Fight Club!

I am actually pretty impressed that these dorks have formed their own fight clubs. I wonder if they have the same rules and habits of self-deception as the movie...

Water-Powered Car?

well, until we can start seeing the actual specs it's anybody's guess as to how realistic this is, although it is of course theoretically possible. Real issue should probably be wear and tear on the engine and electrolysis components, and the efficiency of the overall system. Exciting if true, though.

China + GE = progress?

I guess the really good thing about this is the inherent necessity for the development of green products in China, as opposed to here in the US. I mean, America has traditionally been very fickle with the development of these technologies, with only niche markets supporting and implementing the technology. The mainstream support and acceptance varies directly in proportion to gas prices, so it's anybody's guess how much support there will be for the new tech tomorrow, next week, or next month. China, on the other hand, is up against a wall as far as their balance of energy, pollution, and industrial development. They are racing to develop and implement these technologies in an effort to not overextend their metaphorical hand. I would think this bodes well for us because this means the impetus required to develop advanced "green" tech is in place there, so the rest of the developed world would then simply have to implement these technologies which would already be in the process of being installed in mainland China.

That's progress, I would say.

I definitely missed the boat on this one

I cannot believe we didn't think of this in college...
and we were supposed to be a *smart* school, too. Idiots.

Bacterial Fuel Cells

Again, more of a niche market kind of energy product, but something that could really do wonders for the smaller, portable, power needs. But I am curious as to how aggressive this technology can be applied. I mean, if these gene identifications are able to transferred between a wide enough variety of bacteria, I suppose we could use these bacteria to provide boosters within completely unrelated systems that might lead to an overall efficiency improvement drastic enough to bring new technologies to market. Pretty exciting...

Israel's Immigration Woes

wow, and I thought our issue was confusing... I guess the israeli issue takes on a whole other beast.

iPod + Nike = WTF?

Ok, so I'm all about getting more and more nifty little gadgets thrown together to do more fun stuff, but I feel like this is somehow just wrong. Why does the iPod have to be the vehicle of innovation for things which would otherwise be probably very useful? I suppose such is the nature of development: the ubiquitous product becomes the flagship for development. But I would like to register my distaste here and now: the iPod has no business interacting with my sneakers. Period.

European Energy

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3468

I can't help but wonder about the efficacy of most of these measures were they to be implemented in the US. Especially take the scenario of France. One of their primary boons was the creation of a very well-connected rail system. Americans seem loathe to use rail, whether because we are stubborn individualists, because rail has been less convenient than driving for many trips, or because our airline system makes more sense for so many of our long trips in-country. So do we attempt to create express city-to-city networks of very fast rail to attempt to combat this? We could then fuel those rail lines with electrical power generated wherever we could do it cheaply, and however we wanted; thus broadening our options greatly. I'm still not convinced by most of the anti-nuclear arguments, I think our only real hope is to embrace the newest generation nuclear plants and build with the intention of creating a nuclear backbone, which could be augmented by renewable sources such as wind and bio-fuels.
However, we could definitely learn alot by taking these scenarios from europe as case-studies in order to further our knowledge on the subject.

Fusion Reactors and fairy dust

well, I guess this latest news is exactly that, although I'm sure that reliable, profitable, and truly functional fusion reactors are still quite a long way off... here's to hoping, right?
Maybe they should talk to Gillette. They seem to have the whole fusion thing worked out, according to their commercials.

Forward the Foundation

I guess it's sort of inevitable, when you think about it. It was basically science nerds that provided the backbone for the military-industrial complex's development, especially as began swallowing up nuclear, aerospace, and advanced weapons industries. And they were even more directly resonsible for the internet bubble and the vast majority of the computer industry. The compartmentalized nature many of the startups allowed huge monetary gains by the few indivuals who started the companies even before they brought in the professional finance and mgmt weenies to help run the quickly growing companies. So what do really rich nerds do? That's right. They build their dreams. I mean let's be honest, it's only a matter of time before someone builds some sort of working model of an x-wing fighter. Where's the MySpace Tie Fighter?

Dance, Monkey! er...Chicken!

http://www.subservientchicken.com/

what to say about this. Maybe it's just that I've been up for too long doing work. Maybe it's that I can't resist a good break-dancing foul. All you have to do is put in a command, and see if it'll do it. Start simple, like "dance", "sing", "break dance", "fight"....
I'm told this was made in response to some Virtual Stripper plug-in that allows you to tell strippers to do things and they do them. But this is probably much funnier. I mean let's be honest, I'm a simple man. This is like dangling shiny objects in front of an ape... it's almost too easy.



UPDATE: apparently I'm retarded, and this has been around for like two years. Yes, I'm out of touch. Yes, I'm ok with that. I am an ape.

Oh you Polish...

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=12238340&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews

so... I guess let the Polish jokes ensue. Although I'm kind of mad, honestly. We shouldn't have let the polish beat us to this one. I mean, with all the dumb, drunk, rednecks we have gracing the television screen on COPS each week, we can't get one of these? Honestly, it's like we're not even trying. I put it to you, middle america; where is your game-face? Let's do this.

