Very Expensive Pocket Change

Bruce Schneier has a blog post about a fellow who had to transport a rare dime, worth $1.9 million, across the US. What did he do? He put the dime in his pocket and took a plane.

Automata

The always interesting blog Cabinet of Wonders has a post with links to a number of YouTube videos of 18th century automata. The videos are in French (except for one that is in Japanese) but you don't really need to understand what the narrator is saying to see how the machines work. I was surprised that they all seem to be programmable, usually by changing metal disks.

Flash Game: Covert Front

Covert Front is a fun little adventure game with very cool graphics. It is similar in play to the old text adventure games but in this case you do everything by clicking with your mouse. The game isn't very long as it is the first (hopefully) of a series but it is a lot of fun and the art and music fit the genre perfectly.

via Brass Goggles

Shrinking Americans

Two articles, one from newsday.com and the other from AlterNet, talk about how Americans are losing their height advantage over the rest of the world. Historically Americans have always been taller than people in other places. In 1850 for example, the average American was 2.5 inches taller than the average European. Now the situation has nearly reversed with the average Dutchman being 2 inches taller than the average American.

It's not that being tall actually makes you smarter, richer or healthier. It's that the same things that make you tall -- a nutritious diet, good prenatal care and a healthy childhood -- also benefit you in those other ways.

The double fisherman's knot

Lifehacker links to a video showing how to tie a double fisherman's knot. The video refers to the knot as the impossible knot due presumably to how difficult it is to untie.

A binary counter made of wood

This one is a bit geeky but it is a YouTube video of a binary adder made using wood and marbles.

Swarms

National Geographic has a good introduction to swarm theory.

"Ants aren't smart," Gordon says. "Ant colonies are."

Followup: the article is discussed in this slashdot article

US tries to simulate the world

An article on The Register describes the US Department of Defense's effort to create giant simulations of the world. They aim to have one "node" in the simulation for every person on earth.

via slashdot

The Bank Machine Turns 40

According to this article on the BBC, the banking machine has just turned forty. The first machine was installed at a Barclay's branch in Enfield north London in 1967.

"It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash."

Gooble Maps: Cool New Feature

Google maps has a new feature on its driving directions. After you enter the location that you want directions between, you will get a map showing the route between the two points. Now, if you grab hold of the route you can drag it to include any places that you want to pass though on the way.

Photo: The International Space Station

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a photo of the newly expanded International Space Station.

How to fold a bag of chips

It may not be origami but Instructables has an article on how to fold closed a bag of chips.

Video: Folding Furniture

A video showing some interesting folding furniture. The chairs are ok but I really like the table.

Getting Real - Web Development the 37Signals Way

Getting Real is a book (available free online) from the folks at 37Signals that describes their development methodology. The scheme is similar to Extreme Programming but seems geared more specifically to web development. 37Signals are the people who brought us Backpack, Basecamp and the more recent Highrise.

An Alternate US State Map

Here is a map of the US with the state names replaced by the names of countries that have a GDP similar to that of the state.

via smallist

A Robot to Rescue Wounded Troops

The BBC has an article (with pictures) about a robot called the Bear that is being developed to evacuated wounded soldiers from combat. I'm not sure I buy it - I would have thought a lower, perhaps four legged, robot would have worked better for this - but it is worth a read.

A more practical Grandfather Clock

Here we have a very thin grandfather clock that you can hang on your wall.

via Smallist

The Travels of Humanity

An interesting animation of the movements of humans around the world after their origins in Africa.

via RobotWisdom

Learn languages by podcast

Open Culture has a blog post with a list of podcasts that will help you learn another language.

via lifehacker

Cool Photos: Underwater Tiger

The Daily Mail has an article with some amazing pictures of a tiger swimming underwater.

A Cunning Combination

Network World has an article about a new scheme to replace those somewhat annoying CAPTCHA screens with something that does useful work. In this case the user is invited to help with the digitization of a scanned paper document.

via slashdot

US Intelligence now has its own DARPA

Yahoo News has an article (via the AP) about the IARPA which is a new research agency for the American intelligence agencies. The new agency is similar to the Defence Department's DARPA.

