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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick, by Robert Crumb The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick, by Robert Crumb [del.icio.us/] Dick's own words wonderfully illustrated by R. Crumb. Gripping reading, harrowing and mysterious! 5:14:27 PM  Permalink  comment []

100 Funniest Jokes? Are these the 100 funniest jokes? Probably not, but they're still plenty funny. 2:27:13 PM  Permalink  comment []

Japanese Solar Sail Launched The Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science has succeeded in launching and deploying the first ever solar sail into space. A solar sail is a thin metallic film pushed by light from the Sun - like a sail on Earth is pushed by the wind - it requires no engine. The 7.5 micrometers thick sail was carried on board an S-310 rocket launched from the Uchinoura Space Center, and deployed at 122 km (75 miles) altitude. [Universe Today] 1:59:38 PM  Permalink  comment []

Most liberal senator Is John Kerry the most liberal senator? No. But not that there would be anything wrong with that anyway. Wish he were. 1:44:20 PM  Permalink  comment []

Genomic SETI: The truth is inside us? Paul Davies, author of Mind of God is Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University has proposed that the Genome@Home project could be extended to analyse human DNA for sign of genetic 'messaging' by aliens - a sort of Genomic SETI... "The ideal solution would be to encode the message inside a large number of self-replicating, self-repairing microscopic machines programmed to multiply and adapt to changing conditions... ...Fortunately such machines already exist: they are called living cells. The cells in our bodies, for example, contain genetic messages written by Mother Nature billions of years ago." He admits that he is opening himself up to potential ridicule, but points out that this idea is probably no less speculative than the Radio SETI project. So is junk DNA really junk, or the message? Are we the message? What is he drinking? I'll have whatever he's drinking (and sign up to a Genome SETI). (Via Slashdot). His article first appeared in New Scientist in print version, but is available online (registration required soon) at the Sydney Monrning Herald site. [Alex Barnett blog] A must read piece. What a fascinating idea. I wonder why he uses "E.T.," though, instead of "God." 1:40:06 PM  Permalink  comment []

sheerest genius According to our great and good friends in Pakistan, when the White House outed that guy we caught, a whole bunch of folks were warned and got away The disclosure to reporters of the arrest of an al-Qaeda computer expert allowed several wanted suspects from Osama bin Laden's terror network to escape, government and security officials said Tuesday. Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer, was nabbed in a July 13 raid in the eastern city of Lahore. He then led Pakistani authorities to a key al-Qaeda figure and cooperated secretly by sending e-mails to terrorists so investigators could trace their locations. His arrest was first reported in American newspapers on Aug. 2 after it was disclosed to reporters by U.S. officials in Washington. Later, the Pakistan government also confirmed his capture but gave no other details. Two senior Pakistani officials said the reports in "Western media" enabled other al-Qaeda suspects to get away. "Let me say that this intelligence leak jeopardized our plan and some al-Qaeda suspects ran away," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Sunday that Khan's name had been disclosed to reporters in Washington "on background," meaning that it could be published, but the information could not be attributed by name to the official who had revealed it. The Pakistani officials said that after Khan's arrest, other al-Qaeda suspects abruptly changed their hide-outs and moved to unknown places. The first official described the publication of the news of Khan's arrest as "very disturbing." "We have checked. No Pakistani official made this intelligence leak," he said. Without naming any country, he said it was the responsibility of "coalition partners" to examine how a foreign journalist was able to have an access to the "classified information" about Khan's arrest. The USA Today reporter seems to have looked up what "on background" means. [Sisyphus Shrugged] 8:06:22 AM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.