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Wired News: Top Stories (185 unread)

Google Yahoo Deal Crumbling, Report

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 10:31am CDT by Meghan Keane

Google’s patience for the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation of its search deal with Yahoo appears to be running short. The search giant may walk away from the deal as early as next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Wired.com Readers' Best Geeky Halloween Costumes

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Wired.com Photo Department

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It can be scary soliciting photos from Wired.com readers and not knowing what to expect, let alone Halloween costume photos. Sure, some were creepy in all the wrong ways, but our favorite 10 submissions put our fears to rest.

Click through the gallery to see the best geeky costumes our readers have to offer, from Predator to iPod silhouette girl.
If your Halloween spirit is still not quenched, head over to our best reader pumpkin gallery.

Left:

Robotech Cyclone
Submitted by Chris Lee

Photographer's comment:

"All info here: http://www.chrislee.tv/costuming/anime/cyclone/"
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Predator
Submitted by M. Lawrence

Photographer's comment:

"Built over the past year, shown here at the Manitoba Comic Con."
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WWII Captain America
Submitted by MrCrumley

Photographer's comment:

"I made this sweet version of the Ultimate Captain America's WWII uniform for my 4-year-old. Enemies of freedom beware!"
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My Facebook Page
Submitted by Brandon Streng

Photographer's comment:

"This is a 36" by 52" printout of my actual Facebook page from the end of last week. I cut out the section where my profile picture would be so I could stick my head through."
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Mario Brothers and Peach
Submitted by Anonymous

Photographer's comment:

"Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. The coins are REAL gold."
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TK-421
Submitted by Andrew Liptak

Photographer's comment:

"A classic, the Imperial Storm Trooper."
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iPod nerds
Submitted by Christy Kilgore-Hadley

Photographer's comment:

"I am dressed as an iPod commercial, my friends as a Nano and Steve Jobs. I had a lot of fun going to the liquor store like that, let me tell ya."
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"I aint gettin' on no plane, Hannibal."
Submitted by MrTheodore

Photographer's comment:

"I still get props for this costume."
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Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica
Submitted by Gabrielle

Photographer's comment:

"A friend painted the tattoos on with face paint, and I got my hair cut to look like Starbuck in her earlier years. It was for a work party, and everyone got a kick out of it!"
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Zombie Pet
Submitted by Tom Haines

Photographer's comment:

"A little goth girl with a pet zombie."
Technology's Gutterball — New Gear Makes Bowling Too Easy

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Chris Hardwick

My father was one of the greatest professional bowlers of all time. Seriously. Billy Hardwick: PBA Hall of Fame, Player of the Year in '63 and '69, and the first winner of the triple crown of bowling, among other things. My parents met at my maternal grandfather's bowling center, where my dad competed. They even named me after their dear friend Chris Schenkel, the color commentator for ABC's Pro Bowlers Tour.

And me? For the first 13 years of my life I spent five hours a day on the lanes. I bowled exhibition matches on TV — The Mike Douglas Show (against Jimmy "JJ" Walker), The Richard Simmons Show (it was weird), Captain Kangaroo (hot, right?). Had I not discovered D&D and videogames, I might well have become the Tiger Woods of bowling (but with a hilariously lower salary).

To this day I remain a careful observer of the game. While the liberal media elite depict the bowler as a chubby guy with a comb-over and polyester pants, the reality is that bowling is one of the most tech-heavy sports today. Robotic pinsetters and computerized scoring were just the beginning. Today, synthetic lane surfaces (designed to look like wood) provide a more consistent plane than their organic forebears. Balls made of reactive resin have the ability to grab lanes through the oil layer for harder hooking into the pocket — which conserves more of that sweet kinetic energy for the pins, thereby increasing the likelihood of fist-pumping and woot-woot-ing in bowling centers across America. And I hate all of it.

