Now this is weird. Really weird. Straight from weirdtruck.com!
Remember the Push-Me-Pull-You (or is it Pushmi-Pullyu?) from Dr. Doolittle?
WeirdTruck.com
June 11th, 2007It’s A Mac, not a MAC!
June 10th, 2007One of my pet peeves is when people refer to Macintosh computers, or Mac OS computers, or anything else Apple- or Macintosh-related as “MAC”. It happens way, way too often, most often with people who ought to know better.A good example is found on Sioux Falls’ own KELO.com website, where they make use of an inline video player that uses .wmv video files. Out-of-the-box, the Mac OS doesn’t play .wmv files; since .wmv is a Microsoft format, that’s really no surprise. To acknowledge that, most KELO pages you pull up on a Mac OS computer show a disclaimer like this;
The in-line video player is currently disabled for MAC users.
Why do they capitalize MAC? Typically, in computer jargon, MAC is the acronym for Media Access Control, the quasi-unique identifier for network interface cards. A Mac has a MAC address, but most PC’s also have a MAC address. Then again, a Mac is also a PC (Personal Computer), but that’s another discussion for another time.They do have a reference there to Flip4Mac, so I must give them credit for that, but I just think it’s screwy for people to use all caps when referring to a Mac. Especially for the people who maintain the KELO website. A geek ought to know better!
Erik Mongrain
June 9th, 2007Emily just told me about this guy tonight, and he’s pretty amazing. Erik uses a very unconventional method to play guitar, and ends up with a very unique sound… Kind of a mix between a guitar, a hammered dulcimer, and a drum. Yet much more than that. Watch the videos linked below & see what you think.
Or you can check him out on YouTube.
Remember D-Day
June 6th, 2007
Today, June 6, is the 63rd anniversary of D-Day; the Battle of Normandy Beach. I’m not a military history buff by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know what June 6 means, and can’t think of the sacrifice made by so many men without getting choked up. Almost 1.5 million Allied forces involved in the invasion, against 380,000 Nazi soldiers at Normandy. Over 57,000 Allied soldiers killed, another 180,000 injured or missing. All in one single military operation. Makes the four years in Iraq look like a drop in the bucket.
I won’t try to summarize what happened that day, but if you’re interested in learning something about it, here are a couple of good sources: Go to Normandy1944.info and click on Veteran Stories; some fascinating tales there. Also, PBS has a nice American Experience section on D-Day. There’s a tourist-oriented site operated by the French; NormandieMemoire.com, and don’t forget the ever informative Wikipedia.
Here is something interesting; the audio of the prayer broadcast by Franklin D. Roosevelt on that fateful day. Incredible words (a transcript of FDR’s speech can be found here.)
Happy 30th Birthday To The Apple II!
June 5th, 2007
It was June 5, 1977 that Apple released the Apple II for retail sale.
The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 5, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of upper-case-only text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a monitor, or on a TV set by way of an RF modulator. The original retail price of the computer was US$1298 (with 4 KB of RAM) and US$2638 (with the maximum 48 KB of RAM). To reflect the computer’s color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes,[1] which remained a part of Apple’s corporate logo until early 1998.
Wow; 4 KB of RAM standard. Another $1,340 to max it out to 48 KB!
Just for a fun comparison, that same $2,638 could buy you a brand spankin’ new 24″ iMac with 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB SDRAM, a 250GB hard drive, Bluetooth and AirPort wireless built-in, a SuperDrive 8X, iWork, a wireless keyboard & Mighty Mouse, and all of the bundled software that comes with the iMac. After all of that, you’d still have an extra $75 to take your sweetie out for dinner.
We’ve come a long way, baby!
The Cows-Line?
June 4th, 2007
Here’s a slightly funny photo; newborn calves hanging on a fence! Get it? Cows-Line — Clothes-Line! (ok, bad joke.) And in case you’re wondering, the calves are not dead; they are just fine.
Cluster Ballooning
June 3rd, 2007
When I first saw a post about this over at Neatorama, my first thought was a scene in the ancient movie “The Red Balloon”, where the kid floats away at the end hanging from a bunch of balloons. I may have only seen it once in primary school, but because the images from the movie are so persistent in my mind, it must’ve been shown multiple times.
