Charge Your Motorola Phone via USB

Out of necessity, I learned on Friday that you can charge your Motorola phone with nothing more than a USB cord and a computer. This certainly isn't news to a lot of people out there, but it is a big help when you're about to go out of town for a weekend wedding, and you realize you've left your charger at the office.

I simply used the USB cord that came with my Canon SD1000 camera, plugged it into the usual charging port at the base of my Motorola v325i, and it began charging. However, make sure your phone is turned on before connecting it, or else the charge doesn't seem to take.

A few caveats, it seemed to charge somewhat slower than with the standard AC adapter, but in a pinch, who cares. Also, there were a few hiccups locating the appropriate driver, but with some quick research, I was able to solve the problems. This seems to work for most Motorola phones, including the RAZR, and I guess it probably will also work for any other phone that has a USB-style plug.

The Perils of Keeping a Mistress and Owning a Yacht for Russian Oligarchs

Not a problem I'm ever going to have, but still makes for a hilarious post from Tom Smith at The Right Coast -

I read somewhere about the controversial yacht some Russian oligarch has recently launched. It sounds like your total Bond villain yacht. Instead of lots of decks for your mistress to sun herself on (and normally they do that a lot), the thing is totally enclosed, and its hull is designed like that of a war ship. Various people in the yacht world are offended by it. But the interesting thing I think is how the ship's interior is decorated. Apparently the whole thing inside, furnishings, walls, everything, is in pale leather, all the same shade. Why? Because that is how the mistress wanted it. She is some former super model or something. So here you are, a Russian billionaire, who kills people if they get in your way, and you can't even decorate your yacht the way you want to.

Warp Speed Ahead!

Star Trek warp drive is a possibility, say scientists from the Telegraph, via Instapundit

Granted, it'll probably never actually happen, or at least not in the lifetime of anyone currently living, but it's great to know people are out there working on stuff like this. Who knows, a century from now, perhaps our current perceptions of the laws of physics will seem as outdated as the idea of the Sun revolving around the Earth. And even if nothing comes of it, it's surely a lot more worthwhile than so many many many of the other "scientific" projects that are currently funded.

I particularly love this (I assume tongue-in-cheek) statement regarding the daunting hurdles yet to be overcome:

All this extraordinary feat requires, says the new study, is for scientists to harness a mysterious and poorly understood cosmic antigravity force, called dark energy.

Yeah, no big deal, get on it.

To geek out for a moment, this whole thing reminds me of one of the aspects that I love about the latest incarnation of the Doctor on Doctor Who, his endless appreciation of the pioneering spirit of the human race. The subject comes up numerous times, and each time the marvelous David Tennant reacts with utter glee, even when said spirit of adventure has gotten the humans in question into a situation that requires the Doctor's usual near-fatal efforts to extricate them from. Damn the torpedoes, and all that!

The Worst Place on Earth

Fascinating article from Mark Hemingway at The Weekly Standard involving African island nations, cannabalism, coups, mercenaries and Fredrick Forsyth...

Destination Malabo
A group of mercenaries' failed attempt to take over the worst place on earth.

This Can't Be Good

Apparent outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia (the country, not the state...) via Times UK

Nice way to kick off the Olympics...key graphs:

"One hundred and fifty Russian tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles have entered South Ossetia," President Saakashvili of Georgia told reporters in Tbilisi. "This is a clear intrusion on another country’s territory. We have Russian tanks on our territory, jets on our territory in broad daylight."

Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian rebel leader, said that there were "hundreds of dead civilians" in the city. His Nationalities Minister, Teimuraz Kasaev, put the number at "more than a thousand".

The area is of strategic importance, largely because of the BTC oil pipeline, which runs through central Georgia just south of the breakaway region. The pipeline – which features in the 1999 James Bond film The World is Not Enough – pumps around one per cent of global crude supplies from the Caspian to the Turkish port of Ceyhan for export to Western Europe but is already closed because of an attack in Turkey last week by the Kurdish separatist organisation PKK.

Incredibly Awesome Slow-Motion Video of a Lightning Strike

from Gizmodo, hat tip to Libby

Here

I Judge You When You Use Improper Grammar

We mustn't give in to those who can't spell, or else the terrorists will have won. Well, not really, but the linked article from the Times (UK, not NY) makes a nice little case for why it's important to preserve proper spelling of the English language. Apparently all those strange, often silent letters are there for a reason, based upon an actual set of rules. Who knew?

It's a short, interesting read, for those who are into languages and the way they develop and mature.