Archive
Category: Weblog
Random assortments, selected for semantic content.
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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 →
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Legal Ruminations
Quite a few movers and shakers this week, with a major (USD $521 million) settlement being awarded to Eolas Technologies Inc and the University of California, the co-plaintiffs in a recent patent infringement case against Microsoft Corporation. The plaintiffs alleged that Internet Explorer’s “plugin” feature, which allows third-party applications to add functionality to the web… Read more →
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Blaster Seizes Control
Recent days have seen the rapid spread of a new internet worm, which seems to have taken many by surprise and is continuing to infect users with unprecedented rapidity. It goes by several names – MSBlast, W32.Blaster, Lovsan – and has a relatively mild (but annoying) payload: it uses a DCOM RPC exploit to shut… Read more →
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Points of Interest
In a not-so-startling discovery, scientists have supposedly demonstrated that yawning is contagious, especially between “self-aware or empathic people”. The referenced author is perhaps taking things a bit far with the article’s title. While I don’t doubt yawning is indeed contagious, I question the study’s findings; I catch yawns regularly, yet am described by many as… Read more →
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US Looks Set to Re-Enter Nuclear Arms Race
Though hyping their recent destruction of chemical weapon supplies, the administration was rather less forthcoming about a meeting which brought together 150 of the United States’ top nuclear scientists. The meeting took place at Offutt air force base, Nebraska, and sought to establish a new generation of high-yield, low-payload nuclear weaponry for localised battlefield deployment.… Read more →
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Quae Vide No 2
This entry is a day overdue, but here it is nonetheless. This week’s theme is books and literature. Without further ado: What I’m Reading: Asimov, Isaac: Foundation Flanagan, Richard: Gould’s Book of Fish Davies, Margaret: Asking the Law Question Sugarman, David: Legal Science, Liberalism, and Imperialism Classics: Borges, Jorge Luis: Fictions Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary… Read more →