So I was looking through pictures of Hawaii and its volcanoes, and I see an evil-looking rock.

To me, it looks like something from the heart of Mordor...Peter Jackson missed this shooting location, unfortunately.

Building a $1,000 Gaming PC

So, you're a cheap-ass beeyatch, but you want a solid rig to play Doom III on? Check this out...

Hmm...just remembered what I said about wanting to upgrade to play that game from Offset...perhaps the time is right...

New Scientist Breaking News - Y-shaped nanotubes are ready-made transistors

Granted, this technology is in its infant stages, but at 100 times smaller than current silicon transistors...Moore's Law still has legs.

Offset - Game Design

Three guys working out of their apartment...absolutely incredible. This is the first game (well, not a game yet) I've seen since Leisure Suit Larry that has made me consider upgrading to decent PC hardware (AMD Duron 1.3 GHz, and an old nVidia geforce 256 is my home rig, at present) so I can play it.

If you like games, and think Unreal and Doom are awesome, you might want to put on a chin strap before watching their demo so your jaw doesn't hit the floor...it's that impressive.

If you *don't* like games, but think that the computerized stuff they do in movies today is cool, you'll still be saying "wow".

Check it out. These are three talented guys.

DRIVEY: a road slightly less travelled

Pretty cool for only being a 325KB download...press [F1] after you start it up for some "tinkering".

The Lagoona Nebula

In all it's glory...pretty cool space pic.

eChalk colour perception: This is the most amazing optical effect in the world

I thought this was a trick at first...It's really amazing how our brains deal with percieving colors. Check it out.

Slashdot | Russia's Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered: " He died after suffering repeated blows to the head.

A humorous take on the death of Russia's top spammer from Slashdot.org...

From a hidden microphone at the scene of the murder:

'You are receiving *WHAM* this blow to the head *WHAM* because you are part of a *WHAM* specially-selected list of *WHAM* people who agreed to receive *WHAM* blows to the head *WHAM*.

To stop *WHAM* receiving these *WHAM* blows to the head, please *WHAM* email us at no-more-please@optout.blowtothehead. com and *WHAM* we will remove you from our list of *WHAM* blow-to-the-head-club members *WHAM* (heh, we said 'club'!) *WHAM* within 24 to 48 hours.'

News: Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper

Scroll down a bit for pictures...evidently Fujutsu has hired Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead, if you didn't already know) to draw them Samurai images.

Optimus keyboard

OLED keys...no ink...completely reconfigurable. This is a thing of beauty.

The NSA gives sage advice on how to secure your network in 60 minutes.

Of course, this probably doesn't mean that it will be secure from the NSA itself, but it's still a good start.

DIY Projector - Overview

Want hi-def TV at a bargain price? Can you cut plywood into rectangular shapes and find an overhead projector for sale? This project is for you.

script.aculo.us - web 2.0 javascript demos

All right. This is enough for me to seriously revisit Ruby on Rails. If you're a web programmer, you definitely need to check this out (no, not a web designer...a web programmer...if you don't know what the difference is, don't look).

Zombie dogs, attack!

Well, they didn't say anything about them being attack dogs, actually. Dead and near frozen with saline instead of blood for three hours, then brought back to life with no apparent damage...interesting science.

The Code of the Geeks v3.12

Ahh...the sweet smell of nostalgia.

What's that? What's *my* code?

GATd+s:aC+++UL++>P+++L++E---W+++Nw++O-MV--PS+++(---)PE+Y+PGPt+5+X+Rtv+b+DI+++DGeh----r+++y++++

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Have a tivo or DVR? Like being able to watch shows even if they're not on when you're home? Let congress know that you don't want the broadcast flag to keep you from it.

Engineers implant viable, vascularized 3D muscles | Science Blog

A while back I posted about a rat cell on a stick...this is a bit more interesting than that.

They've taken human stem cells (3 types) and managed not only to grow muscle tissue with blood vessels throughout it, but they've managed to get it implanted with nearly half of the vessels connecting to the blood vessels of the implantees (mice) and further vessel growth occurring.

There'll be a long line of shark-bite victims gearing up for new calves someday...

ACTLab TV

Note to self: Come back to this site in a week and start my own internet TV station...

Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion, for real | csmonitor.com

So, cold fusion is no longer a pipe dream...still doesn't reach the break-even point, but it's a start. Cool science, indeed.

