No user-serviceable parts inside

2011-11-12T17:56:00.001-05:00

And speaking of new stuff ...

My company Panl has launched its services. Here's the blurb:

The Panl monitoring service is now launched and available to everyone!

Panl offers free website monitoring, and the ability to create custom monitors to track almost any IT metric. Our unique "overdue alert" capability lets you know about events that are supposed to happen but don't. You can track monitor status on the web or with our iPhone app, and receive alerts via email, SMS, or iPhone notifications.

You can sign up for our commercial plans for as little as $10/month, or get additional free monitoring services by referring your friends and colleagues.

Please visit http://panl.com to get started, or for more information. And please pass this email along to any of your IT contacts that might be interested.

2011-11-07T21:45:00.001-05:00

The ALFEW arts cooperative has a brand-new Google+ Page now. Go ahead, check it out!

2011-10-31T20:48:00.000-04:00

The Piano. .||.|.||.|.|.||. from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

Jungle Beauty

2011-09-19T19:38:00.001-04:00

Jungle Beauty, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Sadly, there aren't going to be any more of these gorgeous daylilies here this year. This shot is appropriate though as it's a very rainy day today in this, one of the final days of summer.

I hope your summer was as enjoyable as mine was.

Sandra

2011-09-05T19:33:00.001-04:00

Sandra, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Strobist: shot outdoors in open shade. I added front fill with a bare AF-540FGZ lying on a table camera-right, remote triggered optically from the K20D.

Reflecting

2011-09-05T07:44:00.002-04:00

Reflecting, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Another hat pic

2011-08-13T12:00:00.003-04:00

Untitled, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Same girl, same hat, different focus.

Singularity

2011-08-13T11:59:00.002-04:00

Singularity, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Le Chapeau Noir

2011-08-13T11:58:00.003-04:00

Le Chapeau Noir, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Here's Iryna again, in the "studio" with a borrowed hat on. The studio, of course, is a room at home with all the furniture pushed to one end. :-)

Iryna 2

2011-07-24T21:13:00.002-04:00

Iryna 2, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I've been concentrating on portraiture lately; setting up the shoot, directing the models, lighting, post-processing, retouching. Altogether, quite a challenge.

In this shoot I (somewhat) learned how to direct the human reflector stands ... somewhat. With 30Km/h gusts of wind, my reflector holders kept wandering out of place. Plus they couldn't see around the 40 inch opaque reflector so they didn't know when they'd gone out of alignment. Oh, and the long hair kept flying around and getting into eyes.

Everyone did their best and I got some decent shots, I think.

The Coppertone

2011-07-13T10:26:00.002-04:00

The Coppertone, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I caught this blueswoman at the (sadly final) Rock the Coliseum in Mississauga. It was an excellent set, only slightly marred by insufficient vocal levels from the unfortunately undersized PA.

You should do yourself a favour and listen to her music here ...
http://www.myspace.com/thecoppertone
http://thecoppertone.com/

Rock The Coliseum, July 10, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193226800725354

A tern for the worse

2011-07-03T15:29:00.003-04:00

My tern, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Jezzie - In Memory of Jezebel

2011-07-01T05:48:00.005-04:00

Jezzie - In Memory of Jezebel, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Sadly, Jezebel passed away yesterday (June 30th, 2011) at age 17. This is one of the last pictures we have of her.

Jezzie was a terrific cat, chock full of character. She was extremely chatty and had a comment about just about everything and let us know when anything needed adjusting, usually in aid of her comfort. She was also quite sociable, always following us around the house. She preferred to keep us company while we worked and even appeared to enjoy watching movies, perched up above us on the back of the sofa, purring.

So long, Jez. You'll be hugely missed.

Solar Fields | Cocoon Moon (Glastonbury Festival 2005 Mix )

2011-06-27T09:54:00.001-04:00

A beautiful ambient piece ...

You can also get the MP3 (or OGG) here.

A quiet stream

2011-06-27T07:51:00.002-04:00

A quiet stream, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call God over

2011-06-25T18:55:00.003-04:00

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call God over, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Seen at the Mississauga Art Gallery.

The Optometrist #5

2011-06-17T13:37:00.003-04:00

The Optometrist 5, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

An unidentified (non-flying) object I saw recently at the eye doctor's office.

The real UN logo

2011-06-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

The real U.N. logo by ~JoniGodoy on deviant ART

Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

2011-06-13T09:26:00.001-04:00

Ah, Joe Jackson. There's nobody else like him ...

