Tug-O-War for Household Chores: "Task division requires more effort to figure out which tasks are how much work and for whom, but allows specialization. Both approaches are fairly inflexible, however, in the work load required each week. Attempts to allow exceptions, such as for sickness or deadlines, often slip into large-scale shirking.
When both my wife and I were employed, we split the task of cooking (or picking up) the evening meal with a 'Tug-O-War' board, like:
---------------------------------------
|h /#\ | h|
|i 0 0 ### 0 0 0 0 e|
|m \#/ | r|
---------------------------------------
This has a row of seven holes, with a peg sitting in one of them. The rule is that when you cook, you get to move the peg one step in your direction. If the peg gets all the way to your end, the other person *has* to cook. Now you can cook a few nights in a row if you feel energetic, or wait a few nights if you're sick. If neither of you wants to cook, the person farther down is expected to cook."
Thursday, April 27, 2006
America's Top Basketball Model
Mercatus Center - Mason Magic Isn't Rocket Science - It's Economics, at Least When An Acclaimed Faculty Theorizes: "Peter Boettke, a George Mason economist and avid basketball fan, offers an outlandish example: 'I can change one rule in basketball and Michael Jordan will no longer be the best basketball player of all time. You could change the rules to require the game be played on stiletto heels. Then Cindy Crawford would be the best player.'"
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Nuclear vs. the World, and DC vs. AC
Here is more from the blitz of Chernobyl press releases.
"Villagers Return to Chernobyl's Shadow - Yahoo! News: "You cannot escape your death,' said 70-year-old Ivan Muzychenko. 'It's better to die of radiation than of hunger.'"
Not sure if I agree with that one, death by radiation sounds pretty nasty, but I'm not the one having to farm glowing chickens to eat because the government won't support me, so what do I know.
Bartolomeyevka's neighboring village, Belyayevka, was recently taken off the list of highly contaminated population centers, stripping its villagers of a $20 monthly supplement for living there. Mothers say the payment is still justified because most of the village's 58 children have health problems and need healthy food and vitamins.
Belarusian workers who participated in the cleanup at Chernobyl have also seen their benefits sharply reduced.
$20 a month = $240 a year. That is sort of like the $400 Alberta tax credit and additional jobs & perks that are driving lots of people from Eastern Canada into tar pits and oil sands, though the money is worth much more in the Eastern Europe part of the world, and it does not involve enticing someone to live on an irradiated toxic site.
However, there has got to be something up with all of these press releases and reports coming out all at the same time... Here is another one from Greenpeace estimating 250k cancer cases and 100k fatal cancers as a result of the Chernobyl accident.
I am not sure why this is a debate. Whether it is 4,000 people or 250,000, it is still a massive tragedy that needs to be addressed. Yes nuclear is not safe.
Nuclear technology is inherently dangerous. Today, thankfully, it is also unnecessary. Our energy needs can be met with safe and efficient renewable energy technologies. So, why are so many politicians peddling nuclear power at the very time we need it least, when we have safe and sustainable sources available to power the world?
Unfortunately this is skewed too. What is funny (not funny ha-ha but funny sad) is that coal is probably a larger contributor to deaths and medical illness in the hundreds of years it has been in use than nuclear power. The other sad thing is that wind power supposedly requires up to 95% of its generating power in reserve forms. (eg for 100W of wind you need 95W of coal, nuclear or some other backup generator for the times when the windmills don't run).
The saddest thing is that the Ontario government is shutting down our coal plants and forcing us to reply on "alternative" energy solutions (coal energy imported from the US, and nuclear technology). Apparently there are alternatives (zero-emission coal plants) that could supplement our energy needs safely and with less byproducts than glowing fuel core rods with a half-life of 250 years.
Of course I read that information in a presentation last February by one of the coal mining companies execs to the Teacher's Pension Fund, so it's probably a bit on the skewed side. :)
Googling more information, I encountered this listing of minutes from the BC Government. I thought it was recent since it mentioned topics of the day (inflation, nuclear power), until I saw the date at the top.
Tuesday, February 27, 1973.
In terms of energy studies, we have instructed B.C. Hydro to determine in the British Columbia framework what best route we can go in attempting to meet the growth and energy demands.
