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January 31, 2010
The world of Seinfeld. I like that Crazy Joe Davola is in the middle.
January 30, 2010
This is an interesting MetaFilter post about Samo Häyhä, aka The White Death, a Finnish sniper during WWII/The Winter War.
Possibly one of the most lethal men to ever live, he killed over 700 Russian soldiers in 100 days. Over 500 from sniping alone.
Here's some highlights:
• He used the iron sights (!) as opposed to a telescopic sight to make a smaller target and avoid solar reflections off the glass.
• He compacted snow near the end of his rifle so it wouldn't kick up and reveal his position.
• Along the same lines, he'd keep snow in his mouth so his breath wouldn't give him away.
• He used three layers of mittens and gloves to keep his hands warmer than his Russian counterparts.
And,
He lived to be 97. I think if Des Moines were ever invaded I would want him on my side.
On March 6, 1940, Simo fell afoul of a Soviet sniper who got off the first shot and hit him in the face. Simo retrieved his rifle and killed the Russian before making his way back to his own lines. As he was taken to a field hospital in a truck, he forced himself to sit upright and hold his head down so he wouldn't drown in his own blood.
January 29, 2010
This is pretty impressive. Bill and Melinda Gates plan to donate $10 billion over 10 years to develop and distribute vaccines to developing countries.
I've been reading his book Business @ the Speed of Thought. I don't know anything about business, but ol' Bill seems to really know what he is talking about. He has a lot of predictions in the book (it came out in 1999) and almost all of them are spot on. I mean, if you think about it, the Web was still pretty new back then and it wasn't entirely clear where things would go. This was before the dot com bubble burst, Web 2.0, YouTube, social networking, smart phones, etc., but it's pretty right on. He also has a lot of good examples from other businesses and seems to know not only everything under the sun about the strengths and weaknesses of his own business, but an understanding of other giants out there and their triumphs and misstakes.
Despite avoiding Windows at all costs*, I think Gates is pretty underrated sometimes. He's overshadowed by Steve Jobs (and maybe rightfully so as Apple has positioned itself as the strongest media/computer company out there), but Gates built Microsfoft, the juggernaut that it is, but was also smart enough to diversify Microsoft with specialized business applications, networking, video games, mobile phone software, and of course Office and other applications.
But, I think Microsoft will have to keep adjusting their business model if they want to avoid looking like a dinosaur. The huge future of market of smart phones looks like a battle between Apple, Google and BlackBerry (Research In Motion). Nobody is clamoring for a Windows Mobile phone that I know of. Verizon HTC Imagio anyone?
I think Apple is on to something with the iPad, making these computing or pseudo-computing media devices easier to use, virtually impervious to crashes and viruses, and easily integrated with your PC and phone. It seems to me Microsoft hasn't quite grasped the idea that people might want something easier to use. But I think that's the Jobs effect, which is pretty unique to Apple.
* Have I told you about the time I couldn't find the print button in Word 2007? And that was after I added the network printer, which was another nightmare. Totally unintuitive.
January 28, 2010
For Woodsie...
January 27, 2010
Thoughts on the iPad, aka iTouch Big (because you asked):
Ok, so it's a new media device for the web, photos, eBooks, email, movies, games, etc. Let's look at the features one-by-one:
Surfing the web: the iPad would be kind of fun to surf the web with. But, honestly, when I'm surfing I'll hit so many random pages, some of which I might want to use for a lecture at school or blog about or interact with in a way that requires a "computer," and the iPad is not a computer. It would be fun to use sitting on the couch or in an airport or sitting outside, and in some ways it would be better than a netbook if you're mostly just reading, but I feel like the trade-off of not having access to my productivity apps might not really be worth it. It seems like a good device for surfing the web on vacation.
Photos: It would make a good digital photo album. Set it in its dock and let it do its thing. Or bring it with you to share photos when visiting friends and family. Beyond that, I don't see much advantage to a computer.
eBooks: Electronic Ink eBooks have a couple advantages. One, they have better dots per inch than a regular LCD or LED screen. This makes it closer to real ink on paper. Second, they aren't back lit. This seems like it might be a disadvantage, but over long periods of reading it is easier on the eyes. The iPad looks a lot cooler than the Kindle, but I have a feeling I'd rather read an entire book on a Kindle. Integration with iTunes is kind of cool, and it might help the book industry the way it did with the music industry.
Email: I'll reserve judgment until I type on the thing, but I am guessing it won't be as fast as a regular keyboard. For as much email I do, especially for work, I need something a little more tactile.
Movies: It would be cool for watching a movie on a plane. The biggest advantage over the laptop is its form factor, but at least with a laptop you can set it on the keyboard and the screen will stay in one spot. I don't rent or buy movies through iTunes, but if I could stream instantly from Netflix, this would be a huge plus.
Games: Might be fun. I could see some cool stuff being developed game-wise.
Music: It would be pretty hilarious just to use it as a huge iPod Touch, walking down the street with it under your arm wearing the white earbuds.
Things I wish it could do:
Handwriting recognition and stylus input. Let's say I'm grading a paper. I'd like to be able to open it up, take out a stylus, and be able to mark up the document and send it back with electronic red pen marks on the document.
