Huh?

I've heard of anechoic chambers, but WTF is this?

Quantum Computing via a Black Hole.

This is not a new idea for me. I heard about the possibility of using microscopic black holes as ultra-low energy quantum computers years ago. Then again, I may have well read about it on the extropians mailing list, and I think Seth Lloyd is a member.

That time of year again.

(Thanks to _grey_knight)

Its that time of year again in Canada: Tax Time, and of course Rick Mercer has something to say about it.

Its starting.

I've often stated here that I wish to create a new version of the internet, a distributed, holographic, semantic operating-system that will compare to our modern web as the web compares to usenet.

Inevitably, there are going to be attempts to build the new web directly on top of the existing infrastructure (like this attempt), but I'm not very hopeful for their prospects. Too much of the underlying infrastructure is broken for the effort to get very far. Still, every attempt brings us closer.

New six-stroke car engine.

Here's an article about a brand new six-stroke engine that is said to be far more fuel efficient than a standard car (the extra strokes run off of waste heat), and runs much cooler to boot.

New Star Wars.

I'm sure some folks will be happy to hear that there will be a new Star Wars TV Series. Heck, if they got the folks currently doing Battlestar Galactica to run it, and kept Lucas out of the loop, then even *I* would want to watch it.

Posting Spree part 97: Dynamic Range.

Here's a rant by an audio engineer who says the reason that all CDs sound so bad these days is because the recording studios are deliberately recording everything as 'extra loud' thereby squashing the music into the top of the dynamic range and leaving the bottom empty. The music sounds compressed as a result.

Drool.

Okay, a Terabyte of RAM storage in a single rack sounds very nice indeed. I don't even want to think about what it must cost though. I just want one.

Well THATS a new theory.

I'm not sure what I think of this. A Russian Scientist is proposing that the current shift in world climate is all part of the aftermath of the Tunguska comet impact of 1908. He says his calculations show that the damage that humans have done to the climate are too small and of the wrong type to have caused current climate change.

As I said, I'm not sure I buy it, but its an interesting theory.

Don't Hold Back.

New evidence shows that false civility can kill you. So, next time a customer gives you trouble, let them have it!

Linux Hardware Detection.

Here's a question for the Linux Geeks on my flist: Is there a good program for reporting all the various hardware in a system, in gorey detail? I realized the other day that I don't have a good list of all the hardware (make, model, version) for my webserver. I could take it apart and read model numbers off the hardware, but it would be better if I could just run a program.

I know that some (most?) of that information is buried in /proc, but I'm not even sure where to look in there for most of it.

Nice!

Here's someone who's built themselves a 5-Terabyte storage system (20 x 250 GB disks) and has ripped 500 DVDs to store on it, indexed in a number of ways. The system can stream the files over gig ether to his TV.

I want one.

For Those With Thumbs.

It seems that Wikipedia has a list of windows programs that will run in a thumb drive. Useful information.