Entries from May 2007 ↓

What is it with the UK and cameras? They have lip reading cameras, scolding cameras and now traffic warden cameras. It seems that scourge of littering and other “anti-social” behaviour is so prevalent, that traffic wardens are now being given the right to issue fines for “anti-social behaviour.”

In order to back up the fines in court, traffic wardens are being issued head mounted cameras much like the cameras on police cruisers. So now when you are in England, not only are the cameras on every street corner watching and recording you, but so are all the traffic wardens. Can littering seriously be that much of a problem?

Via Manchester Evening News: ‘Super wardens’ go on patrol

Found this great Blog full of passive aggressive notes like the one above. The entire site is devoted to posting notes that people have found or posted for their friends, roommates, and coworkers. You can even submit notes you’ve seen or found.

The one above came right off the site. I love the way someone wrote a little note for the original author off to the side: “Mmm… Good spittle”

Passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers

Scientists have discovered that fungi that contain a lot of melanin can actually use radiation as a form of energy and food. What first clued scientists into the discovery was the fact that a species of fungi was discovered growing on the reactor walls of Chernobyl. The melanin in the fungi allows it to convert radiation into energy, much as the pigment in plants allows them to convert sunlight into energy. The more melanin the fungi contains, the more energy it can harvest from the radiation.

Scientists are now speculating as to whether the melanin in human skin, which is chemically identical to that in fungi, may have other previously unknown uses besides protection and coloring.

Via EurekAlert: Einstein researchers’ discover ‘radiation-eating’ fungi

The above picture comes from a T-Shirt you can buy at Threadless clothing. It’s full of movie spoilers. My favorites are “Tyler Durden isn’t real” and the picture Darth Vader with the caption “Luke’s Father” I like this T-Shirt enough, that I’m actually considering buying it.

You can get one at Threadless: Spoilt by Oliver Moss

[Edit] I did break down and buy one. Just couldn’t resist.

The OpenNet Initiative is an organization that tracks and monitors Internet censorship. On their website you can test individual URLs for blocking, and also see interactive maps of censorship throughout the world. Each country and region is rated and what type of content it censors is laid out in detail. The methods and agencies by which the censorship is enforced are also described in detail. All in all, a pretty useful site if you are interested in Internet censorship.

Check out the official site: OpenNet Initiative
Found Via Boing Boing: OpenNet reveals the global Internet censorship trends

Researchers at Harvard University and Princeton University have discovered a way to create programmable “biocomputers” entirely out of DNA, RNA, and proteins. These bio computers can make basic boolean(true vs. false) evaluations based on things that individual cells in the body are doing. They can then help in diagnosis by outputting chemicals that are easily detectable. Allowing doctors to detect conditions that would normally be very difficult to detect. The biocomputers can also be programmed to take specific action against mutated or unhealthy cells. Allowing doctors to provide a much more targeted response to disease.

What is even cooler, is that the researchers claim that they could convince our own bodies to build them by implanting the genetic blueprints. So a minor injection, could cause your body to build millions of biocomputers that would spread throughout your entire body. Targeting disease wherever it was found.

Read the entire story at PhysOrg: In a first, scientists develop tiny implantable biocomputers

I really don’t know why someone didn’t think of this before. With as many devices as there are out there that charge using a USB port, this could be really useful. 12 volt power extenders, aren’t anything new. In fact I’ve got one in my car right now. But adding a USB charge port to the extender is sheer genius.

You can buy it here: VictorMall, though you will need to be able to read korean to decifer the site.
Found via Gizmodo: Seiko EM-49 Car Socket Power Strip

Found an ecard site that has some hilarious cards you can send people.
Some of my favorites are:

“I send pointless emails late at night to impress coworkers”
“I’m glad we stay mildly interested in each others lives”
“When work feels overwhelming, remember that your going to die.”

I do recommend going to the site and checking them out. Though I should warn you, that not all of the cards are appropriate for “polite” company. So you might not want to do it when someone is around who is easily offended.

Official Site: Some Ecards - When you care enough to hit send
Found via Cool Hunting: Some Ecards

Found an interesting photo essay about the electronics recycling industry in the city of Guiyu China. It has a lot of interesting pictures, and some pretty interesting stats.
One ton of computer scrap contains more gold than 17 tons of gold ore. Extracting that gold though, is a lot harder. So for the moment it is cheaper for most western nations to simply dump the waste. In China, where labor is cheap, it is economically feasible to do the extraction. The pictures are pretty good, so I would recommend checking them out.

Check out the Photo essay at Foreign Policy: Inside the Digital Dump

The above picture of me, was created using the Image Mosaic Generator. You can upload any image, and it will build a mosaic from flickr images using your image as a base. Pretty cool.

Once your image is complete, a link to download it is placed at the top of the page. Tools like this one really show the power of open platforms. Flickr has no functions like this. It is simply an image post site. But by opening up its API, cool niche applications like this can be built.

Image Mosaic Generator