Boring, Boring, Boring

Quite-spicy BBQ chicken

2011-07-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

I invented this last weekend for a Latino/Persian/Korean engagement party:

Really Quite Spicy BBQ chicken
Yield: 36 servings as appetizer
Preparation time: negligible

1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (7oz)
5-6 fl oz fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
1/2C tamari or soy sauce
1/2C balsamic vinegar
1/2t ground cumin
1t ground coriander
1/2t white pepper
1T agave nectar
36 chicken pieces, drumstick-sized

Throw all of the above (except the chicken) in a blender, and blend until smooth. Dunk chicken pieces in it, and BBQ them over medium/low heat. Brush with additional sauce when half cooked.
If your spice tolerance requires it, you could cut the sauce with yogurt or have copious beer on hand. Perhaps you should do the latter regardless.

Other enhancements for next time:

Hold back 1-2 of the chipotle peppers (but keep the adobo sauce), add a healthy dose of ground sumac

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

How to coil a cable properly

2011-04-08T23:02:00.001-07:00

That is all.

A question for your consideration

2011-02-22T01:35:00.000-08:00

Consider this hypothetical statement:

I bought the CD of "A Night at the Opera" at Fry's for just $1.

Which of the following is, to you, the most problematic statement? Order them, from most to least troubling.

I was at Fry's.
I was looking in the bargain CD bin at Fry's.
I did not already own copies of any of the tracks on A Night at the Opera (not even Bohemian Rhapsody)
Amazon will happily sell you the same CD for $11.54.
Roughly half the world's population was born since this album was first released.
Most readers of this blog post will not even understand why the album is important.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Another new thing I need to try out: fast infusion of spirits

2010-12-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

All we need, apparently, is a ready supply of alcohol, things to throw in it, and a nitrous oxide powered cream whipper.

Recipe: really easy ice cream

2010-05-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

My dad tipped me off on this. You hate making your own ice cream because of that whole mixing-while-freezing thing, right? And if you forget to stir, it fills up with ice crystals. Ugh. Hate no more.

You will need:

600ml double cream (US readers: 20 oz heavy cream)
2 cans condensed milk (the sweetened kind)
6 tablespoons / 90ml / 3 oz vodka

Whip the cream until it is stiff. Incorporate the other ingredients. Add whatever else you want (vanilla extract, crushed vanilla pod mess, cocoa powder, cracked nougatine, whatever - be creative). Freeze overnight.

For my first batch of this, I used raspberry vodka and added some grated dark chocolate. It comes out smooth and rich, and is easier to scoop than normal ice cream. There isn't all that much alcohol in the result, but it's just enough to stop those annoying ice crystals from forming.

The really interesting thing about this recipe is the opportunity for variations using other spirits. I'd like to try:

Mandarin vodka with orange zest
Bacardi Limon with mint
Gin with lemon zest
Gin with unsweetened Morgenthaler's Tonic Concentrate
Calvados with crumbled bacon
Citrus vodka with saffron (might not work)
Cachaça / light rum / dark rum / tequila with lime zest
Bourbon, chopped cherries and orange zest
Ruby port (double the quantity, since it has half the alcohol)

You may notice a theme in some of my suggestions. I think many popular cocktail recipes can be easily adapted here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Telephone

2010-03-20T00:37:00.001-07:00

Pomplamoose continues to be awesome by covering Lady Gaga.

Inner Peace

2009-09-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me today, and we all could probably use more calm in our lives.

Some doctor on telly this morning said that the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of shhhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of vocka, a pockage of Prunglies, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res of the Chesescke an a box a chocolets.

Yu haf no idr who fkin gud I fel.

Peas sen dis orn to dem yu fee ar in ned ov inr pece

Mzzz

(thanks, Josh!)

Useful tool: ext3grep

2009-09-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

If a badly behaved computer caused you to lose 3 weeks of work by, say, overwriting it with an empty file, ext3grep may get it back for you. (Linux ext3 only of course). The instructions, while lengthy, are thorough.

Never again

2009-08-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

I can't comment on whether the use of nuclear weapons 64 years ago was right, or if an alternative way could have been found to end the war. The people that can answer that question first-hand grow fewer day by day. I just hope that humanity never uses such destructive weapons ever again.