These new balls and surfaces mean more strikes, which means higher scores and more perfect games. By some counts, amateur bowlers can average 40 pins higher per game than a professional bowler did 40 years ago — and that's not because of some recently evolved mutation in the human bowling gene. Look, we all want to excel at bowling. How else would we attract potential sex partners? Not to go all Harrison Bergeron on you, but when everyone bowls perfect games, then no one bowls a perfect game. Sure, other sports have tech. A titanium shaft and weighted clubhead will let you hit 300-yard drives until your spine unhinges, but they'll still slice. With bowling, the equation is simpler. More tech equals more strikes.

It turns out that the sport's governing body, the United States Bowling Congress, is just as worried as I am. In Greendale, Wisconsin, at a climate-controlled facility that was almost certainly well-stocked with funnel cakes, the USBC deployed a 7-foot-tall robot named Harry. Armed with laser guides, hydraulics, and a mechanical arm, Harry's job was to bowl with the precision of a machine. As an engineer controlled release points, axis tilt, speed, and rotation, 23 sensors along the lane measured things like position and velocity. The goal, according to the USBC, was "to strike a better balance between player skill and technology." I am pretty sure the "strike" pun was intended.

The results, released earlier this year, were undeniable: Bowling ball composition had to be reined in. Starting in April 2009, precise limits will be set on how porous a competition ball's cover stock can be, standardizing how it adheres to the lane. Technology will be hobbled for the sake of the game.

As a purist of the sport, I'm grateful for the change. We should have to earn our marks the way our daddies (or, at least, mine) did: with hard rubber balls on wood, a hot lamp over the scoring table burning our hands and faces, and watered-down American beer lubricating each frame until we go home smelling like an ashtray in a chemical plant. "Keep yer got-damn science off mah balls!" we'll cry, and life will be good and pure and true.

Full disclosure: I took five Wii bowling breaks during the writing of this article. I'm currently averaging around 260.
Pricey 21-Pixel DSLR Captures Beaucoup Data

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Jackson Lynch

This camera redefines the "mega" in megapixel, with a whopping 21.1. Add to that a superb user interface and Dual Digic III processors, and you've got one of our favorite high-end DSLRs.
Playlist: Razor-Toothed Monsters, White Whine, Gorgeous Graphics

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT

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Terrifying pteranodons, 20-foot bugs, bus-sized crocodilians, and countless other razor-toothed monsters terrorize London in the first season of this popular BBC America show, out on DVD in November. When time portals open up around town and spew out the ravenous creatures, it's up to paleontologist Nick Cutter and his team to figure out how to keep them at bay. With surprisingly realistic CG (and a few dodoes for good measure), it's campy in that good Dr. Who way. We hope they hire a physicist next season — after all, zoologists aren't qualified to manage rips in the fabric of spacetime.
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Like the sardonic, self-hating cousin of the already sardonic and self-hating Stuff White People Like, White Whine is a daily blog that airs the absurd gripes of the down-but-far-from-out (upper-middle-class vanilla beans). Wired faves include numbers 268: "Um, it's Tuesday and the This American Life podcast hasn't updated yet. Hellooo?" and 276: "I need a day to catch up on my sleep after vacation."
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Being the designated restaurant picker is a pain. Let this free iPhone app do the work for you. Find your location via GPS, lock in a cuisine and price range (or don't), and shake the phone to spin the slot-machine-like wheels. An eatery'll pop up, with reviews and maps. It's not exactly democratic, but at least you can blame fate if Murray's Curry doesn't please every palate.
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The best way to make a good movie blog great: a stellar soundtrack. The Playlist (no relation) not only posts newsy bits about the tunes in films, like how Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the Mars Volta worked the score for The Burning Plain, but also features playlists inspired by directors like Spike Jonze, Miranda July, and Cameron Crowe. Downloading a list may be the equivalent of sneaking a camcorder into a megaplex, but it's worth the risk of ejection by your ISP's usher.
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Chuck Lewis (aka Mo Serious) started composing Web strategy rhymes while working at Pop Labs, an online marketing firm. A year after he YouTubed jams like "Design Coding" and "Social Media Addiction" ("I'm online for hours, addicted to the power / 10 tabs open on a Firefox browser"), Lewis has garnered more than 350,000 views. Keyword up!
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PBS chronicles the rise and fall of Fermilab, which houses the world's second-largest particle accelerator (damn you, LHC!). The documentary focuses on the lab's physicists, who have spent the past three decades searching for that elusive particle known as the Higgs boson. Set your DVR if only to watch Phil Donahue circa 1979 attempt to discuss high-energy theoretical physics with the director of the lab and an audience of housewives.
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In the past year, Grant Achatz beat tongue cancer and was dubbed best chef by the James Beard Foundation. In his first cookbook, named after his Chicago restaurant, 100 recipes and 600 photos reveal the secrets behind his high tech haute cuisine, while a series of essays (including one by Wired senior editor Mark McClusky) explore his creative process and influence in the culinary world.
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Who's Gav Daragon?¹ What's a Yuuzhan Vong?² Star Wars continuity cop Leland Chee ("Master of the Universe," issue 16.09) isn't always available, so where do you turn? Wookieepedia? It's about as reliable as Admiral Ozzel. Don't fret. Just nab the latest edition of the official Star Wars encyclopedia. This first revision in 10 years has expanded to three obscurity-packed volumes that will answer queries faster than you can say "Borz'Mat'oh the Duinuogwuin."³

