One of the best features of the space program has always been astronaut photography, and I will take this opportunity to share some of the best photographs of Earth's skies, taken from above - way above (over 200 miles to be more exact).

The Sky, From Above

I've got a pretty good reputation on being on top of the latest technology. I'm usually considered a early adopter. I spent $1000 on a DVD player back in the mid nineties (which by the way that Sony 5 Disc player still works). Yet I don't have a iPhone, I don't like ebook readers and here I am about to say why I don't recommend HD discs of either flavor. Perhaps I'm getting older and smarter, perhaps technology sucks more than it used to.

Movie studio fragmentation is the problem with Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. Half the studios are on one format and the other half are on the other format. You need a Blu-ray player to see Spiderman, you need a HD DVD player to see Transformers. Thus, I haven't purchased either and haven't recommended either. The situation is improving and it looks like one format could be a winner.

Up until last week a 60% of the studios made Blu-ray discs, now Warner has announced it is switching to Blu-ray and it looks like Paramount may be making the switch as well. This just leaves Universal and a few small studios to make HD DVD disc.

I still say wait and see until one or the other format is declared dead by the sponsoring forums. Microsoft is a backer of HD DVD, for example, and won't let it die so easily.

NASA Spider Problem Shuttle Atlantis STS-122

The Kindle can do more than read books, it uses Sprint's EVDO data network to connect tot he internet. There is no subscription sign up or fees required to access this network. Think this sounds like a good deal? Think again, Amazon is going to nickel and dime you to death on content. After you paid $399.00 for the device, you will pay for every book through Amazon. Best Sellers run about $10 each, public domain books costs $1.99. You can subscribe to RSS feeds, but you will pay $1.00 a month for each feed. These are the same feeds that are available on your computer for free. You can also get newspapers, but again you will pay. There doesn't seem to be anyway to get content onto the Kindle for free, you will pay Amazon for everything.

I don't have a problem with Amazon charging for content, or even all the content, but only if the hardware is free or cheap.

I didn't even write about the hardware, the screen or it's very 1990's look. I will leave it to people who have one to talk about those things. Most of the reviews I've read have been in the "meh" or negative category with a small number that really like it. I've been using Palm devices for reading books and RSS feeds. I expect my future iPhone to have this same capability. This one isn't for me and I doubt any device which is designed around business model instead of the users will ever be.

[Update 12/02/07 12:41 PM] I should note, I also don't like the Sony PRS-500 e-book reader. It has it's own list of issues, some of them similar to the Kindle. At least it's not as ugly.

Just because something is technically feasible doesn't mean that it's a good idea. A seekingalpha.com article gives 10 reason, none of which are very good, that Apple should buy AMD. Let me give you my top 4 list of reason Apple shouldn't and won't buy AMD.

1. Intel kisses Apple's ass
2. Intel gives Apple pretty sweet deals
3. Intel current has better technology than AMD
4. Apple didn't have to buy Intel to get the first three items

It might have been a good idea for Apple to buy AMD when they were switching from PowerPC, but now it's just silly.

Disclaimer: I work for Intel. These are just my opinions, I have no inside knowledge.

The World's first and only automatic sensor perforated paper towel dispenser works on all home paper towel brands, standard full and new half size sheets. Sensor-activated control guarantees one hand operation without touching the unused sheets or the dispenser, and the towels never unravel. It prevents contamination of germs and saves paper. This smart Towel-Matic™ can dispense one sheet, two sheets, or the new half page sheet on demand with just the approach of your hand.

The Simply Green blog recommends the GE's Energy Smart dimmable compact florescent bulb.

What I like about the bulb is that it mimics the light of a traditional bulb, all while giving you the huge energy-saving benefits of using it. It lasts 6 years and will save you $45 in energy cost savings over the life of the one bulb. I was surprised how soft the light was when I flipped the switch on the lamp. I found myself carrying the bulb going socket to socket around the house seeing how it worked in other fixtures.

At $11 a piece, thats a good price. I question how long it actually will last. I've had plenty of dimmable CFLs die in under a year. The cheaper they are, the less likely they will live up to their claims (unless the technology has actually improved).

I'm sticking with regular and halogens for now.

