Kimputer's Weblog

Mark yer calender, the biggest baby boom EVER (in the States and Canada) in nine month from now !

(Okay okay, it’s not a proven fact, but it’s still a happy thought, right ?)

Microsoft has been ordered to pay up a whopping 520 million dollars to a small Chicago company and the university of California. This is for the copyright infringement of the plug-ins function of Explorer. For every shipped copy of Windows between 1997 and 2001, M$ has to pay a measly $1.47.
If ALL pirated copies of Windows had to be paid, M$ would have lost a FEW BILLIONS !!! Makes you feel not so guilty using your illegal copy of Windows eh ?

source: BBC In Brazil, there was a jailbreak where 80 inmates fled, and still are on the loose. They dug a tunnel of 50 (!!!) metres in length, 1 meter wide, and they even included lighting in the process ! How long did it take, and how and WHERE in heaven’s name did they dump that much dirt ?
Also, a week earlier, a prison director was shot dead, after he tried to introduce stricter rules to improve security.
Makes you wonder, who’s keeping who under control.

source: BBC A team of scientists at the MIT has developed a robotic insect which walks on water. This is done by mimicking how a water strider (Gerridae) uses the surface tension and rapid rowing feet movement of propelling them forward. So now what ? We can build an army of them to what ? Transport grains of sand ? Say it with me… (B*ll$h1T)^2.

First birthday present for today. 25 bucks from my best client. Actually, I just repaired his son’s laptop, for the second time (after I was asked to undo the first repair for some dark reason). After I checked the bills with my counterfeit detector, I accepted it.
I still expect a truckload of presents tho, so I’ll keep ya posted.

Well, the most interesting I could find what happened exactly on my birthday, is that Elton John featuring Kiki Dee topped the US Billboard with their luvly “Don’t Go Breaking my Heart” single.
So, here it is, from the One Night Only CD, download it, listen to, and think of me when you do.

On the chick side, the closest I could get was Charlize Theron. (starred most notably in The Yards, The Cider House Rules and The Astronaut’s Wife. Most recent release was The Italian Job (opens here 4th Sept)). She’s exactly one year older than me. More pictures here.

As my brains are still dysfunctional, I’ll talk about an official heatwave for now. Before you can declare it, the following criteria must be met: A series of five Summer days (above 25 C) of which at least three are Tropical (above 30C).

So, besides the usual discomfort, what else does it mean, as the extreme heat is covering whole Europe ?

Well, the sun has fried my set of brains. That means I’m not capable of putting anything creative here, so let me just talk about sweat for a while:

Human sweat consists of a mixture of fatty acids, ammonia and lactic acid.

Freakin’ mosquitoes can smell us from over hundred metres. Not only that, it can detect heat too. I sometimes sleep with open balcony doors, which means I basically have a big bullseye painted on my forehead.

Breathable fabric to make clothes have tiny holes about 700-800 times as big as our sweat molecule. As a result, the human sweat can easily penetrate the fabric and be released.

Excessive amounts of sweat and the salt contained in human sweat have been considered a major contributing factor to Dermatitis.

If this heat continues, I’ll write about the criteria needed before you have an official heat wave.

Okay, it’s official, I’m an accident magnet. Three time’s a charm. Yesterday, I was involved in the third car accident within roughly a year. And all three times, I was just the passenger. What I’ve learned from:

The first accident – at 50-60 km/u, the bang is still quite hard. A medium sized business car frontal crash will damage the frontside considerably and leakage of fluids will prevent you to continue driving. The other party did not give precedence, and was rewarded with a big dented left door. No airbag popping out.

The second accident – Old car rams left front corner of the car. The car was ugly dented, and some auxiliary reservoir was damaged, and had to be towed away. The rule is that people driving old cars DON’T care about their own or other’s safety, and they DON’T care about their own or other’s car anymore. And worst of all, the extra damage actually makes their already wrinkled car look better ! Again. No airbag.

The third accident – Frontal on a car stopping in front of us. Opel Vectra’s (the new style) will have only slight damage, because of a high and sturdy bumper. A SEAT Cordoba is less fortunate at 30-40 km/u, the front looks ugly (car is about 10 cm shorter now), but no vital machinery is hit. Airbags do not pop out at this speed either. After three times, you start to wonder.

So, seatbelts do work, as I’m physically not damaged in anyway (though the brains are still the biggest mystery in the world, particularly my set of brains)

All in all, the biggest advice won’t be to use the seatbelts, it’s better you experience it yourself. A big gaping hole in your skull says a whole lot more than just my words. Hahah.

source: Hackinthebox Not only is it the first genetically engineered fish, it also glows green in the dark. The Taiwanese company who made it hoped to make millions with this useless fish, but first of all, it’s almost bankrupt, second, environmentalist are protesting to protect the earth’s ecosystem. Can you say it with me ? (B*ll$h1T)^2.

source: BBC A rat brain in a petri dish in the US, and a robot arm with 3 pencils in Australia. Linked together, and you have instant art. A bit retarted art of some kind, at least. Again, can you say it with me ? (B*ll$h1T)^4.

Yesterday, the first in-vitro born human being turned 25. A bit like playing god, we’ve put about 1 million tube babies on the world since that day. This is still done using real eggs and sperm. However, the next step isn’t far away. Scientist are already developing a method using stemcells to produce the next super duper tube baby. Howzdat ?

Rate 1 (sucks) to 5 (cool). Only rate the latest pictures, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 348 out of 109 votes > Average is: 3.193

Finding Nemo (another late opener, 29th Nov.), the Pixar/Disney fishy 3D team-up is the first movie to break the 300 million barrier this year. Following closely with some 20 odd million minus is The Matrix Reloaded. And nr. 3 is the godlike blockbuster Bruce Almighty hanging around de 235 mill. region.

I noticed the coolest place in my house is the TOILET !!! Since it barely measures 1 meter by 1 meter, and has no internet access (yet), I decided to stay in the living room.

Don’t be shy to donate an Air-co unit, preferably THIS summer !

nudding !