This one is for the guys: this year's Pirelli calendar is here.
What beautiful photos!
31 December 2004
27 December 2004
Logical Lego
If you think that Legos are only for kids then check out these logical gates that were made out of Legos.
For those who aren't total geeks, logical gates (AND, OR, NOT...) are the basic building blocks of computers.
That means that theoretically this dude could build a real computer out of red Lego bricks and gears.
Quite impressive!
For those who aren't total geeks, logical gates (AND, OR, NOT...) are the basic building blocks of computers.
That means that theoretically this dude could build a real computer out of red Lego bricks and gears.
Quite impressive!
24 December 2004
Little Drummer Boy
Check out 4 year old Cole Marcus.
This little dude is one very cool drummer who performed for the first time when he was only 2.5 years old.
Make sure that you click on the "Reel" section of the site in order to see a video clip of Cole in action (boppin' his curly head to the tune of Ozzy's Crazy Train).
This little dude is one very cool drummer who performed for the first time when he was only 2.5 years old.
Make sure that you click on the "Reel" section of the site in order to see a video clip of Cole in action (boppin' his curly head to the tune of Ozzy's Crazy Train).
21 December 2004
Google Suggest Dissected
If you're a web developer then you've gotta respect Google Suggest for its speed and the innovative client side programming that's going on there.
Well some dude took it a step further and dissected the Google Suggest code.
His site has a pretty simple dissection of what's going on behind the scenes (on the client side of course) in order to make Google Suggest work like it does.
Well some dude took it a step further and dissected the Google Suggest code.
His site has a pretty simple dissection of what's going on behind the scenes (on the client side of course) in order to make Google Suggest work like it does.
20 December 2004
PS3 and XBox2
Well no, they aren't here yet, but we do have some screen shots of games that are being developed for the PS3 and the XBox2 (to be called XBox Next?).
And might I say: these screen shots are quite amazing! I'm not sure if they are actual shots of gameplay (and not just some intro movies) but if they are then color me stunned.
There are two screen shots available (for now), one of Need For Speed and one of Madden.
These images came from Warren Jensen the CFO of Electronic Arts who also predicted that the next generation of consoles would all work as living room-based "wireless hubs" that allow gamers to download their software and developers to add more content to games after their release.
Bring it on...
And might I say: these screen shots are quite amazing! I'm not sure if they are actual shots of gameplay (and not just some intro movies) but if they are then color me stunned.
There are two screen shots available (for now), one of Need For Speed and one of Madden.
These images came from Warren Jensen the CFO of Electronic Arts who also predicted that the next generation of consoles would all work as living room-based "wireless hubs" that allow gamers to download their software and developers to add more content to games after their release.
Bring it on...
16 December 2004
Camels and Rubber Duckies
Joel Spolsky wrote (another) excellent article called Camels and Rubber Duckies.
This time it's about how to determine the price of your software.
Joel starts off by explaining some economic theory about consumer surplus, how price determines demand for your product, and why the classic demand curve is always downward-sloping.
He then goes into how to calculate the optimal price for selling your software in order to maximize profits according to the demand curve and how segmenting your customers into different groups (according to how "rich" they are) will help you squeeze out as many bucks as possible out of each segment.
Just when you think that everything is fine and dandy he goes on to shoot down everything that he explained and discusses why all that theory is wrong in the software business.
The article does discuss some methods of how to price your software but what you really learn is that there aren't any real rules to follow.
Here's a quote from the end of the article to sum up the frustration: The more you learn about pricing, the less you seem to know..
Encouraging ah?
This time it's about how to determine the price of your software.
Joel starts off by explaining some economic theory about consumer surplus, how price determines demand for your product, and why the classic demand curve is always downward-sloping.
He then goes into how to calculate the optimal price for selling your software in order to maximize profits according to the demand curve and how segmenting your customers into different groups (according to how "rich" they are) will help you squeeze out as many bucks as possible out of each segment.
Just when you think that everything is fine and dandy he goes on to shoot down everything that he explained and discusses why all that theory is wrong in the software business.
The article does discuss some methods of how to price your software but what you really learn is that there aren't any real rules to follow.
Here's a quote from the end of the article to sum up the frustration: The more you learn about pricing, the less you seem to know..
Encouraging ah?
15 December 2004
TinyP2P
Warning: this one is for the really, really, super duper, geeks.
Ok, now that nobody's left I can talk to myself...
Anyway, TinyP2P is a peer-to-peer file sharing application, written in fifteen lines of code (written in Python).
Every line has 80 characters or less!
Quite amazing.
And if you've read this far then you probably want to see these 15 lines so here goes:
# tinyp2p.py 1.0 (documentation at http://freedom-to-tinker.com/tinyp2p.html)
import sys, os, SimpleXMLRPCServer, xmlrpclib, re, hmac # (C) 2004, E.W. Felten
ar,pw,res = (sys.argv,lambda u:hmac.new(sys.argv[1],u).hexdigest(),re.search)
pxy,xs = (xmlrpclib.ServerProxy,SimpleXMLRPCServer.SimpleXMLRPCServer)
def ls(p=""):return filter(lambda n:(p=="")or res(p,n),os.listdir(os.getcwd()))
if ar[2]!="client": # license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
myU,prs,srv = ("http://"+ar[3]+":"+ar[4], ar[5:],lambda x:x.serve_forever())
def pr(x=[]): return ([(y in prs) or prs.append(y) for y in x] or 1) and prs
def c(n): return ((lambda f: (f.read(), f.close()))(file(n)))[0]
f=lambda p,n,a:(p==pw(myU))and(((n==0)and pr(a))or((n==1)and [ls(a)])or c(a))
def aug(u): return ((u==myU) and pr()) or pr(pxy(u).f(pw(u),0,pr([myU])))
pr() and [aug(s) for s in aug(pr()[0])]
(lambda sv:sv.register_function(f,"f") or srv(sv))(xs((ar[3],int(ar[4]))))
for url in pxy(ar[3]).f(pw(ar[3]),0,[]):
for fn in filter(lambda n:not n in ls(), (pxy(url).f(pw(url),1,ar[4]))[0]):
(lambda fi:fi.write(pxy(url).f(pw(url),2,fn)) or fi.close())(file(fn,"wc"))
Update:
Somebody wrote an even shorter version in Perl.
This one is only 9 lines and doesn't use any external libraries!!
Check it out: http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/software/molester/
$p=shift;$a=shift;i(shift);socket S,2,1,6;bind S,&a($a);listen
S,5;$/=undef;while(@ARGV&&($_="$p $a f".shift)||accept(C,S)&&($_=)&&close
C){m!^(.*?) (.*?) ([e-i])([^/]*)/!s&&$1 eq$p&&&$3($2,$4,$');}sub e{open
F,'>',$_[1];print F $_[2];close F}sub f{&s($_,@_)for keys %k}sub
g{open(F,'<',$_[1])&&&s($_[0],$a,"e$_[1]",);close F}sub
h{&s($_[0],$_,'i')for keys %k}sub i{$k{$_[0]}=1}sub
a{$_[0]=~/:/;pack'CxnC4x8',2,$',split'\.',$`}sub
s{socket X,2,1,6;$w=shift;if(connect X,&a($w)){print X
"$p $_[0] $_[1]/$_[2]";close X}else{undef $k{$p}}}
Now you see why I love Perl...
