- When you run on a treadmill, you try to keep your speed the same as the treadmill, so you don't slip off the treadmill or move too far ahead on the treadmill. What if an airplane on the ground did the same thing on a treadmill? Could the airplane get off the ground?
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2638/an-airplane-taxies-in-one-direction-on-a-moving-conveyor-belt-going-the-opposite-direction-can-the-plane-take-off
- While playing a game of cards, during the first hand you announce to everyone that you have an ace. Later in the night, during another hand of cards and playing the same card game, you announce that you have the ace of spades. For which hand did you have a greater chance of getting a second ace? It seems like they would be equal, but they are not:
http://www.futilitycloset.com/2009/02/06/the-paradox-of-the-second-ace/
- U.S. States that might have been:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125142955
- I watched a TV show on National Geographic last night about what would happen if the earth stopped rotating after a few years. The bottom line: you're dead. Yes, even you. Fascinating stuff. You don't realize how much of our survival depends on the earth rotating at roughly 1,000 MPH. The earth is very slowly losing its rotation. The earth wont completely lose it's rotation for another 28 billion years. The earth is due to be swallowed by our Sun, which turns into a red giant in about a billion years, so I wouldn't get too worked up about it:
http://starryskies.com/articles/2003/09/earth.rotation.html
- Facebook figures for the United States:
http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/facebook-us-large.jpg
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Friday, April 02, 2010
Visit the Stark Expo and meet Robert Leckie
- One of the best uses of the internet is viral campaigning or Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG.) I love when movies create websites based upon events that take place in the movie. A new viral website has been posted for Iron Man 2. Check out the 2010 Stark Expo! Make sure you watch the video of the 74' Stark expo. If you are a fan of the TV show Mad Men, you will get a kick out of it:
http://www.starkexpo2010.com/
- Ten stupid things people say to start a sentence. Let me add two to the list:
1. "It is what it is." Of course it is! You are saying absolutely nothing when you say this phrase. It's meaningless. Please stop wasting our time.
2. "It's all good." Stop saying this! I am on my hands and knees, begging you. Please stop. We know the situation just as well as you do. If it wasn't "all good", we would know it too.
http://rightwingnews.com/2010/04/stupid-things-people-say/
- I have been watching the HBO mini-series, The Pacific. It's good, but not as earth-shattering as Band of Brothers (my all-time favorite mini-series.) Robert Leckie is the main character in The Pacific. Leckie fought in every single major battle of the Pacific, except for Okinawa. He wrote over 35 books after the war ended. You exist because of men like Robert Leckie. That is not an exaggeration. A youtube video and a wikipedia article about Robert Leckie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Leckie_(author)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTGugdHpig
http://www.starkexpo2010.com/
- Ten stupid things people say to start a sentence. Let me add two to the list:
1. "It is what it is." Of course it is! You are saying absolutely nothing when you say this phrase. It's meaningless. Please stop wasting our time.
2. "It's all good." Stop saying this! I am on my hands and knees, begging you. Please stop. We know the situation just as well as you do. If it wasn't "all good", we would know it too.
http://rightwingnews.com/2010/04/stupid-things-people-say/
- I have been watching the HBO mini-series, The Pacific. It's good, but not as earth-shattering as Band of Brothers (my all-time favorite mini-series.) Robert Leckie is the main character in The Pacific. Leckie fought in every single major battle of the Pacific, except for Okinawa. He wrote over 35 books after the war ended. You exist because of men like Robert Leckie. That is not an exaggeration. A youtube video and a wikipedia article about Robert Leckie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Leckie_(author)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTGugdHpig
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Cloud computing mysteries, via your smartphone
- A short video from IBM about cloud computing and one of the people who invented cloud computing:
- Can hot water really freeze faster than cold water? It seems illogical, but in some situations, hot water freezes faster:
- Five of the most bizarre unsolved mysteries. Not sure how much truth there is in each one of these mysteries. I am shocked the first one hasn't yet been made into a movie:
- A chart showing the differences between my beloved Nexus One smartphone and the iPhone 3GS:
- A few of my friends have asked me why I spend so much time writing about smartphones on my website. The line between desktop, laptop and smartphones is becoming more and more blurred. Smartphones are really just smaller versions of computers, so I am naturally fascinated by them.