I don't accept the energy growth patterns that have been shown to us. That's why I made the initial statement about turning lights out. A lot of people were amused at that suggestion. But in actual fact there are a number of significant programmes going on right now in other jurisdictions to that very end. The City of Seattle has an excellent pamphlet out urging people to cut down on the use of power. I've shown that pamphlet to the two Members we have on the board of directors of Hydro.
Con-Edison of New York has an excellent programme known as "Save a watt, " where the whole question of attempting to significantly reduce the energy demand is being looked at.
The California pattern is one that I am afraid that we will either learn by or perish by. The California demands of electricity are astronomical. It has been predicted by that the year 2000 California will need a nuclear plant every 8 miles on its coast just to meet their demand at the present growth of power.
The only significant decrease in power use in California was during wartime. Interestingly enough, when there were heavy industrial demands, there was an actual, relatively speaking - not an overall figure - but an actual, relatively speaking, lessening of demand for hydro power. Perhaps it could have been the blackouts on the coast during the scare years. In 1942, just before the Battle of Midway took place, there was the impression that the particular Japanese fleet that was about in the middle of the Pacific was going to invade California. They had a series of blackouts.
After the Aleutian invasion and the Midway battle, it went on for another 18 months. During that period of time there was a method of actually controlling the use of electricity on a domestic basis. They showed a relative decrease so in terms of state control there was an example.
The energy demands of California are being looked at by a California legislative committee. It would be worthwhile for Members of this House, perhaps, to correspond with some of those committee members. The amount of research that's available by the Rand Corporation would make very worthwhile reading to every Member. It cost about $5.5 million. We've ordered two copies of the research volumes. I went through all three volumes during ...
Interjection by an Hon. Member.
HON. MR. BARRETT: $5.5 million worth of research and we have it for nothing - well, it cost us $15 for a set of the volumes. I took the volumes with me on my recent vacation.
AN HON. MEMBER: How far did you get'?
HON. MR. BARRETT: How far did I get? I got through all three volumes, much to my surprise. I want to tell you that I was very, very proud of the fact that I got through all three volumes, till I opened the back at the flyleaf and read that these three volumes are a condensation especially prepared for Members of the California Legislature. So the technical data was obviously removed. But the patterns were there and they were clearly outlined.
California is faced with decisions on the use of nuclear power. We don't have the wherewithal to duplicate the research necessary in terms of fission. We hope that either the Soviet Union or the United States, or perhaps even Canada, makes a breakthrough. But for my own part, certainly in terms of the foreseeable future with B.C. Hydro, we don't anticipate nuclear power in the Province of British Columbia.
And they still don't have any. And I'm pretty sure California doesn't have nuclear power plants every 8 miles along its coastline.
Nuclear energy in California (and imported from outside the state) accounted for 36,970 gigwatt-hours, represents 12.8 perecent of electricity from all sources in 2004. The total dependable capacity of California's nuclear-supplied power is more than 5,300 megawatts, including the two operating nuclear power facilities in California and portions of nuclear facilities located in other states that are owned by California electricity companies.
This is really fascinating to read that in the 1973 oil crisis the same arguments about energy conservation and renewable resources were brought up. It's too bad most of it was talk at that time, or we wouldn't be in this situation again. I wonder how it all played out back then, and why the average birthday of most of the world's nuclear reactors is 1982.
In Australia, recent disagreement over nuclear technology has centred on the replacement of the HIFAR at ANSTO. Australia's only nuclear reactor has reached the end of its life after over 45 years of operation. The need for a replacement reactor has been accepted by the Australian government and many Australian scientists, and construction of the replacement research reactor has begun. The new reactor will continue providing hospitals, research institutions and industry with a reliable supply of fresh radioisotopes, and a powerful neutron source for research. It will also expand and improve on some of these functions.
The decision to replace HIFAR was not without argument. Critics acknowledge that at present some medical radioisotopes must be produced fresh in a nuclear reactor (not a cyclotron). However, they have wondered whether further research might solve this problem without the need for a very expensive reactor. At a cost of over $286 million, the replacement research reactor will be Australia's most expensive technological investment! Many groups also oppose the new reactor because of the radioactive waste it will generate, and the risks associated with running a nuclear facility, as discussed above.