Ok, now that nobody's left I can talk to myself...
Anyway, TinyP2P is a peer-to-peer file sharing application, written in fifteen lines of code (written in Python).
Every line has 80 characters or less!
Quite amazing.
And if you've read this far then you probably want to see these 15 lines so here goes:
# tinyp2p.py 1.0 (documentation at http://freedom-to-tinker.com/tinyp2p.html)
import sys, os, SimpleXMLRPCServer, xmlrpclib, re, hmac # (C) 2004, E.W. Felten
ar,pw,res = (sys.argv,lambda u:hmac.new(sys.argv[1],u).hexdigest(),re.search)
pxy,xs = (xmlrpclib.ServerProxy,SimpleXMLRPCServer.SimpleXMLRPCServer)
def ls(p=""):return filter(lambda n:(p=="")or res(p,n),os.listdir(os.getcwd()))
if ar[2]!="client": # license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
myU,prs,srv = ("http://"+ar[3]+":"+ar[4], ar[5:],lambda x:x.serve_forever())
def pr(x=[]): return ([(y in prs) or prs.append(y) for y in x] or 1) and prs
def c(n): return ((lambda f: (f.read(), f.close()))(file(n)))[0]
f=lambda p,n,a:(p==pw(myU))and(((n==0)and pr(a))or((n==1)and [ls(a)])or c(a))
def aug(u): return ((u==myU) and pr()) or pr(pxy(u).f(pw(u),0,pr([myU])))
pr() and [aug(s) for s in aug(pr()[0])]
(lambda sv:sv.register_function(f,"f") or srv(sv))(xs((ar[3],int(ar[4]))))
for url in pxy(ar[3]).f(pw(ar[3]),0,[]):
for fn in filter(lambda n:not n in ls(), (pxy(url).f(pw(url),1,ar[4]))[0]):
(lambda fi:fi.write(pxy(url).f(pw(url),2,fn)) or fi.close())(file(fn,"wc"))
Update:
Somebody wrote an even shorter version in Perl.
This one is only 9 lines and doesn't use any external libraries!!
Check it out: http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/software/molester/
$p=shift;$a=shift;i(shift);socket S,2,1,6;bind S,&a($a);listen
S,5;$/=undef;while(@ARGV&&($_="$p $a f".shift)||accept(C,S)&&($_=
C){m!^(.*?) (.*?) ([e-i])([^/]*)/!s&&$1 eq$p&&&$3($2,$4,$');}sub e{open
F,'>',$_[1];print F $_[2];close F}sub f{&s($_,@_)for keys %k}sub
g{open(F,'<',$_[1])&&&s($_[0],$a,"e$_[1]",
h{&s($_[0],$_,'i')for keys %k}sub i{$k{$_[0]}=1}sub
a{$_[0]=~/:/;pack'CxnC4x8',2,$',split'\.',$`}sub
s{socket X,2,1,6;$w=shift;if(connect X,&a($w)){print X
"$p $_[0] $_[1]/$_[2]";close X}else{undef $k{$p}}}
Now you see why I love Perl...
13 December 2004
Stop this is the PoliSe2
Here's one for anybody who's gotten crap because they play GTA (you know who you are): several burglars tried to rob an old lady while her 3 grandsons just happened to be playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the Playstation 2.
The burglars heard the sounds of the cops in the game, thought that they were real cops, and ran away!
The cops in the game were saying: "Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police." so the robbers ditched the place.
Now who's the sucker for buying a monster surround sound system, ah?
[Via Slashdot]
The burglars heard the sounds of the cops in the game, thought that they were real cops, and ran away!
The cops in the game were saying: "Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police." so the robbers ditched the place.
Now who's the sucker for buying a monster surround sound system, ah?
[Via Slashdot]
12 December 2004
Pumpkins
A little late for Halloween (or maybe really early for next Halloween) but this site is still cool: PumpkinGutter.com.
It's basically a gallery of pumpkin carvings that this guy makes once a year, but these aren't just your regular Jack-o-lanterns, we're talking state of the art cool carvings.
There are pumpkins of Bush, Kerry, Clint Eastwood, The Wizard of Oz, Darth Vader, Conan O'Brien...the list goes on and on.
It's basically a gallery of pumpkin carvings that this guy makes once a year, but these aren't just your regular Jack-o-lanterns, we're talking state of the art cool carvings.
There are pumpkins of Bush, Kerry, Clint Eastwood, The Wizard of Oz, Darth Vader, Conan O'Brien...the list goes on and on.
11 December 2004
Google Suggests...
Every once in a while the Google labs display something really cool (like the Google desktop search).
Today I ran into another cool Google tool called "Google Suggest".
Google Suggest basically looks like the regular Google home page but with one difference: when you start typing in your search in the search field you automatically get an auto completion of suggestions for what you are typing!
Not only are the suggestions pretty accurate but what's more amazing is the speed that they are displayed.
Totally on the fly, as you type!
Not only is it very simple and cool, it's also very useful.
Here's a post by the Google employee that created Google Suggest during his 20% free time (Google allows their employees to devote 20% of their working hours to any project they choose).
[via Joel On Software]
Today I ran into another cool Google tool called "Google Suggest".
Google Suggest basically looks like the regular Google home page but with one difference: when you start typing in your search in the search field you automatically get an auto completion of suggestions for what you are typing!
Not only are the suggestions pretty accurate but what's more amazing is the speed that they are displayed.
Totally on the fly, as you type!
Not only is it very simple and cool, it's also very useful.
Here's a post by the Google employee that created Google Suggest during his 20% free time (Google allows their employees to devote 20% of their working hours to any project they choose).
[via Joel On Software]
06 December 2004
Portable PS2 Here!
As you may already know, Sony is planning on coming out with the Portable Playstation (PSP) pretty soon, just on the tail of the new Nintendo DS.
But it turns out that some dude (aka a geek) couldn't wait and built his own portable Playstation 2 out of one of those new slim PS2s, a 5" PSone screen, and a Lithium-ion battery pack that's intended to power portable DVD players.
His site documents the entire process of putting the thing together.
Although it looks a bit large in the pictures (you can see some pictures of the final outcome here), the result is still quite impressive and really well done (this guy clearly has some experience doing these kind of things).
Now he just has a few months to mass produce them...
[via Slashdot]
But it turns out that some dude (aka a geek) couldn't wait and built his own portable Playstation 2 out of one of those new slim PS2s, a 5" PSone screen, and a Lithium-ion battery pack that's intended to power portable DVD players.
His site documents the entire process of putting the thing together.
Although it looks a bit large in the pictures (you can see some pictures of the final outcome here), the result is still quite impressive and really well done (this guy clearly has some experience doing these kind of things).
Now he just has a few months to mass produce them...
[via Slashdot]
01 December 2004
Whack Your Boss
Not that I encourage this kind of behavior (wink wink) but if you are fed up with your boss and daydream about getting back at him/her then check out Whack Your Boss.
The "game's" challenge is to find 8 ways to whack your boss and was created by Tom Winkler, the creator of Doodie.com (that used to be one of my favorite sites for quite a while only now they try to install something annoying when you go to the site).
Enjoy...
The "game's" challenge is to find 8 ways to whack your boss and was created by Tom Winkler, the creator of Doodie.com (that used to be one of my favorite sites for quite a while only now they try to install something annoying when you go to the site).
