The following is a true story.

Last week I walked into a local “home style cookin’ restaurant/watering hole” to pick up a take out order. I spoke briefly to the waitress behind the counter, who told me my order would be done in a few minutes.

So, while I was busy gazing at the farm implements hanging on the walls, I was approached by two, uh, um… well, let’s call them “natives.” These guys might just be the original Texas rednecks–complete with ten-gallon hats, snakeskin boots and the pervasive odor of cheap beer and whiskey.

“Pardon us, ma’am. Mind of we ask you a question?”

Well, people keep telling me that Texans are real friendly, so I nodded.

“Are you a Satanist?”

Well, at least they didn’t ask me if I liked to party.

“Uh, no, I can’t say that I am.”

“Gee ma’am. Are you sure about that?” they asked.

I put on my biggest, brightest Dallas Cowboys cheerleader smile and said, “No, I’m positive. The closest I’ve ever come to Satanism is watching Geraldo.”

“Hmm. Interesting. See, we was just wondering why it is you have the lord of darkness on your chest there.”

I was this close to slapping one of them and causing a scene–then I stopped and noticed the T-shirt I happened to be wearing that day. Sure enough, it had a picture of a small, devilish looking creature that has for quite some time now been associated with a certain operating system. In this particular representation, the creature was wearing sneakers.

They continued: “See, ma’am, we don’t exactly appreciate it when people show off pictures of the devil. Especially when he’s lookin’ so friendly.”

These idiots sounded terrifyingly serious.

Me: “Oh, well, see, this isn’t really the devil, it’s just, well, it’s sort of a mascot.”

Native: “And what kind of football team has the devil as a mascot?”

Me: “Oh, it’s not a team. It’s an operating– uh, a kind of computer.”

I figured that an ATM machine was about as much technology as these guys could handle, and I knew that if I so much as uttered the word “unix” I would only make things worse.

Native: “Where does this satanical computer come from?”

Me: “California. And there’s nothing satanical about it really.”

Somewhere along the line here, the waitress has noticed my predicament–but these guys probably outweighed her by 600 pounds, so all she did was look at me sympathetically and run off into the kitchen.

Native: “Ma’am, I think you’re lying. And we’d appreciate it if you’d leave the premises now.”

Fortunately, the waitress returned that very instant with my order, and they agreed that it would be okay for me to actually pay for my food before I left. While I was at the cash register, they amused themselves by talking to each other.

Native #1: “Do you think the police know about these devil computers?”

Native #2: “If they come from California, then the FBI oughta know about ‘em.”

They escorted me to the door. I tried one last time: “You’re really blowing this all out of proportion. A lot of people use this `kind of computers.’ Universities, researchers, businesses. They’re actually very useful.”

Big, big, BIG mistake. I should have guessed at what came next.

Native: “Does the government use these devil computers?”

Me: “Yes.”

Another BIG boo-boo.

Native: “And does the government pay for ‘em? With our tax dollars?”

I decided that it was time to jump ship.

Me: “No. Nope. Not at all. You’re tax dollars never entered the picture at all. I promise. No sir, not a penny. Our good Christian congressmen would never let something like that happen. Nope. Never. Bye.”

Texas. What a country.

TAKEN FROM www.netfunny.com

Time Warner Cable will launch a trial program on Thursday which will impose monthly Internet consumption caps on new subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. Following a two-month grace period, cable users will pay $1 for each additional gigabyte consumed beyond the cap.

Time Warner Cable’s plan to test metered service was originally revealed to the public when an internal company memo was leaked in January and later confirmed by the company. The memo indicated that the results of the trial would be used to determine whether to roll out the bandwidth-capping plan to other regions.

Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable executive vice president of advanced technology, told the Associated Press that the variable billing model is being adopted to address the disparity in bandwidth consumption among Time Warner Cable users. Five percent of the subscribers are consuming half of the local line capacity, Leddy says.

The caps differ depending on the tier of service paid for by the consumer. The lowest level of service is a 768Kbps connection with a 5GB cap for $29.95 per month. The high-end package will offer 15MBps with a 40GB cap for $54.90 per month. Consumers will pay by the gigabyte for consumption in excess of the established caps. Customers will be able to see how much bandwidth they have left by visiting the Time Warner Cable web site.

