1. Thus ends my experiment of not blogging for a month. RE: Animated. Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Funny. Hardware. Health. Martial. Math. My Stuff. Politics. Programming. Saucy. Science. Sustainability. War.
2. Liquid armor. RE: Engineering. Martial.
3. Google buys a binary googol of IPs. RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Google.
4. Funny Darth Vader videos. RE: Animated. Funny. Star Wars. Video.
5. When will Mayon Volcano erupt?. RE: Philippines. Geography. Geology. News.
6. Plasma TV beats diamond necklace. RE: Culture. Funny.
7. Megapixel myth. RE: Images. Photography.
8. Fancy UK passports hacked. RE: Cyber Tech. Engineering. Security.
9. Sluggo. RE: Comics.
10. Optimus keyboard still not out. RE: Cool. Cyber Tech. Hardware.
11. SCV rush during the finals. RE: Cyber Life. Funny. Games. StarCraft.
12. Perseid meteor shower 2006. RE: Astronomy.
13. AOL User 927. RE: AOL. Cyber Life. Privacy.
14. Bump keying opens most locks. RE: Hardware. Security.
15. Hi res desktop images. RE: Cyber Life. Free Gratis. Images.
16. GDrive. RE: Cyber Life. Google.
17. Classic comic book ads. RE: Chill. Comics.
18. Three more planets. RE: Astronomy. News.
19. Monopoly tips. RE: Games.
20. Writely by Google. RE: Cyber Life. Free Gratis. Google.
21. Mona Lisa animation. RE: Comics.

2006-08-02t22:04:49Z | RE: Animated. Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Funny. Hardware. Health. Martial. Math. My Stuff. Politics. Programming. Saucy. Science. Sustainability. War.
Thus ends my experiment of not blogging for a month

The experiment was simple: 1. Stop blogging for a month. 2. See what happens to my site's stats. That's it. I suspect that my site traffic is about my website content instead of my blog. Let's see if I was right.

Yes, I was. If I assume that the difference between May and June is a typical fluctuation, then the difference between June and July fits within that fluctuation. Of course I'm only working off of a few data points here but it will do. I think this means that people are accessing my site by finding content via search engines as opposed to reading my blog (unless blog readers kept coming to my site anyway). That's actually just fine with since the whole site is mostly about logging my explorations and I'm dreading the day that I get my five minutes of Internet fame and my web server gets pinged to death.

I confess: It didn't start out as an experiment, rather I just stopped blogging because I got very busy at work and at home. My calendar usually has a lot of whitespace but this past month barely has any.

So what happened since I blogged last (2006-06-23)? What are the things that I might have blogged about?

