Destroy The Star... 7.13.2007 |
Checkout www.netdisaster.com and you too can destroy all sorts of Web sites! Have fun!!
This is Mars Attacks!!
This is Mars Attacks!!
Labels: geek, internet, just for fun
KidSenses confirms my geekdom... 7.05.2007 |
KidSenses Museum in Rutherfordton is aimed at children age birth to 10 years old. I'm a little older than that but let me tell you -- I had a blast.
Of course, I went with adult supervision...Photographer Jeff Melton. Jeff is used to seeing me run around a little crazy. It may come as no surprise that I have a reputation for being easily amused and highly excitable. Add to that Kidsenses' lethal combination of bright colors and interactive exhibits and I'm hooked.
In some museums, there's a feeling of being overwhelmed as soon as you walk in the door. But KidSenses -- since kids were in mind during the design -- is artfully laid out. There is a sense of much to do, make no mistake. But there is also the feeling that it's all doable and rushing through it all wouldn't be very wise.
The entrance is packed with all the props a kid could need to have a fulfilling make-believe experience. A fire truck, a grocery store, a news studio, an art studio...I'm missing something, no doubt. Unfortunately, I'm too tall to convincingly play in the fire truck and I dwarfed the kid-sized grocery store. Jeff might tell you that fact didn't stop me from trying out everything but Jeff is just jealous he was definitely too tall do play in any of the exhibits.
There was a room dedicated to bubbles! You CANNOT go wrong with a room dedicated to bubbles. Big bubbles, too. You should not bring your kids to KidSense with the anticipation that they will be gazing, chin raised at various exhibits explaining tectonic plate movement and moving begrudgingly down the Hall of Early Man. It's interactive to the nth degree.
At $5 per person (though I recommend a season pass...) it's a nice way to beat the heat (or dodge bad weather) and keep the kids from vegging out. If you're a nerd like me, it's a great place to take the special kid in your life...cousin, niece, nephew, little sister... and surreptitiously enjoy your visit, too.
I did find at least one thing that fit me...a throne. That's no coincidence. I want this to be my new office chair.
Labels: education, geek, just for fun, science, weather, weekend
Storms: All you ever wanted to know and then some... 6.26.2007 |
National Weather Service 7 day forecast -Not only is this a great Web site to get weather information from (no ads, very localized information) it has a geek factor unrivaled. Under the "Additional Forecasts & Information" click "Forecast Discussion." It's not exactly Vitale's color commentary, but if you're interested in the blow-by-blow of severe weather, it's kind of cool. And when severe weather isn't rolling though, NOAA and NWS both have a lot of content to browse through on each of their homepages.
Here's what the area looked like at 4 on Tuesday...
Storm Prediction Center - Another good bit of storm goodness...here you can see national trends.
Coast Guard Storm Center - In a boat? No Jonah to throw overboard? Take a few tips from the guys that KNOW weather and water the Coast Guard. (More about hurricanes and the high seas but still, good stuff to know.)
American Red Cross - A good resource that covers a lot of basic safety tips for being around severe weather.
Disaster Kits - Here's what you need in your home, workplace or car. Trust me, if you have this stuff on hand, you'll end up being someone's hero.
StormChaser's Code - If you're intrepid (or as my grandmother insists, stupid) enough to chase after these storms, this is a code to live by.
Weather on the Radio...on your computer... - Live streaming audio of NOAA's weather information.
The digital Boston Tea party... 5.01.2007 |
*major geek-factor warning*
As a www.votefortheworst.com fan, I've come to marvel at the powerful number of people who can be mobilized by the Internet. Last night, on digg.com there was an uprising. Now, to be honest, I know what "the code" does but I haven't the slightest clue of how to use it. Still, the number of people involved, the questions of intellectual property, the internet's role in a secretless society and the coverage by major news outlets... well, it's just one heck of a story.
"It's the most circulated number of the week. Sixteen hexadecimal digits that unlock the wonder of most currently released HD-DVD titles from the surly clutches of the AACS revenue content protection system. Sixteen digits that have been posted in so many places -- and in many cases, removed only to be reposted -- that they're hard to avoid.
…[As] Joe Rogan's character on Newsradio once quite accurately quipped, "Dude, you can't take something off the Internet… that's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool."
The content providers have attempted to do exactly that, remove pee from the proverbial swimming pool that is the Internet and, as we've witnessed so many times before, they've failed miserably.
-from downloadsquad.com
Digg.com has become one of the Web's top news portals by putting the power to choose the news in the hands of its users. Just how much power they wield, however, only became clear Tuesday night, when Digg turned into what one user called a "digital Boston Tea Party."
When the site's administrators attempted to prevent users from posting links to pages revealing the copyright encryption key for HD-DVD discs, Digg's users rebelled. Hundreds of references to the code flooded the site's submissions, filling its main pages and overwhelming the administrators' attempts to control the site's content.
Tuesday afternoon, Digg CEO Jay Adelson had posted a message on his blog explaining that the site was removing links to articles that featured the newly cracked HD-DVD encryption key, which can be used to decrypt the high-definition discs and copy their content. "In order for Digg to survive, it must abide by the law," he wrote. "Our goal is always to maintain a purely democratic system for the submission and sharing of information. ... In order for that to happen, we all need to work together to protect Digg from exposure to lawsuits that could very quickly shut us down. Thanks for your understanding."
But Digg's users were not understanding. Instead, they covered the site's main pages with links to blogs that revealed the HD-DVD code and criticized the site's decision to censor content. Because Digg gives users the ability to rate news stories, pushing their favorites to the site's most visible positions, thousands voted to bring links to the top of the site with titles like "Revolt at Digg?" and "Digg Punched me in the Face for Posting This." By midnight, the site's entire homepage was covered with links to the HD-DVD code or anti-Digg references.
And at that point, Digg's executives conceded. In a note published on the site, Digg founder Kevin Rose said the site would no longer try to prevent users from publishing the code.
"We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code," he wrote. "But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."
--the article in full at Forbes.com
A few more links...
Frightfully creative
C-NET's take
Labels: geek, internet, power of the people