The Cabal - Full Feed

Curious George: Programming Gods

Mr. Knickerbocker — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:30:14 -0800

What are the names of some of the ultimate, iconic people in the history of computer programming? [more inside]

In which I share an existential moment while hotel-bound in Nova Scotia:

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:20:09 -0800

In which I share an existential moment while hotel-bound in Nova Scotia:

I can't help but love this headline by Cliff Pickover: World's sexiest [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:10:09 -0800

I can't help but love this headline by Cliff Pickover:
World's sexiest women are now "alien" life forms, born with no belly buttons or constructed in secret Arctic labs, far from the scrutiny of ordinary men

I've encountered dozens (if not hundreds) of examples of supposed NASA image [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:10:09 -0800

I've encountered dozens (if not hundreds) of examples of supposed NASA image tampering. These, if real, are unquestionably the most arresting.
(Thanks: The Keyhoe Report.)

Ten last pictures

polychrome — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:50:08 -0800

Ten last pictures - including one we've seen before.

Taken at O'Hare airport in Chicago.(More photos, as always, right [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:40:09 -0800

[pic]
Taken at O'Hare airport in Chicago.
(More photos, as always, right here.)

Evidence of vast frozen water reserves on Mars: scientistsEvidence of [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:10 -0800

Evidence of vast frozen water reserves on Mars: scientists
Evidence of vast frozen water reserves on Mars: scientists
Ground-penetrating radar used by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals numerous huge glaciers up to one half-mile thick buried beneath layers of rock and debris. Researchers said one glacier is three time the size of Los Angeles in area.

Cosmic Rays from Mysterious Source Bombarding Earth"This electron excess [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:10 -0800

Cosmic Rays from Mysterious Source Bombarding Earth
"This electron excess cannot be explained by the standard model of cosmic ray origin," said Wefel. "There must be another source relatively near us that is producing these additional particles."

Mac Tonnies sings while making breakfast before coming out as an Alien On [...]

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:10 -0800

Mac Tonnies sings while making breakfast before coming out as an Alien On Earth.
Nope, not me. But there's indeed a weird (if superficial) resemblance.

Apes Helping Apes:

homunculus — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:09 -0800

Apes Helping Apes: Orangutans and Bonobos Make Art for Charity.

Paulson Was Behind Bailout Martial Law Threat

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:30:02 -0800

National Intelligence Council’s latest report: Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:40:27 -0800

A new study of the global future by U.S. intelligence agencies suggests that Al Qaeda may be on the decline, having alienated Muslim supporters with its indiscriminate killing and inattention to the practical problems of poverty, unemployment and education. While not contradicting intelligence assessments suggesting that Al Qaeda remains a major threat with a strong [...]SHARETHIS. ...

Craming it all in

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:20:09 -0800

A weeks worth of tiny posts, microblogs and stuff into one post, as well as as other interests crammed into one afternoon.
I'll start at random with an empathic "sorry" my friend "JR" who got laid off today. Very sorry to hear that. Fucking sucks. I hope this doesn't impact you for long. I know the feeling of dread and awfulness that accompanies this. You have to go through the entire death process with it. ...

New Report: CIA Lied About Missionary Plane Shot Down Over Peru

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:44:43 -0800

In 2001, the Peruvian Air Force shot down a plane flying over the Amazon after receiving information from the CIA that the plane was trafficking in narcotics. It wasn’t. It was filled with Christian missionaries. The attack resulted in the death of 35-year-old Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter Charity. The [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "New Report: CIA Lied About Missionary Plane Shot Down Over Peru", url: [...]

Obama Haters: You’re Missing the Opportunity of a Lifetime

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:47:42 -0800

I haven’t been commenting on politics much lately, because there are plenty of others who either better express what I’d like to say, or have better insights and change my mind. Johnny Brainwash has the wisest take on the election of Barack Obama I have read: To All The Obama Haters… You’re wasting the opportunity of a [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Obama Haters: You’re Missing the Opportunity of a Lifetime", url: [...]

Curious, George: GOBBLES?

middleclasstool — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:20:10 -0800

So I'm no stranger to a kitchen, but I normally learn by trial and error, and this time I can't afford to do so. You see, I'm in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey this year. [more inside]

TAZ History: Kowloon Walled City

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:04:05 -0800

“There were only two rules for construction: electricity had to be provided to avoid fire, and the buildings could be no more than fourteen stories high, because of the nearby airport.” When I was 17, I started constantly re-reading Hakim Bey’s TAZ, or as I like to call it, “His Only Good Book.” I had [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "TAZ History: Kowloon Walled City", url: "http://www.technoccult. ...

