ANOTHER NWA Amsterdam/Detroit Flight Requests Emergency Assistance [Terrorism]

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Another flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, bearing the same flight number as the flight that featured the Christmas Day Firecracker pants guy from Nigeria, has been the target of some kind of "bathroom disruption."

The man in this case, also from Nigeria, allegedly locked himself in the bathroom. Our tipster, Mike, asked, what's next, "new bathroom restrictions?" Whatever the case, we can be all but certain there will be no electronics allowed in the bathroom from here on out.

Thankfully, the plane landed safely in Detroit with no injuries, although we imagine that bathroom door is pretty banged up. This developing story will no doubt cast new uncertainties over the debate surrounding our on board electronics. [Huffington Post]



NASA TV – Time For an Upgrade?

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Ground control to NASA TV: liven up, LA Times

"The man in charge of Washington, D.C.-based NASA Television, executive producer Fred Brown, acknowledges that the network is light-years from where it could be if it had the money and a mandate to properly entertain the masses. But that was never the point, he said. The network was launched in the early 1970s strictly to provide "real-time mission coverage" for NASA's own personnel, Brown said. "It wasn't designed as a television channel as most people would think of a television channel," he added. Over the years, its role has grown; it now offers educational programs and serves a public-relations function by keeping the media informed about space-related news."

Q-TV2 Speakers Tuck Stereo Speakers, Subwoofer Behind Your Flat Panel TV [Speakers]

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The sound quality could be dubious, but the design is clever: By squishing the sub and speakers down to a few inches in width, Q Acoustics has managed to hide a complete speaker system behind your flat panel TV.

The rig works with TVs that range between 30- and 42-inches, attaches to an existing frame or can even just chill with your TV on a stand. Available in Europe only for now, it costs a somewhat lofty $500.

My only question is one related to vibration. By placing the subwoofer directly behind the TV and against the wall/frame that supports it, will there be any visible vibration on the screen as you watch Kirk and company blast Nero into subspace? I ask because a similar thing happens to my rearview mirror when I blast my pop music at high decibels in the coche. [Q Acoustic via Red Ferret via DVICE]



When Style Meets Suction: The Escargot Vacuum [Vacuums]

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Vacuuming is functional, and sometimes it's bloody expensive, but rarely would I use the term "fashionable" to describe this weekly chore. And yet, this Toshiba/Electrolux collaboration, inexplicably called the Escargot, exists.

The tiny shoulder slung vacuum is encased in brushed metal, costs a modest $130, and weighs just five pounds. It's somewhat quiet too, says Toshiba, with an output of 65dB.

Still, vacuuming is a solitary, relatively noisy activity that pisses off family pets and annoys me to no end—this coming from a guy with hardwood floors and one rug. Why bother making it pretty? [Toshiba via Wired Gadget Lab]



iToos M6HD PMP Provides 1080i HD Output On the Cheap [PMPs]

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Importers take note: This budget priced PMP doesn't look like much, but she has it where it counts. It being price (about $60-$90) and output (1080i via HDMI).

The 4.3-inch screen supports a 1360x768 resolution, the internal storage checks in a 4GB, and there's room for more memory thanks to memory card slot on the side.

Other goodies include 720p output for a monitor via HDMI out, and an FM radio.

Ed. Note: The device provides 1080i output via HDMI. [PMP Today via Akihabara News via Engadget]



Datamancer at It Again with Steampunk-Inspired Luxury Keyboard [Steampunk]

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Steampunk-inspired PC master modder Datamancer (aka Rich Nagy) is no stranger to Gizmodo, and his latest work, a keyboard called Sojourner, is yet another example of his mastery within the genre.

If you really like steampunk-inspired gear, this can be yours for about $1,200 to $1,500.

The keys have all been artificially distressed to give the impression that this keyboard has "traveled the world in the backpack of an intrepid explorer."

Side view. Note the holes and, yes, more distressing and tarnish.

More keys! Also distressed! Just like your wallet should you try and buy this thing. [Datamancer via Born Rich]



Birding by Ear and Habitat with Paddy Cunningham-Pascatore

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Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
“How does she do that? She’s been doing that all day,” observed a birding festival attendee about Paddy Cunningham-Pascatore’s amazing ability to find birds in the field.
A South Florida naturalist for more than 20 years, Cunningham-Pascatore specializes in helping birders in a non-intimidating field experience.  She is the owner [...]

Wear of Steel Wire Rope?

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Hello, could you please help me?, I am interesting to have information about a guide lines to reject or change a "STEEL WIRE ROPE" 13 mm diametre. Is there any formula to calculate or evaluate the wear to be replaced.

Thanks in advance.

Mysterious Earth’s Core Plume Shifting the Magnetic North Pole [Science]

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The north magnetic pole is moving at 37 miles-a-year toward Russia, which means they're stealing it. Or the Earth's core is fluxing. Actually, nobody really knows what's happening. I just hope it's not a prelude to a catastrophic magnetic shift.

Arnaud Chulliat—geophysicist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris—says that there's a mysterious magnetic plume that is pushing the north pole at an increasing speed. The plume comes from deep in the Earth's core, says Chulliat, which is believed to be made of iron, with molten rock spinning around like a dynamo. This is what creates Earth's magnetic field. I have to admit that these theories sound a lot more logic that my theory of a malfunction in the giant sphere that powers our home planet—the one full of gargantuan unobtanium-powered machines created by Atlantis' scientists in 20,000BC—but whatever.