How to build your own Linux distribution

Link says it all. Don't want to install a particular distro? Roll your own, my friend...

Nexuiz

Like Quake? Like GPL-licensed software? Try Nexuiz

The table of equivalents / replacements / analogs of Windows software in Linux. (Official site of the table)

Heard of Linux? Messed around with it, but couldn't figure out what program to use to scan pictures, etc? This list will help.

The Python Challenge

Not strictly for people who use Python, but fun, if you like puzzles...

Authentication, Authorization, and Access Control

Apache webserver stuff...for my personal edification.

Yahoo! News - Scientists Find Soft Tissue in T-Rex Bone

Jurrassic Park: coming soon to a Zoo near you...

Hatch to Head Senate Panel on Copyright (washingtonpost.com)

This. Is not. A. Good. Thing.

It's bad enough that disney can fight to get mickey mouse permanetntly out of the public domain...now they'll have help from the inside.

Thank goodness for the creative commons license and the FSF

New Scientist Breaking News - Arm wrestling robots beaten by a teenaged girl

Yet another step closer to Steve Austin...need work on the "we can make him stronger" part.

Kerry Garrison - Building your own PBX

I absolutely have to play with this at home. Looks like it's not only free and useful, but potentially entertaining...voicemail, intercom, who knows...

Adware maker joins federal privacy board | CNET News.com

Oh, yeah! Gator would be a great company to advise the federal government about privacy issues.

Come to think of it, Charles Manson could be a shoo-in for advising the government about law enforcement/psycopath relations.

Somebody please tell me that this is a joke...please.

RSA: Microsoft on 'rootkits': Be afraid, be very afraid - Computerworld

So, how about making it very, very difficult to modify the kernel. I'm *really* not feeling good about this news.

RSA: Microsoft on 'rootkits': Be afraid, be very afraid - Computerworld

So, how about making it very, very difficult to modify the kernel. I'm *really* not feeling good about this news.

The BOFH guide to equal opportunities | The Register

Simon Travaglia...the man is a sage...and funny, too.

Solar Cell Implant May Restore Some Sight for the Blind | Science Blog

Here come the bionic eyes. Oscar Goldman unavailable for comment.

Banned Bud Light commercial

I thought it was funny...

Autoclave - Secure Disk Deletion

Been using this for a while. If ever you need to make sure that a hard drive is securely erased (decomissioning any old PC's, anyone?), this is free, thorough, and functional software that will do the trick.

Write all zeroes? Sure.

One random pass? No problem.

25 passes of structured data? Yep...and by the way, you're paranoid.

Cell Architecture Explained: Introduction

If you're a computer geek, read this...these things are going to cause a major shift in the CPU market, if they're close to the description...

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Living' robots powered by muscle

Meet what appears to be the world's first working cyborg...even if it's basically just a couple of rat cells on a stick.

BOFH: Where the hell have you been? | The Register

Been waiting for this since before Christmas...enjoy.

'Morse Code' Used by Human Cells?

Sometimes, scientific discoveries are interesting *and* useful. This seems to be one of those times. Heck, with all of the new discoveries this year (HIV-resistance gene, nascent cancer vaccine, etc), I'm expecting that within 20 years, we'll be able to cure just about anything.

SecurityFocus HOME Columnists: Microsoft Anti-Spyware?

This would be comic genius, if he didn't seem to be serious:

What if they start charging a subscription fee for the updates? It only makes sense. This is a lucrative market and a potential recurring revenue stream worth billions of dollars, which might be too sweet to pass up. The anti-virus companies in comparison are already making billions of dollars by charging for subscriptions for their own weekly updates. Why shouldn't Microsoft jump on the bandwagon? A subscription model seems to be the holy grail of software licensing, as we've seen from so many products already.

• Step 1: create security holes that can be exploited


• Step 2: create subscription-based paid service to uninstall stuff that exploits said holes


• Step 3: Profit

It's funny, in a surreal kind of way. Apparently, Microsoft is going to take Windows' greatest weakness and turn it into a revenue stream. Yay for that (not).

Actually, here's how I see this shaping up. Having downloaded and installed said software, I noticed that MS asks if you want to validate your copy of windows. They also mention that you may be required to do so in the future to use this or other Microsoft software.

