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Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Closed Coke Cans Not Allowed At Air Force Base Due To GPS Threat

Wow, I think they should just get the new robot to target Coke cans with pepper spray. J 

You may recall the story about Coca-Cola's bizarre summer promotion where they're sticking soda can sized (and weighted) GPS-enabled phones into Coke cans. The idea is that the winners of the promotion opens the can and discovers the phone. They press the big red button and are immediately connected to prize central, who will use the phone to determine the caller's location and send out the prize brigade who will show up with your winning car or stereo or whatever. There's just one problem. Sneaking a device that transmits your location into a secure military base is a big no-no. So, security folks at a variety of Air Force bases have now been instructed to open up all entering Coca-Cola cans heading into conference rooms in secure areas. Coca-Cola execs point out that this is a bit silly. The so-called sodaphones don't transmit or receive a damn thing until someone pushes the red button. However, Air Force officials just want to be safe, and they promise that winning cans will be returned to their owners after they've left secure areas. Well, cross off the possibility of the US military opening fire on the Coca-Cola prize patrol.


[Techdirt]

ImagiNail NailJet Pro

My teenager is going to want one of these… sheesh! 

nailpoinater.jpg imageThe ImagiNail NailJet Pro is an inkjet printer that can print images directly onto all ten of your fingernails in less than seven minutes. You can choose from a number of preloaded images and photos, or bring in your own from home. The possibilities for tackiness are endless.
Read - Product Page [ImagiNail via BoingBoing]


[Gizmodo]

Tiny Hard Drive Manufacturers Turn Up The Heat

This looks cool.  I would LOVE to have 100Gig on my smartphone… 

toshibahdd01.jpg imageAccording to The Inquirer, Japanese companies are rapidly increasing production of their small hard drives as, unsurprisingly, the demand for tiny storage that will fit in portable electronics increases rapidly. Toshiba is planning on ramping up production of its tiny 0.85-inch hard drives to a rate of almost 200,000 a month, while Hitachi will increase its 1-inch drive production to two million units per quarter. Global hard drive markers shipped 260 million units in fiscal 2003, 80 percent of which went into servers and PCs. The remaining percentage, which goes into home electronics, are expected to grow by 50% each year -- I'm betting it will be even greater than that once the manufacturers can get enough tiny units into the channels. Two years from now there won't be a single smartphone announced without a hard drive.
Read - Toshiba to ship 200,000 a month 0.85-inch hard drives [TheInquirer]


[Gizmodo]

Homegrown PVC flamethrower

Hehe… Fire!  Fire!!!  J 

longjetstreet.jpg image

God bless the Something Awful Forum Goons. If it weren't for them, we'd have to get our homemade flamethrower (and BTB) fix from the morgue like everyone else.
Read - Homegrown PVC flamethrower (56k image heavy) [SomethingAwful]


[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Air Force PreggoRobo Guard Bots

Oh what I could do with one of these. J  And it has a minibot too! Hold the phone!! This sucker is right near Pensacola!!! TechnoD, go see if you can get some pictures of one of these things eh? Just move slow and don't make any sudden movements. :) 

040628_robotProtection.jpg image

Bless the maker, I think this Air Force patrol robot is giving birth to a smaller, tracked robot. Oh, it is! That's it, I don't care if this guard bot can shoot missiles or distinguish between hostile or friendly targets; hell, it could kill us all on a lark for all I care. Military robots giving birth to smaller robots? Let's order dozens immediately.
Read - Air Force testing robots as security guards [MSNBC]

Related
Inside Sarcos Exoskeleton Lab [Gizmodo]
Pekee Mobile Robot Platform [Gizmodo]
SpyBot Wall Climbing Camera Bot [Gizmodo]


[Gizmodo]

Hippocampodrome

I send you this link just because I like the term Hippocampodrome.  It is my word of the day.  And, if I remember that I first saw it with a white background, I am actually exercising!  Yippee!

<snip> 

I want a way to exercise the hippocampus.  So far, I have been doing Google searches for phrases like 'hippocampus activation' in order to discover research.  Particularly, I have been looking for research that shows increased neuronal activity or blood flow to hippocampus using fMRI or PET.  My theory is that, if you practice the things which increase activity in the hippocampus, you will develop your hippocampus.  I have good basis for this theory, I believe.  Here is what I have found so far.

