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BREAKING SURF
The Atlas V is the newest American rocket, part of a brand-new fleet designed for heavy commercial and military space lifting in the decades to come. Lockheed Martin built it with many robust new capabilities such as fast turnaround, easier launch set-up, and bad-weather capability. This first launch, run by International Launch Services (ILS), carried a European communications satellite. ILS has a press kit with extensive information for space buffs, while Space.com has the story about the mission, along with information about the Delta 4, a competing and complementary rocket being developed by Boeing.ILS: http://www.ilslaunch.com/atlas/atlasv/AVpresskit/
Space.com: http://space.com/missionlaunches/atlas5_launch_020821.html
CONTOUR Comet Sampling Probe Feared Broken
The Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) probe was scheduled to carry out close encounters with two comets, but appears to have broken up after an engine firing. Hurried telescope and radar observations revealed two objects, believed to be spacecraft segments, the day after the solid rocket motor burn, and a third, more distant object has since been found. All are receding from Earth and no signal has been received from the probe. Mission controllers have not entirely given up and will continue to monitor for signals from CONTOUR intermittently through December. The investigation into what caused the accident is just getting under way.http://www.contour2002.org/
Fiber to Grease Contact with South Pole
A fiber-optic cable that will span 1,670 kilometers and cost in excess of $250 million (before the inevitable cost overruns) will revolutionize Internet communication in Antarctica. Right now, the small but growing scientific community at the South Pole must rely on old communications satellites, which have drifted out of their old geosynchronous orbits and are only visible over the horizon for part of the day. The big engineering problems to be overcome in laying the cable are the wicked cold and the moving ice that threatens to strain and break the cable. According to the BBC. the National Science Foundation (NSF) has requested bids from industry to build the cable by 2009. At press time, the NSF did not have any information about the project on its Web site, but it does have lots of cool science research news.BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2207259.stm
NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/start.htm
Ever wonder what it would be like to break the bank in Vegas? If so, you have to read this wonderful Wired article on the MIT Blackjack Team. Of all casino games, blackjack offers by far the best odds to perfect gamblers, and card counting can dramatically swing the average cash flow in the card counter's direction. That's why casino's hate it so much. While it wasn't an official extracurricular activity, the team did invent a whole new method of card counting and took the casinos for some cash before the ride ended in the 1990s. The Slashdot discussion is also good reading.
Wired: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.html
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/14/1521233
Reports of the Net's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
The Net is dead. So says John Motavalli in his book, which purports to document the bleeding of some top US corporations during the deflation of the Internet bubble. We could swear, however, that the Net keeps plugging away. Maybe the corps who'd hoped to cash in on this particular cow didn't recognize and understand the environment as well as they should have. That's not an original thought, but is an answer derived from David Weinberger, a "The Cluetrain Manifesto" co-author. His latest, "Small Pieces Loosely Joined" furthers the view that the Net is about empowering individuals, and that larger entities need to appear as individuals to function there. A Salon article can help you sort things out.http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/13/media_titans/index.html
Every day, thousands of people hammer away on keyboards all around the globe, updating the Internet, keeping it alive and feisty to reflect our bubbling, busy world. Writing in A List Apart, Mark Bernstein, chief scientist at Eastgate Systems, offers ten tips to these keepers of the flame to help ensure the Web remains vibrant and relevant. It's good advice, rich in content and nicely written. The bottom line, and a fairly obvious conclusion, is don't make it dull, but this piece says writing for the Web is more than that. It's about letting the passion and excitement through, and helping others to understand. It's about developing your craft, honing it, polishing it, never accepting it as finished. It's about respecting your audience and earning their trust, all the time, every time. It's about being yourself without self-indulgence. It's about respecting other people, other opinions, other ideas. It's about staying the course, rather than flaming up only to fizzle and vanish. And it's about enjoying yourself. We think anyone who writes - for the Web or otherwise - will find something of benefit here.
