The integrated circuit is 50 years old today

Fifty years ago today Jack Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments, demonstrated what is today known as the first microchip. It wasn't much to look at (click on the picture on the left): some circuitry etched in a germanium medium, sandwiched between glass. But Kilby's little gimmick not only worked beautifully, it ended up revolutionizing the world. Everything from the...

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Running gas prices update post

In an update to the earlier story, a friend has told me that gas is now just over $7 not far over the line in South Carolina. Which makes it all the more interesting considering that South Carolina's gas tax is lower than North Carolina's and a lot of people along the border fill their cars up there if they can.I'll be adding on more prices as they come in.I don't believe at this point that this has anything to do with Ike, and everything to do...

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Four bucks and up for regular gas in Raleigh at this hour

A trusted source in the Raleigh/Durham area here in North Carolina called to let me know that the price of regular gasoline there is now $4.89, with premium at more than five bucks and a lot of stations limiting purchases to ten gallons. It's also been reported that at many stations the cars are lined up to the streets.Also, I'm now hearing that this now how gas is going...

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Y'all down in Texas are in our prayers today

Barring some meteorological miracle, Hurricane Ike is set to be one for the ages.We've got a lot of friends and even some family down that way. Hope all of you in the path of the storm will be safe.(By the way Jonathan, looks like you're going to get to experience a hurricane before your sister does ...

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John McCain and Sarah Palin in APOCALIPSTICK NOW

Yeah, I had way too much time on my hands this evening...With kindest regards to Bob Peak, who did the amazing poster for Apocalypse Now for its 1979 release.Wish I could have found a pic of McCain with water dripping down his face, to match the effect of the original post...

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My belief on politics and religion in a nutshell

We do not need any more elected officials who believe that God is telling them to change the world.What we need and cannot get enough of are elected officials who are letting God change them instead.(And if more common folk would be willing to let God control them instead of trying to control the world for God, this would be a much happier place anyway....

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The September 11 Television Archive

NBC, September 11, 2001, from 8:31 am to 9:12 a.m. EST:That's what I happened to have been watching that morning, after I turned on my TV following one of the most unforgettable phone calls I ever got from Mom.I switched to the ABC affiliate in Asheville not long after. The moment that has most haunted me from that day begins at around 33 minutes in this clip."Oh my God..."-- Peter Jennings, ABC News,after the collapse of the second tower of the...

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POPCORN SUTTON UPDATE: Sentencing delayed three months for famed moonshiner

World-renowned moonshiner and American folk hero Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (shown at left, along with one of his finely-crafted distillation apparatuses) has had his sentencing delayed until December 15th in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee.Popcorn Sutton, you may recall, pleaded guilty in April following a raid by them meddlin' revenuers on his "likker makin'"...

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Gordon Freeman is at the Large Hadron Collider!

popgive.com found this photo of some scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider (which began operation this morning and it's yet to destroy the world), including one in the group that bears a very striking resemblance to Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of the Half-Life video game series.Just an odd coincidence, I'm sure. But if that guy shows up in any more photos and...

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Price Ueber Alles: School board member attacks Richard Moore, who is subsequently endorsed by Jeff Sykes (what the...?!)

I'm not going to even begin to attempt to recap everything that's taken place over almost two years now regarding Ron Price, the Rockingham County Board of Education member who stole all those campaign signs on the night before the 2006 election. Hit the above link if you want to know what's been going on.I will say though, however belatedly, that very many people shared...

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Ron Paul says there's no difference between McCain and Obama

Today U.S. House member Ron Paul, who has been a candidate in this year's presidential election, called on voters to end the "charade" of the two party system and look to traditionally third parties for leadership, citing that there was no fundamental difference between Democrat candidate Barack Obama and Republican contestant John MCcain. Paul also announced that he had refused to endorse McCain, a fellow Republican.From the CNN story... Instead,...

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This is a candidate for President?!

So this afternoon my good friend Bmovies sends me an e-mail about a new post that he had made on his blog and that I should check it out. So I go to his link and read how he's not supporting McCain or Obama for President in this year's election either. Instead, Bmovies tells us, he's found a candidate that he does support. And there's an embedded video with a news story about whoever this person is.I figure if Bmovies thinks well enough of the...

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New QUANTUM OF SOLACE trailer is online

A few minutes ago Phillip Arthur e-mailed me, and he seemed unusually ecstatic about a new trailer for the upcoming James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. Here's the link to where you can check it out.I agree with Phillip: It "Looks pretty gorram good!", whatever the heck a "gorram" is ...

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Large Hadron Collider: Scientific marvel or portal to Hell?

This one is way too wacky to pass up commenting on...The Large Hadron Collider is a few hours away from getting turned on for the first time. This is a humongous particle accelerator (also happens to be the biggest machine yet built) that scientists are hoping will help answer some questions about the fundamental nature of physics.All well and good. Except some people are...

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Did Apple "Rock" today? Not really...

Gizmodo has the full rundown of what went on at Apple's "Let's Rock" keynote address by Steve Jobs in San Francisco today. In what has become an annual event - and perhaps the most-watched PowerPoint presentation in history - Jobs unveiled the coming year's new iPod models and whatever features that die-hard Appleholics should be lusting after.So what new ubercoolness has...

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SPORE Loser: Players outraged at game's DRM

Here's a screenshot I just made of the Amazon product page for the new video game Spore, which came out yesterday for Windows and Mac computers...How does a video game simultaneously occupy #1 on Amazon's sales rank, and get hundreds of one-star reviews?In three words: "Digital Rights Management". People who purchase Spore can only install it on three computers. And apparently...

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Want to read the first review of the HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE movie?!

Here it is, courtesy of Ain't It Cool News.It sounds terrible.How terrible? According to this person, who saw an advance screening in Chicago over the weekend, the funeral scene is not in the film (yeah there were two funerals in the book but if you've read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince you know which one I'm talking about). It also has the Death Eaters attacking the Weasley house at Christmas (?!?) and apparently makes several other significant...

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