As we noted in our detailed look at the scheme back in January, usage caps will likely drive consumers to conventional DSL or emerging alternatives such as Verizon’s much-loved FiOS service and WiMAX-based solutions. Unfortunately, many are stuck in regions that suffer from meager broadband competition and have few options available.

Time Warner Cable’s bandwidth caps might seem like acceptable limitations at first glance, but they look a lot less attractive when one considers the growing number of important services we use that soak up lots of bandwidth. The Internet is increasingly being used as a vector for distributing software and digital video content and also facilitates multiplayer gaming, video conferencing, real-time collaboration, interactive remote desktop access, file backups, and many other bandwidth intensive activities.

Generous caps (say, 200GB a month) designed only to rein in the top 1 percent of users sound more like a fair proposition, but a 5GB cap when paying thirty bucks a month? One can get uncapped DSL from companies like AT&T (that also offers more speed) for less than this. 

The software I use here to automatically track my own bandwidth consumption shows that I far exceed those caps every single month on a not-particularly-fast 3Mbps DSL line. My habits obviously don’t reflect the behavior of regular users right now, but it’s important to note that services like the iTunes store and Netflix’s new Roku offering are going to making digital video delivery highly accessible to everyone. Time Warner Cable might find itself with few customers when these bandwidth intensive services become mainstream. In the meantime, just about every other broadband ISP will be closely watching Time Warner’s experiment.

TAKEN FROM arstechnica.com

Today, a rumor about a 22% thinner 3G iPhone with GPS priced at $200 hit the Mac web. In looking back, however, this is not the first time we’ve heard this exact set of specifications. On April 29th, Scott Mortiz first reported on the possibility of a $200 subsidy from AT&T for the 3G iPhone. He said it would be priced at $399 (8GB) and $499 (16GB), but after a $200 subsidy, these prices would fall to $199 and $299, respectively.

Moritz also specifically said that the new iPhone will be 2.5mm thinner than the current iPhone, which happens to work out to 22% thinner (2.5mm/11.6mm), corresponding nicely to Kahney’s 22% thinner figure. Kahney and Moritz diverge on the capacity of the iPhone, however, as Kahney claims 16GB and 32GB sizes for the new iPhone. Regardless, this paints a picture of the following possible “thin iPhone”:

Thin iPhone
• $199 (8GB or 16GB), $299 (16GB or 32GB), possibly subsidized by AT&T
• 3G, GPS, 22% thinner
• Possible longer battery

However, it’s also clear that there’s another set of rumors circulating which are also consistent with each other. The so-called “thick iPhone” rumor started at Engadget and depicted in the XSKN case designs.

Thick iPhone
• 3G, GPS, slightly thicker
• Glossy black, rounded back
• Non-recessed headphone jack, additional sensor?

If you add in recent whispers of high end pricing of the 16GB ($499) and 32GB ($699) models, this introduces the possibility that these rumors together could represent a range of iPhone models.

Both Thick and Thin?
• $399 (8GB), $499 (16GB), $699 (32GB) retail prices
• Possible $200 subsidy bringing prices to $199 (8GB), $299 (16GB), $499 (32GB)
• 3GB, GPS, ? Video Conferencing
• Low capacity models thinner, high capacity models thicker

Of course, alternatively, one or none of these rumors could be true. As we’ve said before, Apple has been known to purposefully spread misinformation in order to confuse the rumor mill. Official announcements are expected next week during the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote which takes place on Monday, June 9th, 2008.

