Search This Blog

14 June 2007

News from the Net

A student at Boston University challenges the RIAA.

House to vote on voting/elections bill.

If you haven't heard yet, the ISS is having computer problems after switching to solar.

Internet2 spans East-to-West.

The EU follows Hillary Clinton.

Oops, it appears we may not have "junk dna" after all. Hope you weren't needing that.

Microsoft gets another patent to charge big brother for. Vocal caller-id (without warning caller). Of course some other company got a patent on location-based searching. When oh when can we eliminate the infernal patent office? Maybe this will help....

AT&T has decided to work with the RIAA and MPAA.

$200k for 90-minute space flight.

Some of you may remember the Discover episode in the 80s when they hooked plants to EEGs (or what is EKG?) and they responded differently to water and scissors? Well, it appears that they respond differently to siblings as well.

You think you will be one of the million people the FBI will contact?

Some interesting interstellar stuff. I think I need to do a blog entry just about that.

A man in North Carolina is fined for using vegetable oil for fuel.

So once again the police show that they are allowed to videotape you but not the other way around. In the words of NWA, Fuck da Police.

Sony shoots themselves in the foot by targeting 1/2 their customer base.

Can't get funding for your research? This guy got private funding for time travel research instead.

More states tell Homeland Security to F'off (re: RealID). This time New Hampshire and Oaklahoma.

Oooh self-healing plastic skin... although, didn't we hear about that a few months ago?

RIAA uses Beaverton police officers to do their dirty work!!! And to think that we said they were corrupt for the whole judge lying and the cop saying that traffic laws don't apply to them.

Planning on blogging about some sport event while you are there? Probably not.

Interesting. US Intelligence budget for 2005 around $60 billion... Good thing no one wants their kids educated.

The Everything Test

The Everything Test

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

Personality
You are more emotional than logical, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more atheist than religious, more loner than dependent, more lazy than workaholic, more rebel than traditional, more artistic mind than engineering mind, more idealist than cynical, more leader than follower, and more introverted than extroverted.

As for specific personality traits, you are romantic (86%), innovative (79%), slutty (74%), horny (72%).

Stereotypes
Young Professional90%
Punk Rock80%
Geek71%
Life Experience
Sex65%
Substances62%
Travel26%

Politics
Your political views would best be described as Socialist, whom you agree with around 78% of the time.
Socioeconomic
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Middle Class. You make more than 99% of those who have taken this test, and 71% more than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated R.
By the way, your hottness rank is 55%, hotter than 29% of other test takers.

