I, for one, would like to welcome our hoop jumping, tuna munching overlords.

At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, Kelly the dolphin has quite a reputation. All the institute’s dolphins are trained to hold onto any litter that falls into their pools until they see a trainer, when they can trade the litter for fish. Kelly took this task one step further. When people drop paper into the water she hides it under a rock at the bottom of the pool. The next time a trainer passes, she tears off a piece of paper to give to the trainer. After a fish-reward, she goes back down, tears off another piece of paper, gets another fish, and so on. This behaviour is particularly interesting because it suggests that Kelly has a sense of the future and delays gratification.

At Kewalo Basin Marine Laboratory in Hawaii, Lou Herman and his team have developed a sign language to communicate with the dolphins, and the results are remarkable. Not only do the dolphins understand the meaning of individual words, they also understand the significance of word order in a sentence. For example, they generally responded correctly straight away to “touch the Frisbee with your tail and then jump over it.” This has the characteristics of true under- standing, not rigid training.

Just how bloody smart are these dolphins anyway? [Environmental Graffiti]

If my boss is reading - I don't know what they're talking about and I just liked the pictures, I didn't read the article.

In between typing up reports and poring over spreadsheets, we use our office PCs to keep up with our lives. We do birthday shopping, check out funny clips on YouTube and catch up with friends by email or instant message. And often it's just easier to accomplish certain tasks using consumer technology than using the sometimes clunky office technology our company gives us -- compare Gmail with a corporate email account.

Here's only one problem with what we're doing: Our employers sometimes don't like it.

To find out whether it's possible to get around the IT departments, we asked Web experts for some advice. Specifically, we asked them to find the top 10 secrets our IT departments don't want us to know. How to surf to blocked sites without leaving any traces, for instance, or carry on instant-message chats without having to download software. But, to keep everybody honest, we also turned to security pros to learn just what chances we take by doing an end run around the IT department.

Here, then, are the 10 secrets your IT department doesn't want you to know, the risks you'll face if you use them -- and tips about how to keep yourself (and your job) safe while you're at it.

Ten things your IT department won't tell you. [WSJ]

Wet = Rain, Bright = Sunny, Windy = High probability of the Marilyn Monroe effect.

My favorite part of the entire page is the warning at the end:

Don't risk your life or well-being based on these indicators and proverbs. Predicting the weather in this manner is not an exact science.

Considering even Meteorologists are usually batting only about .200, I'd have to agree. That said, the advice isn't totally useless. Though some are better than others.

• Check the grass for dew at sunrise.
• Remember the rhyme: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky at morning, sailors take warning."
• Look for a rainbow in the west.
• Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and smell the air.
• Watch the clouds.
• Observe animals. They are more likely to react to changes in air pressure than we are.
• Look at the moon during the night.

How to predict the weather without a forecast. [Wikihow]

No tv and no beer make Homer something something.

Fantasy vs. Reality:
Marge: Homer, is this how you pictured married life?
Homer: Yeah, pretty much, except we drove around in a van solving mysteries.
Things always seem to play out better in your head. Except in the case of threesomes.

Knowledge Needs to be Prioritized:
Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
Sports stats, winning poker hands, what goes in a Gimlet? Stored. Her phone number? That's why God invented speed dial.

Compassion for Your Fellow Man:
Homer: Well crying isn't going to help. Now, you can sit there feeling sorry for yourself or you can eat can after can of dog food until your tears smell enough like dog food that your dog comes back, or you can go out there and find your dog.
Bart: You're right.
[Gets up and leaves]
Homer: Rats. I almost had him eating dog food.
No matter how bad your buddy is feeling, you'd be remiss if you let an opportunity pass to screw with him while he's vulnerable.

21 things I learned about being a guy from the Simpsons. [thebachelorguy.com]

SIM Planet: Coming Soon to a console near you.

The late Carl Sagan once asked this question, “What does it mean for a civilization to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilization is a few hundred years old... an advanced civilization millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bush baby or a macaque.”

Although any conjecture about such advanced civilizations is a matter of sheer speculation, one can still use the laws of physics to place upper and lower limits on these civilizations. In particular, now that the laws of quantum field theory, general relativity, thermodynamics, etc. are fairly well-established, physics can impose broad physical bounds which constrain the parameters of these civilizations.

