than lavatories. Gross. 'A desk is capable of supporting 10 million bacteria and the average office contains 20,961 germs per square inch, according to research. ... By contrast, the average toilet seat contains 49 germs per square inch, the survey showed.'" Wow. Um, i think I'll going to go wash my hands now.
City Officials Almost Ban Foam Cups
From /., "The city of Aliso Viejo, CA nearly banned foam cups when they learned they are produced from a substance known as 'dihydrogen monoxide.' A paralegal working for the city apparantly found a professionally designed web site put up to describe the dangerous properties of this chemical. Apparantly, the report about Dihydrogen Monoxide was written by a then 14-year-old Nathan Zohner who was researching the gullibility of fifty ninth graders." Dude, I am SO ordering the DHMO fact book.
SodaPlayCentral
Imagine a 2 dimentional world. In this world you've got fixed masses, movable masses, springs, and muscles that can push as well as pull. That's Basically all there is to any Soda Constructor model. If you want to try your hand at making your own, don't miss the tips section.
Latest From Mars
From /., "On its 66th Sol on Mars, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has obtained its first full view of crater Bonneville. In doing so, Spirit achieved its primary travel destination, as set out in its initial itinerary. Furthermore, Spirit has now travelled more than 300 meters, thereby fulfilling its minimum mission success criteria. With this, and Opportunity halfway through its primary mission, and having discovered very strong indications of a wet Martian past, NASA has truly many an astonishing interplanetary succes story! ... Among the 'money-shots' from the Mars rovers would have to rank the 'pale blue dot' image released today--a view looking back towards Earth. The larger image also includes the horizon and Sun, which because the Earth is seen as an inner planet closer in towards the Sun from a martian perspective, is difficult to photograph without saturation by solar glare." Then there's the Martian UFO that Spirit saw. They're not sure if it was a meteor or the Viking 2. And last but not least, not only was Opportunity's landing site once drenched, but they now think that the rocks there actually formed under water. Sedimentary rocks, on Mars.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Modern Science Surpasses Gaudiness of the 70s
Sigh. Only in America could you find clothes with this much integral lighting. ... Now if they had a Tron outfit...
Russian Inventor Patents Space-Ads Device
Hmmm. A billboard in orbit. Dude, I'm all for it. If there's one thing we need for amature rocketry to make real strides, it's a target.
Al Franken to get his own Radio Show
He wants to call it the O'Frankin Factor. And he's begging Bill O'Reilly for another PR generating lawsuit.
Electronic Voting!
Where to start... How about Orange County. Talk about voter commitment. Some of the polling locations had turnouts of more than 100%! Also in California, Napa County had some problems. The voting machines failed to count almost 7000 votes. I'm glad Texas is at least trying to make sure they get "machines that can count." Sigh. Well, I'm looking forward to the next presidential election. I'm sure it'll remove some uncertainty. We'll know the votes'll've been tallied incorrectly.
How to Avoid Sniper Attacks
Going along with Fox's helpful advice early this month, here's an article on how to avoid a sniper attack. And for more general purpose terrorism, you should consider a canary.
Latest from Jamie
And in the mailbag... we've got a USB powered coffee mug, and a promotional effort gone horribly wrong.
Five Planets in the Sky at Once
For the rest of this month, you'll be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon all at the same time. The best time for this is just after sundown. It'll look kinda like this. Go look at the sky.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Picture of the Day
You gotta respect a family who would put this on a loved one's grave. Well, no, I guess most people don't have to respect that, but I sure do.
How To Build an Igloo
In today's PlanetDave.net HowTo, you can learn a neat arctic survival skill. ...Just in time for spring.
RNC Tries to Silence MoveOn.org
If you missed the Bush in 30 Seconds contest, go watch the winning home-made commercials. Because you might not see them on TV. CBS already refused to air one during the Super Bowl because it's "issue advertising." (They'll air pro-Bush ads, but that's a different rant.) But now the Republican National committee is sending threatening letters to TV stations that air the anti-Bush ads. The letters claim that the commercials are illegally financed by soft money from a cadre of wealthy donors. I guess it was only a matter of time before the Republican party started taking cues from the RIAA and SCO.
The Proposed Constitutional Amendment Forbidding Racial Intermarriage
With the current political goings on about gay marriage, I thought this bit of historical perspective was appropriate. Granted, there are differences between this and the current debate. But I can't help wondering what people will think about this issue in a hundred years.