TAKEN FROM www.macrumors.com

Thirsty for more business during the worst slump in its history, Starbucks will try to lure more customers by offering two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi a day. The Wi-Fi freebie will be available starting Tuesday to customers who purchase a minimum $5 reloadable Starbucks Card, register online for the Starbucks Rewards Card program, and use the card at least once a month. The two hours must be consecutive. New members also receive a voucher for a free drink. Starbucks’ 7-year-old relationship with T-Mobile for Wi-Fi service is being phased out in 2008. For the coffee chain, the move is an attempt to entice its shrinking customer base — cutting back on pricey treats during the economic downturn — to return. Traffic and sales have been shrinking for months as founder Howard Schultz searches for a way to revive the brand. He’s hoping the Wi-Fi freebie will attract more traffic to its 7,000 company-owned U.S. stores. “Customers have let us know they want to be recognized for choosing Starbucks,” says Brad Stevens, vice president of customer relationships. Particularly, he says, at a time when “budgets are tight.” FIND MORE STORIES IN: Internet | Holy Grail | Howard Schultz | Brad Stevens While the Starbucks Card is 6 years old, the rewards program attached to it was rolled out in April. Rewards program members who register online already receive free syrup and milk options with drinks as well as free refills of hot and iced brewed coffees and a free drink when they buy a pound of coffee beans. One brand experts says Starbucks still has a ways to go to revive the brand’s image. “They are desperate to keep the traffic going in their stores,” says Eric Zeitoun, president of Dragon Rouge USA, a brand consulting firm. “But free Internet access won’t get you there. Starbucks needs to fundamentally rethink the environment of its stores.” But Stevens says that free Internet will become a “core benefit” of the rewards program. The Starbucks Card has become a behemoth — with more than $1 billion loaded onto cards last year. Nearly 14% of all U.S. transactions at Starbucks are paid for using the Starbucks Card, says Stevens. The card’s new rewards program gives Starbucks an opportunity to gather personal information on its best customers (if they opt in), including details on what they like to eat and drink, and even when. Starbucks is trying to figure out ways to market individually to consumers based on those preferences. “The Holy Grail is to reward customers with exactly what they want,” says Stevens. If you buy a scone each time you visit Starbucks, the chain is looking at programs that would reward you in the future with a free scone from time to time, he says. Starbucks also is looking at ways to put card data on key fobs, cellphones and even travel mugs. TAKEN FROM www.usatoday.com

The artwork was made by renowned sculptor Robert Bradford A 6m (20ft) high sculpture of Big Ben made from Coca-Cola cans has been unveiled in London’s South Bank to inspire more people to recycle. The artwork, made by sculptor Robert Bradford, was commissioned to mark the start of Recycle Week from Monday. The Big Ben tower is one of four sculptures being unveiled across the UK to raise awareness of recycling. Recycle Week is launched by WRAP - a not-for-profit company helping people and organisations reduce waste. ‘Fantastic initiative’ A replica of the Angel of the North sculpture, made out of 10,000 miniature Coke cans, has gone on display in Gateshead. Models of Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Birmingham Bull statue will be unveiled on Monday. London Mayor Boris Johnson said he hoped the sight of the capital landmark would inspire Londoners to recycle. “Recycle Week is a fantastic initiative and does a huge amount to encourage us all to recycle more,” he said. TAKEN FROM news.bbc.co.uK

The GEN H-4 helicopter during desert testing
Those of us who’ve been dreaming of cheap personal air travel in the Buck Rogers, sci-fi jet-pack mode should turn their eyes towards Vinci, Italy on May 25. That’s when Gennai Yanagisawa, inventor of the tiny GEN H-4 personal helicopter, will be taking his lightweight 165-pound whirly-gig on a demonstration flight.

Why Vinci? According to the 75-year-old Yanagisawa, “Since the concept of our helicopter came from Italy, I always wanted to take a flight in the birthplace of da Vinci.”

Yanagisawa’s inspiration: da Vinci’s 1493 ornithopter
Indeed, Leonardo’s famous notebook drawings from 1493 show an “ornithopter” with a screw-like rotor. Like da Vinci’s pioneering design, Yanagisawa’s GEN H-4 has no tail. Instead, twin counter-rotating propellers cancel out the torque that requires single-rotor helicopters to have a perpendicular tail rotor.

GEN H-4 — the cheaper chopper
The GEN H-4 personal helicopter is actually available for purchase now, though Yanagisawa’s company (located in the Japanese city of Matsumoto) has so far sold only six (2 in the USA).

The cost for one is a reasonable $58,250 and once airborne, the GEN H-4 can fly at a somewhat sedate speed of 31 mph - slow yes, but probably faster than rush hour traffic. Veni, vidi, volanti! (via Yahoo! News)

TAKEN FROM inventorspot.com

Here’s a REALLY big craft project… make your own life sized Jabba the Hutt!