• In my personal life:
  • 07-16: Over several days during a heat wave, my family and I dug up the bushes in our front yard and put in 3 holly plants: 1 male and 2 females.
  • 07-21: I had surgery on my nether regions.
  • My mom, brother, sister, and niece went to Hawaii and had a great time.
  • My youngest brother and his wife had a baby.
  • Work has been real busy with lots of overtime.
• In the world (ref June 2006 [W] and July 2006 [W]):
  • 06-23: 'Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise, has passed away at 175. Harriet was one of the oldest known animals in the world.'
  • 06-25: 'The world's second richest man, Warren Buffett, pledges to donate approximately $37 billion USD in shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, effectively making it the largest charitable organization in history.'
    • Kudos to Buffet and the Gates!
  • 06-29: 'Internet Explorer Version 7 Beta 3 is released for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003'
    • IE7 beta 2 worked fine on my Windows XP machine for months but IE7 beta 3 wouldn't install. Oh well.
  • 07-04: 'America celebrated the 4th of July.'
  • 07-05:
    • 'Light Sweet Crude futures close at an all-time high at $75.19/barrel, with an intraday all-time high of $75.40/barrel in New York'
    • 'Former Enron executive Kenneth Lay has died of a heart attack at the age of 64.'
      • The funny thing is that his convictions were abated.
  • 07-07: 'Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, dies at his home.'
  • 07-09: '2006 FIFA World Cup: Italy defeats France in the final game of the FIFA World Cup. The score remained 1-1 after both regulation time and extra time; however, Italy won 5-3 in penalty kicks. The match is marred by the dismissal of Zinedine Zidane in the second period of Extra Time.'
    • Dismissed for a head butt to the solar plexus! Marco Materazzi butted by Zinedine Zidane (World Cup 2006) [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4359126824948183847].
  • 07-10: 'The Hebrew University of Jerusalem releases 1,300 letters written by Albert Einstein, shedding light on his lovers, wives and kin.'
    • As if I wanted to know the details of how Einstein slept around.
  • 07-12: The 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis [W] began.
    • Pretty pathetic all around. The one nice thing about it is that it's like the good old days: (t's a Mid East crisis that isn't focused around the U.S. involvement in Iraq. This is a chance for Bush and Rice to do some diplomacy. An interesting thing about reviewing the news in blocks of months is I get to see how Israel is constantly in conflict. It's all so Old Testament. Not very neighborly over there.
• Links past during the experiment:
  • No, I'm Sorry, It Does [polymathematics.typepad.com/polymath/2006/06/no_im_sorry_it_.html]. 0.999... = 1. Believe it!
  • Pretty Code, Ugly Code [codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000615.html].
    • I only fully agree with #3 and #5. The rest can be argued (and are in the comments).
    • Here's a summation:
      1. 'Code changes should blend in with the original style.'
      2. 'Keep columns narrow.'
      3. 'Break code into logical blocks so that each does a single thing or single kind of thing.'
      4. 'Set off code blocks with whitespace and comments that describe each block.'
      5. 'Reduce, reduce, reduce. Remove anything that will distract the reader.'
      6. 'Two or more pieces of code that do the same or similar thing should be made to look the same.'
      7. 'The left edge of the code defines its structure, while the right side holds the detail.'
    • Here are a few gems from the comments:
      • 'Never ever use /* */ as comment blocks!' 
        • I've come to believe this myself.
      • 'I couldn't agree more, especially point #1. Endless reformatting of '{' indentation styles waste a lot of time and makes doing 'diffs' on different versions of a file a nightmare. Swallow your pride for that one file you are editing, stick with the same style, and apply your own or company's superior style on all other files.'
  • wetpaint.com. A free hosted implementation of wiki with a more WYSISWY interface, comments, tags, etc. Wiki is going Web 2.0?
  • 1000 Arten ein Bier zu öffnen [stuff.twoday.net]. A thousand improvised ways to open beer: Complete with pictures.
  • Large-Scale, Cheap Solar Electricity [technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17025&ch=biztech]
    • 'This week, Nanosolar, a startup in Palo Alto, CA, announced plans to build a production facility with the capacity to make enough solar cells annually to generate 430 megawatts. This output would represent a substantial portion of the worldwide production of solar energy.'
    • 'Nanosolar also announced this week more than $100 million in funding from various sources, including venture firms and government grants. The company was founded in 2001 and first received seed money in 2003 from Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.'
    • 'Experts say Nanosolar’s ambitious plans for such a large factory are surprising. "It's an extraordinary number,” says Ken Zweibel, who heads up thin-film research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. Most groups building new solar technologies “add maybe 25 or 50 megawatts," he says. "The biggest numbers are closer to 100. So it's a huge number, and it's a huge number in a new technology, so it's doubly unusual. All the [photovoltaics] in the world is 1,700 megawatts." '
  • Beyond the Solar Panel [technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17129&ch=biztech]
    • 'Homeowners have long been able to partially power their homes with sunlight, but it meant clumsily mounting photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof. Now the latest generation of PV panels look and act much like ordinary roofing tiles or shingles. And the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is evaluating nine of these commercial PV roofing products in hopes of providing an easy way for consumers to judge the panels' power potential.'
    • 'According to Fanney, roofing tiles and shingles with embedded solar converters have been on the market for about three years. They look like regular roofing materials, keep out the sun and rain, and can be installed in much the same way. But by generating electricity, these tiles and shingles save consumers money. Around 500 square feet of PV tiles can produce three kilowatts of electricity, according to Subhendu Guha, president and chief operating officer of United Solar Ovonic, a maker of PV shingles in Auburn Hills, MI -- and most roofs are several times that size. His company's version is dark blue and can blend with ordinary shingles of a similar shade. Or a builder might devote an entire sunny section to PV materials. "A south-facing roof on a three-bedroom home could supply 20 to 30 percent of the home's electrical needs," says Paul Maycock, a consultant and head of PV Energy Systems in Williamsburg, VA. '
    • 
  • Old Man Fight [lookatentertainment.com/v/v-923.htm; 0:34 video]. A middle-aged man holds his ground against 3 younger guys in a public place --mostly by shoving his hand into their throats as they moved in on him.