That tidbit says a lot about their future plans (to me, at least). If you're running an illegal copy, you can expect not to be able to benefit from this program, but why stop there? How hard would it be to tuck a validation requirement into windows update? I think what Microsoft has stumbled upon here is a good way to nip piracy in the bud. You want protection? You want updates? You better be running a copy of (insert product here) that you paid for.

Additionally, now Microsoft has a way to forcibly uninstall software that they don't want you using, or in slightly less paranoid terms, they can scare people into only using MS-sanctioned products by casting the ones they don't like as Spyware.

WARNING: Microsoft AntiSpyware has detected OpenOffice.org spyware on your PC. Do you want to remove it now? [yes] [no] [ignore always]

Maybe that's an extreme example, and then again, maybe not (WinPcap and WinVNC were both flagged as malicious software on my initial scan, as was Remote Administrator). It works well enough to be adopted by many, and IMHO, that's just what Microsoft is betting on.

Netcraft: Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar Available for Download

I'm downloading mine now...sounds interesting, even if I don't feel I have much trouble with phishing scams. Cheers.

SnapStream - Community: Medusa PVR

Are you a geek? Do you watch TV? Do you have about $1200 burning a hole in your pocket? Check out this link and find out what it takes to make your own DVR that can record 6 channels at the same time...

Child's Play Part II from 1UP.COM

If you want your nostalgic memories of old videogames thrashed pretty soundly, you'll need to read this.

SPOILER WARNING: Kids in 2003 aren't especially fond of games from the 80's...

LightScribe...your next CD-RW drive could be a laser printer, too

Interesting technology, and a good idea. I hate pasting labels onto CDs, personally...I'd buy one.

Yahoo! News - AFP Top Photos

Neat... 'nuff said.

Lego Logic Gates

Keith, I don't know if you're looking at my 'blog these days, but if you are, I'm absolutely certain you'll want to check this site out. Heck, I might build a few of these myself...they're just cool...in a geeky, lego-centric kind of way...

Microsoft decides that Firefox is good enough to use in its PR material

They can try> to say that they didn't distribute any shots of MSN Search using Firefox, but I'm not buying it.

Malware authors mixing a lethal cocktail - ZDNet UK News

Buckle your seatbelt, update your virus definitions, and download those patches. Things are about to get rough for your PC.

The Blue Lemur - Progressive Politics and Media News � In sworn affidavit, programmer says he developed vote-rigging prototype for Florida congressman; Congressman�s office silent

From the "holy frigging crap, I hope they didn't actually put this to use" department...

A digital sundial

More interesting than I guessed...no dial, real numbers, and no electricity or electronics involved.

Blog Torrent - Simplified bittorrent by Downhill Battle

Coolest project I've heard of...I can imagine bittorrent-based internet TV stations...

Microsoft tries to patent the "IS NOT" operator

You have GOT to be kidding me. Isn't there something in the patent guidelines about "nonobviousness"? I guess there's only one thing for me to do. I must patent the "IS" operator and claim that their technological innovation is derivative...

Techworld.com - Why does a disk spin?

Shake that hard drive, baby...nanosecond access-times? Tell me more.

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | 130-year-old Chinese fire put out

Interesting...wonder if this had any effect on global warming...

Humor from Steve Ballmer and Microsoft (or: Microsoft good, Linux BAD)

Found this in my inbox this morning, and after realizing that it couldn't possibly be completely serious, I calmed down and noted how amusing it was. Let me pick some choice bits out for you on this e-mail about how Windows is cheaper than Linux (eyes rolling yet?):

...But as the Yankee Group commented in an independent, non-sponsored global study of 1,000 IT administrators and executives, Linux, UNIX and Windows TCO Comparison, things aren't always as they seem: "All of the major Linux vendors and distributors (including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell [SUSE and Ximian] and Red Hat) have begun charging hefty premiums for must-have items such as technical service and support, product warranties and licensing indemnification."...

Umm...they've been charging "hefty" premiums for tech support since they started selling Linux period. That's their revenue model. As for product warranties, show me my product warranty for Windows. What does *that* say? Licenses are granted via the GPL, so you not only don't have to buy them, they can't be sold (Ballmer can't be that stupid, can he? has to be a joke). Licensing indemnification? *What* licenses?