How much dus a blue whales clit weigh?

kitfisto — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:00:21 -0800

How much dus a blue whales clit weigh? See streaming questions and answers from Britain's 118 118 directory enquiry service.
A soothing mixture of banality and idiocy.
stolen, as is usual on a Friday, from B3TA

Thomas Kinkade's 16 guidelines

polychrome — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:40:10 -0800

Thomas Kinkade's 16 guidelines - for making stuff suck. If you're like me and weren't fully familiar with his body of work, I'm here to help you out.

Carbon Nanotubes Improve Protein Array Detection Limits

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:53:13 -0800

To detect cancer as early as possible, dozens of research groups are developing methods to detect trace levels of cancer-related proteins and genes in blood or other biological samples. The latest: carbon nanotubes can serve as highly sensitive optical labels for use in a wide variety of assay systems. ...

Carbon Nanotubes Detect Lung Cancer Markers in the Breath

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:46:44 -0800

Using an array of nanotube devices, each coated with a different organic material, researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology have developed diagnostic system that may be able to diagnose lung cancer simply by sampling a patient's breath. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news146418330.html)

Less-Invasive Brain Interfaces

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:30:44 -0800

Using electrocorticography (ECoG) -- recording neural activity from a sheet of electrodes laid directly on the surface of a patient's brain -- scientists have found they can predict the movement of fingers and which of several sounds the patient is imagining. [pic] (Gerwin Schalk/Journal of Neural Engineering) They hope to use the findings to develop intuitive brain-computer interfaces and neural prostheses. (Source:

Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:21:47 -0800

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) -- which exploits the difference in temperature between seawater near the surface and deep down -- has the potential to become the biggest source of renewable energy in the world, says Robert Cohen, who headed the US federal ocean thermal energy program in the early 1970s. (Source:

Cybercrime toll threatens new financial crisis

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:10:05 -0800

International regulation must be improved to avoid Internet crime (estimated at $100 billion annually) causing global catastrophe, some of the world's top crime experts have warned. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16092-cybercrime-toll-threatens-new-financial-crisis.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news)

Light opens up a world of sound for the deaf

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:07:51 -0800

Northwestern University researchers have found that infrared light can stimulate neurons in the inner ear as precisely as sound waves, a discovery that could lead to better cochlear implants for deaf people, replacing limited electrodes. [pic] (Steve Gschmeissner/SPL) (Source:

Google Personalizes Search with SearchWiki

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:47:38 -0800

Google has introduced a new feature called SearchWiki that will allow people (in a gradual rollout to all users) to modify and save their results for specific Google searches. They can move the sites that appear in rankings up or down, take them out altogether, leave notes next to specific sites (which are public) and suggest new sites that are not already in the results (or are buried too far down in the results to see).

Honda displays 21st-century supercar concept

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:30:59 -0800

At the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda showed off a supercar concept, the FC Sport, powered by an electric motor, with energy generated by a hydrogen fuel cell. [pic] (Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10104077-48.html)

Bay Area's big-city mayors endorse $1 billion plan for electric cars

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:23:07 -0800

Better Place wants to build 100,000 battery-charging stations and 50 battery exchange stations in the Bay Area where drained batteries can be quickly swapped for fully-charged ones, and has raised $200 million in funding. In a related development, Coulomb Technologies said it would begin installing 940 of its wireless Smartlet Networked Charging Stations in 2009 throughout California, starting next month. (Source:

Eric Schmidt: Oil is Finite But Information Is Infinite

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:03:19 -0800

The Internet can help the energy crisis by creating an informed -- and action-oriented -- user base, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a talk Wednesday for the New America Foundation. The Internet was created to let any devices connect to it, and any applications to run over it -- as long they play by the rules, he said. So it should be used to design the power grid to allow for distributed power generation, a smart two-way connection, and distributed energy storage in plug-in vehicles. ...

Makes my smiley faces look pretty sad.

tracicle — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:50:14 -0800

Makes my smiley faces look pretty sad. Very pretty lunchbag art.