Price: $900 What it purportedly does: Got an insanely expensive array of surveillance cameras? iRa Pro lets you watch live video feeds and manipulate camera angles through a swipe of the finger. A must-have for the fortresses of hyper-paranoid supervillains.
Have you ever wished that you could bypass the direct message, because you know that it would be a long back and forth?
Well...
Jajah, based in California, has come out with a beta of JAJAH@call, that allows you to call other Twitter users - all you need to know is their Twitter username.
"JAJAH gives short messages a voice. With the new JAJAH application, Twitter users can make free phone calls on their favorite microblogging service. Now in Beta, JAJAH@Call allows you to make a free two minute call (the verbal equivalent of a tweet) to other JAJAH@Call users. It’s free, it’s easy and works no matter how you use Twitter, whether it’s on your cellphone, via Seesmic, TweetDeck, or any other way."
The Rev. Darrell Best's firetruck, shown in a photo he provided, was converted on the Country Music Television show "Trick My Truck." (July 29)
Best said he wanted to give people without a church a chance for a special service. And for $2 per mile, plus a $200 fee, he'll drive the church anywhere.
While it will be a while before these cells will be useful in the treatment of infertility, don't become too complacent:
A colony of human embryonic stem cells is seen on a computer monitor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Darren Hauck / Getty
<>The achievement, described in the journal Stem Cells and Development, comes just 11 years after the first human-embryonic-stem-cell line was created — an eyeblink in scientific terms — in the lab of James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin.
Although the development once again raises the specter of creating humans in a petri dish or custom-designing egg and sperm cells for reproduction, lead author Karim Nayernia says that was not his team's intention. Rather, the experiment was a proof of concept that stem cells can generate any cell in the body — not only the dozens of tissues that make up the human body but also those egg and sperm cells that may give rise to altogether new bodies. "Other cell types don't generate the next generation," says Nayernia, a professor of stem-cell biology at Newcastle University. "This makes a very big difference between our study and the study of other cell types from embryonic stem cells."<>
Funko has created a new series of USB flash drives that [successfully, I think] competes with the older Mimoco line of flash drives. They look at lot more like the actual characters, and the packaging says that this set is 'Series 1', so I'd say that there are more Star Wars characters in the pipeline :-)
So... you think lasers are lame? After all, you've got one on your keychain, right?
Think again...
SkyLasers have single-handedly made lasers cool again!
How?
Check out this list of 'can-dos': [on the 125mW laser]
- Extend its beam to nearly 100 miles
- Visible beam in a lit room
- Cut through a black plastic garbage bag
- Sting the skin on contact
- Burn dark fabrics
- Pop dark colored balloons
- Ignite wooden or paper matches
- Cut black electrical tape
- Etch dark plastics, leathers and rubber
- Light fireworks
- Melt rubber and plastics
Now, after you finish terrorizing the neighborhood, and reassure your mother that you won't put anyone's eyes out [although, if you are an Evil Overlord™, your mother will just have to deal with the fact that you'll put out some eyes... or worse!], there are actually some interesting uses for a laser like this...
- Astronomy presentations
- Hiking rescue signal
- Can be used in construction alignment and long-distance pointing and targeting
- Sending long-distance signals
- Special effects photography
- Cool lightsaber/phaser effect when unsheathed in your hand [you know I had to go there, LOL!!]
- The beam refracts in cool ways when you shoot it at things like cut glass stemware [practice your pool shots, :g:!]
HOUSTON, May 15 -- Moviegoers likely will sit in crowded theaters to watch the new "Star Trek" movie, which premiered on May 8, but not NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. He will have the opportunity to watch the film aboard the International Space Station, while he and two crewmates fly 220 miles above Earth. The only thing missing will be the popcorn.
Paramount Pictures transferred "Star Trek" to NASA's Mission Control in Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station on Thursday, May 14. Barratt plans to watch the film on a laptop computer inside the Unity module.
