moonbuggy

`Welcome to my compressed air engine page! Below you’ll find information about the V-twin and radial air engines that I designed and constructed. If you have questions about any of my projects feel free to e-mail me at the link below.’

`For years adorers of powerful graphics boards wished that they could only replace graphics chip and memory on their adapters without dumping the whole product. MicroStar International (MSI), a leading maker of computer components, showcased at Consumer Electronics Show a graphics card that may make dreams of some enthusiasts come true.

Microstar shows off its Geminium-Go! graphics card featuring two Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM) modules that employ a pair of Nvidia GeForce Go 6600 processors along with 512MB of memory in total. The graphics processing units (GPUs) work in multi-GPU SLI mode, thus, the graphics board achieves performance similar to the GeForce 6800 graphics cards. In case a proper power supply circuitries are employed, even two MXM modules with products like GeForce Go 7800 GTX may be installed for ultimate performance.’

It looks like those very cool keyboards with OLED arrays in each of the keys are going to be released next month. 1st of February this site claims.

I want one. They’re probably going to be way more expensive than I can afford tho, for a few months [or years] atleast.

So, start clicking on some of the Google ads so I can get a shiny new keyboard, fuckers. :)

Update to Strutting onto the keyboard catwalk.

`The table seats eight people and is powered by a 400cc Honda motorcycle motor which Mr Macdonald said could easily get the table clipping along at 100km/h.

The gears are located on a foot rail and the handle bars sit under the table-top – requiring a bit of steering skill as the driver sits facing forward as the table moves sideways. The wheels are similar to those on a ride-on lawn mower. [..]

Police were called to Orewa last Friday to reports of the motorised picnic table doing “wheelstands” in a local reserve.

“This is probably a first,” said Inspector Les Paterson.

Mr Macdonald, who also brought the world the motorised bar stool, said some friends were doing a few skids on the reserve and police were called.

“They were cool about it and said ‘don’t be stupid and have a good time’.”‘

`The picoPSU, by MiniBox, is barely the size of an ATX connector. It’s 120W, and has a couple of molex connectors and a floppy connector, as well as an input jack for mains power.

It’s designed for use in embedded systems where space is at a premium. It’s 100% silent, has a lack of messy cables and provides enough power to keep a Pentium M or Via C3 processor juiced up, depending on the other peripherals in the system.’

`The classic home computer and gaming brand Commodore is back, in the guise of a handheld device sporting downloadable arcade games.

Image The much-traveled brand is now owned by Commodore International Corporation (formerly Yeahronimo). The company has used CES to detail its new product; the Commodore Combo.

The device is being offered with five 8-bit games included, and another 90 or so available for online downloadable purchase. It comes with a 20GB hard drive running Windows CE, and offers GPS functionality.’

`Americans bought an estimated $125 billion worth of consumer electronics — computers, monitors, cell phones, televisions — this past year. With hundreds of millions of them becoming obsolete every year in this country, what happens to all the stuff we don’t want any more? [..]

The average computer monitor contains more than five pounds of lead. Computers can also contain mercury and cadmium. When you multiply that by the millions of outdated computers and monitors, you’ve got lots of toxins that you don’t want to put back into the earth.

It’s environmentally unsafe for individuals to just throw out computers and monitors, but federal law prohibits businesses from doing it.

Businesses usually pay electronic recyclers to haul away the old equipment and pull it apart, and if it’s done right, pretty much everything can be reused.

Unfortunately, it’s not always done right. That’s dirty little secret No. 2: Some recyclers may not be recycling everything. Actually, some experts say most recyclers aren’t recycling everything.’

`The RFID-Zapper is a gadget to deactivate (i.e. destroy) passive RFID-Tags permanently. The development-team presently consists of two people. Goals are a proof-of-concept and the construction of at least one functioning and appealing prototype, as well as a documentation of the project, so that everyone can build an own RFID-Zapper. [..]

The RFID-Zapper solves this dilemma. Basically it copies the microwave-oven-method, but in a much smaller scale. It generates a strong electromagnetic field with a coil, which should be placed as near to the target RFID-Tag as possible. The RFID-Tag then will receive a strong shock of energy comparable with an EMP and some part of it will blow, most likely the capacitator, thus deactivating the chip forever.’

