SWATH stands for Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull. SWATH ships are much more stable in almost any sea condition compared to traditional ships (monohulls), catamarans, or hydrofoils. A SWATH ship is similar to a catamaran, except that the SWATH ship has much more hull underwater than a catamaran. It's like having a platform above water attached via struts to two submarines below water.
Hidden boot code of the Xbox
Gobs of technical details behind the mods that allow Xbox owners to run Linux and other software on their Xbox.
http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Boot_Code_of_the_Xbox
I found this via an Aug 10, 2005 posting in Bruce Schneier's security blog.
SeafoodFest in Ballard
I just posted some photos I took at the annual SeafoodFest in Ballard.
Which releases more radioactivity? Coal electricity plants or nuclear?
Take a coal-fired plant generating electricity and a nuclear fission electricty plant. If both are running properly (within regulations), which one releases more radioactivity into the environment?
The coal plant does. Here are some links to studies on the topic:
- A U.S. Geological Service (USGS) report from 1997
- A Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) report from 2001
Of course, worst-case disaster scenarios for nuclear plants release large amounts of radiation.
And the end-of-life for nuclear power results in concentrated radiation. Of course, end-of-life coal-fired plants also leave behind their own environemental toxins, but those tend to break down more quickly.
Spaceship & starship sizes
A fun site that shows the relative sizes of almost every real & fictional spaceship you can think of.
Election Day should be a holiday
Which country is more likely to have the better democracy? One that observes their Election Day as a holiday? Or one that has New Year's Day as a holiday? In the U.S. we get Jan. 1st as a holiday. What does that say about the future of our democracy? Others have proposed this idea, like GrowDemocracy.com's campaign for Democracy Day.
Ok, so you might object that New Year's Day is a tradition. Let's look at holidays that are a less "traditional", specifically holidays that did not exist until the US enacted them into law.
"President's Day" (officially "Washington's Birthday") is taken as a holiday on the 3rd Monday in February (Washington's birthday is Feb 22). How do you think Pres. George Washington would prefer we insure his legacy continues? By taking a day off in February? Or taking a day off for Election Day?
Ok, you still might object that President's Day is too traditional. What about our most recently enacted US Federal Holiday?
Martin Luther King Day is observed on the 3rd Monday in January (King's birthday is Jan. 15). This holiday was signed into law in 1983 and first observed in 1986. Do you think Mr. King would prefer we insure his legacy continues by celebrating his birthday? Or by taking a holiday on Election Day?
I'm not advocating we add another holiday (which would have wide-ranging impacts). I'm saying we should consider moving the observance of an existing holiday to Election Day.
A Project Seagull
Everybody has heard of a Project Manager… But have you ever heard of a Project Seagull?
Project Seagull: (noun) A person who isn't really on the project but who hovers around, occasionally squawking about things he/she doesn't like and dumping on members of the team.
(Definition courtesy of Patrick Carey)
Planarity: geometry goodness
A fun flash game:
http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity/
You start out with 6 connected dots, but the connections cross. You need to move the dots so the connections do not cross. Then you repeat with 10 dots, then 15 dots, etc.
BC ferry loses power, crashes through marina
Holy crap. A BC ferry loses power during docking, and does a slow motion crash through a local marina. Amazingly, there are no injuries.
Photos
http://www.cbc.ca/news/photogalleries/bcferry/
CNN — has link to video (Windows Media Player)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/06/30/ferry.accident/
Seattle Times — has link to AP video (RealPlayer)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2002354269_ferry01m.html
A good aerial side view
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/…
FactCheck.org analyzes Bush's June 27 speech
As always, a thoughtul analysis with plenty of links to the sources. Their one sentence summary: "we found nothing false in what Bush said, only that his facts were few and selective."