18.6.03
Dooney's Cafe
Dooney's Cafe - An alternate news service is a state of mind rooted in several things: a community centred around a café on Toronto’s Bloor Street, a dissatisfaction with conventional news gathering, analysis and dissemination.
Great Artcile: The Illusory Diffusion of Innovation
The Illusory Diffusion of Innovation: An Examination of Assimilation Gaps
"The question of why some innovations might be widely acquired but sparsely deployed is in need of theoretical attention."
"The question of why some innovations might be widely acquired but sparsely deployed is in need of theoretical attention."
Wild and Perhaps Errant Ideas: Geert Lovink
Geert Lovink
"It is my personal commitment to combine cyber pragmatism and media activism with pleasurable forms of European nihilism. Not the apocalyptic, conservative culture of complaint which post modernism has left behind, but short heroic epics on the everyday life of the media, reporting from within the belly of the Beast, fully aware of its own futile existence, compared to the millennial powers to be."
"It is my personal commitment to combine cyber pragmatism and media activism with pleasurable forms of European nihilism. Not the apocalyptic, conservative culture of complaint which post modernism has left behind, but short heroic epics on the everyday life of the media, reporting from within the belly of the Beast, fully aware of its own futile existence, compared to the millennial powers to be."
Wild and Perhaps Errant Ideas: through blind cyborg eyes i will speak deafly by zina kaye
through blind cyborg eyes i will speak deafly by zina kaye november 1995
"It was a Thursday. I went to bed thinking I want to make clear this mess, to understand all these spaces, these images, these texts: not their content but where they fit. What I have been missing this past six months is, in psychoanalytic terms, my biggest blind spot, that which I most care about."
"It was a Thursday. I went to bed thinking I want to make clear this mess, to understand all these spaces, these images, these texts: not their content but where they fit. What I have been missing this past six months is, in psychoanalytic terms, my biggest blind spot, that which I most care about."
16.6.03
Elf's Sony SJ33 Clié Journal
"This page is a journal of my experiences using the Sony SJ33 Clié beginning with the day I purchased it."
28.5.03
Matrix Quotes
Agent Smith: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not.
You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure."
Morpheus: "What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your
entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know
what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
Morpheus: I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the
door. You're the one that has to walk through it.
Neo: Why do my eyes hurt?
Morpheus: You've never used them before.
Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the
path.
Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?
What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the
difference between the dream world and the real world?
Morpheus: The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to
blind you from the truth.
Tank: So what do you need? Besides a miracle.
Neo: Guns. Lots of guns.
Trinity: Neo... nobody has ever done this before.
Neo: I know. That's why it's going to work.
You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure."
Morpheus: "What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your
entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know
what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
Morpheus: I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the
door. You're the one that has to walk through it.
Neo: Why do my eyes hurt?
Morpheus: You've never used them before.
Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the
path.
Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?
What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the
difference between the dream world and the real world?
Morpheus: The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to
blind you from the truth.
Tank: So what do you need? Besides a miracle.
Neo: Guns. Lots of guns.
Trinity: Neo... nobody has ever done this before.
Neo: I know. That's why it's going to work.
14.5.03
Digital Photography Article
Digital Photography for the Web
by Michael Calore, WebMonkey, 23 Apr 2003
by Michael Calore, WebMonkey, 23 Apr 2003
1.11.02
China Boom Boom
"The Hot Zone: An untamed technology boom is sweeping through China's Pearl River Delta, where cheap labor, mass production, police thugs, and get-rich-quick dreams rule. It's a terrible, horrible, lawless frontier. And it works."
~From: Wired 10.11: The Hot Zone:
~From: Wired 10.11: The Hot Zone:
Great China photos ...
Chinese Rural Architecture
The whole on-line magazine looks wild.
From the introduction: "Back in the winter of 1998 we won another sweepstakes vacation to a dude ranch, only this time the vacation lasted three years. Remember that clean mountain air, those high plateaus and the freshly mown alfalfa? They proved again such welcome respite from dotcom lunacy that we almost forgot the Web existed -- not to mention San Francisco. But then our cell phone rang, with reports that Atlas had fallen into a morbid pit of decomissioned servers. Adrenaline pumping, we dove into the Atlocraft and threw her into high gear (well, third gear, anyway), burning code all the way back to headquarters, where we found some awfully sour milk in the fridge. It took us a while to dust off the buddhas and hook up the generator, but it looks Atlas is back. For a while anyway. You never know in this town."
