Saturday, July 31, 2004
Make Mook
O'Reilly is planning to publish Make which will focus on do-it-yourself technology projects such as Kite Aerial Photography -- taking pictures with a camera suspended from a kite. According to the announcement, Make will be a hybrid magazine/book known as a "mook" in Japan. That may be what mook means in Japan but here in the US the word has a somewhat different meaning.
Jack Handey
The old Saturday Night Live skit Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey (aka Jack Handy) was hilarious. I always assumed that it was just a takeoff on TV station inspirationals and that the name "Jack Handey" was just part of the skit. But apparently he's a real person. He was a writer on SNL for eight years, did the voice for Deep Thoughts, is the author of several Deep Thoughts books and apparently has a lawyer as well. Am I the only one who thought that Jack Handey was fictitious?
Not all of the SNL writers were as unknown as Handey. One of the early Gonzo writers for SNL was Michael O'Donohue. He occasionally appeared on the show as well. He actually spoke the very first words in the first Saturday Night Live sketch, teaching John Belushi, who was playing an immigrant, nonsense English phrases.
Not all of the SNL writers were as unknown as Handey. One of the early Gonzo writers for SNL was Michael O'Donohue. He occasionally appeared on the show as well. He actually spoke the very first words in the first Saturday Night Live sketch, teaching John Belushi, who was playing an immigrant, nonsense English phrases.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Seagull Gets Artificial Leg Made Of Barbie Doll Parts
Here's an odd animal story. The crew of a yacht in Turkey found a seagull with a gangrene leg. They amputated the leg and fashioned a prosthesis from a Barbie doll's leg and hand. Nice work but makes me wonder how they just happened to have a Barbie doll handy.
The Bourne Supremacy
I saw The Bourne Supremacy last night. It's a terrific film. I thought it was a better film than The Bourne Identity. The camera work and editing here are phenomenal. This really adds tension and disorientation to all of the action scenes. There's adrenalin oozing from the screen. Recommended. 
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Variations on Pong
Here are three variations on Pong:
- Four Pong has four paddles and two balls.
- Curveball is a 3D Pong variation.
- Radial Pong has two paddles that move around in a circle. It's pretty simple but the switch to a circular playing area is interesting.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Particle Painter
Tom Kemp's Particle Painter creates digital paintings by letting you control colored charged particles that move around. None of my attempts look as nice as the examples provided. I think I'll need to spend some more time fiddling with the controls.
Segway Polo
Segway Polo is as silly as it sounds. Watch the video here. This is the largest number of Segways I've seen assembled together. This reminds me of a conference in Palm Springs several years ago. We had an evening event at the Empire Polo Club. It started out with a Polo exhibition which was amazing. The way that they handled their horses is just incredible. This was followed by polo using golf carts. The polo players were the drivers. The rest of us "rode shotgun" to swing mallets at the ball to try to score. Lots of fun. The players were fierce competitors, even in golf carts and the game is lot harder than it looks.
Code Smell
Warn Cunningham's Wiki is a treasure trove of interesting terms. Here's one I hadn't heard before: A Code Smell is a hint that something has gone wrong somewhere in your code. Use the smell to track down the problem. Note that a Code Smell is a hint that something might be wrong, not a certainty.
A Language Smell is a Code Smell that occurs due to the inability of a programming language to express a concept cleanly. Sometimes called an "idiom" or a "pattern." (Not all patterns are like this, but some are). An example of a Language Smell is explicit memory management vs garbage collection.
In both cases, smell isn't being used in a pejorative sense (e.g. this code stinks!) I think the idea is that you get a whiff that something's wrong. Even boredom can be a smell.
On a related note, I think it's interesting that both code generation and usage of runtime reflection are both "smells". In some cases, for example generating remote procedure "stubs", these are the two most popular approaches that are available, either static generation of stubs before deployment or runtime reflection to give the same behavior as generated stubs. Both approaches have issues. Runtime reflection is more elegant but has runtime costs that, as I discovered recently, can be more expensive than you'd like, even when used sparingly.
A Language Smell is a Code Smell that occurs due to the inability of a programming language to express a concept cleanly. Sometimes called an "idiom" or a "pattern." (Not all patterns are like this, but some are). An example of a Language Smell is explicit memory management vs garbage collection.