Purple Sandcherry

2011-05-19T21:24:00.002-04:00

Purple Sandcherry, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I haven't posted a photo for a while -- I've been pretty busy and it's been pouring rain here for about the last two weeks. I've been watching this bush outside my kitchen window coming into bloom and this afternoon the clouds finally cleared.

PDML Photo Annual 2011

2011-04-12T19:10:00.000-04:00

The latest yearly photo book from the Pentax Discussion Mailing List is out. There is work from 73 photographers, including myself, in this one, and I think it looks pretty fine. :-)

PDML Photo Annual 2011 by Mark Roberts (editor) | BOOK INFO

Storm

2011-04-08T13:48:00.000-04:00

A tour de force animated beat poem with words by Tim Minchin, direction and animation by DC Turner; produced by Tracy King.

Official site here.

The Unseen Sea

2011-04-06T08:54:00.001-04:00

A rather beautiful timelapse, although it's best viewed large in HD so you should pop over to Vimeo.

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo

POLYSICS - Let's ダバダバ

2011-02-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

It has come to my attention that I haven't blogged any random J-pop in quite some time.

Stop The Meter On Your Internet Use!

2011-02-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

This is of particular concern to Canadians ...

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.

This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.

These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.

This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet.

We urgently need to send a clear message to Ottawa, saying that we won't stand by while some of the most profitable companies in the country indiscriminately add new fees to our Internet bills. Enough is enough.

Loading...

Per: http://openmedia.ca/meter

Julie

2011-01-30T21:08:00.005-05:00

Julie, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is from a product shoot. Julie is modelling her line of custom hand-painted visors.

Grasses in January

2011-01-17T14:20:00.003-05:00

Grasses in January, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

We had an unexpected little snow dump this morning, and as it was about -20C it fell as the lightest, fluffiest stuff imaginable. The results on the plants in our garden were spectacular!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T15:16:00.003-05:00

Reindeer from Treat on Vimeo.

Pigeon: Impossible

2010-12-24T15:14:00.002-05:00

Pigeon: Impossible from Lucas Martell on Vimeo.

Cat Diaries: The First Ever Movie Filmed by Cats!

2010-12-14T18:58:00.001-05:00

Jetty Dreams

2010-11-20T21:47:00.002-05:00

Jetty Dreams, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Seen on a jaunt into Port Credit this morning.

I'm experimenting with creating tinted gradient filters in Adobe Camera Raw. This image was processed to simulate a filter like the Singh-Ray "Gold-N-Blue".

Teresa

2010-11-04T07:35:00.002-04:00

Teresa, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.

This was shot using entirely window light (big bay window behind), aided by a 40" silver reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1) in front below, slightly left.

Teresa

2010-11-01T08:47:00.003-04:00

Teresa, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.

These are shot using mostly window light (big bay windows), aided by a 40" reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1 [a great deal, btw]).

Pentax K20D, DA* 55mm, f/2.4, 1/45th, ISO 400.

Teresa

2010-11-01T08:46:00.003-04:00

Teresa, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.

These are shot using mostly window light (big bay windows), aided by a 40" reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1 [a great deal, btw]). In this portrait I also added a hairlight: a gridded AF-540FGZ on a stand behind to her right.

Pentax K20D, DA* 55mm, f/1.7, 1/500th, ISO 400.

Gazania

2010-10-17T19:23:00.001-04:00

Gazania, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Seen near the Chappell House in the Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga Ontario during a Flickr group walk Sunday. These were in full glare sun so I used myself as a light modifier: I shot them in my own shadow. :-)

Adele

2010-10-07T19:37:00.002-04:00

Adele, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

From a headshot photoshoot in and around Mississauga City Hall.

Strobist: a teensy bit of fill from an on-camera AF-540FGZ modified with a Westcott Micro Apollo softbox.

Adele Casuga: "Mom, Education Consultant and aspiring knee and elbow model." Tutor Doctor

The Brownman Akoustic Trio

2010-09-27T09:20:00.002-04:00

The Brownman Akoustic Trio, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Made the pilgrimage to The Gate last night and had a great time. Started off with their Rib Steak dinner which left me in a serious state of bliss. Then Brownman served up sizzling hot, fat-free jazz protein. Oh yeah!

Brownman Ali - trumpet (http://Brownman.com/)
Michael Herring - upright bass (http://DangerHerring.com/)
Ernesto Cervini - drums (http://ErnestoCervini.com/)

Food - Gate 403

Watercolour

2010-09-25T11:34:00.001-04:00

Watercolour, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Here's another one for the bokeh fans. Believe it or not, this isn't Photoshopped. I reduced the Clarity somewhat and the Contrast a little (in Adobe Camera Raw). The rest is through the magic of Pentax optics!

