Journal entries in 'Random Crap I Found On The Internet' for November, 2004

At Xapiens, it's pretty much policy to check out the Internet Storm Center website each day as we get to work, to get a feel for the current "state of the web," so to speak. It's a website manned 24/7 by "handlers", who post entries each day describing the latest worms, viruses, and vulnerabilities making the rounds that day. I've been meaning to post about this enjoyable computer nerd horror story posted by the handler on duty on Halloween.

The Gigapxl Project is misleadingly named. They achieved 1000 megapixels a few years ago - now they're approaching 4000. Essentially, they wanted to see what they could do by using the largest format film available (9x18") with very high end lenses, and then scanning the resulting negative at the highest resolution technologically possible (working with Leica to produce a scanner capable of 5-micron resolution). The resulting images, if printed out at 300dpi, would be 10'x50', about the size of a billboard. They've got some incredible examples on the website showing just how much detail is available. And it's not for the military or for science or anything, just for the hell of it. Ruff ruff ruff[1].

[1] Well how would you spell it?

lol war kthxbye (flash)

Awesome. It seems an ancestor of mine named John McCormack was once sentenced to 6 months of hard labor for stealing a goose. I'm so proud. There's a picture of him available, but it costs £3.50 so I passed.

It's comforting to know that there's people out there who care enough about the subject to actually research it. I've never been satisfied with my knotwork, and have always had to resort to the double knot to keep them from coming untied. After reading this site, I switched to the Fast Ian Knot and now I tie my shoes faster and they no longer come undone. Thanks Ian!

Sorry everybody.

Ahh! BinRock is under attack!

A National Guard fighter pilot makes a mistake almost comical in its incorrectness. If you're going to accidentally strafe the wrong target, may as well make it the most alarming choice possible.

Tim shared this fine map with me.

In this time of despair, Dan of PlanetDan offers us these consoling thoughts.