The machine war begins with lawnmowers?

Not exactly terminator material, but it seems that a robotic lawnmower in Denmark has killed its operator. The lawnmower is a commercial lawnmower meant to replace the large riding lawnmowers used by lawn care professionals. I can't say I've ever heard of it before, but it looks pretty cool. The lawnmower is controlled by a remote, much like the radio controlled race cars you can buy in most toy stores.
In this case, it seems that the mower fell down a hill onto it's operator. Killing the operator instantly with a blow to the head from a blade. No word yet on whether the mower was charged with a crime or not. Lets just hope that this isn't the beginning of a robot revolt. LOL

All jokes aside, The guy did die. Not exactly a nice or funny thing. My question is why was the guy sitting directly under the mower on the hill? Seems like if the hill was that steep, then he should have been farther off to the side.

Check out the story at Ekstra Bladet Man from Ballerup killed by a lawn mower Sorry for the auto translation, but I couldn't find an English news story.
Via Engadget: Robot lawnmower kills Danish man

Internet Trolls are evil tricksters

I found this essay on the Internet troll over at drewspeak. It's a complete analysis and commentary on the practice of trolling. If you haven't encountered the trolls, then you really haven't spent much time on message boards, or at least don't bother reading the comments sections of some of the bigger blogs. Trolls are those people who deliberately start arguments for no reason other than that they can. They purposefully go around insulting and attacking people from behind their partial Internet anonymity.
The statement "don't feed the trolls" means don't respond to their comments and attacks. By responding, you are giving them exactly what they want.
Here is a quote from the essay:

“The troll comes to the door of a new forum and sets down his bag of tricks. If he has a grudge against the people inside discussing and debating their passions with a certain degree of amicability, peacability and decorum, he does not show them. He has the cracked, stoic smile of Robin Goodfellow, a Puck with the simple desire to disrupt peace itself. He loves chaos; his bag is full of golden apples he can lob to set the masses squabbling. He has also many masks, smoke bombs, straw men, cloaks, puppets, matches, ethanol, knives, dust, sand, and magicks of the most arcane sort. He knows what he is about - causing trouble. Why? This is the troll’s darkest mystery - if any one knew his secret, he would die. For all trolls, their motive power is this: without contraries, they cannot progress.”

Read the entire essay here: The Internet Troll As The Trickster Archetype Via Boing Boing

Declaring Email Bankruptcy

43folders.com has an interesting piece on dealing with email overload. Many of us who work in the IT world (or for that matter are simply active online) have way too much email to deal with. Many of the emails I get are skimmed and ignored. And if I can't ignore them, then often the lower priority ones will get a quick "Yes I got your email" type of response. Mainly because it can take me anywhere from 10-20 minutes to form a real response.
The concept of email bankruptcy is to simply declare that you have lost, and do a blanket delete of the entire inbox. So far, I've never reached the point where I was so overloaded that I felt I needed to declare "email bankruptcy," but I've come close a few times.
Read the article, it's actually pretty interesting.
The strange allure (and false hope) of email bankruptcy

Microsoft Surface Computer

A few months ago, I posted a video of a computer interface concept that allowed you to navigate and control the computer using nothing but the screen. It seemed to me, that a multi touch interface was going to be the future of computers.
It looks like Microsoft thought so too. They recently announced a new computer platform called Microsoft surface. The entire interface of the computer is the screen.
Watch the video below to see how it works. It is pretty cool. Initially this will be marketed to restaurants and resorts, but if it does well, I can see this going mainstream.




Official website: Microsoft Surface
Via TechCrinch: Microsoft Announces Surface Computer

LoLCode, a programming language for random cats with captions

If you aren't into programming you probably won't get this. In fact, if you haven't encountered the exciting and superbly stupid Internet fad of posting captions on pictures of other peoples cats, you probably still won't get this even if you are into programming.
LolCode is a new(theoretical) programming language based on Anil Dash's LoLCat grammar dictionary. If you haven't read it you really should. It's hilarious. You can find his grammar dictionary at Cats can has grammar.

Anyway, back to the programming language. Here is an example of loop to count to 10.

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
I HAS A VAR
IM IN YR LOOP
 UP VAR!!1
 VISIBLE VAR
 IZ VAR BIGGER THAN 10? KTHXBYE
IM OUTTA YR LOOP
KTHXBYE

I love the begining and ending tags in the language. Hai and Kthxbye are just great.

