Real life X-Wing launch
Link: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/boom/xwing-rocket-launches-disintegrates-midair-307945.php
How very cool!
(Via Pharyngula)
Adam 99.7 FM bites the dust
Link: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/db2006-330.htm
When my clock radio clicked on this morning, I didn't immediately notice anything different. In fact, it took about four songs and one announcement before I realised that what I was listening to wasn't my MP3 collection.
British Airways Infant Booking Trouble
As of right now, their online booking system does not handle infants very well.
Calgary Election Summary
Link: http://enlightenedsavage.blogspot.com/
I wish I'd found the enlightenedsavage site before the civic election. Having read through it, I can't say it would have changed how I voted, but there's an awful lot of good stuff on there.
The official City Of Calgary results are here.
(Via CalgaryGrit)
Trademark dispute over "iPhone" in Canada
Link: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/iphone-delayed-.html
Wired's Gadget Lab suggests that the non-release of the iPhone in Canada has more to do with someone else owning -- and not selling -- the "iPhone" trademark rather than the excessive price gouging by our very own Rogers Communications Inc.
Could be.
Matchbox nostalgia
Link: http://positiveapeindex.blogspot.com/2007/10/matchbox-collectors-catalog-1969.html
I used to be a serious toy, er, miniature car collector; only the lack of money in my then-six year old pocket kept me from buying them all. As an adult, that urge is still there -- although the quality of the cars is significantly down -- but then so is the need to live in my own home rather than my parents' basement. Looking at scanned-in catalogues of the models from that period is remarkably gratifying and pretty much covers it.
Best answering machine message ever
I arrived home one evening to find the answering machine light blinking. The message?
Oh, I'm sorry. I think I have the wrong number. Talk to you later!
Byebye, Bioware
Link: http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/071011/1534381.html
The behemoth that is EA has swallowed another fine developer. Expect "Baldurs' Gate III" to come with cool graphics and an utterly unusable interface.
And it'll be as buggy as hell.
Assuming there is one. We'll probably get more sports and racing games instead. What a waste.
(Via Dale)
David Pogue on iTunes ringtones
Link: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/a-baffling-new-phenomenon-customized-ringtones/
I don't get it either:
Pop song ringtones from T-Mobile and Sprint cost $2.50 apiece; from Verizon, $3. You don’t get to customize them, choose the start and end points, adjust the looping and so on. Incredibly, after 90 days, every Sprint ringtone dies, and you have to pay another $2.50 if you want to keep it. Verizon’s last only a year.
Three bucks for a 30-second snippet that lasts a year—when you can buy the entire song online for $1 and own it forever?
What am I missing here? How is a 30-second, time-limited excerpt worth three times as much as the full work forever?
(Via Daring Fireball)
Pointless lyric sheets
Link: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/daft%20punk/around%20the%20world_10076007.html
Sometimes one wonders about the things people add to the internet. This lyric sheet for Daft Punk's "All Around The World" is a pretty good example.
(Via Kottke)
One Hit Wonders
Link: http://www.last.fm/group/Last.fm+One-Hit+Wonders
Convention has it that any band for which you can name one major single but absolutely nothing else is a "One Hit Wonder". Of course, when one tries to actually define specific examples of that it results in failure.
I Miss SnoopDOS
Link: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/Filemon.mspx
On my Amiga, I used a program called SnoopDOS extensively while trying to figure out what was happening on the computer. One of the features I particularly liked was the ability to monitor file reads so I could see why some programs would blow up or what they were attemping to read or modify.
"Wired" on daft suggestions
Link: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/theluddite/2007/09/luddite_0913?currentPage=2
Specifically that would be on the inane things some people are paid to say. I normally think Tony Long truly lives up to his column's name -- although it should probably be "Ornery Geezer" -- but there's nothing here I would disagree with.
One standard charging port for cellphones
Link: http://uk.gizmodo.com/2007/09/23/one_mobile_phone_charger_to_ru.html
It's only taken about 25 years, but it looks as if the cellphone companies have finally decided that having a billion different styles of power connectors is daft. They've now standardized on one: micro-USB.
Now if only someone could convince Palm that this is a good idea...
(Via Gizmodo)
Ambrose Bierce on the emoticon
Link: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004935.html
The emoticon is just a trifle older than 1982. Who knew?
(Via Antigone)
