Ars Lounge Feedjack

Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach): Huh! What do you know? It -was- Unix

2009-07-09T22:56:00Z

Well damn! You know that scene in Jurassic Park that makes all the IT geeks cringe? The one where the young girl gets behind a computer, exclaims that "This is Unix! I know this and proceeds to save the day? Yeah? Turns out that it actually -was- Unix!

FSN (for File System Navigator) to be precise, which was a 3D user interface made by Silicon Graphics for their IRIX operating system. Well I'll be damned!

Rest assured though: the stuff shown in Hackers is still fake ^_^;

Clint Ecker (clintology): “Red squirrel with pronounced winter ear tufts in the...

2009-07-09T17:03:50Z

“Red squirrel with pronounced winter ear tufts in the Dusseldorf Hofgarten”, Ray Eye, Wikimedia Commons (via this Google post about a new Creative Commons image search feature in GIS)

Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken): 100 Pushup Challenge Update

2009-07-09T16:13:52Z

Yesterday I finished the fifth session in my 100 Pushup Challenge workout. I started out in Week Three of six weeks according to my initial failure test results. I did forty during the placement test, which put me “column three,” the most intense of the three possible weekly workouts. The first two sessions were cake, but [...]

The Jux Entente: Now that it’s raining more than ever

2009-07-09T14:55:53Z

I spend my days in a weird sort of apathetic, mute rage. I’m intensely unhappy with some minor parts of my life that have reached the point that they annoy me greatly. On the other hand, it’s broke on through to the other side to where I have no desire to deal with them at all, because what’s the point really?

So there you go. Apathetic rage. I’d punch a hole in the wall if I could be bothered to do so. That sort of thing.

Super Dave's Mundanities (DaveChen): Shared Items - July 9, 2009

2009-07-09T09:03:49Z

Introducing the Google Chrome OS

July 8, 2009

Slate Writer Concocts Convenient Reason For “Pro-Life” Male Masturbation [Monkey/bars]

July 8, 2009

Big Man on Campus

July 7, 2009

RT @intelevents: Want a free exhibition ticket to SIGGRAPH in New Orleans courtesy of Intel? Find out hw at our Fb pg, http://bit.ly/eoUa5

July 6, 2009

Too Easy

July 5, 2009

She's Done

July 4, 2009

College Stars See Themselves in Video Games, and Pause to Sue - NYTimes.com

July 4, 2009 - The NCAA’s stance on not compensating the athletes is hypocritical and absurd. They make so much money off the kids.

Mark Sanford Family Circus

July 2, 2009

Gmail With Drag & Drop

July 2, 2009

Apple may be dumping NVIDIA graphics for next-gen Macs (Updated)

July 2, 2009

niload (kennedye): onBeing returns to washingtonpost.com

2009-07-09T02:19:34Z

I meant to mention this earlier, but things have been somewhat hectic of late. Anyway, one of my favorite features of our site is back now, Jennifer Crandall’s onBeing video series. It’s a ridiculously simple concept: find people, put them in front of a camera, and get them to say something. Each story is different, and so far they’ve all been interesting in one way or another. In a recent interview with the Nieman Journalism Lab, Jenn talked about how to get people excited about innovations in media. Hopefully you’ll see more projects like this from WPD in the future.

Tags: community, onBeing, washingtonpost

Durf.org (Durf): Prewar maps of Asia

2009-07-08T23:45:20Z

The ???????????? (digital archive of gaih?zu, “maps of foreign lands”) on the T?hoku University library website looks like a great resource for students of wartime history, cartography buffs, or people interested in Asian geography in general.

Some of the maps are Japanese productions, but others were taken (stolen?) from other sources. The maps of Guam, for instance, appear to have come from the US Corps of Engineers and Navy Department, and have Japanese text overlaid on them; many of the maps of Indonesia are Dutch in origin. Fun to browse through, even if you don’t have a pressing research need. (I titled this post “Asia,” but the maps extend to charts of Europe, parts of Africa, and the Pacific rim, too. Lots to choose from.)

(Via The Map Room; link seen on the NBR Japan Forum.)

Devin's Life (Lurker): Twitter Updates for 2009-07-08

2009-07-08T18:58:00Z

My 9 month old daughter just tried to feed me her rice cake. #

Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken):

2009-07-08T16:13:02Z

I use a toll road to get to work every morning. I have a EZ-Pass transponder mounted on the windscreen of every motorcycle I own. This way I don’t have to carry change or stop to pay the toll. This morning, there were two things out of the ordinary. First, the toll booth arm was down. This [...]

Clint Ecker (clintology): Paul Smith’s birthday present from Jonathan Ive: a...

2009-07-08T15:12:36Z

Paul Smith’s birthday present from Jonathan Ive: a giant-scale iPod nano ;)

(via taylorcarrigan)

Clint Ecker (clintology): Tools of the Modern Python Hacker: Virtualenv, Fabric and Pip

2009-07-08T15:07:18Z

Tools of the Modern Python Hacker: Virtualenv, Fabric and Pip:

On top of this list, I’d add zc.buildout.