Check it out here: LOLCODE.com

And if you are interested in seeing a big repository of cats with funny captions, you can check out this site: Meme Cats

Pac-Man Skelton found!

For all of you retro gamers out there. If you ever wondered about Pac-Man's anatomy. Here it is, the Pac-Man skeleton.
If you have a ghost problem in your house, this should scare them away. All you need to do is place this prominently in your home, with some cherries(remember Pac-Man has to eat the cherry to kill ghosts) and all your ghost problems will go away. LOL

Via Table of Malcontents: Pac-Man's Monstrous Skull Exposed

Cell Phones scrambling Nissan Key fobs

I seems that if you own a Nissan Altima or the Infiniti G35, you need to keep the key away from your cell phone. Close proximity to the phone, when it is receiving a call, can scramble the electronic code used by the key fob. Once the key code is scrambled, you can no longer use it to unlock your car. Which basically makes it useless.
This could be a big problem. Especially for people like me who keep their phones in their pockets. Of course, I don't have the bad luck of owning a Nissan.
It does seem that this is something that could have been tested for in the lab before production. If the key fobs are that susceptible to other electronics, then there are probably other devices that can also affect them badly.

Via Techdirt: Nissan Warns Drivers: Don't Put Mobile Phones Near Our Keys

Air Powered cars

A company in India is starting to mass produce the first air powered car. Rather than run on electricity, gasoline, or hydrogen, this car runs on compressed air. It will go up to 68 miles per hour, and has a range or about 125 miles on a single tank. You can refuel it anywhere you can get access to compressed air. It also has a built in air compressor that can be run by simply plugging it in. The built in air compressor takes about 4 hours to "refuel" the car. So it's something you would want to do overnight.
The cool thing about this car, is that it is completely emissions free. Whether you believe strongly in the dangers of global warming, or not, you have to agree that anything that cuts down on pollution is a good thing. Of course, the electricity that is used to produce the compressed air has to come from somewhere. So if it comes from a dirty coal burning plant, then all you have done is shift the pollution away from you.

Via EcoGeek: Air-Car Ready for Mass Production

Do you get sky miles from this, or just sky pounds?

On par with the scariest swing in the world from China, comes the dinner in the sky from Belgium. They strap you and your dinner guests into a table attached to a crane. Then the crane lifts you up into the sky to have dinner. That is if you don't get sick from fear of heights. Check the website out. There are more pics, and even a video showing people being served by the waiter and the chef. The table seats 22. So your dinner in the sky can actually have a pretty big group. They will even take the table to a location of your choice(in Belgium).
Personally I think this is just too scary for me. Also, what happens if you drop a fork? Or have to pee?

Official Site: Dinner in the Sky

Amazing Houses PhotoBlog

Found this photoblog of strange and off beat looking houses from around the world.

I'm not sure if it is, but this picture looks a lot like a house out at the beach where I live. The house is somewhat famous for being "hurricane proof." So it's possible.



Check out the page for a lot of other house pictures.


Amazing Things:

The most interesting and amazing houses from the world

Parking attendants in the UK get head cameras

What is it with the UK and cameras? They have lip reading cameras, scolding cameras and now traffic warden cameras. It seems that scourge of littering and other "anti-social" behaviour is so prevalent, that traffic wardens are now being given the right to issue fines for "anti-social behaviour."

In order to back up the fines in court, traffic wardens are being issued head mounted cameras much like the cameras on police cruisers. So now when you are in England, not only are the cameras on every street corner watching and recording you, but so are all the traffic wardens. Can littering seriously be that much of a problem?

Via Manchester Evening News: 'Super wardens' go on patrol

Passive agressive notes

Found this great Blog full of passive aggressive notes like the one above. The entire site is devoted to posting notes that people have found or posted for their friends, roommates, and coworkers. You can even submit notes you've seen or found.

The one above came right off the site. I love the way someone wrote a little note for the original author off to the side: "Mmm... Good spittle"

Passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers

Radiation Eating Fungi

Scientists have discovered that fungi that contain a lot of melanin can actually use radiation as a form of energy and food. What first clued scientists into the discovery was the fact that a species of fungi was discovered growing on the reactor walls of Chernobyl. The melanin in the fungi allows it to convert radiation into energy, much as the pigment in plants allows them to convert sunlight into energy. The more melanin the fungi contains, the more energy it can harvest from the radiation.
Scientists are now speculating as to whether the melanin in human skin, which is chemically identical to that in fungi, may have other previously unknown uses besides protection and coloring.