In both cases, smell isn't being used in a pejorative sense (e.g. this code stinks!) I think the idea is that you get a whiff that something's wrong. Even boredom can be a smell.
On a related note, I think it's interesting that both code generation and usage of runtime reflection are both "smells". In some cases, for example generating remote procedure "stubs", these are the two most popular approaches that are available, either static generation of stubs before deployment or runtime reflection to give the same behavior as generated stubs. Both approaches have issues. Runtime reflection is more elegant but has runtime costs that, as I discovered recently, can be more expensive than you'd like, even when used sparingly.
A Spammer In the Works
This article in The Register explains why I get so many blank and partial spam emails. The reason? Spammers in training. It's depressing that becoming a spammer is so easy.
Turn your iPod in to a Universal Remote
This idea on engadget is a cool hack but seems like more trouble than it's worth. The iPod's UI isn't really suitable as a remote. You need to scroll down and "play" the "volume up" tune to increase the volume on your TV? Yuck. The nice thing about a good remote is that you know where all the buttons are, even in a darkened room.
Meet George Jetson
We just got the The Jetsons: The Complete First Season on DVD. My seven year-old loves the show now. I think the Jetsons would go on my own list of top ten Saturday morning cartoons. The Jetsons had such a 60s utopian view of the future. A future with lots of cool gadgets but otherwise very familiar.
One tangential note: the digital video product I worked on at Lotus (Video Notes) used the code name "Elroy" (as in "his boy Elroy...").
One tangential note: the digital video product I worked on at Lotus (Video Notes) used the code name "Elroy" (as in "his boy Elroy...").
A softer world
A softer world is a weekly online comic. Emily takes the pictures. Joey writes the words. Quirky, but in a good way.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Don't Get Me Started...
Pito has been struggling with Java Web Start (JWS). His verdict: "it sucks eggs". JWS is a good idea but badly executed. This article sums up why JWS is just not worth the trouble. The end user (not a technical person) is presented with a confusing mishmash of scary dialogs. Is this the "out of box" experience that you want your user to go through? Probably not. They'll find something else that's easier to install.
Pants On Fire
How can you tell whether someone is lying or not? Here's a interesting article on the signs to look for. (Via kottke.org)
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Root Beer
I started craving root beer a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure why. I stopped drinking colas a while ago and usually stick with seltzer or Sprite when I drink carbonated beverages. But now I'm craving root beer. It's a retro thing I guess. Except for Dr. Pepper (which I don't like) the lion's share of the carbonated soft drink market is dominated by colas and lemon-lime flavored sodas. Even though it's not that popular, root beer is pretty easy to find. It would be tougher if I started craving Moxie or Vinea.
I, Robot
I saw I, Robot the other evening. The film is lightweight, entertaining fun. Based on a couple of reviews, I had low expectations but it was better than what I expected. There are some details from Isaac Asimov's I, Robot short stories such as the Three Laws of Robotics, a character called Susan Calvin and a company called U.S. Robotics (USR). Beyond that, the story line doesn't connect to Asimov -- the credits say that the film was "suggested by" Asimov's I, Robot. The plot is a messy mix of Blade Runner, Minority Report with a large dose of "renegade cop" drama thrown in. The action highlight here is a nifty car chase scene. Overall I'd recommend the film but as a summer popcorn movie, there's not much to think about after you leave the theater.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Next Treo?
Now that Verizon has finally gotten around to supporting the Treo 600, it's time for other providers to move on to the next Treo 
.
Assuming that theses are accurate specs, the next Treo sounds pretty nice: 16 bit 320x320 screen, Bluetooth support, better camera, 312 Mhz processor, smaller form factor. The only improvement I'd make would be more memory -- at least 64 MB would be nice. If palmOne/Sprint offer a reasonable upgrade plan as they did for the Treo 300 to 600, I'd get one.
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Assuming that theses are accurate specs, the next Treo sounds pretty nice: 16 bit 320x320 screen, Bluetooth support, better camera, 312 Mhz processor, smaller form factor. The only improvement I'd make would be more memory -- at least 64 MB would be nice. If palmOne/Sprint offer a reasonable upgrade plan as they did for the Treo 300 to 600, I'd get one.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Just An Idea
The phone system needs a LASS code (a dialing prefix) that could be used to indicate "Please don't pick up the phone, I just want to leave you a voice message". It's awkward for both parties when a call is answered when the caller really didn't want to talk to anyone.