I bought my Nexus One in January. At the time, it was the most powerful smartphone on the market. It is now late March, and at least two smartphones have passed it, technology-wise. Here is an article with five smartphones to keep an eye on:
Monday, March 22, 2010
The HCR bill causes Americans to Wilhelm scream!
- Apparently Iron Man 2 has the Wilhelm scream in it. So did the original Iron Man movie. Some of the greatest movies ever made have the Wilhelm scream in them. What is the Wilhelm scream? I just found out about it a few hours ago. It's a running gag among the film/sound mixing community. Follow this link to learn more:
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-wilhelm-scream
- It happened. It happened, and you are just gonna have to deal with it. The House of representatives passed the diabolical HCR bill, and the senate will also soon pass it. The courts will likely not touch it, and in the future it will be almost impossible to repeal it.
The next time someone says to you, "elections don't matter", simply tell them about what happened on March 21st, 2010. Except for illness/death to you or a family member, NOTHING should be more important to you than elections. Elections have a profound influence on your life. Football has no actual effect on your life. The next Star Wars movie has no actual effect on your life. The belt you are wearing that clashes with your shoes, doesn't have a real effect on your life. Politics has a real effect on your life. The next time someone says to you, "all politicians are the same", let them know what the democrats included in the HCR bill and how Republicans would have wanted something completely different. There are HUGE differences between democrats and republicans. The two parties believe in very, very different things. Not since the Civil War has this been more obvious.
Alas, there are some rays of sunshine. The National Review offers a few glimmers of hope. Read the article, but let me summarize: get Republicans back in control of congress. A republican congress can smooth the edges of this health care fiasco, and more importantly, stop Obama from punishing the American people with more anti-freedom legislation:
http://article.nationalreview.com/428841/obamacare-isnt-inevitable/the-editors?page=1
- Visualizing the internet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8562801.stm
-A few years ago I wrote about how to survive if you were suddenly flung 1,000 years into the past. Take the following cheat-sheet along with you. It should really help you impress the locals:
http://www.topatoco.com/graphics/qw-cheatsheet-print-zoom.jpg
- How robots think. Long, and mildly sprinkled with techno-jargon, but a worthwhile read:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/03/how-robots-think.ars
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-wilhelm-scream
- It happened. It happened, and you are just gonna have to deal with it. The House of representatives passed the diabolical HCR bill, and the senate will also soon pass it. The courts will likely not touch it, and in the future it will be almost impossible to repeal it.
The next time someone says to you, "elections don't matter", simply tell them about what happened on March 21st, 2010. Except for illness/death to you or a family member, NOTHING should be more important to you than elections. Elections have a profound influence on your life. Football has no actual effect on your life. The next Star Wars movie has no actual effect on your life. The belt you are wearing that clashes with your shoes, doesn't have a real effect on your life. Politics has a real effect on your life. The next time someone says to you, "all politicians are the same", let them know what the democrats included in the HCR bill and how Republicans would have wanted something completely different. There are HUGE differences between democrats and republicans. The two parties believe in very, very different things. Not since the Civil War has this been more obvious.
Alas, there are some rays of sunshine. The National Review offers a few glimmers of hope. Read the article, but let me summarize: get Republicans back in control of congress. A republican congress can smooth the edges of this health care fiasco, and more importantly, stop Obama from punishing the American people with more anti-freedom legislation:
http://article.nationalreview.com/428841/obamacare-isnt-inevitable/the-editors?page=1
- Visualizing the internet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8562801.stm
-A few years ago I wrote about how to survive if you were suddenly flung 1,000 years into the past. Take the following cheat-sheet along with you. It should really help you impress the locals:
http://www.topatoco.com/graphics/qw-cheatsheet-print-zoom.jpg
- How robots think. Long, and mildly sprinkled with techno-jargon, but a worthwhile read:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/03/how-robots-think.ars
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Even Captain Solo strapped to a jetpack can calculate pi
- Happy pi day! (March 14 --- 03/14) Hard to believe there is a number that occurs in the natural world that is infinite and never repeats itself. That's the nature of pi. If it did repeat itself, it wouldn't be a true circle. Here is an article explaining how pi works, and two articles about how you can easily calculate pi. Neither article requires a degree in mathematics. If you know how to add or multiply fractions, you can follow along. We did the Monte Carlo method in my super-computer programming class a few weeks ago:
http:/
http:/
http:/
- Want to buy a jetpack for 86 grand? Now you can, and you don't need a pilot's license or even a driver's license to use one in the U.S. This sounds like the most legitimate personal flying device so far, but some obvious questions pop into my mind after reading this article...
