Cool Links

Bye bye BIOS, hello UEFI

Bye bye BIOS, hello UEFI

Oct 04 2010 | comment(s)

I doubt many of us will lament the loss of BIOS.   It is a testament to Microsoft that they made sure as much software as possible was as backward-compatible as possible for as long as possible by holding onto standards that made mandatory new versions of purchased tools unnecessary - an issue that kept Apple Computer from gaining serious ground in the market.

Faster processors and more memory have really just masked the problem - computers are still a 'turn it on and go get a cup of coffee proposition' unless you leave them in a low power state, which isn't great for the environment.
Japan and Sweden join U.S., Britain in Europe terror attack concern

Japan and Sweden join U.S., Britain in Europe terror attack concern

Oct 04 2010 | comment(s)

No one is canceling vacation plans just yet but the strongest warning yet about visiting France and Germany has come from Britian, that the terror threat there was high.  It's no surprise since French intelligence has said the same thing, noting the rise in North African terrorism activity.

The US added similar caution this weekend and now Japan and Sweden have done the same.   
The public concerns intensified last week after a Pakistani intelligence official said eight Germans and two British brothers were at the heart of an al-Qaida-linked terror plot against European cities.
IPCC's Working Group II fights back at IAC criticisms

IPCC's Working Group II fights back at IAC criticisms

Oct 04 2010 | comment(s)

The IAC made "some incorrect assumptions and conclusions" in its report, according to this letter from IPCC Working Group II (fourth assessment), responding to criticism about the IPCC's process, comment review policies and methodology (see InterAcademy Council Report Urges 'Fundamental Reform' Of IPCC).

Here is their letter:

To: Dr Harold Shapiro, (Chair, IAC Committee to Review the IPCC)

From: The Co-Chairs, all Convening Lead Authors and Head of Technical Support Unit of Working Group II of IPCC Fourth Assessment

4th October 2010
Chang'e II Oops - Space Debris Rains Down on Chinese Villages

Chang'e II Oops - Space Debris Rains Down on Chinese Villages

Oct 04 2010 | comment(s)

The little people in China can never catch a break - there are a lot of them and the government in charge is not exactly benevolent so issues that might kill some peasants, like space debris falling on their houses, were likely factored in as acceptable casualties.

For its part, despite the launch debris falling on two villages, the Chinese government has declared Chang’e II a successful mission.    Unfortunately the residents won't even get to keep these as souvenirs - soldiers already whisked them away.
The Bible In ... Legos?

The Bible In ... Legos?

Oct 02 2010 | comment(s)

Everything is LEGOs these days.  My kid has played some game that is LEGOs but is based on all three Star Wars movies.    25 years ago LEGOs were almost out of business, today they are bigger than the Bible.  Well, not bigger, but big enough to be the Bible.

Side note: The Bible has made a heck of a comeback.   Atheists have been predicting its demise for centuries yet it is still out there and more popular than ever.  Heck, it is even a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game (see The Bible MMO - in where I get beat to the best gaming idea ever)
No evidence for Clovis comet catastrophe

No evidence for Clovis comet catastrophe

Oct 02 2010 | comment(s)

New research challenges the controversial theory that an ancient comet impact devastated the Clovis people, one of the earliest known cultures to inhabit North America.

The comet theory first emerged in 2007 when a team of scientists announced evidence of a large extraterrestrial impact that occurred about 12,900 years ago. The impact was said to have caused a sudden cooling of the North American climate, killing off mammoths and other megafauna. It could also explain the apparent disappearance of the Clovis people, whose characteristic spear points vanish from the archaeological record shortly after the supposed impact.
GMOs could help counter global warming

GMOs could help counter global warming

Oct 02 2010 | comment(s)

Genetically modified organisms have existed for thousands of years but more recently an anti-science contingent has been concerned, perhaps with reason, about their impact on the environment.

But genetically modified organisms, like forests of genetically altered trees and other plants, could also help save the environment and sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year, according to a study in BioScience.
St. John's University Dean Cecilia Chang Charged With Using Grad Students As Servants

St. John's University Dean Cecilia Chang Charged With Using Grad Students As Servants

Oct 01 2010 | comment(s)

First rule of being a university dean; you don't use grad students as slaves.    Instead, you wait until they get a Ph.D. and then pay them slave wages and call them post-doctoral fellows.  

Sheesh, everyone knows this, but St. John's University former dean Cecilia Chang was in charge of East Asian Studies so she knows more about Asians, namely that she could bully them into doing her laundry and whatever other menial jobs she had in mind and culturally they were going to have to take it.   Ahhhh, it's good to be in the humanities because you can show people your culture by exploiting them just like you would back home.
Tiger Woods is focused: It must be time for the Ryder Cup!

Tiger Woods is focused: It must be time for the Ryder Cup!

Oct 01 2010 | comment(s)

It's international golf challenge weekend and Tiger Woods is getting prepared.   Witness his concentration as Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins performs at the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup.

Way to stay focused!

