Mrtrathen's Weblog

Closing this Blog

Matt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:02:08 +0000

Hi all, I have decided to finish posting to this blog and start up some more subject based ones next year. Thanks for visiting.

So long, and thanks for all the fish…….

Matt — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:38:32 +0000

Im off to Vietnam for 3 weeks. Thanks for visiting my blog. Please continue to learn in my absence.

Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Laptop made from wood

Matt — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:22:25 +0000

Since notebooks tend to go for sleek and shiny, here’s an alternative for all you traditionalists out there. The S-series notebook concept is made of wood. Yes that’s right, WOOD. Nevermind the weight and horrible heat insulation characteristics of the material, it’s supposed to look refined and sexy, at which it does.

The notebook sports one of those ultra-thin 4mm thick LCD screens, and at 17″ wide, there’s plenty of viewing room. The screen itself is backed by black acrylic, you know, to compliment that wood base. Catering to business users, the S-series is a tablet PC powered by Windows Vista.

Video Downloading

Matt — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:44:18 +0000

KeepVid is a great website for downloading videos from sites like utube and google video. Just enter the URL and away you go. Rememeber to use it at home only as these sites are blocked at school.

Good luck on the Maths exam – don’t do this

Matt — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:37:50 +0000

The Botnets are coming to a phone near you

Matt — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:35:06 +0000

For many years, we saw stories, usually pushed by security software companies, about how mobile phone viruses were some huge threat that had to be dealt with quickly before they spread around the world. Of course, that hasn’t actually happened — and there are some good reasons why it’s unlikely. In fact, it seemed like such stories had been decreasing lately, perhaps in part due to some security firms scolding competitors for mobile virus FUD.

So, we were a bit surprised to see yet another story on the subject, this time suggesting that we’re on the verge of (I’m not making this up) a “Cell Phone Zombie Uprising.” Some researchers are predicting that mobile phones would be perfect for botnets, though, again it’s not clear how that would actually happen, given the limitations of phones. While it is true that phones have become more powerful (and open) over the past few years, there still hasn’t been much evidence that viruses and such are a real threat. Most phones are designed well enough to not make it easy for apps to just install themselves — so consider us skeptical until there’s real evidence of a mobile botnet rising.

Convert Center – change that unit

Matt — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:22:34 +0000

No this is not yet another youtube converter, it lets you convert from one unit to another (meters to centimeters etc) online. This is more useful for students who want to quickly convert from one unit measurement to another. Any unit you can this of – check it out here.

National Debt Clock Runs Out of Numbers !!

Matt — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:51:59 +0000

It’s official. We’re hosed. The National Debt Clock near Times Square has just run out of spaces to add more zeroes to its running count of our national debt, thanks to the one-two punch of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout and the $100 billion used to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before that.

National Debt in June 12, 2008

Go to space for $2

Matt — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:24:24 +0000

Most of us will never go to space – at least, not for a decade or so. But while we may not be able to go on a space walk or bounce around in zero-G, the prospect of being able to send something into the Great Beyond sounds like a decent consolation.

IntoSpace.org is hoping to make that happen for a mere $2.

IntoSpace

You pay $2 for the rights to a 0.4×0.4 inch block on a piece of paper, on which you can include a photograph, piece of text, or logo. If you purchase more than 20 blocks at once, you’re eligible for a small discount. There are around 250,000 blocks available, which means IntoSpace could potentially earn around $500,000.

It sounds like a neat idea, especially for the ridiculously low price. Unfortunately, it seems that the site hasn’t really figured out the logistics of actually getting to space. There’s a tentative launch year of 2010, but it seems the site has yet to work out any further details:

The right to choose the company (space agency) which carries out space programs and the way of catalog delivery into space is due to the organizers of the project. Sending of the catalog into space is due to be realized within 2-year time frame after the last seat in the catalog is booked (excluding VIP and free invitation seats).

And, of course, the site reserves the right to change its terms at any time without any notification.

It could easily be a scam – it would be nearly impossible to ever verify that IntoSpace ever made good on its promise. But I can’t help but picture the site’s founder, Arthur Stubbs, triumphantly carrying his massive binder of photos as he boards one of the first consumer flights to leave for space.

Wall climbing car

Matt — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:08:44 +0000

Well if that wasn’t interesting enough – watch out for the presenter of this remote controlled car. Takara Tomy’s AeroSpider RC car, which mystically scales walls and cruises upside-down, is finally shipping this month in Japan.