- Preparation and planning activities took 5% to 25% longer for Linux than Windows.

okay...wonder why...

- Training for IT employees was significantly higher for Linux than for Windows - on average, 15% more expensive. The reasons: training materials were less readily available, and customers spent more on training to compensate for the lack of internal knowledge about Linux.

Okay...customers knew less about Linux. Wondering why they didn't hire someone who *did* know about Linux...

- All 14 companies said it was difficult finding qualified Linux personnel in the marketplace to support their Linux projects. When they did find third-party help, they had less leverage negotiating hourly rates than with Windows consulting resources.

You have *got* to be kidding me. If all 14 companies couldn't find Linux admins..."qualified" ones...they must not know how to shake a stick at them. I suppose part of the problem is related to certifications, since they are uncommon in Linux admins (except for redhat). "Qualified" != "certified"...I guess that's why they can't find them. I am unsurprised that the ones they *did* find cos a bundle: You could wallpaper the georgia dome twice with all the MCSE certs out there, so they don't have the same bargaining power.

A number of third-party reports have questioned how safe the Linux platform really is. For example, a recent independent study by Forrester, Is Linux More Secure than Windows?, highlighted that the four major Linux distributions have a higher incidence and severity of vulnerabilities, and are slower than Microsoft to provide security updates.

That's just plain full-on wrong, but whatever...in the spirit of the running gag, I'll ignore it.

According to Forrester, Microsoft had the lowest elapsed time between disclosure of a vulnerability and the release of a fix. They found that Microsoft addressed all of the 128 publicly disclosed [emphasis added] security flaws in Windows over the 12-month period studied, and that its security updates predated major outbreaks by an average of 305 days.

Ahh...that must be why there is such a big problem with virii and spyware on Linux PC's. Obviously, the research tells the whole story...not.

Blah, blah, blah "Windows is better, we have patents on everything, Linux lusers are t3h sux0rz, etc."

Hope you had a laugh, too.

October Surprise, anyone?

Mars and back in 90 days

Interesting news in space propulsion...

Two women found with HIV-immune mutant gene

Apparently, this is pretty common among caucasian people...hadn't heard that before...Patented genes, HIV-immune people, retroviruses...I smell a new business model.

Yahoo! News - House OKs Bill Imposing 'Spyware' Fines

About damn time...pay up!

Scaled Composites - Virgin Group to licence technology to develop world's first commercial space tourism operator

This is the news I've been waiting to hear for most of my life. Starting out at 190,000, I'd imagine that a small bit of competition will push the price for a trip to orbit down to around the price of a luxury car in short order. Someday I'm going to outer space!

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

Nifty...meta-polling results on the web (with pretty map)

NASA's Newest Foe: Hurricane Frances

Now THAT would be a very bad thing...

The world's tiniest windmill...sort of

Blow on a carbon nanotube set at an angle, and you'll create electricity. Glad somebody thought to try it.

Mighty mice to rescue couch potatoes - Science - www.smh.com.au

"Excercise pills! Get your excercise pills, here!"

Concerns Mount over Major Web Strike

We shall see...

1TB of storage on a 12cm disc

Same size as a CD with more than 1000x the storage capacity...sweeeet. Someday, I'll be able to back up the PC to a single removable disk!

RPOW Theory

*WARNING* If you are not a geek (specifically one who likes the subject of cryptography), don't bother with this link. If you *are* someone who fits that description, you might be interested in this. Sounds like a very interesting concept to me.

Deep Lake Water Cooling System

"Oh yeah, well MY air conditioner is bigger than YOUR air conditioner..."

Cool idea, no pun intended.

ROBO-ONE

Tiny Battle-Mechs duke it out (unfortunately no LRM's or autocannons)

Don't miss the video!

Interesting little link I found on slashdot. Apparently there's a market based on the presidential race (and it's been more accurate than polls in the past).

Here's a graph (updated daily) that shows the "closing" price of republican and democratic shares...

Time Warp Computer Prices

All I can say is, thank god that PC equipment keeps getting cheaper. $799.00 for a 28.8 modem sounds a bit steep to me today...

FairTax Volunteer - FAQ 1

Hmm...

BOFH gets an RFID he can't refuse

You don't mess with the BOFH...

Boston.com / Your Life / Health & Fitness / Women's Health / Fetuses give mothers a gift of cells, study says

Cool...babies try to fix their mommies before they're born!