A Robotic Fence

Another robot blog post describes a robotic electric fence that is designed to move cows slowly around a field so they eat the grass in different areas evenly.

Firefox tip: the spacebar

Lifehacker points out a Firefox tip that I have never heard of before. If you hit the space bar while browsing a long page it pages you forward in the document (as if you had hit page-down). Similarly shift-space takes you back up a page.

Wanted: A Robot that flies for 5 years

According to this blog post, the US defence research agency DARPA has announced a new robot technology contest. They want people to come up with a flying robot that can remain in the air for 5 years. Nuclear power and lighter than air flying are not allowed.

What's up with your car?

CleverDude.com has an article about how to find technical service bulletins (information about recalls and other faults) for you car.

Pop can fridge

For those of you who like to keep a cool can of pop handy by your computer, here we have a USB powered single can mini-fridge.

via smallist

Who are all those people at the coffee shop?

SF Gate has an article that tries to find out who all those people are that you see sitting on the patio at the local coffee shop when you are at work.

Full disclosure: I am one of those people.

Practical Origami

Today we have several examples of useful (ish) things that you can make using origami:

• Lifehacker has an article on folding plant pots out of newspaper
  
• A number of things you can make from business cards including a box
• Instructables has a page on how to fold a gift box from paper
• Also on Instructables, a paper wallet
  

Smart Drugs

The BBC has an article on smart drugs. The British Department of Health has asked the Academy of Medical Sciences to assess these drugs. Interestingly the article claims the drugs, including Modafinil - an anti-sleep drug, are widely used in the US.

Best News Headline Ever

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo

The Right Number

A web comic by Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics. The comic uses Flash but isn't really animated. There isn't any sound for those of you who should be working.

Longevity Gene Found

According to this article on the BBC website, scientists have found a gene that may explain why caloric restriction works as a method of prolonging lifespans. Caloric restriction has been known to work(at least for animals other than humans) for many years but the reason it works has never been understood.

It is hoped that knowing the responsible gene will allow the development of drugs that can mimic the effect of caloric restriction without having to be on a starvation diet.

via slashdot

PC in a Gameboy

I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this, but according to this blog post, someone has put an entire PC into the case from an old Nintendo Gameboy.

via smallist

Timeline viewer

MIT have developed a very cool looking timeline widget that lets you display a series of events in a web page without having to worry about horizontal scrolling. The example is of the events around the Kennedy assassination.

I haven't tried it but there doesn't seem to by anything on the server side to get this working so you just need to make an XML file of your data.

Keep dress shirts wrinkle free in a Fedex envelope

A blog post describes how you can replace one of those fancy fabric and Velcro packing boards that keep your shirts from getting wrinkled with a Fedex envelope and an old clip board.

The post is from a bog called The Rucksack Life which is about a fellow who is trying to simplify his life by ensuring that all of his possessions will fit inside his rucksack. He even has a post where he lists all 101 of his possessions and another with a photo.

Global Incident Map

Another Google Maps mashup, this one displaying "incidents" - such things as terrorist attacks, or natural disasters. It is a bit of a heavy load on the browser but is worth checking out.

Walmart has its own intelligence agency

According to this article in Business Week, Walmart is hiring intelligence officers for a unit in its global security office.

The job description includes collecting information from "professional contacts" and public data to anticipate and assess threats stemming from "world events, regional/national security climates, and suspect individuals and groups."

"Familiarity with a broad spectrum of information resources and data-mining techniques" is listed among the skills sought, along with a foreign language, preferably Chinese or Spanish.

via Global Guerillas

Veteren dies of wounds recieved in WWII

The Times has an article about Leslie Croft, a British veteran who died recently at the age of 86, from the effects of a shrapnel wound suffered during the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943.

Croft served with the 6th Battalion of The York and Lancaster Regiment but never returned to combat after his injury. The wound to his stomach caused the growth of scar tissue which eventually lead to his death.

According to the Rotherham coroner:

“I rather suspect that Leslie Croft will be one of the last men to die of a wound suffered in World War Two.

“Mr Croft died from broncho-pneumonia consequent on a war wound which he suffered when fighting in World War Two in Italy in 1943.