For the modern Python programmer, some of the most important tools to aid in reduced complexity and repetition are virtualenv, Fabric, and pip. Although these tools have no strict relationship (in the sense that many people may use one or two of these tools often, yet aren’t even aware of the others), they form a powerful suite when combined. An excellent example is the following:

Durf.org (Durf): Mangled Mifune on the Menu

2009-07-08T08:04:17Z

A very quick heads-up to a translator who wants to make an interesting (and potentially delicious) cold call: ??????? (Ry?ri-ya Mifune) is a restaurant that takes the great actor Mifune Toshir? as its theme. Part of me hopes this means Belushi-style swordplay à la “Samurai Delicatessen,” but the place looks like it’s shooting for something a bit more classy.

Expressing a view of Mifune Toshiro’s world in to the plate, and the food he loved the most, to your satisfactory.

Unfortunately, the class doesn’t extend to the English portion of its website. Hence the translation sales angle. Go for a meal, thank the owner for the culinary experience, and mention that you’d like to help brush up the multilingual site so it matches the stature of the man whose name is being borrowed.

(Via @Nictos.)

Clint Ecker (clintology): Why! Hello there Joan (Christina Hendricks)! Is Mad Men back on...

2009-07-08T00:52:46Z

Why! Hello there Joan (Christina Hendricks)! Is Mad Men back on the air yet?

heroines:

InternetPopular.com

eccentric squares (Kuya): adventures in poor clothing design

2009-07-08T00:00:55Z

i have a fat head. not figuratively speaking, but literally speaking. as in, the ratio of the circumference of my head to my height is larger than that of the majority of the populace. granted, it's not as big so as to cause birds to fly into it, but still, it's pretty big.

so i usually end up buying L/XL hats. i picked up a L/XL hat at lids the other day and it's still way too tight on my head. i end up getting headaches because this thing ends up depriving my brain of oxygen.

i picked up a pair of riding jeans at del amo motorsports. they have abrasion resistant knees, but more importantly, they're not tight. i have serious difficulties finding jeans i can wear nowadays. i realize that tight pants are the style now, but i can't have people knowing what's on my mind at all times, can i?

the thing about these pants though is that instead of a zipper, they have this button fly. that's all well and good, but the bike i ride is naked, meaning there is no front windshield or fairing. what ends up happening while riding on cold nights is that arctic blasts of frigid air flow over my gas tank, directly into my crotchticular area. the space between the button flys is just large enough to permit freezing gusts of air to chill the frank and beans. and we know no one likes their franks and beans cold.

Clint Ecker (clintology): The Talkboy. Wow. deleteyourself: Hiiii kids, we’re homeeee...

2009-07-07T23:46:46Z

The Talkboy. Wow.

deleteyourself:

Hiiii kids, we’re homeeee earllyyyyyyyyy

The Jux Entente: Gibibutt.

2009-07-07T19:38:28Z

Gibibutt is now a part of the Buttric System.

Other members of the Buttric System include:
Crapload
Buttload
Buttload (Whole)
Asston (Imperial)
Asston (Metric)
Assload

One gibibutt is equivalent to about 1000000000 metric buttloads, or about 866733404 whole buttloads.

Devin's Life (Lurker): Twitter Updates for 2009-07-07

2009-07-07T18:58:00Z

Ooh! New papal encyclical! http://tinyurl.com/nhvska #
I'm morbidly amused by people who seem to think that what happened in Honduras was a coup. #

Devin's Life (Lurker): Twitter Updates for 2009-07-07

2009-07-07T18:58:00Z

Ooh! New papal encyclical! http://tinyurl.com/nhvska #
I'm morbidly amused by people who seem to think that what happened in Honduras was a coup. #

Clint Ecker (clintology): Random acts of violence

2009-07-07T17:53:27Z

Random acts of violence

Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken): Black Sheep game review

2009-07-07T16:13:04Z

I play a lot of games: board games, video games, card games, role-playing games, reindeer games, you name it. There are several factors that determine what game I play, including number of people, the amount of time we want to spend per game, and the relative skill level and interests of the players. Another very [...]

Clint Ecker (clintology): dataviz:

2009-07-07T12:38:18Z

dataviz:

Clint Ecker (clintology): United States' most dangerous neighborhood? Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, OH.

2009-07-07T01:46:24Z

United States' most dangerous neighborhood? Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, OH.:

No surprise to me!

Chicago has the dubious distinction of holding four places on a list of the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation.

Using crime data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NeighborhoodScout.com made a list of areas with the highest predicted rates of violent crime in the United States.

The nation’s worst neighborhood, according to the study, is in Cincinnati.

All Things Chill (Special*Dark): 48 Fun Filled Hours in the Bay

2009-07-07T01:11:08Z

Above: Two of my favorite girls in California

Man I love the bay. Liana and I flew back to San Francisco for a few days to hang out with her family and celebrate the 4th of July. We had OMGChineseGrandma Dinner™ (which was ridiculously tasty), chatted it up with Liana’s cousins that heading to their first year of college (LOL WEAR FLIP FLOPS IN THE SHOWAR), watched the fireworks from a golf course lawn and swam in a pool with perfect 80 degree weather. Like I said, I love the bay.

