I'm currently looking at a project based on self replicating content. Closest thing out there is Jeremy Rushton's awesome TiddlyWiki, however it seems that PHP can self-write with no problems.

[PHP] Self-overwriting Scripts - GameDev.Net Discussion Forums

Make the electrodes in an ion trap cold and you can stop qubit decoherence.

science, engineering & technology news

New Yorker article on Lee Smolin's visceral attack on string theory.

'The paradoxical situation of string theory ”so much promise, so little fulfillment ”is exactly what you get when a lot of highly trained master craftspeople try to do the work of seers.'

The New Yorker: The Critics: A Critic At Large

This thing written by Brian Donovan a couple of years ago, is very interesting.

Its basically like tinyurl, except that the links are to any point in a web page, regardless of whether there are any (named anchor) links created by the author.

I remember talking about this with Evan a while back.

Brian Donovan's Ahoy

Based on the new version of Wists, in progress - Cribcandy version 2 launches. Enjoy!

Cribcandy 2 point oh!

Study finds that wearing a cycling helmet increases your chance of being hit by a car.

Wearing a long flowing wig provides the greatest protection.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Somerset | Wearing helmets 'more dangerous'

Is the iPod past it?

Apple's iPod was a form factor success - learning from the mistakes of the disastrous Newton they went for the cigarette packet standard rather than try and invent something new.

Lately, however, I've noticed that the Sidekick/PS2/Blackberry are onto something with a genuinely new form factor that will possibly blow away Apple if they stick to the iPod format.

The problem is that Apple can't stick to its own format anyway - the thumbwheel doesn't leave enough room for a large enough video screen - and if it gets replaced by on screen navigation with the device being landscape rather than portrait, it begs the question as to whether that is the same design at all.

In fact any viable full screen video iPod would be half way towards the two-thumb typing Sidekick style format that is now ubiquitous on Japanese and European phones which will hit the US in earnest in a year or so.

So for all the hoo ha about having separate music players from phones and IM, that was just because the interface on phones used to suck when they tried to cram in extra features without a sizeable screen or useable keyboard - it no longer does.

What does suck is the design - Sidekick, Blackberry, Windows driven phones with slide out keyboards - they all leverage the fact that typing with two thumbs on a small keyboard is good enough, but they are all terribly designed at the detail and features level.

Now if Apple did a Sidekick style handheld then the combination of the right style device and elegant design would be perfect - but my guess is that they are probably too complacent because of the iPod's success.

The Observer | UK News | Why the iPod is losing its cool

Friends, Alex, Helen, James and Nancy built a geodesic dome for burning man.

By built, I mean completely from scratch i.e. they fabricated the tube connectors. Now admittedly James is a NASA engineer, but if this had been me the dome would still consist of a bunch of steel rods and a few empty wine bottles.

Flickr: Photos from alexnigg

Google news archive has just launched.

I searched for the most life changing experience I ever had. It was there, and emotional to read. In February 1983, a group of us fell 800 ft while climbing in Wales.

RIP David Solomons and Richard Palmer. I won't forget you.

- Google News Archive Search

Would climate change be a good measure for SETI searches for intelligent life.

It seems that long after the pyramids of Giza have crumbled and the last remnants of our civilizations are swallowed up by the galcial movements of plate tectonics, our single legacy will be our affect on the climate.

If another intelligent species evolves over time - then traces of this would be the most obvious clue that they had intelligent ancestors.

The time difference between us and animals that we evolved from which had similar intelligence to many long extinct species is 2 million years. This is out of a time period of higher life forms several hundred times longer.

We can see our impact on the climate on a scale of about a million years. Can we measure the climate on a scale of hundreds of millions of years? If so, would a sudden spike be as exciting evidence of non-human intelligent life as a radio signal from space, or are we really so special as to necessarily be the pinnacle of all of our forebears?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Deep ice tells long climate story

When my favorite architecture critic, Ian Nairn, drove around America in the 50s, his favorite towns were in Pennsylvania, particularly Pittsburgh, whose post-industrial transformation he would have been proud of.

On our Labor Day excursion to Philadelphia, we explored some towns on the way - particularly Bethlehem, the Moravian town with the legendary steelworks.

Bethlehem, has what suburban America, for the most part, does not - a sense of place. It is a town, once rich, once poor, which is a perfect model for viable, sustainable towns of the future.

The most stunning thing about Bethlehem is the rusted steel cathedral of the disused blast furnaces that dominate the skyline.

Given that Bethlehem, is famous for its Christmas lights, it is surprising that the blast furnaces do not form part of the decoration.

When I worked for set designers Fisher Park, there was a project in the office, to illuminate the steelworks in Duisberg (link below) - a baroque, funfair like celebration of light that would be perfect for Bethlehem.

TrekEarth | The steel mill Photo