Happy Hallowe’en! And to celebrate, here’s a story about a different kind of mask — one that firefighters can use to keep Fido and Fluffy breathing while they’re being rescued from a burning building. In the last few human generations, cats and dogs have gone from working cohabitors of our land, to beloved family pets, [...]
Archive of entries posted on October 2010
Intelligence
I was somewhat surprised when I read that people are getting more intelligent, on average, every decade. (Here’s more evidence of it.) But it makes sense… no matter what the cause, more people are learning how to think better all the time. And more people believe they can be smarter, from seeing smarter people around [...]
Project M, and Date Handling
First, for those of you who know and care about it: after seven years of work, the theory for Project X is successfully finished! (Hurray!) However, I haven’t found a simple — but not too simple — use for it so I could prove that it works. I’m not sure I’ll be able to commercialize [...]
“Groin stretches: Marks & Spencer makes men ’2 sizes bigger’”
I certainly hope that these were intended as a gag gift. Most guys go out of their way not to walk around with that kind of silhouette, outside of a bedroom. The only person that I can remotely imagine that a guy might want to impress that way is a potential sex partner. And in [...]
“Yet another thing to worry about – Toasted Skin Syndrome”
Just in case you didn’t have enough to worry about already. For the record, I sometimes use my Apple MacBook Pro on my lap, occasionally for extended periods, and have never suffered from Toasted Skin Syndrome. But then, like almost everyone, I’m smart enough to move it when it gets uncomfortably hot, even if I’m [...]
“Gargling with Salt Water Actually Helps a Cold or Cough”
Many old wives’ tales actually do have a basis in fact, and it’s not a good idea to dismiss them out of hand. For instance, it’s easy to dismiss your grandmother’s warning that you’ll catch a cold if you go out without a coat when it’s cold. The cold is caused by a virus, and [...]
“US military’s use of mythical monster for psy-ops”
I find this amusing, from the perspective of a modern, logical, Internet-connected Westerner who knows that vampires are myths. But I have to wonder just how many mistaken beliefs I have, that could be used against me in the same way by a more advanced enemy… (Fortunately, any “more advanced enemy” would almost have to [...]
“12 Signs You Kid Will Become a Super Villain”
You’ve got to wonder what your average comic book super-villain was like as a child… (I think picture number six is my favorite. But ask me on another day and you may get a different answer.)
“How to record the cops”
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? This isn’t a perfect society, by a long shot, so those who have authority must be held accountable for exercising that authority responsibly. And the best way to do that is to give everyone — especially their superiors and the courts — the ability to see their behavior first-hand. If they [...]
“Intel slips anti-theft tech into hardware to deter thieves”
I’ve always thought that computers could do more to protect themselves from theft. Even something as simple as full drive encryption, built into all hard drives, would at least prevent any thief from getting the data on a machine (and the data is usually worth far more than the machine itself). Apparently someone at Intel [...]