Biosphere 2 cost $200 million to build and is being sold for $50 million to build houses on the land surrounding it. They may have the University of Arizona continue to use the 'sphere, but it's fate doesn't seem certain yet. Maybe they should build houses in Biosphere and seal it up again.

TUCSON - A landmark 3.1 acre glass terrarium known as Biosphere 2 and 1,650-acres surrounding the research site north of Tucson have been sold to a home developer, but the buyers said the building where scientists lived in a sealed environment will remain open to researchers and tours for now.

The Mayor of Albuquerque wants free WiFi for everyone in the city.

a two-tiered wireless Internet signal covering the entire city that will support not just the basics of Web surfing, e-mail and the like, but phone service and video. Those two tiers are a free, 1 megabit signal for anyone and a premium service at 3 Mb for a "reasonable" cost.

Of course Comcast and Qwest don't like it. I say screw 'em. Qwest especially doesn't seem interested in offering extra services and Comcast would probably force everyone to pay $10/month for cable before you can use it. It's the technical issues and money that will keep this from happening.

One wireless provider estimates it would cost $25 million and would require a access point on every building in the city, I think that's overblown. They cite the problems that Rio Rancho has had completing it's network. I thought Rio Rancho had completed it's network.

I hope they try it anyways. I could use some free wifi when I have to drive into Albuquerque

When I heard the rumors that Palm was going to release some magical, wonderful, world-changing device I was excited. I've owned several models of Palms and I carry my Palm TX with me everywhere. In fact, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my Palm TX to switch to a iPhone. I was really hoping Palm was going to have a new kind of PDA.

Then I see this Foleo thing and wonder: WTF? From what I can tell, it's a sub-laptop that's designed to sync with your Treo. This has been in development for a few years?

It is not meant as a Laptop replacement, but more of a large screen, full keyboard companion to your smartphone's capabilities and email functionality. While initially the product is not meant as a Laptop replacement, as time goes on and more developers create unique solutions Hawkins sees its utility as a laptop like device expanding.

I obviously don't get it. I don't know who is going to buy it. Everyone has a laptop. People, my mom has a laptop. Your suppose to carry your laptop around and this thing just to read your email? Oh, and carry your phone.

I thought the writing was on the wall for Palm, but if they have been putting their R&D into this instead of improving the Treo, then I would say this is the beginning of the end.

This weeks Photo Friday is "Futuristic". This is a 1964 Chrysler Turbine car. In the 1960's, a few hundred lucky people were given the privilege of beta testing this vehicle. From what I can tell, the turbine turned a driveshaft, so it wasn't pushed along by a jet engine. Still I would drive one, I guess these cars were ahead of their time.

This picture was taken at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit when I visited there in September of 2006.

An AP article talks about the rise of the antenna with HD TVs. I've set up several HD TVs for people and have been impressed with how well normal rabbit ears work to get a HD signal where it did such a crappy job getting a analog signal.

The article also has a quote from a DirecTV persons stating that their signal is better than anything else even though they compress the signals. I have Dish Network (which does similar things). I'm not complaining about their video quality, it's very good. Sometimes you can tell that the video quality is different. Compression artifacts in fast movement for example, where you dont normally see that on the over the air signals.

Even if you have cable or satellite, I always recommend getting a over the air antenna to receive local channels. Over the air digital TV is that good.

According to "scientists" a potentially habitable plant has been found, just a hop, skip and a jump away. 15,480 trillion skips (120 trillion miles). OK, I wouldn't hold your breath.

The planet was discovered by the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile, which has a special instrument that splits light to find wobbles in different wave lengths. Those wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.

Fucking wobbles? With a name of 581 c? Can't they do better than that? I suggest planet Gregthor-8.

Last night I watched a episode of Planet Earth on Discover HD. They went into underground waterways in Mexico and showed some of the most amazing creatures and environments, places that have been barely explored. Right here on earth.

