A Steampunk Desk Clock for the Discerning Fellow

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Most of us have desk clocks. Simple, cheap, boring digital devices that tell us the time, wake us for work in the morning, and generally get ignored when we aren't actively using them. Your current clock may be perfectly functional, but stylistically its dead. The only statement that a cheap, run-of-the-mill desk clock makes about you is, “I don't care what my clock looks like.”

That's not necessarily a bad statement to make, but it is a pretty bland one. On the other hand, if you buy this awesome gas-filled Nixie tube clock you are shouting out to the world that you enjoy the finer things in existence. The Nixie clock carries an aesthetic that has almost passed from the world, and I think it is one worth preserving. If you agree, you can pick one up for a steep $275 here.

Posted on Thu, 4 Jun 2009 09:30:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Monthly Bandwidth Limits on Mobile Broadband, Should You be Concerned?

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Each time I write about a new USB modem or mobile phone that needs a data plan I wonder about consumers that pay so much for mobile connectivity with such high restrictions placed on the service. If I am paying $60 per month for 3G mobile broadband, I expect to be able to actually use the service and 5GB seems bad.

The typical mobile data plan has a monthly download limit of 5GB, which means that after you download 5GB worth of material in any given month you are subject to paying on a per megabyte basis. If you think overages for going over your minutes talking or texting are bag, wait until you download an average file on a per megabyte rate. Read more

Posted on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:51:45 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Hackers attacked LHC Servers at CERN

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The "Black Hole Maker" LHC has been switched on a couple days ago amidst high attention. The press was making fun of end of world fears triggered by the largest scientific experiment of mankind.
Now apparently some hackers have gotten pretty close in gaining control of one of the huge detectors of the LHC raising security concerns. Read more

Posted on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

CERN Black Hole Maker LHC starts circulating Tomorrow

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For some tomorrow is the end of the world as we know it as CERN is switching on the LHC and starts creating tiny black holes.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been built in a circular tunnel 27km in circumference. The tunnel is buried around 50 to 175m underground. It straddles the Swiss and French borders on the outskirts of Geneva as reported back in 2005.
CERN is now circulating the first beams on September 10, 2008. The first collisions at high energy are still expected to be a month later with the first results from the experiments soon after. Read more

Posted on Tue, 9 Sep 2008 09:15:34 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

CERN Large Hadron Collider goes Colder than Outer Space

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The first sector of CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to be cooled down has reached a temperature of 1.9 K (‑271°C), colder than deep outer space.

Although it is just 1/8th of the LHC ring, this sector is the world’s largest superconducting installation.
I reported in 2005 the first time about this huge gadget in Switzerland. The entire 27km LHC ring needs to be cooled down to this low temperature in order for the superconducting magnets that guide and focus the proton beams to remain in a superconductive state.

"This is the first major step in the technical validation of a full-scale portion of the LHC," explained LHC project leader Lyndon Evans.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:25:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

CERN's Black Hole Maker LHC on Track

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I saw a report on TV about the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider) that should be finished in 2007, and its just crazy how huge this thing is.

The LHC just got its first magnet. 5,000 will be placed around the 27km long particle accelerator. The magnets are superconducting.
In the report I saw the hopes are that the LHC will help understand dark matter by producing mini black holes.
More details on BBC News and on CERN's site.

Read more

Posted on Tue, 8 Mar 2005 02:46:31 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr