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Stuff + nonsense. Updated daily. So far. Pretty much. Overwrought by Scott Knaster.
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Saturday, February 15, 2003
Another great reason not to watch TV
"Michael Jackson is the ultimate traffic accident," says the president of NBC Entertainment. And that's why there will be at least 20 hours of Michael-related programming on TV this month.
Flash Mind Reader explained
Yesterday I linked to the brilliant Flash Mind Reader. If you haven't checked it out yet, go spend a few minutes there -- you'll be glad you did. Go ahead, I'll wait. Back? Did you like it? Did you LOVE it? If you want to know how it works, and you haven't figured it out, here's the scoop: of course, it can't really read your mind. While you're looking at the instructions, it downloads an ActiveX control that uses the video blanking interval in monitor pixels to crudely track your eye movements. This control then detects the number you look at and "reads your mind". OK, I made that up. Seriously, it works the same way as most number tricks do: math + sleight of hand + misdirection + design. First, the math part. The instructions say to choose any two digit number, add the digits together, then subtract the total from your original number. When you do that, the result will be a multiple of 9, NO MATTER WHICH NUMBER YOU CHOOSE. It even works for bigger numbers, not just two digits. If you're skeptical, pick a few numbers and try it yourself. Why does that work? I dunno, number theory or something? But it's guaranteed, and it's the first key to the trick. Next comes the sleight of hand. Back at the Mind Reader, take a look at the first four multiples of 9, starting with 9, then 18, 27, and 36. They all have the same symbol. You probably figured that would happen, now that you know about the math part. Now click the crystal ball. Check the symbols for 9, 18, 27, and 36 again. HEY, THEY CHANGED! It's still the same for all of them, but it's a different symbol. Did it occur to you that the symbols were changing every time you guessed? Most people don't imagine that possibility. It's sneaky! In this trick, it's the second key. If the symbols didn't change every time, the trick would quickly lose its luster. The third part is a bit of misdirection. Check out the symbols for the two highest multiples of 9: 99 and 90. They're not the same as all the other 9s. That's because they will never be your numbers in this trick. The highest original number you can choose is 99. 9 + 9 = 18, and 99 - 18 = 81. Your number will never be higher than 81, so having different symbols for 90 and 99 is a red herring. Another clever touch is listing the numbers backwards, from highest to lowest, so if you suspect something about powers of 9, you'll probably start by looking at 99 and 90. When they have different symbols, you'll be thrown off the trail. Nice. The final reason why Flash Mind Reader works so well is its wonderful design. It's not called "Flash Trick Based On Math, Etc.". It's hidden behind cool, magical stuff: a crystal ball, mystical symbols, groovy sounds, and no explanations. It's a great magic trick for the web. Bravo, Andy Naughton! UPDATE: Here's more on Flash Mind Reader and why everything comes out to 9.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Blog eat blog
Thanks to Diane Patterson for linking here from her fine and handsome blog, Nobody Knows Anything. The award-winning NKA has been around for years and is a great source of entertainment as well as a way to keep up on the adventures of Diane & Darin and their many excellent children. Diane wrote the funniest blog sentence I have ever read: There on his roof were 5 Mexicans, tearing off the roof with pitchforks.
The weather feels warmer already
Spring training (that's baseball) starts today, a sign of hope, renewal, and lovely summers with the radio. The World Series ended, uh, about 2 weeks ago.
Blow your mind in a flash
Here is a most excellent parlor trick. See if you can figure out how it's done. I'll give away the answer tomorrow (or send mail if you can't wait to find out).
Thousands of tiny tiny frogs
They appear in our neighborhood every year about this time. They announce their presence by ribitting all night long -- cute little croaks that kind of serenade you off to sleep and don't wake you. I have no idea where they come from or even where they spend the bulk of their time. You don't see too many of them. They're maybe two inches long and can sometimes be spotted hippity-hopping through the roses or across the driveway. They cease being cute when they dart under the tires as you're backing out of the garage.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Safari gripes
It's still a beta, so I get to complain. Here are the big 3 for me: 1. Autofill forms (as in IE) is the killer feature for me. It saves me more time than I lose with IE's slower page loads. 2. When a page stalls while loading, Safari looks hung. Why is there no "flowing water" in the address bar/progress bar? 3. When I click the "libraries" button, where does the current page go? It's in a modal limbo land somewhere that I don't know how to get to without, d'oh, closing the libraries (which solution is not that easy to figure out, by the way). And the libraries page is too mondo to be a sheet -- it should probably open in its own window.
