July 2010
8 posts
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Restoring an iPhone after a failed iOS 4.0.1...
I had lots of problems yesterday upgrading my iPhone to iOS 4.0.1. I’d heard stories of others having trouble, so I had put it off - but still came unstuck.
When installing the updates, the status bar froze about when it reached 10% of the way across. It sat like this for around 4 hours, so I decided that I wasn’t simply being impatient - something was wrong - and I should disconnect...
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WatchSuper Mario Bros. (by Andreas Heikaus)
This video was part of my Bachelor thesis at the University of Applied science and art Hannover. The Super Mario Bros. game, released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, is not longer bound to the television size and get interactive with a new environment. The emphasis of my thesis is on the matchmoving work. It is the process of matching CG elements into...
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“Everywhere you look, there seem to be increasing signs that we are living inside...”
– Paul Morley attempts to talk about Prince, and sorta gets side-tracked.
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The Longest Night →
givemesomethingtoread:
One Easter Sunday, the Alaska Ranger—a fishing boat out of Dutch Harbor—went down in the Bering Sea, 6,000 feet deep and thirty-two degrees cold. Forty-seven people were on board, and nearly half of them would spend hours floating alone in the darkness, in water so frigid it can kill a man in minutes. Forty-two of them would be rescued. Here’s how.
I tend to save...
June 2010
21 posts
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nostrich: Let's Talk About Football →
In the link above, Nostrich (aka Richard, curator of the marvellous Give Me Something To Read) writes about the use of technology in football. I’d encourage you to read his well-considered and well-written post. In summary, he argues that football simply isn’t fair: there is too much luck involved, no technology in place to conclusively prove that decisions are made correctly, and...
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Building a better England team
The post-mortems of England’s World Cup disaster have begun. Typically, the main target so far has been Fabio Capello. There may be something in this - his adherence to 4-4-2 has been baffling - but the greater problem is replacing the ageing squad.
Here’s a possible line-up to start the first game in Brazil in 2014. This is, of course, just wild speculation; a better bet might be to...
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Baked vegetable pasta
Easy, flexible midweek pasta dish for two:
Cook a small pan’s worth of broccoli and cauliflower florets. Add spinach if you have any. Roughly mash with salt, pepper, nutmeg and a soft cheese like ricotta.
Saute some onion and garlic, add oregano, wine vinegar and tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened. Introduce chili or anchovies as desired, or indeed anything else that might want...
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“Skimping on design budget because you need the money for “SEO” is like skimping...”
– I love Mike Monteiro.
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Your content is your product
Like a lot of people, I spend a large amount of my time at work and at home consuming content on the web. I’m exposed to a wide variety of publishing and layout approaches. It’s a mixed bag. Some are great; others are atrocious. I take the view that unless you are selling something on the back of your blog - an ebook, t-shirts, ice cream, whatever - then your written content is your...
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WatchThe Monkees - What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round?
Did I ever tell you all how much I love this song, and this band? Not sure Micky’s really playing drums all the way through, but great stuff nonetheless.
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You don't need 'heart'. You need to be able to...
Could this World Cup be a watershed moment for the traditional European powers?
Italy set new lows in their failure to progress. France’s entire football infrastructure has been shaken by their utter ineptitude and misplaced arrogance. England have stuttered into the second round. Outside of the readership of The Sun, I suspect that most people will not give England much hope of overcoming...
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“Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that “in football, everything is complicated by the...”
– Le Monde, following France’s World Cup exit.
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“Then United gave away a foul in the 89th minute, my eyebrow raised. McCarthy...”
– Tales Of Epoch: Mighty Mourinho
My good pal Paddington’s Shadow gives a great summary of the rise and rise of Jose Mourinho.
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All these Safari extensions are well and good, but... →
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WatchDan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover | Video on TED.com
It’s wonderful how there is so much interesting content on the internet that we have no idea exists, and will likely never discover.
Take Dan Meyer. A week or two ago, I’d never heard of him. Now, via Roberto Greco’s Delicious stream, in turn via Frank Chimero’s blog, I’m enjoying his blog on teaching...
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May 2010
30 posts
“If the Boeing 747 obeyed Moore’s Law, it would travel a million miles an...”
– The Technium: Predicting the Present, First Five Years of Wired
Nathan Myrhvold, from the September 1995 issue of Wired (via Roberto Greco’s Delicious feed)
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Memory - National Geographic Magazine →
This is an interesting article that looks at memory from a couple of different viewpoints: an elderly man with anterograde and retrograde amnesia, meaning he cannot form new memories nor access old ones; and a woman who can remember exact, specific details from days of her life when prompted.
One passage in particular caught my eye:
Our culture inundates us with new information, yet so little of...
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“Pretend you’re giving it all up and going back to school in a year. Act like you...”
– My Year Of Everything • B. E.
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Snap, Crackle and Pop in other countries →
Belgium - Pif! Paf! Pof!
Canada’s province of Quebec - Cric! Crac! Croc!
Denmark - Pif! Paf! Puf!
Finland - Riks! Raks! Poks!
Germany - Knisper! Knasper! Knusper!
Holland - Pif! Paf! Pof!
Italy - Pif! Paf! Pof!
Mexico - Pim! Pum! Pam!
Norway - Piff! Paff! Puff!
South Africa - Knap! Knaetter! Knak!
Sweden - Piff! Paff! Puff!
Switzerland - Piff! Paff! Poff!
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Green Day's older material not on Rock Band →
I’m not interested in Green Day or Rock Band, but I am interested in this comment about their older, analogue material and the trouble with its digitalisation:
We wanted to get stuff from 39/Smooth and Kerplunk! on there, too, but the tapes are really old. I don’t know if you know about analog tapes, but to transfer them you need to play them. They are kind of stuck together right now. You...
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“A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least...”
– George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” 1946
I need to print this article, put it next to my computer and read it every day.
DNA/How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the... →
1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been...
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Sean Wilentz: Mystic Nights -- The Making of... →
Amazing account of the making of Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.
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“For this year’s FA Cup final presents the neutral with a particularly...”
– The Fiver | Belleville Rendez-Vous Meets Reservoir Dogs; and A Butcher-Bound Bunny | John Ashdown and Simon Burnton | Football | guardian.co.uk
As usual, The Fiver is right on the money.
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“Self-expression is a hallmark of an artist, of art, to get something off one’s...”
– George Carlin’s Last Interview | Psychology Today