moved

I moved to a new location at http://grokthegeek.wordpress.com/   

NASA holds press conference soon

         This has been a long time in the making. Not to say that they should not have taken the time they did to give proper respect of the dead. Now they will be using the Discovery, and will hold a press conference on the readiness of the shuttle on the 20th of this month. The mission shouldn't get under way for about another week later depending on the status of the craft.

         NASA television will broadcast this on the 20th of this month. What is promising is that the general media will be able to ask questions. Now NASA said that they have worked out what caused the tragedy of the last mission with the tiles. We hopefully will be able to see them show and defend what has changed and how they construct the space shuttle now. Also it would be nice for them to talk about what are their thoughts on private organizations making their way into the space game. As having talked to one of the engineers at NASA (turns out she was a big Apple fan.) It seems that NASA is a huge group of Libertarians that hate government spending on anything but themselves. God I love NASA.

      So we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen with NASA. Regardless of what they say, in any case it's just good to see them reach for the stars once again.

Microsoft puts bounty out on the worm

      So you thought to yourself one day, I want to make a worm for windows machines. Then you did, but you didn't make just any worm you made the Conflicker this little guy has infected more than twelve million computers since fall of 08. So you did no small task, to say the least to become famous.

     Luckily people have noticed your work to the point of Microsoft putting a bounty on your head to the tune of $250,000. Now this may seem radical to some but back in 05 Microsoft did the same thing. They offered the same amount for the sasser, so it seems that Microsoft is looking for blood. The mac observer has some extra  info on the subject if you like to dive a little deeper into the subject.

Acron mp3 player to brake out of the mold

      gadget4all is selling what has to be one of the most inventive mass produced mp3 players out on the market. A wooden acorn mp3 player that comes in 1gb currently.  On an interesting side note this is the only mp3 player I know of that can play ogg files. For twenty-one bucks it's a hard sell not to pick one up. It replace a main but it looks like a great work-out mp3 player.

Stop making Chernobyl a scape goat!

I'm sorry, I really like Bob Marley. My favorite song by the man is buffalo solider, but Bob is wrong. Now is the time for nuclear power. with the cost of oil only going up and now that China is moving up in the world oil just no longer makes sense. Yes I am for wind, water and solar but that will only help so far. As it is France is near seventy percent of all of their electrical power is from nuclear power.

So since we have not heard about France going through that special type of winter one can assume that maybe just maybe the tech has improved since the early eighties.

Now we all know why nuclear is feared for the most part. I'm not saying we should forget what happened at Chernobyl, I would be annoyed to say the least if lessons where not learned from the incident that has turned seven countries of using that type of power for the for seeable future. Though we should put some of this in perspective. First issue is they where testing for what later become the problem that brought Chernobyl to it's knees. The problem being is that they could not get get the issue under control until two years after it had been open. So how their safety inspectors where OK with the shape it was in to open the plant is beyond me.

So let me reiterate that last part. They the crew building the plant rushed the job so the plant was unsafe by their own standards so they could get their bonus pay. This was covered up until the government went looking into why this had happened. So I'm sorry to say this was a walking disaster waiting to happen.

To be fair, if you see people using this reasoning to tell you that you should be against Nuclear power, you should also ask them if they are against other proven unsafe things. A few quick examples you could ask them is if they are against driving due to the mortality rate each year. Or you could ask them if they also do not fly but take the safer train when they have to travel cross country. My point being is in the greater scheme of things, dying of nuclear winter is much less statistical then dying by plane, car or cheese burgers.

So if you are willing to have an open mind I may just have an answer to powering us in a cheap cleaner manner over oil and coal.

Get your Mac pride on

      So you say you're a big Apple fan and would love to have an official Apple hoodie, hat or old school poster. The best to go is the source, to the headquarters in  Cupertino. It's a little south of San Francisco just a little below the bay, you could turn it into a cool little road trip if you live on West Coast or say Utah.

      So you say you don't live in the West? Fear not, you always have ebay to pick up the latest and greatest new gear. So you say you don't trust ebay or am not a fan of dealing with pay pal. It seems you are not alone in your mistrust of  ebay, it seems there are some sites that strictly deal with old school mac gear and some really cool indie stuff as well. 

