Here's something you don't want to see flying right at you: it's Australia's new hovering drone, kept aloft by four ducted fans.
This futuristic contraption, called the Cyber Quad, was designed by Cyber Technology Pty Ltd. It's set to be used to carry out surveys of offshore drilling platforms, but it could really be used to survey anything from afar, while scaring the hell out of anyone nearby. I want one.
Via Danger Room
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The mechanics are essentially this: according to quantum mechanics, vacuums are not simply voids, but contain, fleetingly, electromagnetic waves popping into, and out of, existence. These waves possess measurable force, but the new approach is less concerned with those forces and more concerned with the momentum associated with the electromagnetic fields. If we can manipulate that momentum, shouldn't we be able to create an opposite reaction force? (For a bit of background on this, see Wikipedia's useful articles here and here, or enroll in your nearest four-year university.)
That reaction force -- propulsion, to the rest of us -- is what's interesting here. Alex Feigel at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center in Yavne, Israel, suggests that by introducing magnetoelectric nanoparticles to interact with the electromagnetic fields inside a quantum vacuum, we should in theory be able to create mechanical energy -- a magnetoelectric quantum wheel, as he calls it -- harnessing the forces generated inside a quantum vacuum.
What's so significant about all this? For starters, unlike many other theories in quantum mechanics, this one is relatively easy to test. If that works out, it could open the door to new ways of researching and investigating the quantum world around us. In the future, quantum wheels could have practical applications, like correcting satellite orientation in space.
Moreover, while the wheel is not rewriting the laws of physics -- that is, manipulating the particles will consume energy -- the propulsion occurs without any loss of mass. We don't want to jinx anything by bringing up deep space travel here, but the idea of propulsion that potentially wouldn't require large reservoirs of propellant is exciting, to say the least.
If these weren’t already sold out, I’d be all over them. At $45 each (there’s a set of 6), these 6.5″ tall ‘Bertie Mk2′ figurines are beautifully battle scarred in that way that made Wall-E so endearing. More pics:
As I said, the pre-order is entirely sold out, but hopefully these robot toys will become available again in January.
[ Tenacious Toys ] VIA [ Boing Boing ]
Is the Rubik's Cube just too easy for you? Do you crave punishment? Do you enjoy giving yourself a frustration headache? Well, say hello to the 12 Surface IQ Pentagon!
This horrifying monstrosity of a puzzle looks next to impossible to actually complete. I mean, the Rubik's Cube is damned hard, and this takes it to a whole other level. But hey, don't let me tell you how you should or shouldn't punish yourself when bored. It's available now for $60.
Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Inc. debuted their Focus-Fusion-1 dense plasma focus research reactor in mid-October, after nearly 8 years of research and building. In the blink of an eye, this freezer-sized nuclear fusion demo machine can push more than 100 gigawatts of power through a space smaller than a pin point. By comparison, the entire U.S. uses about 430 gigawatts of electricity every hour.
Unlike standard nuclear fission — which involves bombarding a fuel, like plutonium or uranium, with neutrons to break it up into isotopes and releasing massive amounts of energy — the Focus-Fusion-1 bombards boron atoms with neutrons, turning it into helium and even more massive amounts of energy.
Then there's the price. A new nuclear fission plant costs billions, and requires a community willing to have one. Focus-Fusion-1 costs several hundred thousand dollars, and could shrink the land footprint of typical power plants from acres to basement-water-heater-size, while reducing the cost of electricity to 1/10th of our cheapest available power today.
And the end-products are way better. While the waste from fission will make the lab techs glow in the dark and die horrible deaths if exposed, Focus-Fusion-1's waste products will just make them talk funny.
You'll encounter weak cell signals or no bars (especially if you're an iPhone user in midtown Manhattan) everywhere you go, which is where this CellLynx 5BARz booster ($300) comes in. About the size of a paperback book, you just plug the box into an AC outlet or cigarette lighter and it somehow corrals and amplifies weak signals to create drop-free conversations and speedy Web surfing where you had neither before, on the road or at home.