I bought a book last weekend on Thomas Edison. According to it, if it weren't for his defrauding investors to IPO his company and raise capital for his lightbulb idea, we would still be burning coal or hydrogen for light. He announced his invention over a year before it was actually invented, which caused his stock prices to explode against gas and other fuels. He used the funds to hire the best and brightest staff, and worked them long into the night to harness their ideas and release them as patents with his name. One of his former employees, Tesla, invented AC power, and after a costly battle with Edison's DC vs. Tesla's AC, Edison lost.
Edison went on to carry out a campaign to discourage the use of alternating current. Edison personally presided over several executions of animals, primarily stray cats and dogs, to demonstrate to the press that his system of direct current was safer than that of alternating current. Edison's series of animal executions peaked with the electrocution of Topsy the Elephant. He also tried to popularize the term for being electrocuted as being "Westinghoused".
After over 100 years, not a whole lot has changed. You still have a light bulb with a filament that runs on AC power.
Low frequency (50 - 60 Hz) AC currents are actually more dangerous than similar levels of DC current since the alternating fluctuations can cause the heart to lose coordination, inducing ventricular fibrillation, which then rapidly leads to death. However any practical distribution system will use voltage levels quite sufficient to ensure a dangerous amount of current will flow, whether it uses alternating or direct current. Since the precautions against electrocution are similar, ultimately, the advantages of AC power transmission outweighed this theoretical risk, and it was eventually adopted as the standard.
I wonder how many people found out the hard way that AC power is dangerous over the years? And actually, with solar, wind power, and efficient DC current, Edison may have been able to win the battle today, though he still sounds like a nasty guy.
Transmission of electric power by direct current became commercially significant again in the context of high voltage direct current systems, used for bulk transmission of energy from distant generating stations or for interconnection of separate alternating-current systems. These HVDC systems use solid-state devices that were unavailable during the War of the Currents era. Power is still converted to and from alternating current at each side of a HVDC link. The advantages of HVDC over AC for bulk transmission include higher power ratings for a given line (important since installing new lines and even upgrading old ones is extremely expensive) and better control of power flows, especially in transient and emergency conditions that often lead to blackouts. Had modern HVDC technology been available to Edison, he might well have won the War of the Currents.
"Villagers Return to Chernobyl's Shadow - Yahoo! News: "You cannot escape your death,' said 70-year-old Ivan Muzychenko. 'It's better to die of radiation than of hunger.'"
Not sure if I agree with that one, death by radiation sounds pretty nasty, but I'm not the one having to farm glowing chickens to eat because the government won't support me, so what do I know.
Bartolomeyevka's neighboring village, Belyayevka, was recently taken off the list of highly contaminated population centers, stripping its villagers of a $20 monthly supplement for living there. Mothers say the payment is still justified because most of the village's 58 children have health problems and need healthy food and vitamins.
Belarusian workers who participated in the cleanup at Chernobyl have also seen their benefits sharply reduced.
$20 a month = $240 a year. That is sort of like the $400 Alberta tax credit and additional jobs & perks that are driving lots of people from Eastern Canada into tar pits and oil sands, though the money is worth much more in the Eastern Europe part of the world, and it does not involve enticing someone to live on an irradiated toxic site.
However, there has got to be something up with all of these press releases and reports coming out all at the same time... Here is another one from Greenpeace estimating 250k cancer cases and 100k fatal cancers as a result of the Chernobyl accident.
I am not sure why this is a debate. Whether it is 4,000 people or 250,000, it is still a massive tragedy that needs to be addressed. Yes nuclear is not safe.
Nuclear technology is inherently dangerous. Today, thankfully, it is also unnecessary. Our energy needs can be met with safe and efficient renewable energy technologies. So, why are so many politicians peddling nuclear power at the very time we need it least, when we have safe and sustainable sources available to power the world?
Unfortunately this is skewed too. What is funny (not funny ha-ha but funny sad) is that coal is probably a larger contributor to deaths and medical illness in the hundreds of years it has been in use than nuclear power. The other sad thing is that wind power supposedly requires up to 95% of its generating power in reserve forms. (eg for 100W of wind you need 95W of coal, nuclear or some other backup generator for the times when the windmills don't run).
The saddest thing is that the Ontario government is shutting down our coal plants and forcing us to reply on "alternative" energy solutions (coal energy imported from the US, and nuclear technology). Apparently there are alternatives (zero-emission coal plants) that could supplement our energy needs safely and with less byproducts than glowing fuel core rods with a half-life of 250 years.