     The first site I found is a gem of a site. For price they are very reasonable for what they offer. The site is called the missingbite.com they seem to have just about everything under the sun. They have everything from Apple watches to full size banners touting how awesome the PB  is. The only thing they don't seem to have is custom work. Though I have you covered on this, while surfing I found maybe the coolest iphone shirt ever. the shirt is a mock-up of how an iphone would look like if it was  made by Leonardo Da Vinci.  The shirt is called the isteam phone. So those are the two sites I really like for Apple pride. 

New iphone back leaked?

     The new back to the next iphone has been leaked on Mac Rumors. It seems the source has a bit of a trustworthy track record in this field. They where the ones to brought us all accurate photos of the last phone.

     So assuming this is accurate the new back will drop the high gloss, for a less finger print friendly matte look. On top of that they will be shedding the old plastic and moving on to an all metal look. The picture is of a black 16gb model, no word yet if they will also offer the old look. My only hope is they can make them less slick, in the hands. Of course as more comes out on this I'll do my best to get it out A.S.A.P.

large scale space stations to help advance humanity

       Recently some old concept drawings from the 70's of Nasa colonies have surfaced again. they have made the rounds on the news site Digg.com. All in all they are pretty interesting to look at but what they mainly do is show us two things. one of them is how Nasa was a lot bolder with their dreams up until and slightly after the moon landing and two it shows us hope.

    When I mean hope I am not just talking about the amazing feat it would take to construct such an impressively monumental human habitation. I am speaking about how we will have taken that first but very critical step. Once the Human race has reached colonization in multiple locations we can no longer be wiped out by one catastrophe. Once we have reached that step we can begin to explore and truly grow as a race. 

    Now I'm sorry to say I am not currently aware which one would be easier to get up and running first. Though with large scale space station you would have the advantage the ability to refill and stock up and supplies. On top of that, a station of that size would have to have an gravity generator to help stop with human muscle deaeration, along with the need of having a hydroponics to help supply with a varied food source. 

      One major downside right now in the U.S. in trying to gain any funding for such an ambitious project. As much as you and I agree advancing the human race at any cost is a noble task, some do not share our ideals. Which is fine, but when you are left with the option of one side hating anything that needs government funding and one who sees space shuttles as something that does more harm than good, we may have a problem. Granted this is only the fringe of both sides so I am hoping they never gain any real power. Though they are still something to keep an eye on.  

      Other countries may not have such stringent governments and real progress might be made for them. Yet there is still hope for third parties to innovate to keep the U.S. as a player in the space race, even if it's a second tier. I'm sorry to say I'm to much of a cynic to see a world effort to get this off the ground. 

     Now before you bring up LHC as an example, the amount of money needed to get this station up and running would make the  LHC budget look like a drop in a lake. Not to mentation that we would have to make hundreds of them. The ones that NASA came up with would only hold at best a little over a ten plus thousand people. This is no where near expectable in real honest look at what is trying to be accomplished. So the drawings of the space stations are interesting but they are at  best a first step at worst just a poor tease.

"I think therefore I am" So what is reality after all?

       So the old line "I think therefore I am." By Renatus Cartesius granted most people understand it as a statement of individuality and what went on to be cited as the birth of Western philosophy. Granted this could be argued but I am more interested in the meaning than what a websites cites.

       "I think therefore I am." So this is a pretty obvious point to everyone nowadays, but just knowing that you exist is not enough. What becomes important is in fact reality? Now I know  this seems like an obvious answer until you begin to think about it. first off what in fact is reality; reality is what you assume is in fact real vs fantasy. Fantasy being events that do not change anything on this planet in either positive or negative manner. All in all this is nothing to new. But my point of this is not teach you anything, I will assume that whoever reads this has already asked themselves this question at least once.

      So reality seems to be a fickle thing. It is both abstract and concrete at the same time; which helps to create something that is malleable. Reality is a series of events, truths and lies that you either learn or are taught at some point. Granted the survival instincts plays at a very base level. Since we all know this we could almost all agree then, since we are not all taught the same things and do not have the same life experiences reality therefore can not be very black and white. Even something as simple as what color is which is arbitrary. The same goes for time. Minus Earths rotation, but even that is not a constant. So when things as simple as time and color are so easily brought in to question what does that leave us?

