Archive for April, 2006
Along with the white earbuds, IMHO iTunes is by far one of the most annoying products Apple has produced. I prefer not to use iTunes for listening to music on my iMac, but I'm forced to adhere to the iTunes structure for my iPod. I put new club tracks in a playlist on my iPod and check them out when I'm out and about. I rate the tracks as I listen. So then comes the pain of trying to sort my MP3 files into folders by genre and rating so that I can easily build DJ sets in Traktor. Without bowing to Apple's imposed structure and syncing my pod to itunes, I have a jolly old time using iPodRip, then an applescript to get the actual files organized. It's a mess. And that's just one of the things that annoys the crap outta me with iTunes.
April 14th, 2006
I got a chance to try out the
Canon EOS 20D recently. While great overall, I had a serious issue with OS X support. This was my first time messing around with a high-end digital camera, but my familiarity with the 35mm Canons made it pretty easy to play around with. I was quite impressed by the simple menu system and the simplicity of operation compared to many snapshot digital cameras. The camera was able to take very rapid successive shots which was excellent for bracketing - I had a high-speed write CF card which may have helped a bit. The camera has very little noise, even at 1600 ISO. The only feature I missed vs. 35mm was the ability to do multiple exposures. Though admittedly I don't use that much. So - to the irritating part. Canon's support for OS X really sucks. I keep my computer updated with the latest OS version, and apparently that seems to break Canon's software. This is near unforgivable given that there are so many Apple users these days. I ended up having to pull the CF card and using a card reader. Canon really should get some proper OS X coders working for them - you can tell from their program installers that they are really stuck in Windoze mode. Other than the software issue, great camera.
April 14th, 2006
Some say it came from a plane. Some say it is a
natural phenomena. Whichever it is, good thing the big chunk of pure ice that fell in a park in Okalnd didn't hit anyone on the noggin, cuz they'd be dead as a doornail. I wonder how an investigation into that would have proceeded...
April 12th, 2006
Honda seems to be in the business of producing cool videos for it's cars. I just came across this
ambient experimental video for the Honda Civic. Produced by
lostinspace and with music by funkstorung, this is a far cry from your typical car commercial.
April 12th, 2006
the
pink installment of the adicolor series is out.
April 12th, 2006
I want to buy a car. My #1 choice is to get a 87 Fiero fastback. But one of our requirements is space - for four people, for luggage, for cargo. Blah. That rules out both the Fiero and one of my other top choices, the RX7. I would have opted for the 80s style body - but alas, no rotary engine for me. So what does that leave? Well, there are plenty of recent vehicles that are pretty stylish and cool - but that goes against the other primary requirement - low cost. Disqualified for being too expensive are the Toyota Celica, VW GTI & Golf, and the Ferrari. *sniff sniff* What does that leave? I'm thinking seriously about the VW Corrado - good lookin, not too expensive, four seater, good upgrade path. Could take it to Solo II races. I'm still open to other options though. Just no SUVs, minivans or sedans.
April 12th, 2006
These
Japanese Rube Goldberg machines are super cool. They always end with a short jingle, the text of which is triggered by the machine. The variety and originality of some of the examples are amazing. Reminds me of another nice Rube Goldberg-esque
video for Honda.
April 12th, 2006
Everyone needs a laser. OK, maybe not everyone, but certainly every self-respecting geek needs one. But some people yearn for lasers that can burn and cut! Check out the
PowerLabs CO2 burning laser - a basement project that I am quite envious of.
April 11th, 2006
collision detection discusses a New York Times article about
how Google News is changing the way newspaper headlines are written. The basic idea is that catchy, poetic, exciting headlines with a 'hook' just don't cut it online in the ruthless search engine world. So reporters have taken to writing very clear, concise headlines containing distinct keywords, or the publications have started to use two headlines per article to allow for creative headlines as well as keyword visibility.
April 11th, 2006
"At
Cute Overload we scour the Web for only the finest in Cute Imagery. We offer an overwhelming amount of cuteness to fill your daily visual allowance. Drink it in!"
... Then projectile vomit it back up!
April 11th, 2006
This review will be short. It sucked. Now that I'm done with the review, I have to admit that I watched the whole godawful thing. So I have legitimate grounds to tell you not to waste your time on this crap (unless you get a kick out of USB cables that are connected to female private parts...) I'm not even gonna bother telling you what it's about. Read a review
here.
April 8th, 2006
Artist Elizabeth Demaray has a really neat project going on that is part art, part architecture, part environmentalism. Inhabitat has an article on her designs for
prefab Hermit crab houses which address an increasing shortage of shells on shores for hermit crabs to shack up in. Of particular interest is the idea of branding these creatures by having a company sponsor the project and slapping their logo on the lil plastic 'shells'. I vote for Shell as corporate sponsor ;)
April 7th, 2006
North Korea has one very big and sinister looking 'dirty little secret' among it's many secrets. It is the
Ryugyong Hotel , which cost a whole ton o money, was never finished, and will probably never be completed due to serious engineering problems. It looks disturbingly similar to the shape of the classic 'evil mountain' where bad-guys and sinister wizards hang out. All it needs is some lightening and cackling. Also looks pretty crazy from
above.
April 7th, 2006
Why anyone would feel compelled to do
paintings on hair, I'm not sure. But it is sorta neat.
April 6th, 2006
Neateye emailed me:
Call out Gouranga be happy...
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga
That which brings the highest happiness!
Thanks Neateye.
April 5th, 2006
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