05/04/2009
04/21/2009
04/12/2009
GO NAVY SEALS!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy
Here's part of the article:
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MOMBASA, Kenya – U.S. Navy snipers opened fire and killed three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint in a lifeboat, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day high-seas hostage drama on Easter Sunday.
The pirates were pointing AK-47s at Capt. Richard Phillips and he was in "imminent danger" of being killed when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge made the split-second decision to order his men to shoot, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said.
Phillips' crew, who said they had escaped the pirates after he offered himself as a hostage, erupted in cheers aboard their ship in Mombasa, Kenya. Some waved an American flag and fired flares in celebration. A lawn sign in the captain's hometown of Underhill, Vermont that read "Pray for Captain Phillips' release and safe return home" was changed to read, "Capt. Phillips rescued and safe."
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Phillips, 53, was resting comfortably after a medical exam on the San Diego-based USS Boxer in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Gortney said the captain had been "tied up inside the lifeboat" over much of the ordeal.
"I'm just the byline. The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home," Phillips said by phone to Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart, the company head told reporters. A photo released by the Navy showed Phillips unharmed and shaking hands with the commanding officer of the USS Bainbridge.
Gortney said a fourth pirate had been aboard the Bainbridge and negotiating with the Americans immediately before the rescue. The pirate was in military custody and U.S. officials said no decision had been made about how to charge him or where he could stand trial.
04/02/2009
03/16/2009
03/15/2009
Bad news on the credit card front
This isn't good. Credit card companies slashing people's credit limits BELOW their outstanding balance (or really close to it) without notification. And it's legal.
Check your credit limits before charging anything.
03/12/2009
Good news on the li-ion battery front
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/mit_adds_tunnel.php
Lithium ion batteries are in all kinds of consumer gadgetry, from
digital cameras to video game controllers. They're also in cars, but
the time it takes to charge an electric automobile — several hours at
least — hasn't really swayed folks who spend ten minutes at a pump.
MIT has a new revamped version of the Li-ion batteries we know and love that could change all that. It uses the same lithium iron material, but the researchers have bored tunnels through the surface, giving lithium ions an expressway of sorts. This allows the batteries to be charged in a matter of seconds, and release energy just as fast. That doesn't mean that your battery will fizzle out in the blink of an eye — instead, they're more powerful and can handle the kind of strain an electric automobile, such as the Chevy Volt pictured above, demands. With the new batteries, you could charge your car just as fast as it'd take to fill it up with gas.
The new holy batteries also don't degrade as quickly as their tunnel-less cousins. Prototypes have already been made, and the team says that we could see the new batteries in products in as little as two to three years.
Via TG Daily
03/09/2009
Is this *real* news?
I spotted this today on Yahoo, but it sounds more like something from the Onion...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090309/pl_nm/us_usa_china_navy
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Five Chinese ships including a Chinese naval vessel harassed a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, at one point closing to within 25 feet of the ocean surveillance ship, the Pentagon said.
A Defense Department statement said the Chinese vessels "shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity" to the USS Impeccable, which was conducting routine operations in international waters 75 miles south of Hainan Island.
The Pentagon identified the Chinese vessels as a Navy intelligence ship, a bureau of maritime fisheries patrol vessel, a state oceanographic administration patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers.
The Pentagon said the U.S. ship was operated by a civilian crew under contract with the Defense Department and accused the Chinese vessels of violating international law.
"We will be certainly letting the Chinese officials know of our displeasure with respect to this careless and reckless, unprofessional ... maneuver," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.
Two Chinese vessels surrounded the Impeccable, while two closed to within 50 feet waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. Navy ship to leave, the statement said.
The Navy ship responded by spraying one of the vessels with its fire hoses, but the Chinese ship closed further to within 25 feet and its crew members disrobed to their underwear, the Pentagon said.
It said the Impeccable informed the Chinese ships by radio that it was leaving the area and requested a safe path to navigate. But two of the Chinese vessels stopped directly in front of the U.S. ship and dropped pieces of wood in its path.