Of course I read that information in a presentation last February by one of the coal mining companies execs to the Teacher's Pension Fund, so it's probably a bit on the skewed side. :)
Googling more information, I encountered this listing of minutes from the BC Government. I thought it was recent since it mentioned topics of the day (inflation, nuclear power), until I saw the date at the top.
Tuesday, February 27, 1973.
In terms of energy studies, we have instructed B.C. Hydro to determine in the British Columbia framework what best route we can go in attempting to meet the growth and energy demands.
I don't accept the energy growth patterns that have been shown to us. That's why I made the initial statement about turning lights out. A lot of people were amused at that suggestion. But in actual fact there are a number of significant programmes going on right now in other jurisdictions to that very end. The City of Seattle has an excellent pamphlet out urging people to cut down on the use of power. I've shown that pamphlet to the two Members we have on the board of directors of Hydro.
Con-Edison of New York has an excellent programme known as "Save a watt, " where the whole question of attempting to significantly reduce the energy demand is being looked at.
The California pattern is one that I am afraid that we will either learn by or perish by. The California demands of electricity are astronomical. It has been predicted by that the year 2000 California will need a nuclear plant every 8 miles on its coast just to meet their demand at the present growth of power.
The only significant decrease in power use in California was during wartime. Interestingly enough, when there were heavy industrial demands, there was an actual, relatively speaking - not an overall figure - but an actual, relatively speaking, lessening of demand for hydro power. Perhaps it could have been the blackouts on the coast during the scare years. In 1942, just before the Battle of Midway took place, there was the impression that the particular Japanese fleet that was about in the middle of the Pacific was going to invade California. They had a series of blackouts.
After the Aleutian invasion and the Midway battle, it went on for another 18 months. During that period of time there was a method of actually controlling the use of electricity on a domestic basis. They showed a relative decrease so in terms of state control there was an example.
The energy demands of California are being looked at by a California legislative committee. It would be worthwhile for Members of this House, perhaps, to correspond with some of those committee members. The amount of research that's available by the Rand Corporation would make very worthwhile reading to every Member. It cost about $5.5 million. We've ordered two copies of the research volumes. I went through all three volumes during ...
Interjection by an Hon. Member.
HON. MR. BARRETT: $5.5 million worth of research and we have it for nothing - well, it cost us $15 for a set of the volumes. I took the volumes with me on my recent vacation.
AN HON. MEMBER: How far did you get'?
HON. MR. BARRETT: How far did I get? I got through all three volumes, much to my surprise. I want to tell you that I was very, very proud of the fact that I got through all three volumes, till I opened the back at the flyleaf and read that these three volumes are a condensation especially prepared for Members of the California Legislature. So the technical data was obviously removed. But the patterns were there and they were clearly outlined.
California is faced with decisions on the use of nuclear power. We don't have the wherewithal to duplicate the research necessary in terms of fission. We hope that either the Soviet Union or the United States, or perhaps even Canada, makes a breakthrough. But for my own part, certainly in terms of the foreseeable future with B.C. Hydro, we don't anticipate nuclear power in the Province of British Columbia.
And they still don't have any. And I'm pretty sure California doesn't have nuclear power plants every 8 miles along its coastline.
Nuclear energy in California (and imported from outside the state) accounted for 36,970 gigwatt-hours, represents 12.8 perecent of electricity from all sources in 2004. The total dependable capacity of California's nuclear-supplied power is more than 5,300 megawatts, including the two operating nuclear power facilities in California and portions of nuclear facilities located in other states that are owned by California electricity companies.
This is really fascinating to read that in the 1973 oil crisis the same arguments about energy conservation and renewable resources were brought up. It's too bad most of it was talk at that time, or we wouldn't be in this situation again. I wonder how it all played out back then, and why the average birthday of most of the world's nuclear reactors is 1982.
In Australia, recent disagreement over nuclear technology has centred on the replacement of the HIFAR at ANSTO. Australia's only nuclear reactor has reached the end of its life after over 45 years of operation. The need for a replacement reactor has been accepted by the Australian government and many Australian scientists, and construction of the replacement research reactor has begun. The new reactor will continue providing hospitals, research institutions and industry with a reliable supply of fresh radioisotopes, and a powerful neutron source for research. It will also expand and improve on some of these functions.
