I saw this on the GearCulture blog: a soccer ball that “converts the kinetic energy of the ball’s movement into electricity. Just a few minutes of play can provide hours of light.” It’s “[c]urrently used in rural off-grid areas of Mexico and disadvantaged regions of the US with plans to go global and help out[...]
Of the people (4?) who read this blog, I’m going to guess that 0 of you use Google Reader. I’ve used it for a few years now to keep track of new posts on your blogs and a few other sites. Prior to that, I used a separate app on my computer for keeping track[...]
The title of the video seen here is “Does Your Watch Need To Be Smart?” My first response was “What a stupid question.” My second response was: “What kind of tech writer would ask such a stupid question?” Pretty much nothing you own needs to be “smart”. And by “smart”, all they mean is the[...]
UPDATE: I initially posted this review on Dec. 8, 2012, and attempted to republish on Dec. 16 after adding several important bits. At that point, the blog entry appeared blank, though all the text was still stored in my Dashboard. As it turns out, either WordPress or my host (GoDaddy) could not handle an entry[...]
I’ve created my own “start page” for daily web browsing, with cute little buttons that are links to the sites I use each day (Scroll down to see screenshots). Various people access the web in various ways. Here are some I’ve heard, and some of which I’ve tried: 1) Start page: Google. Use the search[...]
In this YouTube video (be warned; it’s 16 minutes long), Kai Wong of Digital Rev pits the Nikon D70 and Canon 400D against a series of mishaps to show how durable they are (the video is mistitled regarding which cameras are tested). He drops them, bumps them into walls, lets elevator doors close on them,[...]
After a few days, I’ve grown to like Windows 8 — remember, I came straight up from XP, so some of what I like was already in Windows 7 but I never had a chance to use it. One thing I didn’t like was the default set of colors. But those are easily changeable. Some[...]
Tech experts are having trouble agreeing on whether it’s easy or difficult to use Windows 8. I saw one story about a three-year-old who immediately began using Windows 8 without any difficulty whatsoever — they were using it with a touchscreen of course. And maybe the reason 8 is difficult for adults is because it[...]
In a previous entry, I described how easy it is to find and launch programs/files from the Start (“Metro”) page in Windows 8 — just start typing the name of the program or file. That wasn’t obvious at first (because in previous versions of Windows, typing has no effect unless you’ve already opened a program[...]
Commentary: A record Powerball jackpot isn’t a record to celebrate (Christian Science Monitor) The editorial board of CSM concluded their piece with this: Before the news media play up the next record-setting mega-lottery like Powerball, they may want to add these kinds of caveats in their reporting. It could deter people from rushing to the[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of To Sail Beyond The Sunset (1987) by Robert A. Heinlein, the last novel he published before dying in 1988: “I remember Earth. I knew her when she was clean and green, mankind’s beautiful bride, sweet and lush and lovable… It is futile to mourn over[...]
There is a school of thought, albeit a relatively unpopular one, that poor grammar or punctuation on printed signs should be corrected with a Sharpie or other tool, vigilante style. In the News: Vigilante Copy Editor (New York Times) And there are older instances, such as this one (The Virginian-Pilot).
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners (1985) by Robert A. Heinlein: “It does not do to encourage bad banners; one should retaliate, urbanely but firmly.”
In The News: Adobe starts subscription for Photoshop and Dreamweaver (BBC News) This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; many software companies are moving in this direction. Instead of having to ship millions of boxes and discs every year when they upgrade the software, they’re just going to add the updates to the online[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of I Will Fear No Evil (1970) by Robert Heinlein: “…most people think of money as something to pay the rent. But a money man thinks of money in terms of what he can do with it.” “…it’s impossible for a woman to lay it on[...]
For about $5, I made this measuring cup holder that’s hidden inside a kitchen cabinet: (Copyright © 2013 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
My wife and I invoked our “30 minute rule” when watching this movie. The rule is: if the movie can’t interest either of us in 30 minutes, then we turn it off and quit wasting our time. According to Wikipedia, this film is based on a 1974 novel and “the story follows the hunt for[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during my 2002 reading of Stranger In A Strange Land (1961) by Robert Heinlein, of which I wrote on Nov. 14, 2002, “Perhaps the best book ever written.” (I no longer feel that way, but it’s still a pretty good book.)
There’s a new White House Tumblr page, and the first entry includes an image with this lettering: “ANIMATED GIFs (HARD ‘G’)”. First, let me say I’m proud that they didn’t put an apostrophe in “GIFs”, as so many on the internet seem to do these days.
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