“He had undoubtedly made what appeared to be a miraculous recovery because he went on to work in the coalmines and he must have enjoyed quite a long period of retirement.”

cross posted on my military news blog

Spying on LCDs

We all know that it is possible to read the display of a CRT display remotely via its electro-magnetic emissions but now the New Scientist has an article about a new technique to accomplish the same thing for an LCD display.

via slashdot

Country Connections

I'm not quite sure how to describe this one. It is basically a diagram showing how the various countries of the world are physically connected.

There are a number of other diagrams on the site as well including a rather complicated summary of Wall Street scandals.

via rebecca's pocket

AJAX tutorial

This one is a bit more techie than things I normally link to but here is a tutorial on AJAX programming. AJAX is the name for a set of techniques that allow a website to become interactive - Google maps is the classic example.

A road race in Kandahar

The Torch has a blog posting about a story that hasn't received much media attention in Canada. On the 8th of April a 10K running race was held in Kandahar Afghanistan. Not only did the local people feel safe in participating in the event but most of them wore shorts - which were of course banned under the Taliban.

Hidden Kitchen Drawers

For those of you with small kitchens, here is an idea for more storage space. Put drawers under the cabinets.

vi smallist

The View from the top of the World

Astronomy Picture of the Day comes through again with this panaromic picture of the view from the top of Mount Everest.

A New Online TV Listings Site: Couchville

couchville is a new TV listings site that uses AJAX to let you move around the schedule. You enter your zip / postal code and TV provider and it shows you the listings with a moving bar that represents the current time. You can also edit the list of channels to remove ones you never watch.

vi lifehacker

Comet over Patagonia

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a great photo of Comet McNaught with three galaxies in the background.

Tech Nomads roam San Francisco

SF Gate has an article about San Francisco technology workers who work from coffee shops using wi-fi. Calling themselves "bedouins" they wander from cafe to cafe holding meetings and sending email.

If you are interested in the bedouin lifestyle, Computer World has an article with tips on what you need to succeed.

via slashdot

Cooler Soldiers

Wired has an article on experiments to improve the performance of soldiers by cooling their blood. Interestingly the cooling is done by a handheld device nicknamed "The Glove".

A second article talks about use of the device by athletes and includes a picture of it.

via slashdot

Lego: Go

A Lego vignette featuring the game of Go.

via The Brothers Brick

Send your Robot to work

This article describes a spin on telecommuting where you stay at home but you send a robot to your office and control it remotely. Could be handy if you spend a lot of time traveling to different work sites.

Build your own Steampunk keyboard

It looks like a lot of work but this article shows how you can build a Steampunk style keyboard for you computer.

via Slashdot

Regrowing Fingers

Yahoo has an article about medical advances that can allow people to regrow fingers. Eventually they hope to be able to regrow entire limbs.

They also have a related article on growing teeth.

via slashdot

Follow up: the first link seems to be broken but this one looks like the same article.

Ice Highways

An article in the Seattle Times, of all places, describes the ice highways that are constructed across frozen lakes in the Canadian north to allow resupply of isolated communities and installations.

"Once you're on the ice, you're committed," said Pashovitz, 35. "You've got to keep going. If you stop, little by little, the weight of your truck would sink into the ice."

Bridge Construction

An excellent blog post, with pictures, about the construction of the huge, and some would say magnificent, Millau Viaduct in the south of France.

via reddit

Another firefighter gadget

Technology Review has an article about another gizmo for firefighters. This one pulls them, and their equipment, up a rope. The article says it would be useful on Batman's utility belt but at 20 pounds it seems a bit heavy.

Followup: You can see a video of the device in action here. It is also easier to see how large the unit is. Still it moves pretty fast.

Nova at Night

The Astronomy Picture of the Day has a photo of a nova that could be seen with the naked eye. It isn't the most impressive of photos but I like the idea of it.

The Edison

A very interesting looking theme bar / restaurant in Las Angeles. Built in an old power station it has a steam punk / industrial feel.

The website is well done but a bit annoying in that it is just a giant Flash app.

via Brass Goggles

Tissues in a Coffee Cup

I was in a store the other day and saw a huge display of tissue dispensers specially made (and priced) to fit into a car cup holder. Today I encountered this article on how to make your own from some tissues and a cup.

via lifehacker

Victorian Tea Machine

A photo and article on a real Wallace and Grommet style machine. Clockwork powered, it will automatically make your morning cup of tea for you.

