Ridley Scott and Damon Lindelof today unveiled the first full trailer for the highly anticipated “Alien prequel” Prometheus.
Synopsis:
In the distant future, two superpowers control Earth and fight each other for all the solar system’s natural resources. When one side dispatches a team to a distant planet to terraform it for human colonization, the team discovers an indigenous race of bio-mechanoid killers.
Ridley Scott, director of ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner,’ returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Bill Stebbins tells of his experience as a customer:
I recently purchased a new PC from one of the major computer manufacturers. I placed my order via the web but asked for them to call me for my credit card information.
So, after a couple days of phone tag, I got in touch with the saleswoman handling my account. I was thinking I’d just give her my credit card number and be on my way.
Almost.
Saleswoman: “Do you realize that the modem you’ve chosen doesn’t have sound support?”
Customer: “What exactly does a ‘modem with no sound support’ mean?”
Saleswoman: “It means that if you go to a web page that has a movie or sound file, you won’t be able to hear it.”
Customer: “What does the modem have to do with that?”
Saleswoman: “Well, sir, the modem is what connects your computer to the Internet.”
Customer: “So, you’re telling me that this particular modem scans the TCP/IP packets passing through it for those belonging to any sound application and filters them out?”
Saleswoman: “Yes.”
Customer: “How does it accomplish this feat?”
Saleswoman: “I’m not technical enough to answer that. Please hold.”
I stayed on hold for five minutes and hung up.
Social Media Explained
I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.
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President John F. Kennedy (at a dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners, April 29, 1962)
Death Star Construction Costs
Economics blog Centives devoted a recent post to one of the most important questions facing the global marketplace today: how much would it cost to build a Death Star?
Basing their calculations on the density of a modern warship, they estimate that the first Death Star would have required 1.08×1015 tons of steel. That would use up all the iron in the Earth’s crust, and quite a bit from the Earth’s core, which might not be the most advisable place for a mining operation.
Assuming we could gather and refine all that iron — a process that would take 833,000 years at today’s production rates — the value of the steel at current market prices would be around $852 quadrillion.
That’s 13,000 times the world’s GDP for the steel alone. We’re not even talking weaponry, wiring, and trips to Ikea.
So, rest easy. Even with a sizable loan from a certain Hutt crimelord, there’s no practical possibility that any government in 2012 could construct an operational Death Star.
DIY Airsoft Machine Gun:Nighthawkinlight spent around $15 to make an airsoft machine gun from a soft drink bottle, and his DIY project unleashes more pellets per second than pretty much any store-bought model.
The parts are all cheap and easy to get, but the project does require access to an air compressor. In case you don’t have one of those just lying around the house, Nighthawkinlight plans to release instructions for a compressor-less model of the gun soon.
And after that, he plans to introduce a backpack-mounted air chamber to create an Airsoft “flamethrower.”
Don’t Call Yourself a Programmer and other Career Advice
This rather long article is excellent advice for anyone at any stage of their career. It is especially poignant if you are just starting out since, if you take its advice to heart, you fare far better than most during their career. And while it talks about programming, the advice is sound for all career paths.
Saleswoman: “It means that if you go to a web page that has a movie 
