Feb 102016
 

Early yesterday, the land-line rang. I rarely answer it; it’s sole purpose seems to be telemarketers these days. But I answered, and it was some guy with an Indian accent telling me he’s from Microsoft, that they have detected serious problems with my computer, and… “sir, why are you laughing at me?” I told him I knew that scam, he asked how, I laughed again, he hung up. Later in the day the cel phone rang; a woman with a *thick* Indian accent starts in on the same scam. I laugh, she asked why, I said I knew that scam, she hung up immediately.

 

It has been several years since I’ve gotten that scam, and now I got it twice in one day. What are the odds?  Hmm. The night before I filled out an online resume/application for a Really Good Job that I figure I have about the same chances of getting as winning the lotto. So… I suspect whatever “Beat The Statistics” luck I might have had going for me got drained into getting two scam artists on the other side of the planet to try the same schtick with me in one day. Perfect.

 Posted by at 12:32 am
Feb 092016
 

Scientists have managed to freeze a rabbit brain solid without destroying it at the cellular level. This is certainly Big News; while cryonics has been going on for a couple generations, it has been a bad joke since Day One since the act of freezing cells destroys them. However, this – at least so far – does not make cryonics feasible. What it *does* do is permit a mammalian brain to be frozen into a solid lump with the neurons intact. What can then be done, at least in theory, is for the brain to be sliced into *incredibly* thin layers, with each layer scanned to equally high fidelity. A 3D model of the brain almost down to the molecular level could then  be assembled. *IN* *THEORY,* this would allow for complete digital emulation of the brain… functioning, personality, memories, the whole bit. Of course you only get one shot at it… a slip-up in scanning or a burp in the data would mess with the simulation. It might be as simple a thing as deleting the memory of that one time when that one thing happened, you know, the thing. If this is Hollywood, the screwup will result not only in the simulated person being rendered psychotic, but probably also psychic and susceptible to possession by electronic demons, supervillains from the future and lost aliens.

Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation

 

 Posted by at 8:18 pm
Feb 092016
 

I… just can’t tell. All I’m really sure of is… I want one.

So, Russia, here’s your chance: use a few hundred of these, crawl ’em under the aircraft of Monino and haul the planes, intact, to the new museum. Use them to haul Putin and his cronies out into the middle of Siberia, and leave them there at the height of skeeter season. Those will put y’all in the “redeemed” category. Use these to invade Sweden or Estonia… not so much.

Read more on the “Sherpa” here:

The Russians Make The Best Truck In The Universe For $50K

Seems this thing has a whopping 44.3 horsepower and can make it to 28 miles per hour.

 

 Posted by at 12:46 pm
Feb 092016
 

I need a single scan: a 300 DPI color scan of the bottom right corner of the cover of the February 28, 1953 issue of Collier’s magazine. The whole cover would be nice, but all I really need is the corner, to allow me to fill in my own scan which is marred by the presence of a mailing label.

1953-02-28

 Posted by at 12:32 am
Feb 082016
 

Russia carried out practice nuclear strike against Sweden

A Russian training exercise in 2013 featuring TU-22M’s and SU-27’s included a mock nuclear strike on Swedish targets. Because if there’s somebody the Russians need to consider nuking, it’s the Swedes.

The next decade could prove interesting for Scandinavia. After decades of being “successful” socialist welfare states, made possible by being mono-cultural small wealthy nations with no particular need to expend blood and treasure on the military or police, they are being challenged by an apparently bonkers Russia and an invasion of colonists from *massively* different cultures.

 Posted by at 8:29 pm
Feb 082016
 

I suppose they’ll eventually announce that it was actually a poopsicle that fell off a jetliner, but the initial claim is that a space rock killed a guy in India:

One dead after ‘meteorite’ crashes to earth in college gardens

If this is verified, it’s an exceedingly rare thing. I can’t think of another incident of a human dying due to a space rock; people undoubtedly died at Tunguska, though it was so remote that no good records of such deaths were made.

 Posted by at 7:56 pm