Tuesday, October 20, 2009
TidBITS 1000
Congratulations to TidBITS, the Net's oldest and best Macintosh newsletter, for reaching issue one thousand! That's a weekly newsletter for almost twenty years. I admire people who do things well, and I admire people who stick to doing something when it works well.
Web Surf to Save Your Aging Brain
Web Surf to Save Your Aging Brain, article.
"Researchers found that older adults who started browsing the Web experienced improved brain function after only a few days."
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"Researchers found that older adults who started browsing the Web experienced improved brain function after only a few days."
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IMac updated (uhm, updated)
I've said for ten years that the iMac (updated now) is, while on the Apple platform perhaps considered a "home computer", full capable of most professional applications. And this gets more true with each generation. Laurie Jeffery, mentioned below, has for a couple of years now used an iMac for his main computer, and this guy is a top-pro photographer and videographer. He made the huge videos you see in the new Heathrow airport terminal five. He made those from concept through videography through final output, and so far as I know he did it on the iMac.
Laurie tells me:
I really do. A Mac pro would be much, much faster. I use one in the office in Leeds when I'm there and it flies.
But there's something beautiful about the iMac. The new one looks more so. Wonderful lines.
Sometimes, using a beautiful machine actually enhances the creative process.
I guess I can see that.
Me, I do admit I like pretty and compact products. And I admire the achievement of getting a large part of the power of a Mac Pro into an iMac, and even more into a MacBook Pro. And I'm amazed that it takes that much more size and weight to significantly go beyond what those machines can do, a Mac Pro (the tower machine) is really huge and heavy. I mean it takes a strong man just to carry it.
But for something I don't have to move around, I like the most power, and the top speed and 30-inch display (twins now), and multiple big internal disks of the Mac Pro is an addiction to me. It was so even back when it was the G5, which was noisy. The new intel machines do not even have that drawback, so that's it for me. (There was a while a few years back when I used a Powerbook or an iMac for email and web, and a PowerMac for the heavy lifting, but thankfully that's unnecessary now.)
---
The new mouse sounds highly interesting. I like my Rollermouse, but I miss the sideways scrolling that the Apple Mighty Mouse had, and the new one also has multi-touch.
Admittedly it is not cheap for a mouse. I'm sure you can get a perfectly servicable mouse for less than one-fifth of the price of this one. But I want what Apple offers. And I'm not alone: in the middle of the worst depression in three generations, Apple just reported their best quarter ever!
... I have to admit I hope their bluetooth implementation has gotten better. I was not impressed with coaxing my iMac to recognized my bluetooth keyboard every time I woke up the machine last time I had a wireless keyboard.
Apple states: "Magic Mouse features a laser tracking engine that’s far more sensitive and responsive on more surfaces than traditional optical technology. That means it can track with precision on nearly every surface with no mousepad required."
I hope they are right this time, because this was exactly what they said about optical mice when they came around, and it turned out that they were much more fickly about surfaces than old time rubberball mice! If you used it on a wooden table, it wouldn't work. You'd think it would be perfect for an optical mouse because the wood has all this texture. But noooo.
Alien swap, a couple jokes (updated)
When Johnny got his 4th grade test paper back, he saw a big red F staring back at him. He had failed the test.
Billy looked at his glum friend and asked, "Why did you fail that test?"
"Because of an absence," Johnny answered.
"You mean you were absent on the day of the test?" Billy inquired.
"No," Johnny replied, "I wasn't, but that smart kid who sits next to me was."
Button slogans
A couple was driving down a lonely country road one evening when a spaceship landed on the road ahead of them. The couple stopped the car as two aliens got out.
"Don't worry, we're friendly," one of them said.
The couple got out of the car and saw that the aliens were a couple too. Upon inquiring, they learned the alien couple was from Mars.
They four of them sat in a nearby park exchanging stories and information about their respective planets. Eventually, the subject of sex came up.
"Just how do you guys do it?" asked one of the Earthlings.
"Pretty much the way you do," responded a Martian.
Discussion ensued and finally the couples decided to swap partners for the night and experience one another.
The female Earthling and the male Martian went off and checked into a hotel. In the room, the Martian undressed. He had a teeny-weeny weenie - very short and very narrow.
"What can you do with that?" exclaimed the woman.
"Why?" he asked, "What’s the matter?"
"Well," she replied, "it’s nowhere near long enough. It’ll never reach!"
