Top 20 Geek Novels

Top 20 Geek Novels: "Malacca writes 'The Guardian's computer editor Jack Schofield has posted a list of the Top 20 Geek Novels in English since 1932. The polling method is unscientific, but it throws up some interesting choices. Definitions of 'Geek Novels' aside, the usual suspects like Neal Stephenson and William Gibson feature, but Terry Pratchett's 'The Colour of Magic' at #9? Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' at #17?' What would you put on that list?"

Gene Found In Black Death Survivors Stops HIV

Gene Found In Black Death Survivors Stops HIV: "WindozeSux writes 'According to research done by Dr. Stephen O'Brien, a mutated gene known as delta 32 found in Black Death survivor descendants, stops HIV in its tracks. In order to be immune both parents have to have the delta 32 gene. From the Article: 'In 1996, research showed that delta 32 prevents HIV from entering human cells and infecting the body. O'Brien thought this principle could be applied to the plague bacteria, which affects the body in a similar manner. To determine whether the Eyam plague survivors may have carried delta 32, O'Brien tested the DNA of their modern-day descendents...''"

Check out this interesting article here.

Mmmm, coffee

So it seems coffee may not be as bad for you as most think. Check out this article.

"For years coffee has endured a bad rap, but experts now say the caffeine content can actually do you some good"

US Passports To Receive RFID Chips

Give this article a read. It has same scary implications, especially towards countries such as Canada. Below is a summary found on Slashdot.

US Passports To Receive RFID Chips: "connah0047 writes 'The Washington Post reports that US passports will be getting RFID chips by October of 2006. Despite security concerns, the U.S. has now committed to putting RFID chips in the passports of all U.S. citizens. The new regulations will mean that all new and renewing U.S. passports will contain RFID chips by October 2006. While some believe this is a step forward, there are major privacy and security issues with the wireless technology.'"

Why Software Suites Suck

I came across this article and thought it might be interesting to people. Below is a small summary, read the full article here.

Why Software Suites Suck: "'With the release of StarOffice 8 and OpenOffice.org, and the rumors about MS Office 12, office suites are making their rounds in the press again. Microsoft's office suite is certainly the most popular on Windows, but there are competing suites from Corel and IBM. On GNU/Linux we have KOffice, GNOME Office, OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, and more. But no matter if they are free or proprietary, expensive or cheap, and regardless of what platforms they run on, the one thing that all software suites have in common is that they suck.'"

A Geeky Article..

Well I stumbled across a great article for all the .NET developers out there. And I suppose it would be of interest to pretty much any developer.

A Gaming Revolution

This really isn't a rant, but instead a cudos to Nintendo. Over the past weekend at the Tokyo Gaming Show (TGS) they revealed what is so revolutionary about their new console. And as they said, the controller is something completely new, it will change the way people interact with the games. I suggest you check out this article.

SUVs & Speed Bumps

So today as I drive into the office I get stuck in the parking lot behind a small little Toyota Sequoia. And this beast of a SUV (well it's driver) slows to about 2MPH over every speed bump. These are speed bumps that the Toyota Celica was taking--without difficulty--at 15MPH. Why do these people with giant SUVs think that they must take the speed bumps like you are in a rickety old carriage?

Ganking

I spent a fair amount of time this past weekend playing World of Warcraft. With a couple of my characters I decided to venture a little further from home. This adventuring took me into contested areas. Ok so with this knowledge I expect to run into some players from the opposing faction. And with these encounters I expect to get killed by them, since I have a relatively low level character to be wandering with.

Now I don't might the occasional PVP related death, but what I really can't stand is the players with a good 10+ levels on you who insist on ganking you every time they see you. And worse is when it is the same player over and over again (watching over your corpse for you to ensure it is safe until you return so s/he can kill you again). What is the point for them, it is absolutely no challenge for them to kill you, it is just irritating to you.

Come off it you stupid kids! Let us lower level character go about our simple tasks in peace. Is it really necessary to stab some guy in the back as he is minding his business killing random monsters. If you are going to attack, at least have the decency to do it while we aren't occupied with a monster or recovering our health/mana.