John Ninomiya, who runs the www.clusterballoon.org website, says that same scene was what inspired a lifetime of ballooning for him, and his pioneering work in the field of cluster ballooning. According to Ninomiya, he’s one of six people in the world doing this, and the only guy in North America. And it looks like he’ll be flying at the Great Plains Balloon Race, right here in Sioux Falls, SD, next weekend! (June 8-10) That would be worth getting up at Oh-dark-thirty in the morning to go watch!
From a quick perusal of his site, it looks like the technology of the sport hasn’t advanced much since Larry Walters’ dramatic attempt in 1982. (was it that long ago? Man, I feel old!) Ninomiya uses standard — but very large — vinyl balloons for this, along with a harness designed for paragliders & other off-the-rack gear. Guess a pioneer has to make do with what’s available and custom fabricate the rest. It does look like Ninomiya takes a bit more of a scientific approach to it than Walters did; he carries ballast up with him to help control ascent & descent, and has a better method of loosing balloons (and reducing lift) than Walters and his pellet gun.
What Kind Of Meat Is That Anyway?
June 2nd, 2007I’d seen ads on TV about the 99 cent Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches at Wendy’s, and today I decided to try one on for size. And… Hmmm… What to say about this?
My first bite into it revealed that it’s certainly not a breast filet; all processed meat inside. But the thing that got me was the color of the meat. Not white, as you’d expect with breast meat. Not brownish, as you’d expect with thigh meat. But pink. Yup. Pink.
The photo might not do it justice; best I could do on short notice. But it was noticeably pink. I suppose they could say that it was the buffalo sauce that colored it that way, but it looked a bit funny to me. It tasted alright — nicely spicy! — which isn’t too surprising, but that color just kinda sticks in my mind. And not in a good way.
I checked the Wendy’s website, and there is full nutritional(?) information for the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich there: 15 flippin’ grams of fat in each sandwich! Yikes! That and the following…
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (modified corn starch, sodium diacetate, salt, sodium phosphates, citric acid, soybean oil, and natural flavor), Flavor [flavoring, salt, gum acacia, vinegar solids, paprika, citric acid, contains less than 2% (cayenne pepper seeds and skins, sodium diacetate, modified corn starch, corn syrup solids, autolyzed yeast extract, tocopherol)]. BREADED WITH: Wheat Flour, Bleached Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), Corn Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavor, Yeast, Extractives of Paprika, Soybean Oil and Onion Powder. Breading set in vegetable oil. CONTAINS: WHEAT.
So, between the fat content and that color thing, I doubt I’ll be having another any time soon.
Beginner’s Guide To Quicksilver
May 27th, 2007
Quicksilver is one of those OS X apps that I could do without, but would rather not. It speeds up many of the things that need to be done on my Macs and makes it so very much easier to get around in the OS. But, as is the case with many great applications, there is so much to Quicksilver that it’s hard to explain, and harder to get the most out of it.
The guys over at Lifehacker have put together a beginner’s guide to using Quicksilver. Even though I’ve been using Quicksilver for a long time, just browsing through the guide tells me that I’ve got a thing or two to learn as well.
The Famous Maurice Fire Escape Slide
May 17th, 2007We spent Mother’s Day in the thriving metropolis that is Maurice, IA. And a day in Maurice (pronounced “mawr-is”, as in “morris”) isn’t worth much if you don’t visit the park and take a ride down The Famous Maurice Fire Escape Slide.
The Famous Fire Escape Slide can’t be terribly famous; a Google search comes up pretty much empty. I found one post in a Blogspot archive by a guy named Steve-O, writing about stuff to do around Sioux Center, IA (must be a Dordt alumnus.) Steve-O’s post somewhat confirms what little I know about the slide; that it used to be the fire escape for the second floor of the school. I don’t recall ever seeing a school building in Maurice, so it must’ve been bulldozed after the Maurice & Orange City school districts merged.
Anyway, the slide looks like a steel-clad silo, but you climb the stairs to the top, jump into the hole, and it dumps your butt on the ground below after twisting you around a couple of times on the way down.
The rest of park there is just as great; not only does it feature The Famous Maurice Fire Escape Slide, but also a swingset that has the crossbar about 15 feet off the ground, and real honest-to-goodness teetertotters! And not the emasculated ones, but the ones that will truly emasculate you if improperly used. Built from 2×12 lumber, angle iron for bracing across the middle, welded steel tube handles at each end, and a four-foot high center, these puppies could cause serious injury. Removes any doubt why they are so hard to find in our litigious modern age. The only question left is why they remain in Maurice!
Enjoy!