In an interesting posting, wikileaks (the custodians of information other people don't want you to know) have began posting all the pages that were sent in New York on September 11th 2001.

This list is incredibly interesting, you see people asking loved ones if they are okay, people spreading the news, and computer equipment reporting systems and networks going down. The list is also a little creepy since most of the people probably didn't expect their messages to be posted online eight years down the road.

Here are a few of the messages that were sent:

The very first message was from a computer system on the floor that was hit:

08:46:46 Arch [1612975] D ALPHA PAGE FROM lifeline: alert 8933585 ETS appl nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com ETS RTCE: - Market data inconsistent...Cantor API problem Trading system offline on nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com, run by etsuser on nbetpsd27, pid = 24277

Then the personal messages followed:

08:47:46 Arch [0901509] B ALPHA Someone just told me there was an explosion at
08:47:48 Arch [0901509] B ALPHA wtc....BR
08:52:50 Arch [0901509] B ALPHA A plane crashed thru the twin towers. Real bad..BR

09:06:14 Arch [0911374] D ALPHA a second plane crashed into the other tower !!!! Something doesn't seem right !!!!

13:31:46 Arch [0083310] D ALPHA 93-PLEASE CALL YOUR SISTER MERNA IN ALBANY AT 518-785-8296.

13:31:48 Metrocall [1746477] D ALPHA 03-BERNARD, PLEASE CALL YOUR MOTHER AT 305-650-9482.

And then came the emergency services;

10:24:37 Skytel [007102004] B ALPHA * DISASTER PLAN ACTIVATED * PREPARING FOR MASS CAS RECEIVING.... Cell Phones & Land

10:29:52 Metrocall [1785414] B ALPHA COUNTY IS IN A CODE RED SECURITY ALERT WE WILL KEEP YOU ADVISED OF ANY CHANGES KEEP ALERT THE GOVERONMENT CENTER IS SECURED AT THIS TIME MEETING'S HAVE BEEN CANCELLED JOHN 293-8081 NEXTEL 2752

10:32:37 Skytel [004571707] C ALPHA The White IST is ACTIVATED for New York. Do Not Call FEMA. Stand by for further instructions. Ben Strong-National US&R Program (34

Lately I've been giving some thought as to what micro-controller tinkering I should do next.

The first thing I need to do is to finish what I have started and complete the 'weather clock' project. I tracked down an old mantle clock which I might purchase tonight, so all I need to do is get some servos and print the new clock face. Hopefully I can complete this by Christmas.

I have also been playing around with the idea of a GPS enabled hat with an Arduino doing all the processing work. The various ideas I have had are;

- A hat that notifies the wearer when they are close to certain drinking establishments
- A hat that uses multiple vibrating motors to always indicate true north
- A hat that will guide the user to a disclosed (or undisclosed) destination by merely providing the direction to travel in
- Some combination of the above

I also thought that the hat could be used for some form of perverse orienteering competition. Individuals could be timed on how long they took to complete a set course of unknown checkpoints using only the hat for guidance. The hat could also lead someone to a party or another secret event.

This will take a while to implement since the hardware required is rather costly, but I think it will be a really cool project once it is completed.

This morning I learned that my best friend, Mikael Chan, took his own life last night. Mikael and I had been friends since high school and he was the best man at my wedding. Mikael was a close and loyal friend. He was incredibly creative and was known to always have a number of projects on the go.

Over the past 14 months Mikael struggled with some mental health issues and last night he decided to put an end to it all. I am profoundly sad that he is gone, but I hope he got the peace he sought.

It is hard not to think that I could have done something differently in the past day which would have saved him. I guess the fact is that I (and no one else for that fact) can watch over someone all the time, even if that is what they need the most.

Below is his last blog entry, made last evening. You can click to read it, but only if you want to.

Tuesday was Emily's twenty-first birthday. We spent the evening at her family's house eating pizza, scrap-booking, and eventually eating cake. It was fun to spend time with family but without a really strict agenda and without many distractions. Time is one of the best gifts you can ever give someone.