This question is no longer a matter of idle speculation. Soon, humanity may face an existential shock as the current list of a dozen Jupiter-sized extra-solar planets swells to hundreds of earth-sized planets, almost identical twins of our celestial homeland. This may usher in a new era in our relationship with the universe: we will never see the night sky in the same way ever again, realizing that scientists may eventually compile an encyclopedia identifying the precise co-ordinates of perhaps hundreds of earth-like planets.

Today, every few weeks brings news of a new Jupiter-sized extra-solar planet being discovered, the latest being about 15 light years away orbiting around the star Gliese 876. The most spectacular of these findings was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which captured breathtaking photos of a planet 450 light years away being sling-shot into space by a double-star system.

But the best is yet to come. Early in the next decade, scientists will launch a new kind of telescope, the interferome try space telescope, which uses the interference of light beams to enhance the resolving power of telescopes.

The Physics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations. [mkaku.org]

One box, two box, red box, green box that could potentially eliminate carbon emissions.

The world's richest corporations and finest minds spend billions trying to solve the problem of carbon emissions, but three fishing buddies in North Wales believe they have cracked it. They have developed a box which they say can be fixed underneath a car in place of the exhaust to trap the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming -- including carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide -- and emit mostly water vapor.

The captured gases can be processed to create a biofuel using genetically modified algae. Dubbed "Greenbox", the technology developed by organic chemist Derek Palmer and engineers Ian Houston and John Jones could, they say, be used for cars, buses, lorries and eventually buildings and heavy industry, including power plants.

A box to make biofuel from car fumes. [Reuters]

File the Real ID under "Stupid ideas that are now dead stupid ideas that should stay dead".

The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the failure of an amendment offered to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would have authorized $300 million of federal funding for states to implement the Real ID driver’s license program, which has been estimated by DHS to cost $23.1 billion. The ACLU deemed the proposal "sucker money" because it aimed to entice states to accept a paltry amount of funding for a flawed program that would ultimately cost millions more in state taxes and licensing fees.

The amendment was killed when a motion to table it passed 49 to 45, after both the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), respectively, spoke passionately against the funding proposal. The death of this amendment means the states will receive no additional federal funding to implement Real ID, dealing a crushing blow to the viability of the unworkable program.

"Real ID is dead in the water, and it is clear that no amount of money can save it," said ACLU Legislative Counsel Tim Sparapani. "The only solution to Real ID is to scrap and replace it, and Congress has caught on. With seventeen states opposed to this program and the U.S. Senate standing behind them, this is the beginning of the end of Real ID. $300 million does not even come close to covering the costs of the program, and it is not enough to lure Americans to give up their privacy."

Failure of Real ID Funding Proposal. [ACLU]

How do you know if you have a tough mosquito? You slap him and he slaps you back.

You're flipping burgers for the neighborhood barbecue, and the mosquitoes have already begun their feast -- on you. As you swat madly at the pests, you notice other folks seem completely unfazed. Could it be that mosquitoes prefer dining on some humans over others? This may clear up the mystery.

It's true. Mosquitoes do exhibit blood-sucking preferences, say the experts. "One in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes," reports Jerry Butler, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Florida. Incidentally, it's not dinner they're sucking out of you. Female mosquitoes -- males do not bite people -- need human blood to develop fertile eggs. And apparently, not just anyone's.

"People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes," Butler tells WebMD. That doesn't necessarily mean that mosquitoes prey on people with higher overall levels of cholesterol, Butler explains. These people simply may be more efficient at processing cholesterol, the byproducts of which remain on the skin's surface.

Mosquitoes also target people who produce excess amounts of certain acids, such as uric acid, explains entomologist John Edman, PhD, spokesman for the Entomological Society of America. These substances can trigger mosquitoes' sense of smell, luring them to land on unsuspecting victims.

"Any type of carbon dioxide is attractive, even over a long distance," Conlon says. Larger people tend to give off more carbon dioxide, which is why mosquitoes typically prefer munching on adults to small children. Pregnant women are also at increased risk, as they produce a greater-than-normal amount of exhaled carbon dioxide. Movement and heat also attract mosquitoes.

