Skylights

For those of you interested in astronomy (I know at least one is), the comet McNaught is visible even in daylight (if, of course, you block out the direct glare of the sun). You in the US may have a chance to see the brightest comet in over 40 years.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070114_comet_mcnaught.html
http://www.livescience.com/blogs/author/robbritt
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070108/full/070108-12.html

Shirley's Bay site crumbling

Source: Industry Canada's showcase looking tawdry

OTTAWA — An ill-advised hiring binge during the dot-com boom has come back to haunt Industry Canada.

The department's showcase research labs on the outskirts of Ottawa are crumbling, partly because it hired too many staff during the good times and has since had to cut back drastically on maintenance to pay them, says a new audit.

The research centre, with 157 buildings spread over 600 hectares, is located at Shirley's Bay on the western edge of the capital, along the Ottawa River.

Dating back to 1952, the labs have produced some technical marvels, including Canada's first communications satellite Alouette I.

Industry Canada's Communications Research Centre, or CRC, which carries out cutting-edge research in wireless technology, is the largest tenant and remains site custodian. The Defence Department and Canadian Space Agency also operate key research facilities at Shirley's Bay.

But a new audit says a third of the buildings are in poor condition, and most of the mechanical and electrical systems are near the end of their life expectancy — partly because the centre has been dipping into its maintenance budget to pay staff.

( Story continues behind the cut )

The Genesis of a museum

Source: Dinosaurs, humans coexist in U.S. creation museum

PETERSBURG, Kentucky (Reuters) - Ken Ham's sprawling creation museum isn't even open yet, but an expansion is already underway in the state-of-the art lobby, where grunting dinosaurs and animatronic humans coexist in a Biblical paradise.

A crush of media attention and packed preview sessions have convinced Ham that nearly half a million people a year will come to Kentucky to see his Biblically correct version of history.

"I think we'll be surprised at how many people come," Ham said as he dodged dozens of designers working to finish exhibits in time for the May 28 opening.

The $27 million project, which also includes a planetarium, a special-effects theater, nature trails and a small lake, is privately funded by people who believe the Bible's first book, Genesis, is literally true.

For them, a museum showing Christian schoolchildren and skeptics alike how the earth, animals, dinosaurs and humans were created in a six-day period about 6,000 years ago -- not over millions of years, as evolutionary science says -- is long overdue.

While foreign media and science critics have mostly come to snigger at exhibits explaining how baby dinosaurs fit on Noah's Ark and Cain married his sister to people the earth, museum spokesman and vice-president Mark Looy said the coverage has done nothing but drum up more interest.

"Mocking publicity is free publicity," Looy said. Besides, U.S. media have been more respectful, mindful perhaps of a 2006 Gallup Poll showing almost half of Americans believe that humans did not evolve, but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000 years.

Looy said supporters of the museum include evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics, as well as the local Republican congressman, Geoff Davis, and his family, who have toured the site.

- Andrea Hopkins for Reuters News Service

The entire article can be found at the original site.

More iPhone stuff

Cisco may not have as tight a claim as originally thought, not if they failed to keep their trademark active. According to this Engadget article, "...On 11/16/2005 Cisco missed that deadline, but was granted a six month grace period, which it just barely squeezed through. Unfortunately for Cisco, a "Declaration of Use" requires demonstration of active use, under penalty of perjury. Cisco merely slapped an iPhone sticker onto an existing VoIP handset it was producing..."

Meanwhile, Apple's use of the term "Visual Voicemail" may violate ANOTHER trademark. Looks like the knives are coming out in force, and it's an Apple everyone wants for dinner.

A (Pirate) Bay to call their own

Source: The Pirate Bay to Get a Bay (kind of), Wants to Buy Nation of Sealand

Quoted from Gizmodo:

To stop the international copyright laws that have been plaguing The Pirate Bay, they are looking to purchase the micronation of Sealand. This nation is really just a British naval platform in the North Sea. Donating to the cause will guarantee you citizenship at Sealand.

The "island" of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of southern England, was settled in 1967 by an English major, Paddy Roy Bates. Bates proclaimed Sealand a state, issuing passports and gold and silver Sealand dollars and declaring himself Prince Roy.

Spanish appraisers valued the estate at £504 million which is nearly $1 billion. Prince Michael (son of Roy) told the London Times that it is hard to actually gauge how much this island will cost. If TPB cannot raise enough money for Sealand they plan to continue their search to buy another small island and declare it a nation. All I have to say: Awesome! I'll donate. –Travis Hudson

I guess that's one way to get around pesky things like laws and such. Engadget adds this:

Sealand, which is loosely claimed as a principality, features its own flag, coat of arms, currency, stamps, passports, and most importantly, a quasi-coat of armor from any nation's laws. Although the background of 5,920-square foot man-made installation off the shore of Suffolk, England is quite remarkable, TPB sees its two massive columns as a perfect place for future hosting duties. Formerly the home of HavenCo, an off-shore hosting company that housed gambling sites, money transferring liaisons, and any other operation looking for internet freedom, Sealand could be a potential sanctuary from the claws of the RIAA, MPAA, and other content "owners." Although a principality can't legally (saywha?) be "sold," the family in possession of it recently began accepting offers "upwards of eight figures" for a transfer of ownership after (quite literally) holding down the fort since 1967, and while we highly doubt a fundraiser can scrape up that kind of loot anytime soon, nor do we believe it'd stop the barrage of content guardians, we must say the location looks like an excellent place to just get away from it all (including lawyers) -- if only for awhile.

For the Wii users... and those who don't

Bill Gate's checkered past

More iPod images