NuRD's Blog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

http://thenextweb.com/2009/08/09/note-friend-boss-fb-bitch-job/

Hilarious!

Wow, this takes some guts. I wonder how many times it took to get this right.

Note: Click the link to view the video

http://gas2.org/2009/08/03/invention-uses-mountain-dew-for-fuel/

For some reason or another, Sheena and I haven’t gotten to take our boat out this season. I like to blame it on finally owning a house, however the truth is that there are multiple reasons for it. Things have finally calmed down enough for us that we decided to start taking the boat out. On Sunday, we brought the boat out from the backyard and spent the day prepping it. Of course, spending the day around the boat gives you the “bug”. Heck, I spent half the day trying to convince Sheena to go out right then and there.

None the less, Monday after work I decided I was going to fool around with the boat. The throttle (they call it a Remote Control) has always been kind of stiff for me. I decided I was going to adjust the brake friction to allow for easy movement. Long story short, after adjusting the brake fiction and putting the unit back together, I noticed the Trim buttons were no longer working (for those that do not know, this allows the prop to move up and down). I proceed to take the unit apart again (there’s really not much to it when adjusting the brake friction), but I wasn’t really seeing what the problem was. I eventually got my father-n-law involved. After taking the whole unit apart, we determined the Trim buttons themselves were fine (multi-meter confirmed this). It looks as if the maybe a fuse was blown. We also noticed that one of the wires had gotten “nicked” when I was putting the unit back together. Once we saw that, we began looking for the fuse box (probably should have done that immediately). Here-in lies the next problem. The boat manual only mentions a single fuse box, which is located under the dash. Checking that fuse/relay box, we found all fuses to be in working condition. The only thing we could figure is that there must be another fuse box located somewhere else. Unfortunately, it was now dark outside and the flashlight wasn’t cutting it, so we decided to call it a night. I took a longgggggggggg time to fall asleep that night, as all I could see in my head was $$$ for repairs. That and the fact that we had already scheduled a trip the following weekend with some friends.

Tuesday, the fuse/relay box was finally found by following the wires from the middle of the boat all way the into the back of the engine compartment…which lead to…wait for it….another FUSE box. Sure enough, the fuse was blown.

So what was the point of my rant? Its like that saying we hear all the time, “If its not broke, don’t fix it”. The problem with that saying is I’m too stubborn to follow its wisdom. Therefore, I’ll only use it when dealing with my boat .

Apple has just released a patch (Iphone firmware 3.0.1) for the SMS vulnerability that was detailed Wednesday at the Black Hat Security conference.

Description: A memory corruption issue exists in the decoding of SMS messages. Receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue through improved error handling. Credit to Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators, and Collin Mulliner of Fraunhofer SIT for reporting this issue.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3754

Its been noted that we have about two weeks until we start seeing these attacks in the wild. Get to upgrading!!!

For the Heroes fan’s out there, here is a teaser trailer for Heroes Season 4 – Redemption, which premiers on September 21st.

Note: Click the title to view the video on my site.

I got a kick out of this. A guy claims he must avoid public places because he is allergic to wifi.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1201896/Allergic-wi-fi-How-electrosmog-leaves-Afterlife-DJ-agony.html?ITO=1490

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but this should be fairly easy to debunk. Radio waves have been in use for a VERY VERY long time with no ill effects. E.g. Radio Stations, TV Stations, walkie talkies, cordless phones and so on. In fact, there are quite a few cordless phones that operate in the same frequency range as wi-fi connections. Hell, even microwaves operate in the 2.4Ghz specture to heat food (although it is not limited to 2.4Ghz). Wi-fi connections use, at most, a MAX of 1 Watt, whereas the typical microwave uses around 700-1200 watts.

I think someone has been hitting the crack pipe regularly…

HELP WANTED
Must be a good typist and be good with a computer.
Successful applicant must be bilingual.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

A short time later a lovely golden retriever dog trotted up to the window, saw the sign and went inside. He looked at the receptionist and wagged his tail, then walked over to the sign, looked at it, whined and pawed the air.

The receptionist called the office manager. He was surprised,to say the least to see a canine applicant. However, the dog looked determined, so he led him into the office.

Inside, the dog jumped up on a chair and stared at the manager expectantly.

The manager said, “I can’t hire you. The sign says you must be able to type.” The dog jumped down, went to the typewriter and proceeded to quickly type a perfect business letter. He took out the page and trotted over to the manager, gave it to him, then jumped back up on the chair.

The manager was stunned, but told the dog, “That was fantastic, but I’m sorry. The sign clearly says that whoever I hire has to be good with a computer.”

The dog jumped down again, went to the computer and proceeded to demonstrate his expertise with various programs, produced a sample spreadsheet and database, then presented them to the manager.

The manager was dumbfounded! He said to the dog, “Hey, I realize that you are a very intelligent applicant and have fantastic talent, but you’re a dog — no way could I hire you.”

The dog jumped down and went to the sign in the window and pointed his paw at the words, “Equal Opportunity Employer.”

The exasperated manager said, “Yes, I know what the damned sign says. But the sign also says you have to be bilingual.”

The dog looked him straight in the eye and said, “Meow.”

For those of you that ready my previous post, here’s an update:

In an ironic twist on Mapua artist Roger Griffiths’ protest withdrawal of his $190,000 savings in $20 notes from Westpac yesterday, the money was today back with Westpac. Mr Griffiths deposited the cash at the Nelson Building Society in Richmond, but because NBS banks with Westpac, it has deposited the money there.

[Source] stuff.co.nz