Clipmarks | oldbogus's clips

Chemical laser set to fry targets from aircraft

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:05:30 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus

Boeing this week said completed work on and installed a 12,000-pound chemical laser in a C-130H aircraft and will now test the weapon, which will fire through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft's belly, until an official demonstration set for 2008.

The ATL is complementary to the Airborne Laser (ABL), which Boeing is developing for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to destroy airborne ballistic missiles. The ABL consists of a megawatt-class chemical laser mounted on a Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft. According to Boeing the C-130H transport, which belongs to the U.S. Air Force's 46th Test Wing, will be modified to carry the high-energy chemical laser and battle management and beam control subsystems.

Tags: chemicallaser, weapon

Car Disgust--Yugo GVX

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:07:27 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus

Clip Source: www.amazon.com

Yugo introduced its unreliable, underpowered, hopelessly antiquated GV hatchback in 1986 to worldwide jeering and derision, a level of scorn that only grew as people became more familiar with the intrinsic problems with an ancient Fiat design assembled with the meticulous disregard and thorough apathy of Yugoslavia's Zastava auto group.

The extensive revision and customization process added alloy wheels, a stripe of metallic paint along the bottom of the side rocker panels, a sport steering wheel, and a dizzying array of engine revisions that boosted available power from 61 horsepower to, well, 61 horsepower. These modifications had all the enhancing effect one would expect from spraying Lysol into a vat of raw sewage.

My uncle has a classic line--he says that the Yugo's optional rear-window defroster is useful mostly to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.

Tags: yugo, crap

Big Island, Hawaii under a blizzard warning

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:21:29 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: This sounds so strange to us mainlanders!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

A flash flood watch remains in effect for the entire state of Hawaii until 6 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service in Honolulu said conditions were still present for flash flooding to occur.

Meanwhile, the summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island remained under a blizzard warning until 6 p.m. Friday. Another four to six inches of snow was forecast, with high winds and wind chill temperatures in the upper teens to lower 20s.

Ron Koehler of Mauna Kea Observatories Support Services said the Mauna Kea Access Road is still closed until the weather improves. According to Koehler, snow fell on the 13,796 foot tall mountain at the 11,000-foot level, with snowdrifts more than three feet deep at the 13,000 foot elevation. Travelers are being stopped at the Hale Pohaku visitor center at the 9,000-foot level.

Tags: hawaii, blizzard

Cops Forced to Chase Doughnut Truck

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:42:21 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: video on the website

Clip Source: www.aldenteblog.com

Cops Forced to Chase Doughnut Truck

Drunk driving isn't funny. That is unless your name is Warren G. Whitelightning, you're drunk, you've stolen eight giant red hot pickled sausages from a convenience store, and then you decide to take a Krispy Kreme truck for a joy ride. Soon, you have both University of Wisconsin police and Madison's finest on your tail--which, by the way, is expelling boxes of Krispy Kreme's finest onto the road.

According to The Capital Times, "Assistant District Attorney Michael Verveer conceded that the scene described in the criminal complaint of several squad cars chasing a donut truck around the west side could elicit laughter from many." Well, consider me one of many.

Here's some of the chase. It begins at the 2:30 mark and ends when the cop car taping the whole thing gets hit by the truck.

--Spanno

Tags: cops, doughnuts, chase

Biometric Cheating: false fingerprints

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:31:48 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: FWIW

Clip Source: www.badscience.net

Make your own ID

Tsutomu Matsumoto is a Japanese mathematician, a cryptographer who works on security, and he decided to see if he could fool the machines which identify you by your fingerprint. This home science project costs about £20. Take a finger and make a cast with the moulding plastic sold in hobby shops. Then pour some liquid gelatin (ordinary food gelatin) into that mould and let it harden. Stick this over your finger pad: it fools fingerprint detectors about 80% of the time. The joy is, once you’ve fooled the machine, your fake fingerprint is made of the same stuff as fruit pastilles, so you can simply eat the evidence.

But what if you can’t get the finger? Well, you can chop one off, of course - another risk with biometrics. But there is an easier way. Find a fingerprint on glass. Sorry, I should have pointed out that every time you touch something, if your security systems rely on biometric ID, then you’re essentially leaving your pin number on a post-it note.

