These geeks made themselves coffee using a 2kw laser.

Its that time again when Kelly and I raise money for the March of Dimes through their annual WalkAmerica event. Our friends and family have been incredibly generous in their giving. Last year we raised a whopping $1,600: more money than a lot of the company donors who participated! That money will go towards vital research towards preventing premature births – a problem which cuts across all walks of life.

Kelly’s taking a more active role this year by helping organize this year’s event. You can help by pitching in toward our goal of $1,800. With your help, we can get there!

Once again, we ask you to support Hallie’s Team as we raise money for this worthy cause. And thanks once again for your generous support!
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I know I’m late to the party here, but from another blog I just discovered Fab@Home, a 3D fabricator that can build (or “fab”) just about anything you can dream up. Plus, its all open source!

Read this Cornell press release and watch Fab@Home in action on YouTube as it builds a bulb syringe out of thin air.

Fab@Home: No evil genius should be without one!

Coming on the heels of finding massive water stores on Mars, word comes that a huge reservoir of water has been discovered 600km below Beijing, China. Its as much water as the Arctic Ocean.

If its anything like the rest of the water in China, you’d drop dead if you drank it. Or glow, or something.

(via BLDGBLOG)

CNN reports that huge glaciers have been discovered on Mars, apparently enough to flood the entire planet under 36 feet of water if they were melted.

Fascinating. I wonder why we are only now discovering this, seeing how we’ve been exploring Mars with landers for over thirty years. Maybe its that we’ve only now determined how to measure the amount of water.

At any rate, scientists are still wondering why only about 10% of the water estimated to have been on Mars has been accounted for.

Today’s the start of the best sports competition in American: the NCAA basketball tournament! Like the previous few years, I have not found time to properly do my homework as to which teams will become winners this year. Instead I’ll get a chance to enjoy the games without the pressure of having my team win.

No matter who your favorites are, sports doesn’t get any better than the NCAA tournament.

Rumor has it that a norovirus outbreak has afflicted Duke Hospital in Durham. The neighboring VA Hospital first reported a problem last week. At the time Duke claimed to be norovirus-free.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll postpone that doctor’s visit I’ve been contemplating.

Cory Doctorow, science-fiction author, technology activist, and creator of BoingBoing, will be speaking at UNC Thursday at 2PM. His presentation is entitled “Pwned: How Copyright Turns Us Into IP Serfs.”

I’ve read BoingBoing since its inception. I’ve been quite impressed with Cory’s fight against DRM, overly-restrictive copyright laws, and other attempts to eat our brains and turn us all into Consumer Zombies. I’d like to have a job like Cory’s, to be honest. Few geeks on the planet are any cooler than Cory.

Ironically, Cory is a huge fan of Disney, one of the most copyright-addicted companies on the planet. Disney was instrumental in the passing of the dreaded Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act, passed right about the time a certain Mouse was to enter public domain. Can you like a company’s products without liking the company?

Anyway, Cory’s speech should be insightful and not to be missed.

Oh, and whatshisname will be in town Thursday, too. Yawn.

Read this fascinating article on the inverse power of praise:

Since Thomas could walk, he has heard constantly that he’s smart. Not just from his parents but from any adult who has come in contact with this precocious child.

But as Thomas has progressed through school, this self-awareness that he’s smart hasn’t always translated into fearless confidence when attacking his schoolwork. In fact, Thomas’s father noticed just the opposite. “Thomas didn’t want to try things he wouldn’t be successful at,” his father says. “Some things came very quickly to him, but when they didn’t, he gave up almost immediately, concluding, ‘I’m not good at this.’?” With no more than a glance, Thomas was dividing the world into two—things he was naturally good at and things he wasn’t.

Why does this child, who is measurably at the very top of the charts, lack confidence about his ability to tackle routine school challenges?

(read more)

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