New Mexico tax payers want to pay for Spaceport America. Las Cruces Sun-News - All votes are tallied, but still unofficial

LAS CRUCES — All votes have now been tallied in this week's spaceport tax election. Doña Ana County voters approved the tax, with 9,020 voting in favor and 8,750 against. With almost 18,000 taking part in the election, 50.7 percent of voters were in favor of the tax while 49.3 were against. The vote count is unofficial until certified by county commissioners next Tuesday. The one-quarter of 1 percent increase in gross receipts tax will take effect Jan. 1. Proceeds from the tax will be used to help pay for construction of Spaceport America planned for a remote site in southern Sierra County.

Why the hell would somebody need this? at $32 for 5 sheets, it's not cheap. Looks like regular duct tape to me. At least they could have made it white.

Technical Details

• Totally Printable Duct Tape. Any Desktop Inkjet Printer or Dye Based Inkjet will print it.
• 5 sheets for Duct Tape Fashion or any Duct Tape Use Practical or Impractical
• Made from real Duct Tape
• Prints on Glossy Label Setting in Inkjet Printer Driver
• Needs Overlaminate to be Waterproof

Via Toolmonger.

USDTV was a service that gave out a set top box and sent cable channels over the air, using digital TV signals. Albuquerque was one of the few cities to have this service. They have announced the service is dead.

An Open Letter from USDTV

Dear USDTV Customers, Colleagues and Friends;

We are deeply saddened to inform you that we are ceasing operations and closing down the USDTV service. We are doing this after nearly four years of pioneering efforts to bring you a low-cost family friendly alternative to cable TV.

The closure is due to a funding withdrawal from our major investor, who has experienced a financial setback in another business.

We are giving you the option of keeping or returning your USDTV receiver.

We have made arrangements with a third party installation company to convert the USDTV set-top box so as to continue receiving free over-the-air local digital and high definition TV channels without the USDTV cable service.

For more information on the set-top box conversion or other items please visit: www.usdtv.com/customer_service/stb.html.

We have made arrangements with other TV service providers to provide you with a special offer if you choose to subscribe to another service. Go to: Special TV Service Offer for more details.

If you have any questions please email us at: customerservice@usdtv.com

We want to thank you for your loyalty and apologize for any inconvenience this closure may cause you or your family.

We also express appreciation to our colleagues and friends for their support and belief in us. They’ve helped our Utah-based team accomplish many historic firsts in the broadcasting industry. As a result thousands of you have enjoyed and benefited from the savings and family friendly programming USDTV provided.

Our passion was to help families save money on their cable TV bills and provide a service that had a higher quality of cable networks. We were and still are concerned about the increased availability of extremely violent and pornographic content now available on cable & satellite services.

Again, we thank you for your support and belief in us.

Sincerely,

The USDTV Management Team

I'm considering getting a Skype phone just as Garth is. I choose to not get wired phone service at my house, I'm not paying $20 min for a phone I would barely use. I went cell phone only, unfortunately I get a crappy signal from T-Mobile at my house.

I'm looking at Skype, they have phone to skype service for $30 a year and you get your own phone number. As long as I get a internet connection I can get phone service. Plus it can do fancy things like transfer calls to my cell. I'd like to get a dedicated phone, not one I hook up to the computer. The Netgear SPH101 or the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone don't require computers using a wifi connection instead. The Belkin isn't yet available but is $50 cheaper.

Wow, a lot of work went into this.

Mona Lisa, the mysterious woman immortalized in Leonardo da Vinci's 16th century masterpiece, had just given birth to her second son when she sat for the painting, a French art expert said on Tuesday.The discovery was made by a team of Canadian scientists who used special infrared and three-dimensional technology to peer through hitherto impenetrable paint layers on the work, which now sits in the Louvre museum in Paris.

The young woman went to doctors to have them probe her brain, to root out where her seizures came from. But unexpectedly, their investigations and the procedure they performed led her to experience the creepy illusion of a person standing behind her, where nobody was actually present. The patient described the illusory person as young and of indeterminate sex, a "shadow" who did not speak or move. "He is behind me, almost at my body, but I do not feel it," she reported.

Link

No. No. NO!

A judge has ordered EchoStar to disable the digital video recorders used by several million subscribers to its Dish satellite TV service because they infringe on patents held by TiVo.

I just switched from CableOne to Dish Network a week ago. Their DVR is a 1000% better than CableOne's and pretty darned nice compared to a TiVo. I'm getting the Platinum package wich pretty much includes everything they have and a HD DVR. Now they are going to disable the DVR?

