Google resists True to it’s company policy “do no harm” Google is resisting efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to hand over data about what people are looking for online. The department wants the data to try to show in court it has the right approach in enforcing the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, which has been blocked by the Supreme Court because of legal challenges over how it is enforced. Google’s refusal to comply has prompted the deparment of Justice to ask a federal judge in the state of California for an order to hand […]
“Where are they?” (absence of evidence is not evidence of absence)
Space.. The final frontier I have been involved in the Seti@home program since 1999: so far without any results. For those who have no idea what SETI is: it is an acronym for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and SETI@home (“SETI at home”) is a grid computing (distributed computing in the project’s own terminology) project using Internet-connected computers, hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory, at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States. The purpose of SETI@home is to analyze data incoming from the Arecibo radio telescope (located in Puerto Rico), searching for possible evidence of radio transmissions from […]
Don’t get mad. Get even
Pesky telemarketers Don’t you hate it when you just walked into your home after a long day and the phone rings and it’s one of those pesky telemarketers trying to sell you something? Usually I recognize them from a mile away because 99 out of a 100 times they do not show up on my caller-ID. In case I do pick-up accidentally, I just act like I can’t here them: “Hello?!, Hello!? Who is this? I can’t hear you, I’m hanging up now”. That always works and it is also hilarious to hear the person on the other end of […]
Stardust returns safely to earth
Stardust launch, 1999 It was May 1998 when I read about this cool NASA endevour called Project Stardust. The idea of this mission was to launch a capsule that would fly through the tail of the Comet P/Wild 2 and collect some interstellar dust. The collected dust would then return to earth in a capsule so it could be studied here. Now, what was special about the mission is the fact that in a public outreach effort, over 1 million names of people were collected and placed on two chips inside the Stardust spacecraft: the first one has 136,000 names […]
When pigs fly
Pigs in space? Get this: Taiwanese scientists (I wonder if they are related to Dr. Frankenstein) have bred “fluorescent green pigs”. Researchers hope it will boost their stem cell research. Previously (2003) they bred the world’s first transgenic glowing fish; a big hit with fishlovers. The transgenic pigs, commonly used to study human diseases, would help researchers monitor and trace changes of the tissues during the physical development, researchers said. In neighbouring South Korea, disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk apologised on Thursday for wrongdoing at his laboratory, but hinted at a conspiracy to discredit him and said he was […]
It feels good to be a winner
Done it again What can I say; Apple pulled it off once more: a flawless Apple Macworld event. Jobs was really going at it again this time (see the streaming webcast here – quicktime needed). Sixty percent of his show was aimed at the new versions of existing Apple software, in particular iLife. Once again Apple has added ton’s of new features, most notable podcasting capabilities for all applications: iPhoto, iVideo and even Garageband can be used. Or just simply put: your life…. Digital. And now also on Intel. I’m quite sure Jobs has many reasons to be very pleased […]
Battle of the standards or: how to f* consumers in the *ss
Standard? Why? Remember when we had three video formats? We had Betamax (Sony), VHS (Video Home System, by JVC) and Video2000 (Philips). VHS became a standard format for consumer recording and viewing in the 1980s and 1990s after competing in a fierce format war with Sony’s Betamax and, to a lesser extent, Philips’ Video 2000. Since none of the systems worked with each other, millions of consumers that didn’t choose VHS initially, wounded up with a non-standard product (and loads of shitty videos). In short: it sucked. When the DVD came out in the mid-90’s, at least every DVD player […]
E-ink applications going mainstream in 2006?
Lexar USB stick Since I’m in the IT-business working for a premedia/prepress firm, I have always been interested in E-ink or digital paper. Ever since I started working for an Internet firm in 1995, it has been my strong belief that paper (except maybe toilet paper) will be replaced by something else. After all: chopping down trees just to make paper from it seems so archaic and political incorrect to me. In fact I always said that trees will become what those fluffy white baby seals where in the 80’s: it is political incorrect to kill/chop them down. Off course […]
Another Xmas, another New Year
Xmas presents: oh joy! Once again I am back home after a Christmas in Tallahassee with my girlfriend Carrie. And what a great time did I have! I think this must have been the best visit I had in years. I think it was just what we needed: some quality time. I can’t wait till summer vacation: we very much would like to visit Italy and drive there and make it a great trip down the south of Europe. But here I am again: back in cold Holland. Going from some 18-20 degrees to just 0-5 degrees isn’t a pleasure! […]