brainwagon

Rumors have been flying around lately that Google will introduce some kind of wireless service, but now Google itself seems to be nearing some kind of release. Betcha Microsoft wishes they could buy this kind of buzz.

Oh dear lord. President Arrives in Alabama, Briefed on Hurricane Katrina We’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do. First, we’re going to save lives and stabilize the situation. And then we’re going to help these communities rebuild. The good news is — and it’s hard for some to see it now — that out […]

NASA has released some of the Earth Observatory images of the flooding in New Orleans. Ouch.

Holy crap, they are evacuating the Big Easy because of uncontrolled flooding. Not good, folks not good folks. To anyone in the affected areas, stay safe, and keep your loved ones close.

As I awaken, news reports are coming in from Lousiana and Mississippi regarding hurricaine Katrina. It doesn’t sound too good. They lowered the storm swell expectation in New Orleans from 28 feet to 15, but it still sounds dangerous. Winds have been clocked at 135 mph. I hope that everyone (including any Brainwagon readers) are […]

Holy crap, I spent the day at home today, and was scanning my usual blogs when I read this shocking article that Pixarian Joe Ranft had been killed in an automobile crash. While I didn’t know Joe personally, his infectious smile and humor were a regular feature of the halls at Pixar, as was his […]

I’m watching the live feed on NASA TV. They are in a pre-programmed hold at 9:00 till launch, which should go on for another twelve minutes, and then they should launch. Best wishes to all those aboard. Addendum: Looks like there are no constraints for launch. Countdown is about to resume. Countdown has resumed. Eight […]

I almost didn’t upload this podcast. I did twenty minutes in my car this morning, and then (as I usually do) played it back to see how it sounded. Today’s topics began with some thoughts on the role that the Internet, camera phones and the Wikipedia can play in helping us learn and understand about […]

What doesn’t get reported in the media enough is all the little kindnesses that people can pay to one another when trouble unites them. I found this Moment of London Zen linked by Xeni over at BoingBoing to be a good example. In the shadow of the monstrous there gleam hundreds of tiny lights. Good […]

Eesh. And I thought I was having a bad week. Four London Blasts Kill 40, Injure 300 – Yahoo! News Is it al-Qaida? Response to the G8 summit? Craziness over the Olympic announcement? Who knows, but it isn’t nice, that’s for sure. Update: Flickr photo pool. Addendum: The link above is dead (shame on you […]

I upgraded to WordPress 1.5.1.3 to help keep security up to scratch. I apologize for any temporary snafus. Polls seem not to work properly in the brave new world, I’ll have to figure out why sometime soon. It would also appear I’m having difficulty with referer spammers today. I’m researching solutions to this problem. To […]

After months and months of trial, the King of Pop has been acquitted on all counts. Just prior to the verdict, I had this exchange with my wife via IM: (14:10:17) TheWife: Michael jackson verdit coming up soon. (14:11:36) Me: ooh. bets? (14:11:57) TheWife: Guilty, all counts! (14:12:20) Me: nah. (14:12:24) ***Me bets he walks. […]

Off to go watch the Apple World Wide Developer’s conference keynote, mainly to see if Apple is going to switch from IBM PowerPC chips to Intel. The net has been abuzz with this rumor, it will be good to see if it really is panning out. Update: Steve is talking about pod casting now. He […]

This just off the pokerwire.com WPT ticker… Annie Duke eliminates Wil Wheaton; John Kabbaj out Ten minutes after being crippled when an opponent hit trip queens against his pocket kings, Wheaton pushed his last 15k in with pocket kings (again!). Duke called with AK and spiked the ace. Sorry Wil. Hold’em be a harsh mistress. […]

The CDC guidelines say that obesity is the #2 cause of death in America, right after smoking. But a new paper in JAMA suggests that this is not really the case, that it would be more appropriate to list it at #7 on the killer list, behind automobile accidents and gun deaths. The old number […]