It’s often useful to have a local SMTP server one can throw messages at without passwords and authentication. For example, if you’re doing a quick hack or sending messages from a program like Apple’s Mail. It’s even more useful if your local SMTP server can contact your regular SMTP server to send the messages into the greater interweb.

Stephen Fry - a man of many words

Note to self: on Gentoo postgresql configuration files (pg_hba.conf and postgresql.conf found in /var/lib/postgresql/data) need to be owned by the postgres user. So if you edit them as root, reset the owner:group before restarting postgresql.

So my Mac Powerbook keeps going to sleep. (It needs a little rest.) With the following message in the console:

A researcher has embedded electrodes in a pigeons brain that can be used to remotely influence the bird’s flight. Pictures here.

Atkins has won an international competition to design a five-star resort hotel set within a beautiful water filled quarry in Songjiang. Wow!

A match between China’s under-23 squad and Queen’s Park Rangers was stopped early for a massive fight. More here and here.

Yahoo Pipes is very cool. Proof at last that the Internet is a series of tubes.

Malaysia is reviving a ban on the multiracial Asian faces.

According to this article, Sichuan Sinomanic Technology LLC in Chengdu have developed a MIPS based PC that will sell for RMB1000. This is admirable and I wish them lots of luck. The ComputerWorld article says the PC is based on a chip from Raza but another article from Pacific Epoch (translating from qq.com) says it is based on the Dragon (also MIPS). Time and a screwdriver will tell. I would guess it is based on the Raza Alchemy family. If so, it could also be a DVD player and IP STB - which would be pretty cool.