Enjoy...
28 November 2004
Cool Tools For .Net Developers
The most important link that I got from the MS .Net Deep Dive conference (that's a Hebrew site) last week is for the cool tools for .Net developers that Roy Osherove demonstrated.
Although I already am familiar with some of the tools (mainly the tools that aren't exclusively for .Net developers, like Dave's Quick Search Deskbar) the new tools that I learned about seem very useful and are real time savers (and some are even free).
Although I already am familiar with some of the tools (mainly the tools that aren't exclusively for .Net developers, like Dave's Quick Search Deskbar) the new tools that I learned about seem very useful and are real time savers (and some are even free).
26 November 2004
Chainsaw
This one is sooo cool that I just had to post a picture:
What you see here is the Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller that is basically a standard controller for the Nintendo Gamecube (only it looks a bit different).
Just try not to get to into the game and start waving that thing around the living room...(you could poke somebody's eye out).
What you see here is the Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller that is basically a standard controller for the Nintendo Gamecube (only it looks a bit different).
Just try not to get to into the game and start waving that thing around the living room...(you could poke somebody's eye out).
23 November 2004
09 November 2004
Konfabulator for Windows
Woo hoo! Konfabulator for Windows is out!
I've been hearing about Konfabulator for quite a while now but since I don't really have access to a Mac I've just had to wait till it comes out on Windows.
Well let me tell you: it's totally cool!
You may be asking "what the hell is Konfabulator?"
Probably the best thing about it is that the various widgets look totally awesome (at least for somebody who doesn't work regularly on a Mac).
Just check out some screenshots of it (or better yet, install it and play around with it a bit).
I've been hearing about Konfabulator for quite a while now but since I don't really have access to a Mac I've just had to wait till it comes out on Windows.
Well let me tell you: it's totally cool!
You may be asking "what the hell is Konfabulator?"
"Konfabulator is a JavaScript runtime engine for Mac OS X that lets you run little files called Widgets that can do pretty much whatever you want them to. Widgets can be alarm clocks, calculators, can tell you your AirPort signal strength, will fetch the latest stock quotes for your preferred symbols, and even give your current local weather."
Probably the best thing about it is that the various widgets look totally awesome (at least for somebody who doesn't work regularly on a Mac).
Just check out some screenshots of it (or better yet, install it and play around with it a bit).
05 November 2004
New Photo Management
I've given up on trying to use my own software for managing my moblog (due to time restrictions I actually gave up quite a while ago) so I decided to use Flickr.com instead.
What can I tell you: working with Flickr is absolutely awesome.
The entire experience of creating a free account, uploading your pictures, and managing your online photos is pretty close to perfect!
Who the hell has time to work out various random bugs in the system that I wrote??
Now I can easily upload any pictures that I take and you'll be able to see them in my flickr account (if you want to, of course ;).
For now I uploaded all the old Moblog pictures and they are a bit out of order (one of the few annoyances that I encountered with Flickr is that you can't change the order of the pictures that are uploaded).
You'll also be able to see 3 random pictures from there every time you refresh the main page at guymal.com.
Oh yea, you can also use the RSS feeds (RSS 2.0 or Atom) to never miss any picture that I post.
What can I tell you: working with Flickr is absolutely awesome.
The entire experience of creating a free account, uploading your pictures, and managing your online photos is pretty close to perfect!
Who the hell has time to work out various random bugs in the system that I wrote??
Now I can easily upload any pictures that I take and you'll be able to see them in my flickr account (if you want to, of course ;).
For now I uploaded all the old Moblog pictures and they are a bit out of order (one of the few annoyances that I encountered with Flickr is that you can't change the order of the pictures that are uploaded).
You'll also be able to see 3 random pictures from there every time you refresh the main page at guymal.com.
Oh yea, you can also use the RSS feeds (RSS 2.0 or Atom) to never miss any picture that I post.
29 October 2004
4Restore
Before you go to 4restore.com guess what you think it's for...
To me it sounds like some sort of backup solution or maybe a service for restoring old photographs.
Quite the contrary my friends.
4Restore.com restores a certain part of the male anatomy that is sometimes, um, removed at a young age.
Let's just say that Jewish men are potential clients...
That's right, 4Restore are "dedicated to addressing important unmet health needs of foreskin restoration"!
And if that's not enough for you here are a few more gems from their front page:
I'm actually quite scared to click on anything on that site cuz I don't want to run into any pictures that may give me nightmares.
To me it sounds like some sort of backup solution or maybe a service for restoring old photographs.
Quite the contrary my friends.
4Restore.com restores a certain part of the male anatomy that is sometimes, um, removed at a young age.
Let's just say that Jewish men are potential clients...
That's right, 4Restore are "dedicated to addressing important unmet health needs of foreskin restoration"!
And if that's not enough for you here are a few more gems from their front page:
- "FDA approved medical graded Stainless Steel"(I don't even want to think about that one)
- "As with any exercise program, first consult with your health-care practitioner" (EXERCISE program??)
- "One Year Warranty".
I'm actually quite scared to click on anything on that site cuz I don't want to run into any pictures that may give me nightmares.
22 October 2004
Menlo Park 2
Congrats to my man Shanti Braford for the article in IT Managers Journal about his project Menlo Park 2.
I met Shanti at Gnomedex 4 and he has some pretty cool ideas about human capital and collaborating in order to create a business.
Check out the Menlo Park 2.0 Manifesto for some more information about his project.
I met Shanti at Gnomedex 4 and he has some pretty cool ideas about human capital and collaborating in order to create a business.
Check out the Menlo Park 2.0 Manifesto for some more information about his project.
19 October 2004
Why Blogs?
For those who still don't understand blogs and keep asking "why would I want to read what somebody ate for breakfast" there's an interesting "conversation" over at WebProWorld about the importance of blogs, corporate blogs, why blogs are important for search engine optimization and improving your search engine results, and marketing by using blogs.
It may be a bit long (and I admit I didn't read everything there) but you do pick up some pretty interesting stuff just by skimming over the page.
There are also links there to some personal blogs like Jonathan's Blog (who looks like a young dude with a ponytail but just happens to be the President and Chief Operating Officer of Sun Microsystems) and some other big shots' blogs.
It may be a bit long (and I admit I didn't read everything there) but you do pick up some pretty interesting stuff just by skimming over the page.
There are also links there to some personal blogs like Jonathan's Blog (who looks like a young dude with a ponytail but just happens to be the President and Chief Operating Officer of Sun Microsystems) and some other big shots' blogs.
18 October 2004
Mailing List?
You probably didn't notice, but I removed the Guy's World mailing list a few days ago (if you did notice then you win a free 21 hour day pass to Google.com).
Mailing lists are sooo 2001 and we don't want to be stuck in the past now, do we?
Anyway, the real reason that I removed the list from the site is because it was just too much of a hassle to prepare the issues.
Since we are almost in 2005 and if you haven't seen the letters RSS you probably haven't been using the web for a while (or maybe you're just not a geek :), then just add the Guy's World RSS feed to your favorite feed reader or click here to add Guy's World to your My Yahoo page and you'll always be updated with the latest and greatest from Guy's World.
People, it's time to advance to new "technologies" and leave those old trends behind.
Who knows, maybe in a 10/20 years we also won't see any more fax machines (I doubt it)...