Dish's HD offering blows away everyone else's including DirecTV's. DirecTV requires a wired phone line which I don't have. I'm not willing to give up my DVR so quickly!

It's not clear why, but the FDA didn't approve the mini telescope eye implant.

A tiny telescope designed to be implanted in the eyes of some elderly patients should not receive Food and Drug Administration approval, the panel recommended on a 10-3 vote. The FDA's ophthalmic devices panel recommended against the pea-sized bionic device for safety reasons, spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said.

In clinical trials, 141 of 193 patients implanted with the device showed after a year improved distance and near visual acuity, defined as the sharpness of vision in reading an eye chart, according to FDA documents. Ten patients reported a loss in acuity in either distance or near vision. Doctors removed eight of the devices, four of them from patients dissatisfied with how they worked, FDA documents show.

Some good news from the Tivo people at CES. First is news of the Tivo Series 3 box. Looks like a excellent upgrade from the series 2 especially with all the HD inputs.

The unit has two CableCARD slots on the back and it will support Multi-Stream (CableCARD 2.0) or Single-Stream (CableCARD 1.0) cards. If you have multi-stream then you only need one card, but as long as only single stream cards are available you can use two of them. Yes, the unit is dual-tuner - actually, like the HD DirecTiVo it can use any two of the tuners it has, and it has six. 2 cable tuners, 2 ATSC tuners, and 2 NTSC tuners. Yes, it supports digital and analog cable, digital ATSC OTA, and analog NTSC OTA.

I really loved my DirecTivo, however I've switched over to cable until all the new boxes come out. Plus the HD DirecTivo requires a detected land line which I do not have. The Motorola DCT6412 III that CableOne gave me really sucks in comparison and so does their HD offerings. The Series 3 box would be a huge improvements for cable but doesn't appear to have any satellite compatibility.

There's also news of the Mac version of Tivo desktop which will work quite nicely with that new Series 3. Both are due out mid 2006.

Microplane has invented a sort of very small planing system. They have applied it to everything under the sun including a foot scraper. Whatever. What I'm interested is the sand paper.

What they have created is a stainless steel sand paper that works with hook and loop orbital sanders (yes I have one) for wood. They say it cuts the wood instead of scraping and lasts longer.

Amazon has them for $12.95, which includes one fine, medum and course discs.

Earth's iron core consists of a solid inner core about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) in diameter%u2014about the size of the moon%u2014and a fluid outer core measures about 4,200 miles (7,000 kilometers) across.

Their calculations suggest the inner core rotates at a rate of 0.3 to 0.5 degree per year faster than the mantle and crust. That's about 50,000 times faster than the tectonic plates move on the planet's surface.

Link

You might recall a post I made about a DIY MIRT. I questioned if it was legal or not. No need to wonder anymore, it's now a federal crime.

The Safe Intersections Act, part of the transit bill signed Wednesday by President Bush, makes it a misdemeanor for unauthorized users to wield a "traffic signal pre-emption transmitter," a special remote control used by police, firefighters and ambulance drivers to change traffic lights to green as they approach an intersection.

The Blu-Ray consortium has decided to choose three different techniques to prevent copying content (primarily movies and music). Blu-ray is a contender to be the replacement for the current DVD standards. Let's take a look at the three methods:

• BD-ROM: This is some sort of watermark that is put on "genuine" disk created by the manufacturer. Copies wouldn't have this nor would the blank disk you buy to make a back up or those evil pirates in Asia.
• AACS: The is the Advanced Access Content System which will require that your blu-ray player call the mother ship before playing a disk. It checks your disk and if it doesn't meet the security standards of the mother ship, then the player becomes unusable. Yes, your player becomes useless and it will always need a connection to the internet.
• BD+: This is a system that allows the encryption scheme be kept on the disk, not on the player. So if someone hacks through the encryption, they can make new disks with new schemes. With current DVDs, every player has the encryption scheme built in. Once it was hacked all disks were vulnerable.

Not only will you not have control over the media that you purchased, your won't have control over your player. However, I have no doubt that there will be either crack or work around all these techniques. Either by hacking the player or the disks.