Via EurekAlert: Einstein researchers' discover 'radiation-eating' fungi

Movie Spoiler T-Shirt at Threadless

The above picture comes from a T-Shirt you can buy at Threadless clothing. It's full of movie spoilers. My favorites are "Tyler Durden isn't real" and the picture Darth Vader with the caption "Luke's Father" I like this T-Shirt enough, that I'm actually considering buying it.

You can get one at Threadless: Spoilt by Oliver Moss

[Edit] I did break down and buy one. Just couldn't resist.

Internet Censorship maps

The OpenNet Initiative is an organization that tracks and monitors Internet censorship. On their website you can test individual URLs for blocking, and also see interactive maps of censorship throughout the world. Each country and region is rated and what type of content it censors is laid out in detail. The methods and agencies by which the censorship is enforced are also described in detail. All in all, a pretty useful site if you are interested in Internet censorship.

Check out the official site: OpenNet Initiative
Found Via Boing Boing: OpenNet reveals the global Internet censorship trends

Programmable biocomputers to diagnose and treat disease

Researchers at Harvard University and Princeton University have discovered a way to create programmable "biocomputers" entirely out of DNA, RNA, and proteins. These bio computers can make basic boolean(true vs. false) evaluations based on things that individual cells in the body are doing. They can then help in diagnosis by outputting chemicals that are easily detectable. Allowing doctors to detect conditions that would normally be very difficult to detect. The biocomputers can also be programmed to take specific action against mutated or unhealthy cells. Allowing doctors to provide a much more targeted response to disease.

What is even cooler, is that the researchers claim that they could convince our own bodies to build them by implanting the genetic blueprints. So a minor injection, could cause your body to build millions of biocomputers that would spread throughout your entire body. Targeting disease wherever it was found.

Read the entire story at PhysOrg: In a first, scientists develop tiny implantable biocomputers

USB power in your car

I really don't know why someone didn't think of this before. With as many devices as there are out there that charge using a USB port, this could be really useful. 12 volt power extenders, aren't anything new. In fact I've got one in my car right now. But adding a USB charge port to the extender is sheer genius.

You can buy it here: VictorMall, though you will need to be able to read korean to decifer the site.
Found via Gizmodo: Seiko EM-49 Car Socket Power Strip

Sarcastic E-cards

Found an ecard site that has some hilarious ecards you can send people. Some of my favorites are: "I send pointless emails late at night to impress coworkers", "I'm glad we stay mildly interested in each others lives", and "When work feels overwhelming, remember that your going to die." I do recommend going to the site and checking them out. Though I should warn you, that not all of the cards are appropriate for "polite" company. So you might not want to do it when someone is around who is easily offended.

Official Site: Some Ecards - When you care enough to hit send

Found via Cool Hunting: Some Ecards

Mining electronic waste

Found an interesting photo essay about the electronics recycling industry in the city of Guiyu China. It has a lot of interesting pictures, and some pretty interesting stats. one ton of computer scrap contains more gold than 17 tons of gold ore. Extracting that gold though, is a lot harder. So for the moment it is cheaper for most western nations to simply dump the waste. In China, where labor is cheap, it is economically feasible to do the extraction. The pictures are pretty good, so I would recommend checking them out.

Check out the Photo essay at Foreign Policy: Inside the Digital Dump

Image Mosaic Generator

The above picture of me, was created using the Image Mosaic Generator. You can upload any image, and it will build a mosaic from flickr images using your image as a base. Pretty cool.
Once your image is complete, a link to download it is placed at the top of the page. Tools like this one really show the power of open platforms. Flickr has no functions like this. It is simply an image post site. But by opening up its API, cool niche applications like this can be built.

Image Mosaic Generator

Historical speeches in MP3 format

Found this very useful site full of historical speeches and sounds. All af them are in MP3 format and can be downloaded and listened to on any music player that supports MP3. The best part is that they are all completely free!

