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Most-Wanted Rare Gadgets

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:43:00 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Makes one feel the ravages of keeping up with changes.
More details at the site.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Wired.com Readers' Most-Wanted Rare Gadgets

By Wired.com

05.03.08 | 12:00 AM

We asked our readers to submit the coolest, hardest-to-find gadgets they could think of. After two weeks, these are the favorites. There are far too many gems to include here, so visit the rare-gadget submission page to browse more than 100 entries.

Left: Smallest Mechanical Pocket Calculator
Submitted by Anonymous

Submitter's comment:

"Designed by an Austrian prisoner (Curt Herzstark) in KZ Buchenwald during World War II, it remains the smallest pure mechanical calculating device on Earth. Its more than 700 pieces are all made out of metal, nearly all types of calculations are possible: Enter the number, turn the crank, and out comes the result."

1 - 11 of 11 images

Tags: gadgets, science, collectors

Earth 'noise' could attract alien invaders

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:24:37 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Still reckon that if they have the knowledge to get here, they will have they knowledge to repel aggression from us.

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

No matter how quiet we try to be now it's too late to prevent alien invaders. So says Alexander Zaitsev of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics in Moscow, Russia, who points the finger at astronomers.

For 40 years, astronomers have fired microwaves off objects to chart near-Earth space and track the movement of close asteroids - and these signals are traceable back to us. By comparison, Zaitsev says, dedicated transmissions - often described as "shouting into an unknown jungle" - are a mere whisper. He calculates the astronomy signals have filled an area of the sky 2000 times greater than dedicated broadcasts have managed to date (www.arxiv.org/0804.2754).

Tags: purple, people, eaters

Evolution's Critics Shift Tactics With Schools

Sun, 04 May 2008 14:40:39 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Makes me think of Wilbur the rat.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

They have spent years working school boards, with only minimal success. Now critics of evolution are turning to a higher authority: state legislators.

In a bid to shape biology lessons, they are promoting what they call "academic freedom" bills that would encourage or require public-school teachers to cast doubt on a cornerstone of modern science.

A handful of states have considered such bills in recent years, but backers are now organizing a national movement, with high-profile help from actor Ben Stein. His new documentary, "Expelled," argues that educators suffer reprisals if they dare question evolution; in an attempt to spur action, he has held private screenings for legislators, including a recent showing in the Missouri statehouse.

The academic-freedom bills now in circulation vary in detail. Some require teachers to critique evolution. Others let educators choose their approach -- but guarantee they won't be disciplined should they decide to build a case against Darwin.

Tags: frustrated, coniving, kackers, of, self, faith

Contractors Gone Wild

Sun, 04 May 2008 09:26:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Makes Catch 22 sound like a scout camp.

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

Theft, hookers, melting down Iraqi gold to make cowboy spurs - all in a day's work for private military contractors in Iraq?

Allegations of widespread mismanagement and corruption among private contractors in Iraq are nothing new; if anything, tales of cronyism, over-billing, and embezzlement have become so frequent that our national tolerance for them seems only to have increased as the Iraq War has drawn on. Even so, the testimony earlier this week of three whistleblowers before the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) stands out for the sheer outrageousness of their accusations - namely that U.S. private contractors looted Iraqi palaces and ministries, stole military equipment, fenced supplies destined for U.S. troops, and even operated a prostitution ring that may have contributed to the death of fellow contractor. Yet despite its focus on such salacious matters as sex and corruption, the session earned little media attention.

Tags: graft, corruption, iraq