The blog
Writing & notes
Essays, notes and reflections on technology, law and life.
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Technological Tidbits
Just some quick technology news before I return to my studious activities. Scientists in Japan have created a metallic exoskeleton designed to facilitate movement and interface machine-assisted labour. The movie is very cool (Mechwarrior here we come). Black hole ripples to the tune of Bb – 54 octaves below the lowest key on a Piano!… Read more →
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Mars Mania
Well it’s that time of the millennium again: I’m sure most of you have heard about the Mars opposition, but for those who have not, the gist of it is that the radius of Mars’ elliptical orbit is at its minimum, while Earth’s is at its maximum (perhaps an oversimplification). The result is to bring… Read more →
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Some Petty Diversions
May I present some interesting links which have found themselves encoded, compressed, transmitted, decoded, and displayed upon my various internet access points around the house, my work, and uni. Warning: laughter more than likely. First up, now you can own your very own George Bush 1:6 scale replica. Not meaning to jump on the Bush-bashing… Read more →
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Judicial morality and the rule of law
Moore CJ of the Alabama Supreme Court is stepping up his efforts to retain a 2400kg statue depicting the Christian parable of the ten commandments in the state courthouse. The order of a federal judge to remove the statue recently lapsed, inciting the other eight justices of the Alabama Supreme Court to order its immediate… Read more →
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The $5 Diamond
As a long-time lapidarist, I find this quite exciting. I’ve long been fascinated by the geological processes which serve to create precious gems, but the prospect of being able to own Cd in any sizable quantity is not only cool, but rather practical. New techniques developed by Gemesis and Apollo Diamond promise to make the… Read more →
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Today’s Hamburger is Tomorrow’s Fuel
We may have found a solution to this planet’s growing waste problem. Soon, you’ll be able to transform any organic material into a reusable, combustible fuel which – at least according to multi-national automobile conglomerates – is the most precious substance on earth (see previous post). Unlike other solid-to-liquid-fuel processes such as cornstarch into ethanol,… Read more →
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Trojan Horse a Valid Defense
A British Court has acquitted Julian Green, an individual accused of possessing child pornography when police seized his computer in October 2002. This month, Mr. Green was acquitted in Exeter Crown Court after arguing that the material had been gathered without his knowledge by a rogue program created by hackers — a so-called Trojan horse… Read more →
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Quae Vide No 3
This week’s theme is technological developments. For the new reader, Quae Vide is a weekly column highlighting the author’s picks from the web in a particular field. We’re always open to suggestions for topics – use the comments feature or send me an e-mail. Technological Developments: Nuclear-powered drone aircraft that can fly for weeks on… Read more →
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Compra! Compra!
The rumours were true: ATI is to power Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox2 console. Under the just-announced deal, ATI will produce the core graphics processing unit for the next iteration of video game consoles. Shares of the Markham, Ontario-based graphics chip maker jumped as much as 13 percent to their highest level since March, 2002 … Nvidia’s… Read more →
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A Smarter Water Closet
Apologies for the lack of updates recently; I have been muy ocupado this week. During a brief news catchup this afternoon, I happened upon a rather insightful article into the state of high-tech toiletry. Yes, you heard me – toiletry. Apparently there is quite a large market for programmable toilets – as they are called… Read more →