"I remember watching the original 'Star Trek' series and, like many of my NASA coworkers, was inspired by the idea of people from all nations coming together to explore space," said Barratt. "'Star Trek' blended adventure, discovery, intelligence and story telling that assumes a positive future for humanity. The International Space Station is a real step in that direction, with many nations sharing in an adventure the world can be proud of."
There is a collection of DVDs and uplinked movies aboard the space station. The DVDs were delivered during previous shuttle and station missions and will remain aboard for the enjoyment of future crews.
Some crews have had movie nights as regular activities. Former station astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his crewmates viewed the entire "Star Trek" series as a regular weekly event.
Aside from watching movies and television shows, space station astronauts have a number of options for their leisure and personal time, such as reading books or magazines, listening to music, and playing musical instruments and board games. Chamitoff played chess in orbit with ground teams from station control centers around the world and the public. During one game, the public voted on the next move, choosing from four possibilities that students from Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., suggested.
Films, books and music are important aspects of psychological support for astronauts on long-duration missions.
Barratt launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in March. He is scheduled to return to Earth on space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission in June. His station crewmates are Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All three will become part of the station's first six-person crew, Expedition 20, when three new crew members arrive on May 29.
For more information about Barratt and the International Space Station, visit:
For those Alpha Geeks among you that watch sci-fi and analyze the science behind it, Popular Mechanics weighs in on the new Star Trek movie, giving 4 Science Lessons from the New Star Trek Movie.
Getting input from stuntmen, spacesuit makers, astrophysicists, and a real-life physicist that wrote a book about the physics of Star Trek (aptly titled, The Physics of Star Trek), PM goes to show the difference between good imagery and the actual science that it is based upon.
Written: Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 19:48:55
Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 21:02:23
Winter is over,
Spring has sprung,
the serial herbicide has begun...
The Buying of The Plants, LOL!! [You can hear the screams of the soon-to-be-dead plants.... "Nooooooo!! Leave me! LEAVE ME!!!"]
I have 50 chicks on order, to be delivered in late May, so hopefully, there will be eggs in my future this year... We finally figured out why there were no eggs... SAM [our dog] was eating them!! [No wonder the chickens were pecking him on the head while he slept, LOL!]
So, for now at least, I am building an enclosure for the chickens. It will have trees [to protect them from the hawks], and an area where there will be leafy, edible plants for them to enjoy [hopefully, this will keep them out of my garden :smile:]
I just finished spreading lime on the garden area in preparation for plowing, and it and the chickens' garden should be plowed up in the next week or so. So, until then, I'll be working on the raised herb beds, and defending them from the dogs [they are loving the onions], and the chickens [they like everything else].
In my hubris, I have even picked up some houseplants; selected for nothing more than their beauty and ability to withstand neglect and low light ;-)... so far, they are doing well... but I've only had them for a week. Time will tell ;-)!
Elgato Systems, a maker of TV software for Macs, has created the EyeTV Hybrid, which the company says “turns your Mac into the world’s most affordable flat-screen HDTV.”
It also allows you to sync your movies and TV shows with your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.
Suggested retail price is $149. Purchase it here for a little less. :-)
In a lengthy post on March 20, 2009 from The Daily Galaxy, Rebecca Sato discusses the pros and cons of human genetic engineering.
To quote on the con side:
Much of the debate stems from the fact that the effects of genetically altering an embryo would be generational and permanent. In other words, if we create a mutant baby and it grows up to have children of it’s own—they’ll all be mutant gene carriers too. Genes injected into embryos and reproductive cells, such as sperm, affect every cells in the body and would be passed on to future generations. Critics say current humans don’t have the right to tamper with the gene pool of future generations.
And on the pro side, John Harris, the Sir David Alliance Professor of Bioethics at Manchester University believes that:
as parents, citizens, and scientists, we are morally obliged to do whatever we can genetically to make life better and longer for our children and ourselves. Society currently devotes so much energy and resources towards saving lives, which, in reality, is simply postponing death, he notes. If it is right to save life, Harris reasons, then it should also be right to postpone death by stemming the flow of diseases that carry us to the grave.
