Thursday, December 13, 2001
The US Government Translation of the Bin Laden “confession” tape was partially released today (FOX has the transcript, and CNN has a simplified version). It's mostly hard to understand and filled with religious rhetoric, but, assuming that it's not fabricated as some people claim (I'm sure links will pop up on that theory soon), it clearly implicates Bin Laden… However, the extent is not so clear.
My reading of the transcript suggests that he provided input (on how to destroy a building from his construction experience) and some planning, as well as financial support, but that ultimately, he did not know most of the details of the attacks (since perhaps only Atta actually knew that for security reasons). The transcript gives a fascinating insight into the way the group structured itself and used this highly decentralized to act effectively.
I'll be very interested to see how this tape is handled over the next few weeks, and how legitimate it turns out to be…
Oh, and I went to check my daily does of Wired, and look at the funny error I got (I must have hit it right at the exact moment they were updating something):
Today in History
Today is the 349th anniversary of the “discovery” of New Zealand by the Dutch. A number of Captain Tasman's crew were killed by Maori warriors (who assumed the trumpet signals from the Dutch were calls to battle) when they attempted to land.
It's also the 64th anniversary of the fall of Nanking, and the 7th anniversary of the European Parliament voting nearly unanimously to tell the US to give clemency to Leonard Peltier.
Thursday, December 13, 2001
The CoBM got its card printer this morning, woo woo:
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| Ooh! A big box! |
It's the printer. |
In all its glory. |
Guts! |
Accessories! |
Amputation machine! |
Now let's just hope it actually works. No printer cable or drivers came with it (that's not unexpected), so I'll have to go out and get a cable and then download the drivers… I don't know if they have w2k drivers, so I may have to set up one of my old cruddy boxers as just a printer machine, but that's fine.
We also got some cards in the mail:
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| Score! Thank you! Two cards, a two dollar bill (haven't see one of those in a while), and a nice donation! |
And we got a card from Jenny as well! |
OOOOH! And I just checked my
wishlist and I got some more presents… Gourmet Cannabis Cookery: The High Art of Marijuana Cuisine, The Best of Jams, Jellies & Relishes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens: From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens, Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach, and The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect's Sketchbook. Whoever got these, thank you! These are going to be very useful!
Oh, and more good news! It looks like the land deal is accepted because they liked the offer enough to try and get us to buy the neighboring lot as well. I wish I'd known before that you could just offer the owner to pay them off in installments — it's soooo much nicer than dealing with banks!
Anyway, experience update later today!
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
My landlord woke me up this morning because they needed to get something in the basement. First he freaked out because there was a box from the cleaning blocking the hallway (a firehazard). Then when in the basement he started to yell at me that I'd stolen his storm windows. Luckily his English-speaking son was there and was able to explain to him that his construction people had moved them. They soon found them and were on their way, bringing us to now.
A monk told Joshu: 'I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.'
Joshu asked: 'Have you eaten your rice porridge?'
The monk replied: 'I have eaten.'
Joshu said: 'Then you had better wash your bowl.'
At that moment the monk was enlightened. (more…)
…and on that note, I'm off now to work on an image update.
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
This has been in the science media a couple times already, but anyone with a medium to big sized brain should read this article. The first section on “utility fog” is an extension and probably more realistic approach to Drexler's ideas about nanotechnology from the 1990s…. But the section titled “Quantum dots could create Camelot” is a big step more exciting to me.
Basically (and now I'll make clear my simplistic understanding of physics), you take an electron and confine it (laser pointers do this among many other quantum well devices) in three dimensions. At this point it is a quantum dot, which behaves as a standing wave or a probability density function or even just a cloud of electric charge.
The electrons trapped inside a quantum dot organize themselves like in an atom (but without a nucleus of course) — what they emulate is defined by the number of electrons and charges we apply to them. Also, quantum dots interact with other quantum dots in a way similar to atoms, but not limited to the same rules as atoms (so for example, rather than stable atoms limited to 92 electrons, we can build FAR larger dots). As they say in the article, “That's virtual chemistry, baby!”
We now know how to create a substance that can change it's physical properties! On a simplistic level, this means a few things:
- Superstrong substances — strong enough so we could build an elevator into space, reducing the cost of spacetravel to a millionth of what it is now.
- Superefficient solar panels — imagine a world where we need neither nuclear or fossil fuels.
- Weapons of unimaginable destructive abilities, coupled with shields of enormous strength.
I could go on and on. Read the article and start dreaming…
Monday, December 10, 2001
Sudeep Das (an Indian living legally in New Jersey) got arrested because of his NAME! He booked a ticket with a shuttle bus company, and later that night found the police at his door.
Police: “How did you spell your name to the bus company?”
Das: “D as in David, A as in America, S as in Sam.”
Police: “No, you said D as in Destruction.”
And then they arrested him and threw him in prison. He was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment, and was eventually released on a $25,000 bond. Let's assume that he really had said “D as in Destruction” — is that really something a person should get sent to prison for? It's certainly in bad taste, but arresting people for this makes me think the war on terrorism makes about as much sense as the war on drugs. (more…)
Oh, and since people think I'm only posting these leftie stories, I thought I'd link to an article written by Rep. Ron Paul (a Republican from Texas). He makes a very good point:
Even if you are a Bush supporter and think he's a genius and has done everything right, do you trust the next president? Do you really want them having this much power? (more…)