1. A human hyperspace explorer who was attuned to the Force but was captured and corrupted by the ancient Sith empire. 2. A race of religious, heavily tattooed creatures who resemble tall, bald, heavyset humans (think: Telly Savalas). 3. A philosopher of the Duinuogwuin — a winged, serpentine species — who founded the University of Coruscant.
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Cult hit MST3K launched in 1988 from a warehouse in suburban Minneapolis. For nearly 200 episodes, Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, and captive human Joel Robinson (later Mike Nelson) inhabited the Satellite of Love, skewered B movies, and burrowed deep into America's pop subconscious. Journey through 20 years of snark with a boxed set featuring four previously unreleased episodes, a bonus reunion disc, and — best of all — a Crow figurine based on a 3-D laser scan of the original prop.
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What's the only thing better than lots of information? Lots of visualized information. In this must-have tome for graphic designers, self-styled Excel gurus, and data-loving geeks, publisher Gestalten has curated a lush 256-page collection of the best diagrams ever. From this doughnut pie chart (illustrating — what else? — doughnut sales) to tattooed depictions of reproductive biology, Data Flow gives new meaning to the words chart and graph.
Oct. 31, 1951: We'll Cross That Street When We Come to It

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Randy Alfred

1951: The first official zebra crossing starts protecting pedestrians at Slough, just west of London.

Postwar Britain had only 10 percent of its current road traffic, but fatalities were mounting. The typical pedestrian crossing was marked with nothing more than metal studs in the road: easy for pedestrians to see, but difficult for the motorist. By the time a driver felt the bumps under his tires, it was usually too late to stop or slow down.

The government's Transport Research Laboratory ran visibility experiments on new types of crossings, using model roads at 1/24 scale (half-inch to the foot). The lab then tested a variety of designs at a thousand locations starting in 1949. Broad black and white stripes had the most visual impact.

The new, striped crossings were made the legal standard in Britain and widely introduced in late 1951, starting at Slough (The name rhymes with plow, not slow, and the borough is the putative location of the original BBC version of the TV comedy, The Office.)

