Gary Secondino: SciTech

Superbright gamma ray burst may be closest ever

Sun, 06 Apr 2003 14:27:38 GMT

New Scientist - Astronomers have begun analysing what could be the closest gamma ray burst ever detected. The work could shed new light on the mysterious cause of these explosions, the most powerful in the Universe.
Feature: Scrambling to study a 'hypernova' United Press International
It's a Nova . . . It's a Supernova . . . It's a Hypernova AScribe
[Google Technology News]

Making An RSS Feed

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 14:13:48 GMT

By Danny Sullivan, Editor The Search Engine Report, April 2, 2003

How does RSS syndication work? Say you publish a new web page about a particular topic. You want others interested in that topic to know about it. By listing the page as an "item" in your RSS file, you can have the page appear in front of those who read information using RSS readers or "news aggregators" (explained more in my sidebar article, RSS: Your Gateway To News & Blog Content). RSS also allows people to easily add links to your content within their own web pages. Bloggers are a huge core audience that especially does this.

What Your Antivirus Software Won't Tell You

Wed, 02 Apr 2003 21:56:18 GMT

PC World's Andrew Brandt reports in the May 2003 issue that some security applications ignore surveillance programs."There may be software on your PC that hides itself like a virus, silently keeps tabs on your PC like a virus, and e-mails the data to the person who planted it. [Kevin_Christley] [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes]

Feedster

Fri, 14 Mar 2003 06:37:37 GMT

Feedster is a search engine that indexes RSS feeds. I like it!

If you're a Huevos user, you can add it to your search engines list .

And I hope to do some sort of integration with NetNewsWire. It's an obvious thing to want to do, I think. One idea is searches that update their results just like any other RSS feed. There are other possibilities, too. (After 1.0.1 ships I'll take a look at this.) [Ranchero]

I know the developer of Feedster. He deserves your support and much success.

How to preview a Radio weblog post

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 13:47:52 GMT

Read about how easy it is.

Future PDAs: Savvier Tour Guides?

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 11:41:21 GMT

Hewlett-Packard introduces a concept technology that outfits a handheld computer with wireless access, GPS and a bar-code scanner. The result is a device that knows where you are -- and where you want to go. Elisa Batista reports from Palo Alto, California. [Wired News]

Open Source XML-RPC for Cocoa

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 11:03:05 GMT

We just released a BSD license XML-RPC implementation for Cocoa. It’s the same code that’s in the current NetNewsWire beta. (Actually, it’s a little ahead of the beta.) [Ranchero]

Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time

Fri, 07 Mar 2003 21:00:19 GMT

National Geographic - A high-resolution map from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), released yesterday, has provided the most telling visible evidence to date of a 112-mile (180-kilometer) wide, 3000-foot (900-meter) deep impact crater.
Image Shows Crater That Killed Dinos Salt Lake Tribune
Radar reveals traces of killer crater MSNBC

New Evidence Of Shuttle Heat

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 11:53:35 GMT

Investigators have found new evidence of the violent heating Columbia experienced during its final moments, including a slag of molten aluminum and stainless steel on the inside of a panel that was part of the leading edge of the shuttle's left wing. Roger Tetrault, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, told a news briefing here that some of the slag also has been found on interior fittings that supported other segments of the shuttle's leading edge, which is made of a high-strength composite material called carbon-carbon. "Basically the wing was being eaten from the inside out," Tetrault said later. "We know that." Structures that supported the carbon-carbon segments on Columbia's leading edge were made of stainless steel, which melts at 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, Tetrault said. The wing's skin and lattice work of support members are made of aluminum, which melts at about 900 degrees.
Debris Shows Shuttle Stresses Washington Post
Debris suggests shuttle tires blew out CNN Asia

PreFab UI Browser

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 03:47:48 GMT

From the folks who brought you PreFab Player: PreFab UI Browser helps “you explore, control and monitor the user interface of most Mac OS X applications. It lets you navigate the user interface hierarchy then generate useful AppleScript statements with a single click.” [Ranchero]

Screenshot Hacks for Mac OS X

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 03:30:45 GMT

You can use a variety of built-in tools in Mac OS X to grab images from your screen and save them to your hard drive. But what if you want to capture drop shadows, or include the cursor, or even capture full-motion DVD video with sound? This article shows you how, using some nifty tools. [MacDevCenter]

Microsoft acquires Virtual PC from Connectix

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:43:25 GMT

Which do you think will happen:
A. MS sees this as a way to extend the company and will actively develop the product.
B. MS sees this as a wild card and will kill it.