The decision to replace HIFAR was not without argument. Critics acknowledge that at present some medical radioisotopes must be produced fresh in a nuclear reactor (not a cyclotron). However, they have wondered whether further research might solve this problem without the need for a very expensive reactor. At a cost of over $286 million, the replacement research reactor will be Australia's most expensive technological investment! Many groups also oppose the new reactor because of the radioactive waste it will generate, and the risks associated with running a nuclear facility, as discussed above.
I bought a book last weekend on Thomas Edison. According to it, if it weren't for his defrauding investors to IPO his company and raise capital for his lightbulb idea, we would still be burning coal or hydrogen for light. He announced his invention over a year before it was actually invented, which caused his stock prices to explode against gas and other fuels. He used the funds to hire the best and brightest staff, and worked them long into the night to harness their ideas and release them as patents with his name. One of his former employees, Tesla, invented AC power, and after a costly battle with Edison's DC vs. Tesla's AC, Edison lost.
Edison went on to carry out a campaign to discourage the use of alternating current. Edison personally presided over several executions of animals, primarily stray cats and dogs, to demonstrate to the press that his system of direct current was safer than that of alternating current. Edison's series of animal executions peaked with the electrocution of Topsy the Elephant. He also tried to popularize the term for being electrocuted as being "Westinghoused".
After over 100 years, not a whole lot has changed. You still have a light bulb with a filament that runs on AC power.
Low frequency (50 - 60 Hz) AC currents are actually more dangerous than similar levels of DC current since the alternating fluctuations can cause the heart to lose coordination, inducing ventricular fibrillation, which then rapidly leads to death. However any practical distribution system will use voltage levels quite sufficient to ensure a dangerous amount of current will flow, whether it uses alternating or direct current. Since the precautions against electrocution are similar, ultimately, the advantages of AC power transmission outweighed this theoretical risk, and it was eventually adopted as the standard.
I wonder how many people found out the hard way that AC power is dangerous over the years? And actually, with solar, wind power, and efficient DC current, Edison may have been able to win the battle today, though he still sounds like a nasty guy.
Transmission of electric power by direct current became commercially significant again in the context of high voltage direct current systems, used for bulk transmission of energy from distant generating stations or for interconnection of separate alternating-current systems. These HVDC systems use solid-state devices that were unavailable during the War of the Currents era. Power is still converted to and from alternating current at each side of a HVDC link. The advantages of HVDC over AC for bulk transmission include higher power ratings for a given line (important since installing new lines and even upgrading old ones is extremely expensive) and better control of power flows, especially in transient and emergency conditions that often lead to blackouts. Had modern HVDC technology been available to Edison, he might well have won the War of the Currents.
Chernobyl report author slanted?
The Chernobyl disaster and its repurcussions has been lingering around for almost 20 years (the anniversary will be next week.) There seems to be a ton of press releases making front page of Yahoo around this.
A new study was released called The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH).
Two UK scientists put together this report. One has some interesting enemies.
LLRC Journal Radioactive Times. Vol.5 No 1: "Fairlie, who admitted to being a great friend of Richard Wakeford, BNFL�s Health Effects Rottweiler, even withheld papers which had been submitted for the Committee�s consideration. The deliberations became so altered by the time the minutes of the early meetings appeared that LLRC had to bring a DAT tape recorder to each session to ensure accuracy. Paul Dorfman was routinely excluded from decisions, paperwork and access to meeting transcripts. Finally, when Marion Hill (about whom we were at first the most concerned in terms of possible bias) began to be excluded from the secretariat loop, she resigned in a letter that accused Fairlie and Goodhead of collusion resulting in a bias to the intention of the committee. She further complained that Fairlie�s invoices would soon amount to �100,000 - four times as much as other Secretariat members - when unsalaried members of the committee like Richard Bramhall (who spent days transcribing the tape recordings) and Chris Busby (writing copious papers for the committee) received nothing. This bombshell letter has been followed by a major re-allocation of work in the secretariat. "
There are 443 nuclear reactors in the world, averaging 22 years old.
A new study was released called The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH).
Two UK scientists put together this report. One has some interesting enemies.