Tiger Woods Katherine Jenkins Ryder Cup
Rahm Emanuel, giver of dead fish, gets one on his last day

Rahm Emanuel, giver of dead fish, gets one on his last day

Oct 01 2010 | comment(s)

Rahm Emanuel, the Karl Rove of Democrats - though Democrats defend him as being aggressive, tenacious, etc. whereas the Republican Rove was evil incarnate for acting the exact same way - finally revealed the worse kept secret in America; he is leaving the Obama administration, presumably to run for mayor of Chicago, the city that helped steal the election of 1960 from Richard Nixon.
ScienceRoll collection of resources for microbiology enthusiasts

ScienceRoll collection of resources for microbiology enthusiasts

Sep 30 2010 | comment(s)

Our friend and occasional scribe Dr. Bertalan Meskó has created
a free, easy-to-use aggregator of quality medical information that lets you select your favourite resources and read the latest news and articles about a medical specialty or a medical condition in one personalized place.
Give it a look on his Webicina site.
Nationalized health care - McDonald's may drop 30,000 workers from health plan

Nationalized health care - McDonald's may drop 30,000 workers from health plan

Sep 30 2010 | comment(s)

When Congress and the White House were insisting their government health care plan would be cheaper, they were the only ones who believed it.

Now it will be much more expensive - for employees.   Trade groups for restaurants and retailers say their employers might halt coverage if the government doesn't loosen the requirement for "mini-med" plans, which offer limited benefits to some 1.4 million Americans.   That means McDonald's, which has pretty good health benefits for low income earners, could be priced out of a good plan, forcing those people into government health care.

As in science, if the government wants to pay for it, private sector corporations will avoid the government paperwork and hassle and let them.   But it won't be cheap.
SHORT++ : Not tall enough? There's now an app for that

SHORT++ : Not tall enough? There's now an app for that

Sep 30 2010 | comment(s)

Andrea Kuszewksi, Science 2.0's Internet eyes and ears in the real world, came across this SHORT++ show technology which can make your height an interactive variable - one you can modify in real-time with your phone.

short++ height modifying shoes

See them in action below and then go to the site and read the rest:
A Worldwide Chinese Food Cooking Contest, But Chefs From China Not Allowed To Attend

A Worldwide Chinese Food Cooking Contest, But Chefs From China Not Allowed To Attend

Sep 29 2010 | comment(s)

Chefs from 12 nations had been expected at a Chinese cooking competition that is to begin on Thursday in Duffy Square in Manhattan. But the Chinese-language television network, New Tang Dynasty Television, an independent network with its headquarters in New York, sponsoring the contest now says that only 11 nations will be represented — including France, Germany and Britain — because one country did not permit its chefs to leave for New York.

That country was China.
Sesame Street covers the Scientific Method

Sesame Street covers the Scientific Method

Sep 29 2010 | comment(s)

Sesame Street, what are you doing?  Last week you had Katy Perry, which brought all sorts of outrage, and now you are offending those same people by calling the Scientific Method legitimate?  
AOL now owns TechCrunch and Engadget

AOL now owns TechCrunch and Engadget

Sep 28 2010 | comment(s)

AOL announced plans to buy technology blog TechCrunch for an undisclosed amount.  AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington made the announcement onstage Tuesday at TechCrunch's Disrupt .  

Arrington and Armstrong signed the acquisition agreement in front of the audience.
Bring Me My Vorpal Blade! Ancient Greek Grave Hides Golden Skeleton

Bring Me My Vorpal Blade! Ancient Greek Grave Hides Golden Skeleton

Sep 28 2010 | comment(s)

It's no secret that I never intend to die and actively promote anything that will keep me alive but if I do die, and my descendants want their inheritance, they will have to descend into the family tomb where I will be waiting on a throne, sword in hand, and they can fight my Lich for it.  



I'm not the only one.  

Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis has found an ancient skeleton covered with 3,000 pieces of gold foil in a grave on the island of Crete.   I guess their relatives didn't have Mapquest and couldn't find it?
Chris Evans As Captain America

Chris Evans As Captain America

Sep 28 2010 | comment(s)

Men, if you didn't already hate Chris Evans for his incredible physique and spot-on performance as the Human Torch in "Fantastic Four", see how he looks in "Captain America", which requires him to be a little bigger.

Well, he is bigger, but still looks limber enough to mix it up the way Captain America does.  

Is it a big role?  Sure.  "Thor" can be a flop and it won't impact "The Avengers" movie, just like "Hulk", but without a good Cap, there is little chance "Avengers" can work.
'Evidence-based politics' blogger criticizes science news sites

'Evidence-based politics' blogger criticizes science news sites

Sep 27 2010 | comment(s)

Martin Robbins either has never read the Guardian's science news - or he hates his employer.    In This is a news website article about a scientific paper he itemizes the cliche structure of science journalism but, since his bio lists him as "a Berkshire-based researcher and science writer" who "edits The Lay Scientist, a community blog about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politics"(! what the hell is that?!) he is likely not a journalist and may not know that all journalism is structured in a fairly cliche way.
Segway company owner drives one off a cliff - not all publicity is good publicity

Segway company owner drives one off a cliff - not all publicity is good publicity

Sep 27 2010 | comment(s)

You've heard that classic public relations person rationalization that all publicity is good publicity.  I don't think so.   UN peacekeepers from Denmark trading food to kids for sex didn't do wonders for the credibility of peacekeeping operations by the European military, for example, and the owner of the Segway company driving one off a cliff won't do much for lifting restrictions that keep them off of sidewalks and bike lanes.   And instead on the private estates of kooks.