"It's yet another in a long series of diversions in an attempt to avoid responsibility." - Chris Knight
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Yabafo: Amusement Ride or World’s Fastest Elevator?
October 22nd, 2007 by iDunzo
It’s said that Japan has some of the fastest elevators in the world.
Apparently it has something to do with different cultures having differing comfort and tolerance levels.
Even so, the Yabafo might test the mettle of even the craziest of our Eastern speed loving friends.
Designed by Shin Takamatsu, the Yabafo is part of a new amusement complex in Osaka, called NamBa HIPS, and is the first freefall ride to be built into a building.
During the 74 meter (243 feet) drop, the six person casket will hit 22 meters per second (50 MPH).
The crazy part of this is that the world’s fastest real elevator isn’t far off this speed at 17 meters per second (38 MPH), and that’s on the way up.
The park is due to open in December 2007. If you visit, I suggest not eating beforehand.
Posted in Geekery + Technology + Travel | 
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CSI: New York – Second Life Episode
October 20th, 2007 by iDunzo
The crime scene investigators of CSI: New York go into Second Life to catch a killer next week, and the preview is up on YouTube:
The video shows Detective Mac Taylor as he reinvents himself in Second Life customizing his avatar and then goes into some kind of gladiator battle in-world.
It does look cool and geeky, so I’ll be watching.
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Firefox 2.0.0.8 Released
October 19th, 2007 by iDunzo
Mozilla released Firefox 2.0.0.8 late last night and it’s highly recommended that you upgrade your install right away because of a nice list of security fixes.
The following security issues were fixed:
- URIs with invalid %-encoding mishandled by Windows
- XPCNativeWrapper pollution using Script object
- Possible file stealing through sftp protocol
- XUL pages can hide the window titlebar
- File input focus stealing vulnerability
- Browser digest authentication request splitting
- onUnload Tailgating
- Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.1.8)
Firefox 2.0.0.8 is also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), although there are some known issues affecting some media plugins.
Posted in Security Patches + Software + Technology + Web | Comments Off on Firefox 2.0.0.8 Released
Sony Announces New, Cheaper PS3
October 18th, 2007 by iDunzo
Sony Computer Entertainment America today cut the price of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console in the U.S. and announced an even cheaper model that will arrive before the holiday shopping season.
The top-line PlayStation model, with an 80 gigabyte hard drive, now costs $499.00 USD, down from $599.00 USD.
That effectively eliminates the lower-end model, which has a 60-gigabyte drive and has sold for $499.00 USD.
A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale November 2 for $399.00 USD.
Unlike the other PlayStation 3 models, the new one won’t be able to play games made for the PlayStation 2.
In a statement, Sony said this was due to a more extensive lineup of games of the PlayStation 3.
The U.S. launch of the 40-gigabyte model was widely expected, since Sony has already announced it for Japan and Europe.
By doing this, it narrows the price gap with competing game consoles, but the PlayStation is still the most expensive.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 costs $350.00 USD and Nintendo’s Wii costs $250.00 USD.
The PlayStation 3 has been trailing them both in U.S. sales, and the Wii has been a breakout hit for Nintendo, with more than 9 million units shipped.
Sony has sold 5 million PlayStation 3’s since they went on sale in November last year.
Posted in Gaming + Technology + Toys & Gadgets | 1 Comment »
Red Spy Steals U.S. Atom Bomb Secrets
October 18th, 2007 by iDunzo
October 18, 1945: Klaus Fuchs passes U.S. atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union for the first time.
Between 1945 and 1947, working with a courier known only as Raymond, Fuchs delivered high-level information on the atomic bomb, then later the hydrogen bomb, to Moscow.
Fuchs was a refugee from Hitler’s Germany, fleeing to England in 1933, where he completed his doctorate in physics.
At the outbreak of World War II, Fuchs, still a German citizen, was interned as an enemy alien but soon released through the intervention of Max Born, a professor at Edinburgh University and another German refugee.
Fuchs was recruited as a theoretical physicist for the British atomic bomb project, and became a British subject in 1942.
The following year, he was among several British scientists sent to the United States to collaborate on the Manhattan Project.
After being sent to the weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Fuchs spent his time devising a method of imploding the fissionable core of the plutonium bomb.
He was present at the Trinity test in July 1945, where an atomic bomb was successfully detonated for the first time.
Through it all, however, Fuchs remained a committed communist. He had joined the party while still living in Germany and fled the country for his political beliefs, not his religion. He was a Lutheran.
Consequently, he had tremendous sympathy for the Soviet Union and its life-and-death struggle with Nazism.
He also had grave misgivings about the United States being the only power on earth to possess the bomb.
By 1948, the Americans were aware that the Russians had people inside their nuclear program but Fuchs eluded suspicion until the following year, by which time he had returned to England.
Confronted by British intelligence, which identified him after cracking a Russian code, he eventually confessed and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Following his release in 1959, Fuchs went to East Germany and lived there until his death in 1988.
Historians on both sides of the Cold War have long debated the actual value to the Russians of Fuchs’ information.
Asked after Fuchs’ death about the importance of what he had given the USSR, Edward Teller said:
“Oh, not very important. I’m sure the Russians knew how to build a bomb without Fuchs’ stuff.”
Sources: Atomicarchive.com and Crimelibrary.com
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China Wants to Join International Space Station Club
October 17th, 2007 by iDunzo
In interviews with reporters this week, Chinese officials have said they want to begin cooperating with the U.S. in space, including becoming a contributing member of the International Space Station project.
From the Associated Press:
“We hope to take part in activities related to the International Space Station,” Li Xueyong, a vice minister of science and technology. “If I am not mistaken, this program has 16 countries currently involved and we hope to be the 17th partner.”
Given all the recent talk about war in space, not to mention the real thing on the ground, this seems like a no-brainer. The old cold war days are gone.
U.S. concerns about working with a communist dictatorship, as the AP puts it here, are laughable. Particularly given the severely tarnished democratic credentials of Russia, a primary partner in the International Space Station.
China is growing as a power in space, with the capability to launch manned missions, blast satellites out of orbit, and plans to launch a lunar mission soon.
Officials there are now saying that first lunar probe will launch later this month, putting it hard on the heels of Japan’s Kaguya orbiter.
It would be foolish to try to keep China isolated in space. Cooperation there may not be a perfect recipe for eternal peace, but it’s a whole lot better than the kind of saber (or laser?) rattling that’s led to space-war planning on both sides.
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