No, if won't create signal where there isn't any, but it's fairly portable. It comes with a CLA car mount for use in a car — but just remember its dangerous, if not illegal, to use a cellphone while driving. Your cellphone has to be within a couple of feet of the cradle, which must be a transmitter or some sort, but the main receiver/amplifier box doesn't necessarily have to be near a window such as similar (and less portable) cell boosters. It also works with either GSM or CDMA signals. The company guarantees five bars anywhere within your carrier's coverage area. Let us know how that goes.
According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the House health care bill passed last Friday empowers the federal government to imprison people for up to five years if they willfully refuse to buy federally regulated and approved health insurance.
Shomari Stone of Komo 4 News in Seattle pressed the Speaker on this point yesterday. Watch:
UPDATE: This video has since been marked “private” by an unknown party. We are trying to track down a public version.
UPDATE: It’s back up!
President Barack Obama recently told ABC News’ Jake Tapper that he shares Pelosi’s belief that jail time is an appropriate punishment for not buying health insurance. Obama did not always believe this. Debating Hillary Clinton in 2008, Obama said:
"And I think that it is important for us to recognize that if, in fact, you are going to mandate the purchase of insurance and it’s not affordable, then there’s going to have to be some enforcement mechanism that the government uses. And they may charge people who already don’t have health care fines, or have to take it out of their paychecks. And that, I don’t think, is helping those without health insurance.
Video from the tip of the Burj Dubai's spire will test even the most latent acrophobia
There aren't too many YouTube videos capable of inducing measurable feelings of vertigo while you watch comfortable at your desk, but this is one of them. It was filmed by a brave, brave Scotsman standing on top of the world.
At 818 meters (2,684 ft), the Burj is the tallest structure humans have ever built. And it takes an even braver human to mount the top of spire and stick his video camera over the ledge.
The tower reached its maximum height in January of this year, and is currently slated to begin occupancy in January 2010. Dubai real estate isn't the commodity it once was, but we still have a monument to extreme engineering.
'The tower wobbles, dreadfully, so if my hand is shaking, it's not just me.' Indeed.
[YouTube via Skyscraperpage Forums - thanks Nate and Nate!]
"
Dell teased us with its tiny Inspiron Zino PC last summer, and finally it makes its way to the real world. It looks like an excellent addition to any home theater or desktop, especially if you configure it with a terabyte of hard disk space, 8GB of RAM, 64-bit Windows 7, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics card capable of blasting out 1080p, and its upcoming optional TV tuner. Sounds like hot competition for Apple's newly updated Mac Mini.
There's no Intel Atom processor or the NVIDIA Ion platform on board as we had hoped, but we're still satisfied with the highest-end processor available on it, the 1.8GHz dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e. Decked out with all this goodness, the Zino's not the cheapest home theater PC in the world, but its price of around $700 fully configured ain't bad. Or if you go with its basic trim, you'll have a fully functioning PC for a rock-bottom $229.
When ThinkGeek's Tauntaun sleeping bag debuted last year as an April Fool's joke, a million voices cried out demanding it be made. The company picked up on this disturbance and, now, you can finally preorder your very own alien kangaroo Snuggie for $100.
From ThinkGeek:
This high-quality sleeping bag looks just like a Tauntaun, complete with saddle, printed internal intestines, and a plush lightsaber zipper pull. Now when your kids tell you their favorite Star Wars movie is 'Attack of the Clones' you can nestle the wee-ones snug in simulated Tauntaun fur while regaling them with the amazing tale of 'Empire Strikes Back'.The zipper pull is a lightsaber! You can gut this Tauntaun just like in the film. Let's hope it doesn't smell worse on the inside because, really, just wash the damn thing.
The Tauntaun sleeping bag is due out at the end of this month, right in time for the holiday season. Check out ThinkGeek's epic promo video down below.
"
Are there any objects you can trust these days? With cameras and their associated gadgetry getting smaller and smaller, virtually anything can be spying on you at any time. Just look at this spying Coke can, for example.
These fake Coke cans have a tiny camera and DVR built inside, as well as a fake bottom that can be removed to reveal a USB port and on-off switch. They also have a remote control so they can be started and stopped from afar. If this is a camera, what else is hiding spy equipment? Maybe it's best not to think about it.