Mailing lists are sooo 2001 and we don't want to be stuck in the past now, do we?
Anyway, the real reason that I removed the list from the site is because it was just too much of a hassle to prepare the issues.
Since we are almost in 2005 and if you haven't seen the letters RSS you probably haven't been using the web for a while (or maybe you're just not a geek :), then just add the Guy's World RSS feed to your favorite feed reader or click here to add Guy's World to your My Yahoo page and you'll always be updated with the latest and greatest from Guy's World.
People, it's time to advance to new "technologies" and leave those old trends behind.
Who knows, maybe in a 10/20 years we also won't see any more fax machines (I doubt it)...
10 October 2004
Fart-D
Do you suffer from (god forbid) flatulence?
Oohhh, he said the f-word.
According to Flat-D's site: "This product will eliminate your flatulence odor problem as soon as you start using it.".
Heh heh, farting :o)
"Now you can go out in public without fear of embarrassment due to the odor of excessive intestinal gas"
Now get this: it's a pad that fits inside your underwear!
Check out the picture on the site.
Technology rules!
Oohhh, he said the f-word.
According to Flat-D's site: "This product will eliminate your flatulence odor problem as soon as you start using it.".
Heh heh, farting :o)
"Now you can go out in public without fear of embarrassment due to the odor of excessive intestinal gas"
Now get this: it's a pad that fits inside your underwear!
Check out the picture on the site.
Technology rules!
08 October 2004
All Things Ostrich?
Why the hell does Google Adsense think that "All Things Ostrich" is relevant to my site?
Pretty odd ah?
I searched guymal.com to see if I had ever written anything about Ostriches (or birds) but didn't get any results (at least not according to Google).
The web works in mysterious ways...
Pretty odd ah?
I searched guymal.com to see if I had ever written anything about Ostriches (or birds) but didn't get any results (at least not according to Google).
The web works in mysterious ways...
Tee-Time
I'm a big fan of funny t-shirts so I really liked running in to Bustedtees.com.
Some of my favs are "My other shirt has its collar up", "Without Me it's just Aweso", and of course New Mexico - Cleaner than regular Mexico".
[Via WhippetGood.com]
Some of my favs are "My other shirt has its collar up", "Without Me it's just Aweso", and of course New Mexico - Cleaner than regular Mexico".
[Via WhippetGood.com]
05 October 2004
Wrapping Up Gnomedex 4
Here's a quick wrap-up of Gnomedex 4.0 before I embark on my long journey home (well, technically I already started it this morning when I drove to San Francisco but the real journey is still ahead of me...).
I met lots of interesting people, most of which made me feel less like a geek than I do in other crowds :o).
There were some great sessions (especially the panels on the future of online advertising and the future of online content), very cool presentations by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Wil Wheaton (the dude who "used to be an actor" ;-), lots of free stuff, and a not so great band.
And here's a shout out to the non geeks among geeks: Ed ("yeah") Adkins, Jason (poker face) Shugars, and Steve (Yankovic!) Chai.
Oh yea, I broke even (up to the very last cent).
(wink wink)
I met lots of interesting people, most of which made me feel less like a geek than I do in other crowds :o).
There were some great sessions (especially the panels on the future of online advertising and the future of online content), very cool presentations by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Wil Wheaton (the dude who "used to be an actor" ;-), lots of free stuff, and a not so great band.
And here's a shout out to the non geeks among geeks: Ed ("yeah") Adkins, Jason (poker face) Shugars, and Steve (Yankovic!) Chai.
Oh yea, I broke even (up to the very last cent).
(wink wink)
01 October 2004
Gnomedex
I've been more or less offline for the past few days since I'm at Lake Tahoe for Gnomedex 4.
Dialup from my hotel room sucks but we do have free Wi-Fi access from the conference which is pretty cool (and lets me blog from the conference with the rest of the geeks ;-).
(I'm also "famous" and got the honor of being the person who is traveling the farthest to attend Gnomedex)
Dialup from my hotel room sucks but we do have free Wi-Fi access from the conference which is pretty cool (and lets me blog from the conference with the rest of the geeks ;-).
(I'm also "famous" and got the honor of being the person who is traveling the farthest to attend Gnomedex)
27 September 2004
Color Coordination
I'm not the best (or so I'm told) at coordinating colors so the Internet Gods have led me to some online tools to help me with my handicap.
Color Schemer and The Color Coordinator both let you pick a color and then they show you other colors that will go with your color.
Color Maker lets you preview what you page will look like using different colors for different elements.
Color away...
Color Schemer and The Color Coordinator both let you pick a color and then they show you other colors that will go with your color.
Color Maker lets you preview what you page will look like using different colors for different elements.
Color away...
26 September 2004
Software Anyone?
Looking for some software?
Looking for some great software?
Then check out the great software list.
This list has lots of "high quality" programs that have the following features:
The programs there are organized according to categories like "Word processing", "office tools", "utilities", "image viewers", "system tools",...
BTW: check out the image viewers category....(what's going on there?)
Looking for some great software?
Then check out the great software list.
This list has lots of "high quality" programs that have the following features:
- Ease of use with a well-designed user interface
- A generous array of keyboard shortcuts (preferably customizable)
- High degree of customizability where applicable
- Affordability
The programs there are organized according to categories like "Word processing", "office tools", "utilities", "image viewers", "system tools",...
BTW: check out the image viewers category....(what's going on there?)
24 September 2004
Limp Lamp
And just so you don't say that my previous post doesn't count in the daily total here's a real post ;-)
The Gravity is a lamp that reacts to your presence.
When it's alone in the room it lays down (it just goes kinda limp) and when it detect that somebody has entered it "wakes up", stands up, and turns itself on.
Check out the picture of that lamp, it looks pretty cool (especially when it's sleeping).
[Via Engadget]
The Gravity is a lamp that reacts to your presence.
When it's alone in the room it lays down (it just goes kinda limp) and when it detect that somebody has entered it "wakes up", stands up, and turns itself on.
Check out the picture of that lamp, it looks pretty cool (especially when it's sleeping).
[Via Engadget]
21 September 2004
5 Spots
Today we have another game but this time it's not as small as yesterday's post.
In this game you are shown two pictures and have limited time to find the 5 differences between the pictures.
Every time you make a mistake you loose some time off the timer.
The game ends once your time runs out before you managed to find the 5 differences.
I got 9095 points (don't know how good that is...).
Have fun!
In this game you are shown two pictures and have limited time to find the 5 differences between the pictures.
Every time you make a mistake you loose some time off the timer.
The game ends once your time runs out before you managed to find the 5 differences.
I got 9095 points (don't know how good that is...).
Have fun!
20 September 2004
Kkrieger
Kkrieger is a 96K Doom-like video game.
Let me repeat that: 96K!
That's about the same size of this HTML page (actually its less if you include all the images on this page)!
Talk about impressive.
Just look at the screen shots on the main page to see how impressive this really is.
Good job guys!
Let me repeat that: 96K!
That's about the same size of this HTML page (actually its less if you include all the images on this page)!
Talk about impressive.
Just look at the screen shots on the main page to see how impressive this really is.
Good job guys!
19 September 2004
GRsites
I ran into GRSites.com a while ago when I was looking for some free textures.
Not only did I find lots of free textures there, but the site also has lots of web graphics, fonts, a button maker, and even sound effects.
Bookmark this one folks, it's sure to come in handy some day...