Man Getting Hit By Football
According to this article in the LA Times, men being hit in the groin has become a staple of summer comedies as evidenced in such current films as "DodgeBall," "Napoleon Dynamite," "White Chicks" and "Anchorman." The Simpsons were way ahead on this one in Episode 2F31 shown in 1995. Homer was one of the judges at the Springfield film festival. Here is Homer's commentary on "hit in groin" film comedy:
This episode also contained Grandpa Simpson's funny quote about the metric systemIn the next film, Hans Moleman narrates, "Hans Moleman productions presents 'Man Getting Hit By Football'." Hans stands on a walkway; someone tosses a football at him. It hits him right in the groin, and he doubles over in pain.
Homer: [laughing hysterically] This contest is over! Give that man the $10,000.
Jay: This isn't "America's Funniest Home Videos".
Homer: But...the ball! His groin! Ah ha! It works on so many levels! [laughs more] Roll it again.
Eclipse 3.0 by the numbers
Some interesting statistics on Eclipse 3.0. One funny item: the word "hack" only appears 43 times in nearly 2 million lines of Java code.
10 Best Saturday Morning Cartoons List
I think Ed and I grew up at slightly different times but I concur with a number of his picks for the 10 Best Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The Bullwinkle Show was terrific. It was written for both children and adults to enjoy. And although I haven't seen the show in many years, I loved watching Johnny Quest as a kid. I didn't realize that Tim Matheson did Johnny's voice. (He played Otter in Animal House). One nit with this choice: Johnny Quest was orignally aired in prime-time, not on Saturday morning. If I added a Saturday morning cartoon to replace it in the list I'd probabably pick something like Underdog which had the same campy humor as Bullwinkle.
The Bullwinkle Show was terrific. It was written for both children and adults to enjoy. And although I haven't seen the show in many years, I loved watching Johnny Quest as a kid. I didn't realize that Tim Matheson did Johnny's voice. (He played Otter in Animal House). One nit with this choice: Johnny Quest was orignally aired in prime-time, not on Saturday morning. If I added a Saturday morning cartoon to replace it in the list I'd probabably pick something like Underdog which had the same campy humor as Bullwinkle.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Pods!
I'm working in Cambridge this week. My office has been in Westford for several years now so I don't get to spend as much time in Cambridge as I'd like. Among the things I miss is Boca Grande. It's right across the street from Lotus. Much of the development of Lotus Improv and Lotus Domino was "fueled" by Boca Grande burritos. We called them "pods" from Invasion of the Body Snatchers due to their shape and size. I'm definitely going to have to have a pod (or two!) this week.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Orkut Speaks Portuguese
I have an Orkut account but haven't visited the site in a long time. It's an interesting social experiment but after collecting a set of Orkut friends I never felt compelled to go back. Apparently it's been taken taken over by Brazilians users. Brazilians on Orkut now outnumber Americans by 2-1. Pretty amazing, especially given the relative number of Internet users in the two countries.
It's funny how online communities can evolve. Orkut membership is by "invitation only" but it only takes one person to launch a whole new set of users. Back in 1995 we set up a web site that included a forum for feedback on Lotus InterNotes Web Publisher. It was pretty much wide-open and allowed anonymous posts. Even after we stopped actively monitoring the content and answering questions, the forum kept getting traffic. Some people discovered it and started to use it as their own discussion forum. The content started getting pretty weird. Definitely not discussing Web Publisher any longer. And since the site got indexed by search engines, other folks discovered it as well. The site was eventually taken down but it turned into quite an Internet Petri dish while it lasted.
It's funny how online communities can evolve. Orkut membership is by "invitation only" but it only takes one person to launch a whole new set of users. Back in 1995 we set up a web site that included a forum for feedback on Lotus InterNotes Web Publisher. It was pretty much wide-open and allowed anonymous posts. Even after we stopped actively monitoring the content and answering questions, the forum kept getting traffic. Some people discovered it and started to use it as their own discussion forum. The content started getting pretty weird. Definitely not discussing Web Publisher any longer. And since the site got indexed by search engines, other folks discovered it as well. The site was eventually taken down but it turned into quite an Internet Petri dish while it lasted.
