6.0

California is at the center of the world — see map. The world sometimes shakes. (via iaia)

All the Kids

I personally know two rock stars: Zak and Chris. Both are remarkable human beings. Chris stars in a music video as the drummer. Zak used to have video clips somewhere, but I can't find them now.

photoshop wedding

AP Photo/Rogers & Cowan, Lara Porzak

discoveries

From the East Bay:

• Prof. Paul N. Hilfinger uses a Powerbook.
• With a monopod, I can take sharp pictures.
• I miss Berkeley. Terribly.
  

Al Gore for president!

Neuropsychology. Packet-switching nature of the internet. TV as the killer medium. Humor.

- Mr. Vice President, I must say you a very funny man!
- I benefit from low expectations.

Repeated references to McLuhan. Overall impression: a professor with great public-speaking skills.
In an hour, he earned my vote.

no Burning Man for me

I didn't go to the playa. My iPod was there, so were my friends. And all I got from Burning Man are these pictures and this music.

here comes Ivan

AFP/Bruce Weave

performance anxiety

When will programmers stop worrying about performance? After all, premature optimization is the root of all evil. And unless the code is exceedingly inefficient, just throwing more hardware at it solves the problem. Which is much cheaper than programmer's time these days.

This rant brought to you by Java assertions, which are disabled unless the -enableassertions flag is explicitly specified.

toy camera

Choice is bad: it makes you think, and thinking is harmful. That's why square format is such a great idea: just shoot, no need to pick which way to turn the camera.

Rolleflex MiniDigi gives you a square format in a digital camera. It looks like 2.8F, although the top lens is only for show — there's an LCD display in the hood. You have to actually turn the crank before the shot — that's the coolest part (or the stupidest, depending on your perspective.)

I wonder if it has a tripod mount.

register to vote

Here's a form you need to fill out. Then you get a pre-filled paper form in the mail, which you sign, date and send out. No online-only registration — somehow I find this comforting.

When will they have an Amazon-style referral program?

dot dot is dead

Josh has scanned Russian homework on his blog. Josh takes pictures with old Polaroid cameras. Josh is cool.

faster!

I couldn't buy 100 speed K0dak film at Target. ISO 200, 400, 800 are all they have. That is the second time I've run into this problem.
I wonder who is the person responsible for decision not to stock the film. And what product will dissapear from the mass market next.

All About Eve

3 stars. Looks good still, 54 years after it was made. A bit theatrical, but that's understandable. Like The Bad and Beautiful, the story is told in a flashback — was it fashionable in the fifties?
Good acting, dialogue that is often witty, Marylin Monroe as the blonde &mdash what more can you ask for? Better photography. And give Marylin a bigger part, please.

bits and bytes

I wished cookingforengineers.com existed. My wish has been granted. Here are the diagrams for making Crème Brûlée.

gmail hack

I've figured out how to forward email in gmail.
Hit "Create a filter" (near Search the Web), then in To: field put "@", run a test search to make sure it includes all messages, then "Next Step", check "Forward it to" and type in the address. "Create Filter" — and you are done.

Beslan

red cross
help

dirty laundry

When I was in high school, I had to wash my socks by hand. It was an unpleasant process. I didn't enjoy it. "Someday, when I'll be rich", I thought, "I'll buy enough socks so that I can always use brand new ones and just throw old ones away."

With washing machines, doing laundry is quite easy. If you have enough quarters.