http://alistapart.com/stories/writeliving/
The ever inventive minds of Silicon Valley have invoked poetry and the law in the war against spam. Habeas, a Palo Alto company, created a simple system that in theory lets you sue spammers even in the absence of local anti-spamming laws. Habeas identifies you with a bit of copyrighted text. Any original text is automatically copyrighted by law, but Habeas has settled on the haiku form. All your e-mail correspondents are supposed to include this text in an e-mail header, and proper e-mail is indemnified against copyright infringement. In theory, you only read the e-mail that contains this header. In practice, even Habeas says that isn't a good idea. Anyway, the trap for spammers is that they will have to use copyrighted text to reach you through the Habeas system. Once they do, whammo - you slap them with a copyright infringement suit. This is lawyer-driven technology that may work in theory, but in the real world, it's dead in the water. It did spawn a flurry of amusing haiku at Slashdot, however.
Habeas: http://www.habeas.com/
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/20/132202
Is VeriSign Liable? More Fallout from Sex.com Legal Saga
Gary Kremen registered the sex.com domain name with VeriSign in 1994. Shortly afterward, Stephen Cohen sent a letter that fraudulently authorized the transfer of the domain to him and proceeded to rake in big bucks from porn surfers. Kremen sued and won a $65 million judgment against Cohen and the return of his domain. Cohen hightailed it for Mexico, making it unlikely Kremen will see any of the money. The second part of Kremen's lawsuit has just reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court will decide whether VeriSign has any liability for approving the transfer in the first place. VeriSign, of course, claims it is not liable but the court is asking pointed questions about domain names as property and VeriSign's responsibility as a form of broker. The case is worth watching for potential precedent about domain registrars' legal responsibilities. CNET has more.http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949660.html
While the RIAA has asked a court to order a large ISP (Verizon) to disgorge the name of a file-sharer (see the CNET article), a small ISP is taking the war to the RIAA and getting a lot of praise for its action. Information Wave Technologies (IWT), an ISP in the New York area, announced that it has decided to prevent the RIAA from accessing the contents of its network. What's more, it will set up a honeypot to detect anybody who tries to exploit peer-to-peer servers on its network. Recall that the RIAA is trying to get laws passed which would make hacking legal for it. IWT's policy is getting mostly rave reviews from the geek crowd, as evidenced by the discussion on Slashdot. This has all the makings of a movement just as popular as the spam relay server blacklists, except this time, the movement aims to deny Internet transit to organizations that attempt to interfere with file trading.
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954658.html
IWT: http://www.informationwave.net/news/20020819riaa.php
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/20/1123227
Music Labels Try to Shoot the Messengers
The big music labels are at it again. They claim that Listen4ever is hosting illegally pirated copies of songs that infringe on their copyright. Nothing wrong with that - they should take Listen4ever to court, right? The problem with that approach is that the angry labels can't figure out who runs Listen4ever and even if they could, it's in China, out of reach of American law. What to do, what to do.... To close American access to Listen4ever, the labels decided to sue four major backbone ISPs for providing access to the site. The labels want the backbones to ban access to Listen4ever's servers. Hey, this might be a good idea. Next, the music labels can sue the US Postal Service on behalf of consumers who fall victim to mail fraud and the phone companies for providing access to telemarketing scams. Well, that might have happened - except that at press time, the labels dropped the suit since Listen4ever shut down of its own accord. CNET has the before and after.CNET before: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954176.html
CNET after: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954782.html
USPTO Grants Patent for Chatbots
What is up at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)? ActiveBuddy just obtained a patent on a "method and system for interactively responding to instant messaging requests" despite the existence of such software before ActiveBuddy even filed for its patent. Essentially, ActiveBuddy has patented the business model of AI chatbots. In the Internetnews.com story on the situation, other bot makers vary in reaction from dismissive to wary. The Slashdot discussion is righteously outraged over the patent and what it might mean. To us, it's just further evidence that the USPTO is evolving into a rubber stamp company, with the onus of invalidating a patent - with the evidence of prior art, for example - resting on third parties and their lawyers.ActiveBuddy: http://www.activebuddy.com/