      Now once you believe you have a grasp on what is time and something as simple as color you might be beyond some of us. Then you will be able to tackle some of the fun stuff like point of existence, if in fact there is one at all. OK there is one, that was an easy one. Now what you could ask yourself is what is our primary mission in life and what be a secondary one? Now some will tell you that continuation of the species is the primary job of all humans. I would disagree, but I do see the importance of keeping the species going. Though is having a child more important then creating science or art? 

    If reality is subjective then are there levels of reality? If so, is one more "real" then another? If that is the case that there are multiple versions of reality do we owe it to ourselves to experience as many as we can? To answer the question you be forming after reading that question, yes, I am saying that all psychotropic drugs should be legal. Not so much because some people claim it is "fun" but I am for their legality to help all human beings if they so choose to experience every type of  the human experience.

   So with these simple questions I hope that someone will read this and question if only for a second. What is truth and is reality an absolute for everyone; and if not are we in fact all contributing to what is reality? If that is the case are we possibly working as one mind on a basic subconscious level to shape what is what was and what is important enough to be what is? If that is true then is individuality not so much a fact as the human race has chosen instinctually what they are to become in the greater scheme of what positions are needed to advance the species as a whole by geographical location? With some randomness thrown in such as ever changing weather patterns to disrupt what should be to what is. 

   In any case "I think therefore I am." Has been a very important realization for mankind. It helped us advance humanity just a little, and got the ball rolling in the West to help us to begin to question what is in fact reality and self. Something that might just help us advance to the next stage in our evolutionary step if we can ever fully understand what is and what is not. If in fact there is nothingness.      

No more hunting while in Snow Leopard

        I'm really trying to find some fault with Snow Leopard, I am not trying to a Windows zealot especially after reading about the multi-version Windows Seven releases are now known. But the new news to come out about Snow Leopard is looking very promising. 

       We have already heard that Apple is working mainly on speed boosts with Snow Leopard. Nothing wrong in getting the most out of new technology, I'm all for a faster computer, though with the split between processor and graphics card I am curious how well games will play on the machine, when we start playing more taxing games. But that is a discussion for a different time. 

      One thing that has always been in my opinion a very understated but such an incredible feature in Apple has been the driver support. So you could guess how excited I got when Apple announced that in the new version they will now bring their A game.  By that I mean that Apple will now also have printer drivers show up when you do your normal software updates. So now when you get your new Mac and free printer you will now truly be able to plug and go. For a little bit more information on this Roughly Drafted has a good write-up.

         

PPC gets music lessons as well

      So you say you always wanted to learn to play the guitar? That you just knew with some practice you could out shred Herman Li. Well then, I have some good news and bad news, the good news is that the lessons that come on the new ilife will work on your old work horse Power Book.  Which is good news for all of us who tad finically destitute at the moment, I mean why should passion be derailed so early on in the pursuit of a dream?

     The only bad news about this is that you will not be able to purchase any new or different ones. So at least you will get to learn the basics and then get to start experimenting a little earlier. Which isn't such a bad thing. The other downside is that if you can read this you are already to old to become better than Herman Li, I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you. For some more information on the subject TUAW has a write up.

       

Amazon to open ebooks to Apple?

       Amazon dropped a major hint that Apple rumors was quick to pick up on. It seems amazon said "We are excited to make Kindle books available on a range of mobile phones." So with that blatant hint, I kinda feel sorry for Amazon, without the exclusivity of the ebooks being on the kindle it kind defeats the reason of owning one. Granted there is always the technology behind it, with e-ink's patented technology you save your eyes the strain you get from looking at lcd screens all day.

      So if the rumors are true it is sad to say but the kindle will have more than Sony's and a few other ebook readers to compete with. Though on the plus side anything that will save the consumer a little bit on  money these days is always  welcomed news.