</snip>


[Better Living Through Software]

Motorola Officially Announces MPx220: Leaked Press Releases Do Come True

Ooooh baby!  I want one of these BAD! 

mpx_220_finally.jpg imageSo I guess I should probably mention that Motorola finally officially announced the MPx220, right? I mean, there might be something that we didn't already know about it, even though we already knew it was going to be a quad-band, Bluetooth-enabled, 1.3-megapixel camera-having, Windows Mobile 2003-running clamshell. How about the fact that the MPx220 has 44 tiny divots on its front cover? Needed a high resolution image for that, didn't you?

I'm not trying to be cynical, though; it looks really nice. Nice enough, in fact, to perhaps pick up while we wait for the MPx300 to arrive.
Read - Motorola Releases the MPx220 Mobile Smart Phone [MobileMag]

Related
Motorola MPx220 Press Release Leaked [Gizmodo]
Motorola MPx220 Amateur Porn [Gizmodo]


[Gizmodo]

Aparently it wasn't the hard drive

THE server went down again. Aparently it wasn't the hard drive that caused our last server outage. Acording to the folks that support our server, AMD servers have issues so we are on Intel now. :)


We shall see. I hope we last longer this time. :S

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

HP iPaq rx3000 Series Details Leaked

 Wow, this looks neat.  I want 2 please J

HP_iPAQ_rx3000_Front_S.jpg imageSqueezing blood out of the FCC turnip, Brighthand has eked out some information about of the upcoming iPaq rx3000 Series Pocket PCs. All will use the Samsung 2440 processor, QVGA screens, come with bundled Bluetooth 1.1 and WiFi (802.11b) networking, a 1.3-megapixel camera, with the main differences being processor speed, built in memory (from 56MB to 152MB user-accessible). Between Dell and HP, the Pocket PC world is just rocking the PDA space -- if PDAs are dying, it won't be because Pocket PC died quietly, unlike another PDA platform we won't mention.
Read [Brighthand]


[Gizmodo]

US Navy to Deploy Rail Guns by 2011

Holy Cow Batman!  Check this out! 


[Slashdot]

Monday, June 21, 2004

Pain pain

Well, it seems I wasn’t backing everything up as I needed to.

 

I had to rebuild quite a few things.  If you have been trying to get here and got an error I apologize.  MT is “kinda” working.  I can post but the MT admin pages are all somewhat plain-texty.  Grumble grumble.  I think I may go back to MT 2.66 anyway as I hate the comment spam.

Friday, June 18, 2004

New Hard Drive

Wow!  We got a hard drive upgrade so that we have twice the capacity that we had before.  Now Intrasection has 120Gig!!! J

 

Why you ask?

 

Well, I am glad you asked. J  My bud John “Noggin” Butler runs a webhosting site at http://www.connection.net and we needed more space.

 

It has taken the better part of a day to upload the offsite backups that we were taking but we are back online.  Lesson learned?  Put the backups somewhere that has greater than 256kbps upstream!  It took all day to ftp the backups to the new server!

 

Jeesh! 

Sunday, June 13, 2004

RIAA Moves In on Digital Radio

Being a recent convert to XM Radio I find this even more repulsive than normal.  Sometimes I just wish we could line up the RIAA in the back ally with blindfolds on their heads.

 

Some people just won’t ever get it…<15 min. of ranting and raving deleted for those who *DO* get it>

<snip>  

Fearing that digital broadcasts could turn the airwaves into a giant file-sharing network, the music trade group seeks to restrict the redistribution of songs over the Internet.


[Wired News: Top Stories]

Wednesday, June 9, 2004

New feature in WMP10

I just learned about a new feature in Windows Media Player 10 (it's still in Technical Beta but hey, you know me).

I was happily listening to "Meddle" by Pink Floyd when a co-worker sent me an email with the Real Men of Genius video clip (it was the Silent Killer Gas Passer one). I noticed while it was playing that there was a note on the right that said I could resume my previous playlist by clicking "previous" when I was done watching the current clip...

Sure enough. When I was done watching the Nija of the Nasty do his work I was able to hit previous and not only did my playlist come back, but it resumed the song right where I left off!!! Way to go MS.