"No problem," the Martian said. He proceeded to squeeze his nose. With each squeeze, his member grew until it was quite long.
"Well," she said. "That’s quite impressive, but it’s still pretty narrow."
"No problem," he said again and started pulling his ears. With each pull his member grew wider and wider until the entire measurement was extremely exciting to the woman.
"Wow!" she exclaimed as they fell into bed and made mad, passionate love.
The next day the couples rejoined their normal partners and went off together.
As the Earthling couple drove home, the husband asked, "Was it any good?"
"I hate to say it," his wife said, "but it was really wonderful. How about you?"
"It wasn't all that great," the husband replied. "It was the weirdest thing. That Martian woman kept squeezing my nose and pulling my ears all night!"
Billy looked at his glum friend and asked, "Why did you fail that test?"
"Because of an absence," Johnny answered.
"You mean you were absent on the day of the test?" Billy inquired.
"No," Johnny replied, "I wasn't, but that smart kid who sits next to me was."
==========
Button slogans
- I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
- 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
- He who laughs last thinks slowest.
- Be modest and proud!
- I intend to live forever. So far, so good.
- To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
- A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
- If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
=======
A couple was driving down a lonely country road one evening when a spaceship landed on the road ahead of them. The couple stopped the car as two aliens got out.
"Don't worry, we're friendly," one of them said.
The couple got out of the car and saw that the aliens were a couple too. Upon inquiring, they learned the alien couple was from Mars.
They four of them sat in a nearby park exchanging stories and information about their respective planets. Eventually, the subject of sex came up.
"Just how do you guys do it?" asked one of the Earthlings.
"Pretty much the way you do," responded a Martian.
Discussion ensued and finally the couples decided to swap partners for the night and experience one another.
The female Earthling and the male Martian went off and checked into a hotel. In the room, the Martian undressed. He had a teeny-weeny weenie - very short and very narrow.
"What can you do with that?" exclaimed the woman.
"Why?" he asked, "What’s the matter?"
"Well," she replied, "it’s nowhere near long enough. It’ll never reach!"
"No problem," the Martian said. He proceeded to squeeze his nose. With each squeeze, his member grew until it was quite long.
"Well," she said. "That’s quite impressive, but it’s still pretty narrow."
"No problem," he said again and started pulling his ears. With each pull his member grew wider and wider until the entire measurement was extremely exciting to the woman.
"Wow!" she exclaimed as they fell into bed and made mad, passionate love.
The next day the couples rejoined their normal partners and went off together.
As the Earthling couple drove home, the husband asked, "Was it any good?"
"I hate to say it," his wife said, "but it was really wonderful. How about you?"
"It wasn't all that great," the husband replied. "It was the weirdest thing. That Martian woman kept squeezing my nose and pulling my ears all night!"
---------
Pascal added:
I checked into a hotel on a business trip and was a bit lonely, so I thought I'd get one of those girls you see advertised in phone booths when you're calling for a cab.
I had grabbed a woman's card when I called a cab to take me from the airport to the hotel. It was an ad for a girl named Erogonique, a lovely girl, bending over in the photo. She had all the right curves in all the right places, beautiful long, wavy hair, long graceful legs that went all the way up to her firm, shapely butt. So I'm in my room and figure, "What the hell, I'll giver her a call."
"Hello?" the woman says. Gawd, she sounded sexy.
"Hi," I began. "I hear you give a great massage and I'd like you to come to my room and give me one. No, wait, I should be straight with you. I'm in town all alone and what I really want is sex. I want it hard, I want it hot and I want it now! I'm talking kinky the whole night long. You name it, we'll do it. Bring implements, toys, everything you've got in your bag of tricks. We'll go hot and heavy all night - tie me up, wear a strap-on, cover me in chocolate syrup and whipped cream - anything you want, baby. Now, how does that sound?"
"That sounds fantastic," she said, "but for an outside line you need to press 9."
Jeffery blog/pics (Updated)
My friend Laurie Jeffery invites us to his blog where he talks about things he like, such as cooking and photographing nudes. Go here.
I didn't realize cannibalism was legal in the UK. Also I think I'd typically cook nudes, the clothing just seems as if it would make things too chewy.
Verra funny.
And here I thought I'd managed to write it so it wouldn't be misunderstood by all you jokers. :-)
Programming languages are so less prone to this sort of thing
My->friend[Laurie_Jeffery] {
( he/his ::= Laurie_Jeffery)
invites us to his blog
where he talks about things he likes,
such as {
(cooking),
(photographing_nudes).