10.6 to let you know you're in your house with multi-touch

    Now before you freak out like I did a little, the tracking feature that will be in Snow Leopard will be on par with the original iphone. For those of you who didn't have one or didn't get to play with it, the first generation iphone only showed you about where you where in couple block radius.  So think something like the old style GPS of the early nineties or a bit better.

    Though I have to admit it could really cool for people who travel a lot. Instead of grabbing the map while you are in a coffee shop somewhere on vacation and asking what is nearby to do. You could just jump on to the tracker get a good idea of where you are then search for fun stuff to do online. That's just one idea of how this can be useful.

     From what has been talked about online Snow Leopard will not be a huge leap forward with new toys beyond the tracker and multi-touch. From what I was able to scrounge up on the multi-touch it seems that third party developers will now start working on programs to bring to the new MacBook and MacBook pros, as it is the pinch is nice on Safari and iphoto. But where you will see the improvements is in speed, it seems that Apple this time around will be optimizing how the processor and graphics card work together so that work loads will be spread out more evenly. It sounds promising so we will all just have to wait and see how this all turns out.

D.O.J. To get real serious real quick about L.C.D.

       So we all have known for a while that LCD T.V.'s could be cheaper. We just didn't know they could have criminally low prices. (Sorry) It seems that it has gone from slaps on the hands to big fines. The Department of Justice statement that came out this morning showed that a grand jury in San Francisco brought a major blow against LG, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes.

      To give you a quick idea of how bad we are talking here LG will be limping for a while since they will have to pay a $400-million dollar fine, for the price fixing. Sharp got off a little easier in compression with a fine of $120-million.

      The price fixing has had more victims than just you and I. They also where sticking it to their third party buyers like Dell, Motorola and Apple. In a move to try and please the public Sharp is cutting the salary of their CEOs in the range of 10-30%. Which sounds like a start, the only downside is that this punishment is only going to last three months. Though before you even have to ask it,  there is no word right now about LCD buyers getting any of that money they dropped for an over-priced T.V. For more reading on this engadget has a great write up on the subject.

Apple dominating mobile gaming

     As Apple moves up in the world with an ever expanding PC base. It seems that they have already arrived when it comes to the mobile gaming. The company comScore stated that not only is Apple is in double digit of games downloads currently ranking in at fourteen percent of the current market of all downloaded games. Now add up the fact that just about one third of all iphones owners have downloaded a game. 

     Now apple ranks in at one point nine percent of the world wide phones owned.  That may not sound like a lot but,  just last year one point two billion phones where sold overall. So that means Apple has twenty two million phones in the hands of happy customers. 

    So I am pretty sure you have heard about the separate tier for the higher level games that will be rolling out soon. The games sold in this sub-section have already been stated that they will have to be held in a much higher standard then the simple flash games already out. How high are we talking here, well strictly speaking quality wise you may be able to leave your PSP home more often then you think. For some further reading on the subject the cool people over at TUAW have a nice write up as well.

South Korea to shame us all via the internet

        It seems that South Korea once again wins the prize for craziest plans for the internet. granted England also has some very ambitious plans for their country. England is hoping to have a country wide Wi-Fi which a very ambitious project that I am very jealous of living in the U.S.

       The only major Wi-FI plans I have read about in the U.S. recently is that the Bart system that runs through San Francisco will now have a Wi-Fi cloud that covers the entire train system. Granted it's a start, having Wi-Fi all the way to work so you can put the finishing touches on that project, or learn that the meeting has been moved before you even arrive to work will be very useful to those in need. 

      I only hope that South Koreas plan works better than what was tried in Portland Oregon. There was A failed attempt to bring ad based but all be it free Wi-Fi to the West Coast city. It's biggest problem was if you where more than fifteen feet away from a node good luck getting it to work. Though in South Korea they are going to try and have one gigabyte connection speed throughout almost all of the country. Granted as being a nation under fifty thousand square miles would be a little easier to cloud up compared the U.S.'s size of nearly five million square miles. 

     I wish South Korea the best of luck to get this project up and running by 2012. Once again they are putting all of us to shame in the U.S. may only hope is that we get rid of caps for downloading and have moved to at least thirty megabyte speed. Ugh, I know that's not a very high speed but it is far better than companies still claiming speeds under one megabyte are high speed.