LLRC Journal Radioactive Times. Vol.5 No 1: "Fairlie, who admitted to being a great friend of Richard Wakeford, BNFL�s Health Effects Rottweiler, even withheld papers which had been submitted for the Committee�s consideration. The deliberations became so altered by the time the minutes of the early meetings appeared that LLRC had to bring a DAT tape recorder to each session to ensure accuracy. Paul Dorfman was routinely excluded from decisions, paperwork and access to meeting transcripts. Finally, when Marion Hill (about whom we were at first the most concerned in terms of possible bias) began to be excluded from the secretariat loop, she resigned in a letter that accused Fairlie and Goodhead of collusion resulting in a bias to the intention of the committee. She further complained that Fairlie�s invoices would soon amount to �100,000 - four times as much as other Secretariat members - when unsalaried members of the committee like Richard Bramhall (who spent days transcribing the tape recordings) and Chris Busby (writing copious papers for the committee) received nothing. This bombshell letter has been followed by a major re-allocation of work in the secretariat. "
There are 443 nuclear reactors in the world, averaging 22 years old.
Armstrong, Discovery Seek New Cycling Star - Yahoo! News
Lance is doing some reality TV.
Armstrong, Discovery Seek New Cycling Star - Yahoo! News: "'Can you imagine the thrill to ride on the legendary Indianapolis speedway with other avid fans, trying out to win a spot on the team for the U.S. championships? That's pretty cool. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lucky fan to actually ride with the team.'
Funds raised will benefit the foundation of Armstrong, a cancer survivor who raises money and awareness to fight the disease. Armstrong compares the experience of competing with the Discovery team at the USA Cycling event to being 'a Yankees fan playing shortstop' in a real game."
I saw Lance speak a few years ago at a Learning Annex event with Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor. He must have left an impression...
Armstrong, Discovery Seek New Cycling Star - Yahoo! News: "'Can you imagine the thrill to ride on the legendary Indianapolis speedway with other avid fans, trying out to win a spot on the team for the U.S. championships? That's pretty cool. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lucky fan to actually ride with the team.'
Funds raised will benefit the foundation of Armstrong, a cancer survivor who raises money and awareness to fight the disease. Armstrong compares the experience of competing with the Discovery team at the USA Cycling event to being 'a Yankees fan playing shortstop' in a real game."
I saw Lance speak a few years ago at a Learning Annex event with Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor. He must have left an impression...
Saturday, April 22, 2006
TheStar.com - Loblaws settles hepatitis lawsuit
The proposed deal is worth $150 to anyone who received a hepatitis A vaccine, or consulted their doctor, as a precaution after public health officials disclosed the employee's condition to the public. It could cost Loblaws and its insurers at least $3 million.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Give nukes to nature
BBC NEWS | Europe | Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation: "He went on: 'I have wondered if the small volumes of nuclear waste from power production should be stored in tropical forests and other habitats in need of a reliable guardian against their destruction by greedy developers'. "
Monday, April 17, 2006
The pleasure of finding things out - RP Feynman - Google Video
"I know what it means to know something."
--Richard Feynman
Dr. Richard Feynman was one of the smartest people of the 20th century. This video is a really interesting and thoughtful documentary interview with him.
--Richard Feynman
Dr. Richard Feynman was one of the smartest people of the 20th century. This video is a really interesting and thoughtful documentary interview with him.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Solid State IDE Drive
Blurring the line between memory and physical disk, comes the i-RAM.
Gigabyte's i-RAM storage device - The Tech Report - Page 1: "i-RAM revealed
The i-RAM's greatest asset is easily its simplicity. Just populate the card with memory, plug it into an available PCI slot, attach a Serial ATA cable to your motherboard, and you've got yourself a solid-state hard drive. There's no need for drivers, extra software, or even Windows�the i-RAM is detected by a motherboard BIOS as a standard hard drive, so it should work with any operating system. In fact, because the i-RAM behaves like a standard hard drive, you can even combine multiple i-RAMs together in RAID arrays. "
Gigabyte's i-RAM storage device - The Tech Report - Page 1: "i-RAM revealed
The i-RAM's greatest asset is easily its simplicity. Just populate the card with memory, plug it into an available PCI slot, attach a Serial ATA cable to your motherboard, and you've got yourself a solid-state hard drive. There's no need for drivers, extra software, or even Windows�the i-RAM is detected by a motherboard BIOS as a standard hard drive, so it should work with any operating system. In fact, because the i-RAM behaves like a standard hard drive, you can even combine multiple i-RAMs together in RAID arrays. "
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Something Awful - other things to spend war dollars on
Something Awful: "29 Statues of Liberty that shoot laser beams out of their torch
Bear with me on this one. The Statues of Liberty cost approximately 350,000 dollars to construct, including its base. Assuming all of those bucks are 1884 bucks that's worth 6.9 billion in 2005 bucks. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most enduring symbols of the Freedom and openness in the United States. But, we are living in historic times. We are living in the epoch of the terrorist, when our monuments, buildings and ports are in danger.
