Hmm, I think my user ID is probably in the URL, but oh well.
Microsoft Criticized for Gay Rights Stance
Asia benchmarks mixed Thursday
Stocks get relief as oil prices retreat
Don't delay on passport renewals
nother brick in the wall of worry
Nonsmoker, yes; vegetable eater, no.
Fidelity loses No. 2 spot in fund ranks
2005-04-26
CNN News, 2005.04.27
Japan rail deaths 'may be crime' - CNN seems to be omitting some details from their report that were broadcast on Japanese news, such as that the train could only go up to 120 km/hr whereas calculations show it would've taken 130 km/hr to jump the rails, and that initially the statement was made that the driver overran the station by 7 meters when in fact it was more like 40. That there were rock fragments on and around the rails is most suspicious. Since trains come and go along those tracks, it's not like a rock could've been sitting there for a long time—it would've had to have been positioned there within the space of two trains, perhaps less than 30 min.
Publisher banned from Apple stores (CNN Money) - Books published by John Wiley & Sons are banned from Apple Stores due to publication of an unauthorized biography on Steve Jobs.
Bono bunks at Bill Gates's house - I hope Bill kept his hands to himself. Or vice versa?
Girls are abusing steroids, too - Get skinny at the expense of a deep voice and small boobs ....
Huffington invites celeb friends to join blog
Are lenders getting too lenient? (CNN Money) - Are lax lending rules following the Dot-Com Bust building up a real estate bust?
First National Bank of Mom & Dad (CNN Money) - Soaring real estate prices mean sometimes kids need help from their parents.
What makes a hot zip code hot? (CNN Money)
Publisher banned from Apple stores (CNN Money) - Books published by John Wiley & Sons are banned from Apple Stores due to publication of an unauthorized biography on Steve Jobs.
Bono bunks at Bill Gates's house - I hope Bill kept his hands to himself. Or vice versa?
Girls are abusing steroids, too - Get skinny at the expense of a deep voice and small boobs ....
Huffington invites celeb friends to join blog
Are lenders getting too lenient? (CNN Money) - Are lax lending rules following the Dot-Com Bust building up a real estate bust?
First National Bank of Mom & Dad (CNN Money) - Soaring real estate prices mean sometimes kids need help from their parents.
What makes a hot zip code hot? (CNN Money)
2005-04-25
Japanese News, 2004.04.25
Machimura blasts China's textbooks as 'extreme' - Every country paints themselves in the best light. In that regard, China is extremely hypocritical. If they want to "fix" Japanese textbooks, then let Japan fix theirs.
Man burned to death at GSDF exercise area - I remember they were burning stuff in late March when I went snowboarding up near Mt. Fuji.
Softbank to return Fuji shares - Ahh, hostile takeover attempts.
Kobe plans 'new vision' for city
Man burned to death at GSDF exercise area - I remember they were burning stuff in late March when I went snowboarding up near Mt. Fuji.
Softbank to return Fuji shares - Ahh, hostile takeover attempts.
Kobe plans 'new vision' for city
2005-04-20
Random news from the past couple days
"Tech's China Syndrome" (tariff the junk subsidized by the Chinese government!!) ; Random tidbits: Why flying cars won't work (no graceful landing), Viagra ruled kosher for Passover (sex sells), and Britney Spears is pregnant (there goes the rest of her career) ; Music moguls trumped by Steve Jobs (they wanna raise prices, eXcUsE me?!); Game Stop buys Electronics Boutique (what the hell?!)
Rift in the Linux Community?
Apparently, Linus Torvalds is making some not so nice comments about a developer who reverse engineered the protocol for the source code management system being used for the Linux kernel, allegedly causing the license to get revoked. Sounds petty and childish to me. There's a follow-up article, as well.
2005-04-18
MathWorld rules!
MathWorld is a way useful math reference site. I've never used Mathematica, but Wolfram Research's pretty cool for providing that site.
2005-04-17
News, 2005.04.18
Gore's TV channel (Canada's Current TV sounds cooler);
Latest on Apple's rumor lawsuits (justified, if stolen trade secrets were published) and a statement by the EFF;
Rupert Murdoch says news media must adapt to Web (too little, too late); Reefer Madness (still mindless); and
Dems bashing Gov. Schwartzenegger (can't please anybody these days).
Latest on Apple's rumor lawsuits (justified, if stolen trade secrets were published) and a statement by the EFF;
Rupert Murdoch says news media must adapt to Web (too little, too late); Reefer Madness (still mindless); and
Dems bashing Gov. Schwartzenegger (can't please anybody these days).
