Chan's Personal Blog - Science / Tech

Table Saw That Won't Cut Fingers

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:43:40 -0800

I came across this clip from Discovery Channel's Time Warp. It's a table saw that will not cut your fingers if you accidentally make contact with the saw blade. Quite remarkable.

American Spy Drone Video Feeds Intercepted

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:03:59 -0800

I was pretty shocked when I saw this article on Pentagon: Insurgents intercepted drone spy videos."

Insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan have intercepted live video feeds from Predator drones, a key weapon in a Pentagon spy system that serves as the military's eyes in the sky for surveillance and intelligence collection.

Though militants could see the video, there is no evidence they were able to jam the electronic signals from the unmanned aerial craft or take control of the vehicles, a senior defense official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence issues.

Obtaining the video feeds can provide insurgents with critical information about what the military may be targeting, including buildings, roads and other facilities.

Shiite fighters in Iraq used off-the-shelf software programs such as SkyGrabber available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet to regularly capture drone video feeds, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The interception, first done there at least a year ago, was possible because the remotely flown planes had unprotected communications links. [...]

The military has known about the vulnerability for more than a decade, but assumed adversaries would not be able to exploit it.

I find this shocking that the military was using unprotected communications to transmit video feeds from drones. That's valuable intelligence information being broadcasted.

I think as the US military depends more and more on unmanned vehicles, the more incentive it will be for enemies to exploit this. Imagine if adversaries could jam control signals to these unmanned vehicles, the vehicles may just crash. An even more troubling problem would be if adversaries could hack into these drones, and take direct control of them. It's worrisome because some of these drones carry weapons.

The Dark Side of E-Waste

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:40:14 -0700

Currently quite bogged down at work, so short blog posts for the next little while. I watched this 20 minute documentary tonight entitled, "Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground" which traces how electronic waste from the West is ending up in developing nations.

Here's the quick synopsis:

When containers of old computers first began arriving in West Africa a few years ago, Ghanaians welcomed what they thought were donations to help bridge the digital divide. But soon exporters learned to exploit the loopholes by labeling junk computers "donations," leaving men like Godson to sort it out.

Godson, one of the e-waste dealers who have set up shop close to the port, shows the contents of the container he has bought.

Some are from Germany and the U.K., and also from America, he says, when asked where the equipment has come from. He sorts through them looking for working electronics that can be sold. He says that maybe 50 percent of the shipment is junk and the rest he will be able to salvage in some way.

After its sorted, a lot of the contents of the container will still be dumped at the burn site outside of town.

Hard drives that can be salvaged are displayed at open-air markets. Off camera, Ghanaians admit that organized criminals sometimes comb through these drives for personal information to use in scams.

It's pretty shocking to watch the environmental/public health damage that is being caused by our tech toys.

Enjoy

Mapping Sin

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:59:00 -0700

Just came across this interesting article on Wired Magazine entitled, "American Vice: Mapping The 7 Deadly Sins." They basically calculate the instances of these sins per capita (eg Lust - Number of STD cases reported per capita) and plot them on a map of America. The results clearly show a huge concentration of sin around Florida, California, and the East Coast, whereas the Midwest has very low rates of sin. Perhaps there is some truth that there are two Americas

Text Messaging While Driving

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:46:16 -0700

As you may know, I generally dislike cellphones. Talking on a cellphone while driving is even more concerning. However, texting while driving takes it to the next level, and I'm disturbed when I see that happening.

In either case, I came across a game simulation from the New York Times that measures how well you multitask while driving and texting. It's called, "Gauging Your Distraction."

Every time I come back to Victoria, I get a little shocked when I see people on their cellphone while driving because this practice has been banned in California. Then, a couple seconds pass, and then I remember that it's legal here.... for now.

Enjoy.

District 9

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:00:00 -0700

This weekend, I went and saw District 9. I have to admit that I went into the movie with fairly high expectations, and even then, the movie exceeded my expectations. Don't worry, no spoilers.

'District 9' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

I think the director did an excellent job of portraying this story as realistically as possible. I'm often skeptical when I see science fiction movies showing humanity suddenly cleaning up its act when it makes first contact with aliens; on the contrary, District 9 shows a very ugly side of humanity. The movie does an excellent job of highlighting some very real problems that humanity still struggles with such as racism, corporate greed, corruption, war, black market trade, trafficking, unaccountable private military, media control, etc.

