Keeping Presidents in the Nuclear Dark

When the history of the nuclear cold war is finally comprehensively written, [it] will be one of a long litany of items pointing to the ignorance of presidents and defense secretaries and other nuclear security officials about the true state of nuclear affairs during their time in the saddle.

Bruce Blair describes a number of amazing... words fail me. Did you know that the Minuteman nuclear missile force was "unlocked" for more than a decade? Yes, the locks that were put in place to prevent an unauthorized launch were all set to 00000000 -- and everyone at the Strategic Air Command knew it. Launch Control Officers were instructed to monitor the PALs and make certain that a lock code WAS NOT used -- SAC feared that this added security feature would just get in the way if a launch became necessary.

Scale Model B-52

This project is truly awesome -- the model weighs over 300 lbs and has 8 specially designed jet turbine engines -- the first of it's kind. The videos run from 1.1M to 3.3M and require the Windows Media Player. If you have the bandwidth or the time, it's worth a peek. Crank up the volume.

Al-Qaida's choice in November

Yesterday, CNN Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena spread the unsubstantiated myth that al Qaeda has a preference in the upcoming U.S. elections.

Seems the current regime is running scared. A few people in the Bush administration have indicated that al Queada feels they have a better chance in Iraq if Kerry is in the White House. Too, the terrorists in Washington are claiming that America will be attacked this summer, even though the threat indicators have remains unchanged for months.

Bar Monkey

A Bar Monkey is a machine that automatically mixes and dispenses alcoholic drinks. The original Bar Monkey v1.0 was created by Steven Avery, Dustin Cooper, and Brad Greer. The total cost of this Bar Monkey was $235 and took 3 months to complete.

An interesting use of open-source technology...

Owning the Standard for Search Engines

From Fool:

A $30 billion valuation of Google implies that due to strong network externalities, the company will own the standard in the search engine space, like Microsoft in PC operating systems or eBay in Internet auctions. While a standard will likely be established for search engines, Google's ability to own that standard remains highly uncertain.