1. How INSANELY dangerous would it be to actually use this thing!?!?
2. How fast does it go, and how far can it go? The article only says it can fly for 30 minutes.
3. Can devices like this really become the future of personal travel? Could we ever properly organize mass-travel using these contraptions and could we ever achieve a safety level high enough for the general public to accept this form of transportation?
http:/
- Ten best ad-libbed moments in movies. Sorry, but the best one isn't even on the list. In the Empire Strikes Back, Leia says to Solo, "I love you." and Solo immediately shoots back, "I know." Harrison Ford was suppose to respond with, "I love you too", but convinced Lucas at the last moment to let him change the line.
http:/
http:/
http:/
http:/
- Want to buy a jetpack for 86 grand? Now you can, and you don't need a pilot's license or even a driver's license to use one in the U.S. This sounds like the most legitimate personal flying device so far, but some obvious questions pop into my mind after reading this article...
1. How INSANELY dangerous would it be to actually use this thing!?!?
2. How fast does it go, and how far can it go? The article only says it can fly for 30 minutes.
3. Can devices like this really become the future of personal travel? Could we ever properly organize mass-travel using these contraptions and could we ever achieve a safety level high enough for the general public to accept this form of transportation?
http:/
- Ten best ad-libbed moments in movies. Sorry, but the best one isn't even on the list. In the Empire Strikes Back, Leia says to Solo, "I love you." and Solo immediately shoots back, "I know." Harrison Ford was suppose to respond with, "I love you too", but convinced Lucas at the last moment to let him change the line.
http:/
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Tony Stark and Jack Donaghy ignore speeding cameras
- Arizona was the first state to install speeding cameras. Arizona now leads the nation in speeding camera installations and Arizona has gone state-wide with its speeding cameras. However, those cameras may get removed after November. A ballot initiative will allow voters to get rid of the cameras. I say good riddance! Anyone who claims these cameras are more for public safety than to generate government revenue is a damn fool! Speeding cameras = taxes. It's the exact same principle:
- My favorite TV show 30 Rock, got picked up for another season, despite its horrendous ratings. Shows like 30 Rock get renewed not for their overall ratings, but for the audiences they reach, and 30 Rock's core audience is a gold mine for high-brow products:
- The second trailer for Iron Man has hit the net. Here is a link. Slightly better than the first trailer. I still don't know what to make of this movie. Trying to keep my expectations low:
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Charts and graphs time!
- A chart, with accurate scaling, of the Mariana sea trench. Make sure you click on the chart to zoom-in:
http://i.imgur.com/m3ZxZ.jpg
- Another big chart showing the demographics of World of Warcraft:
http://www.pixlmonster.com/gaga/wow/
- Microsoft takes off the gloves against Google. Apple did the same thing (in an indirect way) just today:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10460829-265.html#
- A list of 100 very successful people who never earned a college degree. It's not a truly homogeneous list:
http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/100-top-entrepreneurs-who-succeeded-without-a-college-degree/
http://i.imgur.com/m3ZxZ.jpg
- Another big chart showing the demographics of World of Warcraft:
http://www.pixlmonster.com/gaga/wow/
- Microsoft takes off the gloves against Google. Apple did the same thing (in an indirect way) just today:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10460829-265.html#
- A list of 100 very successful people who never earned a college degree. It's not a truly homogeneous list:
http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/100-top-entrepreneurs-who-succeeded-without-a-college-degree/
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The first hard drive was not fueled by Bloom energy, but it was taller than William Wallace and Paul Ryan
- The first hard-drive. You would have trouble fitting this into your garage:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/18/amazing-facts-and-figures-about-the-evolution-of-hard-disk-drives/
- The real history of William Wallace:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/independence/features_independence_wallace.shtml
- Any time I read an article about a new energy technology that will revolutionize the world, red-flags immediately go off in my mind. Here's the real scoop about the Bloom Box energy cells:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/fuel-cells/fuel-cell-hype-and-hope#
- Continuing my series on future Republicans to keep an eye on, watch-out for Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin. Ryan has already announced that he will not run for president in 2012, but if Obama gets re-elected, I guarantee Ryan will run in 2016. Pros and Cons...