I also appreciate that the movie didn't require any big name actors to carry the movie. The story is just so immersive and rich that you really don't need big actors. It was reported that this film cost $30 million to produce, and most of that went into the visual effects which were absolutely stunning. This was considered a small budget film especially when you consider Terminator Salvation, and Transformers 2 cost $200 million each. For $30 million, District 9 has a lot of bang for the buck. By the end of the movie, I found extremely satisfied even though they've barely scratched the surface of the story.

I am declaring this the best movie of the summer. Two thumbs up, way up. Definitely go see it in theaters. I'm glad that there are already talks of a sequel.

Yahoo Microsoft Search Deal

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:59:00 -0700

Well, this last week has been an emotional roller coaster at work due to the Yahoo Microsoft deal. I have to say, the night before the deal was announced, I was reading the rumours from various tech websites, and I didn't like what I was seeing. There was obviously some anxiety over how much longer I would be able to stay in Silicon Valley, and whether my job would still be here. The idea of becoming a Microsoft employee wasn't very palatable either.

Day break came, and the deal was announced super early in the morning (4:30am ish?). My immediate reaction was, oh my goodness, the stock price is sinking like a rock. I should have seen it coming though, speculators were piling into the stock, driving the price up to $17/share which wasn't sustainable. When the deal finally came, these people were piling out of the stock. It seems like investors in general didn't like the deal because Yahoo didn't get cash upfront for the deal. I have to admit that the deal is fairly complicated. The next two days, I spend several hours sitting through meetings that explained the deal, and its implications. I understand what the deal entails now, but the merits of the deal were definitely not apparent at first glance.

In either case, I was glad to hear that my job wasn't going to be transferred to Microsoft. I will continue be fighting on the side of Yahoo, and my job should be safe. My team should be unaffected by the deal, so I thank God for that.

Anyway, I'm still digesting this deal, and pondering what the future holds, and what change shall come.

The Battlestar Galactica Orchestra

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:41:50 -0700

I was looking around for the release date of Battlestar Galactica's (BSG) Season 4 soundtrack. I serendipitously stumbled upon a performance by the Battlestar Galactica orchestra which features the music of Bear McCreary, the show's music composer. The clip below is a piece from the Season 3 premier entitled, "A Distant Sadness." I absolutely loved this piece as it perfectly captured the emotion of that amazing season.

You can view the concert in its entirety. The concert also features a world premier of some of the music from Season 4. There's also a performance of "All Along The Watchtowers" with Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) on piano.

If you're thinking, man, this guy still hasn't gotten over the fact that Battlestar Galactica is over, then you're absolutely right. I'm still coming to grips with this stark reality . Thankfully, there is one more installment of Battlestar Galactica, The Plan, which airs in September.

What Galactica Could Have Been

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:44:56 -0700

I was searching on Wikipedia for an episode list for Battlestar Galactica, and I came across something interesting. Apparently at in 1998, Richard Hatch (who plays the character of Apollo in the original series, and Tom Zarek in the new series) tried to revive the Galactica franchise. From Wikipedia:

The original series maintained a cult fandom, which has supported efforts by Glen A. Larson, Richard Hatch, and Bryan Singer (independent of one another) to revive the premise.

Richard Hatch produced a demonstration video in 19981999 which featured several actors from the original series combined with state-of-the-art special effects. This video, titled Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming, was displayed at science fiction conventions, but did not lead to a new series.

In 1999, Wing Commander producer Todd Moyer and original series producer Glen A. Larson revealed plans to produce a motion picture based on the television series.[3][4][5] It would have featured Battlestar Pegasus.

In 2000, the director and an executive producer of the X-Men film, Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto, began developing a Galactica television miniseries with Studios USA for FOX. Intended to air as a backdoor pilot in May 2002, filming was scheduled to begin in November 2001.[6] However, production delays caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks meant Bryan Singer had to drop out, due to his directing commitment on X-Men 2. This led Fox to lose interest in the project.

On 20 February 2009, IGN announced that they had information regarding a proposed revival of the 1970s version of the series as a feature film, with Glen A. Larson as writer and producer.[7] Universal Pictures has denied the rumours.