The whole on-line magazine looks wild.
From the introduction: "Back in the winter of 1998 we won another sweepstakes vacation to a dude ranch, only this time the vacation lasted three years. Remember that clean mountain air, those high plateaus and the freshly mown alfalfa? They proved again such welcome respite from dotcom lunacy that we almost forgot the Web existed -- not to mention San Francisco. But then our cell phone rang, with reports that Atlas had fallen into a morbid pit of decomissioned servers. Adrenaline pumping, we dove into the Atlocraft and threw her into high gear (well, third gear, anyway), burning code all the way back to headquarters, where we found some awfully sour milk in the fridge. It took us a while to dust off the buddhas and hook up the generator, but it looks Atlas is back. For a while anyway. You never know in this town."
Tech Trivia: How long will a digital camera last?
From megapixel.net, a cool looking digital camera magazine.
"Besides the nearly unavoidable "which camera should I buy?" question, another one that regularly crops up in the mail we receive at megapixel.net is : "how long should I expect a digital camera to last?"."
"Besides the nearly unavoidable "which camera should I buy?" question, another one that regularly crops up in the mail we receive at megapixel.net is : "how long should I expect a digital camera to last?"."
31.10.02
Photo Projects
California Coastline: Photographs, Environmentalism and Solar Energy
From SiliconValley.com:
Excerpt: "Some people go to the beach and come back with a snapshot. Ken Adelman has come back with 7,000 of them. And he isn't finished yet. In an unprecedented marriage of high technology and environmental activism, Adelman has taken 7,000 aerial photographs of the California coastline -- one roughly every 500 feet -- and posted them on a Web site."
Also, see Adelman's website: "Welcome to the website of the Adelmans' photovoltaic system. At the time of construction, this system was rumored to be the largest residential photovoltaic system in California. I don't know if it is true, but with the new laws and subsidies encouraging photovoltaic systems, it certainly won't be for long! Our system has a 2,880 square foot array with a theoretical output of 30.5kW."
From SiliconValley.com:
Excerpt: "Some people go to the beach and come back with a snapshot. Ken Adelman has come back with 7,000 of them. And he isn't finished yet. In an unprecedented marriage of high technology and environmental activism, Adelman has taken 7,000 aerial photographs of the California coastline -- one roughly every 500 feet -- and posted them on a Web site."
Also, see Adelman's website: "Welcome to the website of the Adelmans' photovoltaic system. At the time of construction, this system was rumored to be the largest residential photovoltaic system in California. I don't know if it is true, but with the new laws and subsidies encouraging photovoltaic systems, it certainly won't be for long! Our system has a 2,880 square foot array with a theoretical output of 30.5kW."
30.10.02
Gritty Poet: Charles Bukowski
Great starting point on Charles Bukowski's poetry. I also liked the poem roll the dice at the blog gomi no sensei.
CNN: Will the U.S. fall behind in tech?
CNN: Will the U.S. fall behind in tech?
Assume applies to Canada. Need more focus on technology/opportuniites?
Excerpt: "At last week's Agenda technology conference, many in the audience pricked up their ears when Pat Gelsinger, Intel's chief technology officer and head of research, began passionately complaining on stage about U.S. technology competitiveness. "
Linked from On-line Blog
Assume applies to Canada. Need more focus on technology/opportuniites?
Excerpt: "At last week's Agenda technology conference, many in the audience pricked up their ears when Pat Gelsinger, Intel's chief technology officer and head of research, began passionately complaining on stage about U.S. technology competitiveness. "
Linked from On-line Blog
26.10.02
Business Week | Inside The Great Mutual Fund Trap
Excerpt: "Two U.S. Treasury veterans use exhaustive research to challenge the concept of managed funds"
Excerpt: "Two U.S. Treasury veterans use exhaustive research to challenge the concept of managed funds"
24.10.02
HBR Editor on Management
Is Management Possible?
