Wired article about “How to foil wiretaps.” Not quite sure how I feel about this. Is it a good idea to publish this? On the other hand, can this information be trusted? If you are a conspiracy theorist, you might argue that this information was published at the government’s request. Maybe it’s really a way to tag calls that makes it easier for the government to know which ones they want to listen to? Or is our government really organized  [ Read More ]

New Danish study says cell phones don’t cause cancer. See the TechDirt article.

Interestingly, David Byrne (you remember him don’t you? of Talking Heads fame?) had a run-in with the RIAA the other day. Seems he operates an internet “radio” site that streams music, with a new playlist each month. Last month his playlist was of all one artist. As he explains in his blog, he received a warning letter informing him that for his current flat licensing fee, he can play one artist no more the 4 times in a 3-hour period.  [ Read More ]

Yet another reason to be careful what you eat… A company in Spokane, Washington has developed a plant that releases a text message during the 7 to 10 days it germinates, that shows on the plant’s bud. Marketed as the Amazing Message Plant, “I love you” is their initial launch, but they plan on doing kids’ names and promotional items. Let’s see…”Water me!!!” might be nice. And I suppose it’s not far from this to the development of a new  [ Read More ]

Well, it finally happened. Just like the invention of calculus, there are times when circumstances are just right to lead to important breakthroughs in science, frequently by more than one person at the same time. This time: the handbag.

My nephew and some of his friends ran a lemonade stand this weekend. All the proceeds went to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They called it, naturally enough, Lemon-Aid. Despite the fact that their sign asked for “dontations”, they raised over $400. I’m really proud of them. And their parents, too, for teaching them while still so young, that they can make a difference.

Graffiti artist and art prankster Banksy, has done it again. This time planting what seemed to be an example of early cave art in the British Museum. Banksy has often made use of the fact that most museums and art galleries are more worried about the attempted removal of works and haven’t given much thought to how to prevent “art” from getting in. He’s managed to get his art into the Tate Gallery in London, as well as the Metropolitan  [ Read More ]

Though I confess I’m not a fan of Star Wars (I like sci-fi, just not space-opera), so I haven’t seen the latest, and thankfully last, Start Wars yet. Despite that, I might not be able to resist this version of Mr. Potato Head, called, naturally, Darth Tater.  

Got my copy of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. The Barnes and Noble I went to had around 2000 people. But things went pretty well, I think they were better prepared than last time.

At last, a solution to that embarrassing problem of men stepping on their partners feet when learning to dance. I always suspected robots could make tremendous improvements in the quality of our lives. I’m not sure what the Mickey ears are all about though…