NASA Ames devastated by tragedy
Mark Simon has a good column in today's SF Chronicle on why people love working for NASA and how some of them are dealing with the Columbia tragedy. UPDATE 2:46: Fixed the link, thanks to Joanna Castillo.
Woz can't get his phone to work either
Steve Wozniak has to move because he can't get GSM signal at his current place. Silicon Valley: digital ghetto.
Music for our ears
Rhapsody, one of the "legitimate" pay-for music downloading services, has announced burnable downloads for 49 cents during a six-week promotion. You can join free for 7 days, and if you stick around, it's $5 a month for 3 months, then $10 a month. For that price, you also get streaming. Sounds complicated already, doesn't it? I think I'll stay away until downloading works like a record store: go there, browse, buy something. I won't pay a fee for the privilege of being able to buy something from them.
Something's going on here
TiVo has made various announcements of compatibility with Apple's stuff, such as support for Rendezvous (zero-config networking) and now integration with iLife applications. The last bit includes this: "This will lead to exciting new services in the future as TiVo and Apple continue to work together." Apple needs a DVR story as part of its digital hub, and TiVo fits right in. Prediction: something sekrit and big is going on here.
Sick as a very sick dog
I've got the thing that's going around: very sore throat and neck, body aches, fever, run down feeling. Don't come near me, I might be contagious.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Goin' to the end of the line
KFOG's 10-day A to Z song marathon is winding down. Here's the latest playlist: WOULD I LIE TO YOU - EURYTHMICS - 17:13 WORLD TURNING - FLEETWOOD MAC - 17:10 WOODSTOCK - JONI MITCHELL - 17:07 WOODEN SHIPS - CROSBY STILLS AND NASH - 16:58 WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN - WHO - 16:45 WONDERFUL TONIGHT - ERIC CLAPTON - 16:38 WONDER - NATALIE MERCHANT - 16:32 WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU - BEATLES - 16:27 WITH OR WITHOUT YOU - U2 - 16:21 W - JOE COCKER - 16:10 WITCHY WOMAN - EAGLES - 16:08 WISHING IT WAS - SANTANA/EAGLE EYE CHERRY - 16:01 WISH YOU WERE HERE - PINK FLOYD - 15:56 THE WIND CRIES MARY - JIMI HENDRIX - 15:53 WILD WORLD - CAT STEVENS - 15:50 WILD WILD LIFE - TALKING HEADS - 15:40 WILD THING - THE TROGGS - 15:38 WILD NIGHT - VAN MORRISON - 15:34 WILD HORSES - ROLLING STONES - 15:31 WICKED GAME - CHRIS ISAAK - 15:24
Better late
Did you know that the Simon and Garfunkel song Mrs. Robinson was not nominated for an Oscar despite its brillant use in The Graduate? Know why? They sorta forgot, says Paul Simon. He's nominated this year for the sweet Father and Daughter.
Go figure
So I go to Redmond for two days, and the weather (outside, where I didn't spend much time) is beautiful: sunny and dry. I'm back home in California, and it's pouring rain.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Help me get my RSS in gear I'm trying to get an RSS feed going, but I'm stuck. I've tried various settings on Blogger Pro's RSS pane, to no avail. I've posted an issue to Blogger Control, and I've even tried the blogging book they recommend. Still no joy. Anybody out there who has RSS working on a Blogger Pro blog? Or do you know someone who does? Please send mail. I'm sure it's something basic in a setting I'm missing. Thanks, from the bottom of my blog. UPDATE 2/12: Problem resolved. RSS will start flowing soon. Thanks to everyone who helped.
Stranger The Microsoft employee who embezzled (allegedly) $9 million by order software internally and then reselling it has died unexpectedly at the age of 32.
Still ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRockin KFOG is still playing songs A to Z. Here's the recent playlist: SOLSBURY HILL - PETER GABRIEL - 08:07 SOLID ROCK - DIRE STRAITS - 07:59 SOLD ME DOWN THE RIVER - ALARM - 07:51 SOAK UP THE SUN - SHERYL CROW - 07:39 SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK - BYRDS - 07:33 SO IT GOES - WES CUNNINGHAM - 07:23 SO FAR AWAY - DIRE STRAITS - 07:17 SMOOTHIE SONG - NICKELCREEK - 07:05 SMOOTH - SANTANA - 07:01 SMOKING GUN - ROBERT CRAY - 06:51 SMOKE TWO JOINTS - TOYES - 06:43 SMALL TOWN - JOHN MELLENCAMP - 06:34 SLOW TURNING - JOHN HIATT - 06:28 SLIT SKIRTS - PETE TOWNSHEND - 06:18 SLIDE - GOO GOO DOLLS - 06:16 SLEDGEHAMMER - PETER GABRIEL - 05:59 That has to be the first time Smoke Two Joints, a perpetual Friday-at-5 here-comes-the-weekend treat, has been played at 6 AM on a Tuesday.