  • Batman Justifying Himself to the Super Friends [http://www.thevideoawards.com/details/?id=266366d7-c8a5-4c8c-bd75-91360f1dbfb7; ~03:00 video] [via http://digg.com/videos_comedy/Batman_Justifying_Himself_To_The_Super_Friends]. Funny stuff. Lovingly enacted by toys.
  • 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body [health.msn.com/menshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100119940&GT1=7538]. The bathroom trick might come in handy: "Need to pee? No bathroom nearby? Fantasize about Jessica Simpson. Thinking about sex preoccupies your brain, so you won't feel as much discomfort, says Larry Lipshultz, M.D., chief of male reproductive medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine." Body tricks remind me of cognitive biases [W] which I also find fascinating.
  • The importance of maintainable javascript [thinkvitamin.com/features/dev/the-importance-of-maintainable-javascript]. Nice little article.
  • FitDeck.com. Very simple: A deck of cards where each card has a different exercise.
  • Science Facts that People Get Wrong [mcrosolv.demon.co.uk/getwrong.html]. Science trivia is fun. I liked the thing about of the five basic tastes [W], the fifth of savouriness or umami is often overlooked. (FYI: The others are saltiness, sourness, sweetness, and bitterness).
  • Microsoft Establishes 12 Principles for Windows Development [eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1991316,00.asp] or for a quicker summary:  Microsoft's 12 Principles for Windows Development [ciocentral.org/entry/microsofts-12-principles-for-windows-development/] or direct from Microsoft: Windows Principles: Twelve Tenets to Promote Competition [microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/winxp/windowsprinciples.mspx].
    • These sound good and I encourage goodness but there is an impression that this is an effort to cover up past sins.
    • Here's the run down directly quoted from Microsoft:
      1. 'Principle I: Choice for Computer Manufacturers and Customers
         1. Installation of any software.
         2. Easy access
         3. Defaults
         4. Exclusive promotion of non-Microsoft programs
         5. Business terms
      2. Principle II: Opportunities for Developers
         6. APIs
         7. Internet services
         8. Open Internet access
         9. No exclusivity
      3. Principle III: Interoperability for Users
         10. Communications protocols
         11. Availability of Microsoft patents
         12. Standards'
  • The Internet Is Your Next Hard Drive [technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17195&ch=infotech]. This is a topic to watch. I've been shifting more stuff online especially with Google spreadsheets, Google notepad, Google calendar, and free WYSIWYG wikis like wetpaint.com. I've mentioned Amazon's S3 jungledisk.com before but I haven't quite developed the need for it yet.
  • 'If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut. ... "In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife. But this method doesn't work with a tomato". Finally, a blade worthy of Hattori Hanzo, so sharp it can slice a bullet in two.' [via http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53230]
    • Of course hard steel can cut soft lead but still it's a fun video.
    • The thread has other interesting links including these:
      • Sword Forum International thread on the video [forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45130&highlight=katana+vid*].
      • Katana cuts 6 bullets [video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4949875018414626052&q=sword+break; 03:49]. The same guy doing the same thing but using a machine gun
      • process of the polishing work [ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/togi,process.html]. Article with photos of polishing actual katana.
  • Intel Dual-Core FAQ [wired.com/news/technology/0,71467-0.html?tw=rss.index]. I am so ready for multi-core multi-chip computers. As far as cool names go though, I like AMD's "4x4 [eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=191201628]". Faster and multi-tasking is one thing but what I really like is going from 130 W to 60 W.
  • DRM Under Siege: The Yahoo Music Experiment [technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17212&ch=infotech]. Hope is good. The phrase  "unprotected MP3s"  is just so dirty sexy.
  • 'What are you asking me for? ... Who's on first? The classic sketch from Abbott and Costello available for all to see on youtube. Many others have done the sketch since, or a variation of it, such as Slappy the Squirrel, Yoda and JarJar and World of Warcraft.Previously discussed' [via http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53361]
    • The old comic skit of Who's on first? [W] lives on to be seen by further generations. There's so much stuff that's going to fall into the public domain.
  • 'Huh, your world, maybe, pathetic earthlings! ... The Size of Our World. A brief study in pictures of the relative sizes of some astronomical bodies.' [via http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53357]
    • I love scale and the different ways of expressing it.
    • 
    • 
  • Perfect Passwords: GRC's Ultra High Security Password Generator [https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm] [via http://digg.com/security/Ultra_High_Security_Password_Generator_5].  I dunno: I like "password" and "asdf" myself.
  • 'Chicago Tribune special report on peak oil ... The Chicago Tribune special report on peak oil. Includes a documentary and reporting by Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Salopek.' [via http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53426]
    • I've spoken about the peak many times but I think it's important when main stream sources talk about it.
  • Masterbation [sic] is Good for you [vsocial.com/video/?d=32428; 03:58 video; NSFW]. Penn and Teller do a funny and informative video on masturbation. Apparently 70-80% of women masturbate, and 90% of men masturbate, and the rest lie. Apparently a human being left alone will eventually masturbate. Masturbation is a natural human activity like eating and excreting. See also Masturbation [W].
  • Unarmed KNIFE DEFENSE is martial arts myth. This shows why... [video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8884586003342147853&q=martial+arts; 07:38 video].
    • There are a fair number of good martial videos available for free these day. You can't train on them alone but they do have some good information.
    • This particular video is one of several by _KNIFE_ of itf.prv.pl. Basically you have to train widely and hard but keep it real because there are knives, guns, grapplers, BJJ, etc. out there. I've been saying for quite a while now that the basics of self-defense can be taught in a short course and should focus on prevention, diffusion, 5 Ts, alert colors, how to walk, how to look, boldness, groups, etc. in addition to physical techniques and psychological commitment, but that you also have to practice. More elaborate training and a greater repertoire will help keep things interesting though and you certainly don't want to fight UFC as you get older.

