h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Wheels within wheels

I've seen this several times; and every time I do I spend at least 10 minutes scrolling through it. I may have posted this already, but it's still really cool. I refer to it as the Total Perspective Vortex.

http://images.4channel.org/f/src/589217_scale_of_universe_enhanced.swf

Even if you've seen this sort of thing before, I bet you'll spend a few minutes with it again. (This version has some nice ambient music as well.)

Just noticed that this is a new version. So, even if you have seen things like this, check this one out.

I for one welcome our quadrotor overlords.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/02/now-the-autonomous-quadrotors-can-play-music/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=twitterclickthru

Yes. Autonomous flying robots playing the .007 theme song.

Here's a video of them building their Oppression Fortress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W18Z3UnnS_0

"Using multiple Quadrators allows structures to be built more quickly"

Wow, no wonder these guys are at university and I'm pulling pints of beer

I want to hear them playing the Doctor Who theme

They did mention that they picked the .007 theme not on popularity as much as ease of play.

Here it is on Tesla Coils though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdrqdW4Miao

I love the tesla coils I really want them to come to the Drafthouse

Your printer may be ratting on you.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6860492_do-identify-printer_s-id-signature_.html

TL;DR - Printer companies have covertly enabled their printers to print a nearly invisible pattern of yellow dots on every page they print that can be decoded to so that it will indicate the make and serial number, and time and date each print is made. This was apparently done merely at the request of governments without legal obligation.

Not fair. And it's been going on for a while too

What the....wow, that is just beyond words. Kudos to the person that found this out

And to continue along the "just plain scary" theme. Here's a copy and paste of the purported list that will get you special attention from law enforcement and certain alphabet agencies in the US if you use them in social media.

AKA: The DHS Watch list.
___________________________________

The following words are monitored by US law enforcement agencies on most social media:

DHS & Other Agencies

» Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
» Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
» Coast Guard (USCG)
» Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
» Border Patrol
» Secret Service (USSS)
» National Operations Center (NOC)
» Homeland Defense
» Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)
» Agent
» Task Force
» Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
» Fusion Center
» Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
» Secure Border Initiative (SBI)
» Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
» Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
» U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)
» Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)
» Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
» Air Marshal
» Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
» National Guard
» Red Cross
» United Nations (UN)
Domestic Security

» Assassination
» Attack
» Domestic security
» Drill
» Exercise
» Cops
» Law enforcement
» Authorities
» Disaster assistance
» Disaster management
» DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)
» National preparedness
» Mitigation
» Prevention
» Response
» Recovery
» Dirty Bomb
» Domestic nuclear detection
» Emergency management
» Emergency response
» First responder
» Homeland security
» Maritime domain awareness (MDA)
» National preparedness initiative
» Militia
» Shooting
» Shots fired
» Evacuation
» Deaths
» Hostage
» Explosion (explosive)
» Police
» Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)
» Organized crime
» Gangs
» National security
» State of emergency
» Security
» Breach
» Threat
» Standoff
» SWAT
» Screening
» Lockdown
» Bomb (squad or threat)
» Crash
» Looting
» Riot
» Emergency Landing
» Pipe bomb
» Incident
» Facility
HAZMAT & Nuclear

» Hazmat
» Nuclear
» Chemical Spill
» Suspicious package/device
» Toxic
» National laboratory
» Nuclear facility
» Nuclear threat
» Cloud
» Plume
» Radiation
» Radioactive
» Leak
» Biological infection (or event)
» Chemical
» Chemical burn
» Biological
» Epidemic
» Hazardous
» Hazardous material incident
» Industrial spill
» Infection
» Powder (white)
» Gas
» Spillover
» Anthrax
» Blister agent
» Exposure
» Burn
» Nerve agent
» Ricin
» Sarin
» North Korea
Health Concern + H1N1

