Apparently we still haven't reached the day when I'll stop posting about the status of patents I'm on.
My second patent (which I'm also first inventor on) was just granted! And the version with pretty pictures. (8/16/2011 link fixed)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Mystery Solved
Ok, mystery solved. Not so surprisingly it is the family members I've been playing phone tag with since my birthday. Yay now it is time to use my birthday present!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Yoda USB Drive
Someone was nice enough to buy a Yoda USB drive for me. I like the little Yoda statue so it is sitting on my stereo next to my computer. And according to the box it has a huge amount of memory. It showed up right around my birthday so I'm assuming it is a birthday present.
However, I have no idea who it is from. I'd like to use it, but this is how nuclear reactors get taken down (yeah, I know the US and Israeli governments aren't looking to put a virus on my computer, but I'm still going to avoid plugging in a random USB drive).
So if you bought it for me or know who did, please let me know cause I'd like to say thank you and I'd like to start using it. For now I'll just use it as a figurine, maybe if I don't find out who it is from I'll go to an internet cafe and see if there is anything on there.
Oh, and around the same time I got a DaVinci shirt with the guy playing a guitar. Luckily that one I can just wash and then use, but I'd like to thank whoever got it for me.
However, I have no idea who it is from. I'd like to use it, but this is how nuclear reactors get taken down (yeah, I know the US and Israeli governments aren't looking to put a virus on my computer, but I'm still going to avoid plugging in a random USB drive).
So if you bought it for me or know who did, please let me know cause I'd like to say thank you and I'd like to start using it. For now I'll just use it as a figurine, maybe if I don't find out who it is from I'll go to an internet cafe and see if there is anything on there.
Oh, and around the same time I got a DaVinci shirt with the guy playing a guitar. Luckily that one I can just wash and then use, but I'd like to thank whoever got it for me.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Google+
So far google+ seems a lot like facebook, but with more email. And less people.
I don't really feel like setting up yet another profile and stream of info. And I know no one is forcing me, but I like to keep up with the crowd. It is nice that google tries to be kinda smart about who is in your network and how they are connected to you.
BUT this is GOOGLE, I don't want it to make suggestions about who I know. I want it to scrape the entire series of pipes and tubes for information and media about me and create a profile and on going log of my activities that is a more active and realistic view of me than I could create.
Ok, that would be a little scary, and there should be some controls on it. But google should really take advantage of the fact that they know a whole lot about people when they make a personal info sharing site.
Oh, yeah, that uproar over google buzz, never mind, back to picking out a picture for google's facebook.
I don't really feel like setting up yet another profile and stream of info. And I know no one is forcing me, but I like to keep up with the crowd. It is nice that google tries to be kinda smart about who is in your network and how they are connected to you.
BUT this is GOOGLE, I don't want it to make suggestions about who I know. I want it to scrape the entire series of pipes and tubes for information and media about me and create a profile and on going log of my activities that is a more active and realistic view of me than I could create.
Ok, that would be a little scary, and there should be some controls on it. But google should really take advantage of the fact that they know a whole lot about people when they make a personal info sharing site.
Oh, yeah, that uproar over google buzz, never mind, back to picking out a picture for google's facebook.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Disarming Nuclear Bombs
Hm, for some reason this post never got published. Made a lot more sense the week I saw three nuclear weapons disarmed on TV, but here it is:
Disarming a nuclear weapon pops up occasionally on TV and in movies (I'm looking at you Chuck, Castle and even SGU). They always make it seem like a super complicated task. I'm not sure that it is all that difficult (this is one of those posts where I'm way outside my realm of knowledge).
What I'm willing to concede:
-Even if you know how to disarm a nuclear bomb it would be crazy scary.
-Conventional bombs may have fake wires and components that will cause the bomb to explode if tampered with and it is possible that a nuclear bomb would also have this.
But:
Nuclear weapons are really hard to make. Getting the material may be the hardest part, but even with the material it is quite a task. My understanding is those scientists at Los Alamos (many of the greatest in American history) were provided the radio active material. Today a semi-trained bomb maker with some parts from radio shack and a lawn store can make a conventional bomb, but only certain governments have made nuclear weapons.
Something that hard to make shouldn't be too hard to stop.
Typically nuclear weapons work by using a conventional explosive to smash two pieces of radio active material together. Dirty bombs work by having a conventional bomb spread radio active material. So the key is just to separate the radioactive part from the conventional weapon.
Yes it is good to stop the conventional weapon as well to avoid any damage and yes the bomb maker might make that tricky, but then the scary part is disarming a bomb, not disarming a NUCLEAR bomb.
Ok, maybe it isn't super easy, but definitely seems more straight forward than whatever they end up doing on TV. Plus while they are screwing around with guessing which wire they could be trying to get the material and conventional bomb as far away from each other as possible.
I took a look on the web to see what others think and here's wired's take.
Disarming a nuclear weapon pops up occasionally on TV and in movies (I'm looking at you Chuck, Castle and even SGU). They always make it seem like a super complicated task. I'm not sure that it is all that difficult (this is one of those posts where I'm way outside my realm of knowledge).
What I'm willing to concede:
-Even if you know how to disarm a nuclear bomb it would be crazy scary.
-Conventional bombs may have fake wires and components that will cause the bomb to explode if tampered with and it is possible that a nuclear bomb would also have this.
But:
Nuclear weapons are really hard to make. Getting the material may be the hardest part, but even with the material it is quite a task. My understanding is those scientists at Los Alamos (many of the greatest in American history) were provided the radio active material. Today a semi-trained bomb maker with some parts from radio shack and a lawn store can make a conventional bomb, but only certain governments have made nuclear weapons.
Something that hard to make shouldn't be too hard to stop.
Typically nuclear weapons work by using a conventional explosive to smash two pieces of radio active material together. Dirty bombs work by having a conventional bomb spread radio active material. So the key is just to separate the radioactive part from the conventional weapon.
Yes it is good to stop the conventional weapon as well to avoid any damage and yes the bomb maker might make that tricky, but then the scary part is disarming a bomb, not disarming a NUCLEAR bomb.
Ok, maybe it isn't super easy, but definitely seems more straight forward than whatever they end up doing on TV. Plus while they are screwing around with guessing which wire they could be trying to get the material and conventional bomb as far away from each other as possible.
I took a look on the web to see what others think and here's wired's take.
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