Rebecca ends her post with:
Many say we shouldn’t change human genetics, UNLESS it’s the RIGHT thing to do. Who gets to decide where the line is between righteous endeavor and the corruption of nature?
Great questions... what do YOU think about human genetic engineering?
"Humanity is an infestation... they must be cleansed!!"
This interesting, 'food for thought' ad is on the floor in an Jakarta shopping center... and it is only clearly visible from the upper levels of the shopping center.
Yesterday, I went to the Alltel kiosk in the local mall. I was looking for a live Crackberry, I mean Blackberry Curve to play with to see if it would suit my Internet needs.
I wound up talking with the two guys running the kiosk, who were pretty cool and were gamers.
We started talking about Mac v. PC... [you know where this is heading]
and before I knew it, we were talking about pirates, LAN parties, heavy duty PC mods, overclocking, and the attendant challenges [including crazy electric bills!]...
My non-tech friends are right. I need to get out more, LOL!!
While I don't game, I *do* know my way around a PC case, and Windows [up to XP... not *evah* touching Vista, LOL!], and I did [wonder of wonders] know what they were talking about.
And they are right. Trying to game on a Mac emulating Windows is probably not gonna work because of the lag... [Wait... did I just say that?!?]
Sorry.
Anywhoo, this morning, I logged into my Blogger in Draft dashboard, and there is something new there... icons that let you know [without digging into the 'settings' tab] what the email posting address is and setup info for SMS posting for each blog in your account.
As I was ooohing and aaahhing over these sweet new additions to my dashboard, my third daughter walked by, looked over my shoulder, and walked off shaking her head, saying,
We've kept all the things people like about GrandCentral and added new features like transcripts, SMS, international calling, and conference calling. If you are a GrandCentral user, over the next few days you will be prompted to upgrade to Google Voice.
Here's a link to more information on the nifty, new features: About Google Voice
Google Voice is only open to GrandCentral subscribers so... GrandCentral subscribers, keep your eyes peeled for the prompting to upgrade!!
Most of my friends will tell you that I despise cold weather. Even though I now live somewhere that is warm for 95% of the year, I still don't like the onset of cold weather.
I was reading in my feed reader about the underglacier mountains and lake, and I was amazed that there are people who actually are willing to work in such conditions!
So, to continue, I learned about true cold... I'm thinking about the katabactic winds that come off the Antarctic glaciers and ice sheets.
Reported in the New York Times today is the news that the Pentagon will allow the press, with the permission of their families, will now be allowed to photograph the flag-draped coffins of our war dead.
Can this be the beginning of effective anti-viral treatment?
High-energy X-ray diffraction was used to pinpoint some 5 million atoms in the protective protein coat used by hundreds of viruses. (Credit: J. Pan & Y.J. Tao/Rice University)
What you are looking at in this image is the 'armor' used by many viruses to keep the body's immune system from successfully destroying the virus' DNA (which allows the virus to successfully multiply)
Now that it's identified, the next thing is to crack the code that makes the armor impenetrable by the human immune system.
1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down...
The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way. 2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down...
Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?
Wrong Answer.
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.
3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend .... Except one. Which animal does not attend? Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down...
Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.
4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it? Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down...
Correct Answer:? You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.
According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the Professionalsthey tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers.
Anderson Consulting says this conclusively proves the theory that most professionals do not have the brains of a four-year-old.
Send this out to frustrate all of your smart friends.
While looking for videos on Star Trek on YouTube, I came across a memorial to Majel Barrett Roddenberry... I hadn't known that she'd passed away (public funeral on January 4, 2009).
Here's the tribute I found ... hanky alert!
Her last Star Trek work was on the latest movie as the voice of the computer... she will be missed.