If you have the time, please read these articles, or at least look at the pictures:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

If your MacBook is slow to resume when you open the lid

2009-05-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today I finally found an explanation for why MacBooks so often freeze up for long periods when you close or open the lid. In Windows-speak, the system is going into Hibernate mode (so you could take the battery out, swap it, and everything would still be working) rather than Standby (battery removal not advised).

The solution is here: Does Your MacBook Freeze When You Close It's Lid?. Aside from the misplaced apostrophe, a most helpful article.

Quick recipe: what-I-had-on-hand BBQ glaze

2009-05-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

I needed to cook a small amount of BBQ chicken for kids and wanted to make it more interesting. I couldn't be bothered to look up a recipe, so I grabbed some things that I thought ought to work. I know nothing of what goes into a good BBQ glaze, nor anything about BBQ sauce theory, but I do know that my fussy little eaters were asking for more. Measurements are approximate.

2 parts Dijon Mustard
2 parts Ketchup
3 parts Orange Juice
1 part Maple Syrup

Mix together thoroughly in a jug or bowl. Brush onto chicken or asparagus while it grills. Sprinkle salt to taste.

For the adults I reckon a generous splash of Tapatio sauce will make it quite a bit more interesting.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Sun employees, take note

2009-04-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, a friend of mine (name withheld to protect privacy, let's call him Zot The Cunning) was working at a startup (name also withheld, let's call it Shoot The Moon) that was acquired by Siebel (May Their Remains Continue To Be Indigestible Forever).

My advice to Zot, on hearing of the acquisition: "Take the money and run". Of course, there was no money, so I revised this to "just run". My advice was based on what I had seen of Siebel's corporate environment from having worked with their engineers in a project for one of my former employers. The project was called "Death Spiral" or something like that. Oh, my opinion was also based on having been through the receiving end of 3 acquisitions at the same former employer. Anyway, back to Zot's story. Zot, of course, waited things out and after a few years of being sucked down into the virtual Charybdis that was his new employer, managed to escape to a company with the letters "OO" in its name.

What I've seen of Oracle (May They Remain Far From Me) is exactly 11.7 times worse than Siebel. I measured this very carefully. So, if you work at Sun, let me give you one piece of advice:

Take the money and run. Or, there being no money, just run.

While you're still reading: earlier I likened Siebel to Charybdis. I think there's a pretty strong resemblance between Oracle and Charybdis's buddy Scylla. Even if you ignore me and live in misery for the rest of your time there, at least you learned some Greek mythology. Also, the Amazon MP3 store has a free song for you.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Traffic on Market Street, San Francisco

2009-01-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

This video was filmed from the front of a cable car in late 1905 or possibly early 1906, right before the great earthquake. The film rolls quite a bit for the first minute - skip that part if it distracts you.

After the quake, the same cameraman repeated the trip.

Electronic Road Signs

2009-01-24T00:57:00.000-08:00

Do not reprogram electronic road signs to say "ZOMBIES AHEAD" or "KLAATU BARADA NIKTO". That would be immature and dangerous, as well as illegal.

Gigapixel image of the inauguration

2009-01-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Gigapan has produced some amazing images - I look forward to borrowing one some time - but someone had the presence of mind to take one to the Inauguration resulting in a 1,474 megapixel image.

Don't try it, it's been on the menu for years

2009-01-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

Spotted at the otherwise quite wonderful Taqueria Los Charros in Mountain View.