See also these articles: Register, Tom's Hardware. The other contender is HD DVD.

It's being reported the so called 10th planet was revealed to the public because of a hacker.

The briefing was hastily arranged after Brown received word that a secure website containing the discovery had been hacked and the hacker had threatened to release the information.

History is repeating itself. A piece of foam fell off the fuel tank of the Discovery's external fuel tank, causing NASA to ground the shuttle fleet once again. Nasa says they have inspected the shuttle with every camera on earth and everything looks good.

By the way, visit www.nasa.com (not NASA's official www.nasa.gov) and "look for the ridiculous in everything". Ridiculous indeed.

Parts of the brain go on the blink every time we blink, scientists have found. By closing down the parts that deal with vision, the brain ensures that blinking is not accompanied by a sensation of blackness.

link

Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer -- and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like something from an episode of "Alias," right?

Unfortunately, the scenario isn't fictional. In an effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you're using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what's worse, there are no laws to prevent abuse.

It's just wrong. Wrong, wrong wrong.

Thanks Boing Boing!

This is a pretty cool idea. This is for use in things like RV's and shacks (but you will need electricity)..

INCINOLET uses electric heat to reduce human waste (urine, solids, paper) to a small amount of clean ash, which is dumped periodically into the garbage. INCINOLET remains clean because waste never touches the bowl surface. A bowl liner, dropped into the bowl prior to use, captures the waste, then both liner and its content drop into the incinerator chamber when the foot pedal is pushed. You can use INCINOLET at any time-even while it is in cycle.

I never believed the moon landings were faked. However I had seen some of the claims and wondered what the answer was to some of them. This site does a good job debunking those that believe in the fakery.

This story on women and men DVR usage is interesting enough. But I find this statement just to obvious.

“DVRs give them a mechanism to find commercials that are relevant, and that’s a big message,” Brooks said. “It’s not that people don’t want commercials, it’s irrelevant interruptions that turn them off.”

Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail. I don't know what, if any, the penalty would be for Albuquerque but I'd like to build one of these things.

The device the "mysterious hacker" is using to change all the RED lights to GREEN is a MIRT. It is nothing "secret" or extraordinary. A MIRT is a device that uses Infra Red technology to trigger Pre-Emptive sensor on a traffic light and causes the light to change to green. Yes, this device will give you the ability to ALWAYS HAVE A GREEN LIGHT. The shadowy hacker did at least give one good tid-bit of info, if you want to order one, you will need to do your share of Social Engineering, as they are only sold to "Authorized Users". Oh, and you will need to pony up the $300-$400 to get one.. Well, paying isn't the I-Hacked way, lets build one! Today I am going to show you how to build a DIY Mirt for less than $20.

I really was expecting the flight to be scrubbed for something, this time it's a fuel sensor. Better safe than sorry and they can take as long as they want to get this thing up there.

Today's Return to Flight launch of Space Shuttle Discovery has been postponed due to an issue with a low-level fuel cutoff sensor onboard the vehicle. The sensor protects an orbiter's main engines by triggering them to shut down in the event fuel runs unexpectedly low. Mission managers are currently assessing the problem. More information will be announced as it becomes available.

I Have this happen to me a lot. It's usually a flying, floating or "out of body" type of experience. I'm aware that I'm dreaming or something but I cannot move my body. Thankfully I've never had the nightmarish versions that some have had.

It took Hufford another year to establish that what he and these people of Newfoundland had experienced corresponds to the event, lasting seconds or minutes, that sleep researchers call sleep paralysis. Although widely acknowledged among traditional cultures, sleep paralysis is one of the most prevalent yet least recognized mental phenomena for people in industrialized societies, Hufford says.

This is one big ass cat fish.

Thai fishermen caught a 293-kilogram (646-pound) catfish that may have been the world's largest freshwater fish, wildlife conservation groups said. The Mekong giant catfish was netted by villagers in a remote part of northern Thailand, the World Wildlife Fund and the National Geographic Society said in a statement. When wildlife officials caught wind of the catch they urged the villagers to release the adult male so that it could spawn, but it later died and was eaten, the groups said. They did not say when the massive fish was caught. The fish was the heaviest recorded since Thai officials started tracking the species in 1981 and may be the largest freshwater fish ever discovered, the statement said.

