Why one won’t worry walking with wood burning

Sorry, I just couldn’t carry the alliteration any further. But I think that’s a decent article title just for getting things going when talking about fire-walking. Since it seems many consider it some sort of mystical mystery, how about we look to LiveScience.com for an explanation of the phenomenon from a professor trying to get students interested in thermodynamics.

Physics professor David Willey doesn’t use chalk and formulas to spark his students’ interest in thermodynamics.

He walks on fire.

“Nothing gets a student’s attention like the possibility that I might kill myself,” said Willey, this year’s winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

That bit then leads in to an explanation of just how firewalking is possible. Here’s the punchline – wood is a bad conductor. If you know what that means, then just jump ahead to the next article. If that’s not enough to clue you in, then please hit LiveScience.com for the full article.

[tags]Firewalking, LiveScience, Thermodynamics, Walk on fire[/tags]

Top 10 women of gaming

(via TechEBlog)

We really haven’t had enough gaming news on this site lately, have we? Well, let’s try to improve that. Our starting hook-up is a link to GameTrailers.com where we can watch a video about the top 10 women of all time in gaming. I’m going out on a limb here and guessing Samus and Lara Croft made the list. Want to check me on that? You’ll have to visit the GameTrailers folks and see.

Some of the women who made the list I wouldn’t have guessed beforehand, but I could agree with the selections after seeing and hearing the reasons.

[tags]Women of gaming, GameTrailers.com[/tags]

Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser

(via TechEBlog)
Blah, blah this. Blah, blah that. Reading the news some days can just leave you wondering “Where’s the good stories?” Well, unless, of course, you read your daily news here. In which case you’ll be wondering “Can I ever be as awesome as Randy?”

The answer is, no. But you can try. The world certainly needs more people whose awesomeness approaches mine. :)   I kid, I kid.  I’m not awesome – just brilliant!
Now, that out of the way, why in the world am I rambling? Because I just found another frikkin’ story about frikkin’ lasers!!! And you all know I love my frikkin’ lasers, sharks or no.

mthe-laser.jpgMTHEL uses directed energy (laser beam) to intercept aerial targets such as rockets, missiles, artillery shells and other aerial threats. The target destruction is achieved by projecting a highly focused, high-power laser beam, delivered by a chemical laser, with enough energy to affect the target, and explode it in midair. This operational concept is offering the first “reusable” interception element. Existing interceptors use kinetic energy kill vehicles (such as fragmentation warheads), which are not reusable.

Whoa! You had me at destruction.

And those of you looking at that thinking, “That doesn’t look so awesome,” how about if you have to carry it around in one of these:

mthe-carrier.jpg

Yes, sign me up when the order lines open.  Read all about it in Defense-Update’s look back on the MTHEL.  I think if aimed properly, it could even make a tasty batch of popcorn.

[tags]Laser, Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser, Real Genius[/tags]

Take a closer look at OpenBSD with IBM

Looking for a reliable, proven operating system to run mission critical applications on and security is your highest priority? Well, perhaps you should consider putting your trust in OpenBSD, the Unix-style OS built from the ground up with security as its number one priority. Take a look at the features and function of this OS in this write-up from IBM.

OpenBSD is quite possibly the most secure operating system on the planet. Every step of the development process focuses on building a secure, open, and free platform. UNIX® and Linux® administrators take note: Without realizing it, you probably use tools ported from OpenBSD every day. Maybe it’s time to give the whole operating system a closer look.

When security is of the utmost importance, it’s only logical to look to the same operating system that spawned today’s standard in secure remote access, OpenSSH (Open Secure Shell). OpenSSH is just one part of OpenBSD, a distribution that has focused on security from the ground up, accomplishing a goal of creating a UNIX®-like operating system that is secure by default. This stand is in contrast to most operating systems today, which require significant time and energy to harden the environment before going live. In fact, OpenBSD is so secure that it was once banned for use in a DEF CON competition, where crackers go after each other’s systems.

I’ll admit here my failings in the BSD world. I learned Unix on SunOS 4.1, which was berserkley (a term for Berkeley I picked up from a college professor) based, but outside that, I have little exposure to any BSD system. Perhaps it’s time for a VMWare install of one or more BSDs? Anyway, I’ve known about the features of the various BSDs, but haven’t tried installing one in years. The IBM write-up here has just a little bit about the install process, so it’s just the kind of thing to help get you going.

[tags]BSD, OpenBSD, Berkeley Software Distribution[/tags]

Happy Birthday Gary Larson

Yes, that Gary Larson.  The creator of The Far Side comic strip.  Larson was born today in 1950.

“The Far Side” first appeared in the Seattle Times in 1978. It was first syndicated in 1980 by Chronicle Features.

The strip continued until January 1, 1995, when Larson retired from writing the comic.

[tags]Gary Larson. The Far Side, Happy Birthday[/tags]

I might be wrong on the air travel issue

I’m not. Let me just state that up front. And apologies again about the language below – I try to keep the site clean, but this current issue just cranks my frustration levels too high for me to stay clean.
There is a chance, though, that I’m wrong on the air travel issue. I’ve credited the whole ass-raping that travellers are being subjected to now to a government making decisions based on idiots running things. The fine folks at StecoNews have a different view – conspiracy. Now normally I pass on any conspiracy theorists ravings, but since I hold fast to my almost certainly untrue conspiracy view (which if you’ve been with me long you’ve seen me post on before) of the lies we were fed to justify the illegal war in Iraq, I’m going to post some notes from other conspiracy nutjobs out there. That said, here’s a few highlights from the StecoNews post title “London Terror Alert? A Skeptical Round-up” for you to ruminate on.