Dolores Erickson
There's an article on CNN.com about the re-release of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass's Whipped Cream & Other Delights that also has some interesting history. Well, I always liked that album cover. Unfortunately there's a tidbit of info in the article that sort of ruins it....
2005-04-16
Tesla Site
While flipping through a Mac magazine at the Fuji Super, I happened to see a picture of Tesla that caught my eye. There was a link to the following site on Tesla: http://www.teslascience.org/. Interesting. Perhaps I'll make a donation after a bit more looking into how the donations are used.
2005-04-14
Katie's Photoalbum
The other day, Katie sent me a link to her online photoalbum from a trip to Nikko, in Tochigi prefecture. There's one other album, but one has to create an account to view them.
2005-04-13
Tiger release date set for 4/29
Woo! As long as Apple bundles this with new hardware, Mac mini here I come!
In other news: 10 reasons tech sux ; olive oil + wine = immortality? ; RIAA/MPAA sues students using P2P on I2 ; when silicon runs out of gas
In other news: 10 reasons tech sux ; olive oil + wine = immortality? ; RIAA/MPAA sues students using P2P on I2 ; when silicon runs out of gas
The things people do with their PSP
Noel told me about this site GameTab that's got some links to stuff on the PSP. There're links to this chick licking her PSP, and to some girl jamming hers between her boobs. Great.
2005-04-10
Soldam PC Case/Desk (Prism III)
How about one of these PC cases that double as a desk?!
For $1k, I think I'd rather try my hand at building my own....
For $1k, I think I'd rather try my hand at building my own....
Albert Einstein was highly overrated
Albert Einstein was highly overrated. Continuing some reading from earlier on Philo Farnsworth (an article in Time magazine dated 1999.03.29), I read a blurb on Einstein, who they named "Person of the Century". Runners up were Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose socialist programs bloated the government with little socio-economic benefit, and Ghandi, an eminent person, to be sure, but I find it hard to appreciate non-technological achievements. If there's one person who shaped the 20th century, it was Tesla. Without Tesla's work perfecting the alternating current dynamo and proliferating AC at his personal expense, none of the achievements of the last century would've been possible. It's even more cruelly ironic is that a foul person like Edison, who achieved much less than Tesla and who did all he could to prevent AC from being adopted, is remembered whereas Tesla is not (by most people).
Anyway, Einstein wasn't all peachy. He left his first wife, Mileva Maric, who bore him three kids, for another woman. Even better was that their first child was out of wedlock—Einstein had a bastard kid. (Did they have rubbers back then?!) Strangely enough, Maric was an acquaintence of Tesla's, and it's widely debated how much she contributed to Einstein's work. Einstein wasn't terribly distinguished in academia, so it wouldn't be surprising if she were much more than a sounding board. This documentary by PBS allegates that not only did Einstein have an affair with his first cousin, who he later married, but had other extra-marital affairs. Further, after Einstein left Maric, his science never was on par with what it once was. Coincidence?
I never really liked Einstein anyway, for reasons I could never put my finger on. One reason is people often associate Einstein with the development of the atomic bomb whereas Einstein had nothing to do with it. The relevation of Einstein's personal weaknesses gives me reason to dislike his character, and the mystery surrounding his first wife gives doubts about the origin of his work. Incidentally, I've read that Tesla didn't really care for Einstein; possibly it's because of the way Einstein treated his friend. History is twisted.
Anyway, Einstein wasn't all peachy. He left his first wife, Mileva Maric, who bore him three kids, for another woman. Even better was that their first child was out of wedlock—Einstein had a bastard kid. (Did they have rubbers back then?!) Strangely enough, Maric was an acquaintence of Tesla's, and it's widely debated how much she contributed to Einstein's work. Einstein wasn't terribly distinguished in academia, so it wouldn't be surprising if she were much more than a sounding board. This documentary by PBS allegates that not only did Einstein have an affair with his first cousin, who he later married, but had other extra-marital affairs. Further, after Einstein left Maric, his science never was on par with what it once was. Coincidence?
I never really liked Einstein anyway, for reasons I could never put my finger on. One reason is people often associate Einstein with the development of the atomic bomb whereas Einstein had nothing to do with it. The relevation of Einstein's personal weaknesses gives me reason to dislike his character, and the mystery surrounding his first wife gives doubts about the origin of his work. Incidentally, I've read that Tesla didn't really care for Einstein; possibly it's because of the way Einstein treated his friend. History is twisted.
