Autonomous sailboats to race the Atlantic

Well DARPA inspired robot cars to cross the desert and cityscapes but the military has nothing to do with Microtransat a competition that puts robotic boats up against each other in an attempt to move the research forward. "Ultimately, the goal is to produce oceanographic survey platforms that could operate at sea for up to six months, probably sailing themselves out to areas of interest. They would send data back using satellite communications, and return periodically for repairs if possible; but their cost would be low enough that losses wouldn't be catastrophic." says The Register article on the competition. This years race is not as ambitious as the one currently planned for late 2008, that one is the trans Atlantic crossing, on the agenda this time are two short course races of 2 and 10km in distance. I'm not that into boats, but robot boats sounds cool!

China denies accusations

In a move that should come as no shock to anyone, the Chinese government is denying accusations that it was involved in a cyber attack on the Pentagon. A Chinese Foreign Ministry official is quoted in this BBC report as saying "Some people are making wild accusations against China ... These are totally groundless and also reflect a Cold War mentality," Interestingly, President Bush and China's Hu Jintao are preparing to meet at the Apec summit in Sydney, Australia. I wonder what the agenda will be?

China believed to be behind high level hacks of German and US government sites

The Financial Times is reporting that "a senior US official" is quoted as saying the Pentagon had pinpointed the China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) as responsible for a computer infiltration at the US Defence Department. This on the heals of German accusations that China had hacked it's systems... seems China and the US exchange these probes all the time but this time “The PLA has demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks that disable our system...and the ability in a conflict situation to re-enter and disrupt on a very large scale,”

Ad supported video games - almost free!

Would you be willing to be subject to advertisements if it meant free gaming? Ubisoft is offering up 3 of it's popular titles to gamers in the US, valid Ubi.com members can receive Far Cry, Raving Rabbids, or Price of Persia: The Sands of Time that are ad supported and available at fileplanet. I'm in Canada, so I'll not be getting my freebie but I'm anxious to know how obvious and/or annoying the ads are. If you download one let me know in a comment. Credit Wired Game|Life blog.

I'm a sucker for stop motion video

This one comes compliments of my eldest son. I've always been into stop motion animation, Josh and I even created a short claymation film for a school project when he was in 5th grade. He sent me this link and I have to say that it is one of the best that I've seen in a long time, genious! Hope you enjoy as well.

Spike Lee's online film festival

Spike Lee is teaming up with online streaming media company Babelgum to launch an international online film festival aimed at showcasing talent from around the globe. "There's this misconstrued thinking that all talent is in Los Angeles or New York," Lee said. The festival will have six categories: short films under 20 minutes, documentary, animation, advertising, social and environmental films, and best emerging talent with winners receiving $20,000. CBC has the details.

5M15 Rocket engine test fire video

This post thanks to Wired, I found the explanation of Mach disks quite intriguing. If you count the disks (7 according to Wired) and multiply that number by the speed of sound (758 mph at the altitude of the test) you can figure out how fast the the fuel is exiting the engine... 5306 mph!

Sony's Rolly, what is it... what's next?

c|net's Crave blog is as puzzled about this video for the Sony Rolly as everyone else is... what the heck is it?

Google Earth's built in flight simulator!

Lifehacker has news (and instructions) of a new feature quietly added to Google Earth. It's a flight simulator that allows you to take off from the airport or runway of your choice and pilot either an F16 "Viper" or SR22 prop plane. There are a number keyboard shortcuts available to control the plane, as well as joystick support. It is reported to be a little tricky to get the hang of but then again I imagine you don't jump into the cockpit of an F16 and nail takeoff without a little simulator time either! I'd like to give it a try but ArchLord is taking up most of my free time! I'll ask the kids to check it out, or if you do let me know how the experience was.

Fuji's new camera aimed at youth market

c|net's news.com has the scoop on a new line of cameras coming this month from Fuji. The new Z10fd Finepix is said to be oriented towards teenagers and twenty somethings but it's got a few geeky features that make it a worth considering for the rest of us too. At a list price of $219 CA and 7.2 megapixel resolution the Z10fd comes with a lot of features you'd expect and a couple of new ones that might spark your interest. Notably there is an infrared lens that allows you to share full image photos between two Z10fd's and on board photo manipulation. It comes in your choice of colours, so you can coordinate your tech look with your cellphone and laptop. No indication from c|net on the quality of the images though! Worth watching for if you are looking for a take anywhere camera that won't set you back a months salary.