Behind the cut you’ll see how a few of us made a full sized Jabba out of supplies from discount and hardware stores.

The supplies were pretty basic:

• 3/4″ inside diameter semi-rigid irrigation tubing. This is the stuff you would bury in your lawn for sprinklers. This was around $30 for 50′, and we ended up using a LOT more than we thought… almost the whole role!
• 1″ thick foam padding used for mattresses. This came from a discount store (Building 19). We ended up using 5 or 6 queen sized mattress sheets. It was around $20 a sheet
• A smaller amount of 2″ and 1/2″ foam. 2″ for the lower body and 1/2″ for the features
• LOTS of hot glue. TONS of it… probably 6 big bags of the 12″ sticks from a hardware store
• The skin is “Jet Set” from Joann fabrics. Basically non shiny spandex. I think we used 20 yards of it. Yay for 1/2 off coupons!
• 3M 77 spray adhesive. This is how the skin sticks to the foam. We used 4 cans.
• Clear plastic bowls for the eyes. We painted the insides of the bowls, so the outside shiny. This is a little tricky, but I’ll get into that later.
• Paint. All sorts of stuff! The base coat was 1 gallon of ugly yellow house paint. We thinned it out a LOT (2 parts water to 1 part paint) and sprayed it onto him with a pump sprayer used for lawn chemicals. Not so good for the sprayer (or my driveway!), but it did the trick.
• Assorted lengths of PVC pipe. These are used for the arms, the tail, and whatever else seems good at the time.

OK, enough words, let’s get some pictures!

This is Jabba’s skeleton. We took the irrigation tubing and bent it into a ship’s hull type shape. It is cross braced and screwed together to hold that shape, since this type of tubing will eventually revert back to a straighter position.

The 2″ foam was screwed to the pipe all around. This makes up Jabba’s lower body. We left one side open, where the tail will join.

We made a tent like support for the head. 2 lengths of tube bent to arches and screwed together. We used a few 8″ lenghts of PVC to act as couplers between the lower frame and the upper, so that the tent supports can drop in. You can see that here:

Next is his head. We took a sheet of foam and just threw it over the head supports, then drew lines on it with a sharpie where it looked like it should be cut. We then hot glued the edges of the foam together to form the basic shape. The tail was made the same way… just take the sheet, twist and turn it til it looked good, then cut and glue.

Then a piece of foam was added in to one side to fill out the rest of the armpit area:

A quick slash with a knife, and Jabba was ready for a snack!

Mark, the main creative force behind the construction techniques and detailing, spent the evening working on feature buildup. He took the thinner foam and cut it to shape, then hot glued it where it was needed.

At this point we wanted to make sure that the skinning process was going to work so we jumped ahead to that part of things and skinned the tail:

The skin was done by coating the foam in spray adhesive then placing the fabric down on it, folding the fabric the way that Jabba’s skin is folded.

After the first round of skinning, we made the right arm. Same deal, cutting foam and hot gluing it together.

We then skinned the upper body, same way as the tail. The arms are held to the body via long strips of fabric glued to the body and the arm. The stretchy fabric lets the arms move freely.

Next came the painting. This part was fun. We went to Home Depot to get some paint. We picked up a gallon of house paint that looked like a good Jabba color. I used a chemical sprayer from my garage to layer it down. We thinned it out 2:1 water:paint, and it went on evenly and fast!

Now to the eyes. We used plastic bowls for the eyes, painting the insides. This is a confusing way to paint. Normally, if you want a red surface with a yellow line on it, you would paint the thing red, then put the yellow on top. When you are painting inside a clear surface, you put the yellow first, then the red. So it took a bit of mapping out colors to get it right.

And there they are. We made sure to get the lopsided eyes that Jabba often has.

The detail painting was done via airbrush, and really brought out his features:

The last detail was the mouth. It is really simple… a pink cloth bag sewn up and glued to the inside of his mouth, then airbrushed to tone down the colors a bit. A slit was cut in the bottom of the bag, and the tongue was glued in. The tongue is a piece of 1/2″ foam with the fabric spray glued to it The fabric wraps around and is glued together underneath. This lets you reach into the tongue from the inside to move it.

