Mar. 9, 2010 at 3:28pm
“
The centrifuge is a genuinely terrifying device. The lights dim when it is switched on. A strong wind is produced as the centrifuge induces a cyclone in the room. The smell of boiling insulation emanates from the overloaded 25 amp cables. If not perfectly adjusted and lubricated, it will shred the teeth off solid brass gears in under a second. Runs were conducted from the relative safety of the next room while peeking through a crack in the door.
—

“Would a Lava Lamp work in a high-gravity environment such as Jupiter? Would the wax still rise to the surface? Would the blobs be smaller and faster? With broad disagreement on the answers, I built a large centrifuge to find out.”

Neil Fraser: Hardware: Lava Lamp Centrifuge

(via http://twitter.com/jaywgraves)

Mar. 8, 2010 at 2:13pm
“
I haven’t got the faintest idea what digital means. Don’t want to know about it. I like film, preferably black and white.
— Lord Snowdon: ‘Taking photographs is a very nasty thing to do’ - Telegraph
Mar. 1, 2010 at 1:52pm
[Maurice Broomfield’s] carefully-crafted photographs of industries such as nylon, insulation and shipbuilding provide a unique document of ‘pre-Thatcher’ Industrial Britain during the 1950s and ’60s. Captain of Industry - Telegraph

[Maurice Broomfield’s] carefully-crafted photographs of industries such as nylon, insulation and shipbuilding provide a unique document of ‘pre-Thatcher’ Industrial Britain during the 1950s and ’60s.

Captain of Industry - Telegraph

Feb. 27, 2010 at 9:34pm
“
For mixologists, one of the main ice form differentials is melt rate. In all the but most exclusive bars, for example, most drinks are still made using “cheater ice” – standard, machine-made, rounded half-cylinders, often with a hollow interior. This shape is quick-melting and designed to fit the maximum number in a glass.
—

Very interesting article on ice - including instructions on how to make your own glacier and which types of ice to make your cocktails with.

(via @mondoagogo)

The Ice Program

Feb. 17, 2010 at 9:03am
“
I hate disruptive technologies. They’re antithetical to all that’s sane and stable in enterprise IT. So when I hear that one out of every five tech-savvy consumers is interested in buying the as-yet-unannounced Apple tablet device, I start to squirm a bit in my chair.
—

A Dinosaur speaks.

Act now to avoid the Apple tablet apocalypse | Windows - InfoWorld

Feb. 11, 2010 at 2:48pm
These seem like they shouldn’t really work but they do (for me). Pictures of superimposed superheroes and villains in wartime by Indonesian artist and illustrator Agan Harahap - Telegraph

These seem like they shouldn’t really work but they do (for me).

Pictures of superimposed superheroes and villains in wartime by Indonesian artist and illustrator Agan Harahap - Telegraph

Feb. 9, 2010 at 9:22am
Don McCullin’s damaged Nikon F Camera, hit by a bullet from an AK-47 in Cambodia. Shaped by war - Telegraph

Don McCullin’s damaged Nikon F Camera, hit by a bullet from an AK-47 in Cambodia.

Shaped by war - Telegraph

Feb. 6, 2010 at 5:54pm
“

ALL DOCUMENT IDS MUST BE UNIQUE UNSIGNED NON-ZERO INTEGER NUMBERS (32-BIT OR 64-BIT, DEPENDING ON BUILD TIME SETTINGS).


If this requirement is not met, different bad things can happen. For instance, Sphinx can crash with an internal assertion while indexing; or produce strange results when searching due to conflicting IDs. Also, a 1000-pound gorilla might eventually come out of your display and start throwing barrels at you. You’ve been warned.

—

Watch out for the Gorilla.

Sphinx - Free open-source SQL full-text search engine

Jan. 31, 2010 at 12:18am
Albert Exergian’s modernist TV posters | Television & radio | The Guardian (via http://twitter.com/skink74/status/8408484249)

Albert Exergian’s modernist TV posters | Television & radio | The Guardian

(via http://twitter.com/skink74/status/8408484249)

Jan. 27, 2010 at 2:19pm
reblogged from lrusso
Kindle 2 vs Nook

lrusso:

Remember this post?  Where I outed myself as a lover of books?  A person who loves the weight and the smell and the turning of pages?  Welp, now I’m considering breaking down and turning in my chips for an e-reader.  Does anyone own a Kindle or a Nook and have any words of wisdom?  Is one better than the other?  I’m leaning towards the Kindle.  Kind of wish I knew when the Kindle 3 was being released, though. I always seem to be the person who waits and waits to buy a fun new gadget only to have them release a new one as soon as I swipe my credit card.

You don’t need to “turn in your chips” once you buy an e-reader.  You can still read books too.

I do both and although I have those absent-minded moments where I reach to turn the page on my Kindle or go to highlight a word in a book to see its definition it works out fine. :-)

Oh, and the answer to “buyer’s remorse” is to not “wait and wait”.  As soon as you decide you want it and you’re happy you can spare the money, go and buy it. :-)