This is really bizarre if it's true.

The startling figures emerge from studies into toxoplasma gondii, a parasite carried by almost all the country%u2019s feline population. They show that half of Britain%u2019s human population carry the parasite in their brains, and that infected people may undergo slow but crucial changes in their behaviour. Infected men, suggests one new study, tend to become more aggressive, scruffy, antisocial and are less attractive. Women, on the other hand, appear to exhibit the %u201Csex kitten%u201D effect, becoming less trustworthy, more desirable, fun- loving and possibly more promiscuous.

Oops, looks like Google Maps via satellite has accidently taken a picture of a stealth bomber. It's probably a not a big deal, since everyone knows we have stealth bombers and it's not hard to figure out that they might be sitting at a military base. This photo also only shows one bomber, not a whole fleet of them.

A basic pair is $99, the advances set is $179.99, Order yours now!

protect her privates

Ever worry about your wife cheating?

Want to know where your daughter is late at night?

Need to know when your girlfriend's temperature is rising?

This amazing device will answer all of your questions! These panties can give you her location, and even her temperature and heart rate, and she will never even know it's there! Unlike the cumbersome and uncomfortable chastity belts of the past, these panties are 100% cotton, and use cutting-edge technology to help you protect what matters most.

A seattle coffee house has turned off it's free WiFi for the weekend. With surprising results.

Strongin said that the five-year-old cafe added free Wi-Fi when it seemed their customers wanted it a couple of years ago. It initially brought in more people, she said, but over the past year %u201Cwe noticed a significant change in the environment of the cafe.%u201D Before Wi-Fi, %u201CPeople talked to each other, strangers met each other,%u201D she said. Solitary activities might involve reading and writing, but it was part of the milieu. %u201CThose people co-existed with people having conversations,%u201D said Strongin.... Worse than just the sheer number of laptop users, Strongin noted, is that many of these patrons will camp six to eight hours%u2014and not buy anything. This seemed astounding to me, but she said that it was typical, not unusual. The staff doesn%u2019t want to have to enforce the cafe%u2019s unspoken policy of making a purchase to use the space (and the Wi-Fi), and on the occasions that they approach a non-buyer about a purchase asking, %u201CCan I get you a beverage?%u201D the squatter often becomes defensive, explains they%u2019ve bought a lot in the past or just the day before... They%u2019ve gone two weekends with no Wi-Fi, and so far, they%u2019re pleased with the results. The staff %u201Cloves it,%u201D she said, and regular customers are %u201Ccoming up to us and thanking us.%u201D They have received a few nasty emails. But Strongin said that last Sunday was one of the best revenue days they%u2019ve had on the weekends in a while. %u201CIt was kind of a bold move.%u201D

I frequent a local coffee shop called Satellite. I always buy a ice tea (sorry, not a coffee drinker) and muffin and make use of their free WiFi for several hours.

Check out these cloud formations called lenticular mammatus clouds. They look like something out of a movie.

(Thanks boing boing!)

Get amber alerts via text messaging on your cell phone or pager.

AMBER Alerts come to SMS - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "Starting today, AMBER Alerts, the service for bringing attention to missing children, will be available on cellphones via SMS. Cellphone users simply have to sign up on the Wireless AMBER Alerts website and enter the areas they would like to receive alerts for. Apparently, 90% of US cellphone subscribers are currently covered by the service, with most of the rest receiving coverage in the next two months. There%u2019s no charge for the service other than the usual carrier imposed SMS fees."

When you start complaining about the problems you have in your life, think of this kids problem and your problem will seem not-so-bad. But don't think of it before going to bed because it might give you nightmares.

Egyptian doctors said they removed a second head from a 10-month-old girl suffering from one of the rarest birth defects in an operation Saturday.

Video footage provided by the hospital, a national center in Egypt for children's medicine, showed Manar smiling and at ease in a cot with the dark-haired "parasitic" twin, attached at the upper left side of the girl's skull, occasionally blinking.

Alfy said the 13-strong surgical team separated Manar's brain from the conjoined organ in small stages, cutting off the blood supply to the extra head while preventing increased blood flow to Manar's heart, which would have risked cardiac arrest.