Which brings us to his big debut:

2 people inside. One working the arms and mouth, and another in the tail, working the Salacious Crumb puppet (through a slit in the tail)

TAKEN FROM community.livejournal.com

The American company UniModal Transport Solutions developed a concept for a very high-capacity and high-speed Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) network. Pictures and informations of this sky transportation vehicle are showed below.

This SkyTran system operates with individual, two-passenger vehicles, which are propelled and suspended by a maglev system from overhead guideways. These are laid out in a one mile by one mile networked grid throughout the city. A large number of small departure and exit portals are placed underneath the guideways at approximately every 400 metres or at every city block.

SkyTran has no fixed routes or timetables. Users can simply enter any departure portal, get into the first empty vehicle in the queue and select their destination. The vehicle then speeds up on the acceleration lane and enters the high-speed overhead guideway.

At the selected exit portal, the vehicle enters a deceleration lane where the speed is reduced until it stops at the arrival portal. Individual vehicles are capable of speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour within city limits or 240 kilometres per hour between cities. A very short braking distance allows a distance between traveling vehicles of a mere 25 metres.

TAKEN FROM thecontaminated.com

Would you believe that the tallest bridge in France reaches higher than the Eiffel tower, or that a single dam in China can hold back 1.4 trillion cubic feet or water? Each of the projects depicted here has set at least one world record for its height, scale, daring or ingenuity. From Venice to Boston, Egypt to England, here are seven amazing engineering wonders of the modern world. Know of others? Add to the list below!

Venice, Italy: The Venice Tide Barrier Project will be the largest flood prevention project in the world. The project has been debated in one form or another for over 40 years as a way to protect this historical city-on-the-water for future generations. With Venice slowly sinking, and the water around it slowly rising, and floods always a fear, Italians have known for a long time that something needs to be done. Finally, the Prime Minister of Italy approved the second phase of the plan, including 80 hinged barriers, each approximately 6,500 square feet.

Zhangjiajie, China: The Bailong Elevator is the world’s largest exterior elevator. At over 1,000 feet tall, this elevator looms high midway up a cliff overlooking a valley far below. Moreover, the elevator is mostly glass, affording passengers a dizzying view to the depths below. There is some concern, however, about the elevator’s long-term impact on the surrounding natural environment.

Millau, France: The Millau Viaduct is the highest bridge in the world. At almost 1,000 feet high (taller than the even the Eiffel Tower) and over 8,000 feet long it sometimes sits above the cloud line, as shown in the beautiful photographs above. The engineered wonder of the bridge itself is nearly as amazing as the view of the valley below.

More, Norway to Easington, Britain: The Langeled Pipeline is slated to be the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world. It will ultimately supply 20% of Britain’s gas needs, connecting England to the largest gas field in Europe via 750 miles of complex underwater terrain. Engineers have had to account for subzero temperatures an stormy waters in addition to developing techniques for installing the pipeline in the first place. They are able to lay an amazing 8 miles of pipe per day.

Yangtze, China: The Three Gorges Dam has drawn fire from people around the world for its role in raising water levels and displacing millions of Chinese residents in the area. As a work of engineering, however, it is unparalleled. It will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, 600 feet high and holding 1.4 trillion cubic feet of water behind 100 million cubic feet of concrete. This engineering wonder will also eventually provide as much as 10% of China’s vast power needs.

Boston, Massachusetts: The so-called Big Dig is a massive tunneling project in the heart of Boston, and is the most massive and expensive construction project in the history of the United States (at 15 billion dollars). Disaster and scandal have haunted this endeavor from the beginning, including accidents, deaths and even arrests for criminal negligence. Engineers were forced to navigate a maze of subways, pipes and utility lines in the course of the project, all with minimum disturbance to the bustling streets of Boston above.

Mubarak, Egypt: The Toshka Project is an amazing attempt to convert a half million acres of desert landscape into arable land. The Mubarak Pumping Station is at the center of this effort, and will channel millions of cubic feet of water per hour. It will ultimately redirect 10% of the country’s water from the Nile and will increase the inhabitable land in Egypt by as much as 25%.

TAKEN FROM weburbanist.com