Voting machines in New Jersey recorded the wrong amount of votes…but they have not been able to do the requested investigation into the machine errors because the company that makes the voting machines says that ANY independent investigation would violate their trade secrets! We are about to have a Presidential election with voting machines that are KNOWN to be faulty!
http://weblog.infoworld.com/robertxcringely/archives/2008/03/sequoia_and_evo.html?source=NLC-NOTES&cgd=2008-03-24
The NY Times has a page that gives some information on each of the ~4,000 US service members who have died in Iraq:
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/20061228_3000FACES_TAB1.html
Cheney said that President Bush, not the Troops or their families, has carried the biggest burden during the war in Iraq:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/03/cheney-bush-not.html
Remember how pilots can carry guns now? A US Air pilot shot his gun accidentally while in the cockpit while the plane was in the air. Thankfully, the plane landed safely:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/BusinessTravel/story?id=4513875&page=1
Story on telepathic ray guns and vaporized shoes: the truth is weirder than you think:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/03/shoe-zapping-ra.html
Amazing that we have spent $120 bil on the “Star Wars” missile defense system, and continue to spend $10 bil per year. I have my opinions of this and saw some interesting briefings while I was at JPL, but I will not comment on this here:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/03/meanwhile-the-a.html
Amazing that the rainforest on the Big Island of Hawaii is under attack…by trees! Invasive trees are starting a change in the ohia tree-dominated rainforest:
http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000100~ISSUE~0803~RELTYPE~PHOT~PRODCODE~0000000~PRODLETT~IY.html
The Air Force is looking at having fighter jets fueled by a liquid fuel derived from *coal*:
http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000100~ISSUE~0803~RELTYPE~MS~PRODCODE~0000000~PRODLETT~JA.html
Sun got a $44 mil contract from the Pentagon for research on how to speed up data communications inside a computer. Research into optical connections between chips are already at speeds of 10 *pentaflops* (10 million trillion instructions per second):
http://www.news.com/Replacing-wire-with-laser%2C-Sun-tries-to-speed-up-data/2100-1006_3-6235362.html?tag=cd.lede
Research is going on to make it possible for people to *regrow* limbs…this would be awesome for amputees!
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-human-limbs&page=5
Speculation is that the huge amount of spectrum that Echostar (Dish Network) won will allow Dish to offer a nationwide mobile TV service. Dish spent $712 mil for the “E” block spectrum, and that spectrum allows for one-way service (so, it can deliver video but cannot be used as a phone service):
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61c79bbc-f942-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
The mobile messaging market is expected to grow to $212 billion by 2013:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/innovation-and-customization-drive-mobile-messaging-growth-212-billion-2013
IPWireless hit its milestones so NextWave just made a $50 mil milestone payments to IPWireless shareholders:
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/9f74be62337f0134fe25757afdc34631.htm
Not only did China pass the US for #1 cell phone market, it looks like India is about to pass the US and have the second-most cell phone users soon:
http://www.telecomtiger.com/fullstory.aspx?passfrom=breakingnews&storyid=1262
China has a problem with cell phone text messaging spam…on average 8 spam messages per cell phone per week!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080324/ap_on_hi_te/china_spam_scandal
The list of the 700 MHz spectrum auction winners has been released:
Click to access DA-08-595A2.pdf
Under the assumption that Obama or Hilary is the next President, names are already being floated for the next FCC Chair:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/digitaldownload/broadband/e3ifcdf91a54bfcc659a65de79c0ef6d370
ESPN has cut its ties to online ad networks, quite unusual in today’s ad market:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/digitaldownload/broadband/e3ifcdf91a54bfcc6596532caaef8cfa30b
A young couple in Germany bought a stroller in an Internet auction…and found a loaded gun in the side pocket of the stroller when it was delivered!
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1991690720080319?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews
This Dutch shoplifter got away from the scene of the crime…but left his son behind so the police were able to find him!
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL2022411420080320?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews
Doctoral student at Temple (who was an instructor at La Salle University) is going to prison for 3-4 years because he clicked on a certain link, as part of an FBI fake hyperlink operation. I do wonder why he was on the website he was on…but I hope that they are sure as to the reasons why he clicked on the link:
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9899151-38.html
Olympic gold medalist (and Playboy model) Amanda Beard has a blog on ESPN the Magazine’s website: she is going to give sex advice in videos while wearing a bikini:
http://thebiglead.com/?p=4953
Link Collection 