Overclocker Creates Rift in Space-Time Continuum

A rift in the space-time continuum was created today when overclocker Jamie Aperman ran a 750 MHz Coppermine Pentium III at 1.6 GHz. Overclocking has long been blamed for causing global warming, but this is the first occasion that the fabric of space-time has been damaged.MIT Professor George Greznowski said, "It appears that the CPU was operating so fast that it began to execute instructions before they arrived. This execution of future instructions created a small tear in the fabric of space-time itself through which part of the motherboard passed into a parallel universe."
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2000/5/clock_rift.html

Russians Launching Solar Sail

Preparations and testing in advance of the Planetary Societys orbital solar sail mission called Cosmos 1 are making progress in Russia, officials report. The first-ever solar sail is scheduled for launch no earlier than September aboard a Russian submarine-launched Volna rocket. Cosmos 1s recent milestones have included the engineering models completion of launch vibration tests that simulate the environment the spacecraft will endure during the launch and other critical phases of the flight.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0204/29cosmos1/

Microsofts Stash O Cash

At the end of last year, according to the companys most recent filings, its cash (and short-term investments that can be converted to cash in less than a year) totaled a whopping $38.2 billion. The Microsoft juggernaut continues to generate another $1 billion a month, putting the total cash today well above $40 billion. This is a mind-bogglingly large pile of dough. No other nonfinancial firm has more liquid money at its disposal, and only a handful of banks do. Its more cash than Ford, ExxonMobil and Wal-Mart have combined, and nearly four times as much as Intel, the tech company with the next largest cash balance. It is enough to buy the entire airline industry -- twice. Or all the gold in Fort Knox, four times over. It is enough to buy 23 space shuttles or every major professional baseball, basketball, football and hockey team in America. It is an enviable stash. Who wouldnt love to have a bank account like that?
http://money.cnn.com/2002/04/12/pf/agenda_msft/index.htm

Hilarious... But Spookily True Onion Article

JERUSALEM?The Mideast peace process was once again derailed Monday, when U.S.-brokered talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders careened off their tracks into an embankment and burst into flames, burning with intensity for nearly an hour until the smoking remains were shoveled over with dirt. Above: Powell and Sharon meet shortly before talks broke down and collapsed, belching thick plumes of smoke. "The goal was to establish a substantive, mutually respectful dialogue between the two sides that would lay the foundation for a lasting settlement," said Secretary of State Colin Powell upon returning from his failed diplomatic mission. "Unfortunately, at an early stage of the negotiation process, these efforts ran into obstacles. More specifically, they violently slammed into the obstacles at 190 mph, bursting into flames upon impact."
http://www.theonion.com/onion3815/mideast_peace_process.html

Current Read: William Gibsons All Tomorrows Parties

All the heroes in All Tomorrows Parties wield knives. Chevette, the onetime bike messenger and second-best thing in William Gibsons 1993 Virtual Light, has one hammered from a motorcycle drive chain. Rydell, former cop, night watchman, and now convenience store security guy, sports a lightweight ceramic knife, although he doesnt much like its balance. And the mysterious Konrad, the man who kills without fuss or muss, brandishes the deadliest blade, the one "that sleeps head down, like a vampire bat." So many sharp knives slice elegantly through the virtual realities and nanotechnological macguffins that populates Gibsons latest novel. And appropriately so. When Gibson, one of science fictions greatest literary stylists, is at his best, he offers visceral detail ("helicopters swarming like dragonflies") even when promising transcendent change ("the mother of all nodal points" -- a moment in the near future when the fabric of daily life will twist profoundly). Gibson wouldnt be Gibson if he spelled it out, if he eliminated all the ambiguity. His specialty is hanging on to that fractal edge without ever going over the brink.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0441007554/reviews/qid=1019619783/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_67_1/002-2054680-7939230

Good Pic of the Space Station

What does the developing International Space Station (ISS) look like now? After delivering and deploying a crucial first backbone-like component last week, the Space Shuttle Atlantis took an inspection lap around the space station. The newly installed truss is visible toward the center of the above image. Also visible are many different types of modules, a robotic arm, several wing-like solar panels, and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS in 1998 and the core structure should be in place before 2005.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020423.html

/. Thread on Finding the Programming Zone

"Most importantly, the problem has to be interesting to me. I cant enter The Zone unless I truly am determined to solve the problem. Sometimes even boring problems can be made interesting once you spend a couple hours tackling them, but typically youll get better results if the problem is genuinely interesting. (This is why the scratch-the-itch motivation of free software works so well.) I dont hack on coffee; I hack on diet coke. Lots of it. My musical mood changes from hour to hour, so I dont ordinarily set up playlists for more than 45-75 minutes, but I do normally listen to music the whole time Im in the zone. Agreed: big monitor and many terminal windows are a must. If you cant have at least 6 terms on screen at once, youll get distracted by toggling between virtual desktops. Sometimes I have up to 12 windows on screen. You just need a fast computer. No one wants to wait long for compiling simple changes. Lighting for me has to be dim, but not dark. I prefer a single, tungsten 60W bulb with a lamp shade on my desk. It provides a nice, cozy warm light and offsets the light from my monitor to prevent eye strain. Everyone has certain things they do when theyre thinking about a solution to a particular tough problem (or sub-problem). Maybe you lie down for a few minutes; maybe you pace around the room; maybe you go to the gym and work out. Me? I take a long, hot shower. This yields very excellent results for me. And I have come up with some pretty damn clever solutions under the nearly-scaulding hot water. :)"
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/22/1638256&mode=thread&tid=156