“grim meathook funnies” by Blackbelt Jones

From Hack a Day, this video demos “reading and logging unique IDs of random tags and Passport Cards while cruising around San Francisco”:

More details on this from The Register:

The $250 proof-of-concept device – which researcher Chris Paget built in his spare time – operates out of his vehicle and contains everything needed to sniff and then clone RFID, or radio frequency identification, tags. During a recent 20-minute drive in downtown San Francisco, it successfully copied the RFID tags of two passport cards without the knowledge of their owners.

…

Paget’s device consists of a Symbol XR400 RFID reader (now manufactured by Motorola), a Motorola AN400 patch antenna mounted to the side of his Volvo XC90, and a Dell 710m that’s connected to the RFID reader by ethernet cable. The laptop runs a Windows application Paget developed that continuously prompts the RFID reader to look for tags and logs the serial number each time one is detected. He bought most of the gear via auctions listed on eBay.

thanks to Vertigo Jones for the tip-off!

On November 14th, 2008, the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology and the Lifeboat Foundation hosted the “GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISKS: Building a Resilient Civilization” seminar in Sillicon Valley’s Computer History Museum.     The speakers list was a who’s who of transhumanists and futurists and now the talks are all available on IEET’s website.

I haven’t worked my way through the list, yet, but they’re definately worth checking out – and they’re available in video and mp3 formats.

We Live In Public TRAILER from We Live in Public on Vimeo.

A trailer for the new Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning documentary about Josh Harris, the founder of  late 90′s “internet TV channel” PSEUDO.COM as well as the father of a series of exercises in Living on the Internet back when there was still novelty in that sort of thing.    (His most notorious piece was probably the epic art installation “Quiet: We Live in Public.”)

Forgotten Detroit:

Detroit is known for one of the most stunning collections of pre-depression architecture in the world. The past two decades have seen several of these treasures sit vacant, waiting for economic revival.

From Gizmodo:

We’re no stranger to the Hubble telescope here at Gizmodo, but our relationship up until this point has been a passive one. Today, however, NASA is asking the public were to point it.

There are six targets in all, and NASA is currently conducting a poll to figure out which one to survey using the venerable (and at times glitch-ridden) space telescope.

Voting concludes March 1, so you have some time to deliberate and research your choice. “Spiral Galaxy: NGC 5172″ currently leads, followed by the plucky “Interacting Galaxies: Arp 274″ in second, and the moxie-filled “Star-Forming Region: NGC 6634″ is in third.

A vote to tell them where to point the Hubble? Excellent. I’d rather vote for this (and my choice was the Interacting Galaxies: Arp 274) than the next POD-like singer on TV.