Scientists investigating a large crater initially believed to have been caused by a meteorite said a closer analysis Monday revealed it was a hoax.
J. Max Wilson and I are announcing a new plugin for WordPress.
It is called ScriptureLog.
You can also read about the project here."
Have you heard of a real time strategy game called AI War: Fleet Command? You have if you read my column on real time strategy games. What began as mostly a one-man project to make a different kind of RTS -- and boy is it different -- has just gotten a substantial makeover.AI War 2.0 is live now, adding new graphics, new explosions, a high score list, achievements, interface improvements, and, of course, a better AI. But that's just scratching the surface of the differences between AI War 1.0 and AI War 2.0.It really takes the full release notes to convey the magnitude of all the improvements. That document, compiled in one convenient text file, contains 46,573 words of release notes. Thats 175 pages if you paste it into Microsoft Word, or the equivalent of 186 of a printed novel. It's a shortish novel, a novella perhaps, but for a post-release change log, it probably takes the cake.
If you're interested, I should warn you that it's not your standard RTS. It's detailed, involved, and takes a long time to play. It uses a completely different model of gameplay in which you have to carefully work your way through a hostile galaxy, searching for your enemy's homeworld without alerting him too much to your presence. It's a game about scouting, surgical strikes, and calculated risks instead of simply sweeping from planet to planet with a massive fleet. Although that's in there, too.
You can try the demo and then buy a license to activate the full game if it turns out you like it. Get AI War directly from the developer, or from Steam or Direct 2 Drive.
"
When it comes to robots, Robby from Forbidden Planet is a true icon. In fact, he’s so much of a celebrity that I remember him making cameos on popular TV shows back in the day. And now he can even make a cameo next to your PC! Unfortunately this version’s only 10-inches tall, but it does include 4 USB 2.0 ports and when connected to your Mac or Windows PC it will light up and play sound clips from the movie. $41.99 from BigBadToyStore available for pre-order now with an ETA of January 2010.
[ 10' Robby the Robot USB Hub ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]
Leaders in the House and Senate have a plan to pass President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care plan by Thanksgiving without any significant participation by the American public. CNS News has confirmed the details in our September 22nd titled “Passing a Shell of A Bill: Congress’ Secret Plan to Ram Through Health Care Reform.” Nicholas Ballasy reports “a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNSNews.com that it is ‘likely’ that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a ‘shell’ for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.”
This story confirms the four part scenario that would railroad the bill through the Senate using a very unusual closed door procedure to craft the bill with no input from the American people.
The four stage plan to pass Obamacare has been publicly confirmed and is ready to be implemented. The following is a comprehensive update:
Step One: “The Senate Finance Committee will finish work on the marking up of Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) conceptual framework for legislation by this Friday.” Progress on this had been stalled and the bill was not passed by the end of last week. Foxnews.com is reporting that the Congressional Budget Office score of the bill will be released later today and a high score may further stall progress on the Committee’s Vapor Bill. Senate Finance Committee’s progress on passing something out of committee – INCOMPLETE.
Step Two: Next, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will take the final product of the Senate Finance Committee and merge it with the product of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. CNSnews.com has confirmed that “the actual final text of the legislation will be determined by Reid himself, who will consolidate the legislation approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the still-unapproved legislation from the Senate Finance Committee. Reid will be able to draft and insert textual language that was not expressly approved by either committee.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will write the final version of Obamacare to be considered in the Senate with no input from the American people. This is an extremely complex procedure that will not be done in public, or in the form of a hearing, or a public conference committee, and only Senator Harry Reid, some other Senators chosen by Reid and Obama Administration officials will be allowed to read the bill before the Senate debate starts. Merger of the bills – IN PROGRESS.
Step Three: Senator Reid will then move to proceed to H.R. 1586, a bill to impose a tax on bonuses received by certain TARP recipients. A senior aid to Senate Majority Leader Ried has confirmed that he will move to proceed to Senate Calendar Number 36, H.R. 1586, or another House passed tax measure, so the Senate can avoid the Constitutional mandate that tax bills originate in the House. Proceed to tax shell of a bill – CONFIRMED.
