TALON on It's Way to Iraq

I wrote about robot warriors bound for Iraq back in November. The U.S. has said it will be sending nearly two dozen TALON units to Iraq this spring. The mfgr claims better accuracy, since "the platform is stable and aiming is electronic". Yeah, and I suspect, too, in no small part, because it's not afraid it's going to get shot if it just stands there, out in the open. Notice the file name -- lemming.htm. I guess cannonfodder.htm was used elsewhere.

Unit cost: Nearly a quarter mil.

BillG Does Teen Beat

Shots from a 1983 photospread. Why are his eyes like that? Why is there a Mac in the background?

Blocking MSIE from your Site

Tired of all the web sites that force you to use MSIE? Well, here's a guy who has discovered several ways to prevent MSIE from accessing your site.

MTD @ Work

My Tax Dollar, once again, pissed in the wind. Having spent a little time with Texas state gov't and IT development, I can see how such projects often fail. Too often the project design occurs in the legislature -- bills are passed into law, requirements are made, and solutions are mandated before a problem is defined. What we used to call "AB Project Management" -- ass-backwards. I can't wait for Round #2.

Hacking Micro$oft's DRM

"In this case, they're using technology meant to secure content. It just shows that the more bells and whistles you add to the technology, the more you open doors for the bad guys."

"All told, the infection added 58 folders, 786 files and an incredible 11,915 registry entries to my test computer. Not one of these programs had showed me any license agreement, nor had I consented to their installation on my computer."

There are alternatives to the Windows Media Player. You should be using them.

Wetback "How to" Manual

The Mexican government has published 1.5 million copies of a pamphlet detailing the hazards and hardships of crossing illegally into this country. This has upset a few people here.

FCC Opens Doors to Access BPL

"...we believe that, on balance, the benefits
of Access BPL for bringing broadband services to the public are
sufficiently important and significant so as to outweigh the limited
potential for increased harmful interference that may arise."

Access BPL, or broadband over power lines, would deliver broadband Internet to anyone who has electric service. Those against it have been crying about the increased radio interference caused by the power lines "leaking" the signal. The FCC has released a formal ruling on the issue and they do not agree.