Not only did I find lots of free textures there, but the site also has lots of web graphics, fonts, a button maker, and even sound effects.
Bookmark this one folks, it's sure to come in handy some day...
18 September 2004
Facts Facts and More Facts
For people who enjoy facts and like hitting the refresh button, check out hooked on facts.
Every time you load the page you get a different random fact.
They claim that the facts are real (otherwise they wouldn't be called facts) but some are hard to believe.
Here are some of the fact that I got in the 30 seconds that I repeatedly refreshed the page:
Every time you load the page you get a different random fact.
They claim that the facts are real (otherwise they wouldn't be called facts) but some are hard to believe.
Here are some of the fact that I got in the 30 seconds that I repeatedly refreshed the page:
- Spiders have transparent blood
- If you took a slinky and stretched it out it would measure 87 feet
- Women blink nearly twice as much as men
- A completely blind chameleon will still take on the colors of its environment
- A recent study at Harvard has shown that eating chocolate can actually help you live longer (you'd like to belive this one ah?)
- All polar bears are left-handed
- Anteaters prefer termites to ants
- Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to have been born in a hospital
17 September 2004
Strange Ads
Some strange ads have been popping up at a Cambridge, Mass. subway stop and at Harvard Square.
The ads state:
The answer to the problem leads to a web site that has another puzzle.
After solving several of these puzzles (or so I'm told) the solver arrives at a Google page that asks for the solver's resume.
Cool idea for a way how to hire talented engineers (or engineers that have talented friends)
The ads state:
{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e}.com
The answer to the problem leads to a web site that has another puzzle.
After solving several of these puzzles (or so I'm told) the solver arrives at a Google page that asks for the solver's resume.
Cool idea for a way how to hire talented engineers (or engineers that have talented friends)
16 September 2004
Firefox Extensions
For those who aren't familiar with Firefox, it's a browser that's slowly becoming more and more popular (some sites even claim that IE has dropped from 95% to 57% of all browsers used to visit the site and Firefox is up to an amazing 18%).
One of my favorite Firefox features is the ability to add browser extensions to it.
Firefox extensions are basically free extensions that you can add to your browser that add additionally functionality (usually extended functionality that doesn't exist in any other browser).
Here's my list of favorite Firefox extensions (this list will probably grow):
One of my favorite Firefox features is the ability to add browser extensions to it.
Firefox extensions are basically free extensions that you can add to your browser that add additionally functionality (usually extended functionality that doesn't exist in any other browser).
Here's my list of favorite Firefox extensions (this list will probably grow):
- All-in-One Gestures - lets you control your browser by using mouse gestures
- BugmeNot - seamless integration of BugmeNot.com into forms that require registration to access
- IE View - open the current page in Internet Explorer
- Firefox View - add a context menu item to IE that lets you view the current page in Firefox
- LinkPreview - shows thumbnails of link targets
- Web Developer - tons of web developer tools (editing CSS, disable forms...)
- Down Them All - download all links in a page
- TargetAlert - shows a visual indication of a link target (whether it is a link to a pdf file, RSS file...)
- TabBrowser Preferences - add additional control to Firefox tabs (like the default page to load in a new tab...)
- LiveHTTPHeaders - another web developer extension. Lets you view and edit the http headers that the browser sends
- Session Saver - saves all the open tabs when the browser closes so that the next time you open the browser all the sites you were surfing will reopen
- Aardvark - lets web developers easily view information about elements in the page
15 September 2004
Useless Info
The Useless Information Site is a site with information about stuff you never needed to know but you life would be incomplete without.
There's information there about "pickle power", where plastic pink flamingo came from, sawing off Manhattan, bat bombs, and lots more...
Somehow after reading some stuff there I feel like I have an information overload!
There's information there about "pickle power", where plastic pink flamingo came from, sawing off Manhattan, bat bombs, and lots more...
Somehow after reading some stuff there I feel like I have an information overload!
14 September 2004
Usenet Monster
I just signed up for a new Usenet account at UsenetMonster.com.
For about a year I had an account at Sonic-News but my account expired a few days ago and I could find out how to renew it!
I sent them several emails asking how I can renew my account (that costs $3.99 per month) and those dumb-asses didn't answer me!
So I started searching for a Usenet provider and decided to go with Usenet Monster.
Not only do I get more gigs per month (5 gigs per month with rollovers for any remaining gigs vs. 100MB a day at sonic-news) but it also costs me less ($2.95 vs $3.99).
I already downloaded several hundred MBs and everything seems good (I hope it stays that way...).
For about a year I had an account at Sonic-News but my account expired a few days ago and I could find out how to renew it!
I sent them several emails asking how I can renew my account (that costs $3.99 per month) and those dumb-asses didn't answer me!
So I started searching for a Usenet provider and decided to go with Usenet Monster.
Not only do I get more gigs per month (5 gigs per month with rollovers for any remaining gigs vs. 100MB a day at sonic-news) but it also costs me less ($2.95 vs $3.99).
I already downloaded several hundred MBs and everything seems good (I hope it stays that way...).
13 September 2004
Wireless Tokyo
They have all the fun in Japan!
This time it's the Wireless Tokyo 2004 convention and check out these picture of cool gadget that were spotted there.
I have no idea what most of the things there do, but they sure look cool (and I'm sure each and every one of them has some cool [useless?] purpose).
Wait ten, fifteen years and you'll these thing will start appearing in the rest of the world...
This time it's the Wireless Tokyo 2004 convention and check out these picture of cool gadget that were spotted there.
I have no idea what most of the things there do, but they sure look cool (and I'm sure each and every one of them has some cool [useless?] purpose).
Wait ten, fifteen years and you'll these thing will start appearing in the rest of the world...
12 September 2004
Searching The Haystack
Ever wonder what other people are doing online?
This site may help you get a feeling what people are doing online and slightly satisfy your need for voyeurism by showing you what people are searching for.
(that link is to the unfiltered version, you can also check out the filtered version)
In the few seconds that I checked it out I saw that people searched for:
This thing can be quite mesmerizing to look at...
This site may help you get a feeling what people are doing online and slightly satisfy your need for voyeurism by showing you what people are searching for.
(that link is to the unfiltered version, you can also check out the filtered version)
In the few seconds that I checked it out I saw that people searched for:
- Mazda parts
- Auto insurance agent (I hope that doesn't have to do with the Mazda parts :)
- drum lessons
- marriage counseling (well sure if you're taking up playing the drums :)
- hugh jass (heh heh :)
- crossection of volcano
- historical hurricane paths (somebody is interested in natural disasters)
This thing can be quite mesmerizing to look at...
11 September 2004
Makeup Mouse
Not much to say about this one, the picture says it all:
http://1funny.com/makeupmouse.shtml
Most likely that the picture is not real, but I'm sure that some people (ok, some girls) would find that feature quite useful...
Maybe they could make a hi-tech version of it that has a web-cam instead of a mirror. That way you could see yourself on screen instead of on the tiny mouse mirror.
http://1funny.com/makeupmouse.shtml
Most likely that the picture is not real, but I'm sure that some people (ok, some girls) would find that feature quite useful...
Maybe they could make a hi-tech version of it that has a web-cam instead of a mirror. That way you could see yourself on screen instead of on the tiny mouse mirror.
