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AMS Farmers Markets

In case you're on the road this summer and would like to avoid the usual fast-food joints and get a sense of the local folks, the Agricultural Marketing Service of the USDA presents this handy guide to farmers markets across the US. You are never very far from delicious bok choy.

Answers from Google

Google is now beta-testing a service where you can post a question, assign a dollar amount ($4-100) to it, and have the question answered by a human being (in exchange for that dollar amount). Or on the other side of the coin, for those who enjoy digging up information and want to make a few bucks on the side, you can join the team of people who are answering the questions.

Yahooligans at Work

In this article, Udi Manber, chief scientist at Yahoo!, talks about the many ways people attempt to manipulate services offered by a large-scale web company like Yahoo!, and some of the things Yahoo! does to fight back.

Cooler Supercomputing

Los Almos Labs has taken a novel approach to high-powered computing. They've built a Beowolf cluster based on Transmeta Crusoe processors. These processors were initially desgined for use in laptops and run on less energy/give off less heat than most other processors. The resulting cluster requires notably less cooling than a traditional cluster.

The Gummi Finger

A Japanese researcher has come up with a simple way to bypass those high-tech fingerprint readers, using a fake fingerprint made of gelatin. After it lets you in, eat the evidence, he writes.

Poster Children Tour Diary

Ever dreamed of being in a touring rock band? Have you pined to pound the bass guitar in Los Angeles, Manitowoc, Boston, and all points in between? Read a first-hand view of life on and off the road by Rose Marshack, bass player for the Champaign, Illinois-based Poster Children.

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