Walking While Texting? Don't Bitch When You Trip

Texting Teen Falls Down Open Manhole on Staten Island

One second a Staten Island teenager was walking down the street, the next second she was gone.

Alexa Longueira was walking down Victory Boulevard and getting ready to text-message when she fell into an open sewer manhole. Now the city is trying to figure out why the manhole was left open and unblocked.

Alexa suffered some cuts and scrapes but is otherwise OK.

He mother says workers told her they left the manhole open and unattended for just seconds while they went to fetch some cones from their truck. [...]

Alexa's mom says it doesn't matter that her daughter was text-messaging, the manhole should not have been left open. The family plans to file as lawsuit.

Apparently in New York you can sue yourself for being an idiot. Who knew?

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This Has All Happened Before, And It Will All Happen Again

Robot Achieves Scientific First

A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators.

Adam formed a hypothesis on the genetics of bakers’ yeast and carried out experiments to test its predictions, without intervention from its makers at Aberystwyth University. [...]

The team has just completed a successor robot called Eve, which is about to work with Adam on a series of experiments designed to find new drugs to treat tropical diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis.

And Humans created machine in Their own image, in the image of Humans They created them; male and female They created them.

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Stupid Hippies

English Hippies Want Local Wi-Fi Network Turned Off

Turn off that Wi-Fi network — it's disturbing our chakras.

That's what many residents of Glastonbury, a lovely medieval town turned New Age hub in southwestern England, are demanding the local government do.

Ever since the town's free municipal wireless broadband network went online in May, people have been complaining of, as an online petition puts it, "headaches, dizziness, nausea, severe tiredness, brain fog, disorientation and loss of appetite, loss of balance, inability to concentrate, loss of creativity" — all ailments an examining physician would find it difficult to prove or disprove.

"This place is not appropriate for a Wi-Fi trial," resident Linda Taylor tells the local Fosse Way magazine. "People are complaining of headaches, tingling skin among other symptoms. This makes me wonder what is it doing to the children." [...]

One man has even begun making orgone generators, which use crystals, semi-precious stones and gold to purportedly put out positive energy to combat the negative vibes flooding the town from the Wi-Fi base stations.

"I have given a number of generators to shops in the High Street and hidden others in bushes in the immediate vicinity of the antennae. That way you can bring back the balance," Matt Todd told the Telegraph. "The science hasn't really got into the mainstream because the government won't make decisions which will affect big business, even if it concerns everyone's health."

I'll tell you what's it doing to the children, it's giving them a chance to access real health and science information that might be able to counteract some of the bullsh-t you're feeding into their soft little brains. If the wi-fi network isn't being used then take it down; but please don't turn it off just because these jello brained loonies think it's messing up their chakras. Sheesh!

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I'm All A Twitter

You can follow me as KevinQC. Will it last? Don't know.

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A New Attack Submarine

Navy Christens Attack Submarine New Hampshire

The Navy's newest attack submarine, the New Hampshire, was christened Saturday, delivered eight months ahead of schedule and $54 million under budget.

The New Hampshire was christened by the widow of a pilot killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I believe I'm looking at heroes," Cheryl McGuinness of Portsmouth, N.H., said, looking at the ship's crew. "You all are my heroes."

Thomas McGuinness was co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the World Trade Center's north tower.

Navy officials, members of Congress and shipyard workers were among the thousands who gathered to celebrate the christening of the 7,800-ton, 337-foot nuclear-powered submarine, which will have a crew of 134.

The submarine is scheduled to begin sea trials this summer and is expected to be delivered to the Navy in October, in a ceremony at the Naval shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Go get'em baby. Live free, or die.

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Necessity = Invention

A pretty neat example of the free market at work: GoodMail

E-mail certified by Goodmail is guaranteed to be authentic and will display a blue ribbon in the e-mail to let consumers know it’s certified. Goodmail has relationships with AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner, all of which let any message from Goodmail through their firewalls. Senders of the e-mail pay Goodmail a fee to use the service, which is free to consumers.

“Spammers have gotten pretty good at spoofing," said Peter Horan, chief executive of Goodmail.. "You can’t tell if it's spam or the real thing. We’ve dramatically raised the bar because this service is way behind the firewall behind the ISP.”

While Horan isn’t saying it's completely un-hackable, Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail hasn’t yet to be hacked. “We send 2 billion messages a month,” said Horan, noting that the Federal Reserve and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are among its customers.

Think the government could have come up with this? Capitalism rocks.

