Chad's News

Today being Halloween, it’s important that one knows how to survive a zombie attack. This short video gives some common-sense approaches. My favorite is holing up in a Costco.

Link: http://presurfer.blogspot.com/…

No word on when we can expect to see it “in the wild,” but USB 3.0 is being developed. It will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0, and will also be backwards compatible with previous versions.

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/…
(via digg)

Here in Denver, several of the radio stations are announcing that they also broadcast HD radio. It’s a higher-quality, digital signal and is transmitted at the same frequency as the regular signal. HD radio is free but requires a special tuner. Has anyone tried it out yet? Let me know in the comments section.

Link: http://komando.com/…

This is the story of Alexander Selkirk, the man who inspired the book Robinson Crusoe. He argued with his captain over the seaworthiness of their ship, and the captain decided to leave Selkirk on a deserted, remote island while the rest of the crew continued on. Selkirk was right about the condition of the boat, and the few sailors who survived the sinking were imprisoned by the Spanish. But that didn’t change the fact that he was stranded on the island, alone, for four years.

Link: http://www.damninteresting.com/…

(via The GinBlog)

This post should only be of interest to web developers. With Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to update the core web fonts that are used by pretty much everyone. Sigh… Developers will want to install the new fonts on their non-Vista systems—the Slashdot article’s comments have several ways to do this. In addition, CSS font lists should be updated to include the new “C” fonts at the front of the list. There is a matrix in the linked article showing which fonts should go where.

Link: http://www.hunlock.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Taco Bell offered to give away tacos if a base was stolen during the World Series. Well, it happened last night in game two. Go to any Taco Bell on Tuesday, Oct. 30th between 2pm and 5pm and ask for your free taco.

Go Rockies!

Link: http://mlb.mlb.com/…

Security analysts have known about a vulnerability in Adobe Reader for a few weeks, but now there’s an “in the wild” virus that uses it. The virus installs a rootkit that steals sensitive data. Adobe has an fix, so it’s probably a good idea to update Reader and Acrobat to the latest versions. And be careful about opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Link: http://www.computerworld.com/…
(via Kim Komando)

This is a good example of a self-explanatory site with a clean, crisp interface—although I’m wondering exactly how the site determines when it’s Christmas. The decision is not done on the client side, so how do they deal with things like time zones and such? Guess I’ll find out come December 25th.

Link: http://www.isitchristmas.com/
(via digg)

Internet2 is a dedicated, second-generation internet that allows members (universities and some government/industry) to connect at very high transmission speeds. Currently they’ve achieved 100Gbps, with the theoretical ability to reach 1Tbps. That really puts my 1.5Mbps DSL link to shame. I’m not sure if/when Internet2 will be opened for general use, but even if it is, don’t look for it to be available to residential users any time soon, since it requires a dedicated fiber optic connection as well as specialized equipment.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

Long-time Chad’s News readers are already aware of the contest to select one Star Wars stamp for mass production. Yoda was the winner, narrowly beating out Darth Vader, and his stamp will be released tomorrow, Oct. 25th (available in sheets of 20 stamps).

Link: http://www.usps.com/…

If you purchased a Seagate hard drive in the United States between March 22, 2001 and September 26, 2007, then you are part of a class-action settlement and can get useful stuff or money. Note that you have to have purchased the hard drive by itself—it doesn’t count if it came with a pre-built system.

Link: http://www.harddrive-settlement.com/…
(via engadget)