Step Four: This scenario would most likely be implemented after the Massachusetts state legislature gives Governor Deval Patrick the power to appoint a new Senator and that Senator is seated by the Senate. The Senate swore in new Massachusetts Senator Paul Kirk on September 25th. Change Law of Massachusetts to allow for interim Senator – COMPLETE.
The final step in this plan is for the House to take up Obama care, without amending the legislation, and then sending that bill directly to the President for his signature. Matt Cover at CNSnews.com reports “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) won’t rule out having the House vote on the Senate health-care bill without making any changes in it, which would allow the bill to go directly to President Barack Obama without having to pass through a House-Senate conference committee and another round of votes in the House and Senate–and a longer period of public scrutiny of what the text of the proposed law actually says.” This scenario is in the process of being implemented and, if successful, it will result in Obamacare being on the President’s desk in time for Thansgiving with minimal participation of the American public.
The San Francisco Examiner published an editorial today that exposed the fact that the American people can’t see the bill. “When then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised not to sign major legislation until it had been posted on the Internet for public reading at least five days, trusting voters took him at his word. Now they know better. Not only is the actual language of what is likely to become the main legislative vehicle for Obama’s signature health care reform not available on the Internet, it hasn’t been given to members of the key Senate committees or the Congressional Budget Office.” The procedure being used, in addition to the exclusion of the American people from the process, should be of grave concern to all who want to participate in democracy and have a say in Congress’ health care reforms that will touch 1/6th of the American economy.
"
You can tell by the headline that this $143 million yacht is giving me an attack of the green-eyed monster. It's a joint venture by French luxury goods manufacturer Hermes,and Wally, a Monaco-based shipbuilder* and, as someone who doesn't get particularly excited by outsize objects that float, even I am taken aback by her looks.
Known as the WHY 58x38 (her vital statistics, baby), the yacht boasts a 656-sq-foot Master suite and Spa that incorporates a Turkish Hammam, as well as the usual accoutrements of wealth — although there doesn't seem to be one of these on board. One thing I'm not sure that Herm and Wal thought through, however, is the location of the swimming pool. It's wrapped around the helipad, ensuring sunbathers get a healthy coating of oil as they tan.
*DVICE, giving you all the information so you don't have to ask 'where's Wally?'
Via Daily Mail
Did you use training wheels when you learned to ride a bicycle? My dad was convinced they slowed down the learning process and taught bad habits, so he just held on to the back of the seat and ran down the street with me while I pedaled. Then he let go and I fell over. Rinse knees, repeat, until I caught on to the trick of keeping my balance.
At the Interbike show this weekend, Gyrobike demonstrated its battery-powered bicycle wheel, which has an internal flywheel. The gyroscopic effect of the spinning flywheel keeps the bike erect under even the wobbliest little kid, without training wheels. The speed of the gyroscope can be adjusted, to provide less and less stabilization over time until finally the student is balancing all by himself.
The wheel will be available in December via thegyrobike.com.
"
Transform mealtime into an educational, interactive construction zone! Construction-vehicle shaped fork, spoon, and pusher-scoop set makes learning to self-feed a fun activity.
* All materials FDA-approved, PVC/Phthalate/BPA-free
* Vibrant colors are stimulating and captivating
* An asset in the development of hand-eye coordination
* Dishwasher-safe
* Paint-free, lead-free
Our friends at Sci Fi Wire managed to find 17 sci-fi themed cakes to celebrate the 17th birthday of Syfy. This AT-AT is incredible, but the sight of Borg Cubes, the Battlestar Galactica and — holy crap! — zombie Spider-Man, all created in baked glory really got us drooling. Follow the link below to satisfy your sci-fi sweet tooth.
Via Sci Fi Wire
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The Piet is an indoor fireplace that burns ethanol instead of wood. Featuring brass reflectors, it fills the room with warmth and light while staying safe with a layer of rock wool fire insulation. This allows it to be placed near walls or furniture. Plus, it looks downright beautiful.
