Sometimes I Roll Over And Pee Too.

Great, another study about how men are just brute tools that can't escape from their animal instincts. This study compares the behavior of dogs and men and their social auditory signals. They say that just like dogs whine in submission or challenge by growling, men also change the pitch at which they speak based on perceptions of dominance. You'll speak lower to someone you deem inferior, and higher to a more impressive man. But don't think you can just fake a lower voice than normal on purpose, studies show that fakers get their asses kicked.

LiveScience.com - Men Act Like Dogs to Determine Dominance

The President Must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

"Well… we're not gonna! We're gonna have a sandwich." Ever wonder why there have been so few vetos from the Bush administration? No, its not just because Republicans are running the legislature and he agrees with everything that comes through. And no George isn't taking a page out of Tommy Thompson's playbook, using line-item veto to cross out letters spelling completely new words in the bill. He's found an even easier method; and it makes less commotion too. Instead of rejecting laws officially, the Bush Administration just ignores them. They've issued over 750 challenges in signing statements that can detail how the executive branch will (or more accurately, won't) enforce the law. They use ambiguous language and obfuscated statements to leave legal jurisdiction completely at their own discretion.

He will inform Congress "in a manner consistent with the president's constitutional authority to withhold information that could impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties.''

Right. That's probably how the government was sposed to work; congress would pass laws no one would enforce and the courts are preempted altogether.

• Bloomberg.com: Opinion
• CNN.com - ABA: Bush violating Constitution - Jul 24, 2006

GTA Lessons Here!

I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay some 8 year old 25 bucks an hour for video game lessons. But that's cause I've got some pride. And skill. And I don't like people telling me how to do things, I wouldn't sign up for guitar or golf lessons either. When I think about it, this seems more and more like a legitimate business and less like those 1-900 tip numbers. People pay experts for advice in all kinds of things they want to get better at; why not video games? I guess the real hurdle you have to get over is that people train in and play games professionally. But look at baseball, tennis, golf, poker, or any number of other games that we're accustomed to hearing about as serious sports. Take a step back and every one of those seems just as ridiculous as pressing buttons as a career.

Northwest Florida Daily News: Want to get good at videogames? Hire a kid

Hands Off The Internet?

Where the hell is that lame astroturf movement now that government is actually screwing with the Internet? Oh it has nothing to do with hurting broadband providers' proclivity to gouge money from the Internet, so they don't care. This new bill banning social networking from schools and libraries in an effort to "protect" the children from cyber-stalkers is terrible. Its just lip service to the "save the children" bullshit that politicians all stoop to. You know that when some one says "won't someone please think of the children" on the Simpsons they're making fun of you, right? Tech dirt has a good point, that sticking your head in the sand doesn't make the danger go away. The kids are gonna surf the web, whether you want them to or not; hell they probably understand the concepts you're trying to legislate. Like that new goatse law that some embarrassed senator pushed through legislation. (of course that might be false, its hard to do research on that kinda thing) Legislating against practical jokes, yeah you guys are certainly getting worthwhile shite taken care of. Of course there are various interpretations of 'obscene' or 'misleading' and there's also a nice loop hole in just not using a DNS link. Whatever. The real flip flop is that bush apparently agrees that misleading links should be punished with jail terms, but his administration was responsible for ICANN denying the .xxx domain. Way to be consistent. I guess the message these career hillers are all sending is that they'll vote for whatever will get them re-elected.

Techdirt: House Rushes Through Bill To Make The Web More Dangerous For Kids

Boys With Toys.

Ok, so here's a normal reaction. The town changes zoning laws somehow and you lose your business as a result. So you spend a couple weeks converting a bulldozer into an armored tank and run over everything associated with the town government. This actually worked amazingly well, the cops couldn't touch him. Although if I'd been trying to take him down I think I would'a thrown some C4 under there. Take a lesson from like any WWII movie you've seen, guys. The hero always disables the tank, he doesn't shoot through it.

YouTube - Man destroys town with armored bulldozer

Something to Talk About.

Google talk updates.  Well I think I've successfully made the switch from AIM to gtalk.  I hardly ever sign on to the yellow guy any more, and that's just to see if some obscure person is online.  But Talk is about to get better with three new updates.  File transfer, yeah I know AIM did this but I bet it'll be sweet.  Voicemail, basically for leaving funny or embarrassing recordings.  And music status, I don't think this'll actually work.  How does it know what music player I'm using?  Mostly this'll just be a trick, people go to my the myspace page to see what I'm listening to anyway.  So nothing mindblowing here, just some interesting changes.  Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to download the newest release.  Its being rolled out like all the gmail and chat features were.  You sneaky bastards!  I still love you though, just make sure I'm high on the list.

Google Talk

Like A Phoenix Rising From Ashes.

