Fresnel Lenses - solar-powered destruction for fun and profit!

Slashdot has a story on someone who has taken a Fresnel Lens and used it to have way too much fun.

Remember growing up seeing all those cool things in the Edmund Scientific ads? Well, these people have taken one of those items, a lens similar to the type used in lighthouses, to try to burn or melt anything and everything. I mean, what boy in their misspent youth hasn't had fun blowing up model cars with firecrackers or frying bugs with a magnifying glass? These guys have burned and melted coins, pop cans, chalk and more!

The story is a fun read and reminds me of the many 'physics experiments' I performed as a kid. It's funny that most boys at some point or another feel the need to learn about the world around them by blowing stuff up... ;-)

IBM to SCO - 'put up or shut up'

Techworld.com is reporting that IBM has filed new documents in the SCO vs. Linux case asking the judge to throw out a major component of their lawsuit.

For those who have been following, SCO has been threatening legal action against anyone remotely related to the Linux operating system, including *end users*, claiming they own the rights to Linux. They are also demanding up to $900 per copy for the right to use the product. Linux is developed by a large group of volunteers and can be easy found and downloaded online, *for free* in many cases.

Late last year SCO took the two deepest pockets involved with Linux to court - IBM and Red Hat. Today, IBM has asked to court to drop a major part of SCO's case, claiming that they have nowhere near the evidence needed to support their claims in court.

Now, I don't know about y'all, but if there's one company I wouldn't want to piss off, it's IBM. They normally play fair until someone tries to get cute and sue. IBM has been known to *air drop* lawyers with miles-deep patent portfolios on poor saps who have the temerity to take on Big Blue.

Looks like SCO is about to get 0wn3d. I sure as hell wouldn't want to have any of their stock over the next few weeks. A once strong company who originally traded near $100/share, SCO closed today at $4.75.

Couldn't hapen to a nicer company IMHO. Turn out the lights, Darl, the party's over.

More discussion over at Slashdot, but you may want to set your threshold at 2 or higher to avoid the trolls.

Build your own Ghostbusters Proton Pack

If you're an aspiring Ghostbuster (or just have way too much time on your hands) now you can build your own proton pack! This site shows how one man built the ultimate Ghostbuster accessory for use in a Halloween costume.

Wow! Talk about detail. Looks like the 'real' thing. Amazing what you can do with a little plastic and aluminum.

Must be nice to have that much free time... ;-) Found this site via Memepool.

Scamming the eBay scammer

The story starts out like you'd expect - man selling a Powerbook on eBay. Scammer tries to make a side deal outside the auction using a bogus escrow service. Stuff like this happens daily on eBay. Here's where it gets interesting, though.

Victim figures out that the scammer is trying to rip him off. Sets up an elaborate sceme with the help of forum members at Something Awful. Sticks it to the scammer by sending him not a Powerbook but a "P-p-p-powerbook"... and a hefty fee in duty taxes. ;-)

Sometime revenge can be sweet...

A *real* American hero...

With all the depressing news coming out of Iraq, it's encouraging to see that there are still heros in this world. In an article on bob lonsberry dot com (via Fark) we hear about a Marine 1st Lieutenant whose platoon fell under ambush by Iraqi forces. Through his quick thinking and courage he saved the lives of many of those in his fello Marines.

Of course, this is the type of story the networks don't want to cover -- all we hear about anymore are the bad apples. They would have us think that all our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen an Iraq are cut from the same cloth. We need to recognize and focus more on brave souls such as this Marine. Trust me, there are many more American heros where this one came from.

Hello... is this thing on?

Hmmm... it seems that everything disappeared somehow. Oh well -- it was a bit out of date anyway. I'll give it a fresh start and see how it turns out.

UPDATE 10:13 MT - Ok, its back. Seems that if you don't post to blogger for a while, it won't show the outdated posts that have dropped into the archive. Everything's back now.