Patent: http://tinyurl.com/11i3
Internetnews.com: http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/1446781
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/15/1350230.shtml
Russians Charge FBI Agent with Criminal Hacking
Russian officials filed criminal charges Aug. 15 against an FBI agent for unauthorized access to computer information. It sounds like something out of the "Twilight Zone" series, but it's not. The FBI has no comment, of course. In essence, FBI agents tracked a couple of Russian hackers who were allegedly trying to extort cash from some US corporations. Posing as representatives of a fake security company, agents lured the suspects to the US and set them up on a networked machine with a keystroke monitor. Subsequently, the FBI busted them, then used their freshly-purloined passwords to download data from the suspects' own computers back in Russia. Now, the Russian Federal Security Service is calling foul; hence the unusual initiation of criminal proceedings against agents of the FBI. This tale leaves you wondering exactly who is sniffing whom. Thankfully, with the Cold War over, we don't have to worry about this "spy versus spy" foolishness. Or do we? Perhaps you should check out the stories at MSNBC and CNET.MSNBC: http://msnbc.com/news/563379.asp
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-950719.html
Security of Military Data Leaves Experts Insecure
"We were kind of shocked at the security measures, or lack thereof," said ForensicTec Solutions president Brett O'Keefe in a CNET report on the security firm's recent penetration of sensitive US Army networks. Well, duh. This problem has existed for years, although you'd think the War on Terrorism and all would tighten things up. One of our reviewers noticed extraneous online activity on a computer a couple of years back, and traced it to somebody who had taken advantage of the relatively unsecure computer to install a little program that allowed him to contact military networks. While our reviewer quickly closed that hole, the US military has been a lot slower on the uptake, as the Washington Post illustrates. Maybe the article will persuade the military to get with the program, and take some steps to harden its systems. Don't hold your breath.CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-954179.html
Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24191-2002Aug15.html
A New Idea for Circumventing Net Censorship and Surveillance
This recently published research paper looks at how to evade Internet censors. The clever gimmick presented is the creation of a stealthy network called the Infranet on top of the existing Web. The Infranet is difficult to detect because all its communication protocols and content delivery are masked by standard Web traffic. For example, the URLs to access specific encrypted content are hidden in the sequence of HTTP commands. Content comes back encoded in images using steganographic techniques. The idea is reasonably simple, the details quite technical. Look for major hacking efforts to implement this idea. The paper's authors have not released their source code at press time.http://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/sec02/feamster/feamster_html/index.html
2002 Fields Medals and the Nevanlinna Prize
The tragic thing about the Fields Medals is that they are forever being called the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in mathematics. It's tragic because without mathematics, all that Nobel-winning work would not exist. Meanwhile, the bedrock of all science is relegated to second fiddle in the science prize orchestra. Regardless, the Fields Medals are still the pinnacle of mathematical achievement. Among this year's winners, Laurent Lafforgue "sketched deep connections between number theory, analysis, and group representation theory." Vladimir Voevodsky developed "a new cohomology theory for algebraic varieties." The Nevanlinna Prize, a different award which honors exceptional work in the more mathematical aspects of computer science, was won by Madhu Sudan for "probabilistically checkable proofs, to non-approximability of optimization problems, and to error-correcting codes." Though there is no formal rule, Fields Medals and the Nevanlinna Prize are traditionally presented to mathematicians no older than 40.http://www.maa.org/news/fields02.html
LAN parties are where it's at these days if you're a serious gamer. Getting 20 or so people together in one room seems to produce a social sizzle that makes these 'round-the-clock gaming marathons something special, providing a unique environment that can't be matched in TCP/IP play dispersed across the Internet - and we don't necessarily mean the funk of stale cheesies and Jolt. LAN parties are now so popular, they've attracted the attention of the folks who make a number of products: games; high-end PCs; power upgrades such as graphics cards; fancy carrying cases; and even high-caffeine drinks. CNET lets us in on the phenomenon; LANParty.com tells us where the games are and gives party tips. Whether you just want to show off your smokin' high-end machine, you enjoy deciphering cable mazes, or you want to pound some friends into virtual hamburger, LAN parties offer something cool and social.