10 September 2004
Joy Work
If you're like me and you like video games and get bored while working out then here's an excellent new invention (you can probably guess where I'm going with this): it's a special joystick that makes you work out.
For $700(!) you get a joystick that more than doubles your oxygen consumption and increases your heart rate by about 50 percent.
The article doesn't say anything about what kinds of systems this can hook up to, but I'm guessing that it will work with the major game consoles.
For $700(!) you get a joystick that more than doubles your oxygen consumption and increases your heart rate by about 50 percent.
The article doesn't say anything about what kinds of systems this can hook up to, but I'm guessing that it will work with the major game consoles.
09 September 2004
Kyocera Ads
Marketers are at it again: they're catching on to the fact that unless you create compelling commercials people are just going to skip over them.
But if you create an excellent commercial then people will hunt down your commercial on the net and send it to all their friends.
Honda, American Express, and Budweiser have all created Internet cult commercials and now Kyocera is giving it a try.
They've come out with three commercials for their cellphones and they're pretty funny.
I doubt that they'll reach cult status but at least they'll get a chuckle out of you.
But if you create an excellent commercial then people will hunt down your commercial on the net and send it to all their friends.
Honda, American Express, and Budweiser have all created Internet cult commercials and now Kyocera is giving it a try.
They've come out with three commercials for their cellphones and they're pretty funny.
I doubt that they'll reach cult status but at least they'll get a chuckle out of you.
08 September 2004
Gold Miner
It's been a while since we've had a game here so here's one for today: Gold Miner.
In Gold Miner you have a hook on a chain that swings around and you need to release it when it's over the gold.
Each level has a limited amount of time in which you need to collect a certain amount of gold in order to advance to the next level.
Not the best game in the world but fun to waste a few minutes on.
In Gold Miner you have a hook on a chain that swings around and you need to release it when it's over the gold.
Each level has a limited amount of time in which you need to collect a certain amount of gold in order to advance to the next level.
Not the best game in the world but fun to waste a few minutes on.
07 September 2004
Looking for a pal?
Feeling lonely?
Looking for friend?
Look no more: this dude Paul is willing to be your pal for rent.
According to this site this isn't a joke:
And now you can get your own pal for just $19.95 per hour.
The site looks like business is actually flourishing for this guy.
You may want to bookmark this site, you never know when you'll be feeling a bit lonely...
Looking for friend?
Look no more: this dude Paul is willing to be your pal for rent.
According to this site this isn't a joke:
Rentapal.com always has a friend available to meet with you (either in-person, by phone or by email) for any kind of legal activity.
And now you can get your own pal for just $19.95 per hour.
The site looks like business is actually flourishing for this guy.
You may want to bookmark this site, you never know when you'll be feeling a bit lonely...
06 September 2004
Put Some Sauce On That
I discovered another RSS/Atom feed reader: Sauce Reader (currently version 1.7).
Sauce Reader is first of all free, has a great Outlook like interface (similar to FeedDemon), and is quite stable.
It does have some minor problems (for example: it saves its settings when you exit the program so if Sauce Reader happens to crash for some reason then your settings wont be saved).
But hey, it's free, cool, and does the job!
Overall it's a free version of FeedDemon.
Sauce Reader is first of all free, has a great Outlook like interface (similar to FeedDemon), and is quite stable.
It does have some minor problems (for example: it saves its settings when you exit the program so if Sauce Reader happens to crash for some reason then your settings wont be saved).
But hey, it's free, cool, and does the job!
Overall it's a free version of FeedDemon.
05 September 2004
iMac G5 Summary
If you want to make sure that you didn't miss any of the news coverage regarding the new (super cool) Apple iMac G5 then check out this cartoon.
In one picture Joy Of Tech has managed to cover all the issues about the iMac G5 that have been discussed in the media.
Whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words was right (ok this picture contains some words but we'll let that slide...).
[Via Engadget]
In one picture Joy Of Tech has managed to cover all the issues about the iMac G5 that have been discussed in the media.
Whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words was right (ok this picture contains some words but we'll let that slide...).
[Via Engadget]
04 September 2004
Micro-ISVs
Just in case you don't know, ISV stands for Independent Software Vendor (that's ok only true geeks know this kind of crap).
Anyway, Erik Sink has written a great article about micro-ISVs which are basically one-person ISVs (that means: one person who has written a program and is trying to sell it).
As part of the article Eric has started his own micro-ISV that has created a game called Winnable Solitaire in order to learn about micro-ISVs and how to run one.
In the article he examines the world of one person software shops (and will also write about the process he is going through with his own micro-ISV).
Anyway, Erik Sink has written a great article about micro-ISVs which are basically one-person ISVs (that means: one person who has written a program and is trying to sell it).
As part of the article Eric has started his own micro-ISV that has created a game called Winnable Solitaire in order to learn about micro-ISVs and how to run one.
In the article he examines the world of one person software shops (and will also write about the process he is going through with his own micro-ISV).
03 September 2004
CSS Tricks
This article has ten CSS tricks that you may not know.
There are quite a few tips there that I'm sure will come in handy (and probably sooner than I expect).
Happy CSSing...
There are quite a few tips there that I'm sure will come in handy (and probably sooner than I expect).
Happy CSSing...
02 September 2004
What You Are Sharing
SeeWhatYouShare.com is site about files that were found on P2P networks.
It features many files (mostly personal documents) that people are sharing on P2P networks, probably without knowing about it.
The personal documents that are found there are quite scary to have floating around the Internet, although the site does cover up any names and personal information so you don't have to worry about your personal stuff ending up on the site (just on the P2P networks).
I'm going to double check my computers to see that I'm not sharing anything that I don't know about...
It features many files (mostly personal documents) that people are sharing on P2P networks, probably without knowing about it.
The personal documents that are found there are quite scary to have floating around the Internet, although the site does cover up any names and personal information so you don't have to worry about your personal stuff ending up on the site (just on the P2P networks).
I'm going to double check my computers to see that I'm not sharing anything that I don't know about...
01 September 2004
Cartoon Videos
Microsoft has delevoped (actually: is developing) some interesting technology that lets you convert video footage into cartoons.
Althought the system is not quite finished yet and still requires manual intervention, the results are quite good.
That site has some still pictures of the results and a clip of the resulting cartoon.
Now all that's left is to find something useful to do with this technology....;-)
Althought the system is not quite finished yet and still requires manual intervention, the results are quite good.
That site has some still pictures of the results and a clip of the resulting cartoon.
Now all that's left is to find something useful to do with this technology....;-)
31 August 2004
Happy Birthday
No, not for me (you guys should know when my birthday is ;-).
In a few days (September 2nd) the Internet will be 35 years old and CNN has a story about its past and future.
Who would have believed that our beloved Internet would grow so old, so fast?
I remember when it was just 5 years old (and that was about 5 years ago!).
[Via Slashdot.org]
In a few days (September 2nd) the Internet will be 35 years old and CNN has a story about its past and future.
Who would have believed that our beloved Internet would grow so old, so fast?
I remember when it was just 5 years old (and that was about 5 years ago!).
[Via Slashdot.org]
30 August 2004
Bite Of Apple
Apple is famous for having a loyal fan club who consume anything Apple.
That includes Apple ads.
That site has a collection of clips of some of the Apple ads over the years (including, of course, the classic 1984 Mac ad).
It also includes two Saturday Night Live Apple ad parodies.