Enter the ABL or airborne chemical laser. This huge turret is capable of cooking missiles, aircraft and just about anything else that falls within its beam of death. "
Bear with me on this one. The Statues of Liberty cost approximately 350,000 dollars to construct, including its base. Assuming all of those bucks are 1884 bucks that's worth 6.9 billion in 2005 bucks. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most enduring symbols of the Freedom and openness in the United States. But, we are living in historic times. We are living in the epoch of the terrorist, when our monuments, buildings and ports are in danger.
Enter the ABL or airborne chemical laser. This huge turret is capable of cooking missiles, aircraft and just about anything else that falls within its beam of death. "
Page counts are meaningless
Having an RSS feed on your site automatically inflates your numbers, as subscribers poll ever 15 minutes on average. Here's another way to screw up tracking.
terrill.ca | Hacking Google Analytics: "Could it really be that simple?
Turns out it is. Want to scew the statistics of a friends website, how about a competitor? Look up their source code, plug it into your website header and laugh. But don't worry you could run multiple accounts, and hit them both on each page. That way you can keep your stats flowing just like normal. "
terrill.ca | Hacking Google Analytics: "Could it really be that simple?
Turns out it is. Want to scew the statistics of a friends website, how about a competitor? Look up their source code, plug it into your website header and laugh. But don't worry you could run multiple accounts, and hit them both on each page. That way you can keep your stats flowing just like normal. "
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Inside AdSense: Meet Ivan the optimiser -- but please, no paparazzi
Inside AdSense: Meet Ivan the optimiser -- but please, no paparazzi: "
What are the top 3 tips you like to tell publishers?
1. Use wide ad formats. Many publishers find the 728x90 Leaderboard outperforms the 468x60 banner by about 70%. I particularly recommend using the 728x90 Leaderboard, 160x600 Wide Skyscraper, and 300x250 Medium Rectangle.
2. Embed Google ads in your content, and place Google ads at the end of your articles, news stories and reviews. Placing a 468x60 Banner in the typical slot at the top of page, or a 120x600 Skyscraper along the right-hand side of page, work well for cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) ads. However, for cost-per-click (CPC) contextual advertising, AdSense tends to work best when integrated with your content.
3. Blend your ad colours into your website. After running a test with a bright pink 728x90 Leaderboard on a black background, I learned that complementary colours often work better. Try blending the background and borders of your ads into your site, and use a text colour that stands out but already exists on your site. Blending decreases ad blindness and users are more likely to notice ads that interest them."
What are the top 3 tips you like to tell publishers?
1. Use wide ad formats. Many publishers find the 728x90 Leaderboard outperforms the 468x60 banner by about 70%. I particularly recommend using the 728x90 Leaderboard, 160x600 Wide Skyscraper, and 300x250 Medium Rectangle.
2. Embed Google ads in your content, and place Google ads at the end of your articles, news stories and reviews. Placing a 468x60 Banner in the typical slot at the top of page, or a 120x600 Skyscraper along the right-hand side of page, work well for cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) ads. However, for cost-per-click (CPC) contextual advertising, AdSense tends to work best when integrated with your content.
3. Blend your ad colours into your website. After running a test with a bright pink 728x90 Leaderboard on a black background, I learned that complementary colours often work better. Try blending the background and borders of your ads into your site, and use a text colour that stands out but already exists on your site. Blending decreases ad blindness and users are more likely to notice ads that interest them."
Where the Hell is Matt?
Where the Hell is Matt?: "Matt is a 29-year-old itinerant deadbeat from Connecticut. In February of 2003, he quit his job making videogames in Brisbane, Australia to go walk the Earth, like Caine from Kung Fu. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is. Matt realizes that Caine from Kung Fu probably wouldn't make a web site about walking the Earth, but he accepts that there are certain ways in which he and Caine differ."