A Knife for Firefighters

I've always liked special purpose gadgets. Here is an article reviewing a knife specially made for firefighers. In addition to being designed to be used while wearing heavy gloves, it has a spike for smashing windows and a hook cutter for cutting clothing.

PCMCIA Wi-fi phone

A blog post about a cool looking gizmo. It is a wi-fi phone that charges inside the PCMCIA slot on your laptop. In the photo it looks like it would fit completely inside the card slot.

Make VOIP Calls from your Browser

Still on the VIP front, lifehacker has an article about a new Flash app from Gizmo that lets you make phone calls from your browser for free. Note that I haven't actually tried this out.

Fun with Gravity

Here is an amusing little Flash app that lets you play around with gravity. Basically you move the dots around and see what happens.

via reddit

Google Maps Google Books

An interesting blog post from Google about a new feature from Google Books. They have generated maps from various books showing locations mentioned in the book.

A few examples:

• Around the World in 80 Days
• The Travels of Marco Polo
• War and Peace
  

Economics and the 18 year old Criminal

Slate has an interesting article about an economist trying to find out if harsh prison sentences have a deterent effect on crime. He looks at whether people commit fewer crimes when they turn 18 and the sentences increase dramatically. The short answer is they don't.

Walking on Doodles

A strange flash game. It is basically a side view platform game where you have to move you character from one side of the board to the other. The interesting thing is that, using the mouse, you draw in the surface that your character walks on. Note that you don't have to do all the drawing in one go - you can draw, walk along the line, then draw some more.

The Uses of Security Theatre

Bruce Schneier usually disparages what he calls 'security theatre' but in this article he discusses a situation where the appearance of security is actually useful. I'm not sure I buy it myself but I do see his point.

A Low Tech Game

Here is a game for those times you have some time to kill and not much in the way of gaming materials. All you need is a nickel, three pennies and a table to play on.

Word Clouds

I'm not entirely sure what this actually is but snapshirts.com will build what they call a word cloud from your blog or website. They will then sell this to you on a T-shirt.

Online Comic: Agnes Quill

An interesting comic about a girl who lives in a slightly magical city with a bit of a Victorian feel. Agnes can see ghosts and makes her living by doing jobs for them in the real world. There are a couple of full length stories and a few shorter ones.

Death at Sea

The Guardian has an article about people mysteriously vanishing from cruise ships at sea. Some of them at least seem to have been murdered but the police and the cruise companies don't seem overly interested.

via rebecca's pocket

Password Cracking

Bruce Schneier has an article on choosing passwords and the techniques used to break them.

One method he recommends is using computer generated passwords, ones that will presumably be hard to crack, and storing them in a encrypted file for when you need them. That way you only have to remember the password for the encrypted file.

The Evolution of Spammers

An interesting article about how spammers, and other internet baddies, have evolved over time. The increasing professionalism and sophistication is a bit worrying.

Secret Underground Tunnel Expedition

An interesting blog post about an expedition to sneak into the old hydro tunnels under Niagara Falls. With photos including one of the tunnel in its 1906 construction and one of the equipment required for the expedition.

Game: Driving on Gears

If you have some free time try this Flash game. You basically have to drive a little dune buggy across terrain made of moving gears.

via Brass Goggles

A Comet over Catalonia

The Astronomy Picture of the Day has a beautiful photo of Comet McNaught in the sky over Spain.

Scotland wants you: To Wash your Hands

Apparently the Scottish Government paid GBP 2.3 million to develop this website to teach people how and when they should wash their hands. While I do like the domain name (washyourhandsofthem.com) and I can't fault the message, it does seem a bit expensive to me. On the plus side I suppose this means that no other government will have to make an English language site about hand washing - unless of course there is something special about Scottish hands.

via Reddit

DIY Steam Powered Spinning Candle

Make has a great how-to video that shows how to make a very simple steam engine that will cause a floating tea light to spin.