Free Information Society: Historical Sounds

[Edit] Found another site with more speeches. American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches

Interesting thoughts on the power of Internet News

Yesterday Engadget posted a story saying that the iPhone was behind schedule and wouldn't make it's release date. Engadget is a very popular blog focusing on tech news. I often read them and Gizmodo, a competing and very similar site, first thing in the morning while drinking my coffee.
Engadget based the story on an internal email they received that was forwarded from the Apple mail server. It turns out that the email was a hoax. Shortly after Engadget posted the story, Apple contacted them to deny it. Engadget quickly posted a correction. Unfortunately in the short time that the story was posted, it caused a massive selling spree on Apple stock. All because of an unconfirmed email.
Engadget probably should have confirmed the story before running with it, but it is in a cut throat market where being first makes a big difference. So it didn't confirm before running.

This kind of thing has happened before with more traditional media, but it is interesting to note that the "new media" has now reached the same level of power. Blog sites are often looked down on for not being real news. They often are not run by people with journalism backgrounds, and don't follow the same patterns that the more traditional media follows.

Many bloggers, myself included, do it only in their spare time. But obviously, the blog form of news has reached the same level of influence that the traditional media types have. Bloggers have largely done that by throwing out all of those same patterns and methods that make the traditional media claim blogging isn't news.

Maybe that hasn't always been such a good thing. Problems like the Engadget one, are much more rare (Though not unheard of) in the traditional news world. Maybe this is a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We are so eager to throw out the traditional stuffy and often stupid limitations and methods of traditional media, that we are throwing out many of the important and necessary "rules" of journalism. Bloggers should really take a hard look at some of the lessons traditional media has already learned.

Original Engadget story with update: False alarm: iPhone NOT delayed until October, Leopard NOT delayed again until January

Followup TechCrunch Story: Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email

Followup Gizmodo story: My Take on Engadget's 4 Billion Dollar iPhone Mistake

[edit] Engadget posted an explanation of their reasoning and process behind posting the story. It looks like they might not be as much at fault as it originally seemed. Regarding yesterday's Apple news

Learning a Foreign language

Recently I've been wanting to upgrade my Spanish speaking skills. If you live in the western hemisphere, Spanish is growing more and more important to know. Even if you live in a non-Spanish speaking nation.
Looking at the map above, you can see that much of the western hemisphere has Spanish as a primary(darkest color) or a secondary(lighter color) language. The map comes from the Wikimedia. For a more descriptive legend follow the link: Map-Hispanophone World.

So I was pretty happy to find a list of foreign language podcasts to listen to. They have quite a few different languages. All free. So check it out.

Open Culture: Foreign Language Lesson Podcast Collection

Sliding around the office

This has to be the most idiotic, but fun idea ever. Strap a pair of carpet skates on your shoes and you can skate across the carpet in your office. If your office is anything like mine, there is a big long open area that these would work great in. The only problem would be making sure I didn't hit the printer that is inconveniently placed half way down the hallway.

Via Random Good stuff: Faster Than Email: Carpet Skates
You can buy them at X-TremeGeek.com

Happy 40th to Video games

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first video game, pong. Pong was developed to run on a 19 inch television by a team of engineers at Sanders Associates, a Cold War defense contractor. The simple game was the start to the massive video game industry that exists today. So if you go home tonight and play Halo on your XBox, of tennis on your Wii, remember how it all started.

Via Slashdot: Videogames Turn 40 and 1Up: Videogames Turn 40 years old

The Political Compass

I came across this interesting site that attempts to quantify the political spectrum a little better than the normal right verses left. It takes the left and right in their traditional sense to mean economic policy (Collectivism vs. Individualism) , but says that they aren't enough and adds an up down to mean Authoritarian vs. Libertarian. Once you have defined the up, down, left, and right positions, you can plot political leaders on a graph and compare them more accurately. The site also has a test you can take, to see where you would fit on the graph. All in all, a pretty cool site.

Check it out here: www.politicalcompass.org

Do our gadgets have too many status lights?

ComputerWorld has an interesting article about the large numbers of status lights on our devices. Our computer towers, monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, and even speakers have status lights. On many of those devices the status lights cannot be turned off. Even if the device is turned off! I have a monitor, that has a small status light that turns on when you plug it into a power outlet. The monitor is turned off, but the status light stays on. Turning the monitor on, brightens the already on status light. Most of our electronic devices have status lights that are on if the device is on. No options are given to turn them off. On some devices, the status lights are there to let you know the device is on, or connected, or processing some task. On others, they are there only to make the device look cooler or more futuristic.

