I saw this a few days go, this was typical of a storm that moved through the Phoenix area in early August. That was quite a busy 30 seconds.
Author: John
Bird Flu Awareness Cosplay
When I first saw this I thought it was some form of bad cosplay gone worse but then I realized it was part of an avian flu awareness campaign. Last time I was in Bangkok I did notice a definite lack of live chickens just about anywhere. There was lots of cooked chicken to be had (mumm… street food!) but I’d saw that the government is doing a good job of getting the word out. I know that you can raise those darn things just about anywhere, farms, back yards, a cage in your apartment… No, I don’t have personal experience with keeping chickens in my apartment but I just know these things. Don’t ask me why.
Officials from the department of medical sciences wear chicken outfits, while holding signs that read "eating cooked chicken is safe" in Bangkok August 23, 2006. Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to Europe, killing at least 141 people so far. In Thailand, the virus has killed 16 people including the latest one in early August since the H5N1 virus swept across parts of Asia in late 2003.
[via Neatorama]
Another Tiny PC
Need a small PC for somthing? Don’t care if it runs Windows or not? Here you go, this computer might be for you. I’m thinking this would make for one hell of a brain on a robot. With all the USB ports you could interface sensors and if you needed more storage you could pop in a multi gig compact flash card in the CF slot.
Fanless Design
VESA mounting support (as depicted at right)
Processor — 166MHz Pentium (MMX-capable x86) x 3IUs
Memory — soldered-on 128 MB SDRAM
Input/output ports IDE
10/100 Mbps Ethernet
3 x USB V1.1
Optional RS232 Expansion — CompactFlash slot
2.5-inch hard drive mounting
Ultra-low power
PXE diskless boot
"…MicroClient Jr. supports most any version of Linux not based on Gnome, KDE, or other heavy desktop frameworks. He suggests using FWM95, ICEWM, XFce, or Fluxbox instead…
Nice!
Apple Caught up in Sony Battery Recall
Oops. Looks like Apple is getting bit by the same bug as Dell did. Man, first weird shutdowns and screen effects and now batteries that can ‘splode? Maybe I’ll keep my old B&W G3 a little bit longer…
"The recall arises because, on rare occasions, microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery cells may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell," Sony said. "Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs. However, under certain rare conditions, an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially flames. The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in different notebook computers."
Not much chance of the effect being minor there. Well I’m sure that Sony (makers of the little sparklers) will make good and come up with a fix soon. Until then keep the battery out and keep your laptop on your desk if your not the gambling type.
Ghost in the Shell Tachikoma Robot
This broke my heart when I found out that this robot is just used to promote the upcoming Ghost in the Shell DVD "Solid State Society". Crud, I was hoping that it was a general release item (check out its specs). The robot, or ‘tachikoma‘ as it’s called in the series, is a police robots that is fast, agile, and sports quite a personality. Imagine a hyper Japanese school girl in the armored body of a high speed, gun toting robot. Cool, eh? Yeah! Well this robot model is about foot and a half long and has 19 degrees of movement. There are a few videos of it moving here and here. By the way, the designer of these guys is Tomotaka Takahashi. He’s kind of a God amongst robot designers. If you wondering why you should go have a look at some of his creations.
[via Robot Gossip]
US Offers Japan 80 Patriot Missiles
Humm… ya know, this isn’t going to go well with Japan’s neighbors. If there’s one thing that that regions can’t stand is it’s an armed Japan. I wonder how this will play out.
The United States has offered Japan up to 80 more Patriot interceptor missiles following North Korea’s rocket tests last month, a news report said Thursday. Japan’s Defense Agency intends to take up part of the offer as it accelerates the planned deployment of a missile defense system, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing unnamed sources.