Enjoy all you Apple fans...
That includes Apple ads.
That site has a collection of clips of some of the Apple ads over the years (including, of course, the classic 1984 Mac ad).
It also includes two Saturday Night Live Apple ad parodies.
Enjoy all you Apple fans...
29 August 2004
Punishing Speeders
Get this: in Pleasanton (a city in the Bay Area) the city's traffic engineers have created a traffic signal that senses when a speeder is approaching and immediately turns from green to yellow to red!
This is supposed to stop people from speeding but it sounds quite dangerous (suddenly switching the traffic light ??).
I hope this turns out to work successfully and spreads around the world...
This is supposed to stop people from speeding but it sounds quite dangerous (suddenly switching the traffic light ??).
I hope this turns out to work successfully and spreads around the world...
28 August 2004
Interiew Questions
Here's an interesting article about the popular brainteasers in job interviews.
You may find it interesting if you are either looking for a job or interviewing people for a job (or just like brain teasers).
I've actually encountered quite a few brainteasers in job interviews and I enjoy these types of questions. The only problem with these kind of brainteasers is that sometimes interviewers ask questions that have a trick answer.
These trick questions kinda beat the point since either the person has heard the question before and comes out looking like a genius (lucky bastard) or doesn't have enough time to come up with the trick answer and comes out looking stupid.
The trick is to ask questions that show how the candidate thinks, not necessarily the result they come up with.
For a great collection of interview questions (and answers) check out techinterview.org.
You may find it interesting if you are either looking for a job or interviewing people for a job (or just like brain teasers).
I've actually encountered quite a few brainteasers in job interviews and I enjoy these types of questions. The only problem with these kind of brainteasers is that sometimes interviewers ask questions that have a trick answer.
These trick questions kinda beat the point since either the person has heard the question before and comes out looking like a genius (lucky bastard) or doesn't have enough time to come up with the trick answer and comes out looking stupid.
The trick is to ask questions that show how the candidate thinks, not necessarily the result they come up with.
For a great collection of interview questions (and answers) check out techinterview.org.
27 August 2004
Connect 4
One of my alltime favorite board games is Connect 4.
In this online version of the game you can play either a 1, 2, or 3 player game (the real version of Connect 4 only comes with two chip colors so you can only play two players).
If you play a one player game then the computer will play against you (there are three difficultly levels).
I was able to beat the computer a few times and it also beat me some of the times (but let's keep that between us ;-).
BTW: I just bought a new version of Connect 4 called Connect 4 Flip where you can flip over the board.
I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it looks like a cool twist on the game.
I wonder how long it will take for somebody to come up with an online version of Connect 4 Flip...
In this online version of the game you can play either a 1, 2, or 3 player game (the real version of Connect 4 only comes with two chip colors so you can only play two players).
If you play a one player game then the computer will play against you (there are three difficultly levels).
I was able to beat the computer a few times and it also beat me some of the times (but let's keep that between us ;-).
BTW: I just bought a new version of Connect 4 called Connect 4 Flip where you can flip over the board.
I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it looks like a cool twist on the game.
I wonder how long it will take for somebody to come up with an online version of Connect 4 Flip...
26 August 2004
Umbilical Brothers
The Umbilical Brothers are a strange act from Australia.
This video clip shows their performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and on the David Letterman show.
These bros (are they really brothers?) are quite talented.
This video clip shows their performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and on the David Letterman show.
These bros (are they really brothers?) are quite talented.
25 August 2004
mv2player
If we're already on the topic of some of my favorite applications then here's my favorite video player.
mv2player is a freeware multimedia player that supports subtitles and just works well.
It also has skins and some other goodies but I don't really care about that stuff, I just want it to play my video files, no matter what format they are in and not matter what format the subtitles are in.
mv2player does just that.
Couldn't ask for anything more...
mv2player is a freeware multimedia player that supports subtitles and just works well.
It also has skins and some other goodies but I don't really care about that stuff, I just want it to play my video files, no matter what format they are in and not matter what format the subtitles are in.
mv2player does just that.
Couldn't ask for anything more...
24 August 2004
TrayList
TrayList is one of my favorite plug-ins for WinAmp.
According to the site, TrayList "gives you the power of hotkeys, hothits, a media organizer, on screen display (OSD) and statistics features" but the main reason that I like it so much is the hotkeys feature.
It lets you control WinAmp via hotkeys from whatever application you are currently using without having to focus on WinAmp.
You can start and stop playing, change the volume, go to the next and previous songs...all by using keyboard shortcuts no matter what you are currently doing on the PC.
Very useful!
According to the site, TrayList "gives you the power of hotkeys, hothits, a media organizer, on screen display (OSD) and statistics features" but the main reason that I like it so much is the hotkeys feature.
It lets you control WinAmp via hotkeys from whatever application you are currently using without having to focus on WinAmp.
You can start and stop playing, change the volume, go to the next and previous songs...all by using keyboard shortcuts no matter what you are currently doing on the PC.
Very useful!
23 August 2004
Blow One Up For Me
Have you ever gotten mad at some appliance and wanted to smash it to pieces (that includes your computer :)?
If so then WeBlowItUp.com is the site for you.
All you need to do is send them the appliance that you are mad at and $100 and they'll send you back a digital video of your appliance being "obliterated using the latest in Concussive Computer Catastrophe Technology"!
The site also has videos of some of their previous work.
BTW: this site is for real!
If so then WeBlowItUp.com is the site for you.
All you need to do is send them the appliance that you are mad at and $100 and they'll send you back a digital video of your appliance being "obliterated using the latest in Concussive Computer Catastrophe Technology"!
The site also has videos of some of their previous work.
BTW: this site is for real!
22 August 2004
$14 Steady-Cam
This site has instructions how to build a Steady-cam for just $14.
For those who don't know what a steadycam is I'll quote from the site:
For those who don't know what a steadycam is I'll quote from the site:
Steadycams are attachments used to capture smooth looking video even when the camera and camera operator are in motion. The camera operator may walk (or even jog), move through tight hallways and doorways, and even climb up and down stairs without shaking the camera. Unfortunately, professional steadycams cost around $1500. Even the cheap 3rd party ones cost $600+.
21 August 2004
The Wilhelm
The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect of a scream that was recorded 1951 and has since then been featured in tons of movies.
The list of movies that use the Wilhelm is quite staggering and includes:
and I thought that software programmers are lazy!
The list of movies that use the Wilhelm is quite staggering and includes:
- The Star Wars films
- The Indiana Jones movies
- The Lord of the Rings movies
- The Die Hard movies
- Lethal Weapon 4
- Spaceballs
- Reservoir Dogs
- Aladdin
- Toy Story
- Spider-Man
- Kill Bill
- ...
and I thought that software programmers are lazy!
20 August 2004
Cycle Freak
Ok, now I'm guessing that this dude has some kind of obsession with motorcycles.
I also guess that he doesn't have a wife ;-)
Good thing that he doesn't have an obsession for Ferraris cuz that could really cramp his style.
Dude, get yourself a parking garage!
I also guess that he doesn't have a wife ;-)
Good thing that he doesn't have an obsession for Ferraris cuz that could really cramp his style.
Dude, get yourself a parking garage!
19 August 2004
Connected Kitchen
Or may they should call it Konnected Kitchen.