Several points make the whole affair seem unlikely:

  1. The Republicans are joyfully using it for political gain. Via (Phila Daily News)
  2. Officials have known about the threat of liquid explosives for years and done nothing. Via (NYTimes)
  3. Bush has been trying to cut funds for bomb detection at us airports Via (ABC News)

That’s half the list. You’ll have to check StecoNews for the rest.  I do want to point out that #2 is true, but indicative of nothing.  As I’ve mentioned before, the terrorist attacks have done nothing to increase our risk during travel, but only heightened our awareness.  The natural government reaction is to make a meaningless gesture which appears to be a positive security move, and suddenly acting on the threat of liquid explosives is just that.
[tags]Air travel restrictions a political conspiracy?, More air travel ranting, London terrorist attacks a ruse[/tags]

Astronomy picture of the day 2006-08-13

This is an awesome photo, and I almost missed posting it on the day it was featured. In fact, there have been several great astronomy pictures of the day lately. But I figure folks get tired of me posting picture of the day stuff too often, so I’ve held off. That said, check out this one and then look back through the archives at the NASA site.

astronomy-potd-20060813.jpg

The Comet and the Galaxy
Credit & Copyright: J. C. Casado
Explanation: The Moon almost ruined this photograph. During late March and early April 1997, Comet Hale-Bopp passed nearly in front of the Andromeda Galaxy. Here the Great Comet of 1997 and the Great Galaxy in Andromeda were photographed together on 1997 March 24th. The problem was the brightness of the Moon. The Moon was full that night and so bright that long exposures meant to capture the tails of Hale-Bopp and the disk of M31 would capture instead only moonlight reflected off the Earth’s atmosphere. By the time the Moon would set, this opportunity would be gone. That’s why this picture was taken during a total lunar eclipse.

[tags]Astronomy Picture of the day, POTD, Hale-Bopp[/tags]

The wisdom of charlatans

Bravo to Christopher Wanjek at LiveScience.com for taking the time to write about just how much is wrong in Kevin Trudeau’s book More Natural Cures Revealed (no link provided to avoid endorsing this hackery).

Kevin Trudeau wants to save your life, and the Nazis at the FDA and FTC will stop at nothing to bring him down. They have made it clear to him that their intent is to imprison him, confiscate his latest book, and burn it.

So begins Trudeau’s self-published “More Natural Cures Revealed,” a fascinating cross between a health book, fictitious novel, and a paranoid, hate-filled rant along the lines of “Mein Kampf.”

Normally I wouldn’t highlight such lunacy for risk of advertising it. And at first glance, one would think that this book could only attract a fringe audience, like those websites advocating to drink your own urine. But “More Natural Cures” is a follow-up to the self-published “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About,” which sold several million copies and reached the New York Times best-seller list.

Continue reading “The wisdom of charlatans”

A parenting tip from your host

This post comes courtesy of a series of tragic events that happened here in Memphis and nearby very recently. Since I have no idea how long that article will be reachable, here’s a small chunk of it.

A 15-month-old boy died Wednesday after he was left inside a sweltering truck in Lauderdale County, Tenn.

The child was found unresponsive around 2 p.m. by his mother, who had left him inside a parked sport utility vehicle when she went to a neighbor’s home to drop off a package, Lauderdale County officials said.

“She said she left the air running and was gone 15 to 20 minutes but when she came out the air was blowing hot and her baby was hot and sweating and wouldn’t wake up,” said Lauderdale County Investigator Clay Newman. “She called 911 and the child was rushed to the hospital.”

That’s tragic, and an event I would never want to have happen to any parent.  But unfortunately, this happens far too often.  So here’s my little parenting tip of the day – never leave your child in the car alone.  I know it’s tempting to just “run in for a second” to do something.  Even planned brief trips can run longer.

It frustrates my wife that I won’t stop at a convenience store and leave the kids in my Jeep while I run in to just grab a gallon of milk.  I’ll make them get out with me, which of course means I have to corral them while inside and then get them back in a buckled in their seats again.  But by taking 3 extra minutes on my trip to do this, I make sure that if someone picks my Jeep as the break-a-window-and-drive-away target of the day, they get the Jeep and all my crap inside, but not my children.  My wife calls me a melodramatic paranoid, but I’d rather be that than a childless middle-aged idiot who is facing reckless endangerment charges for leaving the kids.  The same holds true when I stop at someone’s house to drop something off – the kids go where I go, rather than staying in the car.  That way, if the 30 second drop-off turns into a social visit (ignoring for the moment my tendency to not be social) that lasts half an hour, I won’t come back out to the child I forgot about sitting in a 106 degree car not breathing.

So please, people, practice the simple move of never leaving your child in the car alone.  It makes them safer, and you less likely to forget them and end up the parent talked about in a tragic tale in the papers.

[tags]Parenting tip of the day[/tags]