Well, not a Phoenix. Not rising. And not ashes. Like a man in a banana suit, inside a banana stand. Microsoft, in what can only be interprteted as acknowledgment of genius, will be streaming episodes of Arrested Development for free on their new media service later this year. Hmmm... Or I could pay for HDNet's HD broadcast of it. Or I could watch it on G4- tech tv. But no, I won't be doing any of that, because those chumps are all out later than the DVD release on August 29th. Its good to see that there'll be sources available to less diehards, but that's not for me. I need to OWN it.

Also its funny to read the comments on Digg, its pretty obvious who's seen the show, who's really into it, and who's completely oblivious:

• Thank you Microsoft! I vaaaalue your tiiiime!
• What? This is a fantastic BUSINESS MODEL.
• I guess you could say I'm buy curious.
• Oh, Bob Loblaw, you are a mouthful!

digg - Microsoft To Show Arrested Development For Free Online...
Microsoft to show 'Arrested Development'

Looking away from syndication, will they go the route of Firefly and make a Feature Film from the concept? I don't really think so, but it would be funny if only be cause Maeby sold the rights to the Bluth story in the last episode.

Why Am I Mr Sparkle?

I'd like the phone book for Hokiado, Japan, Please. OK, here you go, a phone book for Hokiado, Japan. Thank you, may I please use your phone? Is it a local call? ...Yes.

Hello, Don’t forget — this weekend, call any phone in Japan for free. It couldn’t be simpler. When we’re not giving away calls for free, Skype is still one of the cheapest ways to call international phones. Take a look at our rates to all countries. Happy calling, The people at Skype

Really? You're advertising that you can call any phone in a remote land from an untraceable number at no cost? I've never really enjoyed making prank calls, but isn't this just asking for it?

Free Swag.

Well that Facebook noise finally pays off. They're giving away iTunes music. And a lot of it. Every week they'll serve up a million codes to redeem a preselected 25 song sampler pack of a common genre. All you have to do is add the apple students group and then click the link at the top each of the next ten weeks to get yours. Nice Facebook, you just earned an edge in the played out social networking sites category. I never got anything from the Myspace except come-ons from ladies of ill repute.

Facebook giving away 10 million iTunes music samplers

RF-Yoink!

Every once in a while its not the best idea to be on the bleeding edge. Usually what happens is that you sink a bunch of cash into a medium that never takes off (*ahem* sony), or you have poorly written firmware (*ahem* verizon), or maybe your $12,000 TV burns out because they hadn't done any testing by the time you bought yours. But that's the chance you take for being extra-cool. Lets just hope you're not on the implantable RFID train yet, cause those things are apparently easier to crack than humpty dumpty. Valuable personal information on RFID just seems like trouble, that's why I'm so pumped up about the new E-passports. Sit at an airport with the right antenna and people will be screaming "I'm an American! Here's my picture! Here's my passport number! Here's my fingerprint"! Here's basically all the information on the wishlist of every identity thief out there. RFID is great for inventories and other non private data, but get a grip folks, and lets make sure we know what we're getting into before we find ourselves treading water in the deep end... holding a bowling ball... surrounded by sharks.

Engadget-VeriChip's human-implatable RFID chips clonable

Sell Outs.

Childhood has an incalculable leg up on the present in that I remember pretty much everything fondly. I spose that's mostly due to the adage about things 'that don't kill you', and the fact that everything that happened in the past hasn't killed me. Yes folks, this is another "things were better back when..." post. And this time I'm going off on Parker Brothers. They've done it now; they've signed on with Visa and are getting rid of the money in Monopoly. Instead of hoarding, counting, calculating, and stealing those wonderful rainbow bills (that are partly responsible for my cashlust today) you'll be able to swipe your card to stay at Park Place. This just seems to take all the charm out of the classic and turn it into mall madness. (And I don't want all you skirts clamoring about how that's a great game. Its stupid, end of discussion.) The kid in me is a little upset cause it'll be harder to cheat, and the adult thought there may have been some value in kids adding, sorting, hiding, pickpocketing and learning that people will screw you out of your cash. But hey, I'm sure we'll still be able to cheat somehow. And maybe it'll be good for kids to learn about electronic money. They could even throw in some spreadsheets so they could budget out the next turn and learn not to blow it all on booze. I do hope they move on to an advanced version with bank errors, credit fraud, hackers, phishing scams, identity theft, and people that take forever at the atm.

Monopoly ditches cash, goes plastic - Engadget

That Was YOU?

Ah Victoria, by far the classiest and most urbane region of Australia. The meandering rivers leading gracefully to the ocean... wait. What? Is that a Baby Ruth? Oh god. You guys aren't just piping shit into the ocean, are you? Yeah, but its not that much, only 34 million gallons a day. Well the jig is up Victoria, you've got to cut that shit out. No more raw sewage dumping in the ocean. What's that? you're used to it? Welll... alright, one more year of raw sewage dumping. But then you've got to clean up your act.

globeandmail.com : Victoria told to quit dumping sewage in ocean

How Expensive Are Your Toys?

