News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Here are some really neat pictures of the recent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Brings back memories of Mount St. Helens, although I don’t remember the US shutting down its airspace like Europe has done.
Thanks to Josh for the link.
Link: http://www.boston.com/…
I’ve never put much thought into what it take to repossess commercial airplanes. The linked article is about Nick Popovich and his repo company, Sage-Popovich, Inc. Some of the repossessions require significant planning and a large team of people.
Link: http://www.airspacemag.com/…
(via Neatorama)
Can’t figure out what to buy for the geek in your life? Consider this wall hanger that looks like an 8-bit pointer.
Link: http://www.meninos.us/…
(via engadget)
Here’s an interesting trick. Many web browsers support the entry of IP addresses as hexadecimal or octal numbers with or without the dots. For instance, the cloman.com server (normally 75.127.110.43) can be entered as 0x4B7F6E2B, and Google is 0x4A7D9B6A in hex or 011237315552 in octal.
Link: http://www.securelist.com/…
(via Slashdot)
I really don’t think you can get URLs much smaller than with the TO./ URL Shortener. I had to do some research to understand how it was even possible. Note that the period after the “to” is vital.
Link: http://to./
(via Lifehacker)
When falling great distances, the primary survival mechanism is luck. But don’t forget to clench your butt.
Link: http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/…
(via Digg)
The linked article has the winners of the National Wildlife Federation’s 2009 photo contest. The eagle about to catch the starling is a pretty amazing picture.
Link: http://www.nwf.org/…
(via Neatorama)
From the article: “A paper in the current issue of Science discusses the ability of a single-celled creature to create a robust network while foraging for food—one that mimicked the Tokyo rail system in complexity.”
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Somehow I’ve never considered that diamonds could have a melting point, much less that there may be oceans of liquid diamond on Uranus and Neptune. Turns out that solid diamond floats on liquid diamond, much like ice floats on water. Melting a diamond, however, is more complicated than just raising the temperature. The linked article explains all.
Despite the many attempts to cash million-dollar bills and the availability of fakes, the largest banknote ever printed by the US government was a mere $100,000. The linked article has this and other interesting facts about obscure and large-denomination bills.
The time-lapse video in the linked article shows starfish and monster worms feeding on the body of a dead seal that sank to the ocean floor. Very neat!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
(via naacal)
Ever wondered how auto manufacturers ensure that car door remotes can’t be used to unlock multiple vehicles? The method they use makes it possible but highly unlikely. Also turns out that you shouldn’t repeatedly press the unlock button unless you’re near the car. The linked article explains all.
Link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/…
(via Neatorama)
