scottobear | Nifty things.

Am I Hot or Not? gets 7 million hits a day; me-toos could hardly be far behind. You can weigh in on its little brother Am I Hot?, look over the black sheep of the family at Am I Goth or Not?, or decide which father of our country you would like the best at Brunching Shuttlecocks ' Am I President or Not?

Eh, you've probably got a better shot with one of your kissing cousins at the illuminated Monkey Hot or Not?

Here's the latest SF concept to move toward reality: smart dust. Flakes of silicon with sensors and an onboard computer, so small they float like motes of dust, linked by lasers to communicate their findings to each other or a base. Use them for security . . . for research . . . for recon in wartime . . . for spying on businesses or individuals in peacetime. Neil Stephenson wrote about them in "The Diamond Age." Now they're coming. Here's the San Francisco Chronicle story.

Bigger than "smart dust," but self-powered . . . the postage-stamp-sized "mesicopter" is about to make its first trial flight. (Hmm. Imagine a dozen of these as command and control units for a half-million flecks of smart dust.) Here's the New Scientist story.

You can use this great graphic tracking tool, called J-Track , to locate exactly where all those Mind Control Lasers are at any given time . . . if you can just figure out which ones they are.