I actually found the trailer for Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming

[Update] Looks like the trailer got taken down. Here's a lower quality bootleg version.

Compare that with the trailer for Battlestar Galactica (2003):

Lets just say I'm very glad that The Second Coming never did air. If it did, we may have never gotten the current manifestation of Battlestar Galactica. The Second Coming looks really cheesy.

/Tear. Only 3 more episodes until it's all over.

The Illusion Of Competence

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:06:11 -0800

I came across this amusing article in Time Magazine entitled, "Competence: Is Your Boss Faking It?"

Bosses may be an overbearing breed, but more often than not, you've got to admire their business chops. Wouldn't you love to have that same sense of competence and confidence, that ability to assess tough problems and reach smart solutions on the fly? Guess what? So would they. If you have ever suspected that your boss isn't actually good enough at what he or she does to deserve the job in the first place, a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that you might be right. [...]

Social psychologists know that one way to be viewed as a leader in any group is simply to act like one. Speak up, speak well and offer lots of ideas, and before long, people will begin doing what you say. This works well when leaders know what they're talking about, but what if they don't? If someone acts like a boss but thinks like a boob, is that still enough to stay on top?

[Work sessions] were videotaped, and a group of independent observers performed the same evaluations, as did Anderson and Kilduff. All three sets of judges reached the same conclusions. Consistently, the group members who spoke up the most were rated the highest for such qualities as "general intelligence" and "dependable and self-disciplined." The ones who didn't speak as much tended to score higher for less desirable traits, including "conventional and uncreative." [...]

"Dominant individuals behaved in ways that made them appear competent," the researchers write, "above and beyond their actual competence." Troublingly, group members seemed only too willing to follow these underqualified bosses. An overwhelming 94% of the time, the teams used the first answer anyone shouted out often giving only perfunctory consideration to others that were offered.

Lately I've been finding myself with a front-row seat to amateur hour performances, and I cringe when people offer up random bad answers that make no sense. Seems like the more answers you give, the more competent you appear. Kind of funny though. Imagine appearing on Jeopardy and always buzzing in right away, and quickly making up an answer. You'd have a huge negative balance, but people would rate you highly competent right?

Battlestar Galactica: The Face Of The Enemy

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:48:37 -0800

Well, we're less than a week away from the start of the final act of Battlestar Galactica (BSG). The second half of season four is starting on January 16th, and this is where the series will end. Just like after season two, the BSG folks have put out webisodes which take place in between season 4 and season 4.5. It is entitled, "Battlestar Galactica: The Face of The Enemy." Major spoiler alert, if you have not watched season 4 of BSG, you shouldn't watch these webisodes. There are ten episodes which are being slowly released as every couple days. Enjoy.

I am both happy that BSG is starting up again, yet sad that the series is ending.

A Cheap Way To Boost The World's I.Q.

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:37:01 -0800

Sorry for the lack of posts so far this week. I've been pre-occupied with organizing a potluck at work, and I've been doing a lot of cooking. In either case, today's article comes from the New York Times entitled, "Raising the Worlds I.Q."

Travelers to Africa and Asia all have their favorite forms of foreign aid to make a difference. One of mine is a miracle substance that is cheap and actually makes people smarter.

Unfortunately, it has one appalling side effect. No, it doesnt make you sterile, but it is just about the least sexy substance in the world. Indeed, because its so numbingly boring, few people pay attention to it or invest in it. (Or dare write about it!)

Its iodized salt.

Almost one-third of the worlds people dont get enough iodine from food and water. The result in extreme cases is large goiters that swell their necks, or other obvious impairments such as dwarfism or cretinism. But far more common is mental slowness.

When a pregnant woman doesnt have enough iodine in her body, her child may suffer irreversible brain damage and could have an I.Q. that is 10 to 15 points lower than it would otherwise be. An educated guess is that iodine deficiency results in a needless loss of more than 1 billion I.Q. points around the world.

Development geeks rave about the benefits of adding iodine and other micronutrients (such as vitamin A, iron, zinc and folic acid) to diets. The Copenhagen Consensus, which brings together a panel of top global economists to find the most cost-effective solutions to the worlds problems, puts micronutrients at the top of the list of foreign aid spending priorities.

