Nerds Tagged Articles

The Machines Have Us Beat

The machines have us beat. That's it. Terminator here we come.

In 1983, I was versed in LOGO (you remember the language that you moved a turtle around the screen to draw) and BASIC. I also came to know "machine language" on commodore systems. I didn't actually have a commodore - but I did have access to a friends on occasion. COMPUTE! magazine used to publish the bytes of code for user-submitted video games, and because I didn't have access to a system with any sort of regularity (being at the mercy of friends and their parents who preferred we play outside), I would read through the code to look for problems and fix them - so when I did get access to a system for a few hours I would be able to actually play the games.

This brings me to the story of a real hacker, this story was originally told on USENET in 1983 after one of those age old conversations about how FORTRAN was THE programming language to use. Funny how compiled languages somehow became the terrain of "real programmers".

What you can do with a Linux Server at Home

I recently picked up an extra machine for my house. I was having problems with external drives intermittently failing, so I wanted a network based storage solution that was fast and offered me more for my money than the retail NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices that are becoming prevalent.

By setting it up as a Linux server, I ended up with more storage for the price and a whole suite of great tools at my disposal.

Perfect Black

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, have developed the blackest man-made material ever. Sorry, no pictures.

More on LED Lighting

A while back I posted about what I perceived was a decent breakthrough in LED lighting - a company by the name of Osram had developed a 100 watt LED bulb. The benefit of LED over incandescent is that LEDs require less energy to run and require replacement very rarely.

I'm not a big fan of compact fluorescent at all - most of those lights don't work with simple x10 home automation circuits - and my house is full of them.

Smack it up, flip it, rub it down, oh, no

I've been feeling a bit backwards today. I don't know. Maybe it's the weather. I just can't seem to get my head on straight.

OLED Keyboards

I finally found a gadget that even I think is too expensive. I sure would like to play with one, though .
Actually, I've known about this one for quite some time, but apple put together a patent application that reminded me of it.

Open Source Game Development

A decade ago, I started trying to build video games with my buddy Mike. We made a good team in that he really grasped concepts I had difficulty with (and hopefully vice versa). This was back when DirectDraw et all were all brand new and any 3D gaming involved escaping out to DOS.

I've played around with a few development engines and a few ideas since, but I've never really had the time to get anything going. I read on slashdot that a new open source game is being developed and it looks promising.

If I Only Had a Brain

We live with so many assumptions about the world around us that go unquestioned. I remember as a child explaining to my grandmother that Toads don't cause warts and having a decent laugh about the differences between the world that she grew up in and mine.

I just ran into my own toad and frankly, I'm a bit stunned.

Where are they now?

Catching up with newsworthy kids.

Swift-Tuttle - is it coming?

Nobody knows the real significance associated with the changing of the Ages. Somewhere around 2150 we'll be shuttled out of the Age of Pisces and pushed into the Age of Aquarius. The world around us may change significantly. Or it could very well be all ado about nothing.

We do know one thing. Right around that time, either the earth or the moon will be struck by a comet.

Charging Grains for Separation

An interesting experiment at Rutgers took the physics principals applied to a milk meniscus and used it to separate grains.

NFL Abuses DMCA, Overreaches in Claims of Rights

If you're an NFL fan, no doubt you've seen the notice aired prior to games - "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience, and any other use of this telecast or of any pictures, descriptions or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited" - this notice is not necessarily illegal, but it in and of itself claims rights that the NFL does not have - which seems to be a habit of theirs. They also claim that you cannot re-publish NFL statistics, which are specifically exempted from copyright protection.

New Lighting Option

Osram, one of the three largest lamp manufacturers in the world, has developed an LED that can output 1000 lumens. This is roughly equivalent to an 85 watt incandescent bulb - depending, of course, on the manufacturer. The major difference between the two being that an LED will typically last for 100 times as long as an incandescent bulb - and the manufacturing process is exponentially more environmentally friendly for LEDs.

XKCD

XKCD is self described as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. I'd describe it as extremely funny to a very small segment of society. (Or maybe us nerds are more abundant than I thought...)

Men Focus on Privates

I believe in the past I've referenced the Nielsen report on eye tracking. If I didn't, I meant to. The USC Annenberg online journalism review posted a reference/review of this study which brought it to my attention yet again. While looking through their web page, I noticed an image that spells out something pretty funny - men tend to focus on private parts, regardless of the subject matter.

Light Speed

We can move things at nearly the speed of light. The first and foremost thought is: "What happens when we crash?" Quickly that thought is followed up with: "How about we get two things going that fast coming from opposite sides and crash them into each other!"

I like Dolphins

I don't think I'll be seeing this billboard in my neighborhood any time soon. But I do like dolphins. They're yummy.

Are They Out There?

The probability of alien life forms finding us any time soon is extraordinarily low and would require some pretty amazing technology. An astrophysicist recently conducted a study to understand just how much exploring the aliens could have accomplished at this point so early in the life cycle of the universe.

Midnight in the Garden of Nuclear War

The doomsday clock is moving closer to midnight - meaning that we are about as close now to the threat of nuclear annihilation than ever before.

37 Terabyte Drives

Seagate has plans to produce mega-sized drives within the next several years. They have experienced success in the labs with extraordinary densities achieved using HAMR.

Lawrence Livermoore Discovers Element 118 (again)

Lawrence Livermoore Laboratories did a bit to regain it's reputation following it's falsified research claiming to have developed element 118. This time they actually did it, and the resulting element and the process for creating it is significantly different.

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