Satellite to be junked because lunar flyby is patented

A satellite is being abandoned in orbit because its position can't be corrected without violating a Boeing patent on lunar flyby:

The AMC-14 commercial geostationary satellite was launched in March by a Proton launch vehicle into space just short of its minimum geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)...

However, SpaceDaily has now learned that a plan to salvage AMC-14 was abandoned a week ago when SES gave up in the face of patent issues relating to the lunar flyby process used to bring wayward GEO birds back to GEO Earth orbit.

Sources have told SpaceDaily that it was possible to bring AMC-14 back via the moon to a stable GEO orbit where the high powered satellite would have been able to operate for at four years and probably longer.

Industry sources have told SpaceDaily that the patent is regarded as legally "trite", as basic physics has been rebranded as a "process", and that the patent wouldn't stand up to any significant level of court scrutiny and was only registered at the time because "the patent office was incompetent when it came to space matters".

Link (via /.)

(Image: Patents are only for the old machine, a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike licensed image from Adulau's Flickr stream)

Alien intro to Earth culture movie mixed from old public-domain industrial films

Stefan sez,

The Prelinger Archives is an incredible collection of old films, many of them accessible via its website.

In addition to old industrial films, quaint hygiene lessons for teenagers, and jaw-dropping things like footage of pre-1906 quake San Francisco, the site now features contributed mashups.

I particularly like "Planet Earth: Our Response," a dreamy mix of archive footage (assembled to look like an introduction to Earth culture) and shots of a guy mucking around with an alien probe.

Link

All-mechanical "digital" watch

De Grisogono Meccanico DG is an all-mechanical "digital" watch that uses a wind-up mechanism to rearrange the "pixels" on its face to update the time. Only 177 will be made, which lets me out, but it doesn't stop me from drooling. Link (Thanks, Dan!)

Have Y'all Not Been Drooling In The Boutique Today?!

I was at work....thought I'd come home to find all sorts of posts about the new stuff there.
lol
I love and have in my bag the 4x6 Dear Mom. Will use it for my Mom's Mother's Day card (for starters.)

Erica's Bouncing Baby Boy collection is soooo adorable!!!! When I have more funds, I'll be getting that.

Trish's Movie Manie collection looks fun.

Syndee's Borderline Templates look great. I love the layout's with them.

There's more than that in the What's New section.

And Erica's monthly club set is sooooo gorgeous! So glad I'm a clubber!!!!

Happy 107th birthday to my grandmother!

Please indulge me. How often does someone get to wish their grandmother a happy 107th birthday?

(Here's a photo of my grandfather, who passed away at age 75 or so).

I'm curious -- how many Boing Boing readers have relatives 107 or older?

May Swap Crop

It's May already! Can you believe it? Summer is right around the corner, believe it or not! With the new month comes the next Swap Crop! The theme for May is Beauty. Anything that is beautiful to you will work for this swap! Some ideas are waterfalls, flowers, sunsets, people, artwork; you get the idea. There are so many possibilities with this topic; it may be hard to narrow it down!

Here's how it works. Anyone who wants to participate, send an email to swapcrop@gmail.com. Include your first name, screen name, email address and any previous swap crop partners. You have until May 7th to sign up.

On May 8th, I will pair everyone up and notify everyone who their partner is. Then, contact your partner, and send them your photos and journaling. If you haven't heard from your partner, or received their photos by May 16th, let me know and I will find you a new partner. Once you have your partner's photos and journaling, create a layout for your partner, showcasing their photos! Only one layout is required, but if you want to do more, feel free. Things do come up, so if you can't complete a layout for your partner, please let me know, ASAP!

On May 30th (try to wait until then to show your partner their layout, but if you just can't wait, that's ok, too!), we can begin loading the layouts in the Swap Crop Gallery and have a chat to celebrate (time TBA). You can still participate even if you can't attend the chat. After the chat, don't forget to send a high resolution copy of the layout to your partner, either through email or yousendit.com (it's free!).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! You can post it in this thread, PM me, or email me at the address above. The best part of a swap crop is making a new friend, creating a layout for a fellow Scrap Girl, and receiving one in return! Let the fun begin!