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I Bet This Baby Kicks ASS!

The new Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship: USS Independence

The General Dynamics LCS concept features an innovative, high-speed trimaran hull that delivers one of the largest useable payload volumes of any US Navy surface combatant afloat today. Its very large and stable flight deck that rests higher above the water than any US Navy surface combatant will support near-simultaneous operation of two SH-60 helicopters, one H-53 helicopter or multiple unmanned aerial vehicles. Coupled with the inherent stability of the trimaran hull form, the ship is capable of conducting operations in Sea State 8 conditions and performing full flight operations through Sea State 5. The Littoral Combat Ship is a key element of the Navy's plan to address asymmetric threats. Intended to operate in coastal areas of the globe, the ship will be fast, highly maneuverable and geared to supporting mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare, particularly against small surface craft. The General Dynamics approach features an innovative trimaran hull that enables the ship to reach sustainable speeds of nearly 50 knots and range as far as 10,000 nautical miles with an unmatched interior volume and payload. The ship is designed to allow a crew of fewer than 40 sailors to fully operate, maintain and defend it.

God bless America! Now go get'em baby...

ht: Michelle Malkin

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Okay, This Is Cool...

Evolutionary Software: Web pages have "come alive and started breeding"

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The Internet Has Changed Everything...Whether Some Companies Realize It Or Not...

Hacker breaks link between iTunes and the iPod

A notorious Norwegian hacker known as DVD Jon is preparing for another run-in with the music industry after he released software that lets iPod owners copy music and videos bought from iTunes and play it on other devices. [...]

A spokesman for the San Fransisco-based company said that its software was legal, because it only allowed a user who has already purchased music to copy it. "All we are facilitating are friends sending things to one another," Monique Farantzos, DoubleTwists's chief executive and co-founder, told Reuters.

Lawyers today cast doubt on Ms Farantzos's claims, however, saying that the law had taken steps to protect Apple's efforts to control the way its music could be played, and that anyone circumventing measures such as DRM risked being found guilty of copyright infringement.

"I would be astonished if DoubleTwist doesn't get a call from Apple," Paul Jones, a partner in intellectual property law at the London-based firm Harbottle & Lewis, said.

DVD Jon, whose real name is Jon Lech Johansen, has been an arch-enemy of the music and film indutries ever since he released software which broke the copy protection on Hollywood films, aged 16.

In 2003, Mr Johansen, now 24, developed the first of several programs which attempted to bypass the system developed by Apple for synchronising its iTunes store with iPods, leading to one of a series of run-ins with the firm.

Yes, I understand the legal arguments against such technology; and those arguments are legally correct. However, the media/music industry (that includes people like Apple as well as the RIAA and artists) needs to realize they are well past the "if you can't beat'em" phase of their battle with the technopartisans. They will never win the war to keep strict control over their technology or the intellectual property they sell. It's time to start thinking in a new way for a new world. Otherwise consumers will always be caught in the middle, and will feel no loyalty to either side, and choose simply what is best, cheapest for them.

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Artificial Life

I Am Creating Artificial Life, Declares US Gene Pioneer

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

The announcement, which is expected within weeks and could come as early as Monday at the annual meeting of his scientific institute in San Diego, California, will herald a giant leap forward in the development of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated debate about the ethics of creating new species and could unlock the door to new energy sources and techniques to combat global warming.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before."

As God said, "nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." Of course He didn't think that was such a good idea...

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Bullseye!

U.S. Missile Defense Test Successful

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A ground-based missile successfully intercepted a target missile Friday in a test of the nation's defense system, the Missile Defense Agency said.

An intercontinental ballistic missile interceptor blasted out of an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base shortly after 1:15 p.m., and tracked a target missile that had lifted off from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, the Boeing Co. said in a statement.

The Missile Defense Agency said initial results show the interceptor's rocket motor system and kill vehicle performed as planned. Boeing said the warhead was tracked, intercepted and destroyed.

I'm sure it's not a perfect system yet, but we're getting better. Soon we'll be very, very good at it, and it will mark a radical shift in the balance of power even further in our favor.

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Random Thought

Sitting here at my desk without the television or iPod blaring it occurred to me that before the electronic age life must have been very, very, quiet. In say, 1807 it was probably a treat to go and see a play or hear a concert, or just have a long conversation. Now with media blaring at us constantly throughout the day - the opposite seems true. I think I'll leave the TV, cellphone, and music off the rest of the day...maybe read a book instead, or just sit and think...

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