21 Rules of Thumb for Shipping Great Software on Time
Jim McCarthy ran the Visual C++ team at Microsoft several years ago. I heard him speak at a Microsoft PDC when he was managing the team. Around the same time he wrote a great article entitled "21 Rules of Thumb for Shipping Great Software on Time" included here. It's definitely worth reading.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
I'm a TV Stand
Take the IKEA Family Personality Test and figure out which IKEA product most closely represents your personality. I'm an IKEA OBSERVATÖR TV stand. I feel... so... inanimate.
Free Picasa
Google acquired Picasa last week. Now you can download Picasa for free. Picasa is great for organizing digital photos. Definitely recommended.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Top Ten Truly Obscure But Useful Java Projects
I'd never heard of any of these Java projects before. A couple of them (DirectoryPoller and JTextCheck) sound potentially useful.
Why Is Antifreeze So Delicious?
The impetus for this article was a story about a woman accused of murdering her brother-in-law with an antifreeze-spiked drink. The main ingredient of antifreeze is ethylene glycol, a syrupy alcohol derivative with a sweet taste. Drinking large amounts of ethylene glycol can result in death; smaller amounts can cause heart and kidney problems. The sweet taste is a problem for pets and children who may be drawn to puddles of antifreeze left on garage floors.
IM Watching
IM Watching can record and analyze IM activity. Currently it only supports AOL Instant Messenger users. It takes advantage of the fact that most IM clients broadcast when they sign on, sign off, go idle, flag themselves as away, etc. The tracking is done anonymously, the IM user doesn't know that their status is being monitored. Creepy.
East German Arcade Game
The Poly Play is an arcade game made in the GDR in 1985. The guts are a Russian business computer and an East German television set. It plays seven different games. One is loosely based on Pacman and is called "Hase Und Wulf" (Hare and Wolf). (Via Slashdot)
A Jolt From the Past
I found an unopened bottle of Jolt Cola in a packing box. The box was stashed away in 1993 and not opened until now. So now I have a bottle of Jolt Cola that's at least eleven years old. Unlike wine, I don't think Jolt improves with age.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Eclipsed
I've been using Eclipse as my main Java IDE for a few years. It sometimes feels like I "live" in Eclipse. At the same time I've wondered what it would be like to do Eclipse development. Well, now I have the opportunity. I'm taking on a new role in which I'll become intimately familiar with Eclipse as well as an alphabet soup of related technologies: PDE, SWT, GEF, EMF, SDO, RCP, WCT... I won't be working directly on Eclipse itself, but building software on the Eclipse base. Should be fun.
Don't Say It!
Here's a list of incorrect usage of English words and phrases. I'm guilty of at least one misuse here (nauseous vs. nauseated). I'm chagrined. I've been making this mistake all along. A quick look in the dictionary makes the distinction clear.
Those Pesky Homonyms
This BBC Quiz is interesting. For example, which is the correct phrase: "toe the line" or "tow the line"?
Cult Numbers
Wow. I didn't know that numbers have cults. As noted:
As an example of a cult number web page, here's 23. Among the many reasons that the web page lists why 23 is special: W is the 23 letter of this alphabet. The symbol for that letter is two points down and three points up.A "cult" number has a "following", a group of "fans". Cult numbers frequently have web pages. Typically, a cult-number fan is someone who has one favorite number, and who delights in noticing that number, whenever it occurs in a place that seems to be more than just coincidence. These numbers have web pages set up by their fans.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Google Acquires Picasa
We've been using Picasa for a couple years to organize digital photos and short video clips. It's a nice product with a simple and appealing UI. I guess someone at Google liked it too. Today Google has acquired Picasa.
Crash Landing
Here's a nightmare scenario for pedestrians. You're crossing a street at a crosswalk. A speeding car runs a red light and slams broadside into another car. The second car flips over, tumbling in your direction. You see the car and try to run but it flips right over you. This is just what happened to Scott Tegtmeyer in Dayton, Ohio a couple months ago. From the video it's amazing that the guy survived. And just for the record, at the time of the accident the crosswalk signal was red. He shouldn't have been crossing the street.
Quebec French profanity
In many languages profanity is more than just the seven words you can't say on television. For example, Quebec French use liturgical profanity. Sounds comical but without being in the culture, you can't appreciate the power of such phrases. Several years ago I was working with a Japanese developer who was helping us with localization. A co-worker had a book of Japanese slang phrases that included obscenities. We started casually reading the phonetic pronunciations. The Japanese developer would tell us which one were mild curses and which were stronger, without translation. After reading one phrase to him, his face turned bright red and he said "Oh! Very Bad! Very Bad!". It was nonsense to us but clearly not to him. And we never did find out what it meant.
