Some new light has been shed on the complexity of the 20th Century’s greatest physicist, Albert Einstein. Turns out he was quite the ladies’ man, so much so that he even got stalked, and even discussed the affair with his second wife and stepdaughters. Maybe he realized he messed up, or was in an open marriage, hard to say.
Something else comes to mind as well: did Einstein get his greatest ideas for science after he got laid? That’s how some people work...I know, I get brainstorms after such tender moments. Trouble is, I haven’t gotten the latter lately (I know, I know...TMI!) Again, hard to say for Einstein. He isn’t around to tell us. But it does help paint a fuller picture of the man, who was just as human as you and I. 

I quit AOL back in 1998, when even the reality of $19.95 for unlimited access, reinforced by higher-capacity servers, couldn’t keep me from being punted on a regular basis. I used the famous 1-800-QUIT-AOL and I’ve never looked back.
Well, it looks like AOL has seen the writing on the wall...and may be about to unleash most of its services on the net for free, so that it may be better able to compete with the likes of Yahoo!, MSN, and Google:

Until now, AOL has been trying to promote its free Web sites even as its television advertising has promoted its dial-up access service, which to many people is the way Grandma gets her e-mail. AOL’s employees, moreover, are locked in a constant battle over whether each piece of software or bit of content should be used to retain subscribers or to lure new Web users.
Under the new plan, almost everything AOL offers — its content, software and AOL.com e-mail addresses — will be available to any Web user free. There may be some exceptions — some advanced virus protection and parental control software, for example. And telephone customer service will probably be reserved for paying users.

It’s going to take a concentrated effort by AOL to overcome the “Internet for Dummies” image it has. As for myself, I wish them the best; that said, I won’t be going back to AOL.
Ever.

Not wanting Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic to get all the publicity and kudos for bring space tourism for the public, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is bankrolling Blue Origin and bringing back the retro concept of the Delta Clipper for its vehicle; Blue Origin has already hired most of the team working on this vehicle, which showed a lot of promise until the fourth DC-XA flight accident destroyed the test vehicle. Afterwards, NASA preferred the space shuttle’s vertical takeoff/horizontal landing mode, and went with the VentureStar concept for further development.
Why was the Delta Clipper such a cool concept? Well, it took off and landed vertically, like the spacecraft seen in many movies of the 1950s. I commend Blue Origin for bringing it back, and looking forward to seeing new test flights soon. Capitalistic competition will open up manned space flight to everyone, unlike government-sponsored programs.

A couple of weeks back I sent in a Lexar Multi-Card Reader because it was supposed to be able to read type M xD cards, like the ones the Official Camera use. It didn’t work as advertised, which is why I sent it in. Well I got a package back from Lexar today, and this was inside:

I was puzzled at first, then I dug at them a bit on Lexar’s web site. That is a multi-card reader on the left, which reads everything but the CF format, and that is taken care of by the card reader on the right. 2 for the price of 1! These could come in handy if I get that MacBook that’s for sure.

Charles and the Lizardoids are having fun tearing apart the $100 laptop computer recently unveiled by the One Laptop Per Child association. Here is the link, which I believe will be sufficient to see what it is that will hopefully spurn education in developing countries.
That is, if the damn UN doesn’t get their hands on ‘em....

Today I heard some rumblings about Boeing’s response to the Airbus A380 on some other boards I hang out on. And man, after a little digging, lemme tell ya I LIKE what may be out there:

NewTechSpy has a blurb about the blended wing concept aircraft which may be called the 797, if Boeing sticks to the 7x7 nomenclature. And this single paragraph is probably staining the trousers of Airbus’ Board of Directors:

There are several big advantages to the blended wing design, the most important being the lift to drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, with overall weight reduced by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more efficient than the A380, and making Airbus’s $13 billion dollar investment look pretty shaky. High body rigidity is another key factor in blended wing aircraft, it reduces turbulence and creates less stress on the air frame which adds to efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 8800 nautical mile range with its 1000 passengers flying comfortably at mach .88 or 654 mph cruising speed (another advantage over the Airbus tube-and-wing designed A380’s 570 mph).

If Boeing actually goes through with this, Airbus will be like a deer caught in the headlights of not just a car or truck...but an oncoming super jumbo jet! Stay tuned.

The following is presented with apologies to Stephen Sondheim, Judy Collins, and all those amourous couples who coupled to this song in years gone by...I know I haven’t:

Isn’t it rich?
Are they a pair?
Gem here at last on the ground,
Star in mid-air,
But where are the clones?
Quick, send in the clones.
Don’t bother, they’re here.

I kid you not! Courtesy of Google.

Well, here’s my result:
ALIVE
You are 47% likely to survive the end of the world.
Well, you made it. You’re in rough shape though. Whether it be radiation sickness, bullet wounds, or complete economic devastation, you’ve been scarred for life. But at least you have the rest of your life to be scarred.
The Apocalypse Survival Test

HAT TIP: Right Wing Howler

OK, how many of you played with a Spirograph when you were a kid? I know I did, now here is the high-tech version!

I figured I might as well write something which should make you liberal visitors here happy…
On the way home from work last night I actually saw a gas-sipping SMART Car on the streets of Phoenix! I remember seeing these at the NAIAS back East, and I figured it’d only be a matter of time until they make it to our shores. Nevertheless, it’s essentially a high-tech golf cart.
And as fancy as they are, with all the safety features found on many other vehicles (as required by US law), it will ALWAYS lose a battle with any vehicle larger than itself. That is why you won’t catch me dead (much less alive) in such a car.

On a long cross-country trek and need to stop to relieve yourself? Don’t know where the nearest public toilets are? Can’t stand the nasty stalls at the truck stops or rest areas?
Well guess what, you’re out of luck if you’re in the USA...but not in Australia, where you can even plan where to stop...to go!

OK, I’ve been to sci-fi conventions. I’ve been to Civil War re-enactments. I’ve even been to Renaissance Festivals, where the participants get dressed up in costumes appropriate to the era.
But someone please tell me this isn’t real. Please. Thank you.

HAT TIP: Hud’s Blog-O-Rama

Allow me to advise you that the above image is a mere thumbnail! The University of Arizona contributed an extremely hi-res digital camera, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (or HiRISE), to NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which entered Martian orbit three weeks ago. You will be absolutely amazed by the resolution of these images: the full-res photo amasses 20,000 x 9,500! It actually allowed me to put Photoshop CS to a full-grind CPU test, the first since the memory/OS upgrade two weeks ago.
Go Ye and click on the photo for more high-resolution images. The Macker Commands It!

HAT TIP: Speed of Thought

Nine years ago, while I was living and working in southeast Michigan, I travelled to Detroit one fine afternoon at the Renaissance Center to try out for JEOPARDY! I didn’t make the cut but I came close.
Now here it is, people who are interested in appearing as a contestant can now take the test online! I plan to do just that next Wednesday. Wish me luck!