A smattering of opinions on technology, books, business, and culture. Now in its 4th technology iteration.
12 July 2008
C-Thru Music home page – an interesting midi keyboard. way more natural key arrangement.
11 July 2008
VMware shares plunge on CEO change, slowing growth – seems like a buying opportunity to me, it is hard to imagine a better systems software CEO than Paul Maritz.
11 July 2008
Cow Backpacks Trap Methane Gas.
Adds a new fun element to cow tipping as well.
11 July 2008
| [iPhone servers crumble under activation strain | Electricpig](http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2008/07/11/iphone-servers-crumble-under-activation-strain/) – exactly where I am at this morning. Has screwed up my entire day. Thanks much Apple. Who had the idea to disable every single freaking existing iPhone as part of this process????? |
UPDATE: ok i am past that hurdle and my phone is doing a really slow re-sync. Progress.
MORE: what a freaking disaster. now itunes just crashed hard (on the mac). in the middle of a sync. not happy.
University System of Ohio :: Ohio GI Promise – nice work Ohio!
08 July 2008
Who Embellishes Their National Championship Claims and Who Does Not : Fanblogs College Football Blog – the Buckeyes are pure, whereas UM takes every opportunity to inflate their history.
07 July 2008
| [Common cooking spice shows promise in combating diabetes and obesity | Science Blog](http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/common-cooking-spice-shows-promise-combating-diabetes-and-obesity-16736.html) – I need to learn more about ayurvedic medicine |
…Criminy. Look, I don’t mind stuff I don’t know (I see it every day), and I don’t really mind stuff I don’t know crossing other stuff I don’t know, but only if there’s some way for me to make a reasonable guess…Come on. That NW corner is just dickish.
I have to agree with the sentiment.
07 July 2008
10 Amazing Hotels With Ultra Stylish Minimalist Designs – these all look fun.
* Mitsubishi Ultra Thin Frame Premium Flat Panel TV with Integrated Sound Projector » Coolest Gadgets – cool. I have a discrete sound projector in one room and have been happy with. this is a great way to get surround sound with minimal fuss. * At the other end of the price spectrum, the Li’l Guppie Multi-tool. I am not sure I actually get much value out of multi-tools but they look cool. * Realtime power use monitor – this actually seems pretty useful.
07 July 2008
!>http://jhludwig.smugmug.com/photos/326309800_TAsa6-Ti.jpg!:http://jhludwig.smugmug.com/photos/326309800_TAsa6-X3.jpg first time I’ve ever seen an owl in nature. Apparently a juvenile barred owl. Very curious about us.
07 July 2008
* [0807.0378] Nano Imprint Lithography on Silica Sol-gels: a simple route to sequential patterning – multiple layers of stamping for nanophotonic or microfluidic apps. I love microfluidics, what a crazy and fun area * Scale production of nanotube circuits – I’m not sure what they’ve done but scale production is the key problem * Qubits and branes share surprising features – way beyond me… * Cornell researchers figure out how assemble metals in complex nanostructures – a cool new way to form bulk metals * Controlling quantum state via voltage – interesting work on the way to useful quantum computers
| * [How To Make bright green fire | Wonder How To](http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-bright-green-fire-78313/) – cool looking, i wonder how toxic this is * Cheap ambient lighting with rope lights. Cool idea, my mausoleum could use this * simple DMX controller. I went away from DMX as most of my effects are outside, and water doesn’t mix with dmx cabling, but maybe there is a way to rework my system – after all i basically moved all control electronics into the garage last year and just ran power cables out. * Planningwiz floor plan software – i use a plan to layout all my halloween plans, this might be a simpler tool |
06 July 2008
Football: Big Ten Announces TV Plans for First Four Weekends of 2008 Home Schedule - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com – here you go. I expect to be at the USC game.
06 July 2008
* “We Disappear”:amazon by Scott Heim. Drug addict son returns to small-town childhood home to care for dying mother and unwrap the mysteries of her life. Some bizzare david-lynchian moments. Just ok, never really hooked me. * “Free Lunch”:amazon by David Cay Johnston. Central premise about corruption, government subsidies abuse. Some solid examples but way too much diatribe. One good prescriptive recommendation – 100% public funding of all political expenses, no gifts whatsoever. Oh and I hate the “the rich are taking ever more of the pie” argument – this may well be true but the analysis is terribly incomplete – there is no discussion of globalization, of the incredible advantages the US had post-WWII that are finally being whittled away, there is no discussion of the fact that a growing economy naturally will create more spread at the high end of the income distribution. * “A Fine Balance”:amazon by Rohinton Mistry. Strap on your hard hat because this is a relentless and long tale of tragic injustices and disasters battering away at every character in the book. No one ever achieves a balance, tragedy rips away at their joy. No one comes away untouched, many die. If this book is truly reflective of India in the 60s and 70s, man that was a tough time. * “Altered Carbon”:amazon by Richard K Morgan. A real ripsnorter. Nanotech, virtual tech, multiple layers of conspiracy, a hard-bitten anti hero. My second read of Morgan and both have been great fun.