2006-08-04t21:14:39Z | RE: Engineering. Martial.
Liquid armor

Body Armor Fit For A Superhero  [businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_32/b3996068.htm] [via http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/01/0336235&from=rss]

This can finally armor spots, like the armpit, that have been difficult to cover for centuries. It's light and flexible, but I still think the ceramic dragon scales are pretty cool.

oday's versions of body armor are composed mostly of 20 to 30 layers of synthetic fibers. And while there is no question the death toll for American troops in Iraq would be far higher without it, the gear is bulky and can't stop high-velocity bullets, for example, or all bomb fragments. Even as DuPont (DD ) was field-testing the original Kevlar jackets in the early 1970s, researchers were hunting for lighter, tougher ballistic fabrics. Since then, companies have investigated a chemist's kit of exotic materials, from cloned spider silk -- a wonder of lightness and strength -- to newfangled sheets of carbon nanotubes that are among the toughest structures in nature. Israeli researchers at one company, ApNano Materials Inc. in New York, have shown off a breastplate of nanometals said to be five times as strong as steel.

Armor Holdings' product is different from all of the above. Developed by Norman Wagner, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Dela-ware's Center for Composite Materials, it's a mix of polyethylene glycol, a polymer found in laxatives and other consumer products, and nanobits of silica, or purified sand. Together they produce a "sheer-thickening liquid" that stiffens instantly into a shield when hit hard by an object. It reverts to its liquid state just as fast when the energy from the projectile dissipates.

The liquid has other pluses. It's lighter than Kevlar and other widely used fabrics. That means Armor Holdings' new vests, in which the substance would be sandwiched between layers of ballistic fibers, might be lighter than current versions, which weigh four pounds or more. It also should be cheaper to manufacture, says Schiller. The Jacksonville (Fla.) company wants to continue to sell entry-level garments for $500 to $600.

2006-08-04t21:23:24Z | RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Google.
Google buys a binary googol of IPs

Google the ISP with 2^96 IPv6 addresses [blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=254&tag=nl.e550]

Not quite a googol (10 ¹⁰⁰) but 2 ⁹⁶ is close enough. So Google becoming the next  AOL? (I can barely say that without snorting). IPv6 is closer than I thought!

Garett Rogers had this blog about "Google's secret IPv6 plans".  It appears that Google owns a block of IPv6 addresses numbering approximately 7.9 x 10²⁸ (79 billion billion billion addresses) or 2⁹⁶.  Basically Google owns any IPv6 address from:

2001:4860:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000
	
to
	
2001:4860:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF

ARIN (the organization that allocates IP addresses on the Internet) only gives IP blocks of this size to ISP for the purpose of reselling to end users and companies.  Put this in the context of Google's continued purchase of dark fiber (unused fiber optic cabling, much of it left from the dotcom era) and the construction of a massive data center, it's clear that Google is trying to position itself in the heart of the Internet.

