Archive for July, 2008

Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 31, 08 - 7:58 am

Categories //
Geekery
Technology
Toys & Gadgets

Comments Off on Ancient Olympic ‘Computer’ Calculated Dates

Ancient Olympic ComputerResearchers announced Wednesday that a geared device dating to the second century BC was used to calculate the dates for the first Olympic games.

It has long been known that the Antikythera Mechanism — recovered in 1900 or 1901 from a shipwreck off the Greek coast — was able to calculate and display celestial information, including cycles and phases of the moon and sun.

Now, newly deciphered inscriptions on the device referencing the Olympics, and a dial designed to calculate the four-year Olympiad Cycle, reveal more about the device and how it was used by the Greeks.

The first Olympics were held in Nemea in 776 BC. Reuters reports that “The name ‘Nemea’ was found near a small dial on the mechanism, a reference to the site of one of the prominent games in the Olympiad cycle, the researchers said. Locations such as Olympia also appeared.”

A report published Wednesday in the journal Nature says:

The Antikythera Mechanism is technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards. Its specific functions have remained controversial because its gears and the inscriptions upon its faces are only fragmentary

Here we report surface imaging and high-resolution X-ray tomography of the surviving fragments, enabling us to reconstruct the gear function and double the number of deciphered inscriptions. The mechanism predicted lunar and solar eclipses on the basis of Babylonian arithmetic-progression cycles.

Technologists from HP joined the scientific team and contributed imaging analysis. See their amazingly detailed ‘reflectance images’ here.

If you still want more, watch a fascinating video of how researchers deciphered the purpose and properties of the mechanism.

Source: Nature Journal


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 25, 08 - 10:12 pm

Categories //
Memories
Videos

Comments Off on Randy Pausch: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.

In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals:

In Memoriam: Randy Pausch (1960-2008). For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 24, 08 - 8:30 am

Categories //
Humor
Random Thoughts
Videos

Comments Off on Advertising Agency Death by Review

What if an advertising agency took the brief to create stop signs for intersections, and tried to incorporate ALL of the clients’ suggestions?

Indeed, this video shows what would happen. Very painful, but so true.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 23, 08 - 10:14 am

Categories //
Humor
Videos

1 Comment

As seen in the video below, one of the more memorable segments to come from the realm of late night talk TV is the unnecessary censorship bit from Jimmy Kimmel Live:

The fact that they choose to exploit something as innocent as Sesame Street makes it all the more fantastic.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 21, 08 - 9:25 am

Categories //
Apple
Google
Technology
Wireless

Comments Off on Google Updates iPhone Usability Further

Google’s latest improvement now allows users to save bookmarks to specific Google services directly on the desktop of their iPhone as icons. Rather than stand-alone applications, however, these are just links to the web-based services. Also, ever mindful of how fast its services are, Google has picked up the pace a bit.

I am glad Google took this step to speed up the time it takes to reach certain Google services. Previously, you had to open a link to Google.com. Once that page loaded, you could use the tabs at the top of the page to jump to the Calendar, Gmail, Reader and More screens.

Now, if you want to go straight to Google Reader — or any over the others — you can jump there from your iPhone’s home screen. As long as you are signed in to your account, it will bring up your information right away. Google writes:

“We’ve created cool new icons for all the applications. Simply go to www.google.com in your browser, tap on any of the application tabs, click the ‘+’ button, and select ‘Add to Home Screen.’ The icons will appear on your iPhone Home Screen allowing you to go directly to the application with a tap of your finger.”

It’s simple to set up, but I am still disappointed that Google has not created on-board applications for the iPhone that provide more robust features than those that are available via the online versions.

Google also says it has sped up page load times for the main search site:

“At Google, improving the speed of our applications and user experience is a top priority. The new Google.com for the iPhone browser now loads twice as fast as before — and not just over 3G or Wi-Fi but also EDGE. We’ve optimized the page for fast searching, while still providing easy access to other Google applications. We also improved the user interface so that there’s more room on the page for search results.”

I timed it. The home screen loads in 6 seconds via EDGE, 4 seconds via 3G, and 3 seconds via Wi-Fi. The expanded real estate on the the search results page is also nice to have, as you can view more results at one time.

Source: Google Mobile Blog


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
Jul 19, 08 - 9:33 am

Categories //
Humor
Videos

1 Comment

This is one of those films that I think will have a funnier blooper reel than the main feature:

Limited Edition Chewbacca Pez dispenser – and not individual Pez – whole packs. They only made 250 of these in 1979.

My only question is this: why is this a deleted scene? I can only hope that the whole movie is made up of equally awkward and hilarious scenes.

The movie Step Brothers comes out on Friday July 25.