Spotted on a mailing list

2009-01-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Names of sender and dating agency removed for privacy (unless you're interested, ha ha). See how many things you can find wrong with the concept of this email:

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Xxxxxx Xxx <xxxxx@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 12:50 PM Subject: [stanford-network] Marriage Minded Female in Bay Area To: Stanford-Network <stanford-network@lists.stanfordalumni.org> Dear Stanford Community, I work with Xyzzy Dating a privately held matchmaking firm in the Bay Area. We are currently searching for eligible females in the San Francisco Bay Area who are marriage minded. More specifically, we have recently been retained by a VIP gentleman who is passionate about having us help him locate "the one" and we are on a very fast track to do so. Our bachelor is in his late 30's, successful (Former Attorney, Harvard Law educated, now a director of an investment firm), handsome (physically fit and Chinese American in heritage), family-centric, outdoorsy, down-to-earth and passionate about international travel. You will find him to be humble, kind, and truly genuine -- no inflated ego at all. Are you eligible or, perhaps, if you are engaged or dating, might you have a friend who fits this profile below? What we are looking for: Age: 25-34 years old Education: Top Tier University (e.g. Stanford, Berkeley, Yale) Personality: An exceptional woman by all measures. Outdoorsy, family-centric, socially liberal, warm-hearted, intellectually curious, great sense of humor, and passionate about life! Interests: Wants to keep adding stamps to the passport, enjoys all types of adventures, and family. An interest in volunteer work is the icing on the cake! Physically: Being fit and leading a healthy lifestyle is very important. Any ethnicity is welcome and, importantly, someone who has a natural beauty to her is the most attractive. If you fit this profile or know anyone who does, please contact the founder and CEO, Yyyy Yyyyyyy, at yyyy@example.com . ***NOTE: We are holding a Casting Call event for prospective candidates on January 22nd during the day in Palo Alto. We are currently in the process of vetting many candidates and scheduling mini-appointments that day. The Casting Call is a great opportunity to come meet the Xyzzy team while we get a good sense as to whether you might be a superb fit for our bachelor. You don't need to be a client of Xyzzy Dating to meet our bachelor, so we really encourage all applicants to respond to this unique opportunity. Thank you for reading! Warm regards, Xxxxxx Xxx www.example.com P.S. Please help us by forwarding this email to anyone who you feel might be a good fit for our bachelor. Thank you again, and we look forward to hearing from you!

On the inefficiency of beauty contests

2009-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

On the inefficiency of beauty contests, & a suggestion for their modernization
Read it - preferably all the way to the table of equivalents.

Apostrophe abuse: Car Zone

2009-01-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Perhaps they meant one of:

Car Zone: Where the fun begin is.
Where the fun begin owns Car Zone, and don't you forget it.

They also get bonus points for using ugly fonts, a garish color scheme that is almost invisible to people with red-green color vision problems, and mismatching screws.

Really Interesting Documentary about Photography

2008-12-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

Got 6 hours to burn? Watch this BBC documentary about the history of photography. It's even been chopped into handy 10-minute segments for you.

Large Hadron Collider Webcam

2008-09-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Large Hadron Collider started up this week, and unsurprisingly the Earth was not sucked into a black hole. See for yourself, they've got a live webcam.

Chocolate Cake In 5 Minutes!

2008-07-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

Since just about everyone else on the internet has already tried this (or been too disgusted to bother) I thought I would too. I happened to have all of the right ingredients and followed the Chocolate Cake recipe to the letter.
Surprisingly, it tasted OK. If you were utterly desperate for chocolate cake, you could do worse. The 5-minute timing gives it a distinct advantage over many other recipes.

Notable points:

It doesn't taste very chocolaty. I used Ghirardelli cocoa, which apparently included ground chocolate rather than being pure cocoa. Next time, something better?
It tastes a bit oily (I used rice bran oil, which doesn't taste of much). Melted butter ought to be a good substitute. Cake must have butter in it!
It could do with a bit of salt. Just a pinch.
The texture is surprisingly good. Steam leavening, apparently.
It could do with frosting... Nutella, perhaps?
This cake is for times of cake starvation, not for weddings or similarly special occasions.

This must be LEGO week

2008-07-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Gizmodo takes you Inside the Lego Factory. The whole thing is run by 3 people and 10,000,000 robots. Approximately.

Classics in Lego - a set on Flickr

2008-07-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Famous old photos, remade using LEGO.

James Blunt on Sesame Street

2008-07-18T17:37:00.001-07:00

Words escape me.

Buy n Large : they're here

2008-07-13T01:15:00.000-07:00

If you haven't watched WALL·E then this will make no sense.
For those that have, you'll be pleased to know that Disney bothered not only to register the domain, but they put content there too.