Karen Burns will talk about the six most important things you need to know to get a job.............Burns has worked 59 jobs over a period of 40 years in 22 cities and four countries. All this experience taught her a lot! So she wrote a book, “The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use........
let me know when her book : How to Get a Job and Keep it comes out…
A new paper explains how they built the zombie insect
It’s hard to admit you’re wrong. It’s especially difficult if you are in a position of leadership, because when you’re wrong it’s often in front of a lot of people. Admitting you are wrong as a priesthood leader has an added degree of difficulty because you are ostensibly guided by the Spirit in the things that you do in relation to your calling, so admitting you are wrong can also carry the implication that you aren’t following the Spirit. So I’m always impressed to come across experiences where priesthood leaders have the courage and humility to admit error. One of the most impressive examples that I’ve come across recently is Joseph Fielding Smith.
In his essay “The Mormon Cross,” Eugene England recounts a remarkable experience he had with Joseph Fielding Smith when Smith was President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (and, of course, before the 1978 priesthood revelation). Smith had written things affirming the notion that blacks were denied the priesthood because of things they had done (or failed to do) in the pre-existence. England felt strongly that this was not the case and was able to schedule a meeting with Smith to discuss the issue. He recounts the experience as follows:
I told President Smith about my experiences with the issue of blacks and the priesthood and asked him whether I must believe in the pre-existence doctrine to have good standing in the Church. His answer was, “Yes, because that is the teaching of the scriptures.” I asked President Smith if he would show me the teaching in the scriptures (with some trepidation, because I was convinced that if anyone in the world could show me he would). He read over with me the modern scriptural sources and then, after some reflection, said something to me that fully revealed the formidable integrity which characterized his whole life: “No, you do not have to believe that Negroes are denied the priesthood because of the pre-existence. I have always assumed that, because it was what I was taught, and it made sense, but you don’t have to believe it to be in good standing, because it is not definitely stated in the scriptures. And I have received no revelation on the matter.” (Dialogues with Myself, pp. 131-132)
I think lesser men would have been unwilling to admit error, and would have tried to find a way to justify or rationalize their position.
Another great example of this came from a friend of mine who was serving in her stake’s Young Women’s presidency. She told me about a lesson a counselor in the stake presidency gave to young women in a ward in her stake. The lesson was about chastity, and the counselor used terrible analogies and phrases in attempting to teach the young women (for example, comparing chastity to licking a lollipop and then offering it to someone and asking them if they’d like one that had already been licked; or “Don’t bring used goods to the temple altar,” just to name a couple). My friend was horrified and felt that she had to confront the counselor, since he would be teaching the same lesson to other wards as well. Bracing for the worst, she sat down with him and explained her feelings about how unhelpful and even damaging his lesson had been. To her amazement, the counselor very sincerely thanked her for letting him know and then humbly asked her for advice on how he could change and improve his approach. She provided him with a number of suggestions on ways to better approach the topic. He completely changed his lesson, and she informed me that what he taught in subsequent wards was incredibly positive and uplifting.
One thing that strikes me about both of these experiences is that the priesthood leader in question had not considered that he was wrong until someone sat down and discussed it with him in a civil, non-accusatory way. I realize not all priesthood leaders have the courage and humility to admit when they are wrong– and there are plenty of experiences out there to prove it– but I think we have an obligation to give them the chance.
I was telling my boss, Robert Sloan (former Baylor president and
current president of HBU), about Michael Moore's new film
Capitalism: A Love Story. We briefly discussed an
interview of Moore by the Wall Street Journal yesterday
in which Moore asserted that the auto workers should own 100% of
the auto companies.
'Mr. Moore, do you pay your workers a wage to perform their
functions or -- consistent with your philosophy -- do they own
the films you make along with you?'
It’s just a necessary step, so they’ll know where to look when they do decide to confiscate ‘em.
"[Toronto] police seize 400 guns in ‘Safe City’ project
The latest crime prevention project by Toronto police took aim at registered gun owners who opted to give up their firearms. Police have seized about 400 guns since March after knocking on the doors of registered firearm owners.
Many of these owners had their guns stashed in the closet or in a drawer though a condition of their registration mandates that all firearms are securely stored.