Are You A Mosquito Magnet? [WebMD]

If you have an overwhelming desire to stare at the sun, now would be the best time to do so.

While sidewalks crackle in the summer heat, NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on the sun. It is almost spotless, a sign that the Sun may have reached solar minimum. Scientists are now watching for the first spot of the new solar cycle to appear.

The 11 year long solar cycle is marked by two extremes, solar minimum and solar maximum. Solar minimum is the period of least solar activity in the solar cycle of the sun. During this time sunspot and solar flare activity diminishes, and often does not occur for days at a time. When spots begin to appear on the sun once again, scientists know that the sun is heading into a new season of extreme solar activity. At the cycle's peak, solar maximum, the sun is continually peppered with spots, solar flares erupt, and the sun hurls billion-ton clouds of electrified gas into space.

The Sun Loses Its Spots. [NASA]

Beans, beans they make you smart...well these don't. They actually make you laugh...hysterically.

Remember when we said that we had an affinity for the insanely genius? This fine example requires you to have your speakers turned on, though we don't recommend turning them up. You don't want to see this turned up to 11.


Screaming Beans. [simonpanrucker.com]

It is sort of like trying to throw a doughnut between two fat kids.

Gravity Pods is a vector-based physics shooter/puzzle. The objective is simple: shoot a projectile at a target. Of course, there are some barriers, and naturally there is a way around those barriers. By strategically placing Gravity Pods around the screen, you can bend the path your projectile takes, so that it goes around walls, down halls, curves back on itself etc. The trick is figuring out where to put them to lead the projectile to the target. The first levels are simple, but it gets progressively tougher as the courses get harder, and more elements come into play.

Gravity Pods. [Wicked Pissah Games]

Open source is the new Bill Brasky.

More love for open source software.

Great Free Files: 20 fantastic open source downloads. [PC World]

The easiest way to scare off a stalker is to stalk them better than they're stalking you, and here's how...

You can use the web to find lots of things: information, videos, books, music, games, and yes, even public records. While our most private information can (usually) not be found online, you can track down items like birth certificates, marriage and divorce information, obituaries and licenses on the web. Keep reading to learn where to find public records online.

All of the following web sites and methods of discovery are absolutely free, unless stated otherwise. There are many sites out there that advertise themselves as being free, but charge for their services - and they are not providing anything that you can't find yourself. If you do end up having to pay for something, it will most likely be at a physical location (i.e., a courthouse) in order to procure a copy of a particular public record.

Where to find public records online. [Lifehacker]

The Director of Programming at Fox couldn't find his ass with a map and wouldn't know a good show if it shit in his cereal.

Pissed about Deadwood no longer being on the air? How about those gorram idiots over at Fox canceling Firefly and Arrested Development without thinking twice? Miss last week's episode of Entourage? Have you somehow never seen footage of the Hindenburg disaster? Itching for a good battle scene involving the Dinobots? Did you laugh hysterically while your girlfriend screamed in horror as Brad Pitt was doing an Oscar-worthy impersonation of a pinball in Meet Joe Black?

TV Links. [tvlinks.co.uk]

Thanks Salvy.

Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot.

We've known for years that color laser printers can embed a series of tiny yellow dots on pages they print. The dots—almost invisible under normal circumstances—can be used to determine which particular printer produced the image. Essentially, each printer outputs its own serial number. This is great for busting counterfeiters but raises all sorts of privacy concerns. Now, MIT students are getting involved in the campaign against the dots with the new Seeing Yellow project.

Seeing Yellow is the brainchild of MIT's Computing Culture research group, which "want to preserve the right to anonymous communication by fighting both printing dots and the government bullying used to sustain them." The project was conceived after the team received word that an anonymous hacker had called his printer manufacturer to complain and was subsequently visited by the Secret Service, who were curious to know why someone with nothing to hide would want to disable the tracking dots.

Seeing Yellow now encourages waves of people to contact printer manufacturers, enough so that the Secret Service and other government agencies cannot simply single out those who call to complain. The project is simple: suggest that people call manufacturers, then provide contact information and talking points. That's it. So far, according to the site, 434 people have called.

MIT project aims human buffer overflow at Secret Service. [ARStechnica]