Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 144 of 153).

SR-71 Blackbird

SR-71 Blackbird

Last night I was talking with someone familiar with our country’s premier spy plane, the legendary SR-71 Blackbird. He sent me a link to this exciting account of a mission over Libya in 1986.

Intelligence agencies hate to give up capabilities. The rule in intelligence is that no system is ever retired unless something has taken its place. There is no known aircraft that can match the Blackbird’s performance. The “sled,” as it was known to its pilots, has been retired. Just imagine what we must have now.
Continue reading →

Bad behavior from Bad Behavior

I was blogging away happily from the Atlanta airport tonight when suddenly MT.Net didn’t like me anymore. I got a message from my Bad Behavior blog spam blocker flagging my IP address. Since I was coming from the airport WiFi’s gateway address, I assumed that spammers and the like may have sent spam from the airport and gotten the address blacklisted. Still, I managed to get in one post from the WiFi before it blocked me, so that didn’t seem to be the right answer.
Continue reading →

Citation needed

I was reading up on the xkcd meetup that happened in Cambridge in September. A bunch of geeks descended on the local park which was previously mentioned in the comic strip.

Wherever geeks gather, trouble can’t be far behind. This is one of the funniest protest signs I’ve ever seen. Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales must be proud.

Donate computers to the Kramden Institute

I spent my lunch break gathering up old computers and parts I’ve been meaning to recycle for months now. I piled the back of the minivan high with this gear and drove over to the Kramden Institute in RTP to donate it all. Folks there were very friendly and appreciative of the gift. Thanks to my donations, two families will have nice computers that wouldn’t otherwise have them. Kids will be able to write papers, do research, and build their own ugly MySpace pages thanks to my gift.
Continue reading →

Q+E Software Photos

I was rummaging through my bookshelf this weekend when I discovered four photographs from my first software company, at times called Pioneer Software, then Q+E Software, then Intersolv. These shots are from around 1994 during the Intersolv days. Carolyn Sparano, director of technical support, asked me to take photos of the department to include in our customer newsletter. I don’t think I ever really looked at the shots until now. Look closely and you can see Jeff and Scott, as well as see what I looked like with a full head of hair.

That company was a wonderful one to work with. It set the standard for me for all the startup companies to follow. Someday I shall write a nice long post about my time there.

Comet 17P/Holmes

The family and I took a gander at Comet 17P/Holmes tonight, first through binoculars and then through my telescope. Binoculars are the best way to view it, I think.

You can spot it in the constellation Perseus in the northeast sky and you really can see it with the naked eye. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark I spotted it quickly, so anyone should see it. Hard to believe its now as big as the sun.

The best viewing is northeast of Raleigh. Horseshoe Farm Park might be an ideal viewing spot.

Definitely worth a look if you get a chance in the early evening. But hurry – the full moon is approaching!

Get AT&T/Bellsouth DSL without the voice service!

It look some major sleuthing – all of my Internets skills, actually – but I finally discovered how to order standalone DSL (that is, DSL without phone service, a.k.a. “naked DSL”) from AT&T/Bellsouth! With this deal you can get high-speed Internet access without paying for a dial tone – redundant for people like my buddy Scott whose only phone is a mobile one.
Continue reading →

Jet-Man!

I’ve got to show you the Jet-Man, a guy who flew a jet-powered wing for four minutes and topping 180 knots at points. Its an incredible ride!

Yves Rossy is a brave man. Yessir.

(Thanks, Mike!)

Plasma Antennas

Someone sent me this interesting news snippet:

A new antenna made of plasma (a gas heated to the point that the electrons are ripped free of atoms and molecules) works just like conventional metal antennas, except that it vanishes when you turn it off. The antenna design being presented at next week’s APS Division of Plasma Physics meeting in Orlando consists of gas-filled tubes reminiscent of neon bulbs. The physicists presenting the design propose that an array of many small plasma elements could lead to a highly versatile antenna that could be reconfigured simply by turning on or off various elements.
(EurekAlert! 12NOV07)

The announcement also made Slashdot.

A dozen years ago I was daydreaming of a “virtual” antenna, where some sort of field could be projected that would capture radio waves. I was thinking more of the magnetic variety, but plasma certainly fits the bill.

Interesting how the announcement touts its use in stealth transmissions. That’s not really an issue now with the ease of hiding transmissions made to satellites.