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-950054.html
LANParty.com: http://www.lanparty.com/
In a major development affecting online advertising, Earthlink, one of the largest ISPs in the US, has decided to provide its users with technology to block pop-up ads. Pop-Up Blocker is an Internet Explorer toolbar add-on that lets you designate which Web sites may present pop-up windows. It is only available to Earthlink subscribers. If you don't use Earthlink and Internet Explorer, you can get the same effect with the multi-platform Mozilla browser.
Earthlink: http://earthlink.com/about/press/pr_elinkpopupblocker/
Pop-Up Blocker: http://www.earthlink.net/popupblocker
Mozilla: http://www.mozilla.org/
WiFi Showdown at Pioneer Courthouse Square
It's been a fun summer in Oregon. The state has a half-million acres burning, the War on Terrorism thing, and now Starbucks is fighting with a little non-profit called Personal Telco over WiFi "rights" in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. Starbucks and T-Mobile have begun to offer fee-based wireless Net access on the same WiFi frequency that Personal Telco's been offering free to all users in that space since early 2001. The result, of course, is mutual interference and connect speed degradation. The deep pockets aren't backing off but neither are the little guys, so for now, things are in a standoff of mutually assured impairment. You can still surf by WiFi in downtown Puddletown, but the going just got a lot more muddled. The Oregonian has more. The spat even made Slashdot.Personal Telco: http://www.personaltelco.net
Oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/102975810817580.xml
Slashdot: http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/02/08/20/0431202.shtml
Massive European Open Source FLOSS Survey Report
The European Commission commissioned this project (we live to write like that) a year ago to remedy a lack of information about the free/open-source movement, the kind of information that drives government policy. Accordingly, the final report is verbose and packed with fascinating information that hides in the mass of typical aca-gov speak (we also live to coin terms like that). The investigators asked 1,452 companies and public institutions in Germany, Sweden, and the UK with at least 100 employees whether they use open-source software. Of those, the 395 who answered yes underwent in-depth analysis, resulting in this massive pile of data. The report covers economic factors, developer motivation, and the use of open source in public institutions. The investigators also interviewed developers and surveyed the source code.http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/report/
Internet2 Update Status: Juniper T640s for Abilene
Engineer alert! All you of the white-socks fraternity, listen up. The more dress-savvy had better slink away quietly while you can to avoid humiliation. After a long planning period, the first Juniper Networks T640 has been installed in Indianapolis, Ind. as part of the Abilene Internet2 backbone. The hot new high-end Internet router allows routing to be distributed among multiple boxes, facilitating graceful scaling. The new router also incorporates copper connects. We knew that would make your heart beat faster! You can read about it at the 2002 Abilene Upgrade page and, best of all, dig into a whole pile of documents about it, including meeting minutes, planning reports, and lots of gritty details about rack design, wiring, power design, and a feast of other technical report goodies. OK, all you other folks can come on back now. We're going to start speaking English again.Upgrade: http://loadrunner.uits.iu.edu/upgrade/
Documents: http://loadrunner.uits.iu.edu/upgrade/documents.shtml
ONLINE CULTURE
Lawyers representing Toho, the legal owner of the Godzilla trademark, have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the nifty blog site called Davezilla. Toho seems to think it owns every word ending in "zilla". Sure. Web and blogsphere coverage has been extensive and mostly derisive. Read the story at Davezilla from the bottom of the page up, starting with the letter from Toho. When you're done, visit the rest of the action-packed Davezilla, making sure not to miss Worst Date Ever No. 9 for the punchline to the whole story.http://www.davezilla.com/?cat=25