BTW: If you haven't seen the clip and want it, just let me know. :)

Remote Control Jammer

Hehe, this sounds like it could be fun to have. J 

remote_jammer.jpg imageIt's dirty, tactically, but if you live in a household where control of the remote has escalated into a full-blown peacekeeping operation, this Remote Control Jammer from GirlsStuff UK is cheap enough (at around $8) to buy multiple units to sprinkle like land mines around the smoking battlefield of your living room or den. (Also useful: actual land mines.) It works on regular IR frequencies used by most common remotes, although they don't make any promises it will work in the US. (Thanks, Graeme!)
Read [GirlsStuff]


[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, June 8, 2004

HP6310 Pre-Production Unit

 What can I say….  Wow.

h6310_hha.jpg imageSlashPhone has a short review from a user that got to play with a pre-production version of the HP iPaq H6310, the upcoming super-connected Windows Mobile Phone Edition 2003 PDA with quad-band GSM/GPRS, WiFi, and Bluetooth. It's even going to support EDGE networks, or so they say. Even better, the H6310 will come with a snap-on thumbboard as HP positions the $500 device to compete with RIM Blackberries, as well. Definitely one to watch.
Read [SlashPhone]


[Gizmodo]

My favorite Venus Transit Picture

I found this AP picture posted at Sheila Lennon's site. Check it out, but this was my favorite!

Sunpower Solar Powered Cellphone Batteries

This looks cool, but I don’t think I spend enough time outside for this to make any difference. 

sunpower_cell.jpg imageGawker Media Web Dork Prime Nick Aster sends us this link to Sunpower's solar assisted cell-phone batteries available for a variety of Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and Nextel-branded phones. You won't be making phone calls with our star's light alone, but on a sunny day the Sunpower batteries can manage to add about 15 minutes of talk time to your battery for every hour they spend charging. Depending on how actively you use your phone (and what part of Arizona you live in), your phone might not have to hit the charger at all. Prices run from about $40 to $60 per battery via their website.
Read [SNPower]

Related
Powerpod [Gizmodo]
ScotteVest's solar powered gadget recharging jacket [Gizmodo]


[Gizmodo]

Gmail blues

Seems I can not log into my Gmail today.  I was able to change the password but for some reason I can not get in.  Oh well, it is a beta after all. J 

Infected Windows PCs Now Source Of 80% Of Spam

If this isn’t reason enough to make sure you have anti-spam/anti-spyware software on your machine then you should just turn it off. 


[Slashdot]

The Cows Says, Mooooove it by Wi-Fi

And we thought we were joking a while back (couldn’t find the post as it was pre-MT) when we talked about BRAWN

 

Bovine Roaming Area Wireless Network. J

 

Maybe they saw our post and decided to make it happen. 

GPS, Wi-Fi, shock collars combine to make a movable virtual cow fence: It's a little strange, but cow-herding-by-wire (or by wireless) might become a way to manage long herds. A collar with an embedded GPS and Wi-Fi and the ability to make sounds or produce shocks could allow a farmer to wrassle cattle virtually, avoiding more expensive management techniques. The Wi-Fi is used to convey GPS coordinates. Solar-powered Wi-Fi hubs could handle relying information back to a central control....


[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Monday, June 7, 2004

Human Poop to Power Mars Trips?

Eeew.  Only time will tell, but it sounds like a load of crap. (couldn’t resist). 

According to a study commissioned by NASA, a crew of six astronauts would generate six tons of solid waste during a two-year trip to Mars. In "Harnessing the Power of Poop," SPACE.com says that NASA scientists have identified a bacteria, the Geobacter, found in the Potomac river in 1987, which could transform this waste into electricity. The bacteria would live in a membrane microbial fuel cell. There, they would catch electrons from human waste and produce electricity for use aboard a spacecraft or on a Martian colony. When these fuel cells pass the development stage, they would potentially be used on Earth, in our own homes, by recycling our own organic waste.


[Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]

Puff Muff Lights?!?

I want one that is pink with green dots!!! J 

puffmuff.jpgimageMatsushita Electric Works (known as Panasonic to we Westerners) has developed a artificial fur-covered lamp, dubbed the 'PuffMuff.' Available in both a ceiling lamp model (around $380) and a table lamp (around $130), the PuffMuffs are designed to output a soft, diffused light (like when you tape a hamster to a flashlight, let's say). Currently the lamps come in two patterns: an attractive white fur (pictured) or a too-tacky (instead of 'just tacky enough') cow spots design. This would be perfect for my den, where I display my prized merkin collection.
Read [I4U]


[Gizmodo]

Tiny SmartPhone


Found this on Gizmodo.  Look at the size of that thing!!!  Super coolio! 

orange_sp-thumb.jpg imageAnd though we've mentioned it before, Orange has confirmed the launch of its new Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone, the SPV C500. It's a tiny bugger, with integrated Bluetooth and all the other goodness you'd expect from a Windows smartphone. No price yet, but expect this one to be a popular unit.
Read [Reuters via ShinyShiny]

Related
New Orange Smartphone: SPV C500 [Gizmodo]


[Gizmodo]

Friday, June 4, 2004

Exposing SCL (Spam Confidence Level) in Outlook

This looks cool for those of you running E2k3 and thinking about IMF.

