Category: Useless knowledge

Information you have no need for. Ever. Usually about me, but possibly about other trivial crap in the world.

A history of corrupting children

(via Joystiq)

Wired magazine has a fun and funny article about some of the things in history which were considered a corrupting influence on children before adults had videogames to blame.  Of course, we all know before videogames, it was Rock and Roll corrupting children, but did you know that the telephone, the waltz, and novels were also considered bad for children?

The Waltz
“The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced … at the English Court on Friday last … It is quite sufficient to cast one’s eyes on the voluptuous inter­twining of the limbs, and close com­pressure of the bodies … to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was con­fined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is … forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.”
– The Times of London, 1816

The Telephone
“Does the telephone make men more active or more lazy? Does [it] break up home life and the old practice of visiting friends?”
– Survey conducted by the Knights of Columbus Adult Education Committee, San Francisco Bay Area, 1926

Some of the major bad-things of the past are covered in the full article.

[tags]Corrupting influences, Think of the children[/tags]

An inefficient way to track time?

(via MyVogonPoetry)

This is one of many such clocks – watch a clock, updated by the second, tracking time.  Why is this one worth my mentioning?  Because it’s updated via blocks.  That is, every second, a stack of blocks is added to, until the stack has 9 blocks.  Then, that stack is knocked over, the next column gets another block added, and the seconds blocks start stacking again.  Easy to watch, and somehow mesmerizing.

[tags]Clock, animated time[/tags]

Portable media players are finally getting close to affordable

Samsung-yp.jpgWell, at least close to what I consider affordable. You can now pre-order the Samsung’s YM-P1 portable/personal media player for only $370 according to the Samsung page. And it’s t3h sw3ck-See.

The YM-P1 features a 16M-color 4″ TFT widescreen display, 20GB of storage, MP3 / WMA / OGG / AC3 audio playback, MPEG-4 / DivX / WMV video playback, JPG / BMP photo viewing, line-in video recording, voice recording, FM tuner, SDIO memory card and expansion slots, USB host functionality, and a 15-hour battery life (6 hours for video). The domestically released YM-PD1 includes the addition of T-DMB TV reception.

[tags]Samsung, PMP[/tags]

Self-parking car from Toyota in US soon

(via Engadget)

I know sooooo many people who need this.  It amazes me how much trouble people have parallel parking.

Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report.

New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 “parking assist” option.

Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car’s steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.

[tags]Self-parking car, Toyota[/tags]

Your guide to all shoe tying knowledge

(via MAKEzine blog)

tie-shoes.jpg

If LatticeLacing18.jpgyou find your shoelaces just don’t have to pep they used to, maybe you are tying them wrong. Why not visit Ian’s shoelace site and learn how to to a better job with those shoelaces?

Slipping Shoelaces?
Do your shoelaces always seem to come undone? If so, you’re probably tying a “Slip” knot, and one simple change to your technique will turn it into a “Reef” knot that stays secure. Note that my “Ian Knot“, the World’s Fastest Shoelace Knot, forms a secure “Reef” knot!

[tags]Shoelaces, Knots[/tags]

Comcast can’t tell what day it is?

If you love to complain about bad service, you really should visit The Consumerist.  I’ve posted enough stories from the site, though, that if you were going to visit, you would have by now.  So maybe I’m wasting bits suggesting a visit now.

Regardless, there is a new story up at The Consumerist that I particularly like, and felt the need to highlight.  In this tale, Jenna has a problem with her cable box from Comcast.  This should be easy.  One just needs a visit from a tech to replace the box (assuming, as is the case in this story, one can’t or doesn’t want to take the box to the Comcast office).  Being unavailable for an earlier visit, Jenna and her husband schedule a Saturday tech visit.  Only things don’t work out that well.  The techs show up Thursday night when no one is home.  Jenna reschedules for Saturday again…

I hung around all morning on Saturday waiting for a tech, and at 2 I called the Comcast helpline. The guy who answered looked up our record and said that we’d instead been scheduled for Friday and the tech had reported that…drum roll…no one was home. I explained that this was the second time in a row their helpdesk had been unable to determine what day “Saturday” is, and I was less than pleased at having wasted a morning waiting for a repairman. He said that he would put me down for a “VIP” call, which meant that I would be put at the top of the repairman’s work list, and he would get to me some time that day. So I waited the rest of the day.

