Archive
Category: Weblog
Random assortments, selected for semantic content.
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Universal Spam Solution Rebuttal
These days, it seems that spam (which has, despite being a trademark of Hormel Foods Corporation, fallen into common usage as a result of Monty Python) is an unavoidable consequence of having and utilising an e-mail address of some sort. Various proposals have been put forth, some legislative, others software-based, but all have failed to… Read more →
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Erudition Begins Again
In the days preceding the start of the Melbourne University semester, my sedulous to-do list has grown in length at a rate much faster than that at which I could check off completed items with a perfunctory grin of satisfaction. Indeed, as unfinished summer projects and crates of anti-static storage boxes (don’t ask) lie strewn… Read more →
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Counterfeit Circumvention Angers Photoshop Users
This thread in Adobe’s Photoshop Users forum details a rather unusual feature that debuted with the release of the latest incarnation of popular image-editing software Photoshop. The latest version uses an image-analysis algorithm to detect the presence of an image of United States or European Union currency, and disables access to the file. The motivation… Read more →
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Foiled Trains and Precious Dolls
This Japanese site has some remarkable panoramic images of the region’s passenger trains. Dozens of photos have been stitched together to produce a single image spanning the length of the train. This one, in particular, is quite cool. Amazon.com have a peculiar product in stock: Barbie and Ken as Arwen and Aragorn. Though their plasticised… Read more →
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Processor Forecast
After a period of inactivity, market leaders Intel and AMD have announced new processors with larger cache sizes and marginally improved clock speed, signalling the next iteration of the perennial battle for clock speed and performance. Intel’s Prescott processor, slated for release on 2 February, won’t be significantly faster than the current Northwood line clock-for-clock,… Read more →
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Holiday News
The flood of news will slow to a trickle for the next three weeks as I take some time off in sunny Byron Bay, Australia to surf, read, and play computer games. I will continue to update the visual diary with some (hopefully) rather more interesting holiday snaps, and the new site design should also… Read more →
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One Billion Pixels, But Are They Any Good?
Max Lyons has created some terrific panoramic images, each comprised of a matrix containing several hundred digital photographs. The individual shots are assembled, processed, and rerendered using software to correctly align and recolour each image to give the illusion of a single photo. The end result is a photograph with just over 1.09 billion pixels… Read more →
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Not-So-Silent Night
An Austrian trade union has called for restrictions upon the duration for which department stores may play Christmas carols as background music. As a long-time busker (violin), I know only too well that the best money always comes from Christmas carols, so I can see why department stores are keen to permeate every corner of… Read more →
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Quae Vide: iNews
There is an interesting Xbox plexiglass modification here, which turns an unassuming black plastic cuboid into a horrid display of light and sound. Taiwanese manufacturer of optical drives, Lite-On, is estimated to ship 1 million drives next quarter. Given that their technology ranks among the cheapest, quietest, and most reliable equipment I’ve come across, I… Read more →
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“Psst, Wanna Buy Some Moon Rock?”
A piece of moon rock is available for sale at a Dutch auction site, with bids starting at USD $50 000. At the time of writing, no-one seems game to put down the money for a 5kg chunk of rock geologically and chemically identical to a $1 piece of Arizonian desert boulder. Then again, diamond… Read more →