September 2004

As Promised... here are Arclight's photos... > > [Space Ship One Launch 9/29/2004](http://23b.org/gallery/SpaceShipOne): "First official X-Prize launch of civilian rocket into space." > > > (Via [23b.org gallery](http://23b.org/gallery).)

The [Daily show joked about this](http://varchars.com/rd/rss/suprnova/tv/link/SIG=1RRBgZyKZ/*http://66.90.75.92/suprnova/torrents/2694/The.Daily.Show.09.29.04.Seymore.Hersh.XviD-STFU.torrent) last night: > > [ABC news reports on "debate" that hasn't happened yet](http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/30/abc_news_reports_on_.html): "**Mark Frauenfelder**: > The rules for tonight's poor-substitute-for-a-debate are so restrictive, and the sound-bites that will come out of the mouths of both men are so easy to guess, that ABC news was able to file a story about the results of the "debate" several hours before it takes place. [Link](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040930_1184.html) *Story removed by ABC, but you can find copies [here](http://www.timefornewmanagement.com/ap/)*. (Thanks, [Certron](http://www.lemnisc8.com/weblog/)!)" > > > Spin much AP? (Via [boing-boing](http://www.boingboing.net/).)

~~Just wanted to remind people where my [personal photos](http://23b.org/gallery/eecue_photo_gallery) are =]~~ (and a bunch of other people's photos too).[my photos are now located on this website]

big brother is fingerprinting you! > > [US fingerprints more travellers](http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/world/americas/3703202.stm): "Visitors to the US who do not need a visa now have to be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival." > > > (Via [bbc world](http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/world/default.stm).)

Wonder if the dems are going to do something like this? > > [Bush Team Prepares Net Assault](http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65142,00.html): "The Bush campaign is setting up an extensive war room to monitor Thursday's debate with John Kerry. The plan? Pounce on Kerry misstatements or exaggerations and send responses to thousands of partisan websites through a live feed. By Louise Witt." > > > (Via [wired news](http://www.wired.com/).)

This is really insane and should be investigated: > > [Diebold Rep Now Runs Elections](http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65120,00.html): "A former sales rep for Diebold Election Systems becomes a county election official in California. She sold the state millions of dollars worth of untested machines, which led to a scandal. Critics are asking, 'What's wrong with this picture?' By Kim Zetter." > > > (Via [wired news](http://www.wired.com/).)

IBM has created a [new supercomputer](http://www.research.ibm.com/bluegene/) called [Blue Gene/L](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=6367372) which is a teraflop faster than the Earth Simulator in Japan which i [visited a couple years ago](http://jp.eecue.com/photos/show_group.php?Id=40) although it is only partially built. The supercomputer is also 100x smaller than the ES. Livermore labs has ordered one that will be installed in 2005 which runs at 360 teraflops!

Well just a few days ago Verizon released their new high speed wireless access in the greater LA area... I just got my card and this is my first post using their service... cool deal!

It went good... almost out of batteries! The SS1 did a twist at the top of the climb, but everything went smoothly! Photos coming soon... as soon as I get back to my car which we left at a Park and Ride near Palmdale... then i can charge my phone and upload the pictures that Arclight took....

Ok well the takeoff went without a hitch and now we are waiting the hour it takes for it to reach the point where the SS1 will seperate from the White Knight. The crowd was excited to see the launch. We are hanging out at the car listening to our scanners.

I am typing this at the Mojave Space Port, in Mojave California. We are eagerly awaiting the flight of SpaceShipOne. We have been here since about 0200 and the launch is at 0630. I'm using my G4 and my T610 to access the net. Cool =]

Things are heating up in the NK nuclear standoff > > [North Korea escalates nuclear stand-off](http://news.ft.com/cms/s/8a1c38d4-1110-11d9-95d9-00000e2511c8.html): "North Korea claims it has "weaponised" all of its spent plutonium rods because the US's hostile policies towards Pyongyang leave it no choice but to develop a "nuclear deterrent."" > > > (Via [gyre - military revolutions](http://www.gyre.org/).)

~~When i went to Santa Fe High School, I had a great Contemporary US History teacher named Jane Zinn who is the wife of Howard Zinn~~ [I was totally wrong about this! It was a different Zinn!]. He has an interesting piece on RadioNation: > > [RadioNation AudioBlog: Howard Zinn on Kerry/Bush](http://www.thenation.com/audioblog/index.mhtml?pid=1853): "America's leading radical historian on why voting does and does not matter." > > > (Via [the nation](http://www.thenation.com/).)

a bunch of big quakes today... not sure if this means anything > > [M 6.0, Central California](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/nc51147892.htm): "September 28, 2004 17:15:24 GMT" > > > [M 5.0, Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/at00000217.htm): "September 28, 2004 18:28:05 GMT" > > > [M 6.3, south of Africa](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usnyay.htm): "September 28, 2004 15:29:53 GMT" > > > i wonder if it relates [to this story](http://eecue.com/news/archives/97_Mt._Saint_Helens_Notice_of_Volcanic_Unrest.html)... (Via [quakes](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/).)

