August 7, 2007
Visulize This
Tripped over this excellent article and set of links about Modern Approaches to Data Visualization, fascinating stuff!
May 7, 2007
Home Grown Nano-Technology Tracking Devices.
Sometimes it's just too cool to be a Canadian!
The really amazing thing is that after all these months, defense department studies and a 29-page report, the US still hasn't figured out that our Poppy Quarters really are Nano-Tech tracking devices! That's just how sneaky CSIS really is! (LOL)
April 4, 2007
Neuromancer
Literally, learning how to upgrade the human mind. Who wouldn't love to upgrade their brain with CopTalk 2.0? (LOL)
March 31, 2007
Random Fubar
As I have mentioned before, having the proper music playing while working is simply a fundamental requirement of producing a tranquil and serene workplace.
For years now I have used Nullsoft's Winamp (which I understand may have recently been purchased by AOL), a half decent media player, sufficient to handle the workload of my MP3 playlist and certainly much more functional than Microsoft's colossally bloated giant; Media Player.
However, there is one thing about Winamp that has always bugged the living daylights out of me, even with the settings maxed out for random song play, it never has truly produced a random song listening experience.
I have fiddled with other media players over the years, but had never come across a player with truly satisfied, until today that is, when I discovered the ultra simple Foobar2000 on a list of 10 top ten freeware downloads linked on Digg.com.
Foobar2000 isn't pretty, or skinable (yet), but it has what counts; an ultra small memory footprint, lots of little add-on goodies to satisfy our inner geek, and truly random play! (Heaven!)
Plus, it is downright polite about creating file associations when you install and doesn't try and take over your entire system like some other media players.
February 14, 2007
In the words of a friend, "Oh My!"
Ok, total geek-out here, the new generation of movie tie-in Transformers are looking awesome!
November 24, 2006
Wizpy
I love music, my personal playlist spans somewhere over 2,000 (which actually isn't that many, compared to some, for example, I have repaired customer computers that contained well over 8,000 ,mp3s!). I listen to music constantly while I work at my computer and really enjoy listening to music while I drive (every good road trip needs a soundtrack). However, I am pretty fussy about what I listen to, not that I'm close-minded to new music (if it's good), which means that I really prefer listening to selected songs, as opposed to the limited selection present on commercial radio (not like we even have access to that many radio stations on the Island and don't even get me started on my objections to paying a monthly fee to listen to satellite radio).
Which means that when I am out and about I am limited to the few tracks I can burn onto CD-R compilation and listen to in my car's CD player. All of this means that I'm a total 'natch for owning a portable MP3 player, however, I still live an MP3 player free lifestyle, why?
The answer is simple: I really don't like any of the MP3 Players on the market. First of all, you can automatically strike out any el cheapo model from questionable manufacturers. This leaves about four brands: Apple's iPod, Microsoft's Zune, Creative's Zen and Sandisk's Sansa.
Let's start with the "big dawg" on the block: Apple's iPod. The long and short of it is that I will never forgive Apple for dumping the Apple II line in favour of Macintosh. A lot of Apple II users, including myself, were left out in the cold with thousands of dollars (back in the 80's and 90's thousands of dollars meant more than today) worth of equipment that was now functionally useless due to Apple's non-support.
Continue reading "Wizpy"
November 22, 2006
Road Warrior
Ok, so it looks like something out of a Mad Max movie, but this is actually one of the most advanced and energy efficient motorcycles to become commercially available.
It’s actually designed to run on either pure vegetable oil or diesel and has an incredible amount of torque.
Now, if I could just figure out how to strap client computers onto the back for a motorcycle…. Oh ya, hafta figure out how to drive one in the snow and ice of winter… hmmmm… Well, back to the drawing board for me!
November 18, 2006
Solid State Storage
Over the past few months I have come across various articles about the amazing technical advancements being made in the area of high speed solid state storage. Basically, the technology that powers the flash memory cards we all use in our digital cameras today is moving forward at breakneck speed. The eventual outcome will sound the death toll for mechanical hard drives, as they are replaced by solid state flash drives. The first solid state drives will make their debut in laptop computers, as they are very energy efficient operate without creating nearly as much heat as a mechanical drive.
It’s amazing to consider that in the early 90’s, during a tour of the CBC building in downtown Toronto, I was allowed a glimpse of a 9 gigabyte hard drive that was the size of a small freezer and yet, here I am today, barely a decade later and my home computer has over 100 times as much storage in a space of less than half a cubic foot!
Mega PixPix
Well, I finally took the plunge and picked up a digital SLR camera to replace my Nikon S4, which I loved dearly, but which gave me nothing but grief when it came to photographing jewelry for the website update I'm working on.
My choice of SLR was a Nikon D70s. I had originally avoided the D70, as it was only a 3.2 megapixel camera, but the D70s has been bumped up to 6.1 megapixels, which is just dandy for my purposes. I also checked out a Nikon D80, which has 10.2 megapixel sensor and maximum ISO of 3200, compared to the D70s, which has a maximum ISO of 1600, but found that I actually preferred the less expensive D70s.
I also picked up a Sandisk Extreme IV 2GB Compact Flash Card. At the highest resolution this allows the D70s to hold nearly 600 images and apparently the rechargeable lithium-ion battery that comes with the camera is good for up to 2500 shots on a single charge!
The camera came with a nice starter lens, which I eagerly traded with a Nikon-enthusiast buddy for a very nice general purpose/macro lens.
Being my first real SLR, I am still exploring all the various options, but here are a couple of sample shots from this afternoon. Black's Photo has a great 15 day return policy, so I want to make sure that I am completely happy with the results!
This is a test shot of on of my signature bracelets; it's European 10 in 1 pattern in stainless steel.
One of the inherent problems of translating my successful market business to the 'net is the lack of tactile feedback (website browsers simply won't be able to experience the "feel" of my work). So I feel that really top notch photographs are an absolute must. They have to convey "elegance", "sexiness", "beauty" and a whole lot more in a single glance! Which, can be quite the task for someone like myself, who is about a million miles away from being a professional photographer.
This is a mouse skeleton that my dad found inside a piece of limestone from the south shore of the Island. (Limestone from this region naturally forms deep pits, like this one, making it the über-swiss-cheese of the sedimentary rock set.)
As much as I will miss the flexibility of the S4's twisting body (which I sold to a friend to partially finance the D70), I am already falling in love with shear sexiness and power of the D70s!
Time for bed (with visions of exposures and f-stops dancing in my head), I have to be up early for the "Christmas Shopping Spree" at the Manitoulin Secondary School in M'Chigeeng!
November 13, 2006
Ultimate Air Guitar...
...no strings attached (literally!) .
Air Guitar T-Shirt
November 5, 2006
A long way from Sega's Time Traveller...
...but isn't there something oddly familiar about this new display technology?
April 2008