Comment on Yoshi's Blog
I posted some commentary on Yoshi's blog, but not all of it would fit. Here's the full bit:
Dude, your English skills never fail to amaze me. If my Japanese were as good as your English is, I'd be in good shape. How'd you get so damn fluent? Back at OSU, at one point I wondered if you really spoke Japanese!
About Turing, he was a pretty amazing guy. His contributions to the War effort were of course enormous on the Western front. One has to wonder how much else he would've been able to accomplish if he hadn't been persecuted for his homosexuality. Perhaps if he had emigrated to the U.S. he would've been treated less discriminatorily. Wikipedia has an entry on Turing with various tidbits of information. I didn't know he was a marathon-runner, for instance.
John von Neumann, another critical figure in the development of computers, apparently knew of Turing. Von Neumann was involved with the Manhattan Project, not cryptography, but also had a hand in developing the fledgling field of computer science. Then of course there's Norbert Wiener, who advanced the development of control theory, and invented the field of cybernetics. Wiener's interest in the field developed from research in WWII—it's amazing how much technology was developed as a result of that war. I've read that Wiener was very matter-of-fact about the necessity of war; that, plus a great quote attributed to him, made me a fan of the guy, even though he died half a century ago.
Still, it's amazing how many critical people in history are never given credit for their work, or never are ascribed the importance that they really had. Two people who greatly shaped the 20th century, Nikola Tesla (the reason we have AC electricity today, as well as radio, the Tesla coil, and a slew of other inventions) and to a lesser extent Philo Farnsworth (inventor of the television, who later came to despise the way it was being used), were never given appropriate credit for their inventions.
Dude, your English skills never fail to amaze me. If my Japanese were as good as your English is, I'd be in good shape. How'd you get so damn fluent? Back at OSU, at one point I wondered if you really spoke Japanese!
About Turing, he was a pretty amazing guy. His contributions to the War effort were of course enormous on the Western front. One has to wonder how much else he would've been able to accomplish if he hadn't been persecuted for his homosexuality. Perhaps if he had emigrated to the U.S. he would've been treated less discriminatorily. Wikipedia has an entry on Turing with various tidbits of information. I didn't know he was a marathon-runner, for instance.
John von Neumann, another critical figure in the development of computers, apparently knew of Turing. Von Neumann was involved with the Manhattan Project, not cryptography, but also had a hand in developing the fledgling field of computer science. Then of course there's Norbert Wiener, who advanced the development of control theory, and invented the field of cybernetics. Wiener's interest in the field developed from research in WWII—it's amazing how much technology was developed as a result of that war. I've read that Wiener was very matter-of-fact about the necessity of war; that, plus a great quote attributed to him, made me a fan of the guy, even though he died half a century ago.
Still, it's amazing how many critical people in history are never given credit for their work, or never are ascribed the importance that they really had. Two people who greatly shaped the 20th century, Nikola Tesla (the reason we have AC electricity today, as well as radio, the Tesla coil, and a slew of other inventions) and to a lesser extent Philo Farnsworth (inventor of the television, who later came to despise the way it was being used), were never given appropriate credit for their inventions.
2005-04-07
News, 2005.04.07
Predominantly Wired News.
So I'm not the only one having Blogger troubles.
Apparently fixed-gear bikes, "fixies", are all the rage. This site has pictures.
News about PSP hacks. Apparently some guy wrote an IRC client using the Wipeout Pure browser hack as a gateway. I'm gonna have to get that game.
So I'm not the only one having Blogger troubles.
Apparently fixed-gear bikes, "fixies", are all the rage. This site has pictures.
News about PSP hacks. Apparently some guy wrote an IRC client using the Wipeout Pure browser hack as a gateway. I'm gonna have to get that game.
2005-04-06
Late April Fools
Ok, so I haven't been diligently updating my link blog like I should be, either. Work is a time sink.
The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time, from Museum of Hoaxes.
April Fool's coverage on c|net.
Google Gulp with Auto-Drink.
The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time, from Museum of Hoaxes.
April Fool's coverage on c|net.
Google Gulp with Auto-Drink.
2005-04-01
Random Links of the Moment
Wikipedia: Philosophy
The Inquirer Console News
"Absurd Genius": A demonstration of the PSP web browser hack in Wipeout.
The International Herald Tribune: The end of Japan, Inc. A presumptuous title, to say the least.
Create a Google Account.
BlogStreet.com: A blog index. Here's their top 100.
The Inquirer Console News
"Absurd Genius": A demonstration of the PSP web browser hack in Wipeout.
The International Herald Tribune: The end of Japan, Inc. A presumptuous title, to say the least.
Create a Google Account.
BlogStreet.com: A blog index. Here's their top 100.
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