In 1945, John Webber's grandfather, a scrap metal dealer, gave his son a random mug to play with that he had picked up along the way. John always thought it was brass and kept it with a bunch of other random stuff in a shoebox under his bed. Then when John, now 70, was moving out of his home, he decided to have the mug appraised. Turns out, the mug is gold and was made in the third or fourth century BC. It's expected to sell at auction for nearly a million bucks. Antiques Roadshow, eat your heart out! From AFP: 
"Heaven knows where he got this, he never said," he added, revealing that as a child, he used the cup for target practice with his air gun.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Random Mug Turns Out to Be "Ancient Artifact"
VR Camera/Goggle kit for R/C Models
I saw your post about the FlyCam and wanted to make sure you know about the brand new Pilot View FPV 2400.It is basically Virtual Reality Goggles that allow you to fly your RC plane/car/whatever from the drivers seat! (a friend of mine actually fell down with the goggles on while doing a loop with his plane!).
I've been in the R/C hobby for years and I think this is really going to change things.
Wonderful Industrial Keyboards
Desktop Keyboards
Designed and built by CTI to be the most reliable, rugged, sealed NEMA 4/4X (IP66) and NEMA 12 industrial keyboards for use in wet, harsh environments, or critical applications. These ergonomic keyboards have molded silicone keys with excellent tactile response and gold contacts, protected in welded, gasket sealed aluminum or stainless steel enclosures. These NEMA 4/4X and NEMA 12 sealed industrial keyboards are available with CTI's rugged, drift-free Industrial Mouse, OrbitalMouse, or ARROWMOUSE mouse pointers. These rugged keyboards truly are the world's best industrial computer keyboards.
Rack Mount
CTI's rack mount keyboards feature a patented, ergonomic folding door that provides a comfortable hand rest for the user. These sealed, ergonomic keyboards are available in either 1U or 2U sizes, and packaged in painted, welded metal enclosures with sliding rails rated at 80 lbs. per side. CTI's rack mount keyboards are available as computer keyboards only, or with CTI's high reliability industrial trackballs, Industrial Mouse, OrbitalMouse, ARROWMOUSE mouse pointers; which are drift-free and port compatible with all computers.
Panel Mount
For those special applications requiring a drop in panel, CTI produces an OEM sub-assembly mounted into a stainless steel bezel plate. These panel mounted industrial keyboards offer the same unmatched reputation for reliability and support as CTI's standard rugged keyboards. These NEMA 4 (IP66) sealing, molded silicone models feature tactile response, gold contacts, and are available in two standard designs; or can be customized (e.g. French keyboards, Spanish keyboards, German keyboards). These industrial computer keyboards are integrated with our exclusive family of rugged, drift-free Industrial Mouse pointing devices.
OEM Keyboards
CTI's complete line of OEM sub-assemblies offers an unmatched reputation for reliability and support. The rugged, molded silicone models feature tactile response, gold contacts, and are available in standard or custom designs (e.g. French keyboards, Spanish keyboards, German keyboards). These ergonomic keyboards are easily integrated with our exclusive family of port compatible Industrial Mouse pointers (e.g. Serial, PS/2, USB). These OEM industrial keyboards are available as keyboards only, or with CTI's high reliability OrbitalMouse or ARROWMOUSE mouse pointers. Whether full travel mechanical keys or molded silicone, we design and manufacture all of our industrial computer input devices; assuring fast delivery to meet your schedule.
Illuminated
When low-level lighting applications require illumination, CTI's illuminated keyboards shine. CTI's illuminated keyboards are available as OEM sub-assemblies or desktop keyboards, and are available with red or green LED backlighting. These backlit keyboards are available as keyboards only, or with CTI's rugged, drift-free
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tiny Video Camera mounts to etc.
This 1 oz. video camera, meant for R/C planes, could be used for a number of fun projects.
3" x 1-1/2" x 1/2" (camera only), 1 oz. V.2 changes include: larger resolution, LCD display, rotating lens, longer battery life, and a thermal activated motion detector. Video camera includes audio, still photos, a voice recorder, USB drive, and a Webcam. Unit is small enough to mount on just about any model FlyCamOne2 micro video cameraairplane, small parkflyers, RC cars, trains, skate boards, or even a kite. Can be remotely activated using an additional servo. Videos are recorded with a resolution of 640x480 for clear playback, complete with sound, and 1280x1024 pixels for still photos. Camera lens rotates 90 degrees so you can take photos or video from multiple angles. Built-in rechargeable 200 mAh Li-Ion battery that charges via the USB port on your computer in about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
National Geographic on "The Real Fake Crystal Skulls"
This crystal skull from the British Museum was once believed to have been ancient Aztec handiwork. Then, electron microscopes revealed that it's a fake from the mid- to late-1800s. In fact, according to National Geographic, the museum's "examinations and the fact that no such skull has ever been uncovered at an official archaeological excavation led the British Museum to extrapolate that all of the famed crystal skulls (around the world) are likely fakes." Of course, none of this should have any impact on whether you think the Indiana Jones movie sucked or not. From National Geographic:
Many believe (crystal) skulls were carved thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago by an ancient Mesoamerican civilization. Others think they may be relics from the legendary island of Atlantis or proof that extraterrestrials visited the Aztec sometime before the Spanish conquest...
