ISS dumps Windows into the vacuum of space

Laptop computers essential to the day-to-day operations of the International Space Station (ISS) crew will be switching operating systems from Windows XP to Linux, according to published reports.

The laptops, which are on the space station’s “opsLAN” network, are used by astronauts to interface with onboard cameras and complete several other routine tasks, Joel Gunter of The Telegraph explained on Friday. While Linux had already been used to run several systems on board the ISS, this means it will now be the exclusive OS used onboard the orbiting laboratory, he added.

“We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable – one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust or adapt, we could,” Keith Chuvala of the United Space Alliance, the organization that operates opsLAN for NASA, told Gunter.

Getting rid of viruses
Dropping Windows in favor of the Unix-like, open-source operating system is “probably a good idea,” according to Jamie Condliffe of Gizmodo.

“Back in 2008, a Russian cosmonaut managed to take a laptop to the ISS that spread the W32.Gammima.AG worm to all the other laptops aboard the station. Using Linux would make that impossible,” Condliffe said. “The only hitch might be switching all the current, Windows-based software – for everything from viewing stock inventory to carrying out experiments – to Linux.

Let’s hope they don’t use WINE.

(via redOrbit)

The Internet Sucks

Throw away your smartphone. Don’t use Google. Stop reading this blog. Before it’s too late.

Hiding In Plane Site

I love to learn English. Just got a new lesson discussing words that sound about the same, but are spelled differently. Fun stuff, but this might keep me awake tonight. I’m pretty sure I will obsessively try to find more examples.

1. byte, bite, bight
2. seen, scene
3. hear, here
4. sense, cents, scents
5. their, there, they’re
6. feet, feat
7. ate, eight
8. err, heir, air
9. wheel, weal, we’ll
10. you, ewe
11. isle, aisle, I’ll
12. ale, ail
13. gnu, new, knew

Diagnosed with OTD

I’ve been diagnosed with OTD (Obsolete Technology Disorder). OTD is something typically found in men over 50 years of age. No known cures to date. After hiding my condition for years and years, I decided to open up to you all.

1. I still use transceivers with tubes.
2. I still own a cassette walkman
3. I still own a cassette deck
4. I still own vinyl records and a turntable
5. I still own VHS tapes (and play them now and then)
6. I still play CD‘s (this is what bothers me the most)
7. I still own a Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 and a Casio FP-200
8. I still have Borland Reflex running on a home-made 10MHz XT clone (NEC V20 processor, 30MB RLL hard disk)
9. I still shoot film on a Yashica MAT-124G
10. I still read paper magazines.

Have a great weekend!

Plastic Surgery For Snow Birds

Sometimes you accidentally run into a website with a weird title. Only in America?

Plastic Surgery For Snow Birds

After examining the contents of the website, my knowledge of the English language appears to have some gaps. I was almost sure the cartoon below had become a real option for “Angry Birds” addicts.