The Ole filter makes another pass...

Medscape has a fascinating review of Robotic Surgery.  Lest you think this is a future, two years ago my then-four-year-old daughter had open heart surgery to correct an Atrial Septal Defect, and the surgeon used a robotic arm.  Amazing and wonderful stuff.

If you're at all interested in medical technology, check out Medscape's RSS feeds.  A wonderful and valuable resource.

This is a logarithmic map of the universe (click for larger version):

Both time and distance start at the left (with Earth as "the center"), and extend out to the right...  Very cool.    The NY Times has an essay...  (Reminiscent of the Saul Steinberg New Yorker cover :)

The QM2 sets sail!  "The world's largest cruise ship, Queen Mary 2, set sail for the United States on its maiden voyage Monday, carrying 2,600 passengers who paid up to $48,000 for the privilege."  A throwback, but a delightful one!

Wow.  Kodak has stopped selling film cameras in the U.S.  "The move comes amid Kodak's controversial plan to focus on high-growth digital products, such as medical imaging systems, and reduce dependence on its declining film business."

John Gruber thinks the HP/Apple iPod deal is BIG.  And he makes a solid case.

Scoble posted a nice rant about Microsoft's whining.  "Start a weblog, for instance, instead of talking to news.com."  Heh.

Marc Cantor:  Today has been a hell of a day.  Now it is tomorrow and my birthday.  Two birthdays in a row - the rest of my life.  Congratulations!

<geeky>
Mark Pilgrim proposes a great thought experiment.  "Here’s the thing: that wasn't a thought experiment; it all really happened...  The client is the wrong place to enforce data integrity. It’s just the wrong place."
</geeky>

Is this the apartment look of the future?  Here we have the Vos Pad, a futuristic apartment lit solely by LEDs.  Looks very cool.

Finally, Xiaochun Li, a mechanical engineering professor and laser expert from the University of Wisconsin at Madison has figured out a better way to slice cheese - just use a laser.  "At any other university, people would have just laughed.  But this is Wisconsin.  It's cheese.  And this is no laughing matter."