A computer virus that normally snags passwords from World of Warcraft and other MMOs has, apparently, made it into space.
The virus W32.Gammima.AG worm has spread to more than one laptop aboard the International Space Station, but NASA describes the virus as a mere "nuisance." But, c'mon... we've all seen this movie. It ends in flames and a global computer Overlord ruling us from an ISS that's been converted into an orbital compu-palace.
Right?
At any rate, folks are speculating that the virus got aboard either via a thumb drive or on-board intranet - but I think the real story is a man-made digital "life form" managing to get itself successfully off-planet. The Singularity is near.
Space Station laptops catch "nuisance" virus [Engadget]
The annual Perseid meteor shower is upon us, and Monday and Tuesday will bring the peak of observable activity, with spectators in rural areas able to spot up to 60 meteors per hour.
The peak of the perennial shower should arrive at around 7am EDT, giving the still-dark western states the best view of the cosmic collisions. I'm still expecting to stay up until about 4:30am here in NYC to see what I can see, although I don't expect the city's light pollution to let me see much. I saw a few streaks last week when I was far from the city, but I've always managed to miss the shower's peak.
That peak should really pop tonight when the moon sets, setting the stage for a few hours of uninterrupted star-gazing. Make a wish for Homotron, readers!
Western U.S. to Have Best Glimpse of Next Week's Perseid Meteor Shower [FOX]
Oh, NASA, you've had your good times and bad times, heroes and potential spoilers. You've taken us to the moon and you've built space stations for us to play on. You have sent probes all over the universe, and even discovered water on Mars! Hell, they even brought us Astroglide... what do you mean, that wasn't NASA? It has Astro right in the name! Next your going to tell me Gun Oil wasn't really made by real soldiers... so naïve!
Somehow, we here at Homotron managed to miss NASA's 50th birthday yesterday, and we're terribly sorry. Please forgive us! I'm still game for your gay sex in space experiment... oh, that wasn't a specifically gay sex experiment? And it's not so much an experiment, just a "conversation?" Oh, well, whatever.
Sadly, the future of NASA is still kind of up in the air. Many people think of NASA as a Cold War Era thing, but all the advancements that we've made in science and tech have a lot of tribute to pay to NASA. So here's to another 50 years, NASA!
Well, here we have it. Dr. Edgar Mitchell letting us all know that aliens are for real, real, not for play, play. So... one of the men that landed on the moon (the same moon landing some people pretend didn't happen) claims that aliens have visited us and UFO sightings are mostly legit (the same UFO's some government officials pretend didn't happen).
Oh, man, why can't anyone just tell us what's really going on here!?
[via: Geekologie]
Created for a prototype competition celebrating Timex's 150th anniversary, this Nail Watch may be the future of digital time-telling.
Right now it's called the TX54, which is an utterly craptacular name. I'd like it be to called The Gouger. Anyway.
The Gouger Nail Watch would be disposable, available in multiple colors, and activated by clicking the tip of the fingernail. But like the fake nails you wear to funerals, The Gouger Nail Watch would probably pop off with any sort of pressure or when, true to its name, you try gouging someone's eyeballs out.
I hate watches. I can't wear them. My OCD forbids one arm to be heavier than the other. But if I can pop one of these suckers on my thumbnail, I totally would. What would the price be? $15 for a set of two? $100 for a Family Variety Pack?
I'd also like to see a holographic digital projection of the time accessible by tapping your right temple like Cyclops from the X-Men. How cool would that be?
Nail watch: The future of telling time? [Crave]
If you didn't hear the announcement last week, Virgin Mobile and Helio have plans to get hitched, which left some people a bit confused, even though we kinda expected it. You see, Helio is known for their ultra-techy phones like the Ocean (love it!) and extensive data plans (at least by the meager few who use Helio), and Virgin Mobile as a popular prepaid phone service. One catered to the high-end tech enthusiast, and the other catered toward the low-end pre-teen, so… there's been some confusion on the whys and what-fors.
Today, Virgin and Helio made a few of their ideas public. The Helio name will be going away, but the service will stay. It appears that Virgin will be migrating it's stuff more toward the Helio platform, not the other way around, and Virgin has plans to offer Helio's service for cheaper than Helio currently offers it themselves. They also plan on keeping Helio's phone selection around and have plans to offer them to more people.
When I heard the announcement, I though it made sense, aside from the drastic difference in customer base. All the carriers have prepaid versions of their service out there now, and many times prepaid customers turn into contract customers (I think prepaid is an excellent way to test out a network before jumping all in to a contract). But Helio and Virgin each only had one piece of that puzzle, so this helps solve that problem. The techy, data heavy phones will also appeal to the prepaid pre-teens that love texting and Facebook, as well as sharing videos with each other, assuming it can translate to a prepaid option. Both companies operate off of the Sprint/Nextel network as well, so that makes the transition that much easier.
While turning the Ocean and other Helio phones into prepaid options hasn't been expressly stated yet, I'm thinking that would be a smart direction to go. The Ocean was raved about by almost every reviewer that touched it, but many people stayed away, even after it dropped to $200 for the phone and just $99/month unlimited everything. We'll have to wait and see on this one. Hopefully, Virgin can turn things around for Helio.
Like many a space geek out there, I follow the Mars Phoenix Lander's Twitter feed for up to the minute info on what nifty things we're discovering on Mars, and imagine my joy at getting this little gem of a tweet last night:
Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!
That's right folks, the Mars Phoenix Lander just said "w00t."
I <3 NASA.
The important part of that, of course, is that we found up close and personal proof of H20 ice on Mars, an incredibly important find if we're to establish a Mars base in the future.
Further information on this great discovery can be found over at the Phoenix Mars Lander's site:
Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it.
"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."
For those questioning if it might be C02 ice instead of H20 ice, the Phoenix Lander answered that via tweet as well:
CO2 vs. H20 ice: Temp too high and pressure too low for CO2 ice. Sci team explains at 10a PDT/1p EDT live audio here: www.nasa.gov/newsaudio
Keep up the great work, NASA!
Bright Chunks at Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice [NASA]
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Promises 600MB/sec transfer speeds. /Drool.
