Archives for: January 2008

The building of the LEGO "Ultimate Collectors Millennium Falcon"

01/31/08 | by Adam | Categories: YouTube
Armando, this one's for you. more »
 

Rubbishing the stay-at-home father

01/30/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
While browsing through a friend's Facebook notes, I found a link to an older (2003) article from an American publication discussing the stay-at-home father. Perhaps it was the intent of the author; perhaps it's the required attitude of a successful… more »
 

On hotel rooms...

01/29/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
...how, even in new hotels, do they manage to find television sets without any component, svideo or composite inputs? Coax inputs are so last century. And I'd really like to use my computer to play movies on the bigger screen that's paid for as part of… more »
 

"Time Machine" Review

01/28/08 | by Adam | Categories: Macintosh
A good review of the other part of using backup software: restoring. (Via Daring Fireball) more »
 

Phoo

01/27/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
While testing out a piece of software at work, I noticed one of the columns referred to "sulfur". Just before filing a low level problem report to correct the spelling mistake, I decided to make sure it wasn't one of the those English/American things. more »
 

What Brings Out The Hulk

01/27/08 | by Nimble | Categories: Distractions
I like the little story behind the Hulk Out List, that Kevin Koster, assistant director of JAG, just passed Kenneth Johnson a list of all the reasons that made Bill Bixby's skin turn green and destroy yet another shirt, but not the pants. As detailed… more »
 

MrlMrlMrlMrlMrlMrlMrlMrl

01/26/08 | by Adam | Categories: Games, YouTube
"I Am Murloc" from Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain. Someone must have access to a pretty good Warcraft engine in order to create that video... (Via Ricardo) (Official Blizzard version can be found here) more »
 

Suspension of disbelief

01/25/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
BoingBoing has an interesting post on the suspension of disbelief and how fragile it is. The example in this case is from the recent "Cloverfield" movie and the introductory cue card, but they've covered the "uncanny valley" before. more »
 

Quantum And Consciousness - Gah!

01/25/08 | by Nimble | Categories: Thoughts, Common Sense, Science
If discoveries with the advance of time have taught us anything, it's that despite how special humans are, we have been removed from occupying front and center stage of the entire universe. The corollary of this is that if you look into the universe and… more »
 

IBM demonstrates why workplace regulations are required

01/24/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
IBM recently lost a suit from some of their employees seeking to redress unpaid overtime. What was IBM's reaction? They decided to cut wages to compensate. more »
 

Scrabulous' days are numbered

01/23/08 | by Adam | Categories: Copyright
Apparently Mattel has finally decided that Facebook's "Scrabulous" game is infringing their "Scrabble" game enough to issue a cease-and-desist order. Get your turns in now! more »
 

Average incomes across Canada

01/22/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
As might be expected, Ontario and Alberta lead the stakes in average wages. The male/female income disparity for the same age groups is quite stunning though. (Via Denenenenene) more »
 

The music of Barry Adamson: a very incomplete primer

01/21/08 | by Adam | Categories: Music
I've had an adoration for Barry Adamson's music since I first encountered his "Split" on a Mercury Prize compilation CD back in 1992 in the UK. It was unlike anything else I'd heard before. more »
 

Eight celebrities you didn't know were geeks

01/20/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
Ok, I did know about Vin Diesel but that's about it. more »
 

And you thought a 14 oz steak was filling...

01/19/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
So, how about some utterly ridiculous dishes from the US to make you feel quite nauseous... more »
 

The downfall of HD-DVD

01/18/08 | by Adam | Categories: YouTube
The infamous Hitler video repurposed once again... (Via BoingBoing) more »
 

The High Price of IQ Test Sponsors

01/18/08 | by Nimble | Categories: Thoughts, Common Sense, Spamming
Online IQ tests are ever so much fun, especially when you do well in them, especially after someone issues a challenge. Such was the case with the popular IQ Test on Facebook. Nevertheless, there was one question I didn't like - I've taken many such… more »
 

Apple unveils the world's thinnest laptop case

01/17/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly, Macintosh
Gizmodo pulls a funny. It probably makes more sense if you saw video of Steve Jobs' keynote from Macworld. (Via Midtoad) more »
 