I also can't help wondering how some people determine their priorities as Christian. The Bible says more about shrimp than homosexuality. So why aren't more churches protesting Long John Silver's?
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Fun with PhotoShop
Any Gary Larson fans should check out these recreations of Far Side comics. I'm seriously bummed that no one did any of the caveman Far Sides.
Martian Water Summary
If you haven't bothered to read all the technical mumbo gumbo about why they're so sure there was water on Mars, read Ars-Technica's write-up. As usual, it crams a lot of easy to understand information in a relatively small article.
Latest from Hubble
The Hubble space telescope has allowed us to see farther than ever before. Everyone should enjoy it while they can before it dies of neglect. First off, check this action out. The red giant V838 Monocerotis gave off a flashbulb style pulse of light a couple years ago. The cool thing is that it's in the middle of a cloud of dust. So as the light reaches father away from the star, it illuminates an expanding ring (sphere, actually) of the dust cloud. You can look at the stills, but if you've got the bandwidth you need to watch the video.
And if you haven't had your dose of feeling small in the universe lately, take a look at Hubble's Ultra Deep Field. Nothing in that photo is visible to ground based telescopes. And nothing in that photo is older than 2 billion years. From when the universe was fresh and young. Can't get much closer to the Big Bang without some serious blue shifting in PhotoShop.
How to Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers
Postal spam doesn't bother me as much as email spam because I know it's costing them money. But it can still be annoying. Here's a few ways to get out of those stupid credit card offers.
A step closer to the loaders from Aliens
From /., "Berkeley Engineers have come up with an ingenious mechanism that almost mimics, well, Borg technology. Developed by UC Berkeley's Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory, the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX) consists of mechanical metal leg braces... The device includes a power unit and a backpack-like frame used to carry a large load. This development bring to the forefront the ability to not only carry large loads in wartime efforts, but may possibly help people with limited muscle ability to walk optimally." I think I'm going to hold off on getting one of these until they come out with the 10 ton industrial model.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Email Viruses Aim for Weakest Security Link
As long as you don't let your computer install anything automatically, you're pretty safe from email viruses. Computer security is actually not that bad. So more and more, the weakest link in computer security is the human. I a weird email the other day. Looked kinda like a form letter.
"Dear user of (DOMAIN NAME) gateway e-mail server,
We warn you about some attacks on your e-mail account. Your computer may contain viruses, in order to keep your computer and e-mail account safe, please, follow the instructions.
For further details see the attach.
For security reasons attached file is password protected. The password is "55621".
Sincerely,
The (DOMAIN NAME) team
http://www.(DOMAIN NAME)
Everywhere I've put (DOMAIN NAME), was my employer's domain. Kevin got a similar one, only instead of my employer's domain, it was "umich.edu." It had an attachment, "Document.zip" and an actual link to my company's web site. Important tip: Sysadmins will never email you stuff like this. It clogs up mail servers. They send you links and let you download them yourself.
Passion tickets bear 'mark of the beast'
(From Marty) Ok, so, when a computer spits out a movie ticket, it prints a serial number on each one. These are so the computer can keep track of which tickets are which. Well, at a theater in Georgia, each serial number corresponding the "The Passion of the Christ" begins with a '666.' Sounds to me like their computer is developing a sense of humor.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
What the Hell are Smittens?
Ok, you'll either think this site is cute, or a serviceable ipecac substitute.
Animated GIFs
Ok, this is kinda stupid, but entertaining. (Seems to work better with Internet Explorer than with Netscape.)
Terrorism Alert Colors Explained
Ever wonder where the Office of Homeland Security came up with the color system? Well, now you know.
Toy Creativity Gone Horribly Wrong
Check it out: Carpet Skates. I'd give myself maybe 10 minutes on a pair of those before I break something expensive. (Like the TV or a hip.) And I don't care how soft the carpet puck is, I'd end up putting the hockey stick through a window. There's a reason these types of things are outside toys!
Fuelless Flight with Air Submarine?
From /., "Using the same physics principles as submarines, a new company is planning a fuelless air ship. Recent advances in ultra light and strong materials are making this concept a practical reality." The info video on the company's web site tries to imply a perpetual motion machine, saying that all the energy lost by pumping air into the frame can be regained on the descent. The fact of the matter is that some energy is used to produce forward motion. And that energy is going to be lost to air drag. On a more practical note, I wonder how it would handle a windy take-off/landing site. Cool concept, though. I hope they work out the kinks.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Dave Drops Off Face of Planet. Come See Why!