Beyond Connected Home has come out with a microwave oven, a coffee maker, and a bread maker that are powered by Windows CE and can all be remotely controlled over the net (the appliances are licensed from Westinghouse).
The microwave and bread maker have barcode readers that can know how to prepare your food by scanning the food package and they can also download food updates from the Internet.
The coffee maker can be programmed to make coffee different types of coffee at different times of the day and the brewing schedule can be configured from any web browser.
This sounds totally Jetsons :)
Beyond Connected Home has come out with a microwave oven, a coffee maker, and a bread maker that are powered by Windows CE and can all be remotely controlled over the net (the appliances are licensed from Westinghouse).
The microwave and bread maker have barcode readers that can know how to prepare your food by scanning the food package and they can also download food updates from the Internet.
The coffee maker can be programmed to make coffee different types of coffee at different times of the day and the brewing schedule can be configured from any web browser.
This sounds totally Jetsons :)
18 August 2004
17 August 2004
GMail Tools
It's been a while since I wrote about GMail so here's something for the lucky people who have managed to get their hands on a GMail account: a collection of GMail tools that will help you make your GMail account more useful.
It ranges from a Perl module for accessing GMail (for the uber geek) to tools to convert your Outlook emails to GMails, address book converters, GMail notifiers, accessing your GMail account with a POP3 mail client...
I wonder if Google will endorse these kind of tools (which will make GMail a lot more useful therefore more successful) or will try to stop these innovations.
It ranges from a Perl module for accessing GMail (for the uber geek) to tools to convert your Outlook emails to GMails, address book converters, GMail notifiers, accessing your GMail account with a POP3 mail client...
I wonder if Google will endorse these kind of tools (which will make GMail a lot more useful therefore more successful) or will try to stop these innovations.
16 August 2004
Updated Label Code
I updated the radio button/checkbox label code to make the labels look clickable like links.
Now there's a stylesheet there that you can add to the code and it will make all radio button and checkbox labels look like links.
It's some very simple CSS code but it makes that little tip a bit more useful.
Enjoy...
Now there's a stylesheet there that you can add to the code and it will make all radio button and checkbox labels look like links.
It's some very simple CSS code but it makes that little tip a bit more useful.
Enjoy...
It Took 2 Years?
Get this: an official tribute sign on the fence surrounding Ground Zero actually had the wrong date of the terror attacks and noted that the attacks were on September 11, 2002!
The really odd thing is that the mistake was only noticed two years after the sign was put up.
You'd think that somebody proof reads these things!
The really odd thing is that the mistake was only noticed two years after the sign was put up.
You'd think that somebody proof reads these things!
15 August 2004
Monkey Teasing
This monkey doesn't really know that tigers are his enemy and insists on teasing the tiger cubs over and over (warning: that link is to a 7MB movie).
Now we know that nature has a sense of humor (and we also have proof that humans came from the monkeys)...
Now we know that nature has a sense of humor (and we also have proof that humans came from the monkeys)...
14 August 2004
Back (again)
As you've probably noticed already, I'm back and Guy's World has a new look.
Movabletype was giving me serious problems so I switched over to Blogger for managing Guy's World.
Since guymal.com has a new look I created the new Blogger template to go along with the new guymal.com design.
I've had some problems with Blogger in the past and then switched over to Movabletype but I hope that now that Google has bought them that the service will become more reliable.
Let's hope that Blogger won't give me any trouble and that I'll be able to post regularly...
Movabletype was giving me serious problems so I switched over to Blogger for managing Guy's World.
Since guymal.com has a new look I created the new Blogger template to go along with the new guymal.com design.
I've had some problems with Blogger in the past and then switched over to Movabletype but I hope that now that Google has bought them that the service will become more reliable.
Let's hope that Blogger won't give me any trouble and that I'll be able to post regularly...
08 August 2004
05 August 2004
04 August 2004
SoftwareCEO On Spolsky
There's an article over at SoftwareCEO about Joel Spolsky, CEO of Fog Creek but more importantly author of Joel On Software.
To quote a bit from the article: "Spolsky takes a skeptical view of almost every bit of received wisdom he's ever heard about running a software company. His views are refreshing and thought-provoking, and they certainly work in his niche"
The article includes 17 software contrarian insights into how to build a software company, every one of which Joel has put into practice in his own firm.
Very interesting (like just about anything that Joel writes about).
BTW: Read the article this week since the SoftwareCEO archives are available only to paid subscribers.
To quote a bit from the article: "Spolsky takes a skeptical view of almost every bit of received wisdom he's ever heard about running a software company. His views are refreshing and thought-provoking, and they certainly work in his niche"
The article includes 17 software contrarian insights into how to build a software company, every one of which Joel has put into practice in his own firm.
Very interesting (like just about anything that Joel writes about).
BTW: Read the article this week since the SoftwareCEO archives are available only to paid subscribers.
03 August 2004
Great Paul
Paul Graham has an excellent article (like most of the things he writes) about great hackers.
In this article Paul discusses the characteristics of great hackers and why they are so important for creating successful companies.
Paul talks about (among other things) how to identify great hackers (which can be quite difficult since even the hackers themselves don't know how great they are), what types of environments great hackers need in order to work, and what motivates great hackers.
An excellent read especially for managers in the software industry.
In this article Paul discusses the characteristics of great hackers and why they are so important for creating successful companies.
Paul talks about (among other things) how to identify great hackers (which can be quite difficult since even the hackers themselves don't know how great they are), what types of environments great hackers need in order to work, and what motivates great hackers.
An excellent read especially for managers in the software industry.
02 August 2004
4's Not Enough?
How many sides does a hexagon have?
Everybody: "6"
How many fingers do you have on one hand?
Everybody: "5"
How many wheels does a sport car have?
Um, 6?
That's right folks the small Italian car maker, Covini's, latest design is a six wheel sports car!
"The six wheeled design offers many advantages over a conventional design as it offers more traction for cornering and braking and minimizes the risks associated with tire punctures."
But if you think that this is the first time there's a car with six wheel you're in for another surprise: it turns out that in 1977 there was a 6 wheel sports car called the Panther 6.
Check out the pictures of both cars.
Everybody: "6"
How many fingers do you have on one hand?
Everybody: "5"
How many wheels does a sport car have?
Um, 6?
That's right folks the small Italian car maker, Covini's, latest design is a six wheel sports car!
"The six wheeled design offers many advantages over a conventional design as it offers more traction for cornering and braking and minimizes the risks associated with tire punctures."
But if you think that this is the first time there's a car with six wheel you're in for another surprise: it turns out that in 1977 there was a 6 wheel sports car called the Panther 6.
Check out the pictures of both cars.
01 August 2004
Closing Microsoft
John C. Dvorak has written an interesting article over at PCmag.com called "Closing Microsoft".
The article discusses the concept of Microsoft possibly shutting down and distributing its assets to the shareholders (by converting all assets to cash).
Although this sounds crazy and far fetched, John does raise some interesting points on why this could actually be possible.
If you thought getting tech support for Windows was hard now, think what will happen without Micro$oft backing it up...
The article discusses the concept of Microsoft possibly shutting down and distributing its assets to the shareholders (by converting all assets to cash).
Although this sounds crazy and far fetched, John does raise some interesting points on why this could actually be possible.
If you thought getting tech support for Windows was hard now, think what will happen without Micro$oft backing it up...
