Computer expert Didier Stevens ran a neat little experiment to test the idiocy of computer users. Stevens ran a text advertisement asking "Is your computer Virus-free? Get it infected here!". He reported 409 clicks over the span of six months. Hopefully these were all from computer-savvy users like myself, clicking out of curiosity and confident in their system security, or accidental clicks from other users. Hopefully I don't know any of the remaining clickers, who visited it out of stupidity, because then I'd have to punch them in the face.

I'm sure Scully has some type of medical reasoning for this!

The truth is out there.

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Mayor Bloomberg announced that by 2012, just five years from now, the NYC cab fleet will become more environmentally friendly. Bloomberg's plan is to slowly phase in Gas/Electric Hybrid vehicles to use less fuel and thus expel fewer emissions. Currently the city's fleet of 13,000 privately owned cabs includes a mere 375 hybrid vehicles. The hybrids are comprised of Toyota Prius, Toyata Highlander, Ford Escape, and even Lexus RX400h vehicles.

The current cab vehicle, the Crown Victoria, gets only an average of 14mpg (16.8 L/100km). By comparison, the Ford Escape Hybrid gets over double that, at 36mpg (6.5 L/100km). The vehicles themselves cost more, but the fuel savings should net cab drivers an extra $10,000 per year.

The city sells licenses for taxi cabs and drivers must purchase cars to meet the specifications of the license. The city plans on requiring 1,000 vehicles to be hybrids come October 2008. This numbers will increase 20% each year until their goal of replacing the entire fleet is met. Interim minimum fuel efficiently standards will also be introduced in this time frame for non-hybrid vehicles. This seemingly short 5 year time frame is possible due to each cab's average lifespan of only 3 to 5 years.

Yahoo! donated 10 Escape hybrids, equipped with CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) to light the advertisement banner on top of the vehicles (see photo). Very cool!

I've never been in a Prius, but I assume that it is smaller than a Crown Victoria. Since Ford already has the Escape hybrid, I wonder if they'll show interest in making a hybrid version of the Crown Victoria. The Lexus shows that performance is still possible on a hybrid, so I wonder if police departments would pick up a Crown Vic hybrid if Ford decided to take that path.

(photo credit: Yahoo! Green Taxis and the Brooklyn Bridge by Yodel Anecdotal)

Here is some neat macro photography of some bug! I hope to get the lens that was used in this shot some day. Its actually a telephoto zoom lens with some special extensions attached to it that allow it to focus really really close to things. "Distance to subject about 18 inches."

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Hooray! My Woot!.com came a few days ago and I took some pictures for this mini review. Below are those images, hosted at flickr. The thumbnails on the left are discussed below in order from top to bottom. Click them to head over to their flickr page to view them larger.
This parcel arrived in this condition, I did not sit on it in an attempt to open it. FedEx brought it a day later than they estimated for whatever reason. One can only assume that there was some sort of workplace improvised sport being played with my parcel. My guess it some type of full contact sport with little regard for the well being of the package(s) being used. But all was not lost, Woot! thought ahead and predicted such FedEx hijinks. They conveniently included this single plastic bubble padding for monkey safety. A word of caution to potential buyers: this product arrived dead. I can only assume that he was alive at some point, as they chose to handcuff him with his label. I am currently unaware as to if this monkey was killed during said monkeyshine at FedEx or if this was by design. I was surprised at the size the Woot! Monkey, I had expected him to be just larger than my palm when in reality he is about the size of my forearm, minus hand. The coolest thing is his wrists are rubber tubbing to facilitate actual FAA certified commercial flight. Upon landing, the monkey begins to scream. This, of course, perplexes my dog. In review, for $1.99 plus $5 shipping, this Woot!.com product should deliver plenty of excitement!

I figure I'll throw one in from NYC since I so rarely do! He is the Police Substation in Times Square. This photo was also taken using HDR photography.

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My woot! monkey with black cape was supposed to be delivered Wednesday but it looks like FedEx dropped the ball again! Here's hoping that my monkey arrives safely today (Thursday)!

Here is another funny YouTube video. I particularly like the Alien/Star Trek hybrid klaxon.
this post includes an embedded video availible here

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This is the second installment of the David Blaine Street Magic parody. It is nearly as funny as the first episode, but with extra special effects! Watch the previous installment here.
this post includes an embedded video available here

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Six suspects were placed under arrest today for a suspected terror plot in New Jersey. "Islamic militants" living in the state had planned to attack the Fort Dix military base with assault weapons in hopes to kill "hundreds" of soldiers. Four of the suspects are from Cherry Hill, NJ (where I used to work). One is from Buena Vista Township, NJ (where I went to school), and one is from Philadelphia. All six were arrested while trying to purchase weapons to carry out their plot. The investigation started in January of 2006 when an alert store clerk notified authorities about a suspicious tape that they were to copy for a customer. The tape showed individuals shouting jihadist sayings and firing weapons for training purposes.

I had a Terrorism class in school with a Lieutenant from Cherry Hill as the professor. He was in a specialized terrorism division of the police department. When I first heard this I was shocked that this city needed it and thought it was just a waste money. Turns out I was wrong!