Meanwhile, regular scientists have evidence that the Earth's magnetic field flips every 300,000 years. The problem here is that 780,000 years have passed since the last polarity change, which means that a new shift could be imminent. There's proof that the field's strength is falling down at a very fast rate over the last two hundred years, a fact that has lead some experts to believe it could disappear completely over the next 1,000 years before it flips. Other boffins believe that this is just a fluctuation in the field.

If the first theory finally happens, the whole process will have catastrophic consequences to human civilization and nature. Without a magnetic field, nothing will protect us against space radiation. The weather will go completely gaga, and the Sun will fry all our communications and navigation services, not to talk about all of us. At the same time, countless migrational species will get lost, affecting food chains and causing mayhem through the entire planet.

Fun, huh? But fret not, my dear Earthlings, as this may not be related to the acceleration of the pole movement. We only know two things for sure: First, the magnetic north pole has been moving since it was first recorded. Around 1904 it was moving northeastward at 9 miles a year, accelerating in 1989 until it reached its current 34 to 37 miles a year speed in 2007. Chulliat says that it's difficult to forecast when the pole will arrive to Russia, if it finally does. Second, they need to adjust the maps orientation.

Whatever the case is, this is yet another reminder that life may be even shorter than it already is, so stop surfing the web now, go out, and enjoy it. [National Geographic]



calling all engineer's

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This is a Call to arms we need the best minds more now then any other time in our history, The United States has cured more ills, invented more inventions, has more advanced technology, has advanced more human rights, then any other country. has also destroyed more things then any other country. We

Brodmann Blades Ping Pong Paddle Puts the Game In the Palm of Your Hand [Ping Pong]

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Can you believe it? Ping Pong paddle gloves! The game, it has changed!

Now, granted, I haven't actually slipped my hand into one of these potentially revolutionary paddles, but the design alone had me salivating this morning and that has to mean something, right?

The $100 set includes the two paddles, four balls, terrycloth wristbands and a carrying case. The designer claims the more intimate palm-to-ball feel will result in a faster game with more spin and better control.

No idea if that's true or not, but I can guarantee using these paddles will result in a completely different game of table tennis. Question now is whether or not the International Table Tennis Federation takes notice. [Broadmann via Uncrate]



Changes in French Polynesia

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I’m currently updating my guidebook Moon Tahiti for publication late next year. A surprising number of Papeete hotels have closed, and the declining dollar, rising prices, and the credit card blues have made packaged tourists from the United States an endangered species in French Polynesia.

pound # vs PSI (UOM)

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Actually I can not differentiate between # pound unit of measurment and PSI unit. when we shall use the pound and when we shall use the PSI.

Suppose 3000 psi =?#(pound)

Thanks a lot for your help.

Wiring Diagrams for USB Cables?

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I'm trying to rewire a mouse cable into a mouse. Cable colors are tan, blue, white and green. I understand from web search the white is likely -Data, green is +data but don't know blue and tan choices for "V" and "G" on the mouse pcb. Can you help?

Electronics May Still Be OK for U.S. and U.S.-to-U.K Air Travel [Rumor Smash]

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When crazy stuff happens on airplanes, as it did on Christmas, you can rest assured security will tighten and terrifying electronics restrictions will fall into place. But in this latest case, our electronics? They may still be "safe."

I bring that up because there was apparently this nasty rumor going around that all electronics would soon be banned on all British Airways and Virgina Atlantic flights once these inevitable "new security measures" went live. And could you imagine? A trans-Atlantic flight without laptop movies, MP3 jams and podcasts, and positively no covert airplane mode smartphone adult content? Hell in an aluminum tube, says I.

But it's apparently not true, for now. Both airways said electronics are still GO, even as some previouslt reported "unpredictable" security measures go into place over the next few days.

American carriers, like Continental, United and AA, have also not changed their security measures in the wake of the attempted Xmas Day terrorist attack—yet—so getting home from your relatives this week could still be moderately bearable, as far as air travel goes anyway. [Pocket Lint]



Happy Holidays to You, Dear Weird Dude and Your Sex Fembot [Robots]

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Remember Aiko, the fembot created by amateur inventor Le Trung? Well, apparently she and his boyfriend/creator spent Christmas with his family, and he even got her presents. He claims that she's exactly like a real woman. Seriously, Le? Let's review:

"Aiko can recognise faces and says hello to anyone she has met."

OK. Sounds good enough.

"She helps me pick what to have for dinner and knows what drinks I like."

Hmmhmm.

"Like a real female she will react to being touched in certain ways."

Right.

"If you grab or squeeze too hard she will try to slap you."

Correct.

"She has all senses except for smell."

Fine. That can be convenient at times.

"[Walking] is the most difficult thing for any inventor to do. The problem is finding a way for Aiko to walk that looks human-like without impacting on any of her other abilities. I have spent the last six months taking her apart and trying out lots of different systems, but I haven't been able to get it right yet."

Ooooooook. So she doesn't walk and you can take her apart to rebuild her.

"But Aiko is always helpful and never complains. She is the perfect woman to have around at Christmas."

Come on, Le, you had me until you said that. That's not very realistic. But then again, whatever rocks your world, dude. If you are happy, Aiko is happy, and we are all happy. Just don't have another heart attack while working on her, like you had two years ago.

I wish the New Year brings you both happiness and no tight white jackets. [Daily Mail]