Excerpt: "It's one thing for processes to be controlled; it's another for them to be in command. Unreliability was the management problem of the 20th century, and we more or less licked it. Uncertainty is the problem of the 21st. It can't be wrestled into submission." The author is now off to edit the Harvard Business Review.
Excerpt: "It's one thing for processes to be controlled; it's another for them to be in command. Unreliability was the management problem of the 20th century, and we more or less licked it. Uncertainty is the problem of the 21st. It can't be wrestled into submission." The author is now off to edit the Harvard Business Review.
Influence and Wealth: Notes
But there are personality characteristics that self-made millionaires have in common: an abundance of optimism, a sense of confidence and an ability to find good relationships. There are always variations, of course, but evidence of a template exists -- a "millionaire mindset".
ADSX Press Release - October 22, 2002
About VeriChip™: VeriChip is a miniaturized radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip product contains a unique verification number and will be available in several formats, some of which will be insertable under the skin. The verification number is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the VeriChip. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the scanner energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the verification number. "Getting chipped" is a simple, outpatient procedure that lasts just a few minutes and involves only local anesthetic and insertion of the chip. VeriChip Corporation and its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, are working with federal regulators to ensure full compliance with applicable regulations. VeriChip Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions.
About VeriChip™: VeriChip is a miniaturized radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip product contains a unique verification number and will be available in several formats, some of which will be insertable under the skin. The verification number is captured by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the VeriChip. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the scanner energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the verification number. "Getting chipped" is a simple, outpatient procedure that lasts just a few minutes and involves only local anesthetic and insertion of the chip. VeriChip Corporation and its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, are working with federal regulators to ensure full compliance with applicable regulations. VeriChip Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions.
17.10.02
BMW Short Films + Sub-plots
Great, short action films.
And, of course, nothing is ever so simple ... there are subplots in the BMW films and a web site devoted to them at BMW Films Subplots
Excerpt: "Every time I watch these I dream up something new. Here’s what I know for sure: the maid has all the goods. She killed the dude in the hotel room to get the roll of film. She went postal on the postman, and hijacked the little box. The box she switched out appears to have killed some kid who was waiting for the original. She must work for someone who’s after something The Driver has – or knows."
And, of course, nothing is ever so simple ... there are subplots in the BMW films and a web site devoted to them at BMW Films Subplots
Excerpt: "Every time I watch these I dream up something new. Here’s what I know for sure: the maid has all the goods. She killed the dude in the hotel room to get the roll of film. She went postal on the postman, and hijacked the little box. The box she switched out appears to have killed some kid who was waiting for the original. She must work for someone who’s after something The Driver has – or knows."
Roots of Terrorism
Is Southeast Asia the Second Front? by John Gershman, Foreign Affairs Magazine
Excerpt: "Washington's current framing of Southeast Asia as the second front in the war on terrorism, in fact, presents four distinct problems. First, it conflates different forms of political Islam. Second, it fails to recognize that the emergence of terrorist groups was caused by weak states, inadequate cooperation between countries in the region, and a number of social problems, including anemic economies, unequal patterns of development, and fragile democratic institutions. Third, the U.S. approach relies too much on cooperation with militaries that are unaccountable (especially in the Philippines and Indonesia) and commit human rights violations with impunity. And finally, the current U.S. campaign also risks legitimizing a broader crackdown on dissent by Southeast Asian leaders eager to do away with inconvenient opposition figures.
"Roots: What Washington should keep in mind about all of these organizations is that, although their details vary, they are all symptoms of the same diseases: problems in the local economy, the weakness of states in the region, and the fragility of democratic institutions and regional intergovernmental organizations."
Excerpt: "Washington's current framing of Southeast Asia as the second front in the war on terrorism, in fact, presents four distinct problems. First, it conflates different forms of political Islam. Second, it fails to recognize that the emergence of terrorist groups was caused by weak states, inadequate cooperation between countries in the region, and a number of social problems, including anemic economies, unequal patterns of development, and fragile democratic institutions. Third, the U.S. approach relies too much on cooperation with militaries that are unaccountable (especially in the Philippines and Indonesia) and commit human rights violations with impunity. And finally, the current U.S. campaign also risks legitimizing a broader crackdown on dissent by Southeast Asian leaders eager to do away with inconvenient opposition figures.