Dan G. at Demo 2003

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:18:26 GMT

Dan Gillmor brings in the highlights of this techno-fest. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

More on Nick Denton's Pro Blogs

Mon, 17 Feb 2003 18:43:34 GMT

Welcome to the world of ``nano publishing'' -- an emerging brand of Internet-based journalism that is helping shape the future of news. I stopped in New York last week to see two of the most interesting early examples. Gawker is a weblog devoted to news and gossip about New York City and its gossip-heavy industries. Gizmodo, also a weblog, covers electronic gadgets. They're both fun to read, and highly informative.

New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous

Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:44:35 GMT

An open-source programming tool for nonprogrammers called Konfabulator lets Mac OS X users create Widgets to do anything from getting the local weather to ordering a pizza online. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]

Six Great Tips for Homemade Dot Mac Servers

Sun, 09 Feb 2003 00:02:41 GMT

Now that you have your own Dot Mac server up and running, here are six new things you can do with it -- including "iTunes Central," "iPhoto online," and the "Safari Rendezvous mod." Alan Graham shows you how. [MacDevCenter]

NetNewsWire 1.0b17

Sat, 08 Feb 2003 18:31:52 GMT

This release fixes a really annoying bug that appeared in the previous beta. The new headlines and group feeds weren’t getting updated when they should be. Now they are. Other changes, mostly weblog editing changes, are listed on the change notes page. [Ranchero]

From Africa to the Andamans

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 03:48:09 GMT

Researchers have pieced together genetic data that established that the ancient settlers in the Andamans descended from the early humans who had migrated from Africa during the Ice Age. The tribes of Andaman, especially Jarawas and Onges, have closer affinities to Asians rather than Africans and therefore are the descendants of the early palaeolithic colonisers of southeast Asia - the hunter-gatherers and the first migrants who moved out of Africa about 60,000 to 100,000 years back, a study said.
Statesman News Service

Windley's Enterprise Computing

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 03:45:49 GMT

If you're into enterprise computing, eBusiness, or Digital ID visit Windley's weblog. Good stuff!

Spam Conference at MIT

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 12:52:08 GMT

Scott Johnson wrote a report on the Spam Conference at MIT. So did Chris Devers.

Yahoo grabs online dating by eyes and ears

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 08:45:33 GMT

Independent Online - New York - Online daters using Yahoo's personals service will now be able to check out whether a possible match has a deep voice or quirky mannerisms before embarking on a first date.
Web dating gets vocal, video aid New Zealand Herald
Yahoo Makes Online Dating Easier with Video, Voice Yahoo News
News24 - Times of India - San Jose Mercury News - and 13 related »
Google Technology News

BellSouth snips wires in Florida

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 08:38:31 GMT

The telephone and broadband provider says it's testing a powerful wireless network it believes can help bridge the nation's digital divide. [CNET News.com]

Hitachi Unveils New Hard Drives

Tue, 07 Jan 2003 21:13:30 GMT

The newly formed Hitachi Global Storage Technologies group announces two new hard drives for mobile devices.
allNetDevices Wireless News

This is a new company formed from the 2002 purchase of IBM's hard drive business by Hitachi. IBM is a 25% stakeholder in the new company.

Macworld

Tue, 07 Jan 2003 21:04:03 GMT

Apple CEO Jobs shows off new Apple web browser, demos new presentation application to compete with PowerPoint, and DVD-burning software. The hardware side gets a new wide screen powerbook and a new small screen powerbook.

Five Live

Sat, 14 Dec 2002 22:07:22 GMT

I'm on Five Live tonight (6:15pm Saturday Pacific, 9:15pm Eastern time) explaining the Poindexter prank in response to Total Information Awareness, and the role of weblogs in participatory democracy.
Paul Boutin