"The unprofessional maneuvers by Chinese vessels violated the requirement under international law to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other lawful users of the ocean," Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Major Stewart Upton said in a statement.
"We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea."
The Pentagon said the incident was preceded by days of increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray, Editing by Sandra Maler)
03/03/2009
Barry Manilow
Ok, I had to LOL:
Paul Lonsdale told The Associated Press. "I did not say Barry Manilow is a weapon of mass destruction."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_fe_st/as_odd_new_zealand_mall_rats
03/01/2009
Heroes thoughts
So, I was pondering Heroes, and have these thoughts: (Spoiler Warning)
1. It would be cool if someone could teach Suresh how to fight. He can knock people 30 yards, but without skillz, he looks like he's flailing away (which, I guess, is really what a scientist would do).
2. What is mama Petrelli's agenda? It looks like Noah doesn't agree with Nathan's plans, but why is mama Petrelli involved? From what little conversation Noah and Mrs. Petrelli have had, I wonder if 1. she's seen something in the future she's trying to prevent, or 2. she really does disagree with Nathan and wants to put the smackdown on her boy.
3. I think mama Petrelli is The Rebel who's texting Claire. At first, I thought it may have been her dad or her somewhat annoying ex-boyfriend (the one who could fly), but I don't think so now. Not only does the Rebel have Clair's cell number, but whoever it is has intel on Nathan's group, where they are, and where they're going. And that's some high-level intel.
4. I think Sylar should lob the delinquint's head, snatch his powers and be done with it. Because annoying millenials are, well, annoying. At least they didn't make him like Wesley Crusher. But alas, I think we're going to find out that the delinquint is really Sylar's brother. And I think that's why Sylar is putting up with him for the moment.
5. Being both a fan and somewhat a writer, I was disappointed to see Hiro without powers, Peter with only one power at a time, and (at first) the death of Daphne. To expound on this from a fan's view: I'm glad that Daphne is still alive. She isn't my favorite character, but I like the "life" she puts in the show. Though, I find it odd that she took about 4 rounds from an M-16 and is still alive. Also, I find it odd that Claire is the only one with healing abilities, but everyone is scratch-free after the cargo plane crash. And how did Hiro and Ando get out of the country to go to India? They don't exactly have secret agent skillz at evading airport security screenings (which would seem like a likely thing for Nathan's group to enact). Setting aside my nit-picking fan observations and looking at the plot from a writer's point of view, in order for this storyline to work, what the writers did to the heroes is about the only way to make the plot work. They had to dumb down Peter, Hiro, Daphne, and Sylar, otherwise those mutants would be able shut Nathan's plan down without breaking a sweat.
6. Papa Petrelli isn't "completely" dead. Sylar just lobbed a bullet in the base of his neck and left it there. And then Nathan left it there. If it was removed, wouldn't he pop back to life? I wonder if the Rebel is really papa Petrelli?
7. "Take-charge" Peter is sexier than "I'm too wussy to pull the trigger" Peter. I wonder if we'll see what gave last season's future-Peter the scar across his face? I'm guessing we might since Peter can't heal at the moment. But I hope not. I like him better without the scar.
8. The bald Hunter may be your typical "I don't care, just kill everyone--innocents included" mean military guy, but he hasn't come across at being stupid. So...I'm surprised he hasn't done the math: Nathan's daughter = has ability; Nathan's brother = has ability, Nathan's father = had ability, Nathan's mother = has ability. It doesn't take Spock to realize that, "Hey! Maybe Nathan has abilities too!!" Unless baldy thinks Nathan is just pissed that the rest of his family has abilities and he doesn't.
9. Expanding on point 8, I can see why Noah hasn't said anything about Nathan being a mutant because of Claire and his own safety, but, by golly, why has Niki been the only one to shout out? I'm surprised Suresh hasn't, Parkman hasn't, and really, I'm surpised Claire hasn't since she's a pissed off teenager who completely disagrees (and doesn't really care for) her biological father.
10. Of course, Mr. Muggles could have mind-control abilities and really be the one behind Nathan's nefarious ways.
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