Tomorrow, [Scaled Composites](http://scaled.com), [will attempt to win](http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/09/28/spaceshipone/index.html) the [Ansari X Prize](http://web1-xprize.primary.net/about/fact_sheet.php). This will be the first of two flights in order to win the prize. A short description of the prize: > > ... $10 million prize ... will be awarded to the team that designs the first private spaceship that successfully launches three humans to a sub-orbital altitude of 100 km on two consecutive flights within two weeks. All teams must be privately financed. > > > I watched the [first ever privately funded space flight](http://eecue.com/articles/index.php?artid=55) earlier this year and [took pictures of it](http://23b.org/gallery/mojave_spaceport_eecue). (Via [topix ca](http://www.topix.net/state/ca).)

If you build a muzzle loading cannon [don't put smokeless powder in it.](http://www.topix.net/redir/loc=rss-news_guns/http=3A=2F=2Ftv.ksl.com=2Findex.php=3Fsid=3D122423=26nid=3D5) (Via [topix guns](http://www.topix.net/news/guns).)

This is a [good song and a good flash animation](http://www.sharedvoice.org/unamerican/). (Via [js.com - Jungle Scene [coolkat]](http://junglescene.com/forums/browse.php?fid=1).)

Mt. Saint Helens is producing earthquakes and has changed significantly in the past 24 hours and there is an increasing risk of a hazardous event which has prompted the Washington University of Washington Dept. of Earth and Space Science to issue a [Notice of Volcanic Unrest](http://phoenix911.blog.com/45457/). (Via [Feedster Search: Search And Rescue](http://feedster.com/search.php?q=Search+And+Rescue&sort=date&ie=UTF-8&limit=15).)

Kyrgyz authorities tracked two men who were trying to sell 60 containers of Plutonium-239 and [apprehended them](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3695588.stm) after they tried to sell it to secret agents. (Via [ATSNN](http://www.atsnn.com/story/83397.html).)

Ok so I've been using the new [NetNewsWire beta](http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/) and it is much much better than version 1.0. I recommend that you try it out if you are on a Mac!

this is another test jhjkh

On of [my friends who is a print broker](http://1424studios.com) got a 10 identical copies of a mor.t.gag.e spam so he decided to fill out the form and send it out. So far he had received about 8 calls. Every time he gets a call he turns it around and tries to sell printing to the agent. He now has a couple of new clients.

I am in the San Bernardino mountains at a nerd/anti-racoon gathering called [cooncon](http://cooncon.org/), hosted by [astcell](http://23b.org/gallery/astcell). Fun fun fun! check out [the pictures](http://cooncon.org/)... =]

A new, [more accurate imaging system](http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=September&x=20040915173845lcnirellep9.507394e-02&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html) called Slow MAS works by spinning the subject (which will be changed some day to spin the magnets) at the "Magic Angle" 54.7 degrees to magnetic field. [[topix D.O.E.](http://www.topix.net/us/doe)]

[Here it is](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/15/60II/main643768.shtml) ... i heard it was censored in many places!

Astronomers think they have taken [photographs of a distant](http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0916/p15s01-stss.html) planet thought to be a planetary companion to a distant brown dwarf. [[sci tech](http://csmonitor.com/scitech/)]

We all heard about the huge blast in North Korea that was dismissed as a destruction of a mountain for a hydroelectric project. That seemed fishy to me as it did to Kuro5hin... here is what they [think](http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/9/12/17288/0278). [[kuroshin](http://www.kuro5hin.org/)]

from [[google](http://google.blogspace.com/)]: Demo: [cheap restaurants in palo alto](http://www.google.com/local?q=cheap+restaurants&near=palo+alto). > > * Enhanced user interface - a new, cleaner design that now includes maps on results pages displaying the location of businesses in the search results > * New mapping capabilities - users can now zoom and pan different directions on the maps without reloading the page > * Improved comprehensiveness - search results provide links to even more web pages like business homepages and related ratings and reviews > * More relevant results - improved relevance technology returns even more precise results > > >

You can open [Kryptonite](http://www.kryptonitelocks.com/) locks [using a bic pen](http://www.engadget.com/common/videos/pt/lock.wmv). [[meme pool](http://memepool.com/)]

According to experts at a computer conference in Brasilia, the world's "[hacking capital](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3657170.stm)" is in Brazil... does this have anything to do with Terry Gilliam? haha [[bbc world](http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/world/default.stm)]

This weekend I went to my first OTR, which happened to be the 55th annual Old Timers Reunion which is held every year in West Virginia. It is a massive party for cavers and the cavers come from all around county (and canada if not further) for it every year. Here are some of [the pictures i took](http://23b.org/gallery/otr_2004_eecue) i'll plan on returning next year for sure. -eek