Probably no other technology, the World Bank said of micronutrients, offers as large an opportunity to improve lives ... at such low cost and in such a short time.

Yet the strategy hasnt been fully put in place, partly because micronutrients have zero glamour. There are no starlets embracing iodine. And guess which country has taken the lead in this area by sponsoring the Micronutrient Initiative? Hint: Its earnest and dull, just like micronutrients themselves.

Ta-da Canada!

The article goes on to say that it only costs two to three cents a year per person to give them enough iodized salt. Seems like an extremely cost efficient way to boost brain power across the globe.

Yahoo! SearchMonkey Launch Party

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:06:56 -0800

Yes, I know I'm behind in posting my photos, but my goal is to post all of my 2008 photos before the year is finished. In either case, here's some photos from the Yahoo! SearchMonkey launch party back in May. This is the first launch party that I've attended where it featured a project that I was working on. Enjoy the photos, and I also have included an accompany sound track if you'd like. (I was too lazy to build my own Flash slideshow with music).

For more information, you can check out the Yahoo Search Blog entry entitled, "The Party May Be Over, But the Monkeying Has Just Begun", and as a bonus, they have a photo of me on there as well. For the geeks, you can check out http://developer.yahoo.com/searchmonkey/.

Meteorite Lands In Alberta

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:43:52 -0800

This was all over the news today, a meteorite entered the atmosphere over Albertan airspace, and the video footage is amazing. The entire night sky is lit up by the meteorite.

42

nospam@example.com (CHaN) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:38:00 -0800

Forty-two is how many minutes I spent dealing with technical support today, which is probably forty minutes too long. It all started when my internet connection decided to die three days ago, and it never came back to life. Clearly, there was something wrong with the actual internet wiring, and not some user error on my end. So, before I called tech support, I already knew the root of the problem, and I needed them to send a technician to take a look.

I call up my internet provider today to get my line fixed, and I'm greeted by a glorified voice mail system. The system reads out a bunch of menu items, and I work my way through the hoops. What was annoying was that some the system asks me to actually say out loud some of my options, and the computer has troubles recognizing what I'm actually saying. Five minutes after jumping through automated hoops, I'm routed to a guy named John in India.

John starts with pleasantries and annoying chit chat like how I am doing. Privately, I wanted my internet connection fixed instead of wasting time talking about the weather. He goes through his script and asks what my problem is, what my account number is, etc. This is annoying because I already provided all this information in the automated voice message system before talking to John. I tell him exactly what is wrong, but he insists on going through normal troubleshooting procedure. I play along even though I know a lot of his questions he's asking is not even remotely close to what's wrong. He exhausts all of his questions and transfers me to level 2 tech support. Huzzah, I leveled up.

I'm then routed to a guy named Adam who's based in the US. He asks the same basic questions again, like how many lights do you see on your modem. I insist on telling him, the INTERNET LIGHT IS BLINKING RED, I'M SEEING 100% PACKET LOSS there's something wrong with the line. He gets me to repeat newbie steps like unplugging the modem, and all that stuff. We go through more troubleshooting. Finally he decided to run a line test, and discovers that the internet signal is not even reaching my modem. There appears to be something wrong with the physical connection. We're going to have to promote you to level 3 tech support.

Rinse and repeat, and they conclude that they have to send a technician over to check the internet lines, which is what I told them initially. I was on the phone for 42 minutes before they would dispatch a technician.

I really wish there was a way for people with legitimate computer backgrounds, who know what they're doing, to enter a secret code or something when calling tech support. That code would tell tech support that the customer knows what they're talking about, so skip all the newbie troubleshooting questions, and go straight to solving the problem they present.

Under my secret code initiative, this is how the ideal tech support conversation should go:

Automated Voice System Hello, if you want to hear the following message in English, press 1. If you...
Chan: Punches in 1337
Tech Support: Hello Mr. Chan, your access code has been authenticated, and we see that you're someone skilled with computers, how can I help you?
Chan: Hi, my internet connection has been down for days, and there's something wrong with the physical line as I'm seeing 100% packet loss. Please send a technician to repair the line.
Tech Support: Alright Mr. Chan, we'll have someone over as soon as possible. Have I resolved the issue you were calling about?
Chan: Yes.
Tech Support: Goodbye.
END TRANSMISSION

Elapsed time: 1 minute.