Payday update

Well, I've posted my April update, and with today as the first payday of a three-pay month, I've also updated my progress bars and NCN Network chart.

I've crossed another milestone with today's payment against my revolving debt: I have now paid off more than 25% of the $27,610.94 that I started with a year ago. 26.11% of my revolving debt has now been paid off. That's a big portion of the debt, but it's also a little discouraging when put in the context of my stated goal of an April 2009 payoff deadline. It's looking like this debt will be with me longer than I had hoped when I set that goal.

That's something I can live with, though, because of the progress that I continue to make on an ongoing basis. I have a cushion of savings ($1,333.02 in the form of a no-strings-attached Emergency Fund, and more money socked away for planned spending like car repairs, taxes and licence renewals). I've paid off $7,210.51 in revolving debt, and our mortgage and student loans are also on the way down. I'm definitely moving forward; I just thought the destination would turn out to be a little closer.

Movie Plot Threat contest -- scare us into buying!

Bruce Schneier's launched his annual "Movie Plot Threat Contest," in which he challenges his readers to come up with ridiculous threat-scenarios (think of blowing up an airplane armed with nothing but some optimistic misapprehensions about organic chemistry, Tang, and hydrogen peroxide). A condition of the competition is that your weird-ass threat has to be preventable by means of a snake-oil security product that you want to sell us (bonus points if deploying your product makes our lives hell -- shoe-removing, liquid-confiscating indiginities!).

There's a ton of great entries already -- I like this one, from R. Serrano:

PROTECT your family!, SERVE your country!

Would you LIKE some terrorist bombing your son's school with YOUR VERY OWN just stolen and filled with EXPLOSIVES car?

Don't let this happen with CURARE SHOTS! An easy to mount hypodermic syringe hidden beneath the seat of your car prevents burglars, thieves and TERRORISTS to MISUSE your car in ways YOU COULD NEVER IMAGINE by literally stopping them on the seat of your car while a wireless silent alarm* warns the closest police station and a text message is sent to your cell phone**.

PROTECT your family AND SERVE your country well with CURARE SHOTS.

* Alarm sold separately.
** Text message service only available with selected providers.

Link (Thanks, Bruce!)

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund pre-ComicCon events in NYC next week

JahFurry sez,

CBLDF Presents New York Comics Week!

Next week the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund celebrates comics in New York City with a week of events leading up to the New York Comic Con!

Tuesday, April 15.
CBLDF's DRINK & DRAW! Tax Day is Over! Now drink up with NYC's best cartoonists and party for a good cause! Featuring Jeffrey Brown, Molly Crabapple, David Finch, Dan Goldman, Dean Haspiel, Alex Maleev, Paul Maybury, and dozens of NY's Finest Cartoonists. Sponsored by ComicSpace.com and Image Comics, premiering Paul Maybury's graphic novel AQUA LEUNG. Additional support provided by ACT-I-VATE, The Daily Crosshatch, SMITH Magazine & JahFurry
7:00 to 11:00 PM at Village Pourhouse
64 3rd Avenue at 11th St, Drink Specials all night!, $5 Suggested Donation; $20 for VIP Schwag Bag

Wednesday, April 16.
RASL Premiere Party! Come meet Jeff Smith in person at his only New York City appearance of the season, enjoy an open bar, and get a takeaway bag of tons of exclusive RASL goodies. Only 100 general admission tickets and 26 VIP tickets are available so get your ticket now!
8:00 to 11:00 PM at Coolture Spain, 409 W 39th St (between 9th and 10th),

Friday, April 18.
An Evening With Neil Gaiman! Experience the magic of Neil Gaiman at an exclusive reading to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Gaiman presents the reading at New York Comic-Con! Seating is limited and going fast.

I'm a proud donor to the CBLDF and I only wish I could make some of these boss events. Link (Thanks, JahFurry!)

Penn and Teller make thousands of bees appear out of "nothing"

Scott sez, "This is a video of Penn and Teller subverting the old 'pull an animal out of the hat' trick by instead producing thousands of bees, including hundreds while ripping apart a stuffed rabbit--take that, kids! I thought of this after seeing the urban beekeeper post. If you want to see loads of bees stinging Penn and Teller, you won't be disappointed." Link (Thanks, Scott!)

