There is a rather sensational story on the Drudge Report at this moment about an apparent disgruntled network engineer who granted himself god rights on a network, then locked out everyone else’s administrative rights. He then went to jail rather than divulge his password. It’s the equivalent of locking the door and swallowing the key. City Officials claim that the damage caused by this could be in the millions of dollars.
The Most Irresponsible Science Lesson Ever Taught
Now before you hit that play button, here’s a quick warning: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! (Or, in fact, anywhere else!)
The fifty most influential female bloggers
By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
When I was working as a trainee journalist in newspapers back in the 1990’s, it was still considered to be very much a “boys club” (at least in the UK anyway). Yes women were working in newspapers too but nevertheless, if you wanted to climb the ladder and get into editorial positions, those jobs generally fell to “the lads”. I was a very young chap back then, just out of school, so my newspaper mentor was showing me the ropes. One day, he told me in the cafeteria, “nowhere are you going to see more sexism, testosterone and outright machoism than in a newspaper newsroom”
Fast forward to today, 2008 and the internet. How things have changed with blogging and the fifty most influential female bloggers. Lists like these really make me happy because it shows that things really have moved on in the world. No longer are we seeing discrimination and sexism in media. Now women are really getting the chance to pull their weight and prove that they too can do the job just as well as a man, if not better.
After looking at the list, it’s more a case of recognizing the blog more than the person. However, there are a few recognizable faces in there such as Veronica Belmont, Xeni Jardin, Tamar Weinberg and of course Ariana Huffington.
Do you agree with the list? Who do you like? Anyone you disagree with? Anyone who isn’t there that should be?
Mower: The Robotic Lawn Mowing Sheep
Yep, you read that right. A robotic sheep that will mow your lawn while you lie down in the sun sipping a delicious strawberry daiquiri. The sheep, named Mower, has been designed by Osman Khan, a visiting assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon’s, with Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” in mind.
The robot features GPS navigation, obstacle avoidance sensors and lawn mowing teeth. It will move around your backyard on 6 little articulated legs, cutting grass wherever it steps. If you want to check him out, Mower is currently on display at the Robot 250 festival in Philadelphia, PA.
Manipulate Radiohead’s Laser-Made Music Video in Real Time
The folks from RadioHead just released a new video for their latest song “House of Cards.” The thing that makes this video so special is that no cameras or lights we used to film it. Instead, the producing team used two 3D technologies to capture motion and images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR.
Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.
Check out the video below, and once you’re done, hit this link to manipulate the video’s data in real time.
World’s oldest blogger dies at 108 years old
By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
This just goes to show that you’re never too old to tackle technology.
Australian blogger Olive Riley has died at the age of 108. She was called the “world’s oldest blogger” and she was 12 years older than Spanish blogger Maria Amelia.
It’s amazing to me that someone that old was persuaded to start a blog in the first place or that she even understands how the internet works. My grandmother who is 82 doesn’t understand computers or the internet at all.
Olive’s blog, “The Life of Riley” is currently unreachable (probably because of the intense media reports surrounding her death, including CNN) but a friend of hers has set up a temporary blog for status updates.
Do you have an elderly relative that blogs? How do you explain the internet and blogging to your grandparents?
Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs: The Game
Apple freaks and PC nerds behold! The Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs flash game puts you in control of one of your two heroes in a fight to the death that will only leave one standing. And the best of all? They’re using light sabers to bash each others over the head! Enjoy!
Outlander: Vikings Versus Alien Dragon-like Monster… WTF?
What do you get when you mix Vikings, Spaceships, and a dragon-like monster that comes from outer space? A movie named Outlander, that’s what you get.
Outlander is the story of a man that comes from space to fight an evil alien beast. The movie starts when he crashes in ancient Norway during the time of the Vikings. Yeah, right, I know what you think. I’m not sure on what the author was on when he thought of the idea, but it must have been very powerful stuff. Anyways, our intrepid hero then proceeds to fight the monster accompanied by several steroid boosted viking warriors. Sounds like a winning combination? Hmmm, I’m not so sure. I’ll let you watch the trailer so you can decide for yourself.
So, what do you think? Will Outlander be a winner or a loser? Let us know in the comments section!
Rewrite a pop song into gibberish and become famous
By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Valentina Hasan was once a joke but now she’s famous for the wrong reasons. She went on the Bulgarian version of American Idol and sang the Mariah Carey song “Without You”. But instead of the proper words, she sang her own version, thinking that her English was perfect when in actual fact it was mostly gibberish. The judges were in total hysterics (as was I) and Hasan became famous on YouTube instead of the international music charts. To this day she still believes she is singing the real lyrics.
Ironically, she is now famous in her Bulgarian homeland as the “Ken Lee” woman and she is now being asked to come back by shows and repeat her crowd pleasing performance. Why? Watch the YouTube video and find out. I guarantee you won’t get “Ken Lee” out of your head for the rest of the day.
3G iPhone Stumbles On Launch
Apple’s much-hyped launch of their 3G iPhone today left buyers on both sides of the pond angry, albeit for vastly different reasons.
Stateside, Apple appeared to successfully match supply with demand, but many enthusiasts, some of whom had camped outside overnight to be amongst the first to get their hands on Apple’s latest gadget, were frustrated when they were unable to use their new phone due to activation problems.
Problems and complaints multiplied when existing iTunes users also found themselves shut out from their accounts.
AT&T, the sole US carrier for the iPhone, blamed synchronisation problems with Apple’s iTunes music software, suggesting too many users tried to activate the product at the same time. (You really have to think they might have anticipated this – you don’t queue for hours and hours and then wait until tomorrow to have a go.)
“While Apple is resolving the issue, we’re telling people to sync up to iTunes later at home,” said AT&T spokesman Mike Coe.
(Good luck with that, Mike.)
Meantime, in the UK, many fans were left empty-handed when Apple failed to deliver more than a few dozen handsets to some stores. O2, which like AT&T has sole rights to the iPhone, said many stores sold up to 40 iPhones an hour, but that customers had experienced ‘technical difficulties’ with the computer system that Apple uses to connect new users to O2.
I’ll be honest here – I was in Brighton today which has one of the flagship O2 stores. There was a huge queue of people outside, but I didn’t see it move at all and I passed by several times over the course of an hour or so. I really don’t understand why anybody wants to buy the first version of a new product – I mean, historically they’re always problematic and/or buggy – and why, even if they do, they have to also be the first to get it. What is that all about? Does anyone really think this is the only chance they’ll get?
The original iPhone was launched in 2007 and sold six million units. Steve Jobs has said he plans to sell 10 million units this year in an attempt to capture just one per cent of the global mobile-phone market.