It seems another sociopath has found his way on an airplane. As a result, the rest of us will endure increasingly invasive TSA checkpoints and restrictions while flying. According to a TSA press release:

Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in.”

Interestingly Delta was quick to declare this flight was operated by Northwest Airlines. The official Delta statement sounds as if they are designed to create distance from the NWA subsidiary. Delta should declare their ownership and describe in detail how they will meet the challenges and coordinate with the TSA moving forward. All this posturing doesn’t increase our trust in their organization.

I’ve read the accounts and there is no mention of a sky marshall. Apparently, ultimately, we’re responsible for subduing our own terrorists. Lovely.

I prefer the Israeli Model. People are the threat, not the things they carry.

(See also: NYtimes: For Airline Passengers, Searches and Restroom Monitors )
(See also: WP: Fear and heroism aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 after attempted bombing)
(See also: CNN: New Detroit scare declared ‘non-serious’)
(See also: TSA and DHS Statements on Northwest Airlines Flight 253)

(See also: FC: Full-Body Scanners at Airports: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)
(See also: Lawsuit against the Department of Justice concerning the illegal strip-search nature of whole body scans.)

(See also: NYtimes: The Israeli Model)

Hey, does anyone want to chip in and buy a computer company? I would be interested in Sun, but I’m not sure what IP is left at SGI.

I was at Cray during the SGI occupation. Yet, I am sad to see SGI agree to sell itself for $25 million Wednesday after seeking bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years. It is another signal of the passing of an era.

(See also: SGI for a Song)
(See also: SGI timeline)
(See also: SGI)

Today Cray introduced a 62lb desk-side supercomputer chassis, sporting either Windows HPC Server 2008 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Both operating systems come with a web-based management interface. Future support will include SuSE. The unit is also available in a 7U rack-mount weighing 136lbs, fully loaded.

The CX1 is Intel Xeon powered with up to 16 dual and/or quad core processors. Up to 8 nodes with up to 64 GB of RAM per node. Featuring compute, storage, and visualization blades. The CX1 runs on power from a standard wall socket (20amp/110/220v) and active noise canceling allows it to blend into the office environment.

U.S. list prices start at $25,000 continue over $60,000.
The cool bit is website lets you configure your own.

Has anyone seen one of these in the wild? Perhaps you need someone to benchmark some life science codes?

(See also: cray.com:products:CX1)
(See also: cray.com:CX1 demo)
(See also: cray.com:CX1:resources)
(See also: cray.com:press release:CX1)
(See also: Cray:blog)
(See also: Engadget:CX1)

Laptop teleconferencing can be intimate and personal. Working best in one-on-one communication. Most corporate video conferencing installations leave me feeling detached and un-engaged. Why are the best and brightest trying to cover the globe? It isn’t sustainable for either carbon units.

Ultra-high definition, low latency, multichannel audio to allow you to talk interactively. Every wrinkle, every gray hair, every non-verbal signal. Telepresence conferencing, should be a tool creating an immersive interface that becomes transparent between interactive groups of people.

What happens when you put the telepresence portal near the virtual water cooler? Aside from the time difference in physically distant locations, it makes me wonder if incidental interactions could produce measurable productivity results. A Ponte Vecchio of ideas and community.

Accelerated decision making, improved relationships by elevating the frequency of contacts. Organizations are all becoming distributed, but what happens when we start to use these services between companies? This could potentially level the playing field for contractors and widely distributed matrix organizations.

What broker or commons would make this service viable?

(See also: Elizabeth F. Churchill, Yahoo! Research)

Stumbled across this article promoting Norwegian for English language speakers this evening.

Funny to me for three reasons: first, I married a Norwegian who delights in her heritage and regales us with traditional tales from the homeland. Second, our daughter has just returned from two weeks of Norwegian language camp ready to practice her new skills. Third, my spouse and my daughter now have their own private language.

My linguistic tricks include German, Modern and Classical Greek, and this article, I’m optimistic.

(See also: Why Norwegian is Easiest Language for English Speakers to Learn)