Pedestrian deaths dropped 11 percent in the first year.
Jim Callaghan, Member of Parliament (and later prime minister), visited the lab in 1948 and is sometimes credited with first noting the crossing's resemblance to a zebra. Despite Callaghan's saying in 1951 that he didn't remember that, no one else has ever claimed credit, and the name zebra crossing caught on.
Enamored of the moniker, Britain's Ministry of Transport has called forth animal cognates for subsequent improvements. The panda crossing used interlocking black and white triangles instead of stripes. The pelican (pedestrian light controlled) crossing combined traffic lights and conventional, rectangular stripes. The puffin (pedestrian user-friendly intelligent) crossing uses sensors to detect pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The toucan (two can cross) is shared by pedestrians and bicycles. The pegasus is a pelican crossing with a control panel high enough for horse riders to push the button. It's a bleedin' roadside zoo.
Cities around the world have been gradually adopting the crosswalk of a different stripe. The old-fashioned two-stripe crosswalk (with just its borders marked by full-length stripes perpendicular to the direction of traffic) cannot be seen by motorists from farther than 100 feet or so away. At 30 mph, that's about 2 seconds.
Zebra-striped crosswalks can be seen from greater distances. An empty crosswalk informs drivers that pedestrians might enter there. And pedestrians who are crossing the street are highly visible as they move against the striped background. (You can improve your own visibility to distant vehicles by walking on the side of a zebra crosswalk nearest to the approaching traffic: That maximizes how much of your body appears against the stripes flickering behind you.)
The Beatles brought international fame to the zebra crossing in 1969 with the album cover for Abbey Road. The much-parodied image also inspired the current logo of Abbey Road Studios, where the album was recorded. Beatles producer Sir George Martin has a heraldic badge of a zebra carrying an abbot's crozier — along with a crest of a martin holding a recorder under its left wing, a Latin motto that could be translated as "Love is all you need," and a shield with three beetles. Go figure.
Source: Various
Wired.com Readers' Best Geek-o'-Lanterns

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Wired.com Photo Department

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Wired.com readers are nothing if not crafty. No medium or surface is safe from their geek icons, no matter how pulpy or gourd-like they may be. Every year we ask you to submit your best geek-o'-lanterns and just like the denizens of the netherworld, you did our bidding -- oozing en mass from the dark corners of the web to deliver juicy photo flesh to our feet.

Feast your eyes on the offerings of your fellow readers and rejoice that their contributions have spared our considerable wrath.

If your Halloween appetite is not sated by these delicious goodies, visit our gallery of favorite reader geek Halloween costumes.

Left:

Lupin III
Submitted by Donavon Cawley
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Venom Pumpkin
Submitted by rhesuspieces00
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Simple. Geeky.
Submitted by dosequis
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Tux
Submitted by bpa
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Domo-Kun
Submitted by Hoodles
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Deus Ex
Submitted by Tawnos
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Ziggy Stardust
Submitted by Carire Andersen
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Harry Potter on the Gryphon
Submitted by Chris Soria/Maniac Pumpkin Carvers
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Karlheinz Stockolantern
Submitted by Shawn Feeney
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Happy HALOween
Submitted by DigitalKleptl
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Gourddy Lee
Submitted by gnumoon
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Pumpkin Invader
Submitted by Jamie Molaro & Ian Reasor
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Darth Vader-kin
Submitted by Gabriel
ICANN Targeting Notorious Domain Name Seller

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Ryan Singel

The net's naming authority is moving to shut down a domain name seller after learning its CEO was convicted of online credit card fraud. Security researchers say the Estonia-based EstDomains plays too friendly with online criminals, while the company defends itself by saying it already has a new CEO.
Round Those Corners With CSS

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Webmonkey

Angular, boxy designs are great for furniture and old Volvos, but not web pages. Keep your content hip by encasing it within a set of smooth, rounded corners. The easiest (and most proper) way to create rounded corners is using web standards — HTML, JavaScript and cascading style sheets.
Retrial Date Set in RIAA v. Thomas

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by David Kravets

A federal judge has tentatively set March 9 for a retrial in the nation's only peer-to-peer file sharing case to go to trial. A judge declared a mistrial in the case, in which a jury ordered a Duluth, Minnesota, woman to pay $222,000 for infringing 24 music tracks. The mistrial concerned the level of proof required to find someone liable for copyright infringement.
Review: 'Zack and Miri' Scores With Funny Porno Farce

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Lewis Wallace

Kevin Smith's oddly charming flick mixes it up, spiking a surprisingly standard romantic comedy with sci-fi blasphemy and good-natured, goofball raunch.
No Sheep Throwing Allowed on LinkedIn

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Adam DuVander

Social networking site LinkedIn recently launched its application platform, but developer access will be limited to apps that fit with LinkedIn's business-centric brand. Silly stuff like sheep throwing, which is popular on Facebook, won't be accepted.
OMG! Gmail Adds SMS Chat

