Yes, I'm watching a documentary on wacking inventions. The documentary claims that the Davy Crockett nuclear rifle's effective range was smaller than it's lethal range, but Wikipedia does not agree. Oh, and what about the nuclear demolition backpack that was place by a human who could swim real quick.
I've been trying very hard to not comment on the takeover attempt under way at my former employer, TOWER software. It's getting kind of hard when the directors start suing each other in court and the case is reported. I guess this sort of behaviour explains why TOWER is still a 20 year old startup. Bias note: I am a former employee of TOWER Software. I have previously stated that I hold shares in TOWER, and feel no ill feelings over my departure from TOWER. However, this childish behaviour and the low probability of the shares appreciating in value in the foreseeable future (the share price has been stagnant for four years) has prompted me to accept the takeover offer, and I will soon hold no more shares (I hope).
This is the least worst photo of me take recently. A free sample: Mikal at SciFoo
On my random surfing kick the Wikipedia page on the Unabomber is interesting too.
As for Starfish Prime, because there is almost no air at an altitude of 400 kilometres, no fireball formation occurred, although manifold other notable effects did occur. About 1500 kilometres (930 statute miles) away in Hawaii, the Electromagnetic pulse created by the explosion was felt as three hundred street lights failed, television sets and radios malfunctioned, burglar alarms went off and power lines fused. On Kauai, EMP shut down telephone calls to the other islands by burning out the equipment used in a microwave link. Also, the sky in the Pacific region was illuminated by an artificial aurora for more than seven minutes. In part, these effects were predicted by Nicholas Christofilos, a scientist who had earlier worked on the Operation Argus high-altitude nuclear shots. High altitude nuclear testing leads to interesting EMP effects, which is something I have known about for a while. There is good coverage of Starfish Prime at Wikipedia and some US government hearings on the issue are interesting too. Wow. Did they really break a bunch of satellites? While some of the energetic beta particles had followed of the earth's magnetic field and illuminated the sky, other high-energy electrons became trapped in man-made radiation belts…
By the time I got to the SciFoo venue at the Googleplex yesterday evening, it was already swarming with other great people, most of whom I knew only by name and reputation. After some food, beer and chat in the evening sun, the event proper kicked off with a brief introduction by Tim O'Reilly and me, some very brief (3 words each) self-introductions from the other 200-or-so attendees. Then one of the most fun parts of any Foo Camp: writing the agenda. Three huge bright white boards were soon littered with pen marks describing proposed sessions. http://blogs.nature.com/wp/nascent/2006/08/scifoo_friday.html
The first Science Foo camp is being hosted by O'Reilly, Nature Magazine, and Google. I'm going and I am excited like other people.
Another old thing to visit when next I happen to be somewhere: the the wreck of the Dominator in LA. Via SJH who found it on Metafilter. Oh, and the the guide to forgotten LA places is cool too (via Dan Goods).