I suppose nudists have unique accessory needs. From the barebuns website : “Being exposed (so to speak) to the lifestyle ourselves, we finally developed an answer to the question, “Where does a nudist keep his wallet?” The result was the SIT ON IT towel by Bare Buns Towels.” With special zippered pocket!! No iPod pouch? Don’t nudists like music?
I’ve been watching Game Makers and feeling nostalgic lately. Some people can track their lives by the cars or tv shows of the era, fortunately/unfortunately I can do this with versions of Operating Systems, microprocessor architecture and other nerdtech.
My first computer was an Atari 800 with an external bus/interface for the tape (like audio tape) drive and the 5 1/4 inch drive. My parents, who financed many of my unusual interests, bought a fully decked-out system, even an massive Epson DMP. I can’t thank them enough for this. I got the machine when I was five and started playing games like ZORK and M.U.L.E. Shortly, very shortly, I was writing my own games and learning to code. This is the actual book I learned from. Had this one too.
Around the same time I was playing Ultima on the Apple II and playing with an Atari 2600 and Colecovision. This continued until the IBM/PC and the first Macintosh came out. Well the IBM/PC was available before 1984, but wasn’t in wide enough distribution for a 9 year old to get their hands on before that. I distinctly remember an early applestore in FortLauderdale and playing with MacPaint. This was revolutionary! I logged more hours in that store than I cared to admit.
But, even by 1985/86, IBM compatiblity was seen as being the preferred platform. Apple’s were for schools, artists and nambypamby little girls. Real geeks used command line interfaces and knew arcane dos syntax. So, my parents– further financing my whims, got me a Tandy 286 running Deskmate. It wasn’t an apple, but knowing the comand line made Deskmate very tweakable. This continued through 386’s. windows 3.11 (the first decent release) and up through today using vista beta and os x.
Taking a page from Douglas Coupland , I’m going to stop writing narrative and just list of little of my geek subconscious:
Lord British - god bless richard garriot
scorched earth
compuserve
300bps
zork ii
wampus
external interface
lpt1
telnet
cwru mush
cp/m
colecovision
omnibot
geoworks
oregon trail
sierra online
sim city crack in hex
qlink/quantum
LOGO
major BBS
atdt
compulink
fidonet
cartirdge software
l0pht
mod
star raiders
os/2
vax/vms
helo
g
this is lifted directly from engadget:
by paul miller
As much as your dog might enjoy using the entire city (or at least a few nearby blocks) as its own private bathroom, taking your little furry friend for a “walk” every time nature calls can sincerely put a crimp on that wannabe hermit lifestyle you’ve been working on. Luckily, the new Pet Loo from Australia allows your pet to do his thing in style and comfort — and keeps you away from those nasty and dangerous human beings you might encounter during a stroll. The Synthetic Grass provides a familiar bathroom zone for your dog, but is easy to clean and resistant to smells. There’s also a collection tray in the bottom of the unit for “liquids.” We’re sure your dog won’t mind a bit more freedom in his bathroom schedule, and we’re absolutely looking forward to a review from Unkie Walt — with his newfound penchant for bathroom gadgetry.
Video of Jiffy Lube scamming a news team.
Our space program is a mess. A total mess. Look to the Russians and China for innovation. We simply can’t do it. Or rather, we won’t. Just finished reading a book from Mike Mullane btw
Ryan Warne says he suffers so badly from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) that he has to view a computer through binoculars. He cannot use a mobile phone and, when he goes outside, he wears a special “hairnet” to protect himself from phone mast electromagnetism. A new study is examining the effects of electromagnetic fields on 264 people.
from digg:
Cool video of a man in a wheel chair pulling of tricks on everything in a skate park.
this looks dangerous AND fun.
from digg:
The $250 Lego Mindstorms NXT is somewhere between a really cool toy and a robotics lab in a box. The combination of a computerized controller, sensors, servo motors, and hundreds of Lego Technic pieces lets kids of all ages design and build sophisticated robotics. Read the story at businessweek
I had the first iteration of this product and wasted many hours with it. Big Fun. Not practical at all, but big fun.
read more | digg story
HAHAHAHAHA! Damn ‘urban’ raccoons.
from digg
“It’s a new breed,” said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. “They’re urban raccoons, and they’re not afraid.”