At home, my computer, router, and DSL modem never get turned off. All of the status lights on them generate a nice glow in the room where they are set up. This doesn't usually bother me, since I don't sleep in that room. Since that room also doubles as a guest room, it does make a big difference when people stay over. I don't mind turning the computer in that room off for my guests, but I don't really want to power down the router and DSL modem. So I guess the questions is, do we really need as many status lights as our gadgets have?

Via ComputerWorld: We the people demand a Gadget Bill of Lights

Scariest swing in the world

The picture above is of the worlds highest swing. It is 1100 feet off the ground on top of a skyscraper in Harbin city, Heilongjiang province, China. The swing sends you out over the city before swinging you back onto the top of the building. personally I hate heights. Getting up on the roof of my house, or standing on a ladder are torture. Last year I had to stand on a ladder two stories up to nail plywood over the windows of my house as hurricane protection. I hated it!
That said, I love roller coasters and sky swings. Mainly because they scare me. The adrenaline rush from the fear is great when I'm having fun. Trying to hold onto a ladder or maintain my footing on a sloped roof with that adrenalin rush is not so good. So I think if I ever got to try the swing out, I would. Imagine how scary it would be.

Via Spluch and Ananova

Billboards that watch you watching them

You might remember sci-fi movie called Minority Report, that stared Tom Cruise. I personally didn't like the movie much, but it did have a lot of cool looking tech gadgets.
One of those was electronic billboards that would tailor their ads towards you if you looked at them. Well, a group of researchers from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada have brought us one step closer to that technology by developing a camera that can track eye movement from as far away as 10 meters. The camera is called the Eyebox2.
Roel Vertegaal the lead developer says, "it is good enough to let us know whether you are looking at a display or billboard or not," Which means that advertisers can theoretically now track what billboards will actually generate the most attention.

Check the article out at NewScientist: Tracking billboards could give you the eyeball

Blue people from Kentucky

I found an interesting article about the Fugate family who lived in Kentucky. It seems that they suffered from a genetic disease that caused them to have a distinctly bluish tint to their skin. The disease is called Methemoglobinemia and is caused by a deficiency of a particular enzyme. In its genetic form it is extremely rare. Both of your parents have to have a very rare recessive gene before you can inherit it. The Fugate family had the bad luck of having an ancestor, Martin Fugate, who carried the gene. Martin somehow managed to find a wife who also carried the gene. Then through excessive inbreeding amongst the local families in the hills of Kentucky, managed to spread the recessive gene to enough people that children began to be born with blue or purplish skin tones. In 1960 a doctor named Madison Cawein, heard about them and investigated. He discovered the enzyme deficiency and was actually able to temporarily "cure" several of the family members by simple injections.
I had never heard of this disease before reading the article, but I found out you can also get the disease through exposure to certain toxic chemicals.

Article on the Fugate family: THE BLUE PEOPLE OF TROUBLESOME CREEK
Wikipedia article on: Methemoglobinemia

Largest Open pit Diamond mine in the world

Found this article about a diamond mine in Russia. The thing is seriously massive. The picture above hardly gives it justice. The mine is so big, that it generates a downdraft into it, that caused several helicopter crashes before overflights were banned. Check the article out for more pictures.

Via BLDGBlog: Worlds largest diamond mine
Here is a link to the Google satellite map page: Diamond Mine

Photobucket Bought by MySpace

So the big news today is that Photobucket is being acquired by NewsCorp. NewsCorp is the parent company of MySpace. Apparently NewsCorp is paying $250 million for PhotoBucket.

My question is, what exactly do the people over at MySpace think they are doing? First they block PhotoBucket, then they reinstate it. They build their own built in offering that duplicates most of PhotoBuckets functionality. They go out of their way to try to convince their users not to use PhotoBucket, then they buy it. I really don't understand this move at all. It's not like Myspace is going to get anything out of the deal that they don't already have. most of PhotoBucket's users are already MySpace users. So they aren't going to get any new users. They have already built duplicate functionality matching PhotoBucket's functionality into MySpace. So it's not like they are getting new tech or expertise by buying PhotoBucket. So why are they buying it?

The only thing I can come up with, is that they bought it to deny access to MySpace competitors. It's no secret that MySpace has been losing users in droves. most of that is due to poor user management, and too many greed imposed restrictions on what users can do. PhotoBucket has been aggressively marketing itself to other non-myspace sites. So maybe the goal is to lock the photobucket users into MySpace. Granted, most of them are there already, but if Myspace makes it harder for them to move, then maybe it can keep more of it's audience. If that is what they are trying to accomplish, then I think they will fail. Putting up artificial walls does not keep people in. Of course, this is just speculation. So we will have to wait and see what they end up doing with it.