The statue got me high The Oscar nominations were announced today. The first thing I do is check how many of the best picture nominees I've seen. This year, it's two of the five: The Hours and LOTR: The Two Towers. I liked both of those, but Two Towers will get my vote, if I am suddenly and shockingly asked to cast one. I'm not a Tolkie -- I never even read the book until last year -- but I sat wide eyed and totally gripped for 3 hours during that movie. The other best picture noms are Chicago, Gangs of New York, and The Pianist. Hey, The Pianist...maybe that's who was in my computer when I first connected to GIGA SUPER HIGH SPEED INTERNET earlier today!
Red River, Redmond I'm sitting here at the Silver Cloud Inn, a cheap but tidy hotel hard by the Microsoft campus in Redmond. There's creepy dense ground fog this morning, obscuring the view of Wendy's out my window and across the parking lot. I haven't stayed here for years. A new feature in the room is a little hublike box that's labeled "GIGA SUPER HIGH SPEED INTERNET". No information anywhere about whether it's free or for pay. OK, I can't resist. I pull the cat 5 cable from the recesses of my travel bag and hook up my laptop with a satisfying snap. Right away there's a bubble telling me I have a 10 Mbs connection. I start downloading mail, then open an IE window. Mail is coming in fine, but the browser window is getting stuck.
Then it happens. Inexplicably, I hear the faint, surreal plinking of piano music coming from my laptop speakers: Red River Valley. The browser is fully stalled, mail is coming in, and a phantom Nick Winters is tickling the ivories.
After enjoying the music for a while and marveling at the perpetual surprises the Internet offers, eventually I force-quit IE and try again. It works fine, and no more music. Possible explanation: maybe I'm going insane and I just imagined the whole thing.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Eye see you The wonderful original logo (now abandoned) of the Information Awareness Office just won't die. Now it's available on your choice of fine consumer items: t-shirts, coffee cups, teddy bears, thongs, etc. What a country!
Duty now for the future Here's a cool problem: designing a user interface that will last for 10,000 years. The Wall Street Journal has a front-page story (paid subscription required) today about the challenges of creating warning signs for Yucca Mountain, where high-level radioactive waste will be deadly until approximately the year 12,000.
Flyby I work at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus, but every month I go to company headquarters in Redmond for two days. I'm going today and I'll blog ya later from there. Weather at home, weather in Seattle. Pretty similar, but a little colder up there.
Sunday, February 09, 2003
Bozo on this bus I'm trying to get an RSS feed going, but no luck. I suspect I filled in the wrong values for RSS Server Path, RSS Filename, and RSS URL. The help article (which seems outdated) says to just leave these blank if you're on Blogspot, but the form insists I fill them in. Any ideas? Please let me know. Thanks.
Chili today I highly recommend By The Way, the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers record. It's filled with hooky pop hits, great beats, and groovy harmonies that reveal the Chili Peppers as the Beach Boys/Eagles of the 2000s. I really like the songs Can't Stop, By The Way, and Cabron, a sweet love song with a cool mandolin part.
Are you ready for some baseball? I'm sitting here watching the Arena Football League Game of the Week (San Jose vs. LA) with my son. I'm not much of a football fan, but this goofy game is kind of interesting. The teams play in hockey and basketball arenas (hence the clever name) during the non-NFL months. Players are crammed into a 50-yard field and there's plenty of scoring. The league (and it's junior partner, AFL2) is very successful, now in its 17th season. Starting this year, NBC is broadcasting games every Sunday. Of course, I'm old enough to remember a different AFL: the American Football League of 1960-69 (wow, I can't find a link for info about that league!).
Microsoftees are people too This site endeavors to keep track of blogs maintained by Microsoft employees. I hope more people at Microsoft start blogs. Most of these folks are very smart and quite nice, and more blogs would help counteract the company's negative public image.