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Michael Calore

Gmail added mobile SMS messaging to its embedded chat Thursday evening. When turned on, the feature allows you to text your contacts from your desktop to their mobile phones and back, provided they can afford the texts under their mobile provider's plan. SMS is yet another extensible feature Gmail has added through its Labs section in the last couple weeks.
DDoS Attacks Strike Campaigns Against Same-Sex Marriage Bans

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Ryan Singel

A group fighting a California anti-gay marriage amendment says its website was attacked Wednesday night with a denial-of-service attack right as it launched a fundraising drive. The No on Prop 8 capaign says a similar Florida group was also hit with a DDoS and that the Secret Service is now investigating.
Ubuntu 'Intrepid Ibex' Brings More User-Friendly Features to Linux

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Scott Gilbertson

The latest release of the hugely popular Ubuntu Linux operating system has arrived, bringing with it an updated file browser, a new network manager and better device support. These features make it easier to use, but there's still work to be done if Linux is going to truly compete with the highly polished Windows and Mac OS X desktops.
Reduced Charges for Guns N' Roses Uploader, Deal in the 'Offing'

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by David Kravets

Federal authorities are reducing the charges levied against a Los Angeles man accused of uploading nine pre-preleased Guns N' Roses songs. Kevin Cogill's attorney said a plea deal may be in the "offing." The reduced charges mean Cogill faces a maximum one-year prison term, compared to five years.
Hard Times? Not for iPhone Developers

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Brian X. Chen

Despite the economic downturn, demand for iPhone developers has increased 500 percent in the past six months.
R.I.P. @MarsPhoenix: The Twitter Epitaph Contest

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Alexis Madrigal

Join the Twitter-style epitaph contest for Mars Phoenix, which may soon take its last look at the red planet as the Martian winter closes in on the solar-powered lander.
Military Investigates Amnesia Beams

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by David Hambling

For years, the U.S. military has been investigating how microwaves could trigger memory loss. Does that mean a Men In Black-style "Neuralizer" could be on the way?
iPhone Apps Are a Trojan Horse for Music Pricing

Fetched: October 31st, 2008, 2:06am CDT by Eliot Van Buskirk

Apple will let record labels sell songs through the iTunes music store at only one price: 99 cents. But when labels tack a game or graphics onto a song and sell as an iPhone app, they can circumvent Steve Jobs' edict about the price of music.
Video: Agroterror Lab Sits Just Off Long Island

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Alexis Madrigal

The Plum Island biosafety lab, just off of Long Island, is on a short list to become the new National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility that will handle airborne pathogens with no known cure.
Beatles Version of Rock Band to Offer Unprecedented Gameplay

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Eliot Van Buskirk

A Beatles-branded interactive music game along the lines of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, slated for release late next year, will give gamers and music lovers a chance to play songs from every stage of the Beatles' storied career, from the sweet simplicity of Please Please Me to more sophisticated fare like Abbey Road.
Wal-Mart to Sell Discounted Googlephone, Outrage Ensues

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Charlie Sorrel

Retail giant Wal-Mart will sell the T-Mobile G1 for $150 -- $30 less than you will pay in a T-Mobile store. You'll still need to sign up for a two year contract, but thirty bucks is thirty bucks, right? Predictably, the whining has already started. Just as when Apple reduced the price of the iPhone scant months after launch, early adopters are complaining about the price drop.
Eight Things to Expect in the Next iPhone Update

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Charlie Sorrel

One of the great things about the iPhone is the regular software updates. Free and automatic improvements are piped, hot and steaming, to your pocket computer. There next version of the iPhone operating system will be v2.2. We don't know exactly when it will arrive, but the leaks are springing fast, and the new OS is shaping up to be quite a useful looking update, full of new toys. Here's what the rumors say so far.
What's Inside Ultra-Strength Bengay?

