Monday 06/21/04
Adjectives of relation. 750 adjectives meaning "of or relating to" some noun. For example, "anatine" means of or pertaining to ducks. Wow!
Thursday 06/17/04
Ambiguously gay headline of the day. Gay marriage vs. the loom. One sexual orientation or weaving instrument enters, one sexual orientation or weaving instrument leaves....
The mentality of Homo interneticus: some Ongian postulates. Hypothesis: Internet users think differently from people who don't use the Internet. Duh? But still fairly interesting.
Ben Yagoda notes the rise of Bristishims in American English. I can't say I mind them, given my fondness for Douglas Adams and Monty Python.
Wednesday 06/16/04
The Straight Dope tackles the burning question of our age: When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails? Take the zombies out of the equation, and it's still a good question.
Tuesday 06/15/04
Anyone out there want a GMail account? Right now it's invitation-only, and I've got three invitations. First three people to leave a request here (must include real name and a valid e-mail address) get them.
Update: First batch is gone, but I looked, and holy cow, they gave me more! They seem to be load-testing their system by adding more users... it's sloooow right now. Still, next four to ask on this post's comment thread get the invites.
Friday 06/11/04
The Two Things. What are the two most important things to know about your field of expertise?
Hey, why wasn't I informed that "National Day of Mourning" meant "National Day of Federal Employees Not Working"?
If you got today off, what did you do to mourn? A round of golf, perhaps, your head bowed continuously in silent tribute to our 40th President? Did you take the kids to see the new Harry Potter movie to avoid the weekend crowds -- in solemn remembrance of Ronald Wilson Reagan? Did you sleep in and cuddle with your lover all morning, then get up and have breakfast at noon, tearfully thinking of the Gipper all the while?
Just curious... I'm not being political here; I'm just wondering how many people outside Washington D.C. actually used the first day of an unexpected three-day weekend to mourn. Do you figure it was just one person, or was it perhaps as many as two?
Mark my words, if you start giving people days off whenever a well-liked leader dies, pretty soon somebody will off an ex-President just because they want a break.
Thursday 06/10/04
Fleep.
Contrast masking is a Photoshop technique to deal with extreme contrasts.
Born in a Vermont farmhouse and possessing little formal scientific training, Wilson Alwyn Bentley had an obsession with photographing snow crystals (which we call "flakes"). His obsession turned into innovation, and today the Bentley Snow Crystal Collection at the Buffalo Museum of Science recognizes him as the inventor of photomicrography. 154 photos are viewable online -- but he took 11,000 images between 1880 and 1926.
Wednesday 06/09/04
Ah, nerd love. Approaching romance as an engineering problem, albeit a social one.
Where did the time go? Don't worry, it's quick.
Find a factory tour in your area! You'd be surprised at the kinds of companies offer tours of their plants. For example, who wouldn't want to see how character costumes, model trains, or beer is made? And that's just a sampling from three states I've lived in. (Some of these tours require prior arrangement.)
Tuesday 06/08/04
Fellowship Church in Dallas is America's fifth largest church and a leader in applying information technology to religious outreach.
Monday 06/07/04
This page provides a pretty good clue as to how many of MetaFilter's 17,000 registered users are active participants in the community: about 250. The field was just added to the database five days ago, so only users who 1) visit the site regularly and 2) look at the sidebar and/or visit MetaTalk (a fair yardstick of one's interest in the site) have filled it in.
Lessons from the Wolf: Scientific American explores how the reintroduction of the wolf has changed Yellowstone Park.
Sunday 06/06/04
A couple cool videos from Sam Bisbee.
Friday 06/04/04
Quick reference cards for various technologies, from JSP to UML, for free download.
Thursday 06/03/04
Slit-scan photography and focal plane shutter distortion. Here's another good example.
Wednesday 06/02/04
Hacking the Canon Digital Rebel.
A Turing machine of Lego.
Tuesday 06/01/04
This weekend I:
- went to a housewarming for flipdingo and tyd.
- visited the most northwestern point of the contiguous 48 states, Cape Flattery
- camped on the banks of the Sol Duc river
- went on a 5-mile (there and back) hike to the Olympic Hot Springs
- was stalked by a deer
- enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner in Port Angeles
- rode the Kingston-Edmonds ferry twice
- took some pictures that I hope, upon review, will qualify as good
My traveling companion for much of the above was the indefatigable Kristine M.
The hot springs trail was what you'd probably call intermediate in difficulty. Although the elevation doesn't change much from the beginning to the end, it was slightly uphill for most of the way there, and I certainly felt it. The good news is, that meant it was downhill most of the way back.
The main challenge in the trail is a "footlog" across a ravine -- basically a foot-wide plank with a handrail. The approach to the footlog is fairly steep, muddy and slippery. For my skill level and condition, then, the hike was a bit of a challenge, but I did complete it. Today, I'm a bit sore but satisfied and pleased with the accomplishment. I'm going to have to do more hiking.
The hot springs are apparently a popular nudist destination, but my feet were the only part of my body I uncovered. Didn't want to startle the deer, after all. I saw only a couple nekked people myself.
Friday 05/28/04
Today's WTF? moment comes courtesy of Aiwa.
The Sedlec Ossuary: where human bones become art!
Thursday 05/27/04
I just got e-mail from a recruiter who's looking for a technical writer for a contract. Seeing as how I'm employed at the moment, I had to turn him down. But if you're a tech writer in the Seattle area and are looking for work, e-mail me ("jerry" at this domain will work) and I'll see if I can't hook you up with some employment.
(The recruiter is from Sakson and Taylor, and I'd bet it's a Microsoft gig. And yes, he did specifically ask if I could suggest anyone else. Not having anyone else local to suggest off the top of my head, I thought I'd turn to the blahg.)
Willamette Week asks: How evil is Starbucks, really? Their answers generally favor the chain, surprising considering that "alternative" weeklies almost uniformily lean left. But I guess to be truly alternative in a city as progressive as Portland (check out the comments on the article), sometimes you gotta lean the other direction!
A tricycle with square wheels. It's possible, thanks to the miracle of the inverted catenary!
Say awwww! Tiger Cub Cam at the National Zoo. (Requires Windows Media.) Both times I've looked in, Soyono, the mother tiger, has been bathing one of the cubs. Whatever lighting they're using makes her eyes glow when she looks at the camera, which is kind of spooky.
Which side of the road do they drive on? And walk on, and fly on, and boat on... and how do they handle border crossings between countries that drive on opposite sides of the road? If you ever gave the latter much thought, the actual solution in use in most such locations will make you go "D'oh!"