Via TechCrunch: Confirmed: MySpace To Acquire Photobucket For $250 Million

Sick Yesterday

Sorry I didn't get any updates in yesterday. I was home sick all day. Not that that means I didn't touch the computer. On the contrary. I spent all day playing Heroes Of Might and Magic 5. But needless to say, I didn't read the news, check email, or update my blog yesterday. Sorry about that. Today I'm back on track.

Robotic Spider Car

Table of Malcontents pointed out this very cool looking spider car. The guy built in his his spare time. It took him 9 months and $15,000. Not sure I would want to spend that much time, or money on it. But it does look cool.

Via Table Of Malcontents: The Incredible Steampunk Spider Car

Knowledge lost in dead languages

NewScientist has an interesting article about the loss of information in dead and dying languages. Specifically it references the loss of plant and animal knowledge that is present in the names and terminology used in the language. The article mentions that many times meaning does not perfectly translate from the dying language to a more common language. In other cases, the meaning of words which seem similar is not understood by non-native speakers. Often multiple distinct names for a single thing will be discarded when translated because the new language does not contain the same concepts.

It cites as an example, a particular species of butterfly found in Costa Rica. The butterfly appeared to by a single species when it was originally classified. Recently DNA analysis revealed that what had been classified as a single species was actually ten different species of butterfly. The amazing thing, is that a local Indian tribe where the butterfly is found, actually had distinct names for the larval form of each of the different butterfly species. Encoded directly into the native language was enough information that could have allowed the original scientists to discover that the butterflies were different species without needing DNA analysis.

There are roughly 7000 known languages in the world today. Of those languages, about half are considered to be in danger of dying out within the next generation.

Reading this made me wonder what other knowledge is lost in ancient languages. Many concepts and technical knowledge about how the world works have been discovered in modern times. Often we thought our civilization was the first to discover the knowledge, only to have archaeologists find out that the ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, or Babylonians had discovered it in the far past. The knowledge being lost when their civilization was taken over or destroyed by another nation.

NewScientist article: Endangered languages encode plant and animal knowledge
Wikipedia Article on Endangered Languages: Endangered language

Give the gift of Nothing

Do you ever find yourself having to give a gift to someone who has everything? You know, the kind of person who buys anything he or she wants? And if they haven't already bought it, then the item is way out of your price range. So you end up getting them a gift card to someplace that you know they shop. Really a cop out gift because you can't figure out what to give them. You put it in a card and bring it to the party. You almost feel embarrassed about giving it to them. So you kind of slip it to them when no one is looking, or simply slide it in with the other gifts and hope he or she doesn't open it until later. Well, I want one of those has the perfect gift for you. Nothing. As you can see, nothing comes in a nice white package. The slogan even tells you that "less is more." Sounds like the perfect gift. Now at least he or she can laugh at your gift. Though I think I would also add a gift card.

Via OhGizmo: Absolutely, Positively Nothing

Purchase at I want one of those: Nothing

Chinese Counterfeit DisneyLand

The Shijingshan Amusement Park in China appears to be a complete ripoff of Disney's Disneyland. The owners of the park claim that all the characters are original and were not copied from Disney. But it is really obvious that there has been some blatant copying involved. A spokesman for the park claims that the above picture is not a mouse, and certainly not a copy of Disney's Mini Mouse. In fact, they claim it is a cat with really big ears. LOL The parks slogan, “Disneyland is too far,” is even a dig for DisneyLand.

Follow the link for a lot more pictures of the fake DisneyLand.
Via JapanProbe: Disneyland in China?

