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June 30, 2006

I thought I'd close out the work week with a terrific photo taken by SSgt Russell Lee Klika, a National Guard photographer stationed in Iraq. I'll post more of his work in the near future...

Pvt. Shane Irwin of Charlie  Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd  Cavalry  Regiment, 3rd  Brigade  Combat  Team,  101st

Airborne Division, walks through a garbage dump as he provides security for a U.S.-hired forensics archaeologist

team searching for Saddam-era mass grave sites.

(Photographer's note: The water color is due to years of contamination at the landfill.)

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June 30, 2006

Clock ticking down for shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL - The countdown to a launch of space shuttle Discovery moved smoothly Thursday with expected storm clouds remaining the only obstacle to only the second U.S.-operated spaceflight since the Columbia tragedy.

The countdown to a Saturday afternoon launch for a 12-day trip to the international space station was proceeding without any technical problems, said Pete Nicolenko, NASA test director. ...

World's thinnest smartphone?

Motorola has been working on the Q, a slick, sexy cellular smartphone, for a few years. The result is something Motorola — and its first cellular partner, Verizon — can be very proud of.

The Q, which runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0, is amazingly slim — thinner even than its Razr V3 phone — and weighs just a hair over 4 ounces. ...

Verizon Wireless to ease up on fees

Targeting a top gripe by cell phone users and breaking ranks again with its industry, Verizon Wireless plans to prorate the fee it charges subscribers who break a contract so they only pay an amount proportional to the time left on their agreements.

The change in the early termination fee will be implemented this fall for all new customers and any Verizon Wireless subscribers who sign a new contract, the company announced Wednesday in tandem with a speech by CEO Denny Strigl at an industry conference. ...

Tropical Stonehenge May Have Been Found

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A grouping of granite blocks along a grassy Amazon hilltop may be the vestiges of a centuries-old astronomical observatory a find archaeologists say indicates early rainforest inhabitants were more sophisticated than previously believed.

The 127 blocks, some as high as 9 feet tall, are spaced at regular intervals around the hill, like a crown 100 feet in diameter. On the shortest day of the year Dec. 21 the shadow of one of the blocks disappears when the sun is directly above it. "It is this block's alignment with the winter solstice that leads us to believe the site was once an astronomical observatory," said Mariana Petry Cabral, an archaeologist at the Amapa State Scientific and Technical Research Institute. "We may be also looking at the remnants of a sophisticated culture." ...

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June 29, 2006

NASA Confident...

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June 29, 2006

This is interesting... From Michael D

Enter a phone number with area code, then enter the text you want the robot to speak (Enter the number 0 as the license key), and that phone will immediately ring, speaking your message!

Try it! But be nice...

And here's one from Doug S...

Phone companies are charging us $1.00 or more for 411 / information calls, an exorbitant fee all things considered. Well, apparently there's an available free alternative.

The next time you need 411, simply dial 1-800-FREE-411 or 1-800-373-3411 without incurring a charge. Works on home phones and cell phones. Via the web, too... Give it a try! Too time consuming to dial "all those numbers?" Speed dial, man!

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June 29. 2006

Andi forwarded this story... It's so sweet, it'll give you cavities.

A Fireman's Reward

He had just saved her from a fire in her house, rescuing her by carrying her out of the house into her front yard, while he continued to fight the fire. She was pregnant.

When he finally finished putting the fire out, he sat down to rest and catch his breath.

A photographer from the Charlotte, North Carolina newspaper, "The Observer," noticed her in the distance looking at the fireman. He saw her walking straight toward him and wondered what she was going to do.

As he raised his camera, she approached the tired man who had saved her life and the lives of her babies and kissed him just as the photographer snapped this photograph... 

(Continue reading)

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June 28, 2006

What would terrorists do without the NYT?

Here's a quote from the September 24, 2001 New York Times editorial ("Finances of Terror") (access limited to TimesSelect):

"Organizing the hijacking of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took significant sums of money. The cost of these plots suggests that putting Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists out of business will require more than diplomatic coalitions and military action. Washington and its allies must also disable the financial networks used by terrorists.

The Bush administration is preparing new laws to help track terrorists through their money-laundering activity and is readying an executive order freezing the assets of known terrorists. Much more is needed, including stricter regulations, the recruitment of specialized investigators and greater cooperation with foreign banking authorities. There must also must be closer coordination among America's law enforcement, national security and financial regulatory agencies..."

Well, that was then. This is now.  More here and here.

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June 28, 2006

Hey, I passed!

Thought I'd aced it, but apparently not. And they don't say which one I got wrong. Think you can still pass 8th grade math? Give it a try.

UPDATE: You don't usually get to do this in real life, but I took the test again and this time I did ace it. I think I stumbled over #7 the first time.

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June 27, 2006

When was the last time you heard Brazilian pop on the radio? How about Hindustani classics? There's a whole world of music that we may never hear due simply to limited access.

The National Geographic web site has a section devoted entirely to world music. If you already know of some artists, browse to them. If not, explore by region or genre. The editor’s picks might give you a starting point.

Read bios and backgrounds of each artist. Of course, there are musical samples as well. Some even offer video clips. If you find a song that suits you, download it. Songs are 99 cents each.

Music can transcend language and culture. It’s a real treat to enjoy music from around the globe. Try a little ear candy.