`Curious Perversions in Information Technology’

`”Tempest for Eliza” is a program written by Erik Thiele to demonstrate the RF transmission properties of CRT monitors. The program is capable of transmitting sound over AM frequencies just by the unique way it drives the monitor. The electromagnetic emissions of CRTs can be a security problem as demonstrated by Van Eck phreaking, watching someone’s screen just by collecting RF transmissions. In the late ‘90s Ross Anderson developed software to help reduce the RF transmissions of monitors. These specialized fonts combined with shielding can greatly reduce the risk of attack and is something the NSA has been researching for many years.’

Make a stirling engine out of aluminium cans.

`With this software you can investigate how a rocket flies by changing the values of different design variables.

There are several different versions of RocketModeler II which require different levels of experience with the package, knowledge of aerodynamics, and computer technology. This web page contains the on-line student version of the program. It includes an on-line user’s manual which describes the various options available in the program and includes hyperlinks to pages in the Beginner’s Guide to Rockets describing the math and science of rockets. More experienced users can select a version of the program which does not include these instructions and loads faster on your computer.’

`I have loved mechanical things since I was a kid. Engines in particular have always intrigued me. All my life I’ve pored over books, studying cutaway diagrams, hungry to understand how things worked. These pages are an attempt to share that magic.

Some of the animations are rather large, so you may need to allow a few extra seconds while each page loads. These pages use animated GIF files, so they require a fairly recent browser — any but the oldest browsers will do. If the main illustration at the top of each page isn’t moving, you’ll need to update your browser for the full effect.’

`Like any mom, Rachel Cambra couldn’t wait to see the look on her son’s face when he opened his Christmas present.

“When he saw this, he was very happy,” says Cambra. “He said, ‘oh my gosh, Mom, this is just what I wanted. I can’t believe you got it!'”

It was the season’s ‘it’ gift.

“This was the last one,” says Cambra.

It was an iPod video, or so they thought.

“This is what he opened it up to — no iPod,” says Cambra.

No iPod, she says, just a mystery meat.’

‘They overclock a cpu over 4ghz, remove the heatsink, and boom! “Theres a hole in the motherboard!”‘

Looks like the hole goes right through the table too.

see it here »

`As the joke goes, on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog. But although anonymity has been part of Internet culture since the first browser, it’s also a major obstacle to making the Web a safe place to conduct business: Internet fraud and identity theft cost consumers and merchants several billion dollars last year. And many of the other more troubling aspects of the Internet, from spam emails to sexual predators, also have their roots in the ease of masking one’s identity in the online world.

Change, however, is on the way. Already over 20 million PCs worldwide are equipped with a tiny security chip called the Trusted Platform Module, although it is as yet rarely activated. But once merchants and other online services begin to use it, the TPM will do something never before seen on the Internet: provide virtually fool-proof verification that you are who you say you are.’

`Thousands of airline passengers unexpectedly found themselves stranded in line at U.S. border checkpoints in August, after a Department of Homeland Security computer crashed. [..]

The holdups can be attributed in part to the Homeland Security Department’s antiquated computer systems. The agency’s mainframes do not share data and are accessible only by some offices. An upgrade to Microsoft’s Windows 2000 operating system failed because of application incompatibilities, which meant one division had to undertake a cumbersome reversion back to Windows 95. [..]

Not one of the systems can talk with another, according to government reports, and not all offices are equipped to log into the systems they need to update records.’

If this is the current state of technology, we can do away with all those stupidly overpaid actors and actresses. Pretty impressive.

‘The idea came to me while I was helping my daughter with her homework. There was no direct reason why I should have come up with the idea during that event. It was just a random thought on which I followed through. What if I were to stand on a street corner with a sign in MY hand? One in which did not ask for money, food, a job or sympathy, but offered to give people something for free? What if I offered people waiting at the stoplight of a busy intersection free Linux disks?

[..] It was shortly after the morning work rush hour that it began to happen.

People gave me money�

And cigarettes�

4 gave me gift certificates to local eateries.

Some gave me phone numbers.

Go figure.’

`Not content with simply knowingly infecting its customers’ computers with security-hole inducing spyware, Sony is now sponsoring a “guerrilla” graffiti ad campaign to promote the PSP, covering inner city neighborhoods with images of kids playing with its overpriced, crippled handheld.

Reports on the interwebs indicate that Sony or its ad agency has paid graffiti artists to spray paint images of little kids playing with PSPs in at least five U.S. cities: Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.’

Sony is definately making a push for Evil Corporation of the Year this year. Tho, they’re gonna have to do something spectacular in the next three weeks if they wanna nudge Halliburton out of the number one spot. :)

`German police have confiscated five warez servers with 6 terabytes of illegal copies of movies and games in the German town of Coburg on the fringes of northern Bavaria. The servers, with names as Temptation and Paradise Island, were accessible to over 1,200 people for € 30 to 120 per month. Police arrested at least one 26 year old.