Tags: fingerprints, biometrics, fake

Sitting Ducks

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:20:00 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: Great summary of the facts.

Clip Source: rangeragainstwar.blogspot.com

"You have exactly grasped a much neglected concept when dealing with terrorism. They are not at war. They are not warriors. They are criminals. Thieves and murderers who should be treated as such.

"The CIA has no law enforcement skills, and the military is not much better. Had the investigation team from the FBI been given full faith and credit along with the mandate for the response, arrest, and fair, open trial for the perpetrators of the USS Cole, the embassies, and the twin towers, the terrorists would not have been legitimized as "soldiers in the faith" or revolutionaries. That tactic worked very well for the Brits in Northern Ireland.

There are indeed realities being ignored in the Phony Made-for-TV War on Terror:

[1] Terrorism is not warfare, on any level.

[2] Terrorists are not soldiers.

[3] Terrorists are criminals.

[4] The Central Intelligence Agency is not a police organization.

[5] The CIA is an intelligence agency, only chartered to operate overseas.

Tags: war on terror, fbi, criminals

Unmanned Aircraft Test

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:30:20 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: Military R&D can be used against our own citizens.

Clip Source: www.click2houston.com

Local 2 Investigates Police Secrecy Behind Unmanned Aircraft Test

WALLER COUNTY, Texas -- Houston police started testing unmanned aircraft and the event was shrouded in secrecy, but it was captured on tape by Local 2 Investigates.

Neighbors in rural Waller County said they thought a top-secret military venture was under way among the farmland and ranches, some 70 miles northwest of Houston. KPRC Local 2 Investigates had four hidden cameras aimed at a row of mysterious black trucks. Satellite dishes and a swirling radar added to the neighbors' suspense.

Then, cameras were rolling as an unmanned aircraft was launched into the sky and operated by remote control.

Houston police cars were surrounding the land with a roadblock in place to check each of the dignitaries arriving for the invitation-only event. The invitation spelled out, "NO MEDIA ALLOWED."

Tags: uav, houston, police

Return of the giant jellyfish

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:41:10 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: Jellyfish and squid populations are increasing worldwide as both warmer water and fewer fish limit their population. But these are particularly impressive!

Clip Source: www.pinktentacle.com

To the delight of divers, and to the chagrin of fishermen, the swarms of giant Echizen kurage jellyfish (Nomura’s jellyfish) that invade the coast of the Sea of Japan each autumn are back.

These photos were taken 5 meters underwater just offshore from the coastal town of Echizen in Fukui prefecture, where the jellyfish mobs began to arrive about a month later than normal.

Manabu Nakamata, a 38-year-old diver from Nagoya and an admirer of the monster jellyfish, says, “They are surprisingly hard to the touch. They are big, and extremely impressive.” Big indeed — Echizen kurage can grow up to 2 meters (6 ft. 7 in.) in diameter and weigh up to 200 kilograms (440 lb.) each.

Tags: jellyfish, swarms, giant

The 25 Most Baffling Toys From Around the World

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:41:41 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: If this weren't from Cracked, I'd question its accuracy.

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

These are weirdest, most ill-conceived toys from around the globe. If you're about to say that they're "weird" only because of our own xenophobic ignorance of other cultures, well, we have two words for you: Poop toys.

You'll see.

Surprisingly, not all of these are from Japan.

#23.

Playmobil makes little figurines in the shape of hundreds of different professions, but only the Hazmat disposal crew provides children with the stark reminder that mankind's excesses will eventually doom us all.

The thing flying out of the toilet appears to be a plastic piece of poop, molded in the traditionally popular swirl-cone shape. Projectile excrement is a popular prank in Japan, and the workplace injuries that result are a major drain on the economy.

Tags: toys, weird, poop

Police shot 3 lunch patrons

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:54:48 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: This article doesn't mention it but the cops were having lunch there.

Clip Source: www.denverpost.com

Chief: Officers saved lives in an impossible situation

The two undercover police officers who got into a shootout with a shotgun-toting robber at a Vietnamese restaurant during lunch Wednesday also shot the three patrons injured in the melee, Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said Thursday evening.

