A practical jetpack

Jacko lives on

Good night

Good night. I hope you had a good weekend, and that all those in the relevant areas enjoyed the warm weather, because it's over now. Which is why I prefer it, incidentally.

Do it with valentines

Little Melissa comes home from 1st grade & tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. 'Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint, and we're Jewish,' she asks, 'Will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine? Melissa's father thinks a bit then says: 'No, I don't think God would get mad. Whom do you want to give a Valentine to?' 'Osama Bin Laden,' she says. 'Why Osama Bin Laden?' her father asks in shock. 'Well,' she says, 'I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a Valentine, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit.And if other kids saw what I did and sent Valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them, and how he didn't hate anyone anymore.' Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with new found pride. 'Melissa, that's the most wonderful thing I have ever heard.' 'I know,' Melissa says, 'and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines could shoot the Bastard.'

Living With a Computer (in 1980)

Here's a cool article about what it took to get a word processor thirty years ago.

Forced perspective

Tommy found these fun examples of forced perspective.

Compact keyboards

With iPhone OS 4 coming soon, both the iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch will able to use bluetooth keyboards. And it will be interesting to see what kool kompakt keyboards kompanies will kompete with.

Right now, a bit over-priced, you can buy and use some out-of-production products like the "Think Outside Stowaway Universal Bluetooth Keyboard". I got one, and after figuring out its peculiarities with no guide, it works nicely with the pad. And folded, it's hardly bigger than an iPhone. Good for when you want to write on the hiking path.


The stand is just a stand, no connections. It connects only via bluetooth. It's woken up by pressing Ctrl and both Fn keys simultaneously. To use the numbers (for pairing it with the iPad), you need to press the blue Fn key.
It's a pretty nice keyboard, but people charge $100 for a used one. And it's not made for the system of course. I'll bet those that are, will be simpler and more stylish.
Review here.

Depth

"Good work, Daria, your cube is perfect. You've really created the illusion of depth."
"I'm thinking of of going into politics."

Daria: The Complete Animated Series

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"What happened to the money you were making writing papers for the college students?"
"My mom wouldn't let me keep it. She said it's wrong to encourage cheating and to make money off it."
"So is she going to quit being a lawyer?"

Why can't we concentrate?

Why can't we concentrate?, interesting article by Laura Miller.
What to do? For most people, bailing on the Web or e-mail or cellphones isn't even feasible, let alone practical or ultimately desirable. (I shudder at the thought of living without my beloved Tivo.) Besides, modern life really isn't making us stupider: IQ tests have to be regularly updated to make them harder; otherwise the average score would have climbed 3 percent per decade since the early 1930s. (The average score is supposed to remain at a constant 100 points.)

Isn't that something. And here we are always told that every new generation of kids are stupider. A malicious lie.

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Jan points to:

[Thanks to DBC]

The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry, article.

Very interesting. It also contains a lot of hidden back-story about the colossal struggle it was to create and market the iPhone. It really is a singular accomplishment.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?, article.
It's fascinating, and a bit scary.
It's also long. Can you finish it?
I thought I was the only one who's developed "adult ADD", but it turns out it's everybody.

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Related article about managing Connectivity-Addiction.

Nor a lender be

Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend; And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry [economy].
-- William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet,' Act I, Scene iii

Stephen fry talked vehemently against this and people quoting it, because, well, I guess he doesn't believe it, and he said the character Shakespeare had say it is an idiot, so he didn't mean it to be good advice.

But it's true it's tricky business at least. I borrowed a lot as young, and while I did pay it back eventually, it took a long time. And later in life I've given substantial loans to three friends, and it seems most of it I'll probably never see again.