Traffic Light Puzzler
Last week's Car Talk puzzler was about traffic lights. Old-style traffic lights use a light bulb behind a green, yellow, or red lens. New traffic lights use LEDs instead. Each has an array of LEDs that light up. The LED traffic lights are cheaper and much brighter. But some of the old lights still around. In fact, where they've put new ones in, they've replaced the green and red lights, but not the yellow lights. So the puzzler question is: why aren't the yellow lights being replaced?
Think about how the lights are used. Check your answer here. Since hearing this one, I've been noticing which towns have been switching to the newer lights and which ones still use the older lights. More details on the new LED traffic lights can be found here.
Think about how the lights are used. Check your answer here. Since hearing this one, I've been noticing which towns have been switching to the newer lights and which ones still use the older lights. More details on the new LED traffic lights can be found here.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Aluminum / Aluminium
Related to my postings about Unununium and transparent aluminum, I was curious why North Americans say "Aluminum" while the rest of the English-speaking world says "Aluminium". The latter makes more sense since it uses the common chemical element suffix "ium". Wikipedia has the answer.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Unununium OS
Unununium is a new operating system. The core is written in ia32 assembler and C. Above that level the rest of the OS will be written in Python. The main goals of the project are to allow more interconnections between OS components, support "orthogonal persistence" and provide a better user interface. The project is at a very early stage.
How is Unununium pronounced? The name is based on the naming scheme for elements with atomic numbers greater than 100. "Un" is the prefix for 1 which means that Unununium is atomic number 111. "Un" is pronounced with a long "u", to rhyme with "moon" (so the name is pronouced something like Oon-Oon-Oon-ee-um). Interesting background but I don't get it. Why call it Unununium?
Note: atoms of Unununium were created in Darmstadt, Germany in 1994. The element's name is in dispute. Roentgenium is the proposed name but Darmstadtium is also used.
How is Unununium pronounced? The name is based on the naming scheme for elements with atomic numbers greater than 100. "Un" is the prefix for 1 which means that Unununium is atomic number 111. "Un" is pronounced with a long "u", to rhyme with "moon" (so the name is pronouced something like Oon-Oon-Oon-ee-um). Interesting background but I don't get it. Why call it Unununium?
Note: atoms of Unununium were created in Darmstadt, Germany in 1994. The element's name is in dispute. Roentgenium is the proposed name but Darmstadtium is also used.
Translucent Concrete
A company in Aachen, Germany, called LiTraCon is making a "translucent concrete" called Liquid Stone. The translucent blocks are made by mixing glass fibers into the combination of crushed stone, cement and water. One of the first demonstrations was a sidewalk in Stockholm made of thin sheets of translucent concrete. It looks like an ordinary sidewalk by day but is illuminated at night by lights under it. Sounds like a cool building material.
This reminds me of the "transparent aluminum" that was part of the plot in Star Trek IV. No one has invented that yet but transparent alumina exists.
This reminds me of the "transparent aluminum" that was part of the plot in Star Trek IV. No one has invented that yet but transparent alumina exists.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Lego Spiderman 2
Spite Your Face has done an animated short of Spiderman 2 entirely in Legos. Clever. (Via MetaFilter)
Don't have a cow, er, horse, ma'am
Can software really elicit this kinds of reaction from people? According to The Register, the ad is for SourceNext StarSuite which is based on the open source project OpenOffice. OpenOffice is quite nice but is it faint-worthy (much less "give birth to a horse"-worthy?). Here's a translation of the Japanese dialog:
Is there some cultural reference I'm missing here? What's the significance of the colt?"SourceNext products are just 1980 Yen?! Oh, my Goodness....!" She faints suddenly. A man rushes to her. He says "She is having a baby!"
Everyone looks at her anxiously. The guy says, "Now, the baby was born!" She had a colt. It tries to rise unsteadily to its feet. "Oh! It stands up!" Everybody is moved.
Winnebago Man
The Winnebago Man is frustrated. He's frustrated that he keeps messing up his lines. He's frustrated with his crew. He's sweating through his clothes. He's having a bad day. NSFW. Note: according to Vice, this guy was Winnebago's CEO when this video montage was made.