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Patrick Di Justo

Camphor
Originally derived from a type of laurel tree (Cinnamomum camphora), this waxy aromatic substance has been used as a drug since the Middle Ages. It's absorbed quickly through the skin, where it activates the TRPV3 and TRPV1 nerve receptors, creating a cooling sensation followed by an analgesic—local anesthetic—effect. Camphor is also the active ingredient in Vicks VapoRub and some pest repellents—insects detest the smell. Nowadays, it's synthesized from turpentine oil.

Menthol
An extract of peppermint oil, menthol is often called peppermint camphor because the effects of the two are so similar (menthol triggers the TRPM8 nerve receptors). It adds a bracing, albeit fake, freshness to thousands of products, from cigarettes to mouthwashes to sunburn ointments.

Methyl Salicylate
Another mild analgesic, this is synthesized oil of wintergreen. It also happens to be a cousin of aspirin, and it's the spark-in-the-dark stuff in Wint-O-Green Life Savers. The substance's dirty little secret? It's toxic: Excessive use of topical methyl salicylate creams can be fatal, especially for teenagers, whose livers can't break it down quickly.

Carbomer 940
This clear thickening agent is made from cross-linked polymers of acrylic acid (the stuff in Plexiglas and floor polish). In gel form, it's used in hair styling products, and versions of it are present in "blue ice" cold packs. Ingestion or inhalation is hazardous, so don't Bengay a sore tongue.

Polysorbate 80
A favorite food of Zippy the Pinhead, polysorbate 80 is used in Bengay as an emulsifier, keeping the ingredients mixed. In other contexts, it's believed (by very desperate people) to halt hair loss by stripping away dihydrotestosterone from your scalp's hair follicles. There's somewhat stronger evidence that it causes infertility in rats—when lab technicians inject it directly into their little bodies.

Edetate Disodium
In the event of a calcium or digitalis overdose, this microcrystalline powder can be injected as an emergency measure to restore the body's calcium balance or heart rate. Here it acts as a preservative and stabilizer, preventing outside impurities from spoiling the contents.

Lanolin
Purified wool grease (lana is Latin for "wool"). Lanolin is secreted by the sebaceous glands of sheep and goats, waterproofing their coats. It's mostly cholesterol (lab-grade cholesterol is derived from lanolin) and other fatty acids, and it's used in topical products like Bengay to prevent the skin from drying out. Ever shaken hands with a shepherd? Sssoffft.

Potassium Hydroxide
Also known as caustic potash or lye. Naturally derived from wood ash, KOH is used to make liquid soaps and provides the "alkaline" in alkaline batteries. Concentrated KOH reacts violently with water (giving off tremendous heat) and with metals like zinc and copper (emitting potentially explosive hydrogen gas). Here it's just a humble emulsion stabilizer—ensuring all the ingredients mingle properly.
VC Warns Startups to Prepare for 'Orderly Shutdown'

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Besty Schiffman

The so-called "nuclear winter" that entrepreneur Marc Andreessen predicted back in April has arrived. And nobody in the Valley -- neither venture capitalists nor entrepreneurs -- know when the market will bottom -- much less when it will recover.
TiVo Set to Stream Netflix Movies by Christmas

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Meghan Keane

Four years in the making, the Tivo/Netflix streaming movie partnership is finally ready for prime time. Tivo is beginning tests of Netflix software today and expects to have the entire contents of Netflix’ streaming catalog available to its subscribers by early December.
Study: iPhone Users Not All High Earning Tech Geeks

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Meghan Keane

Only one percent of cellphone users have an iPhone, but they're not all high earning gadget geeks, according to ComScore. The fastest growing group of iPhone owners is comprised of low income earners.
Oct. 30, 1961: USSR's Biggest-Bang Theory Put to Test

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Tony Long

1961: The Soviet Union detonates the largest nuclear or thermonuclear weapon ever constructed.

The Tsar Bomba (as it was known in the West; the Soviets referred to it as Big Ivan or, more officially, RDS-220) was a three-stage hydrogen device with a 100-megaton capacity. Andrei Sakharov, who later suffered a crisis of conscience and became a celebrated Soviet anti-nuclear dissident, was the project leader and senior weapons designer.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered the building of the bomb during a meeting with Sakharov in July 1961. To say it was completed quickly is to say the least: The elapsed time from conception to detonation was a mere 16 weeks.