TAKE THE TEST
brought to you by thatsurveysite

12 June 2007

Stub Stewart will open July 8

The information below will be released to media outlets early tomorrow morning (June 13). Please note that you can make reservations beginning June 13 at 8 a.m.
Stub Stewart will open July 8
State and local officials are ready to celebrate the grand opening of Oregon's first new state park campground in more than 30 years. Stub Stewart State Park, in western Washington County, will officially open on Sunday July 8, 2007.
"This is momentous," says Tim Wood, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Director. "Stub Stewart represents an unprecedented combination of hard work, unique land deals and community support."
The 1,654 acre park was created on timber land formerly owned by the Longview Fibre Company. A series of land exchanges between the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Forestry, Washington County, Oregon Military Department, Oregon Department of State Lands and the Oregon Department of Transportation made the park possible.
The park includes:
. 15 miles of park trails for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking through meadows and forests teeming with wildlife and native plants. Park trails connect to the 21-mile Banks-Vernonia trail, which links the communities of Banks, Buxton, Manning, Tophill and Vernonia.
. Stub Stewart Welcome Center, including registration check-in window for campers and an interpretive display area.
. Brooke Creek hike-in camp with 23 primitive sites, restrooms, a kitchen shelter and two common areas with fire rings. Rental is $6/night Oct-Apr, and $9/night May-Sept.
. Dairy Creek Camp West camp loop, with 43 full-hookup (water, sewer, electric) RV sites and 12 walk-in tent sites. RV sites rent for $18/night Oct-Apr, and $22/night May-Sept; tent sites are $13/night Oct-Apr, and $18/night May-Sept. A second camp loop with 35 more RV sites will open in early 2008.
. Mountain Dale Cabin Village with 15 rustic-style cabins (12, 1-room; 3, 2-room). Rustic cabins have lights, furnishings and heat, but campers bring their own bedding and cook outside the cabins. Rental is $39/night year-round.
. Hilltop Day-use Area offering a stunning panoramic view of the Coast range mountains with parking for 35 cars and 10-15 RVs, modern restrooms and a trailhead for the park's trail system. Day-visitors to the park pay $3 a day, or purchase a 12-month pass-good for all 26 state parks that charge a day-use fee-for $25 (a 24-month pass sells for $40).
. Clay Hill equestrian staging and day-use area, with a restroom, water and extra room for trailer parking.
. Hares Canyon Horse Camp, with 14 full hookup campsites, each with four-stall corrals ($18/night Oct-Apr, $22/night May-Sept), and two double-size full hookup sites with six-stall corrals ($31/night Oct-Apr, $40/night May-Sept). This is the only state park horse camp with RV hookup sites and a fully-accessible shower-restroom.
Many of the state park campgrounds and trails near Portland-Milo McIver near Estacada, Ainsworth in the Columbia Gorge, Champoeg in the Willamette Valley-are extremely busy in the summer. When Stub Stewart opens, the number of state park campsites within 35 miles of Portland will increase more than 40%.
"Stub Stewart adds the kind of camping and trails we need to serve Oregon's most populated region," says Wood. "Parks are important to the relaxed Oregon way of life and our economy, and Stub Stewart is within easy reach of millions of Oregonians."
Most of the funding for park construction-$14.5 million-came from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's share of the Oregon Lottery. Voters dedicated lottery funding to state parks in 1998 to help pay for maintenance, park development and local community recreation through grants. Stub Stewart construction was also supported with more than $2 million in federal money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Volunteers helped build key features such as the horse and hike-in camps. The park includes many accessible features-such as ramps and wheelchair-accessible picnic tables-designed to make the park easy to use.
Campers eager to visit Stub Stewart may now call 1-800-452-5687, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. to make campsite and cabin reservations for stays starting August 16 and later. Reservations are also available online at www.oregonstateparks.org. The park's campsites and cabins will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from July 8 to August 16.
The park will host its first event even before the official opening. Cycle Oregon will spend part of a day in the park on June 24 during its annual weekend ride. Registration for the weekend ride is still open; contact Cycle Oregon at www.cycleoregon.com, or call 800-292-5367 for registration information.
Portions of the park will open on a limited basis between now and July 8 as construction crews complete their work and leave the park. Visitors can receive updates on the status of the park-and download maps and other information-online at http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_255.php . Up-to-date information on the park is also available through the park information line at 1-800-551-6949, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors who would like to see the park before the July 8 opening should call or check online first to find out if entry will be possible.

Make your own OLED

Not quite SVGA quality, but freakin cool nonetheless.

11 June 2007

News from the Net

Let's see if I can sum up this story and the back-news relating to it... So a circular is going around about the Chinese government censoring. A financial writer sent an email regarding it. Yahoo! told the Chinese government. The Chinese government, in an effort to put an end to the rumors of censorship, sentenced the man to 10 years in prison. The man is now suing Yahoo! for it. Of course, the Chinese government censors all photos on Flickr.

Bug or cheating? Worth $1million for detecting it.

Robotic lizards to help understand mating behaviors.

Universities let Google scan their libraries.

Io spouting a plume of ash into space.

Oooh Homebrew Wii Games contest.

The Justice Dept once again shows that they are in M$ pocket.

Time Warner Cable not only throttles VoIP and P2P, but says you are violating their agreement if you don't let them.

Hindu students threaten cafes that don't block Orkut.

The Church of England sues Sony over Resistance: Fall of Man.

ISPs starting to charge more if you want your email delivered. Sounds to me like something the USPS would come up with.

Scientists think they may have found water currently on Mars.

Tell me how this company can call themselves non-profit.

TorrentSpy ordered by judge to become spy for MPAA.

Wait, I saw that StarGate! I guess we know what can happen with this tech.

Legal online gambling may soon be back. Then again, after not getting our money back when places closed US access, should we trust them?

Planning on making a Vista Media Center? Better think again.

Oooh courts have decided that Clickwrap agreements are unenforceable.

Brett found that the FDA is recommending avoiding any toothpaste from China, as they have poisonous chemicals in them.

Scientists have made major breakthroughs on understanding the genetics of diseases - and has linked some of them together.

Whaaa? Dungeon Siege in Theaters? Interesting.

This is kinda what I have been saying - once we quit trying to make a concrete jungle, eventually, things will go more natural.

It's things like this that give Christians a bad name.

08 June 2007

Cold War?

Does anyone else find it odd that the news is now reporting that the USA and Russia are moving towards a Cold War again? I mean, I only mentioned it 6-1/2 weeks earlier than them.

News from the Net

It appears that Vista breaks when using IPv6. Nothing like introducing new bugs with new revisions.

You still think that software patents are a good thing? Well, take a look at this and this. Of course, hardware patents may make 3G phones illegal in the USA. Of course, there is also those DNA patents. The patent office really needs to go away. Wonder if we can convince any of the presidential candidates of this.

Man sues Gateway because their EULA was scrambled and unreadable.

