June 2008

30 Jun

What nice guys already knew...

Posted by Jeff in geekiness, linkfood

It's not like this one's a surprise, but it's interesting to see actual research on it...
Bad guys really do get the most girls

26 Jun

3 Unique Things meme

Posted by Jeff in memes

While I'm thinking about my response to Amy tagging me on the top 10 movies meme, here's a quickie that I stole from Catherine:

  • Post 3 things you've done that you don't think anybody else on your friends list who reads your web log has done.
  • See if anybody responds with "I've done that." If they have- add another!(2.b., 2.c., etc...)
  • Encourage your friends to paste this into their own journal to see what unique things they've done. also - could you post it here, too...thanks.
  1. Been one of the singers the first time a session of a state supreme court was opened with a singing of the national anthem (this one's my old standard).
  2. Been in traction or outfitted in a body cast (both for me... recovery from a complete fracture of my right femur when I was 4 years old).
  3. Walked on a beach on Grand Cayman Island.
18 Jun

Online filesystem service

Posted by Jeff in geekiness, linkfood

Here's your linkfood for tonight. I found an online filesystem service called rsync.net. It's probably most commonly used for backups, but it could work for a lot more things. I'm considering signing up, simply because it's so flexible. It's quite a bit more expensive per GB of data stored than Amazon S3, but they support lots of cool applications for accessing the files.

12 Jun

Debut Album

Posted by Jeff in funny, memes

Most of my friends in the blogosphere have been participating today in a meme that invites you to learn what your band name and debut album would be. I blame Amy for infecting me. :)

I have to admit that I spun the wheel again on mine, because the first one was just too random to even be amusing. My second try came up with:

what you looking at !!
Rich Villa Hotel's Dreamed It Would Be

[photo 'what you looking at !!' by Saleh AlKhulaifi]

04 Jun

A Lot More Doors

Posted by Jeff in deep thoughts, geekiness

Tonight I watched one of the random Nova episodes that TiVo catches for me from time to time. This one was titled "The Ghost Particle". I'm no physicist, but Nova has a way of bringing even the most esoteric of scientific studies within the reach of normal folks and making them interesting. This episode was all about the neutrino. I found especially interesting the "drama" surrounding this particle over the years. Read more »

02 Jun

A water-powered car!

Posted by Jeff in geekiness, rant

Wow. Tonight is just a treasure trove of car-related stuff for me to point and laugh at. :)

I've heard of stuff like this before, but I've never actually seen plans. Behold: "PRELIMINARY PLANS TO RUN YOUR CAR ON TAP WATER!" (emphasis most emphatically not mine).

Of course, we all remember how easy it is to show that this won't work, right?

(Bonus points for the student who thinks to ask the designer why the water vapor coming out of the tailpipe can't simply be condensed and used again.)

The sentence I love the most, though, is this one:

If you test it out, though, do as the writer suggests and use an old car that doesn't represent a loss of value if you can't make it work.

In other words, if you can't make it work, it's your fault. After all, they "know by personal experience that the technology is sound."

02 Jun

Look up "irrelevant" in the dictionary...

Posted by Jeff in geekiness, rant

...and you might find a link to this CNN story.

I know a lot of people think this guy is awesome, but he apparently believes that a battery-powered car in the year 2008 with the following properties "could change the world":

  • based on a 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible, a car that's over 19 feet long and originally weighed over 5000 pounds (and almost certainly weighs more as a battery-powered electric)
  • has eaten over $120,000 of money to convert to its present state
  • acceleration control is a knob in the back seat
  • brake is on the passenger side
  • a 12-mile test run which almost ended in a collision is considered a milestone

I don't have a problem with rich people having fun with their money or chasing windmills, but this story is phrased as if we are expected to believe that this car is going to create a revolution in electric automobiles. I honestly don't know whether the person who wrote this story for CNN is pandering to Young or making fun of him.

When I could (theoretically) buy one of these for $109,000, how does this story have any relevance at all? I don't blame Young for his apparent delusion. I blame CNN for passing it off as real news.