The bomb weighed 27 tons and was so big that the largest Soviet bomber, a Tu-95 "Bear," had to be heavily modified to accommodate both its girth and its weight.

The Tsar Bomba was built for midair detonation. An elaborate, five-stage parachute system was designed, with a main canopy area of 5,400 square feet to slow the bomb's descent, so the plane had time to clear the area.

That was accomplished with relative ease, but other design problems arose as the bomb neared completion. This might have caused a delay in testing if Sakharov hadn't overruled the skeptics while ramming through a few late modifications.

The bomb was dropped at around 11:30 a.m. Moscow time from an altitude of 6 miles above the Mityushikha Bay test range on the Arctic Sea island of Novaya Zemlya. It detonated in three stages at an altitude of 2.5 miles.

The explosion resulted in a cloud that boiled 210,000 feet (40 miles) into the sky. Its force obliterated every building in the deserted village of Severny, 34 miles from ground zero, and damaged structures more than 600 miles away.

Had the Tsar Bomba been detonated with its full 100-megaton force, the resulting fallout would have totaled 25 percent of all fallout emitted since Hiroshima. Although the actual yield has been disputed over the years, the number usually assigned is 50 megatons of TNT (more than 3,300 Hiroshima-size bombs).

Even at half its capacity, the bomb resulted in by far the largest man-made explosion ever. Its flash was visible from 600 miles away. According to one witness who visited ground zero in the aftermath: "The ground surface of the island has been leveled, swept and licked so that it looks like a skating rink. The same goes for rocks. The snow has melted and their sides and edges are shiny. There is not a trace of unevenness in the ground.... Everything in this area has been swept clean, scoured, melted and blown away."

For his role in the test, bomber pilot and mission commander Maj. Andrei E. Durnovtsev was promoted to lieutenant colonel and made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The bomb came along at a time of tense relations between the United States and the USSR. Nearly two years had passed since Khrushchev's speech declaring the Soviet Union's support for wars of national liberation, only six months since the U.S. fiasco at the Bay of Pigs, and barely two months since the construction of the Berlin Wall. The two countries were actually involved in nuclear-test-ban negotiations, and the timing of the test was seen largely as a measure of Khrushchev's dissatisfaction with the way things were going.

In reality, the Tsar Bomba was impractical, more effective as a propaganda weapon than anything else. The bomb was too large to be delivered by an ICBM, meaning it could only be delivered by strategic bomber. The only three American metropolitan areas sprawling enough to warrant being targeted by such a weapon (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles) required at least eight hours of flying time over enemy airspace and were therefore unreachable, owing to U.S. air defenses.

Still, the bomb was an excellent example of the Russian penchant for gigantism. Even the western nickname itself, Tsar Bomba, or "King of the Bombs," was inspired by other Russian behemoths: Tsar Kolokol, the world's largest bell, and Tsar Pushka, the world's largest cannon, both on display at the Kremlin.

Two Tsar Bombas were built. The one they didn't drop, a dummy, remains on display at the Russian Atomic Museum in Arzamas-16 (now Sarov), the formerly secret city where the bomb was built.

Source: Various
Obama's Secret Weapons: Internet, Databases, Psychology

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Sarah Lai Stirland

As the presidential candidates race to get out the vote, Obama enjoys an advantage on the ground, thanks to social networking tools, voter databases and a theory of organizing developed by Harvard researchers for the Sierra Club.
Just Drag and Drop Audio Tracks With Sleek Multimedia Phone

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Steven Leckart

What's this? A non-iPhone multimedia phone with drag-and-drop ease that integrates beautifully with a Mac? Introducing the sequel to Sony's slim W880i — the W890i.
Gallery: Mutant Mods and Anarchy at Bike Kill

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Bryan Derballa

: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
NEW YORK -- In a sport dominated by carbon fiber and spandex, Bike Kill is a big, fat stick in the spokes. Imagine the Tour de France taking place in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, then add plenty of broken glass, beer, blood and vomit.
It begins as a celebration of punk rock, DIY and mutant bike creations, like the tall bikes championed by the Black Label Bicycle Club. But after a Beerelay Race, the Six-Pack Attack, a food fight and dodging foam skulls in the gauntlet, the event deteriorates into anarchy.