Lustro - Mac address book exporter

2008-07-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Lustro is open source and lets you export to CSV or Gmail. I haven't tried it yet but it looks good.

Short addictive game of the week

2008-06-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hedgehog Launch - you have to launch a hedgehog into space in as few days as you can.

Journal of Misheard Lyrics: Joe Cocker

2008-06-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I always had trouble understanding what Joe was singing. Now, thankfully, we have subtitles.

Dreamworks Laziness

2008-06-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

As Phil Plait recently pointed out, Dreamworks has a giant continuity glitch in most (all?) of their movies that feature the boy fishing from the moon. We all know that he can't be sitting on the crescent like that, and that he'd have trouble casting a fishing line that far*. There's something more subtle that you might not have noticed: The moon and clouds reflected in the water are the same as the ones above - but they didn't bother to do the required vertical flip. Observe these two frame grabs, a few seconds apart:

Unfortunately, I'll probably never be able to watch one of their movies again without this bugging me.

* To get the line from the moon to the earth, the boy would have to launch it at 2.28 km/s (over 5000 miles per hour); and it would probably burn up in the atmosphere; oh wait it's a movie, never mind.

Down for everyone, or just me?

2008-06-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

Example: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/amazon.com

Buy something

2008-05-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

If you like surprises, buy something. They make great gifts for somebody.

Subway Living Room in Prague at Improv Everywhere

2008-04-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

The really strange thing is that this parallels a dream that I had a few nights ago, in which people built a plush waiting room in an otherwise sparse station.

The Century of the Self

2008-03-24T01:50:00.001-07:00

Interesting BBC series about how the research of Sigmund Freud and his nephew Edward Bernays laid the ground for controlling crowds based on the desires of their subconscious rather than rational thought. The series follows this thread the way to present methods in Public Relations and Marketing in both business and politics.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Best. Subtitles. Ever.

2008-02-29T08:33:00.001-08:00

Sorry I didn't post this weeks ago when I first saw it.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

2008-02-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

The Conet Project

2008-02-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Out on the short wave radio bands are (or were) radio transmissions that could be described as dull and pointless, yet which are at the same time fascinating. Some possess a peculiar kind of beauty, particularly when combined with the other short wave transmissions that weave in and out of them.

I have no idea how many of these stations are still transmitting (and don't have the time to poke around on the short wave to look for them), but you can download 150 of them for free from the Conet Project. If you do nothing else, at least read the booklet. Apparently I'm 10 years late on this, but this is a very interesting resource and I just recently discovered it; maybe you're even later to the game than I am.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

I went to the tech

2008-02-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

And all I got was this lousy web page.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Ron Giles unleashed

2008-02-02T12:34:00.001-08:00

Many readers of this blog don't know Ron Giles. Those of you that do know him will be delighted to see him displaying his awesome moves here.

Awful Infomercial Of The Week

2008-01-31T10:01:00.001-08:00

The infomercial is entertaining enough, but the Ellen Degeneres show piece is priceless.

Proof that the Mars photos are fake (and that bigfoot is real)

2008-01-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

1. Go and grab the Mars panorama from NASA.
2. Open it up in Photoshop or equivalent.
3. Delete the black background:

4. Crop out the obviously fake spacecraft:

5. Now you have nothing but land and sky.

6. Use "Auto Levels" to fix the obvious problem with the white balance and contrast.

7. Yes, that's right, the sky turned blue! Zoom in (left foreground) and check out Bigfoot.
Clearly these pictures were taken in the Canadian desert, then manipulated to look like they were taken on the Red Planet.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

You too can have great espresso at home

2008-01-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

Around Christmas, my household got a super-auto espresso machine. For the uneducated, that's a machine that takes coffee beans and water in one end, and produces espresso at the other end (it also complains occasionally about being dirty; cleaning is easy).
The machine in question was a Saeco Incanto Sirius (no link provided, because I don't want to encourage you to buy it). After making a few adjustments, it was producing respectable shots of espresso. The cleaning process wasn't too bad. It produced tolerable hot water and steam when requested. Unfortunately, it had a bad flow sensor (apparently a common problem on this model) which made it refuse to do anything at all for days at a time. Thankfully Costco has a no-questions-asked return policy, and back it went.