Student arrested for creating a CounterStrike map of his school

A student in a Houston area High school was arrested after school officials discovered that he had made a CounterStrike map of his school for him and his friends to play on. The student had no history of violence, and had not threatened any students or teachers. Nevertheless, he was arrested and sent to an "Alternative Education Center." Alternative Education Centers are high security schools for violent and abusive students, or for repeat drug offenders. School officials were quoted as saying the situation was a "terrorist threat."
CounterStrike is a popular team shooter game, that allows users to create maps of their own. Commonly players will create maps of their neighborhoods, local workplaces, and schools. Playing on a map that fits a local setting, that you know well, can make the game a lot more fun.
How many of you have fantasized about playing paintball or laser tag in your local mall or school? I know I have. CounterStrike with it's map creation tools allows you to do just that. When I was in college, several of my friends made CounterStrike or Quake(a similar game) maps of various school buildings. Some of them were a lot of fun to play on.
What this kid did wasn't against the law. He didn't threaten anyone. He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was enjoy playing a perfectly legal and very popular game. Not a crime! Once again, the people in power are scared and are overreacting. Just like they did with the student who wrote the essay that "disturbed" a teacher.

What bothers me the most about these stories, is not that people are checking up on suspicious behaviour. Or that people are worried about it and more cautious. The problem is that in both of these cases, the students did not break any laws. They were both punished because something they did made people think they might break laws in the future. Is it really okay to punish people for things they didn't do, but might do?

Check out the story here: Teen punished over violent video game
And here: Fort Bend school trustees put off video game appeal

[Edit] Some pictures of the map have surfaced. Check them out at Joystiq: Images of the Clements High student's "terroristic" maps

Banksy's street art

If you are into the art scene, you have probably already heard of Banksy. If not, then you are really missing out. Banksy is a graffiti artist in Britain, who's paintings have become world famous. Many of his paintings, which started as simple graffiti, are now protected and draw hundreds of tourists each year.
The painting above is one of my favorites. Picture taken from his official site. check it out, there are a lot of very interesting paintings and scetchings there.

Check out his Wikipedia article: Banksy
Banksy's official site: http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html

Nanotech Injection helps paralyzed mice walk

Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill has come up with a way to use nanotech to partially repair the spinal cords of mice who were completely paralyzed. He and his team used a specifically tailored molecule to convince stem cells to grow into new nerves. Normally in an injury of that magnitude, the bodies naturally occurring stem cells would become scar tissue rather than new nerves. By preventing the scar tissue from forming, the stem cells instead become new nerves. The entire procedure did not require any surgery or invasive procedures. It could all be accomplished by injecting the tailored molecules directly into the damaged area.
Stupp says he does not think the technique is mature enough to completely heal a severed spinal cord. But he does think that significant improvement in the quality of life for people with severe spinal cord injuries is a possibility using his technique. he hopes to start clinical trial using humans test subjects within two years.

LiveScience.com: Simple Injection Shows Promise for Treating Paralysis
ABC News: Paralyzed Mice Walk Again

Lip reading surveillance cameras in the UK

The Home office of the UK is interested in creating a software system to read lips through the many surveillance cameras that blanket the UK. The UK already has the most extensive and intrusive system of surveillance cameras in the world. It is estimated that the total number of surveillance cameras in the UK is around 4 million. That is roughly 1 camera for every 14 people who live in the UK. Recently work was begun on upgrading many of those cameras to include speakers that will scold or shout at you if you break a law. Such as littering or jaywalking.
Now a British research team at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England is working on a computer system that will be able to lip read. The idea being, that not only suspicious behavior can be monitored through the cameras, but also suspicious speech.
While I could see a system like this being very useful in crime prevention, I'm not sure I would like it if the US was deploying the same type of thing here. It seems like this type of thing would be too much of a temptation for unscrupulous politicians. The potential for abuse here is very high. Of course, it is equally high for the current system that records everything on camera.

Electronic design article: Lip-Reading Technology Knows What You Said

Wikipedia article on the use of surveillance cameras around the world: Closed-circuit television

Do we all need to encrypt our phone conversations?

The New York Times has an interesting article about the huge expansion in sales of encrypted cell phones in Italy. It seems that nearly everyone in Italy is eager to purchase the encrypted phones to keep their conversations private. The most interesting thing about it, is that the eavesdroppers they are trying to protect themselves against aren't government agencies.
It seems that lately there has been a rash of wire tapping done by individuals and journalists using homemade equipment and free software from the Internet. Many of those wire taps have resulted in public scandals and even arrests. Consequently, many individuals are worried about illegal wire taps exposing their private conversations.

So the question is, is this a concern in the US? Italian cell phone systems use basically the same technology as US cell phone systems. Theoretically the same techniques used by individuals in Italy to tap cell phones could be used here. So is it just a matter of time before private wire tapping becomes a big concern here?

The New York Times: Phone Taps in Italy Spur Rush Toward Encryption