So, I spent an enormous amount of time this week trying to doing something relatively simple. I was installing a Linksys WPS54G Print Server. I’ve installed wired print servers before, I’ve installed loads of wireless gear. I’ve also designed hardware and software from the groundup. Thus, I like to delude myself into thinkning I have some technical skill.
I got the WPS54G up and running on the PC’s after a few minutes. However, the mac didn’t want to see the printer directly and was only visible through appletalk, but non-fucntional. I was pretty sure I needed to create a TCP/IP connection to see it as a networked device…no dice. Being new to the mac I was pretty sure it was just a variable I was setting wrong (syntax). I searched the net for a bit and didn’t find a conclusive answer.
SO I called Linksys. Upon reaching technical support I was informed “We dont support mac over the phone, but do provide other support”. Not too surprising, but a little disconcerting, and since the package wasn’t clearly marked…I wasn’t really sure if they did support Apple products. I was directed to, and went to, a section of the site for live chat support. I explained the hardware/issue I had and then the OS. When I told him the OS was OSX, he replied (to paraphrase, I lost the chat session.-see below) “We don’t support MAC’s”. I explained that the phone support folks told me to talk to him. Reluctantly he agreed to assist…kind of. During the session I received the following responses while he tried to weasel out of the problem:
“You need to call apple for that.”
“You need to look at our knowledgebase”
“We only support OS’s we know.”
“We only provide support to people who know their OS”
“We don’t really support MAC or OSX and linksys”
“Try this <>
Finally, a long ’solution’ came from the tech who pasted a reply. I asked for the url of the link/info and an e-mail since my browser/app for chatting didn’t support a ‘cut and paste’ of the session. Well, he wouldn’t do this and was getting frustrated as I explained that either they supported or didn’t support OSX and Mac…and that I’d like a clear answer.
Then I made the big mistake of saying I wished that I could ‘cut and paste’ the session, not only for the information, but for the chance to post about the seeming non-support of Mac/OSX on Digg and other blogs. Then the session closed immediately and I lost all the data, including the name of the tech. But I did get a tech reference #. 060822-01847*(number removed).
So does apple support linksys, I’m genuinely unsure…but think other mac geeks would be interested…and as important, does linksys fear the dreaded ‘digg effect’?
Oh yeah, can someone help me with the print server? I don’t want to return it, simply because I link the linksys router I’m working with.
from digg:
We may have evolved beyond monkeys, but if we could produce one of their proteins, our bodies might be able to effectively fight HIV.
—-
Interesting…more important, I get to use the same image twice in the same month. Everyone should have a collection of pictures of armed monkeys…or real armed monkeys. Monkey bodyguards, yep, that’s where the money is.
read more | digg story
from digg:
The BOWGO is a new kind of pogo stick that bounces higher, farther and more efficiently than conventional devices. The key technology is the fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) spring that bends like a bow to store elastic energy.
——-
This kicks ass. It’s good to know they’re doing something truly useful at CMU. Advanced robotics are one thing for healthcare, exploring hostile/unsafe areas, search and rescue etc…making a better pogo stick, well, that helps everyone.
Google has finally opened up the service so users are now able to sign up without jumping through hoops. Woo hoo! Cool Stuff! I’m using this app now and love it.
“Today, the company plans to introduce two new machines, a street version known as the i2 and an all-terrain model, the x2, which can travel across dirt, gravel, grass or sand. They cost $4,995 and $5,495, respectively, hit maximum speeds of 12.5 miles per hour, and can run about 24 miles before their batteries need recharging.”