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June 27, 2006

The Future of cell phones

There is a recent article in Reg-Hardware that describes future designs for cell phones. Interestingly enough, most of these overlook the most significant aspect, which is the ability for your future communication device to support multiple telecommunication channels.  For example, I would expect the follow-on to the Treo 650 (the Treo 1000?) to seamlessly support CDMA, Wi-Fi, VOIP, EvDO, etc. Thus, regardless of where I “park my body”, my phone can arrange for the least expensive, highest-throughput communication channel available. ...

Independence Day

Michael D notes that Independence Day is right around the corner. So make sure you have plenty of patriotic songs! Chip Davis from Mannheim Steamroller has a special CD available that celebrates the American Spirit. The CD is $9.98 (a $15.98 value.) Chip is a huge supporter of our military, so each CD purchased helps the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation. And, for each CD purchased, one will be given to a military person. The CD is available directly from the Mannheim Steamroller Web site.

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June 27, 2006

Aaron's Peru

Aaron Sewell and his wife, Daniela, are preparing for their annual get-away, this time to South America. Leaving in August, they'll spend three months traveling and photographing what they see. I'm hoping they'll find a way to email some of their images to me for posting.

Meanwhile, Aaron sent me a few from a previous trip to Peru which I've posted below. If you're interested in purchasing any of Aaron's work, I'm sure he'd love to talk to you. You can reach him here.

Click on the image to view them all (nine total.)

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June 26, 2006

The vacation was wonderful!

Two weeks in sunny SoCal and we were ready for it! Well, not exactly. It seems the entire coast was suffering from an early dose of "June Gloom," the grey overcast that traditionally blankets the coast every June. Locals said it had been that way for three weeks before our mid-May arrival. Add to that a cold front from Alaska and you have the makings of a vacation disaster given that we'd packed anticipating warm, sunny weather with nothing heavier than a Hawaiian shirt.

Of course, we made the most of it. I dropped by Tommy Bahama's for a few sweatshirts and, as luck would have it, the sun and warm temps returned and Hawaiian shirts were again the uniform of the day. We hiked, biked and ocean kayaked... even kayak surfed! Lots of fun and we hated to leave, but that's the beauty of vacations; there's always another one on the horizon.

Laguna Sunset

Vacation photos are posted in three albums here, here and here.

Catching Up...

What's been going on while we were away

Well, the Chinese are up to their shenanigans again…  According to a recent article in Defense Tech, the Chinese government is threatening to launch a GPS satellite system that would interfere with the Pentagon’s GPS broadcast. That’s the signal that keeps everything from precision bombs to flying drones on track. ...

According to this AP news story, students have found a ring tone adults can't hear and are using it to receive messages in class — and many teachers can't even hear the ring. The ring tone is downloaded off the Internet and is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing. ...

How hot is technology investment in Israel?  The tiny Middle Eastern country, with a population smaller than Manhattan’s, has become a global player in innovation, thanks to its thriving venture capital scene and many home-grown start-ups. There are now 75 Israeli companies listed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ stock exchange — more listings than any other foreign country but Canada.  Find out more about why Israel is such a happening place for VCs and start-ups alike in Red Herring cover story, “The Stars of David”. ...

A computer virus that targets the popular file-sharing program Winny isn't the most destructive bug or even the most widespread. But it's the most talked about in Japan as it generates headline after headline, month after month. The malware, called Antinny, finds random files on Winny users' PCs and makes them available on the file-sharing network. So far, the data leaked have been varied and plentiful: passwords for restricted areas at airports, police investigations, customer information, sales reports, staff lists. The constantly updated virus seems to have spared no one -- airlines, local police forces, mobile phone companies, the National Defense Agency. Even an antivirus software manufacturer has suffered. MSN Money has the story. ...

The big news... Abu Musab al-Zargawi is dead. Good! This monster, who was al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, and was killed June 7 in a U.S. air strike. Another one bites the dust! ...

Google Inc. introduced a free Web-based spreadsheet program, continuing the Internet search leader's expansion into territory long dominated by Microsoft Corp. Although it's still considered a work in progress, Google's online spreadsheet will offer consumers and businesses a free alternative to Microsoft's Excel application - a product typically sold as part of the Office software suite that has been a steady moneymaker for years. You can get a sneak peak, and even try the program out, on Google's site. ...

Microsoft acknowledged ... that it needs to better inform users that one of its automatically installed updates quietly checks in daily with Microsoft servers. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction [Are we supposed to believe that?] To learn more about this Orwellian scenario, check out Slashdot. ...

Perhaps you’ve missed the recent news that the politically-correct nation of Canada arrested 17 Moslems for terror activities…  Even when the police nail a cell of 17 would-be terrorists, catching them red-handed with detonation devices and 3 tons of fertilizer (the same ingredient used in the Oklahoma City bombing), the media and government go to great lengths to assure everyone that the arrests have nothing to do with any “specific community or ethno-cultural group in Canada.” ...

This isn't good. More than 240,000 Hotels.com customers are at risk for identity theft after an unencrypted laptop containing their personal information was stolen from the locked car of an Ernst & Young (E&Y) employee. ... Hotels.com is sending letters to the affected customers... [He left the personal information for 240,000 in his car?] More here. ...

And our borders are still open and we're no closer to a solution. Damn! I'd hoped they would've worked that all out while we were on vacation. Maybe next month...

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June 19, 2006

Admittedly, I was more than a little flattered by the number of emails I received asking when the site would return to life. Nice to have regular readers and to be missed. It may take me a while to get back "up to speed," but I'll do my best. Thanks!