The chief said each officer fired six times. The injured patrons were seated behind the gunman.

The gunman, Phuong Van Dang, 26, was a halfway-house inmate who had served a portion of a prison sentence for assault with a deadly weapon, court documents revealed.

Wednesday, Dang, carrying a shotgun and wearing a bandanna over his face, entered the Vietnamese restaurant on South Federal Boulevard through a back door and got into a shootout with Denver police officers, according to court documents.

The patrons, described as a married couple in their 50s and their adult son, were directly behind Dang when the shooting started.

Dang fired once at the officers and then his shotgun jammed

Tags: police, shootout

Small planets forming in the Pleiades: astronomers

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:54:26 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: We already know there are planets there. That's where the aliens come from!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Small, rocky planets that could resemble the Earth or Mars may be forming around a star in the Pleiades star cluster, astronomers reported on Wednesday.

One of the stars in the cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, is surrounded by an extraordinary number of hot dust particles that could be the "building blocks of planets" said Inseok Song, a staff scientist at NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology.

"This is the first clear evidence for planet formation in the Pleiades, and the results we are presenting may well be the first observational evidence that terrestrial planets like those in our solar system are quite common," said Joseph Rhee of the University of California Los Angeles, who led the study.

Located about 400 light years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Pleiades is one of the best known star clusters and among the closest to Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 5.8 trillion miles.

Tags: pleides, planets

"Personhood" wins Colo. court nod

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:34:49 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: I am surprised these people didn't add "the right to vote" for embryos. Dufuses.

Clip Source: www.denverpost.com

'08 initiative seeking legal rights for fertilized cells passes court's muster

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to proponents of a ballot initiative seeking to amend the state constitution in 2008 to define personhood as a fertilized egg.

Opponents to the measure, which would lay the foundation to make abortion illegal in the state, challenged the ballot title as misleading to voters.

The court ruled in a 7-0 decision that it is clear and meets the state requirement for a single-subject ballot question.

The amendment, if approved by voters, would extend constitutional protections from the moment of conception, guaranteeing every fertilized egg the right to life, liberty, equality of justice and due process of law.

The initiative's 20-year-old proponent, Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado for Equal Rights, announced the court's decision Tuesday afternoon to loud applause at the Pro-Life Leaders Summit at the Timbers Hotel in Denver.

Tags: personhood, embryos, ballot initiative

Man Found Dead, Stuck In Cat Door

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:09:20 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: What can I say? It's Florida.

Clip Source: www.news4jax.com

Man Found Dead, Stuck In Cat Door

32-Year-Old Trying To Get In Girlfriend's Home

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- St. Johns County deputies recently launched an investigation into what they called one of the strangest accidents they've ever seen when a man was found dead after getting stuck in a cat door.

Investigators said 32-year-old Charles Tucker Jr. was using the cat door early Saturday morning as a way to get back into his girlfriend's St. Augustine home after the woman kicked him out.

Deputies said several hours after his girlfriend told him to leave she found him stuck in the cat door.

Tags: cat door

Chinese Song sub joins US Navy exercise

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:01:39 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: And the US complained about the Chinese "interfering" in their exercise on the high seas!

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

The uninvited guest: Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced

At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders.

American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board.

By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier.

The Americans had no idea China's fast-growing submarine fleet had reached such a level of sophistication, or that it posed such a threat.

The incident, which took place in the ocean between southern Japan and Taiwan, is a major embarrassment for the Pentagon.

Tags: submarine, chinese, navy exercise

Man forgets car at gas station

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:14:54 GMT

clipped by: oldbogus
clipper's remarks: I may be the same age but I have never done this! Yet.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Man forgets car at gas station

"He just forgot about it and walked off home," said a spokesman for police in the western city of Wuppertal.

After the car had sat blocking the pump for about an hour, a woman working at the petrol station became suspicious and alerted authorities.

Officers contacted the 63-year-old from Remscheid, who came straight back to fetch the vehicle. He had paid to fill up the car before walking off.

Tags: absent minded