GettingIt: Story of a Reborn E-Zine
Once upon a time, during the dotcom boom, an online porn tycoon financed a weird little e-zine. For a while, it was said that this e-zine employed just about every freelance writer in the San Francisco Bay area, a place that's quite a pool of talent and which gleefully produces some of the finest post-modern tabloid journalism on the planet. But the porn tycoon was a fickle and distant master, forbidding any publicity and pushing penises onto the front page, until, inevitably, the financial sinkhole that was the e-zine went under. Now, however, the e-zine, GettingIt, is back and this is the story of the halcyon days as remembered by Mat Honan, former senior editor and peripatetic journalist. And yes, it's true what they say - GettingIt is funnier than an angry monkey riding a midget.GettingIt: http://www.gettingit.com/
Honan: http://www.gettingit.com/article/757
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The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Anti-Gravity Technology
Shadow Puppets
Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life
The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small IslandSURFING SITES
If you're a resident of the UK, plain fed up with the political system, and a member of the MP3 generation, then there's a new political party you may want to learn more about. Founded on the "philosophy-cybernetic theory to be known as 'uprostism'", the fledgling MP3 Party aims to aggressively simplify the political system. Taking a basically libertarian approach, the MP3ers pledge to delete one regulation per day, one law per week, one subsidy per month, and one tax per year. Our favorite proposal would allow anyone to adopt a royal title (we were always partial to Constable of the Tower of London) as long as 100 UK citizens agree to be your subjects. This is very much a work-in-progress, but the party is already registered, and would be happy to have you become its newest member.http://www.mp3freeparty.com/MP3Party/defalt.asp
Karyn, a 20-something resident of Brooklyn, is a newly arrived marketing genius or scam artist (you be the judge) who hopes to capitalize on the Web. Over the last few years, Karyn has managed to rack up $20,000 in credit card debt and she's turning to netsurfers for aid. To her credit, she is honest and forthright about how she reached such financial turmoil, despite the embarrassment. Her Web site provides visitors with an in-depth look at how she is canvassing the Internet for funds, and how successful she's been thus far. To date, Karyn has raised over $4,000. Her Web site has caused controversy and curiosity. Inspired by Karyn's self-centered quest, two Staten Island residents created an anti-Karyn site called Save Karyn Not. Visitors are asked to donate to their favorite charity instead of sending their spare change to the "Angel of Debt". Apparently, if you build a get-out-of-debt-free Web site, they will come. The proof is in the over 100,000 visitors to Karyn's site weekly.
Save Karyn: http://www.savekaryn.com/
Save Karyn Not: http://www.savekarynnot.com/
"What's That Stuff?" presents visitors with a glimpse into the chemical make-up of a variety of consumer products from lipstick to bug sprays. Learn what goes into your favorite sweet treats such as chocolate and licorice or check out how hair dye and self-tanners come to be. This Web site is sure to pique your curiosity and inform you about what's really in some of the most popular products. The site is part of the Chemical & Engineering News network, and articles contain scientific and historical facts. Sure to have you second-guessing your next trip to the salon or tempting chocolate bar, this site gives consumers an inside look at the stuff we eat, wear, and use on a daily basis. Not only will you discover what's in certain products, you'll also be informed about how they are made. If you've ever been concerned or curious about consumer products, this site is a must visit.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff.html
How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Celebrity?
