Cannon Ball Run: Clone Style

(Update on Idaho Gem Clone post)
It seems that of the five known competing cloners, no one is disputing the sucess of the Moscow, Idaho group from University of Idaho who are now awaiting their 3rd cloned "horse".
However, while the Italians have been silent as of late, the Austin Texas group from A&M U is brushing aside the accomplishments of the Idaho underdog and purporting to be the first to breed a quarter horse. Read more here
Cloners are desperate to fund their expensive habit. A bit of a bio gold rush if you will. While there of plenty of fools in a hurry to part with their dollars, I think many are still smarting from the tech industries wacking. Keep an eye on the Idaho group. We Idahoans are oft under estimated, and are a studious and disciplined group. Not only was the TV invented in Idaho, but the recent nuclear and chemical detection devices being employed publically came from here in the spud state.

Slugbot

A brief reprieve on my ban on posts about robots. It is not so much the robot that I find appealing as the idea of a self powered machine using it's kill for fuel. Very Stephen Kingish.


| Full wired story here | Slugbot site

Nanotechnology Luncheon

A forum on developing a productive enviroment for nano-tech ventures will be held in Boise, Idaho on July 2th at the DoubleTree Riverside noon to 3:15. Speakers will include Micron Technologies Research VP Mark Durcan, Lyman Frost from INEEL, Amy Moll from Boise State University, and Scot Ritchie from Positron Systems Inc.
$50 inlcudes lunch. To register call (208) 472-5230 or go to Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce.

The Birth of A PDA

Congratulations it's a baby Zire. 10 shot gave birth to a baby 6 oz. Palm Zire. Claims she has been doing away with dead tree snippets all day.

I gave her my resources for "educating" that little whipper snapper:

For the spiritually minded: decent free bible software at olivetree.com

and

Qvadis E-books library

A library of books for your handheld. (As 10shot's sister points out can be helpful while waiting for the doctor.)

250 or so titles just in the Sci-Fi section. Including HG Wells books: The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and the Invisible Man
and others from authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs.

These are .prc files which I assume work with any reader on Palm OS.

While it is a huge library, that even includes a rating system and search, the titles don't include the author names up front and sometimes have little or no info. But beggars shant not be choosers. This library has very open-sourcy feel as there are original works mixed in with the classics. Many of the books were tediously copied by an assortment of whuffie deserving transcriptionists.

Also check out their large list of e-book source links that includes links to the commercial fictionwise.com and the Gutenberg Opensource project:

Qvadis Internet Library of Links

Add on: For those of you who have always wanted to learn Morse code get this free tutor ware.

Principle 21: "Perform hazardous operations at very high speed."

A Russian scientist Genrich Altshuller developed a group of "power laws" that when applied to industrial design created huge advancements. Of course he was promptly jailed. Apparently big companies today have picked up these ideas and are running with them.

Now if TRIZ could just fix the comments on this blog.
| Read article | Learn more about TRIZ
via Walker Web Watch

Latent Inner Rain Man

(Blogging and breakfast don't mix. My brain is not sure which releases more dopamine: food or information...I am so conflicted.)
"humming antidepression helmets and math-enhancing ''hair dryers'' on their heads.." a quote from Lawrence Osborne's NYT article. (This is 4 pager story, not that long but I am wondering if the internet is enabling a "Kevin Costner" syndrome of longer news stories than usual.)
The article speaks of research being done on magnetising the brain which somehow creates enhanced thought processes. (You really must try sleeping in on a Sunday morning and eating Chinese food for breakfast.) Researcher Allan Snyder thinks that it may be we all have an inner 'Rain Man' in us waiting to be electromagnetically released. Wow! That could be...mind blowing? Of course there are those of us who always operate in an enhanced mode..like me. Note the artwork I posted my cat drawing without EMT, instead I substituted hot mustard. (Let's see a CAT scan of the mindnumbing, nasal passage clearing; 'horseradish rush'.)
also note this quote from:
rof. Vilayanur Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California at San Diego
"We're at the same stage in brain research that biology was in the 19th century. We know almost nothing about the mind." Proving my theory, mentioned in the post below about neuroeconomics, that the interior of the mind is much more uncharted than they would like us to believe. (Thanks 'Honey for the Mongolian Beef it was so much better than the McGriddle I was dreading.)

Big Brother Hangin' Out at Wal-Mart

Big Brother Hangin' Out at Wal-Mart
Apparently Wal-Mart and Gillette have teamed up to try out some products imbedded with RFID tracking. The RFID chip provides a hopped up bar code for products that contains a lot more information. They also have read/write capability so that information can be added to them.

The original article by Mary Starrett makes the case for all privacy loving shoppers to throw up their arms in protest and start emailing their Congressional Representatives.

I don't know. I pretty much think we're all being tracked and monitored anyway. Quite frankly it doesn't really bother me. So, they know I've purchase a razor - big deal. Someone could rummage through my garbage can and learn what I'm buying too.

When I shop on Amazon.com, they know what I've purchased before, what I've looked at, and offer up selections for future purchases. I like the tailored on-line shopping experience. What's the difference?

Maybe if I was engaged in some kind of freaky, clandestine shopping, I'd be a little more concerned. I just don't care. Am I just apathetic or completely naive?