Category: Random Ramblings

Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.

iPod to be the new Black Box?

In what I can only call a beautiful use of technology, light aircraft manufacturer LoPresti SpeedMerchants is set to put Apple iPods into airplanes to act as flight data recorders (obligatory short link if that one is broken) for one of its light planes.

The company says it plans the “full integration of the iPod into the Fury’s avionics systems”. The iconic ‘white box’ iPod will serve as a digital data recorder, nicknamed ‘black boxes’ by the general media. The iPod, with suitable software, acts as a hard disk with the ability to record over 500h of flight time data.

. . .

The iPod can also act as an audio recorder, and can be used to capture two-way cockpit conversation and communication with air traffic control.

The iPod FDR would work with the patented iPod Dock Connector port on the bottom of the iPod, for which there is a large software developer community. “This is the perfect marriage of a consumer product to the aviation market” says Siegel. “The iPod has an ideal product spec for aviation. It’s light and small, with very low power requirements and a simple interface. There are thousands of developers passionate about writing applications for the iPod. With such a large body of programmers we literally have no idea what the next great aviation application may be.”

I’m curious how the iPod will be protected from explodificationizing in a truly catastrophic crash, but I leave that to smarter people to figure out. This is just a really cool project that I figured should be shared with others. I wonder if this will catch on and become standard for more aircraft, too. (via Danger Room)

[tags]iPod = the new Black Box?, Using the iPod to record aircraft flight data[/tags]

Stem-cell research showing a real payback

In what is currently a one-of-a-kind stem-cell success story, doctors in an Indian hospital claim to have restored the ability to walk to a man paralyzed after a fall from the 4th floor of a building.

Chennai, Feb. 25 (PTI): Doctors at a hospital here have claimed they successfully used stem cell therapy to enable a 25-year-old man, who injured his spinal cord in a fall in July last year, to walk normally again.

This is the first time that Indian doctors have resorted to stem cell therapy to cure spinal cord problems, said J S Rajkumar, chief surgeon of the corporate Lifeline multi-speciality hospital.

. . .

Its doctors, in collaboration with the Indo-Japanese joint venture Nichi In Centre For Regenerative Medicine (NCRA), used autologous or “own body” stem therapy in December 2006 to treat Ali who started walking on his own, Rajkumar told reporters Saturday.

Note that this feat was accomplished with stem-cells from the man’s own body, so fetal stem-cells played no role in this. Also, it is worth pointing out that currently doctors don’t know if this is a repeatable event, or if the planets lined up just right to make this work. (via Wired’s Bodyhack blog)

[tags]Stem-cell success story, Walking ability restored to paralyzed man[/tags]

Security, the Mac, Mac users – fanatical devotion != secure

Last week, the BBC wrote on security on the Mac and the apparent attitude Mac users take towards security. Highlighting the “Month of Apple Bugs” (MOAB) project web site, the BBC discusses the security reality of Mac computing. I suppose due to the brevity of the article there isn’t a lot of the really good information on security I’d like to see, but the BBC basically showcases the reality of security the MOAB project revealed while still pointing out that ultimately, the Mac has yet to be hit by a big, nasty worm or virus like Linux, Windows, Solaris, and so many operating systems have.

Apple Mac users are still too lax when it comes to security matters, an independent researcher has said.

Kevin Finisterre caused ripples in the Mac community when he started a website in January revealing a different bug in Apple systems each day of the month.

While some observers dismissed the survey, Apple recently issued a patch to plug holes outlined by Finisterre.

Apple owners’ attitude to security was “one of the main reasons we started the campaign,” he said.

Apple makes great play of the fact that its OSX operating has yet to be attacked by a virus while Windows XP machines are plagued with problems.

In the end, real-life commitments prevent the MOAB project creator from continuing regular work on it. He does note, however, that he would be glad to continue working on it if someone could put up the capital required to keep it going.