I went back to researching machines, since this model was no longer available for the crazy-low price I paid. Eventually I decided that an old-school machine would suffice. The grinding and tamping thing isn't that bad, you know. I settled on a Rancilio Sylvia with accompanying Rocky grinder. I got them from Great Infusions in Santa Cruz (Sebastian, the owner, offers a load of useful free stuff if you buy both machines).

What I found interesting is that the coffee I get from Sylvia is consistently better than the best shot I ever got from the super-auto. I'm using the same beans (Peet's Espresso Forte) but the shots are hotter, better extracted, and have better crema. I have yet to learn to produce art-quality foamed milk, though.

The amount I paid for the Sirius was about the same as my new setup (within $10) so I am convinced that the convenience of a super-auto is not worth the quality and reliability penalty. Sylvia's electronics are simple and reliable (3 thermostats, 4 switches, a heater and a pump) but a super-auto has all kinds of sensors and computer controls to go wrong.

And, to top it all, Sylvia appears to be very hackable.

Update: a coworker tells me I should roast my own coffee too.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

GREYCstoration

2008-01-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

GREYCstoration lets you remove unwanted objects from photos, and magically infills the gaps. Also does noise reduction. Good for removing zoo cages.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

I would remove the maggots before eating

2007-12-16T23:22:00.000-08:00

Or at least squish them. Ewwww.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Nontent

2007-12-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

My buddy Greg coined the term nontent yesterday, but sadly it's already been invented. I'm proud to supply you with nontent sporadically.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Things I will not be doing any time soon

2007-11-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

If you're addicted to adrenaline, here's one way to feed your habit.

(Via Letters From Exile)

Urbanspoon

2007-09-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

urbanspoon.com does for restaurants what rottentomatoes.com did for movies.

Monkey Fluids: Hail Xenu!

2007-09-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Temporarily broken LCD screen

2007-08-14T00:59:00.000-07:00

Over at Fontblog gecrashed is some wonderful desktop wallpaper: it looks like your LCD screen is smashed. Confuse your friends, annoy your family. I would never do such a thing.

OS X + Firefox + AdBlock Plus + Flash = Annoyance

2007-08-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

If you have OS X and Firefox and Adblock Plus 0.7.5.1 and Flash, then lots of flash applications will have display problems. This turns out to be a bug in Adblock Plus. Workaround: go to about:config, set extensions.adblockplus.frameobjects to false. Works for me, anyway.

(Found here)

Domesticated hippo

2007-07-23T22:41:00.001-07:00

Proof that there is an intersection between that which is scary and that which is cute.

YAHPP

2007-07-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I finished reading that pesky new Harry Potter book yesterday. It's very long. If you would prefer to read a shorter version that includes all the major plot elements, yet is more entertaining, try Diogenes Sinope's condensed sarcastic version.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of the day

2007-05-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

No comment needed. Just go and look at it.

Friday game (a day early)

2007-05-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Play Onslaught.

Instructions to the residents of Mountain View

2007-05-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Dear residents of Mountain View:

If you're trying to use your home Wi-Fi network and your Windows XP computer keeps connecting to a different network with a stronger signal:

1a. Right click on task tray icon corresponding to your wireless connection, choose "View Available Wireless Networks"
-OR-
1b. Start / Settings / Network Connections / Wireless
2. Click "Advanced..."
3. Select the "Wireless Networks" tab
4. Click "Advanced"
5. Uncheck the box "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks"
6. Click "Close"
7. If any networks appear under "Preferred networks" that you don't want to use, select them and click "Remove"
8. Click OK
9. Enjoy your home network

Alternatives:
a. Don't use Windows XP.
b. Use a Mac.
c. Use Linux.
d. Use (cough) Vista.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Edible babies

2007-05-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

One edible baby, anyway. Scary.
(Thanks, Mark!)

Friday comic

2007-03-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Friday comic, wherein we settle for second best.

Run Vista Legally Without Activation (For Awhile)

2007-02-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

Use Vista without activation for up to 120 days, rather than the default 30.