So you're having this intimate post-opera cocktail party and think it might be nice to book Insane Clown Posse as the inter-martini entertainment. What would it cost? A cool $20,000. Or you're throwing a kegger and since nothing goes together like beer and tuba, you decide to invite the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Only $10,000. Or you need somebody to man the dunk tank at your back-yard carnival. Drew Carey, of course, at only $100,000. Corporate sales seminar? Emo Phillips comes at a bargain basement $3,000. The prices come from Clear Channel's college entertainment listing, so maybe that corporate sales seminar with Emo will cost you a bit more, but you get the idea. All kidding aside, the tuba kegger idea is actually pretty good, don't you think?http://www.clearchannelcollegeentertainment.com/SearchResults.asp?Artist=%25
There you are, channel-surfing during a commercial or late at night and you come across a jaw-droppingly inane infomercial. You don't have the time nor the inclination to actually sit through it - or maybe it just mesmerizes you. Either way, you keep asking yourself, "What the heck is that?" Paul Lucas's site, Ridiculous Infomercial Review, does the infomercial watching for you. Each analysis includes a complete review of the subject infomercial, pictures, quotes, links, production information, and expert commentary. We guarantee you'll be so completely satisfied with this site that you'll never watch another infomercial. Or maybe, after regular use of this site, you'll become so enthralled by the infomercial art form that you'll watch nothing else. The choice is yours, so act now!
http://infomercial.tvheaven.com/
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Guide to Everything
A visit to one of the largest and most comprehensive virtual libraries we've ever encountered has the potential to rope you in for a lot longer than you might imagine. Even if you don't have a library card, you can still access information in over 75 topics, ranging from animals to cooking to taxes. Although geared mostly to the local area, relevant resources at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's site are easy and quick to find, no matter where you're located. Learn all about fireplaces and wood stoves, or learn how to wire your crib to automate many functions. Not sure what to cook for dinner this evening? Stop by for a peek at some of the recipes they have stashed in here - tasty and easy to make! Jellyfish salad, anyone?http://www.carnegielibrary.org/subject/
Quoth the Raven, "Demi Moore!"
"Danger, Will Robinson. Danger." Heard that before? It may be one of the few things about the cinematic "Lost in Space" you do remember. Now, who said, "I really don't think they flew 90 billion light years to start a fight." Give up? Will Smith, as Cpt. Steven Hiller in "Independence Day". By now, you're maybe starting to see how a movie trivia site can help you structure party games, win bets, entertain co-workers, or blow a few hours in idle recollection. The Movie Quote Quiz tests your memory of dialogue with "who-said-this" questions and ..wav files. Even if you guess wrong, you can enjoy listening to sassy repartee and great one-liners. Comedy is the largest of the six categories, with 88 top-level questions and more secondary questions apportioned to nine quizzes. Action and drama are well represented. Lovers of romance, adventure, and suspense will wish for more, although the entire archive contains more than 1,400 quotes from 233 movies. Each movie has a tie-in with product pages at Amazon.com, so you can quickly buy a VHS tape or DVD if you want to let someone tickle your wallet as well as your sense of humor.http://www.moviequotequiz.com/
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's prediction that enlisted women in the 23rd century would flounce around in go-go boots and dresses so short they'd make a Vulcan blush may not have been the most prescient or politically correct of his oft-celebrated visions, but we have a hunch that that little sartorial misstep won't stop your inner trekkie from warping over to this Ladies of Star Trek page. Here you can view a disturbingly comprehensive selection (anyone remember Yeoman Tankris?) of just about every "Star Trek" performer in possession of two X chromosomes, from the good Nurse Chapel to green-skinned seductress Vina. If that isn't enough, Yeoman Janice Rand and perennial SF sexpot Lieutenant Uhura each merit their very own page of swoon-inducing head shots. With all these beauties to choose from, is it any wonder Kirk couldn't keep his libido in check?
