links for 2009-07-11
-
A complete list of all the Twitter accounts the Borg operate. Looks like there's one for each Google product except, oddly enough, Gmail.
-
Manjoo's argument is that the pervasive search box in browser windows nearly renders the vanity domain unnecessary. I'm still not giving up retrophis.ch.
-
"DateLine is a small, simple app which displays a linear calendar on your desktop in a transparent window. It provides easy access to iCal by double clicking on a day. The background and text colors are customizable with support for transparency."
links for 2009-07-10
-
The key words in this article are "adult size". (If you listen closely, you can hear my inner geek squeal with glee.)
-
Duct tape on the moon. Duct tape on the moon. Duct tape on the MOON. Used for actual repairs. Is this not the greatest invention in our solar system or what?
links for 2009-07-05
-
"[P]eople who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen."
links for 2009-07-04
-
Derrick Story: "At first glance, the recently announced Olympus E-P1 digital camera looks like a classic rangefinder from the film era. But in fact, the camera has much in common with a modern digital SLR, including interchangeable lenses, a 12.3-megapixel image sensor, and even support for Raw and 720p video recording. As a bonus, it comes neatly packaged in a body closer to the size of a compact point-and-shoot."
I am *very* pleased with my recent point-and-shoot purchase, but this indeed looks like the type of camera to fill the role between point-and-shoot and full-blown SLR.
-
Mostly with regard to paper, with a business/office life focus.
-
I cannot express how badly my technolust has been inflamed by this product.
(Yes, even with the six grand price tag. Though I think I'd prefer a 500 GB 7200rpm hard drive over the 256 GB solid state drive.)
Only ten will be produced.
links for 2009-07-03
-
They're not talking about fun games. Rather, "how office politics sabotage the workplace".
I have seen many examples of some of the games mentioned here, both in a Fortune 100 company and in a medium-sized business.
-
Oh. Yeah.
Features a 42″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTV; three (3!) 26″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTVs; a 1000-watt Panasonic 5.1 Home Theater System; DVD player with 5-CD changer; iPod docking station; two wireless surround sound speakers; a live, 7-foot sports ticker, with built-in computer; a year's free service for the aforementioned sports ticker; a full-size, built-in, refrigerated beer keg with tap; a 1000-watt microwave oven; two cigar humidors (holds 25 cigars each), complete with gauges; and a 32-bottle wine rack. Price? Only $14,900.
Plus shipping.
links for 2009-07-02
-
This is a handy app which allows you to specify what you want your Mac to do when you attach photo-capable devices. For instance, you may want iPhoto to open when you connect your iPhone or point-and-shoot digital camera, but Aperture or Lightroom to launch when you attach your dSLR. Or maybe you don't want iPhoto to launch when you connect your iPhone. You just tell Cameras what you want to happen.
The Suspicious Science Behind Man-Made Global Warming
I'd like to take a look at the evidence for global warming resulting from increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere: The argument is that more infrared radiation released by the Earth is captured given the higher concentration of CO2 in the air, thereby warming the planet. However, if you're looking for scientifically rigorous experiments linking CO2 to increased temperatures, I have bad news for you: It doesnt exist.
[...]
Can any model accurately capture the complexities of the Earth's atmosphere? There are certainly many sophisticated ones out there. Happily, most of them use actual physical experiments to verify their underlying assumptions. However, until the "Flux Capacitor" from Back to the Future gets built, any climate model will need decades to verify its assumptions using real data.
Climate simply refers to one day of weather after another. Global-warming true believers, let me ask you the following question: Do you view weather forecast projections for 2 weeks from today with the same certainty that you do a computer model that purports to predict the weather 100 years from now? If not, why not? After all, they're both based on computer models.
If your neighbor told you he were getting a tent for his daughter's wedding reception 2 weeks from now, and you told him not to bother, because a computer model predicted sunny weather, do you think he'd take you seriously?
[...]
Here's some science that no one with a vested political or financial interest in climate change would want you to know: The warmest year since 1934 was 1998, at the height of the strongest El Nino on record. The gold standard for CO2 measurement is taken at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. In 1998, the observatory recorded 366 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere; it steadily rose to 386 ppm in 2008. In the meantime, the earth has cooled.
[...]
The observed temperature data don't match what the model predicts. In physics (my field), we'd look at both the experiment and the data to see whether there was something wrong with the experiment's design, or whether the data were right and the theory wrong. Either way, we'd step back and reevaluate everything.
What we certainly wouldn't do is cram 300 pages of amendments through Congress at 3:00 a.m. and force a vote the next day.
Burning them up
Forgiveness is the thing I ask for the most. In my head maybe I know that God’s forgiveness is eternal and inexhaustible but in my heart I feel like he’s going to run out of them. That he’s got a limited supply. And I’m burning them up, one by one, sin by sin. Boy, have I felt this way, too. (Yes, I know the blog post is over a year old, but I just put the feed into my RSS reader and am reading the old entries still in the feed.)
A Founding Father on cap and trade (Yes, really)
"Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens." --James Madison (likely), Federalist No. 62
links for 2009-06-28
-
"Old Map App allows an iPhone user to explore the effects of time on geography and urban development. "The application displays layers of geo-referenced historical maps projected onto a modern coordinate system, so that the same location can be compared over time. Layers can be faded, adjusted, and explored freely. If the user is located within the region of the historical map, the user's position will be mapped on the old maps to the position of the compass indicator.