Copyright on car photos

01/16/08 | by Adam | Categories: Copyright
I perfectly understand copyrighting an image. I can't understand claiming trademark infringement on the subject of an image. more »
 

ICEfaces blog

01/15/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
I'd just like to welcome Mark Collette to the wonderful world of blogging. Mark's currently a programmer at ICESoft writing Java-based tools. He's also a pretty darn smart guy so I'm sure will have something of interest to say. Enjoy! :) more »
 

Sleeve faces

01/14/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
Ah, the internets. Home of the imaginative, wonderful and bizarre. Today, we have people using old LP cover art as a replacement for parts of their bodies... (Via Cogitamus) more »
 

The Muppets do their creators

01/13/08 | by Adam | Categories: YouTube
"To Morrow" as sung by muppets in the shape of the muppet creators, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson. It's darn witty song. (Via Nodwick) more »
 

HD versus DVD transfers for Lord Of The Rings

01/12/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
I didn't even know there was a high-def version of LOTR available. The samples on the link make me want to get it (and all the other peripherals required to actually watch it on...) (Via Kottke) more »
 

Data privacy really does matter

01/11/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology, Calgary
Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" fame felt that the outcry about data privacy was so overblown that he wrote an editorial about it and included his bank details. Yeah, it was pilfered shortly afterwards (with a donation to the British Diabetic… more »
 

BFA in Programming

01/10/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
Another good suggestion from the fertile mind of Joel Spolsky: make programming a degree level course in its own right by pulling it out of the computer science domain. more »
 

Look, Master, it lives....

01/09/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
Despite saying I wouldn't move off XP, I recently migrated to Vista 64 Bit. It's actually been rather less painful than expected. I've actually lost the use of no pieces of hardware, albeit with some serious kludging for some. For the most part I was… more »
 

iTunes pass-offs

01/08/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology, Music
Wired has an interesting article on a British band ("Red Sauce") that specializes in cover versions of popular songs. The interesting thing is that they're remarkably close to the originals. While sometimes you can hear the difference in the vocalist… more »
 

Revisionist Star Wars

01/07/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
Link is to a revisionist reading of the "Star Wars" series starring R2D2 as a rather subtle spy. What's interesting is that this actually ties into an earlier (i.e. pre-prequel) theory that the films were actually about the androids... (Via Kottke;… more »
 

Alphabetizing the DVD Collection

01/06/08 | by Nimble | Categories: Thoughts, Common Sense
It was about high time to redo the DVD collection, which had been accumulating without room to put the titles. Well, we ejected the VHS tapes, and the photo frame, and the microbes, and were on a mission to sort the whole collection... There may be… more »
 

100 things that you didn't know in 2007 (UK Edition)

01/06/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
Nifty list of things revealed during 2007 as collated by the BBC. Personal favourite: 5. Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer. Yeah, that's my preferred… more »
 

Temperature-reactive toilet seat

01/05/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology, Silly
For some reason this amuses me: as a design project someone has come up with a toilet seat that changes colour based on when it was last used. That's probably just a little too much information for most people... (Via BoingBoing) more »
 

Joel on travel and presentations

01/04/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
A selection of excellent points of how and when to travel, and then what to do if you're demoing a product to clients. It's valid as much for people doing training as sales and marketing. more »
 

DNA Through Coder's Eyes

01/03/08 | by Nimble | Categories: Distractions, Thoughts, Science
The site DNA seen through the eyes of a coder is a pretty decent introduction to how DNA and some of the surrounding processes work. Some things are a little hard to make analogies for - it doesn't go much into good analogies for proteins and protein… more »
 

Coolest web-ad ever?

01/03/08 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
Some Dutch IKEA-knockoff put together this amazing advert. Ya gotta see it! (Via PopGadget) more »
 

Wired on Scrabulous Cheaters

01/02/08 | by Adam | Categories: Technology, Silly
Wired on the temptation to cheat while playing Scrabble -- er, Scrabulous -- online. more »
 

Happy New Year!

01/01/08 | by Adam | Categories: Potpourri
No post of consequence today, just a question. Does the current "post-a-day" schedule work for readers? More? Less? Areas of interest? This is still very much a hobby site so don't expect that much, but I am interested in feedback. Thanks, and have an… more »