The most valuable supply of worthlessness on the web
Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.
(via MAKEzine blog)
Dr. Matt Carlson is a high school chemistry and physics teacher who makes educational video podcasts for his students and anyone else who wants to view them. He covers diverse topics like thermodynamics, styrofoam packing peanuts, freezing one liquid by boiling another, and protein folding.
[tags]Science theater, Science video podcasts[/tags]
This one gets a posting just because I know folks who are using or at least trying out the latest Ubuntu distribution. If you are just getting your Ubuntu install running, or are thinking of trying Ubuntu out, be sure to check out the LifeHacker list of 10 essential Ubuntu applications and tweaks.
8. Add NTFS Read/Write support
If you’re switching from Windows, chances are you’ve got lots of data stored on an NTFS (New Technology File System) formatted drive that you’re not ready to get rid of. This used to be a major problem, since Linux isn’t able to write files to NTFS drives. Or at least that used to be the case. Luckily the Linux-NTFS project has built a driver to overcome those limitations.
HOWTO: NTFS with read/write support using ntfs-3g (easy method)
[Ubuntu Forums]
[tags]Ubuntu, Apps and tweaks[/tags]
Today’s History Channel lead story is on the August 24th, 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in southern Italy, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum. The people in the region lived there to take advantage of the fertile ground. They had no idea why the land was so fertile.
The ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived near the base of Mount Vesuvius at the Bay of Naples. In the time of the early Roman Empire, 20,000 people lived in Pompeii, including merchants, manufacturers, and farmers who exploited the rich soil of the region with numerous vineyards and orchards. None suspected that the black fertile earth was the legacy of earlier eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Herculaneum was a city of 5,000 and a favorite summer destination for rich Romans. Named for the mythic hero Hercules, Herculaneum housed opulent villas and grand Roman baths. Gambling artifacts found in Herculaneum and a brothel unearthed in Pompeii attest to the decadent nature of the cities. There were smaller resort communities in the area as well, such as the quiet little town of Stabiae.
At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., this pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere.
Also of note today in history is the last tank produced by Cadillac came of the line today in 1945, and in 1954 the Communist Control Act was passed, coming to effect not long after the disgrace of Sen. McCarthy (who, BTW, was correct on many of his accusations).
Read the entire account and see what else of note occurred today in history, thanks to The History Channel.
[tags]Today in History, The History Channel, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii[/tags]
This list started with mention of a game from a co-worker. His idea for the game differed from mine, but I decided to try coming up with a few games that matched my idea of some new games that I haven’t seen done before.
You are a British man, looking for your next cigarette fix
You are a young test lab intern, and there has been a breach. You have to capture all the female pups used in lab tests and put each back in the right cage.
You are a farmer working hard to save the family farm. Your tractor is broken, so you have to use your old mule to try to maintain the fields and bring in the harvest.
I’m working on more, but these are the starting ideas I have. I could see a series of mini-games coming from this. Maybe a bunch of online Java games. Hmmmm, I think I just came up with a reason to learn Java.
Feel free to add any similarly themed games in the comments.
UPDATE (2006-08-24 22:36): Some more game ideas from one of my brothers.
You are out for dinner at a restaurant that lets you cook your own steak. Before throwing it on the grill, you want to pound it a bit with a tenderizing mallet
You are head gardenkeeper for the Queen of England. One of your biggest responsibilities is keeping the Queen’s favorite rose bush properly trimmed and staked properly
You are a helicopter emergency rescue pilot. You have to get your team to naval disaster sites to rescue the men and women of the navy who are in the water. Some rescues take place in icy waters, giving a time limit. Other missions take place in shark infested waters where you get a mission bonus for saving a certain percentage of the seaman.
[tags]Radical game ideas, Games that sound dirty but aren’t[/tags]
This fine advertisment comes to us from the February 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics. With Prince Albert pipe tobacco, apparently you too can be smooth.
[tags]Prince Albert pipe tobacco, Smoking a pipe is all kinds of smooth[/tags]
(via LifeHacker)
If you will be flying in the near future, you should probably check the TSA guidelines for permitted and prohibitted items on flights.