This RC jet hits about 200 mph and has a sweet engine roar. Wow, that's cool and everything, but how much did it cost? Cause I have no doubt that I would crash it the very first time I flew it. And if I fixed it up good enough for a second flight, I'd crash it then too. Someone should put some self piloting UAV gear in a squadron of those. Sending our enemies scurrying from model planes, how great would that be?

What If We Treat Customers Like Customers?

Huh, not just suing people, but trying to solve the problem? Novel! Everyone knows China is the place to get your hands on illegitimate copies of movies. For better or worse those things are everywhere. So the media companies are thinking of ways to combat the problem, including releasing DVDs sooner after the theater release, or even on the same day. Apparently its been done before, but only in countries where physical piracy is out of control. You know, the kind that should be easier to prevent. In the US, physical, piracy is kept pretty well in check and the movie studios are all claiming that digital piracy is costing them an arm and leg. But instead of trying to solve the problem like they are in other countries, they're suing people. Seems like if you were really being hurt you'd change your business model. Maybe that's just me.

Techdirt: It's Amazing What Happens When A Government's Not In Hollywood's Pocket

The Net Flix Offer Wasn't Far Off.

Uh. Seriously? Have you read this? I like Bond movies and I would probably dismantle my nuclear stockpile for a bit part in the next one, but I'm no autocratic dictator of a nuclear threat. Kim Jong Il is reportedly willing to get rid of all the radioactive typo-dongs in exchange for playing the villain in the next bond movie. That's your motivation, to be a bond villain? Well I spose its better on film than in real life. Although, Kim, baby, did you see Die Another Day? Wealthy North Korean dictator's son goes power crazy and threatens to destroy the world with elaborate weapon of mass destruction. I guess in the new one they could disarm the madman by offering him a movie part.

KIM JONG-IL OFFERS TO ABANDON NUKES IN EXCHANGE FOR ROLE AS VILLAIN IN NEW BOND FILM - Yahoo! News

My news sources:

• typo-dong
• License to Il

News Flash: Verizon Customers Pay Too Much.

No Shit. Have you ever looked at a bill from these guys? Is like freaking Dostoevsky over here. 20 pages of call lists, policy changes, disclaimers and fees printed so small you can tell they don't want you looking at it. Granted I would probably notice thousands too much, but with all the random fees and fines, how would I know when a $200 bump isn't legitimate?

• Verizon: error leads to thousands of dollars in overcharges - Jul. 19, 2006

Hot Water Plus What Equals Cold Beer?

Ok, so I'm not sure I actually get this. Maybe its completely untrue, but this company says that they're making solar powered air conditioners. They can cool to 40 degrees with water at only 130 degrees. Normally you'd need higher temperatures to vaporize the water into steam to drive turbines, so this "cooler" hot water system is ideal for unfocused solar collection units. Watch the flash explanation for details on why that's notable and efficient. Its also a good review of how the majority of the electricity we use is harvested.

• Rankine_And_Sterling_Cycle_Animation

Adopt A Tree, Eat Its Children.

I was this close to adopting an olive tree as a gift, but then I realized that we don't live in the EU. Dammit. Its still a fun idea though, adopting trees: ridiculous! For a scant 65 pounds you get a year's produce from your organically grown tree including olive oil and olive soaps. You can also go visit your little tree on a sunny hillside in Italy whenever you want. You can even pick which grove you want to adopt from. But there's only 188 trees left, so all you European readers better hop to it.

• Nudo – What is Nudo?

I Know It CAN Be Done.

My roommate just bought a terribly expensive macbook and no longer uses his laptop. Somewhere along the lines of our theorizing the old wifi picture frame idea arose, as a solution for what to do with this expendable hardware. I think it would be a cool project, but somehow I just don't see it getting done. I'm usually impressed at the motivation at the outset of these projects, but somehow this feels a lot like the sailcar or the motorized DVD shelf. I always think of this Seinfeld scene:

JERRY: When do you intend to do this?
KRAMER: Ohh.. should be done by the end of the month.
JERRY: You're doing this yourself?
KRAMER: It's a simple job. Why, you don't think I can?
JERRY: Oh, no. It's not that I don't think you can. I know that you can't, and I'm positive that you won't.
KRAMER: Well, I got the tools. I got the pillows. All I need is the lumber.
JERRY: I don't see it happening.
KRAMER: Well, this time, this time you're wrong. C'mon. I'll even bet you.
JERRY: Seriously?
KRAMER: A big dinner with dessert. But I've got till the end of the month.
JERRY: I'll give you a year.
KRAMER: No, no, no. End of the month.
JERRY: It's a bet. (They both "pinkie swear" to lock the deal)

• Repair4Laptop: How to Make a Digital Picture Frame from an Old Laptop or Notebook

Like Peas In A Pod

So I started reading this story about how Amazon wants to start shipping food. I though about priceline and how that was an odd service. Then I remembered Peapod by Giant. So I've placed my first order to be delivered tomorrow, we'll see how it goes. The site is actually very well put together. They remember your previous orders, so its easier to find items you like. But they also hook into the bonus card system so they know all the stuff you've bought in store as well. I like the shopping list feature too. Its basically a text field that you type your grocery list into. When you're done you click start shopping and it goes through and uses your list as consecutive search terms on the site. I like it a lot because somehow its easier to think of all the things I want at once, rather than finding them one at a time. Anyway, we'll see if this is worth the added cost or not. I could see it being slightly addicitive. oh, and check out this code for $10 off your first order over $75: CJA2. It always pay to spend 30 seconds googling for coupon codes.

• STLtoday - News - Nation

But I Do Like Making Money.

Just not from this. You might have read a little while ago about the weblogwire challenge: to start a profitable web company in one week with $500. All you need is a good idea. And here it is: The Weblogwire is a service that distributes press releases to bloggers. Companies pay from 50-100 dollars to distribute breaking news and bloggers flock to the site for free cutting edge and most importantly reliable information. Interesting concept, so I signed up, what's the harm? Mostly its been a few advertisements (that what press releases are anyway) not terribly exciting. I did get a release from a company starting a service called blogkits. Its supposed to be a revolutionary new way of connecting bloggers with appropriate advertisers, but different than adsense. I'm not really too clear on the details at this point but it could be interesting if they're not just full of newspeak and jargon.


BlogKits Performance Marketing Network
theWeblogWire Blog » Blog Archive » The Challenge: One Week, 500 Dollars, An Awesome Product

Lets All Go To The Lobby.

How many movies do we need to make about how effed up the world is an how the US government is responsible? I spose at least three.

• An Inconvenient Truth - Google Video
• Who Killed the Electric Car? trailer - Google Video
• The Road to Guantanamo Film Trailer - Google Video

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The world is destroying itself, consumers are being screwed while the rich get richer and the real expense is the liberty of the entire race. Not exciting. Now here's something I can get behind:

• Casino Royale Trailer

Only 125 days left to watch 20* bond movies.

*21 if you count 'Never Say Never Again'

Alternative Advertising.

I've been thinking a bit about advertising since my rant about TV execs a couple days ago. My general feeling is that advertising doesn't effect me much, but that can't be completely true. God knows what kind of subconscious brand loyalty schemes are running wild in my noggin, but I do know that I actually enjoy some types of 'limimal ads. They usually involve humor in a traditional medium or creativity and innovation in an unexpected location.

Check out these ads creating anti-meth awareness. Some of them are pretty startling and effective. Like that burnt spoon left on the street.

• You are infected by meth - new campaign from The Buntin Group

Or the firm that got permission for local graffiti artists to tag buildings in key locations with AT&T information.

• Graffiti Taglines - Forbes.com

And who doesn't like those "messin with sasquatch" jerky ads.

• Jack Links Beef Jerky

Low Sodium Blues.

So I've been cutting down on my sodium lately, which is very weird for me. A low sodium diet is 2 grams a day and a reduced is 4 grams. I figure if I shoot for 2 grams a day I might actually hit 4. I'm not a food driven person, so my diet generally consists of whatever I happen to consume in a given day. Needless to say, planning, reading nutritional information and counting milligrams is kinda cramping my style. But I'm giving it a go, so I checked out the back of the Stouffer's insta-lasagna type meal that showed up for lunch today. 1040 mg of sodium?!? Holy Crap! That's definitely not worth 3 ounces of meat, cheese and pasta. I guess its pretty clear what needs to get dropped; screw this not buttering my toast crap.

Reduced Sodium Diet

Can I Get My Movies On A Disc The Size Of A Trashcan Lid?

The New York Times is old skool. They prefer laser disc over DVD, but that's probably because they called them digital video discs back then. I remember laser discs, they had a player in the college multi-media lab I worked for back in ought one. That was five years after this article was written but I can't ever remember thinking that laser discs were a good idea. Those things were huge. And not in the good way. Check out these "recent releases" and prices from 1996:

Aliens - $59.95
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain - $39.95
Goldeneye - $44.95
Les Miserables - $39.95
Nell - $39.95
Toy Story - $29.95
12 Monkeys - $39.95
Twister - $34.95

While Digital Video Dithers, Laser Disk Just Gets Better - New York Times

Did You See That?

I've been meaning to find something about this for a while now. There are static posters on the walls of the metro tunnels that give the appearance of motion as the train rolls past. New idea, in a lacking medium. Those walls were pretty boring before. So the advertiser gets their message across, Metro gets a few duckets and the consumer gets a little entertainment. See? New ways of making advertising interesting.