We managed to meet up with Alice and Toby (JEALOUS JACQUI?!) for a beautiful brunch at Foreign Cinema, where we caught up on everyone’s gossip and had eggs poached, baked, scrambled and fried with duck, berkshire pork, fried oysters and prosciutto. I’ve already put it on my list of places to go with friends in SF, but that’s another blog post. OH AND THIS IS ALICE & TOBY’S DOG BRADY:

There just isn’t ENOUGH FREAKING TIME to do everything that I want in SF. No worries tho. We’ll make our way back eventually.

Eventually.

THANKS SF! YOU’RE ALWAYS GOOD TO ME!

(Also, I want a doggie too!)

~Spec

Clint Ecker (clintology): I love this tattoo! I mean I really love it :). It’s no...

2009-07-07T00:00:22Z

I love this tattoo! I mean I really love it :). It’s no t-rex fighting a narwhal, but it’s pretty close.

fuckyeahtattoos:

Sea Sock, Octopus (via pricklypearbloom)

Devin's Life (Lurker): Twitter Updates for 2009-07-06

2009-07-06T18:58:00Z

#thankyouAaron Thank you for your sacrifice Aaron Fairbairn. May your memory be eternal! #
Can't find my cell phone. =/ #

Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus): Anyone taken Greyhound recently?

2009-07-06T16:54:45Z

As in the bus service?

In two weeks, I need to get from DC to Baltimore (yes, Otakon). Traveling with me is my son (18) and a family friend who is 15, plus our luggage. I don't drive, and wouldn't have a vehicle if I did. I have considered a lot of options, from using MARC (doesn't run on weekends) to Amtrak (ridiculously expensive for the service you get). The price is right, about $50 for the three of us, round trip.

ONE of the problems is the family friend, being 15, has no photo ID (unless her dad can find her passport, and it may be so expired, she's 8 in the photo). This seems to be an issue with Amtrak. Nothing is mentioned in Greyhound.

Now, I know that there's a stigma about the people who ride Greyhound, but I think I can stand the crazy people for an hour and 20 minutes. You don't have to tell me, the last time I took Greyhound was 21 years ago, but it was brutal.

The bus from Cumberland had a transfer at Harper's Ferry, but the new bus driver didn't show up, and it took dispatch 3 hours to find a new driver. This driver had never driven a bus on her own before, and was a trainee similar to the short mousy girl from the "Police Academy Movies." She got so lost, we went around Maryland for hours until she got lost near Baltimore (a far cry from Washington DC, my intended destination), and went to that station, a nervous, crying mess. As we tried to get Greyhound to get us to DC, several of the passengers got robbed by people pretending to be luggage handlers. Greyhound then said that they were closing for the night, and to get out of the station and they would open in 8 hours. Luckily, one of the passengers was a kind old lady who lived near me, and said her son would pick her up, so I could tag along. While the son didn't seem happy about this AT ALL when he got there, he gave me a ride to my house.

But that was 21 years ago. Maybe it's better. Maybe they have GPS. Maybe I am in denial? Smile

Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken): Spring Hypothesis

2009-07-06T16:13:14Z

Anticipating traffic behavior is vital if you ride a motorcycle on the street. It’s important to keep track on that one car that may make a left-hand turn in front of you, but the typical driving snafus that happen every day are just as dangerous. Anticipating how cars interact with each other is more important [...]

Clint Ecker (clintology): http://acontinuouslean.com/2009/07/06/acl-endorses-discovery/

2009-07-06T14:50:35Z

http://acontinuouslean.com/2009/07/06/acl-endorses-discovery/:

LP by Discovery (the side project of Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot) is to summer what Bon Iver’s Blood Bank was to winter, on repeat.

Clint Ecker (clintology): Tips on using python's datetime module

2009-07-06T13:32:21Z

Tips on using python's datetime module

Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach): This book is too good: A wild sheep chase

2009-07-06T13:23:00Z

My sister and her boyfriend got me A wild sheep chase, by Haruki Murakami. It's entirely too good for my own good as it makes me want to play hooky from work, to read the book cover-to-cover in some darkened coffee bar.

EDIT:
So I never played hooky, but I -am- almost through the book. In the mean time, here's a few choice quotes.

I skipped the thirty-one years between 1938 and 1965 and jumped to the section entitled "Junitaki Today". Of course, the book's "today" being 1970, it was hardly today's "today". Still, writing the history of one town obviously imposed the necessity of bringing it up to a "today". And even if such a today soon ceases to be today, no one can deny that it is in fact a today. For if a today ceased to be today, history could not exist as history.

Unconsciously, I brought a cigarette to my lips, but before lighting up I remembered the gasoline fumes and returned it to the pack. So I sucked on a lemon drop instead. The result: the uncommon taste of lemon gasoline."

"C'mere, Kipper", said the chauffeur, picking up the cat. The cat got frightened, bit the chauffeur's thumb, then farted. (A sort of "you had to be there" moment)