This is scary stuff.

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia’s northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

This is the kind of thing that could be the tipping point. Where the gradual shift in climate could change to being a rapid shift. This is very frightening. And those that think it cant happen in their lifetime are wrong.

Stanford is offering free access to 10 Engineering course material. In a program called Stanford Engineering Everywhere, you can view the course syllabus, download course material, take tests, and more.

Courses being offered (with more to come at a later time if they go well):

• Programming Methodology
• Programming Abstractions
• Programming Paradigms
• Introduction to Robotics
• Natural Language Processing
• Machine Learning
• The Fourier Transform and its Applications
• Introduction to Linear Dynamical Systems
• Convex Optimization I
• Convex Optimization II

Very very interesting stuff. Once I get a break in my own schooling, I will be going over the material myself. The programming classes will tie in perfectly with some of my own, and the others are just plain interesting. I mean, who doesnt love Fourier Transforms? Seti@Home anyone?  ;-)

Release Candidate 1 for OpenOffice 3.0 was just released. Being that this is a RC and not a Beta, I am using it on one of my machines. While I am not going to cover all the new features of 3.0, I figured I would briefly cover some of the changes.

Start Screen
OO3 adds a new start window when launched. (image)

Nothing new here, just visual for the most part.

Toolbar Icons
The toolbar is getting a new face lift. (image) You can compare that to version 2. (image)

Again, just aesthetics.

Office 2007 Import
OO3 now has import filters for MS Office 2007 files. All those pesky files that end in X (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). I hear the import is no where near perfect in regards to formatting, but at least OO users can see the contents from those users who send formats without thinking of who can open them.

I tested a Resume that was created in Word 2007. The formatting after import was horrible. (image)

Hopefully the import feature, a work in progress, gets cleaned up as time goes on or before release.

Spreadsheet Sharing
A new feature is the ability to share spreadsheets. To use this feature, each person would need OO3, as when the spreadsheet is opened in OO2.4 it informs you that you need a newer version.

To share a document, you go to Tools>Share Document. From there you can see who accessed the document and toggle the share check box. (image)

I was going to write more about the exciting new feature, yet I do not share documents often. So I will let other more knowledgeable people talk about this, and its intricacies. Yet basically the idea is you are informed of changes others make to the content you are working on (image).

Notes in Writer
The new notes in Writer, are very cool. Much easier to read and use. (image)

To download OO3 RC1, go here.

I was having some issues installing updates through Windows Update on one of my XP machines (Windows XP SP3). Everytime I would try to update, I would go to Custom. I would get a list of updates applicable. When I would try to install, the updates would download and then fail from there.

Problem: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed. Solution: To fix the problem, try installing the updates again. If that doesn’t work, use the Troubleshooter to try solve the problem.

Luckily I found this helpful resource. In case the page goes down, I am copying what helped me fix the issue.

To fix the first issue, clear the cache and cookies of the browser you are using.

After clearing the cache and cookies, try running Windows Update again.

To fix the .dll issue, you will need to re-register a couple of .dll files. To do this, follow these easy steps:

1. Run the command prompt by clicking on the Start Menu and selecting Run. Type “cmd” and hit Enter.
2. In the new window that came up, type each of the following commands, hitting enter after each one:

• REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUAUENG1.DLL
• REGSVR32 ATL.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUCLTUI.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUWEB.DLL
• REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL

Windows update should now behave normally.

I registered the DLL’s and it worked for me. You can also look at this site from MS, that appears to also have a registering of a DLL, with a lot of other methods.

Not sure what version of a redesign this is for my blog over the years, but its probably close to 10. This one is more visually inviting than the previous version which was fairly dark. Still a work in progress, but so far I am happy with it. Enjoy.

To those that know me, its no secret I hate FOX News. This is not a news organization, its a propaganda machine. And sadly it works with some who do not see it this way. Check out this interesting video about the comparisons of the attacks FOX is using on Obama with the ones used on Kerry in 2004.

So what do I think about the new browser from Google, Google Chrome? Honestly, I am not thrilled. I now have one more browser to deal with on compatability tests. One more browser to debug. One more browser to weigh in my decision on what to support.

The web is a very interesting place to work and program for. With so many platforms, so many delivery methods, and various implementations of standards. It can be maddening to say the least. I would hope that all the major players (assuming Chrome will become one, although odds are it will garner some attention just being from Google) will at least comply with standards, and make life easier for the developers and consumers. Lets face it, when some computer users come across a page that doesn’t work, they do not care nor understand that it may be their browser and not the fault of the website that it looks odd, or doesn’t behave right. This is bad all the way around.

So here is to hoping that Google does better than Microsoft on the standards area. I am guessing they will be much better.