Over the past couple of months, dEb and I have repeatedly found ourselves concluding that "nice people get screwed," after repeatedly having nice efforts on our part received with little gratitude, or resulting in major inconveniences or other ills. I've decided to take a running tally which can be viewed here.
10:11 |
2002/02/27
This is a little crude, but for anyone who remembers the Daleks, it should prove mildly amusing :)
Interesting article about the modernization of railroad control notes low-tech solutions for implementing high-tech equipment in unfavorable conditions:
Locomotive technicians were at first amused, for instance, to learn that the military kept processors plugged into their sockets under constant vibration by tying them down with dental floss. Amused, but impressed: Union Pacific adopted this solution.
Also, there's a really interesting twist on the life imitates art / art imitates life observation. Real diesel locomotive wheels are powered by DC as were model locomotives. Model locomotives are now delivering AC power to their wheels with the advent of Digital Command Control (DCC) -- a form of Pulse Witdh Modulation (PWM) -- and now real locomotives are adopting the same scheme:
Computer chips make AC motors practical by regulating the flow of power with a precision impossible by any other means. The chips monitor and control the DC entering the inverters and make sure that they deliver the proper amount of AC to the traction motors. This is no small feat: each inverter may require as many as 500 on-off commands per second to regulate the AC flow. And while 500 commands per second may seem unimpressive in a day of gigahertz chips, the proper comparison is not with other computers but with human beings. Imagine a train engineer trying to make 500 changes in throttle position every second.
Assuming that the model trains made use of AC first, this would be a case of art imitates life, art evolves, then life imitates art!
12:15 |
2002/02/25
Police say [an OC Transpo employee] was arrested after someone threatened to bring a rifle to work. The threat was made on Tuesday at OC Transpo's St Laurent Garage, the same garage where four employees were shot and killed by a co-worker in the spring of 1999.
16:58 |
For anyone who's had emails to my @yahoo and @altavista accounts go unanswered for the past while, it's b/c I've had difficulty checking those accounts over the last three or so weeks. Drop me a line instead at drew_alley@graffit.net and I'll be able to get back to you much sooner!
Need caffine . . .
Quite a busy weekend. dEb and I hosted a mass excursion from the 'shwa this weekend. Dan, Duff, and two Jenn's came for a visit, and am I ever pooped today. We had a great time for the most part -- it's just hard coordinating that many people toward common activites. I think I'll refrain from having more than two visitors at a time in the future.
10:54 |
2002/02/22
Robo-bears monitor guests at seniors' home in Japan.
16:06 |
2002/02/21
16:49 |
So does Produce Depot, and the spiffy Flash intro has phat beats, yo!
After visiting the Produce Depot site, Loblaw.com is boring and corporate in comparison. The company profile at Farm Boy lists fresh produce from Montreal as a primary objective, whereas Loblaw Company's first goal listed in the company profile is "to provide superior returns to its shareholders." (Yeah, it's a bit of spin considereing Loblaw's -- the actualy grocery chain -- is one of the many Loblaw Companies, but still . . .)
. . . yes, I am bored at work today.
13:12 |
Once a snowboarder or skier exceeds a self-imposed speed limit, a small amount of low-frequency current from a three-volt rechargeable battery would pass between electrodes through the snow, increasing the friction from the natural electrical charge. The snow that is melted by low-frequency current does not stay liquid for long. Instead, it instantly refreezes into what Dr. Petrenko calls "an ice bridge" between the ski slope the bottom of the ski. "To move the ski you then have to break those bridges," he said.
Interesting article about tv/movie villians using PCs and good guys using Macs.
Sharp article about Hollywood's recent obsession w/ the fat suit.
12:15 |
2002/02/20
Tip-seekers post links on their sites to outside payment firms such as PayPal or Amazon; tippers just click to donate -- though they have to register with the payment sites first. The services charge a fee to the recipient and take a percentage of the tip.
Here's a directory of free web-based e-mail addresses. I'm back in contact now w/ my new account: drew_alley@graffiti.net which I can access from work . . . for now.
12:20 |
2002/02/19
A good day for entertainment:
Kids in the Hall 2002 tour!
New Boards of Canada album released today!
16:08 |
09:14 |
2002/02/18
With the remainder of Sunday afternoon after my parents' departure, dEb and I hit the hills at the Arboretum for some toboganning action. It's been years since gone sledding -- very fun!
Normally I wouldn't be fond of it being Monday, but today represents a return to normality. February's been all about visitors and visiting. Don't know if it's all over yet, though, as Duff and dAn (and friends?) may make the sojourn up here this upcoming weekend . . .
09:38 |
2002/02/15
11:44 |
My parents are coming up this weekend -- I'm excited to see how they fare in my environment . . .
09:16 |
2002/02/14
Yet more Lego craziness! I've been fooling around w/ a Rubik's Cube for a couple days now, and still have yet to solve it. Here's a Lego machine that can do it! I think I'm going to break down and do a little Rubik reading on the web . . .
The Lego mini-fig patent (click on 'Images').
That's right, put down the video camera and no one will get hurt . . . nor forget their childhood. Interesting article about over-vid'ing kids. I especially like this quote:
Our minds edit our stories for us in a way that videotape can't. What we remember and what we forget becomes the narrative of our lives.
09:38 |
2002/02/13
09:41 |
2002/02/12
From this article:
A 39-year-old woman escaped with only minor injuries after being dragged by an OC Transpo bus for almost 500 metres yesterday.
Yet another injury by bus . . . although it doesn't sound like it was the driver's fault, I'm still shaking my head in disgust -- those buses are lethal!
15:27 |
I DON'T LIKE BUTTER! I DON'T LIKE MAYO! WORLD, GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!!!
12:50 |
10:38 |
2002/02/11
. . . blocks comprising a first portion containing information for display and a second portion containing information not for display but including the complete address for each of plural other blocks of information . . .
A pretty broad claim, but there seems to be substantial prior art against it. (Condensed from MeFi.)
15:13 |
Hilarious! Check out this little guy!
12:44 |
2002/02/08
Ryan: a funny pic.
16:01 |
09:46 |
2002/02/07
She was driving her car out in the street,
It began to rain, and she hydroplaned,
Went through the windshield and got hit by a train.
Well, I guess it's not that sweet, but the article sure is concise.
15:38 |
09:55 |
2002/02/06
15:31 |
14:28 |
2002/02/05
Drive now, talk (and live) later:
The driver of a Ford Explorer lost control of her vehicle Friday while she was on a cellphone with her boyfriend. The SUV hurtled over a guardrail and landed on top of a mini-van with four Quebecers aboard.
Big brother in a box-top set:
DVRs can monitor viewer habits and even record shows automatically based on a viewer's apparent preferences.
I'm really getting sick of hearing about 'preference' monitoring/tracking . . .
I'm sure you've heard that Sesame Street is getting re-vamped, but I don't like the sounds of this:
For years, ``Sesame Street'' had a single ``street story'' that would be revisited periodically throughout the hour. Parents told researchers that their children's attention would wander, so now the story will be told in one 10-minute block.
It's nothing new to suggest that kids' attention spans are waning, but to cater to it just seems a step backwards, imo.
This is ridiculous. For the love of everything proper and moral, PLEASE boycott Nike.
14:21 |