When you get to the 30th day, just run slmgr -rearm and you get another 30 days. You can do this 3 times.

Freakish traffic intersections

2007-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

ATTAP Unconventional Arterial Intersection Design shows you how lucky you are not to live in a place where they have the dreaded Continuous Flow Intersection.

Wee planets

2007-02-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Must see: Wee planets made from 360° panoramas.

Video of the day (audio required)

2007-01-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I should watch Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen.

Camera autofocus test chart

2007-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a handy and free test chart that you can use to test the autofocus of your camera and lenses.
(via Ian L)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Goodbye, Rich

2007-01-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

My friend Rich Girerd died this morning after a long struggle with cancer. Rich was the first friend I made when I came to California with my former employer. Always active, always outgoing, and a brilliant mind too. We'll miss you, Rich, and look forward to seeing you again when our time comes.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Radio Licensing Scam Alert

2007-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

I just got a letter from "Business Radio Licensing" of 26941 Cabot Rd #134, Laguna Hills, CA, telling me it was time to renew a radio license that I hold. They charge a mere $180 for this service. For a $85 license that can be renewed instantly by credit card at the FCC Universal Licensing System, or by mail direct to the FCC, what value are they providing? Smells like a scam to me.

They appear to accept email at info@businessradiolicensing.com, but their web site isn't set up yet.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Free Sound Effects

2007-01-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

What's not to love about Free Sound Effects?

Weekend Games

2006-12-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already, play flOw and Warbears.
Update: when you've finished them, play dice wars.

Music from video sampling

2006-11-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

"All the sounds are the actual audio from the original video tape. No alterations has been made other than basic timeline editing. I can neither play the drums nor the piano".

Google WebCam Module

2006-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Add webcams to your Google personalized home page.

Uncle Mark's gift guide and almanac 2007

2006-11-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

Gift suggestions, and some random useful tips. Last year he recommended the 20Q ball for kids. Spot on. This year looks good too (and the 20Q ball makes a repeat appearance).

Splice - Meet. Mix. Mashup.

2006-11-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

(Warning: gratuitous use of Flash all over the place)
Collaborate on music (or nonmusic) through the power of web two point oh.

You, too, can complain like a pro

2006-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

My complaint about Mr. Johnny Whatsisname, Sr.

I realize that everyone is entitled to his opinion, and I respect this. I also hope that you will all respect mine as you read this letter. But before I continue, allow me to explain that knowledge is the key that unlocks the shackles of bondage. That's why it's important for you to know that not only does Mr. Johnny Whatsisname, Sr. expand, augment, and intensify the size and intrusiveness of his claque, but he then commands his apparatchiks, "Go, and do thou likewise." Doesn't he ever get tired of calling everyone an ornery heretic? Mr. Whatsisname is right about one thing, namely that fear is what motivates us. Fear of what it means when the most inconsiderate four-flushers you'll ever see herald the death of intelligent discourse on college campuses. Fear of what it says about our society when we teach our children that Mr. Whatsisname's opinions represent the opinions of the majority -- or even a plurality. And fear of overbearing scroungers like Mr. Whatsisname who take away our sense of community and leave us morally adrift. He recently went through a pessimism phase in which he tried repeatedly to dissolve the bonds that join individuals to their natural communities. In fact, I'm not convinced that this phase of his has entirely passed. My evidence is that Mr. Whatsisname will do everything in his power to wage an odd sort of warfare upon a largely unprepared and unrecognizing public. No wonder corruption is endemic to our society; Mr. Whatsisname plans to acquire power and use it to indoctrinate the most nasty crybabies I've ever seen. The result will be an amalgam of mindless prætorianism and profligate statism, if such a monster can be imagined. In closing, all that I ask is that you join me to stop Mr. Johnny Whatsisname, Sr. and tackle the multinational death machine that he is currently constructing.

Which is the real logo?

2006-11-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

A tricky game to see how observant you are.

Eat your vegetables

2006-11-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Steve explains why mathematics is relevant, but you you just weren't taught it properly.

All cats, all the time.

2006-10-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

However grumpy you are, I'm sure you'll find some of these amusing. Click for more.

Update: And even more.

