Shaq, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat are NBA champions.

P.S. “Pat Riley is the best coach I’ve ever had.” –Shaq. Take that, Phil Jackson!

Umm, since when do we actually have an operational missile-defense shield? Since today, apparently. But, um, doesn’t it fail like 50% of the time? Ah well, 50% (or 10%, or 0.001% — whatever) is better than 0%, I guess. This is all because we’re worried about North Korea, of course.

In particular, the governor of Washington state is worried, having suddenly realized that a North Korean nuke might be a bigger threat to her state than a giant salmon eating Mount Rainier.

Remember how concerned the Germans were about English soccer hooligans slipping into Germany for the World Cup? Well, a group of England fans were attacked today… by German hooligans.

Perhaps it’s just as well that England tied Sweden today, preventing the Germany-England matchup that would have occurred in the Round of 16 if Sweden had won, as Andrew envisioned.

Sorry for the lack of updates. It’s been a busy couple of days at work. (Ah, the life of a lawyer. I have no idea how the heck I’m going to keep this blog going once I’m actually a practicing attorney.)

Anyway, here’s a pretty picture of a rainbow-like thing that Fark linked to earlier today. (Hat tip: Becky.) It’s a cool photo, though it’s actually been circulating for a while, and Alan Sullivan says it isn’t so “rare” after all.

Strong waves in Central America destroy buildings, prompt evacuations, The Associated Press reports. CNN working to confirm. Visit CNN for the latest.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: The alert made it sound like a tsunami or some such thing, but the news article clarifies:

A South Pacific storm sent waves crashing into Central America up to 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) across the ocean, destroying at least 20 homes in Nicaragua and a small hotel in Guatemala, civil defense authorities said Tuesday.

There were no reports of deaths.

Experts said the event was not a tsunami, the massive waves triggered by undersea earthquakes [or asteroid impacts -ed.].

Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said the waves were caused by a strong South Pacific storm that was sending up to 12-foot (4-meter) swells across the Pacific, affecting coastlines from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands to the Mexican resort of Acapulco.

Dan Rather reaches agreement with CBS News to leave the network after 44 years, The Associated Press reports. Visit CNN for the latest.

An election involving Hillary Clinton might set an all-time record for the lowest number of undecided voters.

But you already knew that, and so did I. The question is, do Democratic primary voters? Save us, O Mighty Iowa!

This is pretty cool… literally:

Researchers at I.B.M. and the Georgia Institute of Technology are set to announce today that they have broken the speed record for silicon-based chips with a semiconductor that operates 250 times faster than chips commonly used today. …

The researchers, using a cryogenic test station, achieved the speed milestone by “freezing” the chip to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, using liquid helium. That temperature, normally found only in outer space, is just nine degrees above absolute zero, or the temperature at which all movement is thought to cease.

I see a vodka ad in this. :)

Anyway, “at 500 gigahertz, the technology is 250 times faster than chips in today’s cellphones, which operate at 2 gigahertz.” I’m not sure how they’ll integrate a -451°F chip into a cell phone, however; might be a bit nippy. But “at room temperature, the chips operate at 350 gigahertz, far faster than other chips in commercial use today.” Sweet. Ya think Apple is having second thoughts about the switch to Intel right now? :)

The aunt of missing soldier Kristian Menchaca confirms to CNN that the military has notified the family that his body has been found in Iraq. Visit CNN for the latest.

Military spokesman in Iraq refuses to confirm or deny reports that remains of missing U.S. soldiers were found. Visit CNN for the latest.

The bodies of two missing U.S. soldiers have been found, according to a spokesman for Iraq�s Defense Ministry, Reuters reports. Visit CNN for the latest.

The Hartford Whalers of Raleigh are Stanley Cup champions!

source file

Did you see the guy on the ice wearing the Whalers jersey, standing around near the players as they hoisted the Cup? That was awesome! Hee hee… LET’S GO WHALE!!!

Seriously, congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes on a well-deserved championship.

P.S. If you think I’m the only delusional Connecticutian who thinks they’re still the Whalers… see here and here and here. :)

P.P.S. And here and here and here.

Motion sensors in laptops aren’t new, IBM has used them for awhile as have others. Their purpose is to monitor your laptop for sudden jarring motions and safely protect the hard drive from being damaged by the read/write head. So when Apple added this feature to their Intel based MacBooks and MacBook Pros it was no big deal.

But some people have way too much time on their hands.

The first, for all you Star Wars nerds fans out there is MacSaber, which adds light saber style sounds to your MacBook as you swing it through the air. Frankly the idea of swinging a laptop through the air seems a bit, well nuts to me, but its still pretty interesting.

Ok ok, thats just about completely useless, especially since its not an ACTUAL light saber or weapon of any kind (unless you let Jeff Goldblum get his hands on it…). How about something useful.

I give you the Smackbook Pro. An intrepid blogger was able to use the motion detector and a modification to the desktop manager in MacOS X to allow you to change desktop enviornments (like having two seperate screens) simply by tapping on either side of the computer to go one way or the other. Now THAT is cool. (Using the MacBook Pro’s built in light sensor which is used for the backlit keyboard another user has found a less violent way to change desktops by simply waving your hand across the top of the sensor).

And finally and most recently, another Mac user was able to put together an open source Super Monkey Ball type game and a program that allows you to access the accelerometer data from the motion sensor to allow you to control the ball by tilting the laptop and watching the marble move in the direction you tilt.

[update]
While searching out the links for the other three items I came across a linke to a Dashboard Widget for OS X that lets you use your tiltable laptop as a working carpenter’s level.

Socceroo Harry Kewell could be banned for Australia’s next World Cup match after FIFA launched an official investigation into his verbal tirade against a referee. Following Australia’s 2-0 loss to Brazil on Monday morning (AEST) Kewell started mouthing off and pointing his finger at German referee Markus Merk.

Merk complained about Kewell’s behaviour in a post-match report, and the matter had been referred to the world governing body’s disciplinary committee. Kewell is to make a written submission, with the disciplinary committee to consider it and the referee’s report before making a judgment prior to the Socceroo’s next match.

It is believed suspending Kewell for his next match - vital to Australia’s chances of qualifying for the second stage of the tournament - is the most likely option if he is found guilty as charged.

Australia can secure a spot in the World Cup round of 16 with a draw against Croatia in Stuttgart, provided Japan does not produce a miracle win by at least two goals over Brazil in its last game.

Update: Kewell has been cleared by FIFA and is free to play in the match against Croatia.

Three members of the 101st Airborne Division are charged in connection with deaths of three detainees in Iraq, U.S. military says. Visit CNN for the latest.