DaimlerChrysler: Information Bridge from Car to Car

With the aid of car-to-car communications, the selective forwarding of information helps to optimize traffic flow and appreciably enhances traffic safety. For example, if a vehicle encounters a critical situation such as congestion, fog, ice or an accident, it can pass the relevant information on to all road users in the immediate vicinity of the danger spot. Traffic approaching from further away is given ample warning and can respond to the situation.

Cars equipped with DSRC can communicate directly with one another, also making it possible to transmit braking signals back over several vehicles, giving drivers early warning that they might soon have to brake. In this information network, each vehicle can take on the role of a sender, receiver or router. It allows a chain of information to be passed on, like a relay race. With the aid of this process, known as multi-hopping, information can be spread further to cover a substantial distance.

Thanks to my brother Ralph for this one.

Dr. Strangelove

The New Yorker this week has an article (not online) about Herman Kahn, the RAND think tank denizen who was the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." If you're old enough to remember the 1950s, then you remember the hysteria over nuclear war - hiding under desks, building fallout shelters, Nike bases, etc. One interesting tidbit from this article is that we now know the true number of nuclear missiles the Soviet Union had in 1960: four. Yeah, you read that right: four.

Noodle Kugel

Here's is Grandma Doreen's recipe for noodle kugel:

12 oz package flat egg noodles
butter
16 oz cottage cheese (can be low fat)
2 eggs
milk
vanilla
salt
1/4 c. sugar
2 kids packages of raisins
ground cinnamon

Boil the noodles until al dente, about 6 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° and butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Beat eggs until frothy. Add a little milk, like for scrambled eggs. Add vanilla, salt and sugar to taste. Beat. Add cottage cheese and raisins and mix well. When noodles are done, drain them and put them in the baking pan. Pour the egg mixture over them and mix well. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. Bake for 40 minutes,

Doom 3

I enjoyed playing the original Doom when it came out, and I haven't been able to play the latest version, Doom 3, because I don't have the right hardware. It has pretty exacting requirements. I happen to need a new desktop computer due to the disc on my old Dell starting to flake out and this time I will make sure it supports Doom 3. Here are the Doom 3 hardware requirements:

• 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectX® 9.0b compatible 64MB Hardware Accelerated video card and the latest drivers*.
• English version of Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP
• Pentium® IV 1.5 GHz or Athlon® XP 1500+ processor or higher
• 384MB RAM
• 8x Speed CD-ROM drive (1200KB/sec sustained transfer rate) and latest drivers
• 2.2GB of uncompressed free hard disk space (plus 400MB for Windows® swap file)
• 100% DirectX® 9.0b compatible 16-bit sound card and latest drivers
• 100% Windows® 2000/XP compatible mouse, keyboard and latest drivers
• DirectX® 9.0b (included)

MULTIPLAYER REQUIREMENTS:
• Internet (TCP/IP) and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported
• Internet play requires broadband connection and latest drivers
• LAN play requires network interface card and latest drivers
Important Note: *Some 3D accelerator cards with the chipset listed here may not be compatible with the 3D accelerator features utilized by Doom 3. Please refer to your hardware manufacturer for 100% DirectX 9.0b compatibility. This product does not support Microsoft® Windows® 95/98/ME or NT.

SUPPORTED CHIPSETS:
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 8500
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9000
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9200
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9500
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9600
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9700
• ATI® Radeon(tm) 9800
• All nVidia® GeForce(tm) 3/Ti series
• All nVidia® GeForce(tm) 4MX series
• All nVidia® GeForce(tm) 4/Ti series
• All nVidia® GeForce(tm) FX series
• nVidia® GeForce(tm) 6800

Dodgeball

Ayelet Waldman disses dodgeball in Salon. My memories of playing it in grade school are pleasant — and I was anything but athletic. I'd get bonked by a ball and go stand in the elimination line and yak with my friends. After awhile, I'd get back in, maybe get lucky and eliminate one of the jocks, but mostly not, just get back in the elimination line again. It was easy and painless, mostly spent standing and talking, and once in awhile a score on the jocks to gloat over. All those balls flying around every which way added a bit of randomness that kept the jocks from their usual total domination.

Now touch football - that was a bitch. I had to play every play and I was often injured. Nothing too serious, but the bruises, sprains and dislocations hurt for a long time. I was hopeless at pullups, touching toes and climbing ropes - that was for the skinny guys. Baseball was OK, you mostly wait, once in awhile catch a ball, and that was nice. Track and basketball were too much huffing and puffing after the faster kids. Swimming I liked - it's easier to float when you're a bit pudgy. I remember one of the jocks sinking straight to the bottom, had to be rescued - nice. Wrestling - yuck. Calisthenics and weight lifting were boring, but obviously beneficial so OK.

"Jack" FM

K Rock 96.5, a local "classic alternative" FM radio station (owned by Infinity Broadcasting) is switching to the new "Jack" format. Classic alternative for those in their 30s and 40s. No DJs, just songs supposedly as from a well-stocked iPod set to random play. So it's come to this - automate the DJ away entirely. It will be interesting to see how they do with the new format.

Shuffle off to Buffalo...