I just saw a new one for Target last night and it was long, at least it seemed longer than the car ads I'd seen before. I wouldn't go as far as to say its 3d, but there's an odd quality about it. Maybe its the flickering between frames that held my attention and left me a little confused after it was over. (but that's true of Target ads on TV too) I have to say I'm a little worried about when the novelty of these things wears off. If every inch of tunnel wall is covered that constant stream would give me such a headache. Not to mention the poor epileptic commuters...

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Sub-Media

Update
In case you're not up for looking through the Sub-Media Site:

The Submedia audience isn't just captured. It's locked in place. Voluntarily. And as anyone who's ever been on a subway car will testify, one of the greatest challenges is knowing what to do with your eyes. Most people look out the window. At nothing.

That's where we do our stuff. Suddenly the blackness is broken by an illuminated, animated 20-second show. Your show. Your message. Alone in the space. It catches the eye. Then takes it for a ride.

Our reach is superb. A single Submedia installation in a major metropolitan area can yield two to three million cumulative first-hand impressions per month. (And millions more in second-hand publicity value.)

The audience is definitely downtown. Urban. Youthful. Professional. Trend setters. Commuters. Working people in major markets. And it's refreshed every few minutes during rush hour.

The frequency: daily. On the way to work or the way home. A Submedia show becomes part of the day. And if the entertainment value of your message is high, it becomes an anticipated event. People look for it. What other medium can make such a claim?

Damn. I wish I thought of this.

Orbiting Moonbounce.

The words hairbrained, crackpot and delusional came to mind when I read about a model inflatable spacestation set to be shot into orbit by a former Russian ICBM. Then I read that it'll cost $5- $10 million just for that flight, and Bigelow thinks that's cheap. My adjectives changed to eccentric, cavilier and pioneering. He's all set to drop half a billion dollars by 2015 on getting an inflatable hotel into orbit; and has placed another 50 million aside for whoever can invent a space taxi to it. I know, sounds like lunacy. But lets face it, all the great innovators were a little off. Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Thomas Edison. So who am I to call anyone crazy? Apparently crazy people are often responsible for revolutionizing technology.

New Scientist SPACE - Breaking News - Model of inflatable space hotel set to launch

Bigelow Aerospace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Over Our Heads.

I tend to think we've got this ocean travel thing pretty well figured out with our ships and radios and GPS and helicopters. Apparently the rogue wave phenomenon that scientists dismissed as exaggerations of the sea hold more weight than they thought.

"The storm was nothing special. Its waves rocked the Norwegian Dawn just enough so that bartenders on the cruise ship turned to the usual palliative — free drinks. Then, off the coast of Georgia, early on Saturday, April 16, 2005, a giant, seven-story wave appeared out of nowhere. It crashed into the bow, sent deck chairs flying, smashed windows, raced as high as the 10th deck, flooded 62 cabins, injured 4 passengers and sowed widespread fear and panic."

Whew that's enough to sour a good cruise. The terms "monster" "rogue" and "titans" are easily applied to waves that have been observed as tall as 80 feet, and are theoretically as high as 198 feet. Its kind of odd how they talk about waves as living entities, and even odder how reasonable that seems. Somehow I find it very easy to imagine a few of these giants prowling the oceans looking for something to crash into. I'm no ocean sailor but a wave even half the height of the statue of liberty would leave me with no faculties at all. And probably a mess in my pants. I hate to think what would happen to a Volvo 70 if it ever met an 80 ft wave at 30 knots. So rogue waves are real, more common than they thought, and generated in several "hot spots"... I can't wait to get back on a cruise ship. All you need to know: if your cruise hits a storm, drinks are free.

Rogue Giants at Sea - New York Times

New Digg Effect.

So I like digg, even if it is becoming more mainstream. Its a good way to find out about tech oddities. But I'm always a little put-out when there's an article I'd already found and read somewhere else. And its even worse when I'd already blogged about it. Its like I resent the people picking at scraps of news that, to me, isn't new any more. Is this the most hypocritical I could be? No, I bet I could beat that. Anyway, there are now little digg buttons in the comments tab. I'm not so much expecting you to digg things here, I'm the first to admit that my original content is sparse, but maybe I'll be less resentful of a system that I'm more a part of. You'll know this didn't work when the buttons disappear in two weeks.

digg / Technology

In A Land Where Booze Flows Like Diamond Earrings

Nothing says party like keeping meticulous track of every drop of alcohol. Chain restaurants in Florida are testing a system that employs RFID hardware on bottles to track usage. The bottles estimate flow using angle and duration indicators and even adjust themselves over time to adapt to specific bartenders and bottle shapes. Every device pings in on the hour so the establishment knows exactly where the bottles are and how much of their booze is used. It uses the drink order software to match up the drinks being prepared to see if they're being poured light or heavy and if they're using the regimented ingredients. Now from a gadget freak's perspective this is damn cool; but I'm having a hard time quieting the drunkard inside me. That's the part that likes free drinks and wild times, and he's feeling suffocated at the prospect to come.

