Police chief- Lockerbie evidence was faked

A former Scottish police chief has given lawyers a signed statement claiming that key evidence in the Lockerbie bombing trial was fabricated.

The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people.

Smart (sorta) Door

Ignore the audio -- just watch this, and think about "Star Trek Bloopers".

How Many...

... Americans (not coalition) dead and wounded in Iraq? I see that the number of American troops killed in Iraq is something over 1800, as of 8/13/05. But I was curious how the numbers stack from various sources, so...


1,861 killed, 18,219 evacuated

1,862 killed, 13,877 wounded

1,861 killed, 14,021 wounded


I'm having some trouble finding any official government data that shows totals -- oh, I can get a list of names from the Pentagon and do my own totals -- but no easy numbers. I can't help but think our government doesn't want me to know just how costly this war has become in terms of American lives.

Another MSIE Hole

A vulnerability has been reported in Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a vulnerable system.

yawn... Yeah, I know -- this happens all the time. Micro$oft is upset, calling the reporting of this hole "irresponsible". The exploit was known, and sample code published, so the discoverers took it to the streets first rather than to Micro$oft. Micro$oft has no cure. But I do. Stop using their browser and use Firefox instead.

3rd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest

The final result was a full 11 Mbps data transfer rate over a distance of 125 miles, a new world record for an unamplified wireless networking connection.

Bad news for anyone thinking that distance makes their wireless connection secure.

NASA's World Wind

World Wind lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there.

Virtually visit any place in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps, or along the African Sahara.

It's about 180M to download and 2G to install (with all possible options). DSL or better required. I have found an excuse to get a better video card.

Top 10 Dot Bombs

From CNET. I still miss the sock puppet...

Profiling Humor

Origin unknown. Ucomics seems to be owned by uClick, LLC, in Kansas City, MO.

Remote Controlled Humans

If you apply a current behind the ear it will throw you off balance and cause you to stumble in that direction. No correlation has been made to cell phone use while driving. Yet.

Cisco Plugs the Hole

Cisco has released a patch for the vulnerability exposed July 27, 2005 at the Black Hat security conference.

Fireplace Burns... Water

No idea how you would roast marshmallows in it, but...

The Aqueon Fireplace uses a 220V supply to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen. It then ignites the hydrogen immediately and adds the oxygen back in to color and highlight the flame. It requires no venting, since it produces no byproduct other than water vapor. It's free-standing. All the heat produced is released into the room -- 31,000 BTU per hour.

BlueTooth + CellPhone == BAD

Equipped with this software running on a Linux laptop and a suitable Bluetooth antenna, it is possible to connect to cars that have an unsecure Bluetooth hands-free unit. After this, it is possible to eavesdrop on the discussion inside the car, or use the hands-free unit to talk to whoever is in the car.