http://www.boilr.net lots of hot air Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:12:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ... and the gold medal for 2008 Beijing LEGO Olympic recreation goes to... Hong Kong Lego User Group - a team of block-building super "athletes"! (via Daily Mail) http://www.boilr.net/2008/08/18/2008-beijing-lego-olympics/ As of yesterday (Aug. 16, 2008), the Transportation Security Administration is now allowing laptops to remain in newly approved 'checkpoint friendly' bags, but still "reserves the right to re-screen any bag or laptop regardless of the design of the bag." Relatively good news for tech-savvy travelers; now if only they would ... http://www.boilr.net/2008/08/17/checkpoint-friendly-laptop-cases/ Heading to Kenya on safari - catch y'all on the flip side! http://www.boilr.net/2008/08/03/kenya-or-bust/ Back in the Nation's Capital to do this thing! http://www.boilr.net/2008/08/02/making-it-official/ Discovery Channel has posted a cool (but brief) slideshow of aurora borealis images.  Having seen the Northern Lights once (in Maine), I can attest to its shear awesomeness. Thanks nature! (via Discovery) http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/28/aurora-borealis-on-your-schedule/ [caption id="attachment_423" align="aligncenter" width="280" caption="Happy (early) 50th birthday, NASA!"][/caption] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration officially hits the half-century mark on Tuesday, July 29 - celebrating 50 years of shooting stuff into orbit (among other notable achievements)! (via Wired) http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/27/50-years-of-space-exploration-in-the-bag/ Instapaper is a free iApp that allows users to view saved websites - "a tivo for the Internet" as one reviewer put it. Besides the required (but understandable) account registration, Instapaper is a great tool.  After signing up, a "read later" button is added to your browser; simply click whenever you ... http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/25/iapps-instapaper/ The Chicago Tribune has posted a cool PDF map of Chicago illustrating its transformation into Gotham City for the recent smash-hit, The Dark Knight. (via Chicago Tribune) http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/24/gotham-city-illinois/ Searching for a cheap (free) and easy (but not necessarily fast) way to create high quality compressed video for your iDevice?  Look no further than freeware, HandBrake! While there are a plethora of competing solutions floating around the interwebs, HandBrake has been the most reliable and worthwhile software that I've come ... http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/24/i-think-therefore-iformat/ Facebook CEO M.Z. announced Fb's new platform today: Facebook Connect is our version of Facebook for the rest of the Web. In other words, Fb is going to open its network and wealth of data (w/user permission) to partnering sites across the interwebs. With Internet access becoming ever more prevalent, Facebook is angling ... http://www.boilr.net/2008/07/23/fb-goes-cloud-w-facebook-connect/