Updates to PlanetDave.net will probably continue to appear at the near-zero rate that has characterized the last week. For the last week and a half, I've been rehearsing for Rebel Without A Cause. And most of my time will continue to go towards rehearsal until show time. It'll be at the Towsley Auditorium at 8:00 on Thursday April 22nd through Saturday the 24th, and 2:00 on Sunday the 25th. You can get tix on the web, and you could probably get them over the phone by calling the box office at (734) 971-2228. (I don't see a way to request specific seats on the web form, so if you care about such things you should try calling first.) $19 for adults (ouch!), $17 for students/seniors, $13 for Thursday. Last I heard, opening night was almost sold out, so hurry!
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Opportunity Landing Site Once "Drenched in Liquid Water"
Here's the CNN coverage and NASA's press release. During the release, they were very reluctant to say that the area was under water, but there's no longer any doubt that the area was sopping wet. Cool stuff.
Fox News Preaches More Fear
Going along with Bush's "Be afraid, they're out to get you!" statements, Fox News has issued "How to Reduce Chances of Being a Terror Victim." It's got gems like, "Make out a will and letter of instruction in case you die." And other useful bits of advice like don't live in New York, D.C., or San Francisco. I'm relieved that no one's over reacting.
Jamie Update
First off, he sent me age discrimination, dick clark style. Now, I don't watch much TV, so I'm not sure what the deal is with the Quiznos commercials. Wow. I think I'll stick with my computer games and DVDs.
Bertie Bott's Demeter's Every Flavor Perfume?
And they MEAN every flavor. They've got Dandelion, Rain, and Spring Break. They've also got Poison Ivy, Laundromat, and Dirt. I'm almost suprised they don't have Wet Dog.
Pro-Bush Letter Generator
From the J-Walk Blog, "If you're a Bush supporter, you can go to the Bush Cheney 04 web site and write a letter to your local newspaper about national security. And if you can't write or if you're unable to think for yourself, they make it very easy. Just click the "Talking Points" tab, and you can insert boilerplate text into your letter."
The Constitution on the $1 bill?
You know, I kind of like this idea. Here's the USA Today coverage, and the main web site.
Gameboy Video Phone
Ok, when they come out with a cell-phone version of this thing, I'll be all over it.
A new way to view London: from a toilet
I don't know art, but I know what makes me uncomfortable. This bathroom, made of one way mirrors, allows users to see out into the busy London street without letting people see into it. Aparently, the idea is to get you thinking about privacy and voyeurism. ... I know there's a joke here, I just can't find it!
Astronaut Photography
Cool photos of Earth, taken with handheld cameras. There's a couple famous ones in there, too.
Education czar calls teachers' union a "terrorist organization"
No joke. Here's the Freep coverage of the incident, and the CNN coverage of his amusing attempt at apologizing without actually retracting the statement.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
NASA Mars Press Briefing & "Significant Findings"
From /., "NASA will have a press briefing today at 2 p.m. EST to announce "significant findings". Salty liquid water maybe? Bacteria? This meeting will also be broadcast on NASA TV." I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I'll be watching.
Monday, March 01, 2004
Blue Sky on Mars
Speaking of Mars, everyone knows the Martian sky is red. It's for the same reason Earth's sky is blue. Red light is scattered in the Martian atmosphere, so the red seems to come from everywhere overhead. So on Earth, if sunlight goes through enough atmosphere, there's no blue light left and you end up with red sunsets. On Mars, the atmosphere scatters away all the red light, and you get blue sunsets.
Astronomy!
Black holes are cool. So are radio storms on Jupiter. Meanwhile, Hubble manages to provide a little insight into Dark Energy. Even though it's no longer being serviced, it's still pulling its weight. Er, mass. Moving away from artificial lenses, here's something from /., "A team of Astronomers have found a natural lens capable of resolving details as fine as 10 microarcseconds across - equivalent to seeing a sugar cube on the Moon, from Earth. The lens comprises of a cloud of interstellar gas, and works on the principle of scintillation; where the clumpiness inside a cloud of gas creates a density change thus bending and focusing the light." (An arcsecond is a 60th of a 60th of a degree.) Moving on to asteroids, here's a defense against them that would make a really cool scene in a scifi movie. And let's finish up with exploding neutron stars, and possible water on Mars.
How to Write Good
Invaluable advice for any aspiring writer. (Now, does that mean really valuable or not valuable? That and "in/flamable" always get me.)