Bartending, RFID Style

You Though Bottled Water Was Expensive.

Here it is folks, the new terribly expensive and unnecessary trend for yuppie sheep. Paying up to 5 bucks for a bottle of water not exclusive enough for you any more? How about laying out 15 for an ice cube; and that's if you make them at home.

Alright, fine, this won't catch on. Its more of a party trick than a trend anyway. As is not the case with bottled water, the extra cost actually gets you something extra. These ice cubes sink. They're made from heavy water that contains a rare hydrogen atom with a neutron. Get a whole glass of the stuff and its about 10% heavier than normal water, but it ain't cheap. Heavy water is technically safe (for mice) to drink, but its not recommended in any large quantities. I'd say cool to read about, but an awful lot of trouble to go though just to fool a friend. I'm sticking with the floating diet coke trick.

Ice Capades - Popular Science

The Bleeding Edge Of Recreational Accidents.

I've never been a huge motorcycle fan, and I'm even less of a snowmobile proponent. With that in mind this still looks badass. Its called the Hyanide and its a blend of a motorcycle, tank, and a snake. The flexible treads bend to accommodate both front and rear steering. The plans estimate this thing at 650 pounds topping out at 85 mph. In the snow. That's a good idea. Its only a 1/5 scale model right now, but someone's got the requisite eccentricity and benjamins to toss at it, right? How long before the first Hyanide related casualty? I'm guessing 2 years.

Your Very Own Personal Tank - Popular Science

Mobile Park.

I can't imagine its easy to steer this thing, but I'm pretty sure maneuverability isn't the point. The point is that college students need attention and enjoy making a scene. Or something about not walking on grass, I dunno. Seems like it would be kinda fun except for all the stuff people undoubtedly throw when you roll past.

The Daily News: Walk in the park? Take park with you

How To Weaken Your Gene Pool.

I know it sounds callous, but come on, at some point we've got to start thinking about who we let have kids. I mean just look at those royals... Scientists have taken stem cells and created sperm from them that went on to fertilize and form valid embryos. You know what that means, sterile reproduction. Sweet, so now even the most prohibitive genetic detriment can be passed on.

New Scientist Breaking News - Stem cells turned into sperm

Ummm, Yeah, I Ordered A Ferrari...

This is a bike. I like that metaphor for the US data transmission services. DSL is unacceptable. This page has a nice quick summary of why we should all be outraged and why the Telcos shouldn't get anything from us. Here're the walking points:

• Starting in the early 1990's, the Clinton-Gore Administration had aggressive plans to create the "National Infrastructure Initiative" to rewire ALL of America with fiber optic wiring, replacing the 100 year old copper wire.
• By 2006, 86 million households should have already been wired with a fiber (and coax), wire, capable of at least 45 Mbps in both directions, and could handle 500+ channels.
• In exchange for building these networks, the Bell companies ALL received changes in state laws that gave them excessive profits, tax savings, and other perks to be used in building these networks.
• $206 billion dollars in excess profits and tax deductions were collected - over $2000 per household.
• Instead of spending the money on these networks, the Bell companies used the money to enter long distance, rollout wireless and the inferior DSL services.
• Revenues are up 128%.
• Employees are down 65%, Construction is down 60%.
• $92.5 billion is missing in network upgrades.

When do we say enough is enough? I don't see any healthy competition driving this industry, and they're not providing what they promised and we paid for. When is it time to bust some balls? In fact I want the government to seize all their property and create a national municipal Internet service. Oh you're a billionaire are you? Not any more bitch, you want a job servicing our rural fiber optic lines?

The Unauthorized Biography of

Late-Night Hood-Top Cock Fight.

Alright, I'm pretty sure there wasn't an actual cock fight on my car last night. I say that because, despite never having actually witnessed one, I would imagine there would be quite a lot of blood left over from a fight. Still, something bird related happened out there last night. I can only assume from the sheer volume of feathers and shit that several of those winged rats had the equivalent of a bird kegger right on my hood and windshield. The best part is how the now dried shit holds the feathers on the car even at highway speeds. Its like I got tarred and feathered by the goodfeathers or something. I like birds and everything, that flying trick is cool, but those are filthy animals.

DVDTV... The Best Kind Of TV.