More folks are reading my blog and I retrieve an enormous amount of information from other peoples blogs…so I edited one of my posts simply because it contained some health related data. It’s too easy to do complex profiles with the amount of data that most people have on their blogs.
It’s amazing the kind of discrimination that can occur from the most seemingly benign data. So, as a result…like I said, the entry below is edited. Kinda unpleasant to have to censor oneself all the time.
Had an unusual day. Got a new macbook pro for work in order to produce a video podcast and handle other video editing needs…
******EDITED*******
Anyway… I’m beatup and tired, but the macbook pro is pretty kick ass. It has a much different feel than the regular macbook. It’s not as pretty or sexy, but the pro has a nice feel to the keyboard (backlit!!!), bigger harddrive and dedicated video card. It doesn’t ‘feel’ any faster, but I’m not doing video rendering yet. Installing the extra software (FinalCut Express HD and iWork) took an enormous amount of time, but was frighteningly easy.
I’ll be testing some video tomorrow, hopefully. I’ll also be posting a further review and comparison between the machines. Oh yeah…I think it runs hotter than the macbook too. Is there something about maintaining the ‘alien technology feel’ at apple that prevents using fans? (maybe only ones that make ‘moo-ing’ sounds). Well..I’m gonna run.
More to follow. Oh yeah…no images or links because safari, like internet explorer, is only a semi-functional web browser. get firefox!
Invisiblity may be closer than we think. “The key to that possibility is the development of increasingly complex metamaterials — manmade composites engineered on a nano scale with properties entirely different to anything found in nature.”
Southwestern Pennsylvania ADAPT (SWPA ADAPT) held an informational picket today, at the Greene County Fair, concerning the policies of Senator Rick Santorum.
SWPA ADAPT is the local chapter of ADAPT, a non-violent disability/civil/human rights organization that organizes at the local and national level. ADAPT is composed of grassroots organizers and volunteers that advocate for equality, community integration and the advancement of disability issues.
The senator has been unwilling to support MiCASSA and MFP which would allow persons with disabilities to live in the community. It might be related to the amount of campaign money he’s receiving from the nursing facility industry, more than any other legislator! Additionally,the Senator has been unwilling to meet with representatives from ADAPT.
As a result, SWPA has had several protests/pickets against the senators positions in recent months. Today was no different.
The senator was speaking at the Greene County Fair when advocates from ADAPT attempted to address the senator from outside of the immediate audience, at the completion of his speech.
Immediately, the Senator beat a hasty retreat and took his aides along with him. Members of SWPA ADAPT then met with local press to explain the issues and the reason for the ‘ruckus’. Nonetheless, the Senator was then briefly interviewed on a local radion station, during which ADAPT organizers were kept purposefully busy by aides.
The pictures below are camera phone highlights of the event. The picket was a success in that the senator was sufficiently informed and seemingly embarrassed by the issues and confrontation..and the press got a further education. Another success for ADAPT!
(the senator finishing up his speech)
(The senator and his folks fleeing SWPA ADAPT)
(Members of SWPA watch Rick slink away)
(Members of ADAPT meet with representatives of Santorum)
(Rick leaves the fair, or breaks wind? hard to tell)
ON TO DC!
Like the title says.
God I love America. For only $50 at Posh Nite Club in Akron, OH…you can wrestle a live bear! There’s a chance to win $1000. However, I’m under no delusions, the bear will kick my butt. So be it. This is still amazing. I’ve wrestled alligators and other exotic animals…but never a bear.
If you contribute via the paypal account on the menu bar, I promise to promote you on the video of the bear kicking the crap out of me. There’s plenty of folks that don’t like me out there, so pony up!
Being profoundly stupid, I can’t wait to do this…. woohoo!
If you’ve got a cat that weighs more than 5 pounds, this Litter Robot will turn his waste into little pre-packaged eggs for you to easily throw away, no more pee covered hands. Your cat goes into the spaceship-like ball to do his business, steps out, and his droppings automatically get turned into little red and yellow balls of delight.