brainwagon

It seems that large inflatable SpongeBob Squarepants figures have been hot items in the world of petty theft. People are apparently stealing them from rooftops in significant numbers. Perhaps sending the wrong message, Burger King Corporation has been threatening those responsible for their return with a years supply of Whoppers. A Whopper of course is […]

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn “In his house in R’lyeh dead Cthulhu lies dreaming”

In the 1960s, computer scientists at American universities and in the U.S. Department of Defence devised a plan for a network of computers that could all communicate with each other. After the hardware was put in place, researchers at UCLA attempted on Oct. 29, 1969, to log in to a computer at the Stanford Research […]

My website was offline yesterday, I’m trying to debug a network problem. It may experience some additional problems today. I’ll try to settle it down in the next 24 hours or so.

My brother in Portland just reported to me that Mt. Saint Helens is beginning to spew ash up into sky. Apparently a modest eruption in progress. I’ll update this more as news comes in and we get more information. Update: My brother gets kudos for the scoop on the story, but other news outlets are […]

Woohoo! The first half of the X-Prize challenge was achieved today in Mojave, after a wild corkscrew ascent. Congratulations to all! Yahoo! News – Private Rocket Ship Lands After Space Flight

Just a few minutes ago, I felt a couple of gentle rolls that usually indicate an earthquake. I mentioned it to my wife via IM, and she felt it too (in Pleasanton). I then did what I always do: I hit the USGS Realtime Earthquake site. Apparently a magnitude 6 event happend near Parkfield, right […]

Sorry readers, I didn’t have much time for the Internet last night. I was co-opted into helping my wife search for the perfect dress for the upcoming Incredibles wrap party, and that took the better part of the day. When I returned home, I decided to do some maintenance on my webserver, and for the […]

Hurricane Ivan is about to go ashore. It’s a category 4 hurricane, with sustained wins of 135 miles per hour. Two people in the U.S. are reported dead so far. Hope everyone within the sound of this weblog gets out of the way and stays safe. Updates on weather.com.

I must admit, I’m intrigued by the stories being reported about a secret group setting up movie theaters in the catacombs beneath Paris. Damn, and I spent all my time taking cruises on the Seine and trudging through the Musée D’Orsay staring at impressionist art. Silly me. There have been a number of followup articles, […]

The news is reporting that a large blast and mushroom cloud has been sighted over North Korea. Apparently the explosion was large enough to have been noticed by satellites. Speculation is that the Koreans may have been engaged in some kind of nuclear testing or that the explosion may have been accidental. Scary stuff.

NASA’s Genesis probe was to have parachuted into our atmosphere and snagged by special helicopters ala the old Corona project, but apparently the chutes didn’t open and bad things resulted. it is unclear whether the mission payload could be salvaged. Oops.

Well, it’s Monday, and I’m back from my weekend trip to Disneyland. With the wife, son, and two of his friends in tow, we conquered California Adventure and the classic park. I must admit, I had a great time. Despite my 40 year old state, I decided that I would try to go on as […]

SFGate.com reports that Senator Ted Kennedy was delayed in boarding because his name appeared on a terror watchlist as an alias. Oh, dear, God. Apparently it took three separate calls by Sen. Kennedy’s staff to be removed from the list. In a hearing yesterday, Kennedy asked: “If they have that kind of difficulty with a […]

Ouch! It looks like hurricane Charley is coming ashore south of its earlier predicted course, and wth winds that are topping out at 145 mph. This makes Charley a category 4 storm, and predicted damages are now expected to be $15 billion dollars. Best wishes to all caught in front of it, and do all […]