"Several maps of New York City & Region are included from the 17th to 19th centuries. All are high-resolution images from the Library of Congress."
Not yet released to the iTunes App Store, but you can sign up to be notified and possibly participate in the beta test. Looks really great.
links for 2009-06-27
-
"In recent years, at least three broadcasters have decided that the dead-center camera is worth the trouble. Tom Mee, who directs Cardinals telecasts for Fox Sports Midwest, says he decided to ditch the offset view in 2006 when the team's video coach showed him the difference between the two angles. The Red Sox went dead-center midway through last year at the behest of team owner John Henry. The Twins also switched last summer on an experimental basis and have since decided to keep the setup when they move into a new stadium next year. Minnesota color analyst Bert Blyleven is a fan of the new view, saying the camera makes it easier for him to convey the game's subtleties, like the tail of a fastball or a pitcher's positioning on the rubber. 'As an analyst, you're an educator,' he says. 'Having the camera directly over the pitcher gives the fan at home a better perspective of what pitching is and the game within the game.'"
links for 2009-06-20
-
"We're done with the tired old fontstacks of yesteryear. Enough with the limitations of the web, we won't have it. It's time to raise our standards. Here, you'll find only the most well-made, free & open-source, @font-face ready fonts."
I really like Chunk and Junction.
links for 2009-06-16
-
"A new reservoir is filling in central China. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River—the world’s largest dam—was completed in 2006, and the river is filling up its valley behind the dam to form a narrow reservoir extending more than 600 kilometers. This image from April 15, 2009, is one of the first images that astronauts on the International Space Station have been able to capture of the flooding behind the dam. The main objective for the dam is to supply water for the largest hydroelectric plant in the world and to help control the devastating floods that plague the lowlands downstream from the dam."
Han Solo, P.I.
Love it.
But WAIT!
YouTuber TheCBVee provides us with a sequence comparison of Magnum, P.I. and his creation:
This is all doubly awesome since I grew up watching Magnum with my dad. (And mom, too, but she was just watching because of Tom Selleck's hunkiness.)
Mucho gracias to mi amigo Stephen for the links via Twitter.
Which man should we seek to learn from?
When Ronald Reagan took office, America's top income tax rate was 70 percent; when he left, it was 28 percent. Reagan's tax cuts were permanent (well, that is, until his successor George Bush broke a campaign pledge). And President Reagan pushed his tax cuts through a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.
When George W. Bush took office, the top income tax rate was 39.6 percent; when he left, it was 35 percent. This small tax cut expires next year. And at the time he was promoting his tax cut, President Bush enjoyed a Republican-controlled House (which he continued to do until the Republican betrayal of conservative principles finally bit them in 2006).
Which man should we seek to learn from, to emulate? The one who pushed significant, permanent tax reform through a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives--and ushered in an era of robust economic growth? Or the one who settled for small, temporary tax reform, with a Republican House--and ushered in an era of robust government growth?
links for 2009-06-12
-
Eric Van Lustbader on continuing the Jason Bourne book series started by his friend Bob Ludlum.
-
I'm so glad I don't frequent bars.
-
"If your data is online, it is not private. Oh, maybe it seems private. Certainly, only you have access to your e-mail. Well, you and your ISP. And the sender's ISP. And any backbone provider who happens to route that mail from the sender to you. And, if you read your personal mail from work, your company. And, if they have taps at the correct points, the NSA and any other sufficiently well-funded government intelligence organization -- domestic and international."
links for 2009-06-11
-
"If your data is online, it is not private. Oh, maybe it seems private. Certainly, only you have access to your e-mail. Well, you and your ISP. And the sender's ISP. And any backbone provider who happens to route that mail from the sender to you. And, if you read your personal mail from work, your company. And, if they have taps at the correct points, the NSA and any other sufficiently well-funded government intelligence organization -- domestic and international."
-
Best-selling author Miller briefly mentions his upcoming book, but spends most of the interview talking about his latest endeavor, the worthwhile Mentoring Project.
-
Google's looking to roll out a device-agnostic e-book service. And Jeff Bezos thought he only had to worry about Apple making a tablet that outshines the Kindle...
Does It Take Two to Engage?
Jennifer Rubin, in Commentary:
[I]t suggests that Obama is in his own make-believe world in which dialogue, "respect," and smart diplomacy are met with goodwill, reciprocal gestures and acts of loving kindness. It suggests that the president has constructed an approach to foreign policy that is divorced from reality. Well, what to do about this?
[...]
Perhaps we should try something else. [...] Maybe it’s time to reverse decisions to curtail missile defense programs. In other words, respond to the world as we are experiencing it rather than pursuing a fruitless policy of talk, talk, talk with people who don’t want to listen.
links for 2009-06-08
-
Pretty self-explanatory. A blog of photos of hot chicks with stormtroopers. A sure sign of the apocalypse.
links for 2009-06-07
-
"We are a professional expediting company officially recognized and registered with the U.S. Passport Agency, allowing us to assist you in obtaining your passport in as fast as 24 hours or less!"
This would have come in handy last decade when my parents thought about going to Iceland when my sister had to have an emergency gall bladder removal (she was studying abroad at the time).
-
"Barack Obama went to Normandy for a reason this weekend -- and it was a good one. The president had something he wanted to convey to the world. That message, to paraphrase a point Ronald Reagan used to make, is a simple one, even if it's not an easy one: It is that freedom is not free, and that democracy is worth fighting for -- that sometimes human rights are worth dying for."