[tags]Apple security, the Month of Apple Bugs (MOAB) project[/tags]

A few soldiers give ammo to anti-military idiots

In a news story sure to be used as “proof” that our military members are bad people, we hear of four military men who raped a 14-year-old girl in Iraq and killed her and her parents and younger sister. Rather than focusing on the reality that there are bad people in any large group, expect idiots everywhere to present this as a damnation of the entire US military. It is a disturbing occurance, but this is 4 people in group of well over 100,000 (and yes, I know there are other abuses, but again those are small numbers out of a large deployment).

Cortez, of Barstow, Calif., pleaded guilty this week to four counts of felony murder, rape and conspiracy to rape in a case considered among the worst atrocities by U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

In his plea agreement, he said he conspired with three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division to rape 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. The girl, her parents and a younger sister were all killed.

There will be all kinds of speculation for why this happened, but ultimately none of that matters. Theses idiots did something stupid, and the entire US military will be judged for this, likely along with the entire nation. (via Michelle Malkin)

[tags]4 military personnel on trial for rape and murder of 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family[/tags]

iPhone too expensive, may sell poorly

I believe this recent survey, which shows people largely aren’t willing to spend $500 for the iPhone, should surprise almost no one. Just as unsurprising, at lower price points, the number of people willing to buy goes up.

Online market research firm Compete Inc. surveyed 379 people in the U.S., most of whom had heard of the iPhone and have shopped for an iPod, to find out how interested they are in the device to produce the uncommissioned report. The iPhone is a combined music player and cell phone that Apple plans to start selling in the U.S. in June.

Among the 26 percent of respondents who said they’re likely to buy an iPhone, only 1 percent said they’d pay $500 for it. When Apple introduced the iPhone in January, it said it would cost $500 on the low end.

This cost point factored in to my prediction of less-than-desired sales levels when the iPhone was first announced, although I called it based purely on an instinctive view of typical consumers and business buyers. If the price does drop significantly come launch day, then I’ll revise my prediction based on what Apple and Cingular do release the phone at. (via Electronista)

[tags]Survey shows consumers largely unwilling to pay $500 for iPhone, Apple’s challenge of finding correct iPhone price[/tags]

Make money off telemarketers

Most people don’t realize the restrictions placed on telemarketers and how they can benefit from the fact that many telemarketers don’t follow the rules. Instead of just hanging up or being nice and requesting that your name and number be removed from their call list, you can bring suit against them in small claims court and often win a small sum payout.

When André-Tascha Lammé was granted a judgment of $3,500 last month in a Sacramento, Calif., small claims court, he heard gasps.

“You could hear people in the courtroom saying, ‘You can sue telemarketers?'” he said. You can. In fact, you can make some decent cash for your trouble.

Lammé started getting pelted with calls from mortgage brokers last year, just as his adjustable rate mortgage was about to reset. Like many consumers, he quickly reached the boiling point over the frequent interruptions. But unlike many consumers, the computer programmer took the time to educate himself – perhaps owing to the spirit of his grandmother, a lawyer for several decades – and quickly discovered the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Continue reading “Make money off telemarketers”

Stupid criminal news

Reuters has this tale of a criminal who didn’t practice due diligence in choosing a target or escape plan.

A would-be thief proved himself lacking in key skills like reconnaissance and driving after he tried to pull a heist beside a police-dog training site and then got stuck in the snow trying to flee.

Police in Edmonton, Alberta, said officers were training with a dog at a business late Tuesday when they heard an alarm sound from the building next door.

Yeah, that was bright.

[tags]Stupid criminal news, Choosing a better target[/tags]

And it shall be called “Mr. Fusion”

Take garbage. Dump it in a big, scary-looking contraption. Ignite it with a high-powered arc of electricity. ???? Profit!!!