Black Label has hosted the Bike Kill event for the last six years on a dead-end street in the heart of Brooklyn. This year's event was possibly the most heinous ever. Click through the gallery to peep the mods and mayhem.

Left:

A festival-goer rides one of the mutant bikes. It’s not the fastest steed in the stable but it utilizes an intuitive technology. Whether it’s bikes, boots or both, it’s getting there that counts.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
A mini tall-bike leans against the wall waiting for the next brave rider. Black Label builders use whatever scrapped parts they can find for their two-wheeled concoctions. Here, they've welded a vintage step-through road bike frame to a children’s bike.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
While surf bikes are popular, helmets are not. This bike features a flat board for riders to surf while another pedals. It’s also great for picking up pizzas.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Bike Kill always occurs around Halloween and sometimes the bikes need costumes, too — like this Top Gun tandem complete with "Danger Zone" cassette tape.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Although Bike Kill is about creation, there is always a fair amount of destruction. This BK attendee decided an impromptu bike toss was in order. Last year, visitors flipped a car and bashed in the windows with skateboards and BMX bikes.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
This is one of the more elaborate cycle creations. If both riders pedal forward, the contraption spins in circles. If one rider pedals backwards it's propelled forward. There’s always room for bystanders to hitch a ride if they don’t mind being upside down half the time.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
You'll hear the barrel tandem bike before you see it. It’s the loudest bike in the Bike Kill arsenal with empty barrels rolling across the asphalt. Sure, it’s not fast, but it is intimidating.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
With a couple garbage bags of day-old bread as ammo, a full-fledged food fight breaks out, with pitas being tossed like ninja stars. A bag of flour is used as a smoke shield.

After a few hours of light rain, the discarded food created a slick sludge that added to the dangers of actually riding a bike at Bike Kill.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Somehow Bike Kill always manages to secure a permit from the city. But they don’t do much beyond that and no bathrooms were available. The beer store around the corner actually ran out of beer.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
A favorite Bike Kill event is Dirty Mattress, in which a rider pedals a passenger as fast as he can on a surf bike, which is tethered to a pole. When the bike reaches the end of its rope, the passenger is flung headfirst into a very dirty mattress to the delight of onlookers.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
The front half of this pedal-powered chopper is made of tubing with tiny holes. A butane tank mounted to the frame provides fuel for the flame that passes through the tube. Visibility is a very important tenant of bicycle safety.
: Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
This beast of a bike is motor-powered and sports a butane-powered flamethrower on the front. It has one small tube for the pilot flame and a larger second tube with a regulator that controls the size of the torch. Just another reminder for cars to respect their two-wheeled compatriots.
10 iPhone Apps We Wish Existed

Fetched: October 30th, 2008, 2:36pm CDT by Wired Magazine

Wish Existed -->
Yo, Mama Automatically sends your mother a loving text message — right before she calls to ask why you never call.

OhYeah? A microphone-based utility that instantly translates a flat one-liner into a witty bon mot. Face!

iNebriate A voice analyzer that determines if you're sauced and shuts down the phone before you drunk-dial your ex.

StarGazer A GPS-tracking app that pings you when celebrities are in the vicinity — so you can stalk them.

iNewton Turns your iPhone into a perfect re-creation of the coolest PDA of 1993.

CoryCaddy^TM A voice sample of blogger Cory Doctorow continually reminding you that your iPhone is a pathetic piece of DRM-riddled crippleware. (Also works as a ringtone.)

WherzDaBoss? A GPS-tracking system that gives real-time updates of your boss's location and warns you when the overlord is within earshot of your desk.

Meta-4 Crafts metaphors and similes faster than a $2.99 Indian buffet passing through your digestive tract.

Peril-S

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