I’ve been so busy I’ve missed about 3-4 chinese recalls! ;)But I’d rather talk about something else right now. Meiers thinks consoles are ready for more in-depth strategy games (Link Dead)Sid Meier is releasing Civilization for consoles (including the PS3.) I can’t wait. I’d really prefer more Stardock games for the PS3, but I’ll take a regular Civ game as a consolation (haha) prize.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_33/b4046064.htm?campaign_id=rss_dailyThey’re talking about an interconnected web of 3d environments as if it were a new thing. In reality, the idea has been around for ages and there was even a working standard for doing this all the way back in 1994. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRMLGranted, it kind of died out and faded never gaining mainstream popularity. Part of the problem is that VRML browsers sucked compared to the games of the time. Doom and Descent were both popular, and vrml had no physics to speak of nor any real easy navigation.

(Link Dead)This says that the voltages can reach 380v inside the case of a computer, but really, in a modern computer only the inside of the PSU would ever have anything over 12v. Did he take the case off his power supply too?The only exception I can see would be if he has one of those cases where there’s a cable running from the external power port and the power supply (Like my Antec Aria and Antec 2u20 cases, though they both have electrical tape covering the posts in the connector) and then it wouldn’t be more than 220v in china.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/13/joystiq-tries-out-wii-fit-and-wii-balance-board/This look familiar to anyone? Any old Commodore/atari geeks out there who have seen this concept?See, back before Amiga was a computer sold by Commodore, the company that made it was into Atari 2600 peripherals. They made several “innovative” toys that used balance and motion sensing and released several games that used them. One of the more remembered toys they made was this.http://www.atariage.com/controller_page.html?SystemID=2600&ControllerID=11They actually had an internal game they called Guru Meditation that they played in house with this controller.

(Link Dead)“Someone asked us to give a quote about what was happening in Sheffield and it’s like ‘who cares what we think about what’s happening’?”“There’s more important people who can have an opinion. Why does it make us have an opinion because we’re in a band?" My thoughts exactly about all musicians and their causes. ;)

I hate to make another political-esqe post so soon after the big annoying health care debate thing, but I just noticed this and thought they might be missing a second explanation of the data.http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/06/foreign-policy-.htmlThey say that prosperity and stability come from environmental sustainability.I believe that they may have it backward. It may be that Environmental sustainability is a luxury that a country that is stable and wealthy can afford. Our stability and prosperity in the US happened long before we managed any real form of sustainability.

UK wants to take away a drug (Link Dead) that eliminates the symptoms of Alzheimer’s for those in the early stages of the disease.The drug costs the equivalent of $1800 per year, and allows people to stay out of a $38000 per year nursing home for longer…Do you really want a political organization deciding if your life is worth living or not?Doctors who have come from the socialized medicine systems of europe have come to the US and stated that yes, the quality of care is just as good as the US, but because of waiting lists and government decisions on what care is permitted, the quality of life is much lower in those areas.

All of the advances in optical disc technology since the CD have been of 3 varieties. You either change the reading laser so it can be focused into a smaller dot, you change the distance from the laser so you can focus it tighter, or you add another recording layer. DVD added a layer and changed the distance, HD-DVD added a layer and changed the wavelength, Bluray changed the distance and the wavelength.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=74503This one is of particular concern because my nephew has tons of these train sets. I just sent the url to my brother so he can take a look at it.I suspect we’re going to hear quite a few more of these where companies decided to ignore legal requirements and use substandard parts for years, and we’re just now starting to go back and look at all the bits and pieces we import from over there after the pet food scare.

Every couple of months I torture myself by going through the spam filter of my catchall email account and seeing which of my many throwaway email addresses is gathering the most spam. The usual is true this time as before, the largest actual email addresses are my old ones, my wife’s old username, my friend’s old account on my domain, etc. The typical spam traps all popped up as well, like orders, billing, sales, accounts, support, info, webmaster, contact, accounting, etc.