As it were... Full http://derosia.com/phlog/ The ruminations of topher1kenobe en-us topher@derosia.com Subscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with Pageflakes Google's most dangerous tool http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/PSS4XhAVFJE/post.php The other day Google added a new tool to Reader, and it is by far the most dangerous thing they've added to their tool bag. This feature is called Explore -> Popular items.

Why is it dangerous? Because it's wildly addicting, and will suck away all the time in your life. For example, just now I checked out a post about a guy that's drawing the New York skyline from memory, a girl that found that all but one of the US presidents share a single ancestor who signed the Magna Carta, some guy that accidently ejected himself from an airplane, a really funny joke, and a man named Gay who shoots anvils into the air.

And those are just the ones that came to the top in the last 10 minutes. The hard part is that they're usually popular for a reason. They're funny or clever or neato or something. And I'm a sucker for Stuff On The Internet. So run away!

]]> General Post Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:47:36 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1152 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1152 Reconstruction http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/Kf1oE-VZJec/post.php I've talked about Rob Costlow before on this blog. He has a cool new project called The Reconstruction Music Project.

The purpose is to enable musicians to give free music to people who can't afford to buy any. Much of it at this point is Rob's music, but there are several other artists as well, including some sweet electronic remixes of Rob's piano.

All the music on the site is free, I highly recommend it. The site is one giant Flash widget, so Google hates it which means he needs link love from the masses. Link on!

]]> General Post Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:11:15 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1151 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1151 Saint Grandma http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/Xb3XUmsz2YU/post.php Tonight Sophi asked me what a "saint" is. I told her it depends on who you ask. I went a little into how the Catholic Church decides who is a saint, and then I said that some people simply say that any very good person is a Saint. Then she said

"Then by that definition, I think I know someone who is a saint."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Grandma."

"Which one?" I asked again.

"The one who's not dead."

She was quiet for a few minutes, and then she said

"I know something sad about Grandmas and Grandpas."

"What's that?" I inquired monotonously.

"They don't last forever. They're lots of fun, and then one day *poof* they're dead, and you can't go to their house anymore."

So, Saint Grandma Cudney FTW!

]]> Family Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:23:35 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1150 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1150 The Difference http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/jUF29ulR-4s/post.php I got my Magnatune newsletter the other day and was struck by two items in the list of New. Here they are:

IPHONE APP:

Apple rejected our iPhone app as competing with iTunes. We've made some modifications to hopefully appease them and resubmitted it to them. Hopefully they'll approve it this time.

ANDROID APP:

There is a really fantastic Android App (aka "Google Phone") for Magnatune now available.

Apple rejected an app because it was competitive. Who could have seen that coming? Apple has always wanted to be Microsoft in every way, they're excelling in the Evil Empire realm.

]]> General Post Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:10:47 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1148 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1148 Such a helper http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/5XXrXf2krng/post.php The other day we were at the farm market, and we got a half gallon of cider. Sophi wanted to carry it, so we let her. After just a few minutes she got pretty tired of it, and asked me to carry it. Later, as we were leaving, I was carrying the cider and a couple bags. Sophi was huddled inside her coat shivering. As we were walking toward the car she said

"Dad, do you want me to carry the cider?"

"Do you WANT to carry it?" I asked.

"No, I just wanted you to know I would if you needed me to."

]]> Family Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:49:24 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1147 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1147 Camera Tossing http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/Ro5RydEC8Os/post.php

My friend Steve sent me an email yesterday with some sweet pictures in it. They were taken using a process called "camera tossing", which oddly only sometimes includes actually tossing the camera. Basically you move the camera while the lens is open. You'd think that would simply generate blurry images, but apparently if you do it right it's amazing.

The email he sent me referred to a Flickr Group from whence the picture on the right came. It's very easy to get sucked into just flipping through picture after picture, I highly recommend it.

]]> General Post Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:49:18 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1146 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1146 The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/_3UhTxNUfbU/post.php The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

I've always had respect for the Pulp genre of literature, stemming from reading the history of both Asimov and L'Amour, both with rich history in the pulp world. So when my wife saw The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps: The Best Crime Stories from the Pulps During Their Golden Age -- The '20s, '30s and '40s she pointed it out and I grabbed it.

The copy I got is soft cover, and the pages are quite fittingly pulp paper. The stories are written in 2 columns per page, similar to a magazine or newspaper. There are about 1200 pages, and it's divided into three sections, The Crimefighters, The Villians, and The Dames. Each section has a forward, describing the mindset for each type of story. Additionally, many of the stories have small prefaces, pointing out interesting bits about the author, character, or type of story.

On the whole I'm enjoying the book. The editor tried really hard to present a sample of what was printed at the time, rather than compile a "best of". This means there are some fairly poor stories, and this is pointed out. Interestingly, some of the poor ones are by authors who later became very good, and often famous.

If you like the genre, this book is required reading. If you have respect for the genre, get it and read some, it's good for you. If you don't like short crime stories at all, this book will easily prop open any door you lean it on.

]]> Book Review Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:06:45 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1145 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1145 Greek http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/derosia/full_version/~3/wZKs-U5CZ6g/post.php My girls have been playing Sid Meier's Pirates with my wife lately. They named their character Drake at Ema's suggestion. When she told me I said "Like Sir Francis?" She looked at me kind of puzzled and I said "Sir Francis Drake started the first attempt to sail around the world".

She said "Oh. No, I was thinking of the Greek word for Dragon."

I'm not sure how to feel about her historical education at that point.

]]> Family Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:55:51 -0500 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1144 http://derosia.com/phlog/post.php?post_id=1144