http://wackygeeks.com Embracing our Inner Geek Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:17:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We had fun tonight - out in the "toolies" with the "mulies" watching the IFOs fly by. Here's some video. It doesn't quite capture how cool it was though.-Steve It was another beautiful pass. Should be even better tomorrow night. Both should fly directly overAamrillo starting from the ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/tonights-shuttleiss-pass-video/ Communications Squeeze: "Researchers here are developing new, handheld, wireless radios fitted with a single processor chip that is embedded with algorithms for compressing as many as 5 simultaneous, stealthy conversations into the same time and frequency slot and then, on arrival, untangling them.Equally importantly, while in transit messages and data ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/communications-squeeze/ NASA tests 'interplanetary internet': "NASA has successfuly conducted a first test of a deep space communications network modeled on the internet. 'This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary internet,'' Adrian Hooke, NASA's manager of space-networking architecture, technology and standards, said."(Via digg.com: Stories ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/nasa-tests-interplanetary-internet/ JTRipper writes "Monty Python seems to have done the right thing. Instead of issuing take down notices of their videos on YouTube, they are doing it better themselves with their own YouTube channel. They are putting all their clips (including snips from their movies) up in a decent resolution, with ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/monty-python-banks-on-the-long-tail-via-youtube/ New Israeli Airborne Area Control Surveillance Systems: "The IDF recently acquired an advanced system capable of pinpointing rocket-launching crews and hitting them, Israel Radio reported Monday. The system, an airborne observation blimp, hovers at a height of up to one kilometer and can work during daylight and during the night. ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/new-israeli-airborne-area-control-surveillance-systems/ Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican lawmaker convicted on felony corruption charges in October, was defeated in his bid for re-election by Democrat Mark Begich, according to a release from Begich's campaign and unofficial results from state officials. http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/begich-claims-win-over-alaskas-ted-stevens/ Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment Just hours before the Xbox 360's newest dashboard update hits tomorrow morning (10:00 a.m. GMT), our friends at Joystiq noticed the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming has suddenly dropped. The culprit? Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary Columbia Pictures, flicking previously ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/sony-pictures-celebrates-nxe-eve-by-blocking-xbox-360-netflix-movie-streaming/ Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops Man, you just can't win these days. So Apple offers up an energy-efficient, forward-thinking Mini DisplayPort on its latest MacBook / MacBook Pro, and now users that are still rocking displays sans HDCP-compliant HDMI / DVI ports are up fecal's creek without a ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/apple-itunes-content-throwing-hdcp-flags-on-new-macbook-macbook-pro/ Tonight just before 7:30 we had a fly over of the Space Shuttle/International Space Station. I shot some (a bit shaky) video of it as it flew from the SW to the N. It didn't fly directly over Amarillo (skirted it to the West) so it wasn't the best sighting ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/space-shuttle-iss-pass-video/ Tonight just before 7:30 we had a fly over of the Space Shuttle/International Space Station. I shot some (a bit shaky) video of it as it flew from the SW to the N. It didn't fly directly over Amarillo (skirted it to the West) so it wasn't the best sighting ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/flying-over-a-panhandle-sky/ U.S. man admits aiding China space program: "A Chinese-born U.S. physicist and businessman pleaded guilty Monday to bribing Chinese space program officials and illegally providing U.S. space launch data to the Beijing government. "(Via CNN.com.) http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/us-man-admits-aiding-china-space-program/ Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business Gamasutra Ah, attach rates. We know how much you love them. Gamasutra has compiled a fascinating and pleasingly colorful set of graphs highlighting the latest known tie ratios, both for first- and third-party titles, of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/100-comments-at-least-console-attach-rates/ The warning lights are blinking, and that can mean only one thing -- another publisher is saying some very worrying things about how the digital age can help them nickel n' dime consumers. Take-Two is doing the honors, suggesting that its "triple A titles" could go the way of the ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/fail-sense-is-tingling-take-two-talks-about-subscriptions-for-triple-a-titles/ Shuttle crew boards space station: "Space shuttle Endeavour docked today with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space. The shuttle and station crews greeted each other with hugs soon after opening their vehicles' hatches. 