2006-08-04t21:43:03Z | RE: Animated. Funny. Star Wars. Video.
Funny Darth Vader videos

Via Darth Vader. Sith Lord. Fallen Jedi. Smartass. [metafilter.com/mefi/53569] and The Force is strong with this one [metafilter.com/mefi/53022].

• Darth Vader being a smartass [youtube.com/...; 00:46 video]
• Chad Vader ep 1 [youtube.com/...; 04:46 video] and ep 2 [05:13 video]
• Vader Sessions [youtube.com/...; 09:26 video]. Brilliant! Vader's lines are voiced over with lines from James Earl Jones in other works.
• Robot Chicken: Darth Vader Calls the Emperor [devilducky.com/media/45466/; ~02:30 video]

2006-08-08t17:20:33Z | RE: Philippines. Geography. Geology. News.
When will Mayon Volcano erupt?

If I'm in Chicago and practically biting my nails, then I imagine the locals must be really edgy with over 30,000 resident evacuating.

I saw both Mayon Volcano [W] and Taal Volcano [W] when I was in the Philippines in 2004. Mayon Volcano is in Albay Province [W] is in the Bicol Region and is on the north border of Sorsogon Province [W]. My parents come from Sorsogon Province, so while Mayon Volcano is the Philippine equivalent of Japan's Mount Fuji [W] and is hence a national symbol, for my family it was a local thing.

Mayon Volcano is also just 15 Km = 9.3 miles from Legazpi City [W], a city with over 150,000 people that I also visited in 2004. Legazpi City is named after Miguel López de Legazpi [W], the Spanish conquistador who established the first Spanish colony in the Philippines.

Here's are some recent shots via http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5252146.stm.

Is the chicken is his lunch or what?

These guys are close enough to cook.

Here's a shot from Wikipedia. Yes, the volcano is indeed that close to the airport.
[W]

2006-08-08t17:31:07Z | RE: Culture. Funny.
Plasma TV beats diamond necklace

Study: Tech Replaces Diamonds As Girl's Best Friend [informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=191601137&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All] [via http://digg.com/tech_news/3_out_of_4_women_now_prefer_a_plasma_tv_to_a_diamond_THANK_YOU_GOD]

Finally, a purchase we can all agree upon! A simple cost-per-use analysis gives insight too: The TV can be watched everyday, but the necklace can only be publicly worn rarely.

Diamonds are no longer a girl's best friend, according to a new U.S. study that found three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace.

The Girls Gone Wired survey of 1,400 women and 700 men aged 15 to 49, which was conducted by market researcher TRU, found that given the choice, women would opt for tech items rather than luxury items like jewelry or vacations. The study found 77 percent of women surveyed would prefer a new plasma television to a diamond solitaire necklace and 56 percent would opt for a new plasma TV over a weekend vacation in Florida. Even shoes lost out. The study found 86 percent would prefer a new digital video camera to a pair of designer shoes.

On the other hand, nothing beats an engagement ring even a modest one.

2006-08-08t17:47:20Z | RE: Images. Photography.
Megapixel myth

The Megapixel Myth [kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm] [via digg.com/gadgets/The_Megapixel_Myth_2]

While this is essentially true, then how much resolution do you need and which cameras give better pictures?

Resolution has little to do with image quality. Color and tone are far more important technically. Even Consumer Reports in their November 2002 issue noted some lower resolution digital cameras made better images than some higher resolution ones.

There is also the issue that some people want the gadgets but don't necessarily have the time or talent for the task. This is why people love to buy kitchen or hardware gadgets, even if they can't cook or make things.

Digital does not replace film. Just look here for why a magazine like Arizona Highways simply does not accept images from digital cameras for publication since the quality is not good enough, even from 11 megapixel cameras, to print at 12 x 18."

If you do fret the pixel counts, I find that it takes about 25 megapixels to simulate 35mm film, which is still far more than any practical digital camera. At the 6 megapixel level digital gives about the same sharpness as a duplicate slide, which is plenty for most things. Honestly, I have actually had digital files written back out onto film to see this. See also my film vs. digital page here.

Of course I use much bigger film than 35mm for all the pretty pictures you see at my website, so digital would need about 100 megapixels to simulate medium format film, or 500 megapixels to simulate 4x5" film. This is all invisible at Internet resolutions, but obvious in gallery size prints.