Big news everyone... The office season two is scheduled for release on September 12th. You can pre-order now from amazon (and probably other sources) I'm not really all that pumped up because I've been watching Tivoed season 2 episodes during the entertainment drought that ensued since Casino Night. In other news, I hate Amazon's searching and recomendations now. I don't know what they've done but it sucks and I wasn't recommended Arrested Development season 3 until I added the office to my wishlist. So yeah, Arrested Development season 3 comes out August 29th. Oh baby, I can't even wait. Keep in mind that I don't advise pre-ordering from Amazon, you'll get a better deal sooner if you go to a brick'n mortar the day its released. I just use Amazon to keep track of the movies that I wanted to buy, and considering this latest omission, I'll be doing that a lot less of that.

Northern Attack

Update
AD season 3 is 2 discs? Oh right only 13 episodes. And my burning hatred of Fox is rekindled.

Brilliant!

I don't think I've ever seen Jeremy Clarkson this happy with a car; if you can call it that. I've always liked lighter cars, but this is extreme. Its more like a 500 pound kg gocart than a car. Strap on an supercharged engine from a Civic type R and you'll have to watch the video to see what happens.

YouTube - Ariel Atom

Dam it.

The Campos Novos dam in Brazil is only a few months old. Lets hope its still under warranty cause right now its not looking so hot. There were small leaks to patch, but then a tunnel collapsed creating some nice holes. At its worst it was leaking the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool every second. That seems like a lot of water. You guys didn't hire Sideshow Bob to manage construction of this thing did you?

New Scientist Tech - News - Enormous new dam fails in Brazil

Never, Ever, Tell Me What I Want.

Overheard at an ABC network executive meeting: "I think we really need to find a way to piss off a niche crowd and make them never watch our network again." No? That's not what happened? Well then why the hell are you letting Mike Shaw run around with his yap open? He's a proponent for the network that is trying to convince DVR manufacturers that they should disable the fast forward function in their devices.

He suggested that consumers prefer DVRs for their ability to facilitate on-demand viewing and not ad-zapping--and consumers might warm to the idea that anytime viewing brings with it a tradeoff in the form of unavoidable commercial viewing. "I'm not so sure that the whole issue really is one of commercial avoidance," Shaw said. "It really is a matter of convenience--so you don't miss your favorite show..."
"I'm not sure that the driving reason to get a DVR in the first place is just to skip commercials. I don't fundamentally believe that. People can understand in order to have convenience and on-demand (options), that you can't skip commercials."

Asshole. That's like saying that you can have peanut butter, but there's no reasonable expectation that you should be able to have jelly too, just because you already have it in your fridge. Yes, I got my Tivo so that I wouldn't have to watch commercials. Mr Shaw you are attacking this problem in the exact wrong way. "And quite frankly, we're just training a new generation of viewers to skip commercials because they can." Yes, and you're just used to subjecting viewers to inane crap because you can. You need to stop thinking about how to force people into watching commercials and how to make them WANT to watch them. Product placement is a good one. I'm willing to watch commercials that intrigue and actually entertain me instead of bludgeoning me with repetition about cheap salad or anytime minutes. How about hiring the actors from the show I'm watching to do the commercial. I loved the commercial Jeffrey Tambor did during the series finale of Arrested Development. If you make your commercials look like the show I'm watching I won't know not to stop fast forwarding. Actually, never mind, that's diabolical. Don't do that. Just mark my words - if you take away my power to skip ads I will be PISSED OFF.

MediaPost Publications - ABC Looks Beyond Upfront To DVR, Commercial Ratings Issues - 07/06/2006

You Want What?

I love this country. I swear, we've become such a bunch of pansy whiners ever since some idiot poured a cup of coffee in her lap. Take for example a doctor who lost his daughter 12 years ago when his son rushed through a train crossing and didn't make it. Very sad, not a joking matter. But now listen to this. He's asking Pixar to remove a scene from the movie Cars for the DVD release. He thinks that a cartoon racecar narrowly speeding across a railroad grade undoes years of work for railroad safety. Hmmm... Chief, don't you think maybe you're just a little more sensitive about this than the rest of us? Its ok though, I've got a solution and we don't need to delete anything. They'll just make an alternate ending where "Lightning McQueen" doesn't just barely make it. He gets hit by the train at full speed and tiny pieces of car go flying everywhere. Add in a very sad funeral where they bury what pieces they can find and bam, end of movie. Granted that'd make the movie like 30 mins long, but hey, that's the message we're trying to convey, right? While we're at it we should add in scenes without the redneck truck. Or the italian named Guido. Re-write that romance scene where they go racing through windy roads, that's not safe. The tractor tipping scene should go too; make it a friendly came of checkers. Actually now that I think of it, they should just release two versions, one with the movie, and the other a very nice picture of a car for all those parents who need to shelter their kids from the harshness of animated fun.

Railroad safety advocate says `Cars' is reckless | Chicago Tribune

China Blows Magnets.

Oh baby. Alternative enegry here we come. China's rolling out a new maglev wind turbine that is 20% more efficient and costs half as much. I spose the lack of friction is the cause of the turbine's low minimum wind speed of 1.5 m/s making wind energy a viable alternative to many more places on earth.

