P!ng - News from Around the Web

My harddrive died and I nearly lost my data - and I had a backup drive.

Wednesday, 26 January 2011 17:45 Your Inner Geek

My harddrive died and I nearly my data - and I had a backup drive.

In real estate the saying is location, location, location. In tech, the saying is back it up, back it up, back it up. Literally. Three times. Preferably in different places. My harddrive on a two-year-old MacBook Pro died and I nearly lost three months of data - and I had a backup drive.

Now, I'm backing up in triplicate. I now have two backup drives, one automated and one manual, and a Mobile Me account.

HTML5 is coming...

Monday, 11 October 2010 13:58 Your Inner Geek

HTML5 is on it's way to a site near you. What is it? It's HTML, but it's the new standard, the latest in years. Why is it important? It gives designers and users more flexibility in creating web sites and in browsing them.

The big news about HTML5 is that it will rival and likely replace Adobe Flash as a media/animation player. Apple won't let it's iPhones or iPad use Adobe Flash because it complains that the Flash player is bulky and slow for it's mobile devices. Because of this, Apple supports the adoption of HTML5.

From the perspective of a Flash animator, I was concerned that Flash the program might go away. Animating anything in HTML5 is a pain - it require very long scripts of Javascript and it's hard to edit. Luckily for me, the latest version of Flash exports to HTML5 and Javascript.

Here's some more info on HTML5 and it's impact on privacy

Spring Cleaning

Friday, 02 April 2010 15:26 Your Inner Geek

Spring Cleaning for your computer and your peace of mind!

Spring is here, and with it comes the instinct to clean your home, your cluttered schedule, and of course, your computer. Here are some tips to get your computer spring fresh.

Facebook Plugin, round 5

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 00:39 Lowlande News

Ok, authorized something in FB, let's try this again.

3D Mandelbrot Images

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 13:54 The Art of Science

I've always been interested in fractals, not so much for the drug references as for the beauty in the balance between chaos and order. Fractals are order that grows into chaos, which grows back into order. It all depends on your frame of reference. Some of the images on this page are beautifully detailed, perfectly symmetrical designs. Others have all the serenity and grace of a cloudscape, or the curving rock formations in the desert.

Almost everyone is familiar with the 2D Mandelbrot series. Even if the word "Mandelbrot" doesn't ring a bell, the images have been a part of pop culture since the 70's. Read more about Mandelbrot here.

3D takes it to a new level. The endless calculations designed to emulate an infinite coastline become a structure with an infinite surface. Like the orginal Mandelbrot series, I think the real beauty is in the close-ups rather than trying to view it as a whole. Diversity in the details.

See more images of the 3D Mandelbrot series

Bamboo Laptops

Tuesday, 06 May 2008 07:03 Your Inner Geek

Asus - my favorite motherboard manufacturer - is coming out with bamboo laptops this summer!

Here it is on TreeHugger.com

Close up of the blonde bamboo finish
Also comes in "espresso" finish (!)

CNet Crave reviews and more photos

Not only is the case made from renewable bamboo wood, but the insides are also made from recycled plastic. Yummy, I can't wait to see them in the stores!

Downloading Music: Choose Your Price

Wednesday, 03 October 2007 13:01 Your Inner Geek

The bottom line: downloading music wasn't screwing the artists. It was screwing the recording industry by creating a direct relationship between the musicians and the fans.

Now, Radiohead and other bands are tipping the scales a little more. They are bypassing the greedy record companies and offering their music directly to fans from their web site. Radiohead is offering their new album "In Rainbows" for whatever price you want to pay. Type in your email address and the amount, and off you go.

Facebook Impact

Thursday, 19 August 2010 21:07 Lowlande News

An article in Salon about how Facebook impacts our lives.

http://www.salon.com/technology/facebook/index.html?story=/tech/dan_gillmor/2010/08/19/facebook_and_location

Yellow Pages / Bell South

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 19:36 Google Bytes

Yesterday I got a call from the Yellow Page rep. If you're a business owner, you get these twice a year, maybe more. The rep was trying to sell me on online advertising with Yellowpages.com, and as he was running through his script, he rattled off a unbelievable statistic. He said 32% of all searches in the Triangle were done on Yellowpages.com.

I had to laugh. 32%?, I said, You've got to be kidding. No, he said, and then continued by saying that it was an independent statistic, not one taken by Bell South. He said the name of the surveying company, but I don't remember. Not that it matters; I'm pretty sure whoever came up with that statistic had to do some serious massaging to get a number like 32%. I told him that I keep stats on all my websites, and if I saw that 32% of the referring links on my clients sites came from Yellowpages.com, I'd be calling him.

How to catch an iPhone thief

Thursday, 11 February 2010 21:58 Your Inner Geek

I got this from a friend on Facebook, I had to repost it. Hilarious!

http://iphonetheif.blogspot.com/

Why I'm ditching Godaddy

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 23:41 Lowlande News

I've decided I'm ditching Godaddy.com. After years of recommending them to clients, I finally came to the conclusion that my loyalty is outweighed by my need to vote with my pocketbook.

Why Bob? Do you really need to say "Viewer Discretion Advised" to advertise your personal blog, "Straight talk from Go Daddy's CEO & Founder". I mean, what does that say about you, that you are a straight shootin' CEO who gets down to business or that you shoot from the hip? Ewww, I can't click on your link because I really don't want to know.

Actually, I haven't wanted to know for a while. I've been ignoring all those ads about enhancement, and Danica Patrick, who should be a role model for women, but who is prostituting herself to be your spokesmodel. I used to tell my clients, "Yeah, I know the ads are cheesy. But it's an easy service to use." You know what? So is Register.com, and my old nemesis of registrars, Network Solutions. Both offer domain names at comparable prices, and I don't have to pretend not to see their ads.

Sorry, Go Daddy. I'd like to say you've been good to me, but actually, you're just old. And there's other fish in the sea.

Happy Halloween

Thursday, 01 November 2007 13:35 Lowlande News

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I got a great Halloween surprise, I got an up-close-and-personal encounter with a Great Horned Owl.

I volunteer for the American Wildlife Refuge, a non-profit organization that rehabilitates and refuges injured raptors. A raptor, in case you don't know is a bird of prey that kills its food with it's feet, like an eagle, hawk or owl. I'm licensed to handle and temporarily possess raptors. I discover raptor rehab in college, and I've pursued it ever since.

Hubble Image: Stars Spilling Forth

Wednesday, 03 October 2007 12:37 The Art of Science

Hubble keeps on sending us ever more incredible views of our universe. This image is of NGC 3603 - a nebula of brilliant blue-white stars in the Milky Way. The blue color is from the oxygen content of the stars as they burn. The red color is the gas and dust in the nebula that the stars are formed from. The radiation from the stars makes the gas glow red. Note the red giant in the upper left-hand corner.