No call back, of course, but another visit is scheduled.  Only it doesn’t seem to get better.  Poor Jenna.

[tags]Comcast, customer service[/tags]

Origins of “l33t-sp34k”

(via boingboing)

If you can read that subject, thank a geek.  If you can’t read it, learn how to read “leet” from Wikipedia.

Leet (or 1337) is a linguistic phenomenon associated with the underground culture centered around telecommunications, manifested primarily on the Internet. Leet is characterized by the corruption or modification of written text. For example, the term “leet” itself is often written “l33t”, “1337” or less commonly, ieet. Such corruptions are frequently referred to as “Leetspeak” or “L33t5p34k,” etc

[tags]Leet, l33t, hax0r[/tags]

Loneliness kills?

I find the results of this study hard to believe:

It’s true—you might die of loneliness, but not until you’re older.

In a new University of Chicago study of men and women 50 to 68 years old, those who scored highest on measures of loneliness also had higher blood pressure. And high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, the number one killer in many industrialized nations and number two the United States.

Lonely people have blood pressure readings as much as 30 points higher than non-lonely people, said the study leaders Louise Hawkley and Christopher Masi. Blood pressure differences between lonely and non-lonely people were smallest at age 50 and greatest among the oldest people tested.

Loneliness raises blood pressure? Personally, I find myself far less stressed when I am alone than when I am with other people. But then, I typically find other people very annoying. If you ever spend time with me, you’ll get to hear me gripe about it.

[tags]Loneliness[/tags]

Engadget looks back on 30 years of Apple

Covering, in their own words, the good, the bad, and the ugly, Engadget gives a look back at 30 years of Apple history. Pictures included. It’s a lengthy write-up, and it highlights some of the best and worst things Apple has done, plus just a touch on the beginnings of Apple.

Has it really been 30 years since two buddies named Steve sold off their prized possessions (Woz’s HP calculator and Jobs’ VW van) to raise money and launch a company? Has it really been 30 years since the two Steves, tired of selling blue boxes, built the Apple I and began selling it for $666.66? Yes, it has, and if you don’t believe it, just compare Jobs’ hairlines from ’76 and today. And while the company has become known for many things, from its groundbreaking GUI to the iTunes Music Store, we know Apple has always been a hardware company at heart. So here’s to you, Apple: the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly from the past 30 years. Happy Birthday.

apple_displays.jpg Yes, these pretty LCDs fall under the good category. On the other side, you have things in the bad like the Lisa and the Newton. And I wasn’t even aware of a couple of the items to make the ugly list. Good reading, though.

[tags]Apple, computing history[/tags]

Build your own hovercraft

(via MAKEzine blog)

Parts list, instructions, build motivation, blueprints, and loads of pictures to guide you at the builder’s site.  Even some guidance on mistakes to avoid if you decide to build your own/

So I you are planning a project like this here are a few tips so you do not make the same mistakes I make:

  1. Use more powerful motors or motor if you build a single engine craft
  2. Get already made fans do not try to build you own
  3. Use light components, this is the most important it has to be a light as possible
  4. If you do not know what you are doing, get some plans off the internet, try Universal Hovercraft they have got some good stuff

[tags]DIY, hovercraft[/tags]

64 Gig on a USB 2.0 flash drive?

(via Engadget)

bdp264u2.s.jpg

As I write this, I am mere moments away from drooling. I have no need for it.

I have no practical reason to get one. But it’s shiny, and pretty, and I could whip it out and show everyone that mine is the biggest. Of course, it is $15,000. Is carrying a 64 Gig flash drive worth that? No, but if I had cash to burn, I’d still get one just for geek coolness.

[tags]USB Flash, 64 Gig[/tags]