Due to enhanced security measures liquids, gels, lotions and other items of similar consistency will not be permitted in carry-on baggage. These types of items must be packed in your checked baggage.
Additionally, liquids, gels and lotions purchased beyond the checkpoint but must be disposed of before boarding the aircraft.
To ensure the health and welfare of certain air travelers the following items are permitted.
- Small amounts of Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling
- Liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket
- Up to 5 oz. (148ml) of liquid or gel low blood sugar treatment
- Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly
- Gel-filled bras and similar prostethics
- Gel-filled wheelchair cushions
- Life support and life sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs carried for medical reasons
You are permitted to bring solid cosmetics and personal hygiene items as such lipstick, lip balm and similar solids. Please remember these items must be solid and not liquid, gel or aerosol.
Please keep in mind, that while we can not provide an exhaustive list of items covering all eventualities, all liquids, gels, or aerosols of any kind are prohibited at security checkpoints, in airport sterile areas, and aboard aircraft. You can pack these items in your checked baggage.
I think my stance on this is well known. I will leave it at my request for balance in spending and restrictions. You can read my other posts for more details. This is just something of a public service message, providing you information on how to find out more.
Note that the TSA page does not directly address the question of snakes on this page. So if you have some snakes you want to have travel with you, it might be wise to call ahead and see if you are allowed to have them on the plane.
[tags]TSA permitted and prohibited liquids guide, Snakes on a plane[/tags]
Having worked in computer security in the past, I like to know what’s going on in the security community in case I manage to get a job back in that industry. So when I read that IBM is buying Internet Security Systems, Inc. for $1.3 billion in cash, I figured I should post about it, in case either of my readers like to keep up with these things and haven’t heard yet. The article comes from an Australian paper, so I don’t know if that cost is in Australian or US dollars, but I’m guessing it’s US dollars.
With revenue growth sluggish at IBM Corp., Big Blue is buying its way to getting bigger.
The company’s recent acquisition roll continued Wednesday with a deal to spend $1.3 billion in cash for Internet Security Systems Inc., which performs network monitoring and analysis services for companies.
The deal values ISS at $28 a share, almost an 8 percent premium over its $26 closing price Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. If the acquisition is approved by shareholders, the companies expect it to close in the fourth quarter.
[tags]IBM, ISS, Internet Security Systems Inc., IBM buys ISS, Security news[/tags]
I agree with Dan here – I don’t care if athletes are using drugs.
But for the cycling world, Thursday’s announcement was a measure of achievement. Cycling is doing more to test its biggest stars at its biggest event than most other professional sports. The depressing news of Landis’ drug test is a reminder that the entire professional sports world should be doing more to catch cheaters.
The real story here is not what our media watchdogs and sports authorities say. It’s blatant, gross hypocrisy.
Right now I’m using a performance-enhancing drug, which I need to function well. It’s called caffeine, and is part of the coffee I drink each morning.
Later I’ll use a drug that helps me relax. It’s called alcohol, and it comes in the wine I’ll drink with dinner.
Drug laws are insane enough. Sports drug bans are beyond hypocritical, because they punish one kind of enhancement while pretending that all others are okay.
I don’t care at all if professional athletes use drugs. They have already been modified in all kinds of other ways — such as diets, blatantly unhealthy, that turn pro football linemen into people the size of large refrigerators.
As I said, I agree with him. I’m not bothered by professional athletes taking drugs and I’m not been bothered by college athletes getting paid. People complain that this will result in the biggest colleges always having the best athletic programs, but why is it so wrong for colleges when pro sports have it (NY Yankees, anyone)?
[tags]Dan Gillmor on Tour de France drug ruckus, Athletes and drugs – so what?[/tags]
More from the wonderful world of the scientific past that is the Modern Mechanix blog. With this, we can learn how to hypnotize without detection.
STARTLING SECRETS TEACH YOU DISGUISED HYPNOSIS
CAUSE TRANCE WITHOUT SUBJECTS KNOWING!