The customer is always right? Not anymore:

"Some retailers are deciding that the customer can be very, very wrong -- as in unprofitable. And some, including Best Buy Co. Inc., are discriminating between profitable customers and shoppers they lose money on.
Like a customer who ties up a salesworker but never buys anything, or who buys only during big sales. Or one who files for a rebate, then returns the item.
'That would be directly equivalent to somebody going to an ATM and getting money out without putting any in,' Brad Anderson, Best Buy's chief executive, said in a recent interview. 'Those customers, they're smart, and they're costing us money.' "

Uhh...so, maybe you should alter your business model a little bit? Frustrated with "extreme price shoppers"? Best Buy is frustrated with extreme price shoppers??? WTF is that all about? I mean, honestly, I'd assume that the store's name means something, wouldn't you? For some reason they are bitching that they don't make money off of people who only shop during sales...

Pardon my language, but so fucking what? That's the sale-shopper's fault? I don't think so, Tim.

SawStop Videos

Are you a woodworker or carpenter? Hate those pesky missing fingers caused by your table saw? Just try the amazing "Saw Stop"!!! Make sure you watch the video.

SBC - Press Room

Sweet! I'll take the DSL with the 25Mb/s down, 1Mb/s up speed, thanks. Hosting from the house may actually become practical!

tvnz.co.nz | NEWS | WORLD | Private rocket makes space history

Woohoo! Maybe it won't take until my kids' lifetime before space travel is routine...

Go spaceships, go!

MyUID

They may be short on bandwidth, but they're long on ambition. A single-sign-on project that's open source! Let's hear it for secure, open, robust, platform-neutral programming, people. I might have to make use of this myself.

Censorship's Trial Balloons - What happens when wartime news gets censored? By Liam Callanan

Okay...Slate's title for this story is a bit poor, but this is a very interesting piece of missing history. "Japan attacks America!"

No, not Pearl Harbor...before that. And on the mainland. Intrigued yet?

Abolish the Digital Millenium Copyright Act Petition

...And in the same vein as ridiculous software patents is the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act). Read up, do your own research (if you want), and sign to get some of our rights back. The DMCA is *not* a good thing.

Petition Against Software Patents Petition

If you don't know why software patents are bad, consider this: Microsoft just applied for a patent on a "task list". You know...like a to-do list stored on a computer. Let me mention that one of the prerequisites for getting a software patent is "nonobviousness"...want to geuss whether anybody else has ever had an idea for a computerized to-do list?

Motion

Ahh...I feel an event-driven motion-capturing security camera system in my future...cool stuff.

Junk DNA ain't so junky

Remember how all of that DNA that has no obvious purpose is a big mystery? Well, maybe you don't...I'm a geek, after all, but now it's a little less mysterious.

I N K S C A P E :: Vector Graphics for the Masses

Okay...this is just cool.

security.itworld.com - Buffalo spammer gets 3.5 to 7 years

One down...how many spammers are there again?

Help save the environment, build a nuclear reactor...

More news from respected Green party members to come soon...believe it.

Technology Review: DNA Computer Kills Cancer Cells

Now THAT is what I call good science...need more details.

Cisco Source Code Reportedly Stolen

File this one away under "oh...this can't be good"...

Tanning Lotion with THC: Sunbathe and get a buzz, all in one easy step...

The safest safe...

BOFH: Stuck on the 6.01999th floor | The Register

Never try to outwith the BOFH...

D Programming Language

C sucks...evolve, already.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - dihydrogen monoxide info

I meant to post this earlier, but here it is, just the same. Everything you ever wanted to know about DihydrogenMonoxide (DHMO)

Classic BOFH

The right way to handle an inventory...

Scientists confirm phenomenon of falling beer bubbles

Guiness Lovers read up...or down...

Election Projection - 2004 Edition

A color-coded map and everything! Vote prediction is F-U-N...

CBC News:Toss toothbrushes every few weeks: researcher

Saw something on MythBusters (Discovery Channel) on this too..."fecal coliform" bacteria from your toilet floating through the air and landing on the ol' toothbrush...ahh, minty.

Restless Leg Syndrome

I think I've experienced this before...interesting...

Digital Microfluidics by Electrowetting, Duke University

More interesting than it looks at first...Moses would be proud.