"Roots: What Washington should keep in mind about all of these organizations is that, although their details vary, they are all symptoms of the same diseases: problems in the local economy, the weakness of states in the region, and the fragility of democratic institutions and regional intergovernmental organizations."
16.10.02
Seeing God?
Wired News: TMS: Twilight Zone Science?
"Subjects in experiments by Dr. Michael Persinger, of Laurentian University, believe they felt the presence of God, or some similar mystical experience."
"Subjects in experiments by Dr. Michael Persinger, of Laurentian University, believe they felt the presence of God, or some similar mystical experience."
15.10.02
Albert-László Barabási
"It is about how networks emerge, what they look like, and how they evolve. It aims to develop a web-based view of nature, society, and technology, providing a unified framework to better understand issues ranging from the vulnerability of the Internet to the spread of diseases. Networks are present everywhere. All we need is an eye for them."
"It is about how networks emerge, what they look like, and how they evolve. It aims to develop a web-based view of nature, society, and technology, providing a unified framework to better understand issues ranging from the vulnerability of the Internet to the spread of diseases. Networks are present everywhere. All we need is an eye for them."
9.10.02
Imaginative Software
My Brain
Excerpt: "In December 1997, as I was in the middle of writing an issue of Release 1.0 about Internet links and link management titled "If Links Could Talk," I had a briefing from a small Los Angeles startup with a PC application called TheBrain. "Sure," I thought, marveling at the chutzpah: "the brain." But I was bowled over as soon as its inventor, Harlan Hugh, began to demonstrate it. It was exactly the application I had hoped someone would show me for link management (I no longer use my browser's bookmarks feature) plus much more. It was the best-designed, most useful app I had seen in years."
Excerpt: "In December 1997, as I was in the middle of writing an issue of Release 1.0 about Internet links and link management titled "If Links Could Talk," I had a briefing from a small Los Angeles startup with a PC application called TheBrain. "Sure," I thought, marveling at the chutzpah: "the brain." But I was bowled over as soon as its inventor, Harlan Hugh, began to demonstrate it. It was exactly the application I had hoped someone would show me for link management (I no longer use my browser's bookmarks feature) plus much more. It was the best-designed, most useful app I had seen in years."
3.10.02
Foreign Affairs Magazine Book Review: the Future of Conservation
Steven Sanderson:
"Wild nature is in deep distress, and the international institutions charged with Earth's care are not managing it with an eye on sustainability. The conservation community must step forward to promote what governments will not: science-based conservation along with poverty alleviation at the fragile ecological frontier."
"Wild nature is in deep distress, and the international institutions charged with Earth's care are not managing it with an eye on sustainability. The conservation community must step forward to promote what governments will not: science-based conservation along with poverty alleviation at the fragile ecological frontier."
2.10.02
Cultural Considerations for Working in China
Working in China today still requires recognition of guanxi's power. For example, gifts are given as a token of respect and allow individuals to build obligations between themselves and others who can assist them in China's business and social world. "
29.9.02
Photoshop Tips: Sharpening
Jay Arraich’s Photoshop Elements Tips
Jay Arraich’s Photoshop Tips - Sharpening
"Set the Amount slider to the maximum 500 %. Increase the Threshold slider until sharpening in unwanted areas such as skin, and shadows has disappeared. Increase the Radius setting as much as you can without obliterating needed details. This can vary quite a lot from image to image. Go back to the Amount slider, and set it for as much or as little as you like, which will most frequently be somewhere between 100 and 200 %."
Jay Arraich’s Photoshop Tips - Sharpening
"Set the Amount slider to the maximum 500 %. Increase the Threshold slider until sharpening in unwanted areas such as skin, and shadows has disappeared. Increase the Radius setting as much as you can without obliterating needed details. This can vary quite a lot from image to image. Go back to the Amount slider, and set it for as much or as little as you like, which will most frequently be somewhere between 100 and 200 %."
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