» Outbreak
» Contamination
» Exposure
» Virus
» Evacuation
» Bacteria
» Recall
» Ebola
» Food Poisoning
» Foot and Mouth (FMD)
» H5N1
» Avian
» Flu
» Salmonella
» Small Pox
» Plague
» Human to human
» Human to ANIMAL
» Influenza
» Center for Disease Control (CDC)
» Drug Administration (FDA)
» Public Health
» Toxic
» Agro Terror
» Tuberculosis (TB)
» Agriculture
» Listeria
» Symptoms
» Mutation
» Resistant
» Antiviral
» Wave
» Pandemic
» Infection
» Water/air borne
» Sick
» Swine
» Pork
» Strain
» Quarantine
» H1N1
» Vaccine
» Tamiflu
» Norvo Virus
» Epidemic
» World Health Organization (WHO and components)
» Viral Hemorrhagic Fever
» E. Coli
Infrastructure Security

» Infrastructure security
» Airport
» CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources)
» AMTRAK
» Collapse
» Computer infrastructure
» Communications infrastructure
» Telecommunications
» Critical infrastructure
» National infrastructure
» Metro
» WMATA
» Airplane (and derivatives)
» Chemical fire
» Subway
» BART
» MARTA
» Port Authority
» NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center)
» Transportation security
» Grid
» Power
» Smart
» Body scanner
» Electric
» Failure or outage
» Black out
» Brown out
» Port
» Dock
» Bridge
» Canceled
» Delays
» Service disruption
» Power lines
Southwest Border Violence

» Drug cartel
» Violence
» Gang
» Drug
» Narcotics
» Cocaine
» Marijuana
» Heroin
» Border
» Mexico
» Cartel
» Southwest
» Juarez
» Sinaloa
» Tijuana
» Torreon
» Yuma
» Tucson
» Decapitated
» U.S. Consulate
» Consular
» El Paso
» Fort Hancock
» San Diego
» Ciudad Juarez
» Nogales
» Sonora
» Colombia
» Mara salvatrucha
» MS13 or MS-13
» Drug war
» Mexican army
» Methamphetamine
» Cartel de Golfo
» Gulf Cartel
» La Familia
» Reynose
» Nuevo Leon
» Narcos
» Narco banners (Spanish equivalents)
» Los Zetas
» Shootout
» Execution
» Gunfight
» Trafficking
» Kidnap
» Calderon
» Reyosa
» Bust
» Tamaulipas
» Meth Lab
» Drug trade
» Illegal immigrants
» Smuggling (smugglers)
» Matamoros
» Michoacana
» Guzman
» Arellano-Felix
» Beltran-Leyva
» Barrio Azteca
» Artistics Assassins
» Mexicles
» New Federation
Terrorism

» Terrorism
» Al Queda (all spellings)
» Terror
» Attack
» Iraq
» Afghanistan
» Iran
» Pakistan
» Agro
» Environmental terrorist
» Eco terrorism
» Conventional weapon
» Target
» Weapons grade
» Dirty bomb
» Enriched
» Nuclear
» Chemical weapon
» Biological weapon
» Ammonium nitrate
» Improvised explosive device
» IED (Improvised Explosive Device)
» Abu Sayyaf
» Hamas
» FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)
» IRA (Irish Republican Army)
» ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)
» Basque Separatists
» Hezbollah
» Tamil Tiger
» PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)
» PLO (Palestine Libration Organization)
» Car bomb
» Jihad
» Taliban
» Weapons cache
» Suicide bomber
» Suicide attack
» Suspicious substance
» AQAP (Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)
» AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)
» TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)
» Yemen
» Pirates
» Extremism
» Somalia
» Nigeria
» Radicals
» Al-Shabaab
» Home grown
» Plot
» Nationalist
» Recruitment
» Fundamentalism
» Islamist
Weather/Disaster/Emergency

» Emergency
» Hurricane
» Tornado
» Twister
» Tsunami
» Earthquake
» Tremor
» Flood
» Storm
» Crest
» Temblor
» Extreme weather
» Forest fire
» Brush fire
» Ice
» Stranded/Stuck
» Help
» Hail
» Wildfire
» Tsunami Warning Center
» Magnitude
» Avalanche
» Typhoon
» Shelter-in-place
» Disaster
» Snow
» Blizzard
» Sleet
» Mud slide or Mudslide
» Erosion
» Power outage
» Brown out
» Warning
» Watch
» Lightening
» Aid
» Relief
» Closure
» Interstate
» Burst
» Emergency Broadcast System
Cyber Security

» Cyber security
» Botnet
» DDOS (dedicated denial of service)
» Denial of service
» Malware
» Virus
» Trojan
» Keylogger
» Cyber Command
» 2600
» Spammer
» Phishing
» Rootkit
» Phreaking
» Cain and abel
» Brute forcing
» Mysql injection
» Cyber attack
» Cyber terror
» Hacker
» China
» Conficker
» Worm
» Scammers
» Social media

__________________________

Is that someone at the door?