}
}
I know. Which is why Bill Gates can be so relaxed when he asserts that any and all errors in Windows stem from the users.
Update: I asked Laurie about a large version of this picture, and he said:
Sure,
If you go here, Click on the models name. Or go here and click on the picture. It from my free collection of nude, one new one each day of the year.
-----------
Alex said:I didn't realize cannibalism was legal in the UK. Also I think I'd typically cook nudes, the clothing just seems as if it would make things too chewy.
Verra funny.
And here I thought I'd managed to write it so it wouldn't be misunderstood by all you jokers. :-)
Programming languages are so less prone to this sort of thing
My->friend[Laurie_Jeffery] {
( he/his ::= Laurie_Jeffery)
invites us to his blog
where he talks about things he likes,
such as {
(cooking),
(photographing_nudes).
}
}
I know. Which is why Bill Gates can be so relaxed when he asserts that any and all errors in Windows stem from the users.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Who let this dog out?, photo series
Who let this dog out?, photo series.
My pal Max has done the old trick with placing a doll or such thing in every shoot in a series.
One of the perennial problems in Art and art is how to achieve variation, but also unity. This is one way.
My pal Max has done the old trick with placing a doll or such thing in every shoot in a series.
One of the perennial problems in Art and art is how to achieve variation, but also unity. This is one way.
----
Gordon said:
I prefer Swiss Army knives.
Apples and the nineties
My friend Laurie talked about a very picturesque trip they took this week. One of the things she mentioned was an apple tree without leaves but with apples.
Back in the nineties, living outside Copenhagen (a pretty place called Lyngby), I lived next to an apple tree, and one autumn it did just that.
It was so striking. I wish I could go back in time and photograph it properly with the great cameras we have now. All I have is this one picture taken with one of the crappy early digicams, a Nikon Coolpix 600. (See how the highlights are so blown that it looks like snow. And this was *after* I had the camera fixed, it was much worse when first I got it.) It was a "one megapixel" camera which actually only had 786,000 pixels, and even those were not all that good. But we were all impressed with it back then. I bought it for about $600, and the price had just dropped from about $1100!
The picture below was used in print by the photo store where I bought the camera, to impress people with the camera. It barely held up in a 6x8 inch print, and yet at the time it seemed dang good.
Here I am in November 1998. Gawd how young I looked. And yet already that long ago I was already making my living on the Interweb. Barely.
Me and aforementioned apple tree.
(These are the full resolution pictures!)
My workspace in the late nineties. What I use now is still only about thrice the size. The Interweb is not so demanding on physical space!
(The dictionaries on the left have now been replaced by virtual ones. Faster to look up.)
I was actually living in that single room, rented. Until 1999, in my mid-thirties, I lived in rented rooms. I guess it can be seen as a bit ascetic, but I was happy that way, it allowed me to concentrate on the things which interested me, my art and spiritual path, reading and so on, instead of working hard to pay for a big home. I only got my own apartment after I could pay for it in cash.
----
The window pic was taken by my friend Peter.
Back in the nineties, living outside Copenhagen (a pretty place called Lyngby), I lived next to an apple tree, and one autumn it did just that.
It was so striking. I wish I could go back in time and photograph it properly with the great cameras we have now. All I have is this one picture taken with one of the crappy early digicams, a Nikon Coolpix 600. (See how the highlights are so blown that it looks like snow. And this was *after* I had the camera fixed, it was much worse when first I got it.) It was a "one megapixel" camera which actually only had 786,000 pixels, and even those were not all that good. But we were all impressed with it back then. I bought it for about $600, and the price had just dropped from about $1100!
The picture below was used in print by the photo store where I bought the camera, to impress people with the camera. It barely held up in a 6x8 inch print, and yet at the time it seemed dang good.
Here I am in November 1998. Gawd how young I looked. And yet already that long ago I was already making my living on the Interweb. Barely.
Me and aforementioned apple tree.
(These are the full resolution pictures!)
My workspace in the late nineties. What I use now is still only about thrice the size. The Interweb is not so demanding on physical space!
(The dictionaries on the left have now been replaced by virtual ones. Faster to look up.)
I was actually living in that single room, rented. Until 1999, in my mid-thirties, I lived in rented rooms. I guess it can be seen as a bit ascetic, but I was happy that way, it allowed me to concentrate on the things which interested me, my art and spiritual path, reading and so on, instead of working hard to pay for a big home. I only got my own apartment after I could pay for it in cash.
