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 I've decided to take the plunge and start working on a project that has been sitting in the back of my head since college. I'm setting out to build a CPU from scratch.
I thought that the Neodux crew might want to follow along as I work on this insane project. But not too insane...I've already figured out how I'm going to do it. I just need to do it now.
Follow along and watch as I walk the thin line between avocation and insanity!
...And I know some of you guys are EEs -- maybe you can give me a hand when something eventually goes wrong... |
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tags: hardhack
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Attention website developers:
Have you spent the last six months living on Twinkies and jet fuel grade coffee to turn out your latest abomination creation? Does it incorporate validated syntax? Does it adhere to all of the W3C standards? Is it fully driven by CSS?
If so, that's great. You've worked hard to achieve what countless Geocities authors could only dream of.
However, this does not give you the right nor the justification to resize my browser without asking first. My personal window settings for my browser are just that: personal. Your content, while possibly revolutionary (but probably wholly unexceptional) is not special, and it does nothing to endear me to whatever your website is trying to tell me.
And woe be unto you if you're trying to sell me something. Not only will I never patronize your site again, I will post rants on websites explaining exactly how you should be publicly flogged for forcing your sizing preferences on the rest of us.
Stop being a butthorn and realize that your, "creatives" aren't anything more than some rendered text and a few pictures.
Kisses,
Mackieman |
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tags: browser resizing stupid jerks
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I figure it's high time I publicly weighed in on this whole ebook wars thing. I was just reading and article over on Wired about the whole pricing dilemma currently plaguing Amazon.
I'll start off by saying that I am a Kindle owner/user, so take that as you will.
I was initially unimpressed with the launch of the iPad. the iPod blew us all away when it was announced, the iPhone blew us all away when it was announced. The iPad will take some getting used to. The screen still isn't e-ink like the most successful ebook readers, but it does have touch screen - something Amazon just realized customers want. It doesn't have the battery life of a Kindle, but it does have brand recognition.
The redeeming value about the Kindle, and I've said this all along, is that it adopts the UNIX mentality: "Do one thing and do it well". The Kindle is perfect for reading books. The great part is you can download the books via Whispernet wherever you happen to be. The iPad kinda offers this, but you have to pay more for the 3G device plus you have to pay for the data plan. (The Kindle data plan is free!) [sure, the basic iPad has wireless, but wifi may not always be available. it's not something I have to think about with the kindle]
Ok, so the iPad will let you surf the web, i'll give you that. Yes, the Kindle is essentially the links browser and Whispernet is slow compared to wifi, but remember, the Kindle is an ebook reader, first and foremost. It does that and it does it well, web is an after thought, the same way that iBooks was an afterthought to the enlarged iPod Touch.
There, I said it. The iPad is a grown up iPod Touch. It can surf the web, it can play apps, it has an ebook reader app - so does my iPhone. It does not have e-ink, long battery life, or instant free access anywhere. Is the iPad a Kindle killer? I think killer is too harsh a word for this situation. Capitalists: Competition is a good thing. The Kindle helped design the iPad, and the iPad will help redesign the Kindle. I'm excited to see what the next revision of the Kindle comes out looking like. I'm almost certain it will feature touch.
The iPad is definitely neat, but I think the Kindle will hold its niche - if Amazon can hold its publishers in place. I believe something definitely underhanded is going on between Mr. Jobs and book publishers, but I'll delve into that soon enough.
update: Well looks like gizmodo beat me to the punch with this article - however I'll expand on it with my thoughts later. |
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tags: kindle ipad ebooks amazon
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As any of you reading this on a smartphone may have noticed. Neodux now comes in a leaner version: Neodux Mobile.
By examining $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] report for elements that reflect the most common mobile browsers, I can detect (usually) if you're viewing the page from a mobile device. (Blackberry, iPhone, Android, WinCE, PSP, Kindle are all supported.) As of this writing the layout is very spartan and only the main posts are displayed. Users cannot login to leave comments or shouts at the moment, but I hope to add that in the future. For now, it's just the core content of neodux but it loads much faster.
I'd label it alpha for the moment, but it should make reading any posts from a smartphone, Kindle or PSP much easier. |
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tags: mobile smartphones
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So the other night I was thinking about the map of our United States of America. I began to ponder just how states' boundaries are defined. Some states are defined by rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. Some states are defined by man-made boundaries (which can lead to some interesting disputes).
Currently, Texas' western boundaries are defined in the Compromise of 1850 as "that which is south of the 33rd parallel, and that which is south of the 36°30' parallel north and east of the 103rd meridian west." The eastern edge of the panhandle lies along the 100th meridian west. To the south, Texas has the natural boundaries: the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico (src: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo). Along the north, a natural border to Oklahoma exists along the Red River. To the East we have the Sabine River from the Gulf up to the 32nd parallel, then straight north to the Red River (Adams-Onís Treaty). Interesting, but so what? Plate Tectonics.
In the early 20th century, geologists developed a theory that described continental drift. They dubbed it Plate Tectonics. It has been discovered that continents do move, so naturally so does everything on them. Texas, and the vast majority of the United States "lower 48" (plus Alaska) ride on the North American plate. The North American Plate moves at about 1.5cm/yr more or less toward the Southeast. This means that Texas is slowly taking land away from New Mexico while losing land to Oklahoma and Louisiana. Texas will not lose land to Mexico, thanks to the natural boundary, the Rio Grande (which rides on the plate). Astronomical longitude/latitude lines do not move (they are based on the proximity to the poles and prime meridian (which is physically drifting too, but now there exist astronomical definitions to account for this) Because of this, the land that moves under the aforementioned longitude/latitude boundaries become, in essence, Texas.
Because of these findings, I hereby proclaim that at the time of this writing, I become sole owner of unclaimed lands that move into the boundaries of Texas. Hands off.
update: By my rough calculations, in 69,971 years I'll own all of present-day Texico, NM; and in 1,399,429 years I'll own present-day Clovis, NM. (I will cede Cannon AFB to the federal government.)
update #2: I also claim ownership of all lands that have entered the Texas boundaries dating back to the formation of said boundaries (1850). That should give me a strip of land about 6 ft of land about 241 miles long (assuming 1° is about 69mi) plus whatever land runs along the line from El Paso to the Pecos region.
2009-1850=159yrs, 159yr*1.15cm/yr=182.85cm ≈ 6ft |
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tags: plate tectonics texas
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