http://www.sixtiescity.com/startrek/LOST/Lost.htm
Rubber Bands, BBs, and the Weapons That Shoot Them
In the market for your next rubber-band machine gun but unsure where to buy it? May we suggest Backyardartillery.com, fine purveyors of an odd assortment of medieval-looking contraptions designed to hurt and annoy others? The site features the aforementioned rubber-band gun - "the only fully automatic machine gun legal in all 50 states!", the site gleefully informs us. If that doesn't pique your interest, how about a boomerang ("One of the oldest weapons known to man is the stick") or a catapult wrist watch "capable of pelting your friends with BBs." If your idea of a good time is smacking acquaintances with hard objects, you've stumbled onto heaven here. Just don't say we didn't warn you when you put an eye out.http://www.backyardartillery.com/
What can you do with a 21-meter Slinky? Certainly, none of the usual tricks. This thing's suspended by elastic cable, so it's free to move in three dimensions; it makes really cool sounds as well. This site presents many photos and audio files. The author claims that the VLS (Very Large Slinky) array produces large, low-frequency sound waves that are actually visible rather than audible - we presume that this means that the waves are below the human threshold of hearing, yet are physically manifested in the gyrations of the slinky itself. The photos are interesting, but the audio files are really cool. Recorded as a light breeze ran through the Slinky, the sounds are other-worldly. The effect resembles that which New Age musicians try to accomplish, only much better done. No point dwelling on the details, though, when what we really want to know is how do you make such a beast. Apparently, you run out, buy 34 Slinkies, and solder them end-to-end. Don't forget to buy the tubular stands and elastic to support the thing. The details you need to assemble your own VLS are presented in one convenient place.
http://www.firstpr.com.au/slinky/
If you don't know what a battlemech is, you might as well skip this article. The battlemech in this particular case is a huge fort/treehouse, a conversation piece, a great perch from which to view fireworks, and undoubtedly the envy of all the kids in the neighborhood. It started innocently enough, with just a couple of crates in a driveway that were to be turned into a fort. Then Jim, a Mechwarrior fan, envisioned the crates as missile launchers. That was the crucial leap. Follow the photos and descriptions to watch the evolution of a two-crate fort into a full-fledged battlemech play structure (at 38% scale). Jim has parlayed his fascination with the game into something very different. In just a few months, you, too, can pull this off. It's really easy; all you need are open-ended accounts at some home-improvement stores, a few trucks, and winches or perhaps a trained elephant or two - there's a lot of lifting involved.
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/mwdarkage/mw_article.asp?cid=36984
Jim Rosenau writes comedy, designs software, and is handy with power tools. Some time ago, he decided to minimize the use of new lumber in his projects, and found he could get what he needed by recycling discarded wooden futon frames. (Needless to say, he lives and works in Berkeley, Calif.) Still, he yearned for more. Forests being in short supply in the Bay area, he went with what he had: discarded hardcover books. Mostly, he makes bookshelves with the books he finds. They're surprisingly attractive, and his construction techniques make them nearly as strong as traditional wooden book cases. Don't be alarmed, though - Rosenau is a true book lover and the books he uses would mostly be bound (teehee) for the dumpster, so he's giving these books second lives rather than ending their first ones. He's particularly fond of old encyclopedias. For a work of functional art, the shelves are surprisingly affordable, too.
http://www.thisintothat.com/
What are the Bimini twist, Turk's head, huffnagle, and rapala? If you know the answer, you're probably already a knot-tyer - and even if you're not, this link list is worth a look. It covers any knotty subject you can think of and then some. It includes details on mathematical knotting theory, knots in art (including some beautiful Celtic art links), forensic knot analysis, how to tie your necktie, and the use of knots in various hobbies and medicine. Best of all, the dreaded "macrame" is mentioned only three times. The enthusiast responsible for the list claims that a knot is "a nugget of hard-won technology and a thing of beauty". Judging by the artwork, he might just be right.