----
The window pic was taken by my friend Peter.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Number of the Best
I just happened to take a look at the lowdown on my main hard drive just when the numbers lined up like:
Total capacity: 999 GB
Free capacity: 333 GB
Used capacity: 666 GB
I think that's very funny. What can I say? Us home workers get our kicks where we can.
(Like I said once, I name my hard drives with names with Initials H.D., a tradition going back to the mists of the mid-nineties.)
(BTW, the number of the Best should really be One, shouldn't it? I dunno whaaat that bible booky was tawking abaht.)
---
I saw a cartoon once, a street shop under a big sign: "Dyslexic People's Union". A guy walks in and says: "I'd like to join your onion."
Total capacity: 999 GB
Free capacity: 333 GB
Used capacity: 666 GB
I think that's very funny. What can I say? Us home workers get our kicks where we can.
(Like I said once, I name my hard drives with names with Initials H.D., a tradition going back to the mists of the mid-nineties.)
(BTW, the number of the Best should really be One, shouldn't it? I dunno whaaat that bible booky was tawking abaht.)
---
I saw a cartoon once, a street shop under a big sign: "Dyslexic People's Union". A guy walks in and says: "I'd like to join your onion."
"Available darkness" photography (updated)
Interesting double-article about how much sensitivity we need, or not, in our cameras.
"Digital sensors have better reciprocity characteristics, so my exposure times have dropped a lot the past few years; rarely do I need to go beyond a minute these days. Nonetheless, my style remains the same and the results are still artistically satisfying. Would I jump at ISO 100K? Not particularly; I'm okay with tripods and a couple of minutes between frames.
BUT...
There are lots of photos I don't make because the subject matter won't sit still for large numbers of seconds. Do I think having 1,000 times the ISO I now use would open up all sorts of artistic opportunities? Hell, yeah! Is it artistically, conceptually, and philosophically valid? Double-hell, yeah! Photography's never been merely about photographing what you could see; it's always been about photographing what you wanted to see."
-
Update: Michael Johnston has expanded on the theme today.
"Digital sensors have better reciprocity characteristics, so my exposure times have dropped a lot the past few years; rarely do I need to go beyond a minute these days. Nonetheless, my style remains the same and the results are still artistically satisfying. Would I jump at ISO 100K? Not particularly; I'm okay with tripods and a couple of minutes between frames.
BUT...
There are lots of photos I don't make because the subject matter won't sit still for large numbers of seconds. Do I think having 1,000 times the ISO I now use would open up all sorts of artistic opportunities? Hell, yeah! Is it artistically, conceptually, and philosophically valid? Double-hell, yeah! Photography's never been merely about photographing what you could see; it's always been about photographing what you wanted to see."
-
Update: Michael Johnston has expanded on the theme today.
Willful and Graceful
Since I like Will And Grace, and have bought all the DVDs, Amazon sometimes sends me emails saying something like: "As someone who has purchased or rated Will and Grace, you might like to know that _____ is now available."
And here's the funny thing: I always look at the item hoping to find more good comedy shows. But I never do. It's always something gay/lesbian related instead!
What's up with that? I barely notice that Will And Grace is gay related, I just love a good comedy. But either Amazon has decided that the sexual-orientation aspect is more important than it being a comedy show, or many more of their customers find that aspect more important, or... I dunno. I just find it a bit weird and striking.
And here's the funny thing: I always look at the item hoping to find more good comedy shows. But I never do. It's always something gay/lesbian related instead!
What's up with that? I barely notice that Will And Grace is gay related, I just love a good comedy. But either Amazon has decided that the sexual-orientation aspect is more important than it being a comedy show, or many more of their customers find that aspect more important, or... I dunno. I just find it a bit weird and striking.
Jeanne Robertson: Bungee Jumping in Canada
[Thanks to Cap Kirk.]
"Jeanne Robertson is a nationally-recognized humorist and professional speaker. In 1963, at age 18, she was named Miss North Carolina. Robertson credits her reign as the catalyst for her career."
Dang, she is funny.
And pretty. And tall, 6.2 barefoot! Gotta love a hot, funny, tall gal. Jeanne, if you ever get tired of "Left Brain" (I know I get very tired of mine sometimes), look me up, OK? :-)
Update:
Steve recommended this one (ooh, live video):
(Hmmm, what's a "bad mitten"?)
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