Judge Declines to Save the Universe from Vacuum Bubbles September 30, 2008
Posted by Joey in Science.Tags: Large Hadron Collider, Vacuum Bubbles
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The NY Times reports that Suit to Halt Big Collider in Europe Is Dismissed.
A federal judge in Honolulu has dismissed a lawsuit trying to stop the running of a giant particle accelerator outside Geneva, dodging the issue of whether it could actually cause the end of the world.
The judge, Helen Gillmor, said in her ruling Friday that the court lacked jurisdiction over the Large Hadron Collider, which is located on the Swiss-French border and was built by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, with help from the United States and dozens of other countries.
When it is operating at full steam, the collider, which started circulating protons earlier this month before a series of mishaps shut it down for the winter, will accelerate protons to energies of seven trillion electron volts and slam them together in search of particles and forces not seen since the early moments of the Big Bang.
Not to worry. The Large Hadron Collider is shut down until next year due to a helium leak. Enjoy your respite.
Bailout fails! September 29, 2008
Posted by Joey in Economics, Politicians.Tags: Wall Street
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Imagine my amusement when the House voted against the $700B bailout of Wall Street. Not even that bunch of looters in the House could stomach $700B to bail out a bunch of idiots who loaned money to people who couldn’t pay the money back.
Squirt-Gun Assassins September 26, 2008
Posted by Joey in Games.Tags: Squirt-Gun Assassin
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The NY Times reports on assassination games in The Shadowy, Wet World of StreetWars’ Squirt-Gun Assassins.
But first he had to get there alive. He parked his car a couple of blocks away and started the treacherous walk, his only friend of late tucked under his black shirt, a curiously damp bulge.
His yellow-and-orange Uzi-style squirt gun.
Mr. Deane, a freelance audiovisual technician, was becoming a player to be reckoned with in this year’s StreetWars tournament. With only a few days left, he stood a fighting chance at being the last person standing, the $500 prize in one hand and his dripping gun in the other. But with the pool dwindling, his own would-be killer could not be far.
When StreetWars started on Sept. 7, each of the 250-plus contestants was handed a black envelope marked “Shadow Government,” with the name, home address, workplace, e-mail address, cellphone number and photograph of a player to kill by squirting. After each kill, the shooter acquires the dead rival’s target and begins stalking this new person, all the while looking over a shoulder for whoever is hunting him. It is permissible to shoot in self-defense.
Sounds like fun! Start an assassin guild near you.
Friday Demotivator September 26, 2008
Posted by Joey in Demotivator.Tags: Demotivator
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Japanese Diaper Fashion Show September 25, 2008
Posted by Joey in Fashion, Weird Stuff.Tags: Diaper, Japan
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Japan is a strange and fascinating place, but this is just a bit weird. USAToday reports Japan holds diaper fashion show for adults.
One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy ’80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.
Japan has one of the world’s most rapidly aging societies, and the fashion show Thursday proved the country’s diaper producers are intent on keeping the elderly clean and dry.
“Diapers are something that people don’t want to look at,” said Kiyoko Hamada of the Aging Lifestyle Research Center, a leading organizer of the show.
“But if you make them attractive, then people can learn about them more easily,” she said.
“If your commercials air during golf tournaments, you’re done” September 24, 2008
Posted by Joey in Sports.Tags: PGA Tour, Subprime Mortgage Crisis
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Golf Magazine writes about golf and the subprime mortgage crisis in Backspin: The credit crisis and pro golf.
Amy Poehler finished up a routine about the Wall Street meltdown on last week’s Saturday Night Live by saying, “Basically, if your commercials air during golf tournaments, you’re done.” Funny, and seemingly true, since 26 banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies have their names attached to PGA, Champions and Nationwide tour events, and even more advertise during tournaments. The list includes AIG, Merrill Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America also a sponsor, and the troubled banks Northern Trust and Wachovia, the latter of which considered a merger with the Memorial’s presenting sponsor, Morgan Stanley.
But not all is necessarily as it appears. “Competitors of those troubled giants like AIG and Merrill Lynch have every reason to pump up ad spending to steal away customers,” Media Life magazine reported last week. “And of course the new owners of these institutions will want to up spending to repair what damage they can.” To that point, Golf Channel president Page Thompson says, “At this time we have not seen any negative impact on either this year’s sales or on future advertising plans.”
I think the PGA Tour is smoking crack if it thinks the subprime crisis won’t affect it. I wouldn’t be surprised if a half a dozen tournaments lost their title sponsors.
Quite possibly the ugliest mega-yacht ever built September 23, 2008
Posted by Joey in Toys.Tags: mega-yacht
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I wonder why Gizmodo, which labels itself “The Gadget Guide”, would write about a boat that cost 150M Euros to build. Nevertheless, this mega-yacht may be the most hideous design I’ve ever seen. You’ll need to visit the article itself if you want to admire the exceedingly ugly design, as I can’t bear to post a mug shot of the boat. A sampling:
This is A, a giga-yacht that looks like a cross between a First World War battlecruiser, a submarine, and a spaceship. The A is 387 foot long, with three pools, one master suite, six guest suites, and rooms for 42 staff. Or 42 trained evil Spectra ninjas. The scale of this thing is just mind-blowing, you just have to look closely at the side gate, which seems big enough to hold a dozen of torpedo boats.
Helium leak shuts down LHC: Universe safe for now September 22, 2008
Posted by Joey in Science.Tags: Large Hadron Collider
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The New Scientist reports that operation of the LHC will be delayed due to leaking helium in Gas leak shuts LHC for two months.
A technical glitch has forced scientists to shut down the LHC. The problem means we are unlikely to get particle collisions at full speed this year.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN said there had been a major helium leak on Friday into the tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest and most complex machine ever made.
A CERN statement said: “Preliminary investigations indicate that the most likely cause of the problem was a faulty electrical connection between two magnets, which probably melted at high current leading to mechanical failure.”
OK, folks, you and the universe are safe from vacuum bubbles for two months. Enjoy yourselves.
Microsoft Uses Macs to Create “I’m a PC” Ad September 20, 2008
Posted by Joey in Internet, Media, Software.Tags: Microsoft
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AppleInsider reveals Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ campaign created with Macs.
Metadata found on Microsoft’s creative copy used in its ‘I’m a PC’ ad reveals that the graphics were actually produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3. After the details were published on the Flickr photo sharing site, Microsoft scrambled to polish off the embarrassing details last night.
I’m thinking Microsoft should spend all that ad money making an operating system that actually works.