Now come on - how often does Slashdot mention Nikola Tesla in the summary? MIT wirelessly powers a 60w light bulb.

Touchscreen billboard w/ speakers... made from paper...

The Bush Dictatorship stalls Congress.

Bears enter the war. Well, robotic teddy bears.

Via debuts mobile-ITX, half the size of pico-ITX.

This might remind someone of high school reading assignments... They have found caves on Mars.

Hmm... SimCity 5 won't be a City Simulator? Then why cont.... oh, because the name sells.

07 June 2007

Stub Stewart State Park

I'm sure some of you have seen the commercials about this... they always go by so fast, I thought I would gather some information for all of you... This all comes from the Oregon Parks & Recreations website.

Opening June 2007, Stub Stewart State Park is the first full-service Oregon state park in more than 30 years!

Campers, hikers, horseback riders and bicyclists will find 1,654 acres of the lush rolling hills, forest and deep canyons so typical of the northern Willamette Valley. The Hilltop Overlook Day-Use Area offers vistas of the Pacific Coast Range. The terrain is hilly and forested. The dominant geographical feature, Hares Canyon, runs the length of the park.

***Where is the park located?***
On the east side of Oregon 47, four miles north of the U.S. 26-Hwy. 47 intersection. The park is 31 miles west of Portland in Washington County.


Reservations

Stub Stewart likely will open as a first-come, first-served park. Reservations for late summer and beyond will begin in mid-June. Look for an announcement later this spring with the exact date and more details.


Directions
US-26 W
Turn right at OR-47
4.1 miles to Stub Stewart State Park (not yet open)
Address for googlemaps: 45.739050,-123.199461

News from the Net

Intentions may be good, but this is just pathetic.

Very nice! I remember drawing these (with colored pencil) as kids - and now we are using them!

This is great news. I think this technology could be used in other scenarios too... maybe CPR/FirstAid, evacuation engineering, traffic engineering, etc...

Forgetting helps you remember?

Amnesty International speaks out against Goo-gul, M$ and Ya-Who?

No real information on this wheelchair bot; they have been slashdotted.

I wonder if there is any chance the dead skin cells from my sunburn could be used to make stem cells...

At a time when our own "leader" doesn't face any jail time for taking us into an illegal war and killing thousands, teachers face 40 years in prison because a pop-up ad opened in school. Stupid.

The US Navy must now consider open source when making software acquisitions.

Safemedia is BEGGING to be boycotted...... guess it isn't really safe to suggest anything worse.

Micro$oft sued by Vista trademark holder.

Normally, I just post a link and very very brief 1-or-2 liner for news stories... but this one is too good to pass... "The defendant in a Tampa, Florida, case, UMG v. Del Cid, has filed counterclaims accusing the RIAA record labels of conspiracy and extortion. The counterclaims (pdf) are for Trespass, Computer Fraud and Abuse (18 USC 1030), Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices (Fla. Stat. 501.201), Civil Extortion (CA Penal Code 519 & 523), and Civil Conspiracy involving (a) use of private investigators without license in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 493; (b) unauthorized access to a protected computer system, in interstate commerce, for the purpose of obtaining information in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030 (a)(2)(C); (c) extortion in violation of Ca. Penal Code 519 and 523; and (d) knowingly collecting an unlawful consumer debt, and using abus[ive] means to do so, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq. and Fla. Stat. 559.72 et seq."

Brainwave controlled computers via aspirin-sized implant!

Looks like Canada wants to screw over farmers.

05 June 2007

News from the Net

It seems the FCC and the Court are arguing over censorship.

An Oregon mother may be winning against the RIAA.

WOTC is threatening to sue over a patent that hasn't been approved yet (and shouldn't be since the technology they describe was used when I was a kid) - I guess Wizards wants to get boycotted.

Surprise Surprise - the Whitehouse was fudging the numbers to try to make us look better than Europe.

It appears that Titan may have an Ocean.

Some of you may remember the teleportation experiments based on quantum entanglement. Well, they have now teleported data 89 miles :)

Wow... 1.7TB of Mars photos released to the public. Most are 20k x 50k pixels!

Hmmm. Hardware-Software symbiosis.

Scientists found a more efficient way to convert heat into electricity -- convert it to sound first.