Revealing manuscript tells jealously guarded secret techniques used to cause the “Indirect Tranceâ€Â. Read how sub jects are hypnotized without their knowledge. Learn amazing shortcuts that make hypnosis fast and easy. Discover the safe *â€Âfake nerve pressure†technique… the “falling back†test and many others. Read how the author hypnotizes a roomful of people without their knowledge  using a common household cooking ingredient. This is so dramatic and effective it is worth the low price of the book alone. But that’s not all. order now and get these FREE EXTRAS The fun packed book “Entertaining with Hypnosis†and a clever Hypnotic “Trance-Fer†chart. This exclusive aid helps you cause the “Indirect Tranceâ€Â. All come to you in a plain wrapper $1.98
10 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
ALLIED-AIDS, Dept. D-136, 95 Madison Awe., N.Y.C. 16
If I’m not mistaken, this book is available used at Amazon. That information just in case the company doesn’t respond to you when you send in the ad and your money.
[tags]Learn hypnosis, Disguised hypnosis[/tags]
(via Engadget)
A co-worker pointed this out to me, as I missed it when perusing my Engadget news for the day – UC, San Diego researchers have come up with an improved method for finding flaws in tracks using lasers.
A team led by UCSD structural engineering professor Francesco Lanza di Scalea describes in the Aug. 22 issue of the Journal of Sound and Vibration a defect-detection technique that uses laser beam pulses to gently “tap†on steel rails. Each laser tap sends ultrasonic waves traveling 1,800 miles per second along the steel rails. Downward facing microphones are positioned a few inches above the rail and 12 inches from the downward pointed laser beam. As the prototype vehicle rolls down the test track delivering laser beams taps at one-foot intervals, the microphones detect any telltale reductions in the strength of the ultrasonic signals, pinpointing surface cuts, internal cracks, and other defects.
And let me just say, I find it freaky cool that there is even a scientific journal called Journal of Sound and Vibration. So naturally, I had to go look it up – here’s the skinny on the journal. Sadly, it appears subscriptions are roughly $1750 for 50 issues. That puts it slightly out of my price range. Understand, I have no use for the journal, but I thrive on highly specialized knowledge that has no applicability to my daily life.
The article online does not mention specifically if the technology is based purely on lasers, or if there are any frikkin’ sharks involved in building the detector.
[tags]Lasers used in detecting train track flaws, Frikkin’ sharks possibly help find train track flaws[/tags]
Again with the pink console thing. I get liking pink, but why all the pink consoles? That’s the thing I don’t get. Regardless, Nintendo has announced more games for the Wii as well as announcing a pink DS Lite for Europe on October 27th. What still has not been announced is a price.
Nintendo announced a new Mario sports title for the Wii, called Mario Strikers Charged (working title). The sequel to Super Mario Strikers is likely to make full use of the Wii controller–the game is playable at Leipzig, and GameSpot will bring you more information as soon as we can. German footballer Philipp Lahm was featured in a video to promote the game, and it was demonstrated on stage by a Germany TV star.
Battalion Wars 2 for the Wii was also announced and will be playable on Nintendo’s stand at Leipzig. Very few details of the game have been released, although Nintendo did say that it was abbreviated to BWii. The original Battalion Wars was released on the GameCube in late 2005.
[tags]Nintendo, Wii, Nintendo Wii, Battalion Wars 2, Mario Strikers Charged[/tags]
When I first saw this March 1940 advertisement from Popular Science magazine over on the Modern Mechanix blog, I thought it was a foreshadowing of my view of self. Then I realized it’s an ad concerning fire insurance. The thing is, the words of the ad (after the smart/dumb part) are still true today.
“For A Smart Man I’m Pretty Dumbâ€Â
“I never realized this until too lateâ€â€every fire insurance policy states that a complete list of destroyed and damaged property must be supplied before insurance can be paid. I had insurance, but the fire we had caught me way off base. It’s too late now to make a complete list for insurance settlement.
“It would have been easy for me or my wife to make that list before we had a fire. There’s even a helpful booklet that lists things, room by room, and helps you remember articles that you might forget. The book is free. I . hope other families will be smarter than we were and get one of these books before it’s too late!â€Â
MAIL THE COUPON
THE AMERICAN INSURANCE GROUP (Dept. 1119)
15 Washington St. Newark, N. J.Without charge or obligation, please send me your Household Inventory Booklet.
[tags]Modern Mechanix, Insurance advice, For a smart man I’m pretty dumb[/tags]