Usury v2.0?

InformationWeek tells about the application of online, eBay-style peer-to-peer loans, pioneered by two new companies. Not being a particularly smart finance guy, I think the idea seems good in theory, but not sure how it breaks out in practice. Any finance weenies add some insight? I guess at the very least I'm excited about another site I can waste time on while pretending to be productive...

Alt Fuel Roundup

Popular Mechanics does a great job of pulling off the alternative fuel roundup here, with emphasis on process and the cost effectiveness of each. Worth the read...

Ahhh, Reunion

Well, I'm back from the 5-year college reunion, and I'm none the worse for wear. The requisite awkwards situations were basically avoided, and I was actually pretty excited to talk with everyone I saw. Good times. Reconnected with a few old friends, so hopefully we'll keep that up; here's a sampling of the pictures from the weekend...

Best American Fiction of the past 25 Years?

It's surprising how few of these I have read or even heard of. I used to think I was somewhat literary...<sigh> Guess I better get to reading...

Naked Lunch

so... just in case anybody was wondering, watching the film adaptation of the William S. Burroughs book does nothing to clear up the bizarre haze of Kafka, drug use, and gay desert sex that is found in the book. If anything, I will no longer trust manual typewriters or their oversized, carapaced, animate alter-egos. The jury is still out on whether reports can be filed on laptop computers or not...
in fact, the film was so bizarre that I don't even know if I am able to call it good or bad. It's just out there. Kind of like "Brazil", the fanciful Terry Gilliam creation, except that at least "Brazil" was somewhat coherent. Oh well. Maybe the telling factor is that I seek out these bizarre movies in order to challenge my own concepts of film, coherence, and normalcy.

Go Sox

Eat your heart Yankee bitches...

Sox win.

Mark it 8, dude.

Well, actually just under six. That's how many months I have left in this United States Navy before I separate and go civilian. Have to admit, I'm pretty excited about it. Navy has allowed me to do many great things, although it has left me with very little time to develop a social life, and leaves me thirsting for truly intellectual interaction. My navy friends are great, but it is frowned upon to debate religion, politcs, or anything confrontational while at work. And since I'm *always* at work...well yeah. So it'll be nice to get back to debating, arguing, and generally proving that I don't know what I'm talking about through the magical practice of yelling obscenities at the top of my voice. Although with this freedom comes the job search, so in that vein... anybody hiring? <grin>

I'm looking to move back to the northeast when all is said and done, so hopefully I'll start seeing my college and high school friends with a little more frequency... here's to hoping?

cheers!

Ethanol issues...

Slashdot has a linked article about the subject of tariffs on Ethanol. The article it links to is interesting, but the really interesting part is the discussion that follows on slashdot. The information, ideas, and opinions tossed around in the ensuing discussion really served to thresh out some very good issues and details that I hadn't realized or known about, before.

Dubai: Arab Las Vegas meets Potomac Mills, Virginia

So Dubai is continuing their maniacal push to develop their economy beyond dependence on petroleum. Can't say that I blame them, though. For those of you who have been to Dubai, it is a really bizarre place. Not as eerie as, say, Singapore, but a little odd nonetheless. It's a collision of worlds that is so extreme as to have traditional arab dress on one corner, with a Virgin Megastore and a Chili's in the background, and some pasty white British tourists wandering around with kids in tow.

I guess at the very least, Dubai is singlehandedly providing the Discovery Channel fodder for its show, Extreme Engineering. I remember them covering the indoor ski slope, the massive island communities, and some huge mall as well.

Freakonomics

So my dad gave me a copy of this book, raving about the fascinating approach the book brings to economics and apparently a host of other related subjects. I haven't had the chance to crack the cover, yet, but I guess the authors are active online with their blog, as well as writing articles for the New York Times; like this one talking about what factors lead to success, talent vs hardwork vs birth month, yada yada yada.

I think I'd buy their analysis. I mean, I'm really good at breathing, but I've been practicing for a long time. That's not just innate talent, folks. Recognize.

Rocket Car!

Volkswagen: check. Stanford PhD in, like, science and stuff: check. Absurdly over-sized rocket engine: check.

This guy is great. It makes me hopeful for our future of crazy, outside-the-box engineering, because people are still out there doing bizarre yet progressive projects that are completely off the wall, yet not entirely useless. I just want to know if I can get one of those installed on a delorean. And then, the hover-boards.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/30/MNGJGII7BB1.DTL&type=printable

The Trophy Pic

Here's the team after winning our last match. Roll Beach!

Tidewater Tournament Champions

Well, it's been a season with alot of ups and downs, thus far, but Virginia Beach finally made itself a legitimate regional power in the Rugby world. We beat Newport News, Western Suburbs, and Buffalo, to become the Tidewater Tournament Champions. Many hours of hard-fought rucks and scrums and some really great teamwork by everyone involved meant that we were never down during any game of the tournament, always maintaining a point lead on each team. Congratulations, Falcons. Next game is at home, vs Rappahanock. Come show your support, if you're around. www.vbrugby.com