On This Day in 1951

Remington Rand sells the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau. 5,200 vacuum tubes, weighed 29,000 lbs (13 metric tons), consumed 125 kW in electric. The 'Geek Squad' used shopping carts filled with vacuum tubes to keep the thing running back in the day.

Pink Martini

I had the pleasure of seeing Pink Martini last night at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville. A great show by a very talented combo.

The Thorium Dream

A Burger, and Order of Fries, and Your Credit Card Number

There are 'hactivists' out there conducting high-profile cyber-attacks on servers used by retailers and restaurant franchises. The weak link is all about weak passwords. May be a good idea to not use bank cards tied to your checking and/or savings account when paying for dinner or snacks.

The Cost of Fear: The Framing of a Fukushima Report

Here is a good analysis of the Fukushima disaster one year later by NPR science correspondent Richard Harris.

The New iPad Review

Dan Nosowitz and John Mahoney over at Popular Science provide a pretty good early review of how the new iPad stacks up. I think I'm taking the plunge in a month or two. The opinion is that if you have an iPad 2, you might want to hold on and see what Apple produces in the 2013 version.

A Talk by a Cyborg Lawyer with Proprietary Software Connected to Her Heart

Software is now controlling our medical devices, our cars, our financial institutions, our voting machines, our phones, and just about everything else imaginable. This talk is well worth the time. She makes a good case for free and open source software.

3D Printing - The Next $1 Trillion Industry

3D printing has been on the technical radar for a few months and it appears to be gaining some economic traction. Could it change the global factory model? It might.

The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center

From Wired magazine. Well, isn't this comforting? The words to the Who's song "We Won't Get Fooled Again" kept running in my head as I read this. 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.'

A Test Jump from 13 Miles Up

Felix Baumgartner performed a test jump from 13 miles up in preparation for this planned 23 mile jump later this summer. In that big jump, he expects to break the sound barrier on the way down. I wonder how much Red Bull he drinks before a jump?

What's Really Making Us Fat?

It appears it is not only about energy balance of calories in vs calories out. Organic pollutants have a large role. Read this to find out more.

Peter Diamandis at TED

The Linear-No-Threshold Hypothesis: Ethical Travesties

Click here to read the transcript of Margaret N. Maxy, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Engineering, of the University of Texas at Austin discussing the basis of our radiation safety understanding. It's about time.

Outitting Cancer's "Deadly Fog"

Here is a story about progress in the development of a cancer vaccine.

How Apple's Tablet Strategy Parallels Its Unbeatable iPod Success

It appears that Apple, Inc. has again exceeded expectations with the new iPad. If you've been waiting like me, I think this is the version to buy. I like the Kindle but I think the iPad will eventually win out as a consumer favorite for overall functionality and fun.

There are some rumblings in the Dept. of Justice about electronic book price fixing that could be a bump in the road for Apple.