Monday, October 5, 2009

Anti-Wi-Fi Paint---For the Scrooge in you :)

Researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a special paint which can block out wireless signals.The paint contains an aluminium-iron oxide which resonates at the same frequency as wi-fi – or other radio waves – meaning the airborne data is absorbed and blocked. While paints blocking lower frequencies have been available for some time, this new technology is the first to absorb frequencies transmitting as high as 100GHz (gigahertz). Signals carrying a larger amount of data – such as wireless internet – travel at a higher frequency than, for example, FM radio.

The paint has a number of interesting potential applications including: keeping wireless networks secure, blocking phone calls during movies, shielding hospital rooms from unwanted electromagnetic radiation, and making clothes that protect people from electromagnetic waves.

I kind of like it :)


Monday, September 21, 2009

Friday, September 11, 2009

A Short Course On Prison Nicknames

I was just reading an article and thought I would share a piece of it that I thought was hilarious...

Here is the article in full - A Short Course In Prison Nicknames


"I have spent nearly 17 of my 51 years locked up. In this time I have met some very interesting people. People with nicknames like Baby 8, Baby Boy, Bam Bam, Bubbles, Cheater, Chino, Chico, Chicago, Colorado, Dangerous Dan, Denver, Downtown, Detroit, Demon, Diablo, George the Whore, Giggles, GQ, G-Hung, G-Ride, Kenny G, Honky, Hot Shower, New York and LA. He was gay...

"Leukemia Lynn, Money A. Papa T, Papa Bear, Big Bear, Black Bear, Little Bear and just plain Bear. Coyote, Porn Star, Penguin, Roach, Shy Boy, Sidewinder, Snake, Little Snake, Spider, Snoop, Snoopy, Snoop Dog and Special K. Tear Drop, Tombstone, Wino, Wobbles, Wolf, Workie, and hundreds, if not thousands, more."

Sociologists seeking an answer to the problem of crime could do worse than ponder this list. The sheer lack of imagination in many of these monikers -- Bam Bam? Snoopy? Kenny G???? -- may be a clue to unlocking the antisocial tendencies of the criminal mind. The possible homoerotic fetishism of the recurring "bear" nicknames is also suggestive. And a few of the more intriguing -- I’m partial to Wobbles, Leukemia Lynn and George the Whore, myself -- pose an inescapable question about whether a memorable nickname leads to a more successful criminal career. If so, why are these bad boys behind bars?

Twitter opens the door for Ads


This is what I have been waiting for. The corporation I work for, which is a front runner for our product in the industrial/agricultural business has been very fortunate in having success with social networking website advertisement because of the constant keyword search that matches demographics. Everyday I sign onto twitter.com I hope that there will be ads up so I can buy some. I read this article this morning and it made me happy that twitter is getting closer to opening room for sponsors. This is an article from mashable.com


Twitter Changes TOS, Opens the Door for Ads


With Twitter growing so dramatically and in so many directions over the last few months, it’s probably no surprise that they have decided to expand their Terms of Service – the core rules that govern the use of Twitter (Twitter). The company announced the changes today in a detailed blog post.

The new TOS, which is far more expansive and specific than the old one, not only addresses privacy concerns, but ownership, spam, rights, and links. The microblogging company said that, now that they better understand how users utilize Twitter, they can update the TOS to match.

While there are many changes, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone highlighted four key areas in where they updated the TOS:

Advertising—In the Terms, we leave the door open for advertising. We’d like to keep our options open as we’ve said before.

Ownership—Twitter is allowed to “use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute” your tweets because that’s what we do. However, they are your tweets and they belong to you.

APIs—The apps that have grown around the Twitter platform are flourishing and adding value to the ecosystem. You authorize us to make content available via our APIs. We’re also working on guidelines for use of the API.

SPAM—Abusive behavior and spam is also outlined in these terms according to the rules we’ve been operating under for some time.”

The new TOS has 15 sections which better encompasses potential issues on Twitter like privacy and ownership. This change, as well as the announcement, was probably a necessary move to avoid the Facebook Terms of Service fiasco that occurred back in February.

The two things that strike us though are the discussion of ads and that you own your tweets. This TOS seems to be a starting point for adding advertising to the Twitter platform. At the very least, it clearly says the option is open. It is a major potential source of revenue, after all.

On tweet ownership: we’re glad to hear that they are ours. We worked hard to make all of those witty 140 character remarks, after all.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Real Genius




We're a Visual Species

Vision is our primary human sense. At a very early age, we use pattern recognition to differentiate and learn the nature of everything around us. The words you're reading right now are a prime example of our unique ability to recognize patterns.

When I look at stuff like this, I get jealous that I did not come up with it! I know for sure once I saw the brand on some of these that I would never forget them and sometimes I see right through that stuff. These really get my creative juices flowing and maybe they will for you too.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Something a little different...



I am not one for conspiracy theories or looking into the government like it is some big corrupt organization with hidden meanings everywhere so I hope this does not come off like that. I really wanted to share this because it involves optimism and is very creative.


It is the month of August; a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times. Everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

One day, a rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a $100 bill on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The Butcher takes the $100 bill, and runs to pay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 bill, and runs to pay his debt to the feed supplier.

The feed supplier takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute who in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her $100 debt to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the $100 bill back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his $100 bill, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with great optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is doing business today.