Firefox 2 config tweaks - Lifehacker

2006-10-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Mostly I am loving Firefox 2, except the pesky per-tab close buttons. To get the Firefox 1 behavior back, visit about:config and set the browser.tabs.closeButtons value to 3.

Canon Camera owners: Lens comparison shopping

2006-10-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Choose the lenses you want to compare, adjust the focal length and aperture for each, then mouse over the image to compare them.

Project Censored

2006-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Take the news from a variey of independent sources, subtract what was reported in mainstream media, and you are left with the news that They don't want you to hear.

A brief history of the Middle East

2006-09-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Flash animation that summarizes thousand of years in a couple of minutes.

The reactivity of alkali metals

2006-09-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

Back in my school days, our favorite science video was one from the BBC that displayed the increasing reactivity of the alkali metals as you descend the periodic table. Well, that video has now been replaced by the folks at Brainiac.

Update: Apparently the Caesium reaction may have been faked. Boo.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Make Einstein write whatever you want

2006-05-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

They are made out of meat

2006-05-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

Awesome video adaptation of a Terry Bisson short story.

Funny song, if you're a gaming geek

2006-04-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

You need to watch up to at least the first minute and a quarter.

Calculate your carbon footprint

2006-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

A handy calculator that will help you become carbon neutral. Do it now!

Riemann Hypothesis: alleged (dis)proof

2006-03-27T01:26:00.000-08:00

From PostSecret:

I willingly withheld the greatest discovery in mathematics from the world...It is the solution to the Riemann Hypothesis...The Riemman [sic] Hypothesis is false. The prime number 2^13466971-1 is off the critical line.

How to build an Airbus A380 in about 7 Mins

2006-03-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling that this is not something you can do at home.

Scanner Frequencies

2006-03-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

I got to borrow a TV-capable scanner for a couple of weeks, and have found interesting listening from both public services and amateur hobbyists.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

2006-03-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Through the magic of Javascript: tell it what camera body you have, lens, f-stop and subject distance, and it will calculate DOF and other handy parameters.

The Wireless Music Player: Do-it-yourself remotely managed music player

2006-02-19T01:58:00.000-08:00

Oooh! The WGT634 truly is a hacker's dream.

Best Buy Receipt Check: Epilogue - die.net

2006-02-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Tired of waiting to get out of Best Buy, Fry's and Costco for receipt verification? It's optional! Just walk out!

Anagrammed underground

2006-02-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

This is wonderful. I laughed long.

1999 Mazda Miata Intake Manifold Maintenance Revisited

2006-02-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

After a bout of 24 hour stomach flu, my ElmScan ISO arrived and told me that my intake manifold needed cleaning. $4 for a can of throttle body cleaner, some easy work, and I saved myself from having the car in the shop for a day.

Convert your Xbox to a NAS

2006-02-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Maybe there's hope for my broken Xbox.

Now that is a cool T-shirt

2006-02-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Cute Nessie logo, available on a variety of shirt types.
(via Preshrunk)

1999 Mazda Miata Intake Manifold Maintenance

2006-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

I hope I don't have to do this.

OGLE: The OpenGLExtractor | OGLE: OpenGLExtractor by Eyebeam R&D

2006-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

Take your characters in WoW and 3D print them, or insert them into Google Earth.

Reading accelerator

2006-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

This speed-reading tool displays one word at a time so you don't have to move your eyes. Paste your text into the box and watch it zip by. I found the default of 400 words per minute easy; 750 is acceptable, and 1000 is hard. I seem to recall that the human eye can handle 15fps, which would translate to 900wpm on this system.

W9WI.com - TV technical information

2006-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Find the locations of TV transmitters, so you can precisely aim things at them.

FireBug

2006-01-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

If you ever debug web content, or are just curious, then you require this extension.

IP & Ethernet Interfaces

2006-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Building a networked robot? These might be useful.

Bullnose Tile of San Jose, California

2006-01-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

My shower has a couple of leaky cracked tiles and grout, and I reckon I can fix it. Having ripped out a sample tile, I took it to these folks who were able to tell me who made it, and give me a suitable replacement (not exact, but close enough, in my case).