SETI Upgrades ET Search

The search for little green men will get a boost next week when the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project releases SETI@Home 2.0, an overhaul to its screensaver that scans radio signals from space for signs of alien life.

New Scientist Feature: Tune in, turn off

From the stratospheric IQ of Hawking to the amazing talent of the autistic savant....JAMES CAN TELL YOU the precise time--to the second--without looking at a clock. Jennifer can measure anything to within a fraction of an inch just by glancing at it. And Christopher can speak 24 languages--including a couple of his own devising. Amazing? Definitely. But unusual? Not necessarily. According to a controversial new theory you too can do these things. Or at least you could--if only you could just stop being so clever for a moment.

A brief history of the future

Will we colonise the universe? Are aliens out there? Can computers outsmart us? In a unique interview, Professor Stephen Hawking, who has spent a lifetime applying his formidable intellect to the big questions, gives Nigel Farndale his predictions for the human race

The definitive Top 10 gadget list of all time By Gary Krakow, MSNBC. One man’s opinion of devices that have changed our lives... and the world. Dec. 31 — Here it is. Just what everyone needs. Yet another Y2K, end-of-the-millennium list. But, I feel I’m entitled to do one. Especially since I’ve spent a good amount of time whittling the list of every gadget ever made down to a somewhat manageable Top 10.

News: Lucky2000 Visual Basic Virus Computer Associates International Inc. [NYSE:CA] today warned computer users of yet another virus that's been released into the wild in time for Y2K. The virus has been named "Lucky2000" and it overwrites Visual Basic scripts. Then it redirects the user's browser home page to the Lucky2000 web site in Russia.

News: Privacy Complaint Against Amazon An Internet security expert has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Amazon.com, alleging that its Internet software subsidiary Alexa violates existing privacy laws. The Alexa software keeps track of which sites a consumer visits and searches for similar patterns in those of other shoppers, compiling information in the aggregate to gauge shopping behavior and offering subscribers information on other sites they might like to visit.

Digital Theatre: Disney refuses to step down Rebuffed by operators of the only Imax theater in central Los Angeles, Disney is taking the extraordinary step of building a temporary theater to showcase "Fantasia/2000." The new theater, a steel and fiberglass tent constructed at a cost approaching $4 million, opened on New Year's Day in West Los Angeles, off the 405 Freeway near Howard Hughes Parkway.

Y2K gives some admins a security education The threat of online assaults had IT staffs on guard, but midnight came and went without any serious security problems cropping up, according to experts monitoring systems.

Prank or Profit? Web Name Auctioned Off for $10 Mln -- Peter de Jager was called a lot of things over the last six years while evagelizing about the dangers of the "millennium bug", many of them only four letters and not to nice. If this deal, auctioning off the domain name year2000.com, goes through he'll be called another four letter word -- RICH.

Ancient Writing Links China and MesoamericaMany symbols from Mesoamerica's Olmec culture resemble Shang dynasty characters. This may be evidence of an encounter between the two peoples.

The Chinese may have arrived in the New World more than 3,000 years ago, argues Professor Mike Xu, who has spent the past five years studying similarities between Chinese characters and symbols from an ancient Mesoamerican culture known as the Olmec. The symbols for Temple; Building, Mound; Grave; Hillock, and Container are among those that are uncannily similar between the two cultures.

The 1999 Darwin Awards

In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards celebrate evolution in action by commemorating the remains of individuals who most contributed to the improvement of our gene pool. Winners minimized their own genetic contribution by suffering idiotic and fatal misadventures, thereby dousing our gene pool with chlorine.

Microworlds - Exploring the Structure of Materials MicroWorlds is an interactive tour of current research in the materials sciences at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source. It's intended for science education in grades 9-12. Read about the Advanced Light Source, an X-ray machine the size of a soccer field!

Virtual Friends from Haptek are really interesting - the next step beyond animated web greeting cards. They feature three D talking heads. A small download for your browser is all that's required.

kdem is a program for displaying United States Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in the KDE.

