• Archive for February, 2008

    Lazyweb I want a solar powered USB jack

    by  • February 19, 2008 • Cool Tools • 3 Comments

    Simple: a solar panel, 2.5W, output 5V and 500 mA, with a USB jack attached. In sun, you plug your USB device (ipod, phone etc) into the solar-powered USB jack, and it charges. Pure, simple. Who’s got it? http://www.rei.com/product/770230 – $115 == $40 a watt, that’s Not Right. http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/sf_solar_uno_slim.php – another candidate, fifty dollars, much [...]

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    Chinese intelligence work differently

    by  • February 18, 2008 • The Global Picture • 0 Comments

    I mean, I remember one case in which a person engaging in intelligence activities had his kids in the room with him when he was meeting with someone. And you’ve never, you can’t imagine how unattractive it would be to present in court espionage in the background and two kids watching TV in the foreground. [...]

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    Hexayurt Build at University of Eindhoven

    by  • February 13, 2008 • Hexayurt • 4 Comments

    Shows the whole process from start to finish. Could use more details on the tape anchors – we were pushed for time so we didn’t do them on every side – but this, combined with some of the detail shots from Combined Endeavor – is a comprehensive record of how to build a Hexayurt. Here’s [...]

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    an *almost* plausible biological/genetic explanation for the evolution of homosexuality

    by  • February 8, 2008 • Science • 1 Comment

    Stay with me here, tell me where my logic is faulty. Statements of the obvious: 1> At the earlier stages of human evolution, brain volume increased very very rapidly, in a manner which is almost universally believed to be a result of intelligence-based selection, possibly sexual selection driven by the complexities of comparatively larger human [...]

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    The “Lawrence of Arabia” problem

    by  • February 8, 2008 • Hexayurt, Personal • 0 Comments

    Lawrence: We’ve taken Aqaba. Brighton: Taken Aqaba? Who has? Lawrence: We have. Our side in this war has. The wogs have. We have… Brighton: You mean the Turks have gone? Lawrence: No, they’re still there but they’ve no boots. Prisoners, sir. We took them prisoners, the entire garrison. No that’s not true. We killed some, [...]

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    Pop music success is largely chance

    by  • February 3, 2008 • Trivia and Media • 0 Comments

    But here’s the thing: In each of the eight social worlds, the top songs–and the bottom ones–were completely different. For example, the song “Lockdown,” by 52metro, was the No. 1 song in one world, yet finished 40 out of 48 in another. Nor did there seem to be any compelling correlation between merit and success. [...]

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