Police did not lay any charges but seized hundreds of weapons.
"I have previously communicated to ACORN my dissatisfaction with their lax supervision of employees and volunteers. The fact that people who were improperly registered to vote did not actually cast ballots in no way excuses the organization’s failure to exercise better control in this way. Further, the motivation of those who went to ACORN offices and initiated the discussions involving prostitution are wholly irrelevant to the fact that ACORN’s employees’ actions were outrageous and further indication of an organization that is at best poorly run in many regards. The defense against sting operations is not to ban them, but to behave properly so that they do not reveal as they did in this case clear evidence of gross impropriety."
Nothing goes together quite like drinking and playing cards, so it's natural that someone has created a flask that holds a pack of cards.
It's perfect for those times when you're out on the bus, minding your own business and drinking Jim Beam when someone challenges you to a game of 5 Card Stud. You don't even have to reach back into your pocket for cards, which gives you the intimidation advantage, allowing you to win this theoretical bus-based card game. And that's how well-designed products change lives.
R2-D2 always seemed to have the right tool for any odd job, whether it be projecting a message of distress or opening up a blast door. Now, thanks to Popular Science reader Brian De Vitis (and PAX attendee, from the look of it), Artoo will also be able to play video games from a long time ago in living rooms far, far away.
From those rows of controllers strewn out on the floor, it looks like Artoo is packing an NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Genesis, Dreamcast, Playstation, Xbox and — just a guess — PlayStation 2.
The sweetest part? It's also got a built-in projector for playing the games, which shines out of the same spot it did when Leia popped up and told Obi-Wan he was her only hope. There has been no greater legacy console mod than this, to be sure.
It can be seen in a recent copy of Popular Science, as pictured below.
" Kudos to the Pelican Institute for excellent research, and to
Deroy Murdock and our own Quin Hillyer for resurrecting the issue
of ACORN's tax cheating.
I had this story almost a year ago.
The piece, Lien on
Me, ran in TAS online on Oct. 28, 2008.
It begins:
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
(ACORN) and its affiliates are content to impose crippling
big-government laws, regulations, and taxes on Americans, but
when called upon to obey those same rules, ACORN's network of
scofflaws and deadbeats simply refuses to comply.
The most egregious example is the fact that more than 200
federal, state, and local tax liens adding up to more than $3
million have been filed against the ACORN network since 1989.
All of these liens, which are only issued by creditor tax
agencies after a tax debt has become seriously delinquent, are
associated with ACORN's 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue address in
New Orleans, Louisiana. That address is the official
headquarters for nearly 300 ACORN-affiliated groups.
The most recent lien ($23,383) was filed by the IRS against an
ACORN affiliate, American Workers Associates Inc., on Sept. 9.
The largest lien ($547,312) was filed against ACORN itself by
the IRS on March 10. [...]
Murdock references a $548,000 lien. If in haste he rounded up, it
might be the $547,312 lien I discovered.
ACORN also
sold out its poor constituents in Brooklyn in exchange for a
cash bailout from Forest City Ratner, a wealthy developer trying
to build the Atlantic Yards project.
This looks like a lot more fun than air hockey: Four players use joysticks to control tiny wireless robots in MaruBot Football League, where each of the little guys seems to have a personality. Their LED eyes indicate happiness after a goal is scored, or sadness after a loss. Aww.
The game's makers also have a heart, claiming the MaruBot game inspires 'cooperation and partnership, minimizing individualism, isolation, violence of online games.' If a four-player game sounds like too much togetherness for you, there's also a two-player version. Now a big hit in Korea, the game could someday show up at an arcade near you.
You'd be forgiven if you thought former computer giant SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) had gone extinct. But the California company responsible for the computing engines behind such special effects flicks as Jurassic Park and other 90s blockbusters is still alive and kicking, and proves it's still a T-Rex with its Octane III Personal Supercomputer.
You can stuff 80 cores' worth of Intel quad-core Xeon processor goodness into this beast, accompanied by advanced NVIDIA graphics and nearly a terabyte of memory. For more efficiency, you can slip 19 of those tiny, low-power single-socket dual-core Intel Atom processors inside. This 1x2-foot deskside workstation is said to be ultraquiet, too.