Pros:
- Telegenic
- Former Jack Kemp staffer
- From a purple state
- Policy wonk
- Relatively young
Cons:
- He is a congressman, so he is not well-known
- Supports un-popular positions, like radically slashing medicare and medicaid (scares the jeepers out of senior citizens.)
- A deficit hawk, which seems to clash with his Jack Kemp, supply-side history.
More about Paul Ryan:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1964754,00.html
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/18/amazing-facts-and-figures-about-the-evolution-of-hard-disk-drives/
- The real history of William Wallace:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/independence/features_independence_wallace.shtml
- Any time I read an article about a new energy technology that will revolutionize the world, red-flags immediately go off in my mind. Here's the real scoop about the Bloom Box energy cells:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/fuel-cells/fuel-cell-hype-and-hope#
- Continuing my series on future Republicans to keep an eye on, watch-out for Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin. Ryan has already announced that he will not run for president in 2012, but if Obama gets re-elected, I guarantee Ryan will run in 2016. Pros and Cons...
Pros:
- Telegenic
- Former Jack Kemp staffer
- From a purple state
- Policy wonk
- Relatively young
Cons:
- He is a congressman, so he is not well-known
- Supports un-popular positions, like radically slashing medicare and medicaid (scares the jeepers out of senior citizens.)
- A deficit hawk, which seems to clash with his Jack Kemp, supply-side history.
More about Paul Ryan:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1964754,00.html
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Miracle on Ice, eye color and 3G speeds
- Ten things about the miracle on ice. Let me spoil one of them...I don't care what you remember, you did not watch the hockey game live. Only Canadians watched it live. The game was shown on American TV one hour after the actual game had ended. However, in 1980 there was no internet, no cell-phones and no email to quickly share information, so very few Americans knew their hockey team had won before they watched the game:
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/02/21/10-things-about-the-miracle-on-ice/
- What color eyes would your children have? The following website gives you the percentages:
http://museum.thetech.org/ugenetics/eyeCalc/eyecalculator.html
- 3G cell-phone performance tests of the four biggest service providers in 13 major cities:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189592/atandt_roars_back_in_pcworlds_second_3g_wireless_performance_test.html
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/02/21/10-things-about-the-miracle-on-ice/
- What color eyes would your children have? The following website gives you the percentages:
http://museum.thetech.org/ugenetics/eyeCalc/eyecalculator.html
- 3G cell-phone performance tests of the four biggest service providers in 13 major cities:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189592/atandt_roars_back_in_pcworlds_second_3g_wireless_performance_test.html
Friday, February 19, 2010
The 1939 World's Fair: No Twitter, Facebook, House or Fringe?
- How people predicted the future at the 1939's World Fair. Some interesting insights:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4345790.html
- A website that dissects the medicine in the TV show House, the science in the TV show Fringe, and is devoted to comic books? How did I not know about this website earlier? Hat tip to my good friend Randy:
http://www.politedissent.com/
- Age analysis of users for all the major social networking sites:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/
- As you may have noticed from the programs on the right side of this website, I enjoy using twitter. I particularly enjoy reading it from my Nexus One Android smartphone while standing in line or waiting for something to finish. The Android OS market is flooded with twitter applications. I have tried them all and some day I may write a comparison of each one. Right now I am using a twitter app called Touiteur. It's the best one I have stumbled upon so far. If you have an Android OS smartphone, give it a try and let me know what you think:
http://levelupstudio.com/touiteur
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4345790.html
- A website that dissects the medicine in the TV show House, the science in the TV show Fringe, and is devoted to comic books? How did I not know about this website earlier? Hat tip to my good friend Randy:
http://www.politedissent.com/
- Age analysis of users for all the major social networking sites:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/
- As you may have noticed from the programs on the right side of this website, I enjoy using twitter. I particularly enjoy reading it from my Nexus One Android smartphone while standing in line or waiting for something to finish. The Android OS market is flooded with twitter applications. I have tried them all and some day I may write a comparison of each one. Right now I am using a twitter app called Touiteur. It's the best one I have stumbled upon so far. If you have an Android OS smartphone, give it a try and let me know what you think:
http://levelupstudio.com/touiteur
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