Surely this is a sign of the end of the world and the second coming of Christ. One of these south Korean fish apparently looks like it has a human face.

The fact that the eyes point forward is the most striking feature, but it looks more like a cat to me. Now that's irony.

There's a Russian message board post (via Slashdot) that has some pictures of deep sea fish that were washed up by the tsunami. There are some that I've seen before then there are some truly strange ones like the one shown here.

The whole site is in russian so I don't know what they are saying about them. What's the deal with the Russian anyways, do they use a pie symbol in their language? Why can't they just speak English like the rest of the world?

Biosphere 2, that lovable Earth environment within Earth environment is for sale. Bioshphere 2 is located in Oracle, Arizona. How much? Well they don't seem to be saying. But it cost the current developer 200 million dollars to get it to where it is now so, uh, you will need a few million.

If you don't recall, the whole idea in the Biosphere was to encapulate humans in a earth like bubble and see if the could manage the production of food, water and oxygen like one might do on mars or other inhospitable planet. That didn't work out too well and they had to get help from "the outside". Some saw that as a utter and complete failure, some saw it as a learning experience. I agree with the former. They did this 3 times.

I would also like to note that it's annoying that their website resized the browser to full screen for no apparent reason.

What a successful mission for NASA as the Mars Rovers reached their 1 year anniversary on Mars this week. The Rovers were originally suppose to only live for 3 months but now will continue their missions indefinitely.

Yeah, it's kind of nerdy to be on another planet and look at rocks but they've learned some interesting things. Most importantly finding signs of water.

Be sure to check out the top 10 color images from 2004. Looking at these images I'm thinking that some environmentalist will complain that we are scarring the environment of the Mars surface with vehicle tracks.

• In the box: Forerunner 101, wrist strap, protective case, user's manual and warranty information
• Display: 1.5"W x 0.9"H (3.81cm x 2.28cm); 100 x 64 pixels on FSTN display with LED backlighting
• Training data: Includes training time, pace, distance, lap pace, lap time, lap distance, average and best pace, elevation, and calories
• History: Stores up to approximately 5000 laps of training histories; review lap histories to date, by day, or by week
• Auto pause: Automatically pauses the training timer when you slow down below a specified resting pace; timer resumes when you start running again
• Auto lap: Automatically triggers a lap when you reach a specified distance; allows you to run anywhere and still get accurate performance data
• Virtual Partner: Allows you to input training goals based on time, distance and pace; Forerunner displays a graphic "virtual partner" that will run with the set goal, so you can see at a glance if you are keeping up or falling behind
• Pace alert: Alarm sounds if you are slower or faster than the pace you've input
• Time/distance alert: Alarm sounds when you reach the specified time or distance
• Receiver: 12 parallel channel GPS receiver continuously tracks and uses up to 12 satellites to track your speed and distance
• Antenna: Built-in patch
• Mark location: Mark and save up to 100 locations
• Find location: Look up and navigate to stored locations
• Back to start: Navigate back to starting location
• Map mode: Electronic map shows your location, along with marked locations; pointer arrow shows direction to travel when navigating back to start or to a stored location
• Power source: Two AAA batteries
• Battery life: 15 hours
• Case: Waterproof to IEC 529 IPX7 standards
• Temperature range: 5 degrees F to 158 degrees F (-15 degrees C to 70 degrees C)
• Item depth: .9 inches
• Item width: 3.26 inches
• Item height: 1.71 inches
• Item weight: 1.94 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year parts and labor

So basically it's a GPS "watch" (for $99) that designed to track your workout presumably while your running. I read in the editorial review that "it lacks the rechargeable battery and PC connectivity features of the Forerunner 201. Those are big omissions in my book and the Forerunner 201 doesn't seem like it's that much more expensive.

But who cares about the "workout" functions, it's a GPS watch! How cool is that! If it worked with a Mac (and Garmin is pretty notorious for not) and wasn't so bulky (I don't really think it's a watch, I think it straps on your arm, close enough). They should add a MP3 player to it or something otherwise I would have this thing on one arm and my iPod on the other arm. Needless to say I almost jumped right on the early adopter program and plunked down my cash.