Chad's News

Here at Chad’s News, we believe in being prepared for all eventualities. Regular readers will recall the galactic road map for use with alien abductions, but what if you’re transported back in time? Fear not, for you will be wearing the Time Traveler Essentials T-shirt! Need some penicillin for an infection? Instructions are on the shirt. Need to build an airplane, and the Wright brothers haven’t been born yet? It’s there. Tired of reading by candlelight and want some electric lights? No need for Thomas Edison when you have the shirt. Even better, you can take the credit and be the Leonardo da Vinci of your time. It’s a win-win situation for reluctant time travelers.

On a side note, Chad’s News is celebrating a milestone today. This is our 1000th post.

Link: http://www.topatoco.com/…
(via Sci Fi Wire)

…is Minesweeper (although I contend that Windows Solitaire is a close runner-up). The linked article explains more.

Link: http://www.techradar.com/…

With this weekend’s release of Star Trek, I decided to post this little reminder of who’s the real badass.

Link: http://current.com/items/…
(via digg)

Myst is my all-time favorite computer game. It’s now available as an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch—with enhanced graphics to boot!

Link: http://osxreality.com/…
(via digg)

The Hunt For Gollum is a high-quality Lord of the Rings fan film describing the period when Aragorn tracks down Gollum. In the books, it’s only mentioned in passing, and this film imagines what the hunt could have been like.

The movie is a large download. For those readers who prefer to use BitTorrent, there are several good torrents available.

Link: http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/

…because it seemed like a good idea. This is what happens when you let engineers define requirements. On a side note, this limit is the reason why Twitter messages max out at 140 characters.

Link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/…
(via digg)

UK bookseller Blackwell is launching a trial of the Espresso Book Machine, which can print books on demand in less than five minutes. Blackwell currently has 500,000 titles available and hopes for a full million by the end of the summer. This is one of those things that just begs the question, “Why isn’t this already in use everywhere?” But with the rising popularity of eBook readers such as the Amazon Kindle, I wonder about the long-term popularity of on-demand print services.

Link #1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/…
(via Slashdot)

Link #2: http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/…

If you intend to travel outside of the United States, be very careful about using the Internet via a wireless carrier or cell phone. Planning ahead can save thousands of dollars. The linked article is not the first time I’ve read of something like this happening. Also, don’t believe the customer service representative when he/she claims your existing plan will be sufficient.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

A new strain of swine flu has broken out in Mexico and Texas, leading to concerns about a pandemic. The linked article has more information, as well as answers to common questions.

Link: http://www.newscientist.com/…

IBM is developing a new type of memory, called racetrack, that may be a Flash-killer. The article doesn’t say much about it replacing volatile RAM, aside from a brief mention of racetrack being a “universal” memory.

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

The phone numbers 555-0100 through 555-0199 are reserved for fictional use in movies and such. But 555-2368 is still popular, even though it’s outside the allowed range. The linked article explains why.

Link: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/…

I was concerned to learn that Oracle will be purchasing Sun Microsystems, especially since Sun owns MySQL, a direct competitor of Oracle’s database software. MySQL is very popular, and I’m not sure what would happen if Oracle should decide to discontinue it.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

Update: The acquisition has been approved Sun’s stockholders, so now the purchase is waiting on regulatory approval.