04 June 2007

Congressmans' in the RIAA's Pocket

A small list of people to never vote for:

Dist 19-FL WEXLER, ROBERT DEM
Dist 21-TX SMITH, LAMAR REP
Senate-UT HATCH, ORRIN G REP
Senate-PA SPECTER, ARLEN REP
Senate-AK STEVENS, THEODORE F REP
Senate-NE NELSON, E BENJAMIN DEM
Senate-CA FEINSTEIN, DIANNE DEM
Dist 45-CA BONO, MARY REP
Senate-FL NELSON, BILL DEM
Dist 08-FL KELLER, RICHARD A REP
Dist 07-NJ FERGUSON, MIKE REP
Dist 28-CA BERMAN, HOWARD L DEM
Dist 29-CA SCHIFF, ADAM DEM
Dist 30-CA WAXMAN, HENRY A. DEM
Dist 07-MO BLUNT, ROY REP
Dist 06-TN GORDON, BARTON JENNINGS DEM
Dist 06-VA GOODLATTE, ROBERT W. REP
Senate-IL OBAMA, BARACK DEM
Dist 14-IL HASTERT, DENNIS J. REP
Dist 07-MA MARKEY, EDWARD J MR. DEM
Dist 05-MD HOYER, STENY HAMILTON DEM
Dist 14-MI CONYERS, JOHN JR. DEM
Dist 03-MS PICKERING, CHARLES W REP
Senate-NY CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM DEM
Senate-TN CORKER, ROBERT P JR REP
Dist 07-TN BLACKBURN, MARSHA REP
Dist 06-TX BARTON, JOE LINUS REP
Senate-AL SHELBY, RICHARD C REP
Senate- AR PRYOR, MARK LUNSFORD DEM
Dist 10- CA TAUSCHER, ELLEN O DEM
Dist 22- CA MCCARTHY, KEVIN REP
Dist 49-CA ISSA, DARRELL EDWARD REP
Dist 14-FL MACK, CONNIE REP
Dist 05-IL EMANUEL, RAHM DEM
Senate-LA VITTER, DAVID REP
Dist 06-MI UPTON, FREDERICK STEPHEN REP
Senate-MS LOTT, TRENT REP
Dist 06-NC COBLE, JOHN HOWARD REP
Dist 09-NC MYRICK, SUE REP
Dist 02-NE TERRY, LEE REP
Dist 07-NY CROWLEY, JOSEPH DEM
Dist 10-NY TOWNS, EDOLPHUS DEM
Dist 28-NY SLAUGHTER, LOUISE M DEM
Dist 05-OH GILLMOR, PAUL E REP
Dist 01-OK SULLIVAN, JOHN REP
Dist 02-OR WALDEN, GREGORY PAUL REP
Dist 01-WA INSLEE, JAY R DEM
Senate-SD THUNE, JOHN REP
Dist 05-TN COOPER, JAMES H. S. DEM

News from the Net

Ok, people may not realize this, but the government is supposed to serve us, not the other way around. We don't need no stinkin internet tax!

Oooh, and uber-efficient fuel cell... I still don't like 'alternative fuels' since they just move the problem instead of fix it, but advancements are advancements.

I actually saw this on the news this morning too. Putin thinks Bush is trying to start the Arms Race again. That's a shocker.

Oregon, among others, cowtow to M$. Not surprising since Ted Kulongosky accepts money from Microsoft. I sent a message to Sen. Ryan Deckert and Rep. Jeff Barker urging them to pass such legislation. Of course, scholarly journals are refusing to accept submissions in Office 2007 format.

Google vs Verizon and AT&T er Cingular er AT&T.

McCain has just ensured that no techy would vote for him: he would ask Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to serve on his cabinet to deal with technology issues if elected

Russia now owns the patent on AK-47s.

Elevator to space is in serious trouble.

HD microphone for laptops?

I don't know about you, but this sure makes me want to go treasure hunting, telecommute style.

Oooh 2TB MMC/USB card. Very nice.

Spinplasmonics - a new nanotech field.

Ok, if you have always wanted to swing around like Spiderman and become a vigilante, er Hero - then now you can.

Dr. Watson's DNA decoded.

How do you make electronics faster? Cool them down. Or make them out of diamonds.

I have to admit, I never had a clue - this is more info on heat/cold than I even remotely considered.

40% efficient solar cells. still not nearly as efficient as I would like.

Dell, Motorola and Circuit City are asking to be boycotted.

Does anyone else think that the Patent Office is a Drama Queen?

New York has made it a 'serious felony' to sell violent videogames... Sorry PacMan and Frogger, but you are more harmful to our kids than parental abuse.

Haha. So the AACS-LA (HD-DVD and BluRay) issued new licensing keys to thwart hackers - and they posted the decryption keys 1 day later online.

Computer Anti-Forensics is now a hobby?

I doubt I will try it, but if you are into WarHammer, Beta is open.

Thinking about taking an IT job in Germany? You may want to rethink that decision.

The Spam King was arrested.

Hmmm. looks like I need to try out Google Gears.

Oooh invisible ink... yummy...

Helium as the throttle to solar wind? Interesting.

MySpace incorrectly labels a woman as a sex offender.