The mechanism is the same as that used in put-put boats.

via Brass Goggles

Postal Rates

Slate has an article about how payments work for international mail. Interestingly a country (developed ones at least) can get in trouble if they aren't quick enough handling the mail.

Cool Clocks

Some very interesting looking clocks. They are a bit expensive and the website is a bit annoying but they are worth a look if you like that sort of thing.

Deciphering barking

Yahoo has an article on a security system that interprets the barking of guard dogs. The goal is to let human guards know if the barking is worth investigating.

The New Blogger

To celebrate the new year I have upgraded to the new Google version on Blogger. Hopefully this won't make any difference.

Year at a glance

The folks at DIY Planner have a potentially useful PDF file that contains a one page calendar for all of 2007 that fits on a single page.

If you haven't checked out DIYPlanner.com you may want to have a look. They have all sorts of forms and other potentially useful things you can print. They are probably most known for the Hipster PDA.

Build a better playfort

Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools has an article on just the thing you need to make the perfect playfort. They are basically little reusable plastic rivets that you can use to assemble pieces of cardboard.

FBI can use cell phones as bugs

According to this article on Cnet, a recent Mafia case in the US has revealed that the FBI can use normal cell phones as eavesdropping devices. Unfortunately the article doesn't have much technical detail.

via slashdot

Contents of a Presidential motorcade

Slate has an article about what vehicles and personnel are included in a US Presidential motorcade.

No need to be sleepy

The New Scientist has an article on new drugs that allow people to stay awake for days at a time without any later repercussions. At the moment you need to convince your doctor that you are narcoleptic in order to get a prescription.

via slashdot

DVD: Inside Man

An excellent movie about a bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation. Denzel Washington plays the NYPD hostage negotiator tasked with resolving the confrontation. Things become complicated when various powerful figures, including a mysterious fixer played by Jodie Foster, become involved in the case.

The movie is worth watching just for the scheme and tactics of the robbers but the performances, the writing and the settings were excellent.

Plus the film is set on the street I used to work on.

Lego pirate video

Here we have a very cool Lego pirate video. It was done with computer graphics rather than stop motion but is still worth watching.

A pop-up urinal

This blog post is about some new urinals in Victoria, BC that rise up out the ground in the evening and then hide away again in the day. There are some photos.

I was in Victoria this summer but didn't notice any vanishing urinals.

via slashdot

A Wing Chun video

In Wing Chun Kung Fu we do an exercise called chi sau. I have tried to explain this exercise to people several times without success and it can't easily be demonstrated by one person. In future I can point people to this video on youtube.

This still probably isn't the best video as both people have quite high skill levels but I think my readers will get the general idea. The person on the right in the video is Augustine Fong. He is my teacher's teacher.

Print your own graph paper

pdfpad.com will let you print your own calendars as well as various types of graph paper. They basically let you download a PDF file. They also have sudoko puzzles.

New Lego gadget

Here we have an ice cube tray that makes ice cubes shaped like Lego blocks. I don't know if you can build things with the ice cubes or not though.

Risk perception

Bruce Schneier links to a Los Angelos Times article on the perception of risk. Among other things the article compares the risks from terrorism, which are very low but very worrying, to the risks of global warming, which are high but not upsetting.

Schneier's post about the article includes the amusing quote:

Many people believe that their children are at risk of being given poisoned candy by strangers at Halloween, even though there has been no documented case of this ever happening.

via slashdot

Sidewalk art

A great picture of some sidewalk art.

Surviving an air crash

The BBC has an article about surviving air crashes. Interestingly, a common problem is that panicked passengers often have trouble releasing their seatbelts as they try to push on them, as in a car, rather than pulling on the handle.

A view of the earth

Continuing the space theme, we have another picture from Astronomy Picture of the Day. This one shows the earth as seen from Saturn.

The world at night

Astronomy picture of the day has a composite photo of the earth at night. It is interesting to compare areas that are brightly lit with those that are dark. Notice North Korea - the black area to the east of Japan above brightly lit South Korea.

Would it have worked?

The Register has an article about how hard it would have been to mix an explosive out of liquids carried on a plane. I liked the part about taking several hours to combine the chemicals drop by drop.

Of course I still can't take a bottle of water on a plane.

via slashdot