You do know that you've just sent their servers into meltdown, me old china plate

Oh hell

And I did it from a government computer.


Now, your assignment is to write a short essay using as many of the above words and phrases in a completely harmless and innocuous context. Considering how many of the words are completely harmless and innocuous, this shouldn't be difficult.

Well, to continue this week's theme, I might as well drop this here. (It doesn't really fit, but it's not worth starting a whole new entry for.)

Last night I received the most disturbing, wrong number, phone call of my life.

A rather irate mother wanted to know why "I" had called her son twice that day.

I assured her that I had not, that she must have dialed the wrong number, but she insisted on accusing me of calling her son. I asked her to tell me what number she dialed. She replied, 'your number'. I asked her to look at the number again and I would tell her my number so she could compare. She wouldn't do it. I gather that she did not just hit redial, that she had looked at her son's phone, saw the incoming number and either wrote it down or called it from another phone. (After the call, I looked her number up and it was listed as a landscaping service in Oklahoma.) I explained to her that my phone has been with me, in my pocket all day, while I was at work, *at NASA* (sometimes that lends an air of something or another and cuts through some B.S. when I get wrong number dialers). She finally relented when I asked her again, exactly what number she dialed. She didn't actually tell me, she just gave up insisting that I was either lying or wrong. I think the NASA caché worked its magic again.

But seriously, this was quite frightening. Pedophilia has become such a witch hunt worthy thing lately that anyone accused of it is damn near defenseless. Even if you have rock solid proof of your innocence, people will still think you're guilty. I read about one of the men rounded up in the "Candy Man" child porn sting a few years ago. He admitted to looking for porn and mistakenly hitting a CP website. But he insisted that once he saw the thumbnails, he knew it wasn't what he was looking for, backed out of the site. His attorney insisted that he plead. He said that they had the thumbnails from his browsers cache and if a jury saw even that, they'd hang him, figuratively if not literally. CP images completely bias a jury, instantly. It makes them furious. Rightly so, in most cases. But innocence is no excuse when your accused of it.


Anyways, I was both dreading and hoping that mother would call me back. I was hoping she would double check the number, see that she had, indeed, misdialed and call to apologize. But I was dreading the possibility that someone had somehow "spoofed" my cell phone or number and then what?

By the way. Remember how irrational Marty McFly would get when someone would call him chicken? I get the same way when I'm accused of something I didn't do. I was framed for stealing when I was a teenager and it left a mark.

That is kind of scary, especially with the degree of irrationality I've experienced since I've been here - far higher than I ever found in the UK. If someone has convinced themselves you did something there ain't no unconvincing them.

Glad the NASA thing worked though. I also suggest letting her know you have *her* number (because phones record incoming numbers), and then casually toss the word 'lawyers' into the mix

It's been over 24 hours now, so I'll take a breath and relax. For all I know, this woman's son's girlfriend just borrowed her uncle's phone yesterday and she transposed a digit.

However, I really should do some CMA.

Durka durka jihad ice cartel Matt Damon kill all humans!

Here's a very, very small sample of what the Total Perspective Vortex can do to your soul.

This is a view from inside a single, trivial galaxy. It's not a particularly interesting galaxy. Not too big, not too small. Just a simple spiral. Here's a view from a spot about two thirds out on one of the spiral arms.



This is, however, a very, extremely, mind-bogglingly detailed view. It will take some time to zoom in to a reasonable resolution. And the more you zoom in the more insignificant you will feel.

You Are Here

http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5.html

For more info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17539315