If you're using Exchange 2003 and the IMF and are interested in knowing the rating it gives to messages, follow the instructions in the Exchange teams "You Had Me At EHLO…" blog to enable the SCL field. Are you looking for an easy explanation on how IMF works? Read Evan Dodds weblog

[Slipstick - Outlook and Exchange News]

R2 will have RDP over HTTP Proxy

Now this is just awesome!!  I love RPC over HTTP so I can't wait for RDP, SMP, and LMNOP! :)

According to Steve Bink, the R2 update to Windows Server 2003 will include a proxy for RDP which will allow VPN-less terminal server access in the same way that we can currently access Exchange servers using the RPC proxy.

At TechEd this week, Microsoft revealed several details of the “R2” update to Windows Server 2003, scheduled to be released sometime next year. R2 is the codename for a massive update to Windows Server 2003 that will include several new features, including branch server deployment, Windows SharePoint Services, and Active Directory Federation Services. R2 will be built on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, which will be released later this year.

One of the new Terminal Services features is the ability for a Windows Server to encapsulate and proxy RDP traffic over HTTPS connections. The RDP over HTTPS proxy is part of what Microsoft calls “Anywhere Access.” Not to be confused with Citrix’s “Access Infrastructure,” Microsoft’s Anywhere Access will allow users to securely access corporate resources over the public Internet without using VPN software.

This capability is already available today for users connecting to Microsoft Exchange 2003 Servers from Outlook 2003 clients. In this case, the Exchange/Outlook connection uses Windows Server 2003’s built-in RPC proxy. Essentially, standard RPC traffic is wrapped in HTTPS at the client. A Windows 2003 IIS server receives the HTTPS packets, pulls out the RPC data, and forwards the packets off to the Exchange server. This allows users to have “full” Outlook RPC-based connectivity using standard SSL-encrypted HTTPS traffic.

For the Anywhere Access component of R2, Microsoft is expanding the RPC proxy’s capabilities so that it can also support SMB file shares and RDP Terminal Server sessions. This will allow users to securely connect to a Terminal Server across the Internet and is a direct threat to Citrix’s MetaFrame Secure Gateway product.

Similar to Citrix, Microsoft is beginning to ramp up the “solution” messaging, focusing on how an Anywhere Access strategy can allow users to be productive while outside the office from any device (since VPN client software is not needed).

Read the full article here.


[Adam's Mindspace]

See With Your Tongue

Um, ok.  My first impression when I saw this was “I don’t want blind people licking me!” but I stopped and went to the link and read the article.

 

It is indeed neat that they are devising ways for people to see when they have lost or never had their site.  That said, I still left the site with a bad taste in my mouth… 

An international team of neuropsychologists has improved a device named "Tongue Display Unit" (TDU) pioneered at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The device consists of a grid of 144 gold-plated electrodes set in the mouth and able to activate the cerebral cortex, the area of brain normally used for vision, of blind people. In their experiments, blind people were able to "see letters with their tongue." This system has the potential to replace the Braille alphabet and to vastly improve the quality of life of blind persons.


[Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]

Microsoft ActiveSync 3.7.1 Released

An alert to all you PPC fans. J 

"Microsoft® ActiveSync® 3.7.1 is the latest synchronization software for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Smartphones. ActiveSync 3.7.1 contains fixes making synchronization more trouble free than ever before and includes all the significant improvements brought to you in ActiveSync 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7: it is easy to install and use while offering the best levels of reliability"


[MS Exchange Blog]

Thursday, June 3, 2004

Bob's Your Uncle and Fanny's Your Aunt

Ever since the movie “The Pirates of the Caribbean” I have been plagued with the desire to find out where this saying came from… I mean, I got the idea but where did it come from.  Found it today and figured I would share it. J

 

 And Bob's Your Uncle

Robert, Lord SalisburyArthur BalfourThis British catch phrase, meaning all will be well or all will be taken care of dates from the 1890s. Popular etymology says that it derives from a particular act of nepotism in the British government. Robert, Lord Salisbury, the prime minister (left), appointed Arthur Balfour, his nephew (right), to the post of Secretary for Ireland in 1887. Balfour was, at the time, considered young and a political lightweight, and the post was a high-profile, political plum currently embroiled in the question of Irish independence. Aside from the dates, there is no evidence, either way, to link this act with the origin of the phrase, although the phrase's specificity makes this hypothesis appealing.