More connectivity. I'd like to see free wireless from anywhere included in the price like the Kindle, but $30/month for unlimited data isn't terrible (especially since there is no contract). But, it's still AT&T, which everyone complains about being really, really bad lately, especially in bigger cities.
A full OS. I think most people are disappointed it doesn't have a full OS and that you're tied into the APP store. This means any program you want to put on your iPad, Apple has to approve first, unlike your computer. This is good for developers who like to get paid for their software, good for Apple that gets a cut, but bad for users who like flexibility.
That's all for now. If you want to leave a comment, preview it first. Still working on fixing things.
Edit: I forgot to say... in regards to the touch aspect: I like using the mouse. It has its advantages. There's less movement of your hand involved, it would be easier to select blocks of text (I am guessing), and overall more accurate. Some of those links can be small and right next to each other.
Blindfolded basketball shot prank goes a little wrong when the guy actually makes it.
January 26, 2010
Only 11 minutes of action in any given football game? Who knew football was so boring? Maybe I'll use a stopwatch during the Superbowl...
Lookwell! Conan's long lost canceled sitcom with Adam West. (via Waxy)
Where a young(er) House gets mad at an astrologer (who wouldn't?).
January 25, 2010
On dogs, an experiment with foxes, and evolution.
The tame foxes not only behaved like domestic dogs, they looked like them.
They lost their foxy pelage and became piebald black and white, like Welsh
collies. Their foxy prick ears were replaced by doggy floppy ears. Their
tails turned up at the end like a dog's, rather than down like a fox's
brush.
January 24, 2010
Aimee got me Rockband 2 for an early birthday present.. here I am playing drums!
January 23, 2010
January 22, 2010
I've never seen this before... you've played with those 360-degree photos where you can drag it around? Well CNN did the same thing... with video. See it in use in Haiti here.
Pen v keyboard v Newton v Graffiti v Treo v iPhone (via DF)
January 21, 2010
New species in Central and South America include a see-through frog and a really tiny gecko. (via Metafilter)
January 20, 2010
Check out this $3.2 million property in West Des Moines with it's own football uprights.
January 12, 2010
Atta boy
January 7, 2010
You just got back from Disneyworld! What are you going to do next?
Loooong day in Magic Kingdom (almost 13 hours?). It was a Saturday, the day after New Year's, so it was busy. But it was probably the warmest day, with highs in the mid fifties. Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion twice. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, some parades, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the Jungle Cruise at night was cool.
Sunday: Overcast day in Epcot. Test Track, Soarin', Mission: Space (green version, we did the orange version Tuesday), Honey I Shrunk the Kids 3D, the energy movie with Ellen, World Showcase, and a great dinner at Les Chefs in France.
Monday: Animal Kingdom. Chilly! A little too chilly because a lot of the animals didn't come out. Did the big Everest ride, DINOSAURS, Lion King and Finding Nemo shows.
For dinner: Medieval Times! We had never been but it was fun. Aimee had a good vegetarian dinner (hummus, rice, pita chips) and I got the chicken/spare rib/potato plate (not that I had a choice) and of course ate with my hands. The show was pretty impressive with all the horses and even a falcon that flies around the arena. We cheered for the green knight, who is the "bad guy." He tossed a flower to Aimee because she stood up and cheered for him after he won a contest.
Tuesday: Hollywood Studios in the morning, then over to Epcot. Hollywood Studios was ok -- we didn't end up doing the Rock'n Roller Coaster or the Tower of Terror and the Indiana Jones show was a little chilly since it was outside under a big roof. Quick dinner in Morocco and watched some of the Orange Bowl (back at the hotel).
Speaking of the hotel... I can't really recommend it. You could probably do worse, but the water literally tasted like burnt toast (or as Aimee says, Fort Dodge water [sorry Fort Dodge]). When we were trying to find it the night we arrived, we drove right past it because their sign isn't lit up and it looks like it is closed. Their keycard machine was down so they had to bring it to us later and we had to request towels.
Oh, and we walked over to their "Internet Cafe" which consisted of three computers (only two hooked up to the Internet). They were both in use so we waited and surfed the 'net on Aimee's iTouch, which turned out to be faster than their computer: when we got on, I tried to boot up Firefox but Windows was so bogged down I couldn't get it to go. Nice!
Another lowlight was the Kissimmee Wal-Mart. We went the first night to stock up on some bread and peanut butter for lunches. We did okay that night. Our mistake was going back Monday after Medieval Times to get some more supplies. They had three or four lanes open at the most and each one had a line of full carts stretching back quite far -- even the 10 items or less lane. One of the cashiers even yelled to the assistant manager that it was time for him to go. There were no employees in sight coming to the rescue.
We tried to go to the customer service to pay for our couple items but there was a guy trying to return Beatles Rock Band and things weren't looking good, so Aimee plopped the stuff on the counter and we took off. The next morning we went to Target and had a much better experience.
All-in-all, it was fun. It would have been nice to have a warmer vacation, but it was colder than normal pretty much everywhere so we didn't miss much.