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/knotlink.htm
Did you know it is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water in Arizona or that a US citizen can take possession of any uninhabited island, as long as it harbors bird droppings? These and other strange laws are listed on the Dumb Laws Web site. Two collectors of bizarre laws created this Web site for an entertaining glimpse into the absurd side of law making that spans the globe. While many of the laws are outdated, some are still on the books and are regularly enforced. Exact code is provided for a handful of these laws with a "Get the Full Text of this Law" link. The creators of this site are quick to acknowledge that they have not verified all the laws here, but what we checked out checked out. In addition to listings of state and country laws, this Web site offers a community forum and live chat.
http://www.dumblaws.com/
The claymation mini-celebrities that endorse Lipton Brisk iced tea are back, and they're back with a vengeance. Puppets against Brisk is an entertaining twist on a not-so-typical marketing campaign. Stemming from the television campaign, the Brisk Web site is being held hostage by the band of rogue clay puppets. At the center of the controversy is puppet Danny DeVito. Leading the cause, he is joined by fellow puppets James Brown, Burgess Meredith, and a host of others. Follow the puppet's crusade to bring down the house of Brisk. You'll need both Flash and QuickTime 5 to view video footage of the puppets' battle. Oh, and if you're interested in more information on the campaign, you'll have to cough up your e-mail address. We're sure the puppets have good intentions....
http://www.liptonbrisk.com/
With the Cold War ancient history and failings within the intelligence community the talk of the nation, the word "spy" may have lost some of its romantic mystique. Nevertheless, the history and methods of espionage still prove an intriguing study, not only for the many ways that clandestine agents have influenced world history, but also because things like lipstick pistols and exploding cigarettes are just plain cool. Those fascinated by both these ends of the spectrum will no doubt want to slink over to the Web site of Washington D.C.'s brand new International Spy Museum, which houses assorted artifacts, archival photos, and interactive demonstrations dealing with the world's most surreptitious occupation. The site provides little to gawk over, but you can modestly realize your James Bond fantasies by sending a coded e-mail to friends, or by playing whack-a-mole and taking virtual revenge on enemies of the state by popping them over the head with your cursor. And how fun is that?
http://www.spymuseum.org/siteintro.asp
The American Diner Museum will be located in Providence, R.I., where the diner was invented in 1872. The museum is going to be situated in Providence's gorgeously rehabilitated waterfront. An active group of people is supporting the project; they occasionally put on diner tours and events. The museum's Web site has some interest, but serves more as an information point about the museum project than as a significant resource for diner trivia. There's an excellent list of links, though, that will take you to all sorts of diner lore. The museum is looking for diner artifacts and mementos, in case you have any you were thinking of eBaying. So far the museum has no opening date, but the site has a picture of the diner that will be the museum's home. All they'll need to do is wheel it into place, and they'll be serving up a healthy blue plate special of diner nostalgia.
http://www.dinermuseum.org/
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Zap Telemarketers on the Cheap
Tired of telemarketers? You could pay for a device called a telemarketer zapper, which thwarts the fiends' automated dialing systems with a special tone. You could also just download this MP3 of the very same tone (called a Special Information Tone for you phone buffs) and record it on your answering machine.http://web.morons.org/feature/telespam.jsp
What's in a University Nickname?
The Webster University Gorloks and the Cal State Dirtbags are actual college sports teams, we swear. Don't believe us? Check out this site, which features an exhaustive list of nicknames ranging from the sublime (Whittier College Poets) to the ridiculous (Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys) to the just plain head-scratching (St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectic).http://www.smargon.net/nicknames/
SOFTWARE
PGP Corporation Purchases PGP Crypto Software from Network Associates
The complex story of PGP is relatively well known by now. The original cryptography program was written by Phil Zimmermann as shareware, was involved in the legal crypto wars during the 90's and eventually transitioned into the flagship product of a commercial company, which was eventually bought out by Network Associates. Today Zimmerman is a technical advisor to the brand new startup, PGP Corporation, which in the past month received $14 million in startup capital and promptly purchased the technology. Network Associates had let the technology lapse and was not really enthusiastic about selling the crypto software, so the purchase is widely seen as a good thing in security circles. The company is selling a whole suite of integrated PGP based encryption products, ranging from secure email software, disk encryption software, IT management software, and an all-inclusive desktop suite which packages it all together.http://www.pgp.com/