Windtech International - China makes huge breakthrough in wind power technology

Or if you're willing to lay out soon you can get a Wind machine strapped to your house that will power all your stuff and send the excess into the grid, which you can use or be paid for later.

Residential windmill saves money, the environment - Engadget

Personally, I'd rather see these windmill bouquets popping up on the horizon than on everyone's house. But there's the concept of being self sufficient, and the responsibility that comes with it might just make people a little more judicious with their power.

HalfPastGeek-Turbine Bouquet

North Korean Splash.

This is pretty cool that we have systems that detect missile launches. I bet its not as automated and fool-proof as I'm imagining, but still.

Within seconds of North Korean rocket engines igniting on their launch pads, infrared cameras aboard Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites detected the heat and transmitted an alert back to U.S. command centers in Colorado Springs, where the trajectory was calculated and the type of missile determined.

Defense Tech

How To Make A Skynet

While we're talking about more advanced robots, lets start thinking about their brains. This article details scientists observing people's brains as they gamble and figure out problems, using the data as a training set for a machine learning program.

See, the way machine learning (in its current state) works is that you devise a system and then feed it sample data. It will make guesses depending on what it thinks the answer should be and you tell it right or wrong. So the larger and more accurate your training set, the better the machine will be at predicting the right answer on real data, where you don't know the answer.
Ok, so these guys have an interesting idea; let computers watch our brains as we solve problems and they might learn something and even get better at it than we are. Its pretty cool stuff, but then I got to thinking about Terminator, Resident Evil, iRobot and all those movies with an AI that gets out of hand and decides to kill off people.

The cool thing about neural networks is that they just work. We have no idea how the insides work, you just set up a system of blank 'neurons' and expose it to inputs and outputs. It calibrates itself based on the training data, almost like magic. The uncool thing about neural networks is that we have no idea how they work. If you want to change something about the system, you need to retrain it, you can't just open up the hood and tinker around in there.
So the trouble when trying to make an intelligent system is where in the world to get massive amounts of high quality data that have answers. The answer is inside everyone's brain, the trouble is I'm not sure I want computers to see how we think, and even moreso to emulate us. There's no way to implement a 3 laws type protection system in that environment, because no such system exists in our minds.

So I imagine you can see where I'm going with this; its not as science fiction as you think. Hopefully we're a few years away from handing over control of our arsenal to a paranoid calculator though.

Scientists to automate thought - Computing

Japan: The New England?

This article presents an interesting theory about the next divide that will sling a nation into a dominant position in the mid 2000's. He uses the model of the English becoming a developed nation through an industrial revolution and their subsequent domination of larger more established dynasties that have grown complacent with success. The next paradigm may very well be a decrease in population, which is slowly spreading. Japan has already undergone this change and is learning to deal with it through technological developments. Mainly robots. With a reduced work force robots will need to replace humans in more and more roles, which will drive their development much more rapidly than want alone. Interesting concepts, even if they're crap. Who's to say that the next world shaping event won't be a disease or nuclear discharge? And even if there is some motivating event, will countries really keep new technologies to themselves in order to bolster national status? I feel more and more that international corporations are responsible for important research and development, which tend to cross borders, communicate and collaborate in ways they could not be conceived at the last industrial revolution.

Robotics vs. Helotics - New English Review

"There is no second, your Majesty."

Whew, I'm having a hard time getting my head around the new Louis Vuitton Cup point scheme. Basically it comes down to 12 acts of increasing importance before the real LVC in 2007 and you've got some point based incentive for winning in the races. Hopefully I'll get a better explanation soon. What it really comes down to is that I want an Alinghi shirt, but its gonna be double-ass expensive to get one. (Maybe they'll actually deliver it in the boat) This is perhaps as close as I've come to choosing a team I want to win a sporting event as I've ever come. Which is kinda sad cause I'm not sure they will.

Also check this out:

After the 1881 Cup match, the New York Yacht Club officially returned the Cup to George L. Schuyler, the sole surviving member of the syndicate that owned "America" to rewrite the deed to discourage inland-based, Canadian yacht clubs from challenging the Cup. The New York Yacht Club was disappointed with the lack of competition and the poor build of the yachts of the Canadian challenges of 1876 and 1881.

Haha, its like changing the rules to the game in your backyard so that creepy kid from across the street can't play.

32nd America's Cup Official Website
America's Cup - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alinghi - Racing All The Way To 2007

Who Are These Guys?

I've been doing my best to keep up with the world sports goings-on lately.  Its just so hard because I never know when anything is on; I think we should call it tivo syndrome.  Anyway this is a pretty cool map for tracking the tour, if you happen to give a crap about men on bikes in France.

Tour de France LIVE Tracker - Google Maps