Home movie of contest-winning family vacation to Disneyland in 1956

Dan "Ride Theory" Howland sends in a link to a stupendous Internet Archive video entitled "Disneyland Dream," noting: "This would be interesting if it were merely a 1956 home movie of Disneyland, but it becomes great when the skinny, dorky, goofy dad (think Dennis the Menace's pop) not only documents the actual trip, but shows us how they got there -- by winning a Scotch Tape vacation contest. Highlights: the family's matching 1950's 'Wild West' fringe jackets with their names stitched between the shoulders, and the kids repeated insistence they have to change hats to enter different parts of the park."

Every second of this footage is pure gold, from the cornball jokes, the lingering shots of the "tickertape parade" the suburban Connecticut neighbors throw as the family gets into their gigantic land-yacht to drive to the airstrip, the runway footage from Idlewild, and the trips around Pasadena, Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios in 1956. The humor is pure "dad" -- loving and corny and just right.

In July 1956, the five-member Barstow family of Wethersfield, Connecticut, won a free trip to newly-opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in a nationwide contest. This 30-minute amateur documentary film tells the fabulous story of their fun-filled, dream-come-true, family travel adventure, filmed on the scene at Walt Disney's "Magic Kingdom" by Robbins Barstow.

Link (Thanks, Dan!)

Steampunk Star Wars modded action figures -- woah!

Sillof (he of the badass Justice League of America steampunk action figure mods) has just unveiled his latest: a deeply awesome range of steampunk Star Wars action figures. Link (Thanks, Sillof!)

Hello Kitty sander

The folks at Sanrio have achieved total Hello Kitty liftoff with this Hello Kitty Sander (unless it's a joke or a bootleg, in which case, it's time for Sanrio to copy the pirates and get into production). I don't have anything that needs sanding and I still want one.

Before the words were even completely out of my mouth, I knew I had guaranteed new depths of Hello Kitty Hell upon myself. Not only will my wife be looking for a Hello Kitty power sander, I'm sure I will also end up with a Hello Kitty tool set and Hello Kitty tool belt. My only hope is that I also receive a Hello Kitty nail gun (most likely with Hello Kitty nails included) that I can use to shoot nails into my head and put me out of my misery. It's only a matter of time before they end up on our doorstep and Hello Kitty Hell takes on deeper and darker dimensions…

Link (via Make)

Update:: it's a racing power-tool! It comes from Global Cat-astrophe's Flickr stream. Well spotted, Meerkat!

Why I'm Leery of Monster

Wayne Mulligan submits:

Yesterday on TickerHound.com, a member asked: "What do you think about Monster.com?".

Read more »

Asian shares rise, dlr stays near lows on euro

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose 2 percent on Thursday, buoyed by confidence on Wall Street after reassuring earnings eclipsed weak data on the U.S. economy which pinned

Posted in The latest world news, facts and informations -... ( 0 links from 0 sites) by HotInfos

Hello Kitty sander

The folks at Sanrio have achieved total Hello Kitty liftoff with this Hello Kitty Sander (unless it's a joke or a bootleg, in which case, it's time for Sanrio to copy the pirates and get into production). I don't have anything that needs sanding and I still want one.

Before the words were even completely out of my mouth, I knew I had guaranteed new depths of Hello Kitty Hell upon myself. Not only will my wife be looking for a Hello Kitty power sander, I'm sure I will also end up with a Hello Kitty tool set and Hello Kitty tool belt. My only hope is that I also receive a Hello Kitty nail gun (most likely with Hello Kitty nails included) that I can use to shoot nails into my head and put me out of my misery. It's only a matter of time before they end up on our doorstep and Hello Kitty Hell takes on deeper and darker dimensions…

Link (via Make)

Update:: it's a racing power-tool! It comes from Global Cat-astrophe's Flickr stream. Well spotted, Meerkat!

Singapore Video

See post to watch Flash video (Watch it in 640 x 480 via overlay) Alright! Here's the video recap for my 2 days in Singapore ... s saying that Singapore has such a tendency to incorporate their cultures, that authentic dishes are hard to come by in spite of living among genuine ingredients and people. Singapore has a tendency

Posted in Rocking in Hakata ( 53 links from 15 sites) by DeasR

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