Check out the Dancing link... this is still the best video on the internet.
Check out the Dancing link... this is still the best video on the internet.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Glad I didn't apply for that fake job from Accenture
"+ The U.N. Human Development Index ranks Nigeria as having one of the worst standards of living, below both Haiti and Bangladesh. For all its oil wealth, and after seven years of governance by one of Africa's most highly touted democrats, Nigeria has become the largest failed state on earth."
+ A drive across Lagos — the country's commercial capital and, with 13 million people, Africa's largest metropolis — reveals unmitigated chaos. The government has left roads to decay indefinitely. Thugs clear away the broken asphalt and then extract payments from drivers, using chunks of rubble to enforce their demands. Residents dig up the pavement to lay cables that tap illegally into state power lines. Armed robbers emerge from the slums to pillage cars stuck in gridlocks (aptly named "hold-ups" in regional slang) so impenetrable that the fourteen-mile trip from the airport to the city center can take four hours. Electricity blackouts of six to twelve hours a day are common. "Area boys" in loosely affiliated gangs dominate most of the city, extorting money from drivers and shop owners. Those who fail to pay up may be beaten or given a knife jab in the shoulder.
Next time I get one of those Nigerian emails, I'm going to tell them to keep my inheritance from my long lost Dr. Uncle. They need it more than I do...
+ A drive across Lagos — the country's commercial capital and, with 13 million people, Africa's largest metropolis — reveals unmitigated chaos. The government has left roads to decay indefinitely. Thugs clear away the broken asphalt and then extract payments from drivers, using chunks of rubble to enforce their demands. Residents dig up the pavement to lay cables that tap illegally into state power lines. Armed robbers emerge from the slums to pillage cars stuck in gridlocks (aptly named "hold-ups" in regional slang) so impenetrable that the fourteen-mile trip from the airport to the city center can take four hours. Electricity blackouts of six to twelve hours a day are common. "Area boys" in loosely affiliated gangs dominate most of the city, extorting money from drivers and shop owners. Those who fail to pay up may be beaten or given a knife jab in the shoulder.
Next time I get one of those Nigerian emails, I'm going to tell them to keep my inheritance from my long lost Dr. Uncle. They need it more than I do...
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Paul Allen was once the Boss of MS
Paul Allen is one week older than me. I have more kids but he has more toys -- a LOT more toys -- including professional football and basketball teams, SpaceShipOne, lots of planes and a HUGE boat. Allen is an enthusiast of epic proportions, but one of my fondest images of him was from the 20th anniversary party for the Altair 8800 computer (arguably the first PC), when Paul Allen-the-billionaire wanted some fast food late at night and -- not having a car -- WALKED through the drive-through as part of a long line of cars.
Interesting article on Paul Allen, and Bill Gates' $10/hr position at MIT.
Interesting article on Paul Allen, and Bill Gates' $10/hr position at MIT.
JAJAH - web activated-telephony
JAJAH - web activated-telephony
So with this service you can set your phone number and call a friend, for $0.0174 USD/min.
So with this service you can set your phone number and call a friend, for $0.0174 USD/min.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Write a book based on your WebLog
Eric Sink's Weblog: "After what seems like an eternity of proofreading, today is the day that my book is being sent off to be printed. The book is essentially a collection of essays from here on my weblog, each one edited and prefaced with an introduction."
Eric is a detailed writer, and his postings are mainly essays, so don't get any ideas about compiling your daily livejournal entries about your cat into a book. This does prove that it is possible to author a book through your blog, and then use existing content to publish your blog in book form.
This entry will appear in Chapter 6 of my book, Wavesmash - Deep Thoughts in a Shallow Pond, titled How to Write a book based on your WebLog.
Get your comments in to the book now...
Eric is a detailed writer, and his postings are mainly essays, so don't get any ideas about compiling your daily livejournal entries about your cat into a book. This does prove that it is possible to author a book through your blog, and then use existing content to publish your blog in book form.
This entry will appear in Chapter 6 of my book, Wavesmash - Deep Thoughts in a Shallow Pond, titled How to Write a book based on your WebLog.
Get your comments in to the book now...
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