Shades of Dr. Emmett Brown’s Mr. Fusion only larger, this plasma convertor created by work done over 2 decades by Joseph Longo promises to turn garbage into plasma. It also generates more power output than it takes in from the power grid. This is no perpetual motion machine – it doesn’t generate greater power from nothing. It burns trash via very high power electrical zaps (that’s a technical term), firing up to around 30,000 degrees fahrenheit, using the heat from burning trash to generate more energy than it takes to burn the trash.

popsci-longo_main_485.jpg It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder. I’m sitting inside a narrow conference room at a research facility in Bristol, Connecticut, chatting with Joseph Longo, the founder and CEO of Startech Environmental Corporation. As we munch on takeout Subway sandwiches, a plate-glass window is the only thing separating us from the adjacent lab, which contains a glowing caldera of plasma three times as hot as the surface of the sun. Every few minutes there��s a horrific clanking noise-grinding followed by a thunderous voomp, like the sound a gas barbecue makes when it first ignites.

“Is it supposed to do that”� I ask Longo nervously. “Yup,” he says. “That’s normal.��

Continue reading “And it shall be called “Mr. Fusion””

Give your Mrs. some games

I’m sure the cause and effect tie in won’t actually work out to reward you for getting that special someone in your life into gaming if she isn’t already, but there is a good reason to seek out the gamer chixx0rz if you are currently unattached.

According to a survey conducted by Gametart, a game rental service in the UK, chicks who game get more lovin’ than those who don’t. Out of a sample of 200 ladies (or should that be “laid-ees”?), the ones who gamed got, erm, fragged 1.1 more times a week than those who didn’t.

. . .

Of our sample of 200 women, those who played video games on average had sex 4.3 times a week while those who didn’t play games only had sex just 3.2 times a week.

Although I have to go on record here as saying I’d be happy with even the 3.2 times a week model. I can wait to upgrade to the 4.3 times a week later. I’m not as young as I used to be. Although I’ll try if I can sample 200 women…

[tags]Gamer chicks get the goods more often, Get a gamer-babe in your life to get more in bed[/tags]

“How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?”

By the way, that’s the name of the act: The “How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?” Act. Where else, but California?

“How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?” It may sound like one of those “How many…” jokes, but it’s actually a proposed title for an act. The “How Many Legislators Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb” Act is focused on attempting to lower greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming. But perhaps the real question should be: how many legislators will change a light bulb? One will, for sure: California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is aiming to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012. Probably because Uh-nold says so.

Look – I get it. Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) are significantly more efficient. Comparable light for less energy consumption. Lower power usage. But do we really need MORE government dictating what we can’t do? No. No we don’t. I use CFLs everywhere it makes sense to in my house, but I chose that because it makes sense for me. Educate the masses and let them decide if they want to save money and reduce power consumption. Give tax breaks for CFL purchases. Subsidize CFL costs some other way. But don’t mandate. That’s just more government we don’t need.

[tags]The “How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?” act, California bill to ban incandescent lights under consideration[/tags]

You really can do almost anything online

Catching up on so much techie news makes me almost sad at how little time I have to stay current on everything any more. To give you an idea how ancient I am, I used to buy things off eBay when you could actually read every single new auction for the whole site. I scanned every new listing every morning for a while. I quit doing that when it took 2 hours for me to get through everything. Luckily I had a job that only required about 2 hours of work a day, so I still had plenty of time to do my job.

What does that have to do with anything? Nothing at all. I tend to ramble. I blame the ADD.

The real point of this post is to point out the awesome online tool formatpixel I just read about today. Using formatpixel, you can create, well, stuff you probably would have used PowerPoint for in the past:

Create your own online magazines, fanzines, brochures, catalogues, portfolios and more. Using the formatpixel online editor you too can design page based projects, layout text, upload your own images, add interactivity and customise their appearance.

Edit the order of pages in your projects by moving, inserting or deleting pages to create multi-page presentations.

There are some really cool demonstrations of the power of the tools at formatpixel (w00t for me – 3 time repetition for increased brain implantationility (Yes, I made that word up) to help you remember the name). If I had any creative talent, I’d put something together to show off the site. Instead, I’ll point you to the article on TechCrunch where I first read about formatpixel (and a 4th time!).

[tags]Online flash-based presentation/layout creation site formatpixel, Online Powerpoint substitute tool[/tags]