November 18, 2008 – 1:39 pm
More drama on the seas as Somali pirates manage to take over and steal one of the biggest oil tankers in the world.
The Sirius Star — a crude “super tanker” flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company — was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya.
And weirdly enough, the world’s Navies aren’t doing too much about it…
…the Navy does not expect to dispatch a vessel to aide the super tanker because it does not have dangerous weapons aboard like the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms that was seized by pirates on September 25.
In fact they are advising the shipping companies to take their own action. A Navy spokesman said…
Shipping companies have to understand that naval forces can not be everywhere. Self protection measures are the best way to protect their vessels, their crews, and their cargo
Looks like Blackwater have a new area to expand their business into…
LINK (CNN)
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November 17, 2008 – 9:45 pm
Even though Ahnold is a Republican – and I am led to believe they are something akin to Chuds – the action hero Governor of California has been doing a damn good job – progressive environmental policies, liberal attitude etc. And now he’s taking action against mankind’s oldest foe – the cruel sea.
“California must begin now to adapt and build our resiliency to coming climate changes through a thoughtful and sensible approach with local, regional, state and federal government using the best available science.”
Which is a little too sensible for me. I want him on the beach in camo paint firing a minigun at the water whilst waving a sword. But at least the doomed planet will still have Cali!
LINK (Red Green & Blue)
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November 15, 2008 – 11:51 am
Even though Electric Spectre Towers is a pretty cool place to work (flying hollowed out volcano by the way) we are somewhat jealous of the above office.
It is a newly opened high-security data center run by one of Sweden’s largest ISPs, located in an old nuclear bunker deep below the bedrock of Stockholm city, sealed off from the world by entrance doors 40 cm thick (almost 16 inches)
Looks good, can withstand an atomic bomb, and powered by German submarine engines – sounds like my ideal woman.
LINK (Royal Pingdom – Loads more pictures)
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November 13, 2008 – 1:51 pm
More awesome craziness from the US military, who seem driven to take warfare kicking and screaming into the doomed future. Self propelled bunker busting rocket fireballs.
The Pentagon has a new secret weapon to neutralize sites containing chemical or biological weapons: rocket balls. These are hollow spheres, made of rubberized rocket fuel; when ignited, they propel themselves around at random at high speed, bouncing off the walls and breaking through doors, turning the entire building into an inferno. The makers call them “kinetic fireball incendiaries.” The Pentagon doesn’t want to talk about them, but published documents show that the fireballs have undergone tests on underground bunkers.
I often wonder how they come up with these ideas. Is there a secret think tank that just sits around drinking high quality bourbon, smoking cigars and dreaming up new ways to kill people? Because, if there is, I have some ideas for them…(Monkey Shoulder and a havana please!)
LINK (Wired)
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November 12, 2008 – 9:12 pm
Cybernetics gets closer to everyday life today as Tanya Vlach posted a ‘cybernetic eye wanted‘ ad on her blog.
I am attempting to recreate my eye with the help of a miniature camera implant in my prosthetic / artificial eye. The intraocular installation of an eye-cam will substitute for the field of vision of my left eye that I lost in 2005 from a car accident. While my prosthetic is an excellent aesthetic replacement, I am interested in capitalizing on the current advancement of technology to enhance the abilities of my prosthesis for an augmented reality.
I would like to take this oppotunity to ask any engineers out there for a shoulder mounted laser cannon. Worth a try?
LINK
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