photo by Future-PhD



 How about some algae?

 

Certain strains of algae can be used and algae biofuel production has already begun.


We just don’t want to use this type of algae..those that may have been produced from chemicals and pollutants….


No Major Problems


China Says It Has Cleared Algea From Olympic Sailing Venue

Peer-to-Peer file sharing networks such as LimeWire or Napster allow computer users to share data, music, or movie files between computers.   You have to remember, copyrighted material is not legal to share with these programs, which severely limits file sharing.

I would think the average person is going to "file share" from home.  First of all, while most computer connections are now faster with cable, it still takes time and bandwidth to do so.   Plus you are allowing someone to link to your computer when you "share."

"Sometime late last year, an employee of a McLean investment firm decided to trade some music, or maybe a movie, with like-minded users of the online file-sharing network LimeWire while using a company computer. In doing so, he inadvertently opened the private files of his firm, Wagner Resource Group, to the public.

That exposed the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of about 2,000 of the firm's clients, including a number of high-powered lawyers and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

The breach was not discovered for nearly six months. A reader of washingtonpost.com's Security Fix blog found the information while searching LimeWire in June."

Like I said in my title...I could see a teenager doing this...

Read the article from the Washington Post

Justice Breyer Is Among Victims in Data Breach Caused by File Sharing



Justice Breyer

 

 

What NASA earlier reported as an “unidentified” object ‘floating” (UFLO….my acronym) away from space shuttle Discovery, which is on a return trip from the international space station, has now been identified.  The 1.5 foot long object is a clip that is part of the rudder speed brake insulation.  No worries, says NASA, this has happened before…..


“NASA says the missing clip isn't critical for landing. It's used to protect the speed brake from high temperatures during the shuttle's launch. "Orbiters have come back with those missing. It's just not a factor for entry," Mission Control told the shuttle crew. “

Oh, my…I know I feel better.  I hope the crew does.

Read about it from Breitbart   ç  here





Space Shuttle Discovery being
prepared for mission

Looks like airports are going to be seeing a little more than your underpants, since eventually over 2000 of the nation's airports will be replacing metal detectors with body-scanners that can see through your clothing.  You've probably heard of these scanners before...they can see your body parts very clearly.






"Body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports in one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently started using body scans on randomly chosen passengers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and at New York's Kennedy airport.

Airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami will be added this month. Reagan National Airport in Washington starts using a body scanner today. A total of 38 machines will be in use within weeks.

"It's the wave of the future," said James Schear, the TSA security director at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where two body scanners are in use at one checkpoint.

Schear said the scanners could eventually replace metal detectors at the nation's 2,000 airport checkpoints and the pat-downs done on passengers who need extra screening. "We're just scratching the surface of what we can do with whole-body imaging," Schear said."

Read the full story on USA Today

 Perhaps you have a child already attending a college or university, or maybe you are getting ready to send one off in the fall.  Maybe you who are reading this are attending a university.  Whatever the case may be, if you have a laptop that you carry to class in college to take notes, consider bringing along a notebook and pen with you in the near future.

University of Chicago Law School officials have made the move to ban all wireless connections from their classrooms.  Beginning April 11^th, they instituted a school-wide ban.  Students may still use the laptops to take notes.

University of Chicago Law School is not the first school, and won’t be the last to institute some sort of ban. Some schools have banned laptops totally from class.  Suffolk University Law School (Boston) made national headlines in November 2007 when a professor banned laptops outright in her classroom.






According to e School News, Many law schools have given professors the choice of banning wireless access or laptops altogether.  A professor at Harvard Law School who did not want her name published said disallowing laptops has cultivated class discussion and student participation.  “Students have never complained about it, and if anything, they say the classroom environment is vastly improved,” the professor said.  “And I find the students listen to each other more.”

While I’m just referring to law schools here, I imagine this option will spread to all schools eventually. It’s too easy for a student to be distanced from the lecture and the discussion when typing notes.  Can you picture a lecture hall filled with laptops and everyone pounding away on them?  How distracting is that?  Then throw in a few cell phones with some texting going on, too.  But not everyone agrees.  We have technology for a purpose, after all.  Perhaps the answer is having your lecture via the laptop from your dorm room or apartment.

Read an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education:  Information Technology

The Fight for Classroom Attention: Professor vs. Laptop   í  here

Good news!

The story from January, about the Spy Satellite that is supposed to fall from the sky in March; well it looks like the U.S. is here to save the day.

Our Navy is planning to shoot down the broken satellite, according to the Pentagon.

Officials said we would most likely shoot it down before it re-enters the atmosphere, using a special missile modified for the task.

The last time the U.S. attempted to do such a thing was 20 years ago. 

China did the same sort of thing just last year.

If the mission should fail, the satellite would fall to earth as anticipated.

Read the story from the International Herald Tribune

U.S. Officials Say Broken Satellite Will Be Shot Down   ¡ here


______________________________


Remember Skylab?

Do you know where you were when it fell in 1979?

I remember where I was.

There was so much hype about Skylab falling...

No one was sure where it would fall.

For some reason I was up visiting the Cave of the Mounds.

Don't know if that was on purpose. 

I do love looking at caves.

I remember they were selling novelty spray cans of Skylab repellent!

Guess what?

There's a new kid in town....


U.S. Spy Satellite Falling To Earth   ç  here

P.S.

An Australian municipality, the Shire of Esperance, fined the United States $400 for littering when Skylab fell.  In 2004, the History Channel documentary "History Rocks" stated, in an episode covering major events of 1979, that this fine has never been paid.