That $100,000-and-up pricing of the old SGI has also gone the way of the dinosaur — this hot box's pricing starts at $7995. Sure, the 80-core version will cost a lot more than that, but it'll still be a far cry from 100 grand. And it puts even the most powerful PC workstations to shame. Could this mean the old SGI is back?
The sci-fi writer's Mac is up for sale; what could be hidden inside?
The real treasure, though, is what could be on the hard drive. Here's our wish list:
1. A form fan-letter response titled 'That's-Star-Wars.doc'
2. A record of the bet he lost that let Shatner direct Star Trek V.
3. Transcribed notes from the set on the first day of shooting the original TV series including the stage direction: 'You NEED..to..E.NUN.ci.ATE....MORE!...clearly.'
4. Rejected audition tapes for the role of Jean Luc Picard from Ben Kingsley, F. Murray Abraham, and Carl Reiner.
5. A patent illustration for the transporter.
6. Documentation that proves The Borg is real, and lists Lindsay Lohan and Madonna among the members of the collective.
7. Hatemail from J. Michael Stracyzinski and Harlan Ellison.
8. A abandoned crossover script with the working title Tribbles vs. Ewoks
9. A folder called 'Uhura - PRIVATE!'
10. Brainstorming notes for the Top Ten Uses for Data's Disembodied Head
Did we forget anything? Tell us in the comments.
"
My friend David Knight
won second prize for his excellent video (he's got others) in the
Galen Institute's
'Do No Harm' contest a couple of months ago. Watch and learn
quickly why Britain's and Canada's systems are failures, while
ours needs an overhaul, but not of the kind the Democrats are
proposing.
President Obama, who opposed a health insurance mandate during
the campaign and has vowed not to support a middle-class tax
hike, has come out in favor of a mandate that would raise taxes
on those in the middle class who do are uninsured.
During an exchange with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday,
President Obama tried to deny that a mandate was the same as a
tax increase, even when confronted with a dictionary definition:
STEPHANOPOULOS: I -- I don't think I'm making it up. Merriam
Webster's Dictionary: Tax -- 'a charge, usually of money,
imposed by authority on persons or property for public
purposes.'
OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam's
Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me
that you're stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you
wouldn't have gone to the dictionary to check on the
definition. I mean what...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no, but...
OBAMA: ...what you're saying is...
STEPHANOPOULOS: I wanted to check for myself. But your critics
say it is a tax increase.
OBAMA: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics
say that I'm taking over every sector of the economy. You know
that.
Look, we can have a legitimate debate about whether or not
we're going to have an individual mandate or not, but...
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you reject that it's a tax increase?
OBAMA: I absolutely reject that notion.
Yet the idea of a mandate as a tax does not merely come from
Stephanopoulos, or critics, or Merriam Webster, but from language
in the current draft of the Baucus bill itself. In fact, on page
29, the Baucus proposal reads,
'The consequence for not maintaining insurance would be an excise
tax....The excise tax would be assessed through the tax code and
applied as an additional amount of Federal tax owed.'
Obama argues at another part of the interview that, 'right now
everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance.
Nobody considers that a tax increase.' But there are many reasons
why this is a flawed analogy. Most importantly, car insurance
mandates, which apply at the state level, only apply to people
who drive a car on public roads. If I don't drive, I don't have
to purchase car insurance. By contrast, the health insurance
mandate would apply, with few exceptions, to everybody in the
United States. Also, people aren't forced to report car insurance
in their federal tax returns, and fines are not assessed through
the federal tax code. And if car insurance mandates are the
model, then they certainly aren't effective, with an
estimated 13.8 percent of drivers going without coverage in
2007, according to the Insurance Research Council.
Obama also argued:
You and I are both paying $900, on average -- our families --
in higher premiums because of uncompensated care. Now what I've
said is that if you can't afford health insurance, you
certainly shouldn't be punished for that. That's just piling
on.