Partridge says the phrase may stem from the cant phrase All is bob, meaning all is safe. Although, Paul Beale, editor of Partridge's A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, acknowledges the possibility of the Salisbury/Balfour story.

You are a True Southerner

I scored 67 out of 71 in a True Test of Southern-ness.  I didn’t know who rooted for who and where some folks were born.  But I did know what bourbon and crawfish were! J

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Eclipse TD Lulét Mini Speaker System

This would be a cool addition for you TechnoD!!!  Just hook that shiny volume nob thingie to it and hook it to the squeezebox!!  Wow! 

307_sub_img.jpg imageAlthough suggested to me as an iPod solution, there's absolutely nothing keeping you from using the Eclipse TD Lulét speaker systems for anything from home theater to gaming -- in fact, they're designed to be easily mountable anywhere, like most other small speakers. If you do want to use the Lulét system with an iPod or other portable player, though, the accompanying amplifier will make sure you've got enough wattage to push either the 2.1 (or the 5.1 system, although using that with a portable player might be a waste of 3 perfectly good channels). The 307 Lulét line isn't their only setup, either, if you're looking for something with a little more punch than mini-system gear. (Thanks, Tim!)
Read [Eclipse-TD]


[Gizmodo]

The Wireless Backpack Repeater

You should follow the link to take a look at the picture.  This looks cool.  I would put it in my car though and use it for wardriving. J 


[Slashdot]

Aqua FM Swim Snorkel Radio

Yeah, that is just what I want to do…  Put a battery operated device into my mouth while I go under water…  The bone conducting thing is cool though, so long as it is just sound and not voltage that gets conducted into my “dome”.. J 

snaquafm.jpg imageAlthough it won't do you much good once you get under enough water to soak up all the radio waves, the Aqua FM Swim Snorkel will let you surface surfers listen to FM radio while you float, making it easier to ignore God's beautiful undersea creation. Even better, the Aqua FM snorkel uses no earphones, and instead uses bone conduction to pass the audio signal through your teeth right into your dome. And if you want to test the range of FM underwater, feel free; the radio snorkel is waterproof to 33 feet.
Read [Aquanaut]

Update: I just called the manufacturer and yes, this will play Air Supply just fine. Why do you guys keep asking me that?


[Gizmodo]

BoomGear MP-820BT Bluetooth MP3 Player: Hands Free Calling Over Your Headphones

Oooooh.  Bluetooth lust! J 

boomgear_mp820bt.jpg imageBlueserker is reporting that Amazon is taking preorders for the BoomGear MP-820BT MP3 player for $180. The MP-820BT has integrated Bluetooth which can, when paired with your mobile phone, route incoming calls over your headphones and use the built-in microphone to talk about without ever pulling the phone out of your pocket. It only has 256MB of RAM built-in, but it does have an integrated FM tuner, so for the more mobile among us it could be a slick way to go hands-free.
Read [Would you like to making call? Blueserker]


[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

WMP10 Public Preview Due Today

I am sure this has been talked about before, but I couldn’t resist… Must….update….machine….now…. J 

Microsoft is preparing to release a public preview of Windows Media Player 10 beta today. The update (due at 12noon EST) will sport the much talked about new GUI and enhancements for portable media players. WMP10 is due to be released later this year and will be included with Windows Media Center 2005.


[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Merging of VoIP and Cell

All the hype recently about cell phones with wifi and pda devices that double as phones got me to thinking.

 

Why can’t a company like Vonnage for instance (there are others, but I use Vonnage.:)  break out into the wireless arena?  Or make some kind of agreement for their phones to work on the Cingular/Sprint/ATT who cares network and start having your Vonnage phone number work as a cell phone and a wifi phone when you are at home…

 

You know all the big guys are trying to catch up with all the VoIP folks…  So if Vonnage started offering cellular (rebranded or not) service for their customers wouldn’t they be jumping ahead yet again?  I don’t know about you, but I would sign up for it in a heart beat!

 

Just a thought I had… and now back to regular programming. J