Jay's Updates

Just a really quick entry to point out what's been keeping me busy. I've put in the time to make some recent updates and changes to the jump4jay.com "family" of sites.

• Jay's Headspace is now sporting a brand new theme. I think it looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself.
• Jay's Eyesite is my new photoblog where I intend to shocase a new photo about every day or two.
• My forums received a shiny new header logo as well today.
• My TagWorld and Myspace pages also recently got overhauled. Have a look see.
  

Some cool upcoming dates in 2006

06:06:06 06/06/06 (6 minutes and 6 seconds past 6 on June 6th, 2006)

11:10:09 08/07/06 (10 minutes and 9 seconds past 11 on 8th of July 2006
in the UK system or on 7th of August 2006 in the US system)

Better stock up!

Death penalty? Check! Handguns? Check! "Hello Kitty" vibrators? Bzzzzt! Banned in South Carolina, if a proposed bill is made law:

Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys. But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states.

The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

[via boing boing]

Read More Here

Stealth sharks to patrol the high seas

"IMAGINE getting inside the mind of a shark: swimming silently through the ocean, sensing faint electrical fields, homing in on the trace of a scent, and navigating through the featureless depths for hour after hour.

We may soon be able to do just that via electrical probes in the shark's brain. Engineers funded by the US military have created a neural implant designed to enable a shark's brain signals to be manipulated remotely, controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling."

Forum Link

ORGANLEGGERS!

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York authorities on Thursday charged four men with illegally harvesting and selling tissue from 1,077 dead people in the past four years, possibly including the remains of British broadcaster Alistair Cooke.

The men, including the chief executive of a company that sold human tissue for medical implants, were indicted on charges including conspiracy, unlawful dissection and forgery.

Prosecutors said the men, working with a Brooklyn funeral home, got bones and organs from the bodies of people who were not organ donors. The tissue was then sold via legitimate medical channels for use in procedures like hip replacements.

Many of the deceased would have been ineligible as donors due to illness or age, including Cooke, a longtime host of the U.S. TV program 'Masterpiece Theater' and known for his Letter from America BBC broadcasts, who died in 2004."

(Organlegger as a term was first created by Larry Niven. I highly recommend his books.)
Forum Link

NASA Detects 'Totally New' Mystery Explosion Nearby

"Astronomers have detected a new type of cosmic outburst that they can't yet explain. The event was very close to our galaxy, they said.

The eruption might portend an even brighter event to come, a supernova.

It was spotted by NASA's Swift telescope and is being monitored by other telescopes around the world as scientists wait to see what will happen.

Neil Gehrels, principal investigator for the Swift mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, called the event 'totally new, totally unexpected.'

If the eruption indeed precedes a supernova, then it would reach peak brightness in about a week, scientists said."

Forum Link

SPACE.com -- NASA Plans Six New Centennial Challenges

"NASA is drawing up plans for six new Centennial Challenges as part of the agency’s series of contests that offers cash prizes for technological achievements.

The space agency is seeking comments from potential competitors and partners on draft rules for each of the proposed new Centennial Challenges. The contests range from the development of affordable spacesuits to launching fuel pods into orbit or flying a controllable vehicle driven by a solar sail.

Prizes for the planned challenges, which are not yet finalized, could range from $500,000 for the spacesuit contest to $5 million for the fuel pod contest, according to the draft rules released by NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate."

Forum Link

Hot rock: $25,000 for star's kidney stone

Reuters) - Going maybe where no other actor has gone before, 'Star Trek' star William Shatner has sold a piece of his body for charity.

Shatner, famed for playing Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise in the original 'Star Trek' TV series, sold his kidney stone to online casino GoldenPalace.Com for $25,000. The money will be donated by Shatner to Habitat for Humanity to build houses for the poor.

But Shatner said it wasn't easy parting with a kidney stone, even if it had already left his body. He also said he would never sell unless he had visitation rights.

25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005

Selected from hundreds of nominees by a panel of EarthCam producers, EarthCam announces the most unique and compelling webcams of 2005.

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