Skulls were prominent in ancient Mesoamerican artwork, particularly among the Aztec, so the connection between these artifacts and these civilizations is apt.
"[I]t was a symbol of regeneration," says Michael Smith, a professor of anthropology at Arizona State University. "There were several Aztec gods that were represented by skulls, so they were probably invoking these gods. I don't think they were supposed to have specific powers or anything like that."
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sydney Pollack (Film director) Passed Away
The great film director, producer, and actor Sydney Pollack died today at 73 years of age, at his home here in Southern California. Here is an obituary in the New York Times. I met him briefly in the course of producing tech conferences during the web 1.0 boom. He had some truly inspired ideas about narrative in the digital age, and the clash between old Hollywood vs. new. He seemed a generous and kind person.Sunday, May 25, 2008
Taiwanese Future Housing Projects
Craig Ferguson snuck into Taiwan's abandoned hyper-futuristic San-Zhr Pod Village, a rotting, curvilinear housing complex that has been cursed since its inception, killing and injuring some of its construction crew.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Submit Your Website/Blogs to YAHOO :: How to ???
This post explains how to submit your blogger sitemap to Yahoo.By submitting your sitemap to yahoo, they will index your web pages in yahoo search engine and provide you with detailed information related to your blog like which pages are linking to yours,popular pages in your site and you can submit and track feeds for your sites.
Also,you have the choice to delete any urls of your blog if you won't want to index certain pages of your site.
Submitting your site to yahoo is easy and give your web pages more exposure.
All you need is a YAHOO ACCOUNT(ID).However,you don't need an yahoo ID to know the information like how many pages are indexed,etc.But,if your blog is a new one or no pages in your blog are indexed(type your blog url in yahoo search and see to check whether your web pages are indexed or not), then you want Yahoo id to submit your sites,feeds,etc.
Let't see how to make yahoo index your webpages by submitting your blog sitemap.
1.Go to Yahoo Site Explorer
2.Click on the 'Sign in' link which is at the top of the page,see the screenshot below(If you don't have a Yahoo id, you can get one here) and sign into your accoutnt.
3.Type your blog url in the box provided as shown in the below screenshot.Don't forget to replace the 'yourblogurl' with the original url of your blog and click on the 'Add My Site'
4.After adding your site,you need to Authenticate(Verify your ownership).
There are two ways to verify your ownership.One is to upload a file to the root directory of your site which can't be possible in blogger.
Another one is to 'adding a metatag' which is possible and the only way to verify ownership for bloggers.First,copy the metatag..
Next,sign in to your blogger account>Edit html and paste the metatag below the head tag and SAVE THE CHANGES,look at the screenshot below.
Next,you will get a message saying that 'Your site is pending authentication'
Note:Don't remove the metatag,they will revalidate your ownership by checking your ownership regularly.
5.Next,go back to the 'Site explorer home', and check the box next to your blog url and click on the Manage button.
6.Type rss.xml or atom.xml in the box provided.It helps yahoo to discover more of your site content via your rss or atom feeds and to index your blog pages quickly whenever your blog is updated.Next,click on the add feed button.
That's it.Now,you have sucessfully submitted your blog sitemap to yahoo.Check your account after a couple of days and you will see your blog indexed in yahoo search engine.
Submit Your Website/Blogs to Google :: How to ???
Before doing this,let me say what are sitemaps and how they will help us.The reason we use them is,they will help google bot to crawl,index pages of your site and tell you if there are any problems when they try to index it.It also helps you to know,how many pages exactly are indexed,and what people searched in the search engine to visit your site.
Let me explain the detailed procedure on how to submit your blogger sitemap to google.
1.First,go to google webmaster tools and sign in with your gmail account.
2.After you logged in, you will see this asking you to add a site.
Add your blog url(ex:kranthitips.blogspot.com).Don't add with http or www.
3.Next,it asks you to verify your site.It is just to confirm whether you are the owner or not.
CLICK on the 'verify your site' link.
Next,
4.There are two ways to verify your ownership but, there is only one way for the blogger users to add a metatag.
