Blackhacker

DARPA is close to developing a high energy weapon that can be mounted on aircraft.

Space.com

HELLADS makes use of a unique cooling technique to save weight. The high-energy laser uses a liquid that has the same angle of refraction as the mirrors inside the blaster. That way, the “ray gun” can fire away, even while it’s being cooled.

Vision Circle has just started a Wiki.

Cobb announces the Wiki in his own blog

The idea is to develop, organically via all the black people on the web who care, a collaborative statement about who we are and where we stand on the issues.

What the HECK is a wiki?
For those too lazy to click, it is a website where anyone can edit and add content. The most famouse of all wikis is wikipedia which oddly enough doesn’t have an entry for wiki.

Ok the title was a low blow but I don’t know anybody who actually reads Newsweek outside of a visit to the doctors office or waiting while your car is being serviced. (Said copies are invariably 3 or 4 months old) Any found this story on Technorati

I’m proud to announce that Technorati and Newsweek are working together, including a deep integration of posts and links from bloggers (here’s an example) into Newsweek’s site. This includes the Newsweek Blog Roundup and summary widget on every Newsweek page (shown here on the right). This acts just like a “most viewed articles” or “most emailed articles” widget - only the determinations are made by watching the number of bloggers that are linking to Newsweek articles. It shows the top 10 Newsweek stories generating the most discussion on weblogs within the past 7 days. You can see it on the Newsweek homepage and on each of the article pages, simply scroll down a bit and look on the right hand side.

When phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated I don’t think this is a an intelligent move at all by the industry.
link

Yesterday Google launched its new Google Talk product. My buddy at work told me about it and Ambra blogged about it too. Initially I was like .. “cool but so what?” Of course the media was talking about it. Google’s PR firm was busy making sure that this is what everyone would be talking and blogging about. (so here I am …)

If you haven’t heard Google talk is a new IM/VOIP client. There are about one million of these things. This of course is far from new or innovative. But the ordinary seems cooler when Google does it. In fact its not even that great ’cause unless you have a gmail account you can’t even use it. And you can’t get a gmail account unless you are invited by someone who has one already. Lucky for me I do. (Unfortunately the site referenced in that post no longer provides you with gmail invitations. Google shut them down.)

update: I stand corrected.

But there is something cool about the new Google IM. To see it you have to read the about page or the developer page. Google’s new IM is based on XMPP, an XML based protocol that is most notably used in Jabber. XMPP is an open standards protocol that anyone can use and build apps for. So anyone can build a client for it … or a bridge …

This is from the about page:

15. What new features are you working on?
We could tell you, but then you’d have to promise to not talk about it… Joking aside, Google Talk is still in beta, and we’re working hard to add features and make improvements. We’re just not quite ready yet to reveal the other cool things we’ve got planned. We can say this, though: we believe strongly in user choice and open standards, and we are committed to letting users access Google Talk using the client and platform of their choice, as well as to enabling our users to talk with users from other service providers.

Think about it. What is the one thing that has been missing from ALL IM systems. The ability to IM anyone no matter what system they are using. There are multi system IM clients but they all require that you have an account on each IM system you plan to use. Its not like the phone system where it doesn’t matter what local carrier you use. You can call anyone. But if a major IM network with the clout of Google opens it network and allows other networks to connect to it, what fool wouldn’t?

Of course there is always the question… “How the heck is Google going to make money?” Well I don’t have all the answers.

AP

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Actor Brock Peters, best known for his heartbreaking performance as the black man falsely accused of rape in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died Tuesday at his home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 78

His most notable role is that of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white women in the Jim Crow south, in the excellent movie adaptation of “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Trek fans will remember him as Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek IV & VI and as Joe Sisko, the father of Ben Sisko in ST:DS9 the best of all TV Trek Series. He even Darth Vader for the Star Wars Radio Series. Didn’t know there was a Star Wars Radio Series

Memory Alpha has the most comprehensive list of his screen performances I’ve seen thus far.

The site will be going through design changes. Nothing major just some thing that I think will make the “Interphase” a little more useful. It starts with me getting rids of some of the sub categories. This will take a while as I will have to edit each offending entry to place it in its new category. I am also adding Techorati Tags There will be some other cutes thing I will be doing. The site should aways be available but sine I am doing this on my live site and not on a hidden development blog thing could get weird.

Bare width.

Thanks

I found this in my inbox. You might have seen this before …

Real 911 Calls, “BELIEVE” it or not!

Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller: I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the brown house on the corner.
Dispatcher: Do you have an address?
Caller: No, I’m wearing a blouse and slacks, why?

Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller: Someone broke into my house and took a bite out of my ham and cheese sandwich.
Dispatcher: Excuse me?
Caller: I made a ham and cheese sandwich and left it on the kitchen table and when I came back from the bathroom, someone had taken a bite out of it.
Dispatcher: Was anything else taken?
Caller: No, but this has happened to me before and I’m sick and tired of it

Dispatcher: 9-1-1 Fire or emergency?
Caller: Fire, I guess.
Dispatcher: How can I help you sir?
! Caller: I was wondering…..does the Fire Dept. put snow chains on their trucks?
Dispatcher: Yes sir, do you have an emergency?
Caller: Well, I’ve spent the last 4 hours trying to put these chains on my tires and… well.. do you think the Fire Dept. could come over and help me?
Dispatcher: Help you what?
Caller: Help me get these chains on my car!

Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is the nature of your emergency?
Caller: I’m trying to reach nine eleven but my phone doesn’t have an eleven on it.
Dispatcher: This is nine eleven.
Caller: I thought you just said it was nine-one-one
Dispatcher: Yes, ma’am nine-one-one and nine-eleven are the same thing.
Caller: Honey, I may be old, but I’m not stupid.

Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What’s the nature of your emergency?
Caller: My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart.
Dispatcher: Is this her first child?
Caller: No, you idiot! This is her husband!

And the winner is………

Dispatcher: 9-1-1
Caller: Yeah, I’m having trouble breathing. I’m all out of breath. Darn…I think I’m going to pass out.
Dispatcher: Sir, where are you calling from?
Caller: I’m at a pay phone. North and Foster. Damn……
Dispatcher: Sir, an ambulance is on the way. Are you an asthmatic?
Caller: No
Dispatcher: What were you doing before you started having trouble breathing?
Caller: Running from the Police

Didn’t we go though this with Terry Schiavo ?

done

Duane of blackinformant asked these 2 questions:

#1. Will this move curb the suicide attacks by by Palestinian terrorists?
#2. If it doesn’t will those who have made this assumption own up to their miscalculation?

I want to add one more:
What does this say about terrorism as a tactic? Apparently it it works. I would expect that simular similar tactics might be taken by the holdouts who don’t want to move. The difference is they will not have the support of the Israeli Govnment Government to back them up.

It looks like the Bush Administration is also learning this lesson as well as it finally starts to shed some of its staunch optimism, in favor of a more realistic view of the situation if Iraq.

U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq
Administration Is Shedding ‘Unreality’ That Dominated Invasion, Official Says

By Robin Wright and Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 14, 2005; A01

The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.

The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.

“What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground,” said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. “We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we’re in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning.”