For images seen at arm's length you need to have about 300 real pixels for every inch of your print's dimensions. If you are looking too closely, as with a contact print, then you'll love to have 600 real pixels or more for every inch of your print. Stand further away as you would from a huge print and even 100 pixels per inch (DPI) can look great. By real pixels I mean real optical pixels, not phony interpolated ones. Multiply the inch dimensions by these DPI figures to get the total resolution (horizontal and vertical, typically thousands in each dimension) you need for a decent image, and multiply these together to get a total number of pixels (usually in the millions, or megapixels.)

For instance, for an excellent 8x10 you need [8" x 300 DPI] x [10 x 300DPI] or 2,400 x 3,000 pixels, or 7,200,000 pixels, or 7.2 megapixels. This is what the formula at the top calculates the easy way.

2006-08-08t18:07:21Z | RE: Cyber Tech. Engineering. Security.
Fancy UK passports hacked

British biometric passport hacked [theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33515]

Security? What security?

It has cost the UK more than £415m to load passports with information such as fingerprints, facial scans and iris patterns. Apparently the same hack can be used to turn over the UK government's plan for a national ID card. Grunwald was able to hack the card in two weeks using hardware worth £105. A spokesman from the Home Office said that the UK biometric passport was one of the most secure in the world and while it might be possible to copy the chip data it was not possible to modify or manipulate any of the data.

105 breaks 415,000,000? Two weeks of work breaks months of work? Ouch.

This is why I'm so resistant to having my fingerprints and other biometrics digitized.

2006-08-08t20:16:21Z | RE: Comics.
Sluggo

The Greatest Nancy Panel Ever Drawn [jimwoodring.blogspot.com/2006/07/greatest-nancy-panel-ever-drawn.html]

Yes.

2006-08-09t15:07:11Z | RE: Cool. Cyber Tech. Hardware.
Optimus keyboard still not out

Optimus keyboard [artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/] [via http://digg.com/hardware/Optimus_Keyboard_February_1st_]

This is a wicked cool keyboard with programmable OLED [W] keys. You can make custom keyboards for specific OSes (Mac, Windows, etc.), specific apps (Quake, PhotoShop, etc.), specific languages (English, Russian, etc.), rearrange keys to where you want, and who knows what else.

The odd thing is that it has so many diggs (and has been dugg for over 200 days) and yet this thing hasn't come out yet and may end up being vaporware.

2006-08-09t15:43:20Z | RE: Cyber Life. Funny. Games. StarCraft.
SCV rush during the finals

Boxers's Perfect SCV Rush [youtube.com/watch?v=Jen46qkZVNI; 05:18 video] [via digg.com/videos_gaming/The_Perfect_SCV_Rush_(StarCraft)]

So this is why I get my ass kicked so badly when I play Blizzard's StarCraft [W]: The gosu Korean professionals play  the way the rest of the world plays soccer!

This video has the #1 player in the world beating the #2 player in the world finals using a very ballsy and risky SCV rush as Terran.

2006-08-09t15:50:13Z | RE: Astronomy.
Perseid meteor shower 2006

The Perseid meteor shower [W] peaks this weekend! And we're going camping!

However there is some good news and bad news about the 2006 Perseid shower [science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/07aug_perseids.htm]: The bad news is the 87% full moon will glare and make viewing hard, but the good news is that there is a window after sunset but before the moon comes out 20:30/22:00 on 08-11 Fri or 08-12 Sat when we might see meteors if we look north.

Don't forget your compass and flashlight!

2006-08-09t21:58:14Z | RE: AOL. Cyber Life. Privacy.
AOL User 927

AOL User 927 Illuminated [consumerist.com/consumer/privacy/aol-user-927-illuminated-192502.php] [via digg.com/tech_news/AOL_User_927_Scariest_AOL_user_search_record]

This is so wicked! Essentially AOL recently released the search queries of over 650,000 users. The made the user anonymous by converting the usernames into numbers but still you get a deep sense of privacy invasion. The link above showcases the search queries of one user.

The record starts out blandly enough in March. First he's concerned about how long it takes broken legs to heal. Then he investigates human mold. Perhaps staying at home after an accident? Then he peeks into a little dog sex, but the leash isn't very long, the most prurient site he reaches being SFweekly.com, a regular ol' newspaper. Later that day he looks up flowers. flowers aster. butterfly orchid. The next day, more flowers, followed by a little forced rape porn, testicle festivals and slow-dancing steps. Must be planning a big night.

