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...