'Welcome to space,' said station chief Mike Fincke. ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/shuttle-crew-boards-space-station/ Do not take this as precedent, that Kotaku is going to get involved in every level taken down on LittleBigPlanet. But the demise of Azure Palace seems newsworthy for a few reasons — one, it's well made (a little too fly-and-grab for me, but still a good level); two, there ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/lbp-moderation-remains-inscrutable-unaccountable-littlebigplanet/ NASA keeping eye on two shuttle problems: "NASA said Saturday that a piece of thermal blanket came loose from the shuttle shortly after Friday night's launch, and a balky antenna could affect radar and communications. However, officials said the day-old mission of space shuttle Endeavour, which is carrying seven astronauts ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/nasa-keeping-eye-on-two-shuttle-problems/ Illegal Downlaoding : Bender style Hard drives vs DVDs for data archiving VANTEC NexStar Hard Drive Dock WiebeTech - Why Hard Drives make more sense than CDs or DVDs. Paramount's Blu-Ray servers go down - Prevents users from watching Iron Man Blu-Ray disc on release day New Xbox Experience supports Netflix and Netflix HD Microsoft offers ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/wacky-geeks-49-will-it-bender-hds-vs-dvds-blu-ray-blues-xbox-netfix-get-married/ Have you seen the Wii Speak microphone in action? I haven't. So let's watch, as this sweet, innocent Japanese teenager "meets up" with a friend in Animal Crossing and "does stuff". Can't understand much, but it's clear they both recognise a lobster when they see one, one of them ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/wii-speak-in-action-wii-speak/ An anonymous reader writes "As previously discussed, Microsoft's attempt to shield itself from further discovery over the Windows Vista Capable debacle has failed and more internal emails have been released. Although Microsoft has successfully kept CEO Steve Ballmer away from the witness stand on grounds the he 'has no unique ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/internal-emails-released-in-vista-capable-debacle/ Protoclown writes "The National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), located at Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) in Tennessee, has upgraded the Jaguar supercomputer to 1.64-petaflops for use by scientists and engineers working in areas such as climate modeling, renewable energy, materials science, fusion and combustion. The current upgrade is the ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/jaguar-worlds-most-powerful-supercomputer/ At this point I am convinced the guys at Criterion have just gone completely batshit insane. They've introduced motorcycles into Burnout Paradise; they're introducing movie-themed cars and a party mode, and now this. Tiny little collectible cars, based on classic burnout vehicles. There will be 9 vehicles in this ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/toy-cars-coming-to-burnout-paradise-burnout-paradise/ Shuttle on its way to beef up space station: "Riding a brilliant ball of flaming liquid rocket fuel into the sky, the space shuttle Endeavour left Earth tonight, carrying seven astronauts on a 15-day mission to the international space station. While there, the astronauts will increase the station's living ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/shuttle-on-its-way-to-beef-up-space-station/ JSF breaks sound barrier for first time: "The F-35 Lightning II broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight Thursday over northern Texas."(Via Air Force Times - News.) http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/jsf-breaks-sound-barrier-for-first-time/ Bush Spy Revelations Anticipated When Obama Is Sworn In: "When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, Americans won't just get a new president; they might finally learn the full extent of George W. Bush's warrantless domestic wiretapping. Since NY Times first revealed in 2005 that the ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/bush-spy-revelations-anticipated-when-obama-is-sworn-in/ tsa writes "The European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore (sorry, it's in Dutch). Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fit ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/lego-loses-its-unique-right-to-make-lego-blocks/ Regardless of how Mirror's Edge will be received by critics — though it seems to be doing pretty well so far — it has certainly struck a chord with gamers. The first level from Mirror's Edge recreated in Portal likely took a hell of a lot more work, but ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/littlebigmirrorsedge-gives-us-faith-in-side-scrolling-clips/ Obama to be told U.S. missile defense capable: "The outgoing head of the U.S. missile defense agency said he'll tell President-elect Barack Obama's transition team that missile defenses are workable and working. "(Via CNN.com.) http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/obama-to-be-told-us-missile-defense-capable/ Broken Arrow - 40 Years On: "New details of a ‘Broken Arrow’ incident in which a nuclear weapon was allegedly abandoned in the icy waters of a fjord near the US Air Force base at Thule, Greenland, have been unearthed by the BBC. The controversial January 1968 incident involved a ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/broken-arrow-40-years-on/ Obama’s Iraq plan about to meet reality: "BAGHDAD — Saad Eskander, the director of Iraq’s National Library and Archive, will never forget Nov. 20, 2006. That was the day Barack Obama declared Iraq was ‘descending into chaos’ and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, in a speech that would ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/obama%e2%80%99s-iraq-plan-about-to-meet-reality/ Malmstrom missile wing fails nuke inspection: "The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., failed its nuclear surety inspection after inspectors found problems with the wing’s weapons storage area and its personnel reliability program, which monitors who can work with nuclear weapons, an Air Force official said."(Via Air ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/malmstrom-missile-wing-fails-nuke-inspection/ Iran tests new surface-to-surface missile: "TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has successfully test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile that uses solid fuel, making it more accurate than its predecessors, the defense minister announced Wednesday."(Via Air Force Times - News.) http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/iran-tests-new-surface-to-surface-missile/ X-Plane Crashes: "Aviation historians Peter Merlin and Tony Moore have joined forces to produce a tour-de-force of'the aerospace archaeology of California’s high desert and its unique X-plane heritage. The book is inspired by their collaborative work as the ‘X-Hunters’, a group dedicated to re-discovering long lost crash sites of historic ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/x-plane-crashes/ Maybe not, Herr Obama: "U.S.president-elect Barack Obama has made it clear he'wants Europe to do more to help out in Afghanistan, and, while still campaigning, used a visit to Berlin to call on Germany in particular to step up its efforts. 'But German defense minister Franz Josef Jung now signals ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/maybe-not-herr-obama/ http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/fox-network-deposits-brwhedon%e2%80%99s-dollhouse-brin-friday-death-slotbr/ It's an Airplane. It's a Submarine. It's Possible?: "Why DARPA thinks a submersible aircraft could be feasible has become'a little clearer with the posting of a presentation on the agency's website. Basically DARPA believes that, rather than'asking for'a flying submarine, by specifying an aircraft that can submerge to shallow depths ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/its-an-airplane-its-a-submarine-its-possible/ Calspan Retires USAF's Last C-131: "A unique aircraft has just retired -'the NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) owned by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and operated by Calspan. With its unmistakable profile, the heavily modified Convair 580 made its last flight on Nov. 7 from'Niagara Falls'to the Air Force ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/calspan-retires-usafs-last-c-131/ Nuclear Watchdog Publishes Report on Alleged Syrian Nuclear Site: "Investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which works under the auspices of the United Nations, reported having found traces of enriched uranium in Syria, at Al Kibar, the same site which was allegedly bombed by IAF jets in September 2007.' ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/nuclear-watchdog-publishes-report-on-alleged-syrian-nuclear-site/ Of all the smacktalk that goes on in the video game industry, we didn't expect these two parties to have a go at each other. Between developers, studio heads and console manufacturers — and occasionally community director versus producer — there's plenty of fodder for mudslinging fun. The most recent ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/gametrailers-editors-rail-on-esrb-over-fallout-3-fallout-gametrailers/ secmartin writes "The popular virus scanner AVG released an update yesterday that caused their software to mark user32.dll as a virus. Since this is a rather critical file, AVG's suggestion to remove it caused problems for users around the world who are now advised to restore the file through the ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/avg-virus-scanner-removes-critical-windows-file/ After that earlier piece on global e-waste, we thought you might want something to lighten the mood. Fortunately, The Onion is ready with a sardonic, blood-shot eye turned to the respective OS releases on the way from Cupertino and Redmond. Click on through for the full comparison while we ... http://wackygeeks.com/2008/11/the-onion-pits-snow-leopard-against-windows-7-everyone-wins/