5.Copy the metatag.
Now,sign into your blogger account>click the layout button>Edit html and paste the metatag just after the head tag and save the changes.
and click the verify button in the google webmaster tools and there will be a confirmation message saying that you have sucessfully verified.
Choose 'Add general web sitemap' from the dropdown menu and type rss.xml or atom.xml next to your blog address as shown below
or
and click the 'Add General Web Sitemap' button.
6.That's it.Now your sitemap is successfully submitted to google.Check 2 or 3 days after and you will see the detailed statistics of your blog(indexed pages,any errors,etc.)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Go for the Jobs @ Microsoft
Click this below link to view the list of JOBS @ MICROSOFT
Don't Waste your precious time :: Go and JOIN MICROSOFT
Just copy and paste this link on your browser
Sunday, May 11, 2008
YouTube URLs Blocked
This Friday, Windows Live Messenger users began to report that they could not send YouTube links to their contacts. After sending a link such as www.youtube.com to a contact, the following error would be displayed: "The following message could not be delivered to all recipients: www.youtube.com." The problem was not isolated to the Windows Live Messenger client, either.
The blogoshere erupted with speculation on why Microsoft would do such a thing. Was it because Google owns YouTube, and therefore Microsoft was trying to get users to switch to its own service (Soapbox)? Something like that seemed too farfetched even for Microsoft. The obvious explanation was some sort of glitch. Considering that other sites, such as deviantart.com, were also being blocked, this "glitch" explanation seemed to be the most reasonable one.
Microsoft's explanation of the issue, which was issued Saturday morning, was exactly that: "We sincerely apologize for any difficulties this caused our users. And we want to thank those of you that reported this problem to us so that we could quickly fix it. Because of your help, the incorrect block was only in place for a few hours."
The company then explained that a third party Microsoft partner manages URL blocking on the Messenger network and that the blocking of a specific URL or whole domain is determined by multiple factors. While the blame has been laid on this third party Microsoft partner, it is still not clear how legitimate URLs were mistaken for harmful ones.
"We are still investigating the specific reason our partner made these incorrect blocks and we will work with them to improve their process for detecting harmful URLs while not blocking safe ones," Microsoft said.
It's a bit unsettling that whole domains can be blocked so easily on the world's largest IM network, but Microsoft has had this technology at its fingertips for a while and this is the first major problem that has occurred. Although Microsoft solved the problem quite quickly, millions of users were still (briefly) affected. Were you one of them?
By Emil Protalinski
Security flaw turns Gmail into open-relay Server
A recently-discovered flaw in Gmail is capable of turning Google's e-mail service into a highly effective spam machine. According to the Information Security Research Team (INSERT), Gmail is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack that allows a spammer to send thousands of bulk e-mails through Google's SMTP service without fear of detection. This attack bypasses both Google's identity fraud protection mechanisms and the current 500-address limit on bulk e-mail.
Related Stories
* Gotcha, CAPTCHA! Gmail bot detector system cracked
A flaw in Gmail that allows spammers to send a potentially unlimited number of messages is definitely a problem, but there's another, external factor that could exacerbate any potential spam attack. As the volume of spam has risen—it currently accounts for 95 percent of all e-mail traffic—many e-mail providers have adopted whitelists and blacklists as a first line of defense against the flood. An e-mail from johdoe@awinnerisyou.com (or the corresponding IP address block) may be automatically blocked by any given e-mail service, while an e-mail from a trusted, authenticated source such as Gmail is automatically allowed through the gateway. E-mail providers regularly use multi-level filtering services, any of which might detect that the forged Gmail missive is actually spam, but the message has cleared a substantial hurdle that would have otherwise barred it from delivery.
E-mail that originates from Google, it seems, is particularly well-regarded by both Yahoo and Hotmail. The INSERT team tested the degree of trust between the three major e-mail providers by sending spam messages to Yahoo and Hotmail using two sources. In the first test, messages were sent from personal systems whose IP addresses had been blacklisted by Yahoo and Hotmail. The second test consisted of sending the exact same message via the Gmail flaw that INSERT discovered.
The difference was significant. E-mail sent to Yahoo and Hotmail from a blacklisted IP didn't even necessarily reach the account's spam box, while forged e-mail sent via Gmail always arrived in the intended account's inbox. The goal here is not to condemn trusted-source filtering as bad, but to emphasize how a security flaw in a single product or service can ripple through an ecosystem. Google will likely act quickly to close this particular loophole, but Yahoo and Hotmail might want to read their Russian proverbs a little more closely. doveryai, no proveryai (Trust, but Verify) remains an eternally good idea.
By Joel Hruska