From TBTF

What comes after 99? In New Zealand, the Aukland International Airport's Web site posted a news flash after local midnight to assure everyone that the airport was open and operating normally. It is timestamped 02:58 1 Jan 100. (In case they fix it soon and you miss it, see this mirror TBTF captured.)

Hubat: The Automatic Directory Builder is now in beta test. It's organised much like Yahoo and other human intensive directories but is created and maintained automatically by software. Check it out.

DaveNet: As time goes by

Simple. A most excellent New Year wish from Dave Winer.

Recipe Finder -- Looking for that "just right" recipe for your millennium celebration. You just might find it here.

A List of Internet Accessible Machines maintained by Bennet Yee at University of Calif. San Diego. Some of the links seem to be dead and some are very slow but there's still some interesting stuff here. It's mostly webcams but there are links to robots, coke machines, model railroads and many other internet accessible devices.

ADS launches receiver small enough for human implant. "The integration of humans and computers has moved on with Applied Digital Solutions (ADS) transceiver that is small enough to be implanted into the human body." Maybe I shouldn't have watched "Enemy of The State" but I don't think this "tracker" is such a good idea. They call it a "digital angel". I can think of other less complimentary things to call it. Here are some more contrarian views on this technology.

Fezbox is a site that allows you to make custom install disks for Redhat 6.0 so all you have to do is just pop the boot disk in, kick back and it will install everything for you. I haven't tried this yet, but I expect to soon.

Science News of the Year, Science News Online. There are some interesting picks here. The main drawback is that not all of the articles are available online. Oh well, there's always the brick-and-mortar library &;^)

Trying to E-Right a Wrong Many book editors have become agents, but Richard Curtis will become the first agent who not only represents authors, but also publishes their out-of-print titles online. E-Rights.com will revive out-of-print books in electronic form. Its sister site, E-Reads.com, will be a consumer destination for these titles.

The Advertising Graveyard: Real Ads That Almost Ran There's some interesting stuff here. Some of these ads look pretty good. Then again, some of them... look for yourself.

Santa's Workshop - HUMOR - Variations on Twas the Night Before Christmas

Variations on "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop, The computers were whirring; they never do stop. The power was on and the temperature right, In hopes that the input would feed back that night. The system was ready, the program was coded, And memory drums had been carefully loaded; While adding a Christmasy glow to the scene, The lights on the console, flashed red, white and green. When out in the hall there arose such a clatter, The programmer ran to see what was the matter. Away to the hallway he flew like a flash, Forgetting his key in his curious dash. He stood in the hallway and looked all about, When the door slammed behind him, and he was locked out. Then, in the computer room what should appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer; And a little old man, who with scarcely a pause, Chuckled: "My name is Santa...the last name is Claus." The computer was startled, confused by the name, Then it buzzed as it heard the old fellow exclaim: "This is Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, And Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen." With all these odd names, it was puzzled anew; It hummed and it clanked, and a main circuit blew. It searched in its memory core, trying to "think"; Then the multi-line printer went out on the blink. Unable to do its electronic job, It said in a voice that was almost a sob: "Your eyes - how they twinkle - your dimples so merry, Your cheeks so like roses, your nose like a cherry, Your smile - all these things, I've been programmed to know, And at data-recall, I am more than so-so; But your name and your address (computers can't lie), Are things that I just cannot identify. You've a jolly old face and a little round belly, That shakes when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly; My scanners can see you, but still I insist, Since you're not in my program, you cannot exist!" Old Santa just chuckled a merry "ho, ho", And sat down to type out a quick word or so. The keyboard clack-clattered, its sound sharp and clean, As Santa fed this "data" to the machine: "Kids everywhere know me; I come every year; The presents I bring add to everyone's cheer; But you won't get anything - that's plain to see; Too bad your programmers forgot about me." Then he faced the machine and said with a shrug, "Merry Christmas to All," as he pulled out its plug! (author unknown)

Linux, Melissa, hackers, the trial, and all that money The top ten technology stories of 1999 - according to MSNBC.

Java Stuff News from the world of Java.A new "Manila" site dedicated to all things Java.

Why do we say, I do? TIES THAT BIND ... Traditionally, men and women view marriage differently. Women gain security. Men lose freedom.