I think one user got was on the right track with this educated guess:

This account must be used by more than one person: probably two parents and one teenage otaku.

FYI: AOL may have pulled the list but it's easy to find copies. Or check out aolstalker.com.

The comments at the post and dugg are pretty funny too.

2006-08-09t22:17:50Z | RE: Hardware. Security.
Bump keying opens most locks

Bump keying [youtube.com/watch?v=7Uv45y6vkcQ&search=bump%20key; 07:41 video] [via digg.com/mods/Simple_Key_Mod_Makes_Most_All_Current_Locks_Obsolete]

So most locks are now easy to pop open? Nice. Luckily we almost always have someone at home .. with weapons and decades of martial arts training!

This would be a fun link to send to anyone with any sense of security.

2006-08-22t21:23:14Z | RE: Cyber Life. Free Gratis. Images.
Hi res desktop images

Free High-Resolution Widescreen Wallpaper [http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?sort=ratings&w=1920&h=1200] [via http://digg.com/design/Superb_high_resolution_wallpapers_up_to_2560x1600]

High-Resolution images aren't hard to find, but quality, esp. something that you like, is. The digg thread has other links too.

2006-08-22t21:27:30Z | RE: Cyber Life. Google.
GDrive

Google GDrive is not a rumor [blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=121]

Others have tried it but it takes a big name like Google to popularize it.

In a Windows environment, most users know how to use the typical C: in "My Computer".  Network drives work exactly the same but are given a different letter and the files within are not stored on the computer.  If my suspicions are correct and GDrive is simply a network share, most applications could take advantage of this service without modification.

The question of course is how Google will monetize a service like this.  I cannot see how file storage using a network share could be used to serve up advertisements — so maybe they won't.  In some screenshots of Gmail for domains, it appears there are different "account plans" that I assume provide additional email addresses.  Could a similar system work for online storage?  For example, 1GB free and pay $5 for each additional.

2006-08-22t21:40:01Z | RE: Chill. Comics.
Classic comic book ads

I love how an image or a smell can instantly bring you back in time. Looking at these images, I am once more a kid coveting goofy crap. My son loves to play with army men.

[via http://home.att.net/~1.elliott/comicbooktoysoldiers.html via http://monkeyfilter.com/link.php/4934]
[via http://monkeysvsrobots.com/gallery/classiccomicads via http://monkeyfilter.com/link.php/12477]

2006-08-22t21:50:00Z | RE: Astronomy. News.
Three more planets

2006 redefinition of planet [W]

This is such a cute story: Too bad it didn't happen while the kids were in school. Pluto and Charon is now a double planet system. Dozens of other bodies may eventually be deemed planets. For some reason the idea of owning my own island or planet comes to mind.

In 2006, a proposal was brought before the International Astronomical Union to redefine the term "planet" so as to include other objects beyond the traditional nine planets which have been historically considered a part of the solar system. The proposal is denoted as Resolution 5 for GA-XXVI; members of the IAU will vote on it on 2006-08-24 in Prague, Czech Republic. The redefinition would recognise three new planets: Ceres, Charon, and 2003 UB313. It is presumed that, after more observation and discussion, astronomers will accept more objects in the solar system as meeting this new definition.

A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet.

2006-08-22t21:59:01Z | RE: Games.
Monopoly tips

How to Win Every Time in Monopoly [ehow.com/how_536_win-every-time.html] [via http://digg.com/gaming_news/7_Steps_on_How_to_Win_Monopoly_Everytime]

If everyone did it, then would everyone win? When it comes to monopoly, I'm more concerned about fun than winning.

2006-08-23t21:40:30Z | RE: Cyber Life. Free Gratis. Google.
Writely by Google

Google has finally reopened writely.com for public registrations. My co-workers and I have been using Google Spreadsheets [spreadsheets.google.com] for online collaborative documents quite a bit and I'm guessing that we'll do the same with Writely. One big difference is that Writely stores past revisions of a document whereas Google Spreadsheets does not.

See also http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/20/0029204&from=rss for comments. BTW: Yes others are already doing this but Google can make it popular. What I really want from Google though is GDrive!

2006-08-24t22:24:35Z | RE: Comics.
Mona Lisa animation

Excellent! One of the best videos on the Web.