Friday, January 30, 2004

Disclaimers for everything. (Via Hanah Metchis.)
Microsoft warns you not to click on links but to instead type in the URLs manually, due to security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.
A NYC woman googled her prospective date, and found out that he was a fugitive wanted by the FBI. She alerted the FBI, who then met him at the planned restaurant location. Maybe he had a different kind of date that night... (Via Techdirt.)

Thursday, January 29, 2004

Super Bowl urban legends. (Via Linkfilter.)
"Instructions to Everything" (Via BBspot.)
High tech version of the mood ring.
Making money by typo arbitrage on eBay. (Via Techdirt.)

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Thermobaric bombs would make nasty terrorist weapons.
John Stossel's Top Ten Myths reported by the media. Well, 9 of his top 10.
"'CtrlAltDelete' Inventor Restarts Career"
Technical analysis of the authenticity of the alleged Osama Bin Laden audiotapes.
A combination lock you make out of paper. (Via Tom McMahon.)

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Tasteless website of the day: "Yellow Snow".
Wikipedia will hit a major milestone soon.
Ex-President Clinton has publically released his e-mails from when he was in office for display in his presidential library. Both of them. Yes, that's right, when he was President he sent a total of two e-mails -- one was a test message to verify his account was working and the second was to Senator John Glenn when he was orbiting in the space shuttle. (Via Techdirt.)
"Help! I've Been Web-Jacked": Beware spyware.

Monday, January 26, 2004

Minesweeper Online! Heh.
There's a widespread belief that one can't fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 or 8 times. However, Britney Gallivan has shown that with clever planning, one can fold a piece of paper 12 times(!) Here's more information.
Ants and untraceable music file sharing.

Sunday, January 25, 2004

Momentum from nothing? According to this article, "An object in strong electric and magnetic fields can siphon momentum out of the vacuum of empty space and begin to move, one researcher predicts... The strange effect should be observable in the laboratory with current technologies."
High school cheating scandal using a keystroke logger.

Saturday, January 24, 2004

"Doctors in Singapore will implant part of a tooth into one of the eyes of a blind Thai teenager in a revolutionary attempt to help him see."
Making real-life money by trading virtual currencies.

Friday, January 23, 2004

A modern computer fable: "The Devil and David Webster".
Could advances in neuroscience lead to real-life mind-reading? (Via IPList.)
Television news report from 1993 on this newfangled "internet" thing. It's amazing how quaint (and inadvertently funny) the story looks after only 11 years. (Via Madville.)

Thursday, January 22, 2004

What happens when you eat nothing but McDonald's for 30 days straight? (Via Obscure Store.)
Two Russian mathematicians have a scientific explanation for the parting of the Red Sea. (Via Fark.)
More sneaky web scams.
Sleeping on a difficult problem boosts lateral thinking. Here's a related story.

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Getting a little bit closer to real life "smart dust".
Evil technology development of the day: The pop-up blocker blocker. (Via Techdirt.)

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Astounding sidewalk chalk art. Be sure the check out the additional images near the bottom of the page as well as the ones at the top of the page. (Via Linkfilter.)
"Israeli Rabbi Offers Prayer for Web Porn Browsers"
Hiding your last will and testament in your USB memory watch. (Via Techdirt.)
The other "Lord of the rings": A spectacular image of Saturn.
"Why new steroids are easy to make and hard to detect"

Monday, January 19, 2004

Invention of the day: Real-time lie detector eyeglasses. (Via Ars Technica.)
What is the plural of "penis"?
Funny European car commercial. (Via Linkfilter.)
So you want to learn about antimatter? (Via Newstrolls.)
Legitimate e-mailers have to work harder than ever to get past spam filters.
"The Dark Art of Interrogation". Interesting article on the ethics and techniques of interrogation in the post-9/11 era. Learn the difference between "torture", "torture lite", and "moderate physical pressure". (Via The Weigh In.)
The Time-Warp Project lets you track typical household technology over the decades.
The US Navy will use specially bred micro-organisms to create cheaper missile propellant. (Via Bottomquark.)

Sunday, January 18, 2004

For those special occasions, use these handy "Insensitivity Cards". (Via Tom McMahon.)
Disgust evolved as a disease-avoidance mechanism.
How to terraform Mars.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

This Toyota Prius can park itself.

Thursday, January 15, 2004

Slick math and physics applets.
This guy went from overweight-and-pudgy to lean-and-buff over the course of a year. His website includes some dramatic before, during, and after pictures. (Via Linkfilter.)
The Onion: What challenges face the Mars Rover? (Via Cosmic Log.)
Top 11 Startup Messages You Don't Want To See
This robotic scientist can generate hypotheses and plan experiments better than human graduate students.
Frozen helium is a solid that behaves like a superfluid.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Now that's a big star. (Via BBspot.)
This solar-powered jacket recharges your PDA and other handheld electronics while you are carrying them.
Vik Rubenfeld has set up a forum for bloggers to trade ideas.

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

The Hewlett-Packard HP12C is the oldest consumer electronic device still in production. The venerable financial calculator has been in production since 1981, and has legions of loyal owners. (Via Tom McMahon.)
Cool picture of the day: The "hole punch" cloud.
Random words are frequently added to spam text in an attempt to defeat spam filters. How well does this work?
Our cat Oliver is entertaining, but not as entertaining as this one. (Via MeFi.)
Ultra-cool video of the Sony dancing robots. These things dance better than me (which isn't hard to do)!
Popular press article about the Singularity. (Via Fark.)
Satire of the day: Jimmy Carter advocates compassion for Mordor. (Via Linkfilter.)

Monday, January 12, 2004

Nice review of prion biology and mad cow disease.
Mathematics of disrupting terrorist cells.

Sunday, January 11, 2004

Split personalities reside in separate neural networks in the brain.
Who would win a fight between a medieval European knight and a Japanese samurai? (Via Fark.)
Etch-a-Sketch simulator. (Via Metafilter.)

Friday, January 02, 2004

Admin note: GeekPress will be on hiatus until Monday January 12, 2004. See you then!
Isildur: "What sort of man was Isildur, the only Man to wear Sauron's One Ring?" Excellent piece of Tolkien fan fiction about Isildur and the events at the end of the Second Age. This is a full-length novel with 13 chapters, available in multiple formats (HTML, MS Word, PDF). Tolkien fans who have read "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" in Unfinished Tales will especially enjoy it. Very well written.
What to do if you are sued by the RIAA. (Via Politech.)
How to cool your computer with liquid nitrogen. (Via Linkfilter.)

Thursday, January 01, 2004

"Subtly Simpsons": Some classic Simpsons quotes, along with the explanations of the obscure cultural and/or historical references. (Via Metafilter.)