If, on the other hand, we're giving tax credits, we've set up
an exchange, you are now part of a big pool, we've driven down
the costs, we've done everything we can and you actually can
afford health insurance, but you've just decided, you know
what, I want to take my chances. And then you get hit by a bus
and you and I have to pay for the emergency room care,
that's...
So, Obama is saying that nobody who can't afford health insurance
will be forced to buy it, but he has an odd definition of
'affordable.' Under the Baucus plan, individuals would face a tax
of at least $750 if they do not purchase health coverage. And
while the proposal would provide subsidies to lower-income
Americans, those subsidies would stop at 300 percent of the
federal poverty level. What that means is that a family of four
with a household income above $66,150 would face a tax of $3,800
if it does not obtain health insurance, while an individual with
income above $32,490 would face a tax of $950. While the proposal
would in fact waive the requirement for individuals who can prove
they can't afford a minimal health insurance policy as defined by
the government, to qualify for the exemption, premiums would have
to exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income -- or somewhere in
the neighborhood of $3,000 for somebody with income of $32,490.
Then there's this larger idea of uncompensated care. While it is
true that some people end up showing up in emergency rooms
without paying and that imposes costs on others, there's two
things that Obama isn't taking into account. First, just because
you mandate coverage it doesn't mean you elimate the
uncompensated care. Second, if you have to spend hundreds of
billions of dollars on subsidies enabling people to purchase
insurance, then that costs far more than whatever would be saved
by reducing uncompensated care.
In a prior
article for our magazine, I looked at the Massachusetts
example -- the only state with a health insurance mandate:
In 2006, Massachusetts enacted a landmark health care reform
that increased coverage by expanding Medicaid eligibility and
providing subsidies for citizens to purchase coverage on a
state-run insurance exchange. As more people obtained insurance
to comply with a mandate, uncompensated care declined by 38
percent between 2006 and 2009 (projected), saving the state
$246 million. However, the Commonwealth Care subsidy program
created as a result of the 2006 reform is projected to cost
$820 million in 2009 alone, and during the same time period,
the state’s expanded Medicaid program saw its price tag swell
by $1.1 billion. So in other words, while costs declined by a
quarter of a billion dollars in one area, they increased by
nearly $2 billion in other areas.
The other thing to keep in mind is that while Obama likes to
describe those who are uninsured by choice as freeloaders,
there's a flip side to this. Many of those who are currently
uninsured simply have very low health care costs, which they are
willing to pay out of pocket when they get sick. The reason why
Obama supports a mandate is that he wants to be able to force
insurers to cover those with preexisting conditions, and the only
way to do that is to bring uninsured healthy people into the
system. So really, this isn't about eliminating freeloaders, it's
about forcing healthy people to pay for more health care than
they need to so that they can make premiums more affordable for
the sick.
I think candidate Obama had this one right when he talked about
mandates last year. 'In some cases, there are people who are
paying fines and still can't afford it, so now they're worse off
than they were,” candidate Obama
said during a February 2008 debate, referring to conditions
under the Massachusetts mandate. 'They don't have health
insurance and they're paying a fine.'
The students first analyzed the networks of people who publicized their sexual orientation on Facebook. Turns out that statistically speaking, gay men have more gay friends than straight guys do. So then, they used an algorithm to run the stats on men who kept mum about their sexual orientation on the site. Their computer program was able to correctly identify 10 men whom the students personally knew to be gay in the real world but who hadn't shared that fact on Facebook. (The algorithm didn't work as well with women or with bisexual Facebookers.)
The students completed the project for a class on ethics and the Internet, and hope to publish it in a scientific journal.
Their project is far from the first study showing that a simple computer program can sleuth out details you might prefer to keep private by looking at your social network on the Internet. Earlier this year, computer scientists correctly linked 30 percent of anonymous Twitter and Flickr accounts with a simple algorithm that compares who's following who on each site. And other researchers have used Internet social networks to correctly identify peoples' political affiliations or where they live.
It's a good reminder to take a look at your privacy settings. Because you might inadvertently be sharing things you'd rather keep to yourself. Even if you're only declaring to the world that someone's your friend.
[via Boston Globe]