[..] The servers ran for over a year, during which at least 130 terabytes of illegal movies and games were uploaded.

GVU says that the servers are part of a European network of 50 “release groups”, who issue the latest movies and games through closely knitted warez networks. GVU believes that in Germany alone 300 people are involved with these crimes.’

`Human Upgrades would have never been at the top without precise keeping its philosophy which is TOP QUALITY, TOP SERVICES and TOP EXPERTS. Human Upgrades does not take any compromises or anything which is not the best. For every person in Human Upgrades there is just one level of quality and it is the top one.’

I can’t decide between the Palmclit or the Multinipple. Definately don’t want the Cuntongue tho. :)

‘Over three decades of work by diverse engineers and researchers intent on learning how best to interact with a computer come together in the windows and icons used today’

A history of the GUI and mouse reprinted from a 1989 IEEE journal article. Interesting, if you like that sorta thing.

`Pulsar Advanced Technologies has announced will next week launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a water heater USING microwave technology to heat water on demand. This technology with super-heating capabilities will drastically cut energy costs and totally eliminate the need to store hot water. [..]

Powered by electricity and unaffected by the volatile gas markets, the Vulcanus MK4 can heat water from 35 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds and can source multiple applications at once: showers, dishwasher, sink usages and more. The Vulcanus MK4 is the size of a stereo speaker with a sleek modern look, making it ideal for condos and apartments, while powerful enough to serve the needs of any size family.’

This is two posts for the price of one. :)

This fellow has built a robotic fish and has links to some articles and photos about the fish:

`The world’s first autonomous robotic fish are the latest attraction at the London Aquarium.

Biologically inspired by the common carp, the new designs can avoid objects and swim around a specially designed tank entirely of their own accord.’

As well as the fish, he’s also built a web page that is state-of-the-art for the year 1994. Including small, pixellated graphics and horribly annoying flashing text. Takes me back a few years, it does, yet it’s dated August 2005.

Maybe he let his robot fish code his page for him? That’s about the only explaination I have. :)

(2.7meg Flash video)

see it here »

‘Jiangling Motors Corporation’s Landwind X6 four wheel drive crash test video as recorded by Germany’s ADAC which conducts tests for Euro NCAP safety standards.

This video was recorded inside the passenger cabin. [..]

Just look at how the steering column together with the air bag smashes into your face. Renders the air bag totally useless… your neck would definitely have snapped.’

Very short video, but vaguely amusing to see the airbag being ineffective.

see it here »

`With that recall, the Prius joined the ranks of the buggy computer — a club that began in 1945 when engineers found a moth in Panel F, Relay #70 of the Harvard Mark II system.1The computer was running a test of its multiplier and adder when the engineers noticed something was wrong. The moth was trapped, removed and taped into the computer’s logbook with the words: “first actual case of a bug being found.”

Sixty years later, computer bugs are still with us, and show no sign of going extinct. As the line between software and hardware blurs, coding errors are increasingly playing tricks on our daily lives. Bugs don’t just inhabit our operating systems and applications — today they lurk within our cell phones and our pacemakers, our power plants and medical equipment. And now, in our cars.

But which are the worst?’

It’s not every day you see the phrase `largest non-nuclear explosion in the planet’s history’ in a story about computers. :)

Crazy Finnish people. Jumping out of a balloon with jet engines strapped to their boots.

Maniacs, I tells ya.

(9.5meg Windows Media)

`It’s the ultimate robot reality show: 43 contestants battling for a spot in a government-sponsored desert race intended to speed development of unmanned military combat vehicles.

The reward? A $2 million cash prize.

The autonomous robotic vehicles began competing Wednesday in the first of a series of qualifying rounds at the California Speedway. Half will advance to the Oct. 8 starting line of the so-called Grand Challenge.’

`The Corrupted Blood plague is quickly spreading across World of Warcraft servers. The disease originates from the recently added instance, Zul’Gurub. Players that go up against Hakkar (the god of blood) may find themselves infected with its debuff, Corrupted Blood, which does roughly 250-350 damage and can affect nearby players. Some of the players that have survived their battles with Hakkar have brought the disease into towns, spreading it amongst the general population, including npcs. Be warned.’

Here is a video of the plague. (10meg Windows Media)