Warning signs

2010-09-18T14:45:00.001-04:00

Warning signs, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Sumac.

Was out walking along Etobicoke Creek this morning with my friend Julie and our dogs when my eye was caught by the sun sparkling off the creek and backlighting the flowers and foliage.

Clock tower

2010-09-17T09:07:00.001-04:00

Clock tower, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

While meeting with friends for coffee in the cafeteria at Mississauga City Hall I spent some time prowling around the ground floor. I happened to look up and noticed all these crisscrossing lines.

Mopar

2010-08-23T11:02:00.001-04:00

Mopar, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Chrome grille reflected in chrome bumper. Tinted duotone.

Rudbeckia

2010-08-16T20:57:00.001-04:00

Rudbeckia, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

SVT

2010-07-11T21:57:00.001-04:00

SVT, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

As seen on a late model Shelby Cobra Mustang.

Butterflower

2010-07-02T10:03:00.002-04:00

Butterflower, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Butterflies were all over my backyard the other day. Perhaps celebrating Canada Day?

Sixteen candles

2010-06-05T09:15:00.002-04:00

Sixteen candles, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

My nieces celebrated their birthdays recently. They claim they don't feel any older. I know that I do.

Hansa rosebud

2010-06-03T18:34:00.002-04:00

Hansa rosebud, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This has got to be my favourite of the roses. The heady perfume from a large Hansa shrub can simply knock you down, it's so fragrant. I wish that my Pentax could capture smells! :)

Underworld

2010-04-20T09:29:00.002-04:00

Underworld, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

#ds155 The Daily Shoot assignment for 2010/04/19: It's metal Monday! Find a metallic subject today and make an interesting photo.

Setup:
- AF540FGZ Pentax flash with Honl 1/8" Speed Grid, handheld below typewriter
- Honl 8" Speed Snoot unrolled flat, cantilevered over keys, on top of typewriter, and weighted down with a 2nd (powered-off) 540FGZ flash :-)
- flash triggered optically from K20D body's popup.

I'm in a book ...

2010-04-17T16:12:00.002-04:00

So besides being in a gallery (well, starting May 7; see previous posting) I'm in a book too! Twice! :-)
Info ...

The best photography from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List, with all net profits donated to CureSearch, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Edited by Mark Roberts with Associate Editors Scott Loveless and Bill Robb. With a foreword by Doug Brewer.

ISBN 978-1-4507-0950-7

PDML Photo Annual 2010 by Mark Roberts (editor) | BOOK INFO

One of my shots is featured in the previous blog entry. The other is this one ...

I'm in a gallery ...

2010-04-17T15:04:00.006-04:00

One of my shots will shortly be hanging in a Chicago gallery thanks to members of the Pentax-Discuss Mail List (PDML), the DANKHaus German American Cultural Center, a City Arts Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and money from Illinois Arts Council.

If you're in the area I'd urge you to drop by. The PDML photogs are a talented bunch and the images you'll see are top-notch.

Here's the shot that the gallery's curator accepted. You've seen this here before ...

Crocus

2010-04-02T18:02:00.002-04:00

Crocus, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Well spring arrived ... and was instantly replaced by summer. It's 24 degrees C here right now (75F), and with humidity it's like 28C (82F). I'd normally be taking these shots wearing a coat and gloves instead of jeans and a t-shirt.

I figured that these delicate little guys would be blown out soon, so this was likely my last opportunity to get 'em. Enjoy!

K20D, smc P-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM, f/2.0, 1/1000, ISO 100

En passant

2010-03-24T10:09:00.002-04:00

En passant, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

With this shot, I just realized that I've created A Project, which I can call The Fleetwood Series. I have been roaming around my local park, Fleetwood Park, for over three years now, shooting stuff that grabbed my fancy. I think that counts as some sort of mini-documentary thing. :-)

Needles

2010-03-18T10:20:00.002-04:00

Needles, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

More urban foliage. Of course I've passed these pine trees a gazillion times before during daily doggy outings. Only today I was thinking about re-framing the world at 55mm. :-)

Boundaries

2010-03-10T10:06:00.002-05:00

Boundaries, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

From my early morning walk in Mississauga.

Chocolate Cranberry Cake

2010-03-06T07:04:00.002-05:00

Chocolate Cranberry Cake, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Proving that you can take your cake and eat it too ...

Maple Almond Cake - crockpot dessert

2010-02-26T11:56:00.002-05:00

Maple Almond Cake - crockpot dessert, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Cake fresh from the crock-pot!

Louise is giving a crockpot-cooking course and I'm getting shots for her web site.

Strobist: lit with an 18" Westcott Apollo softbox and Pentax AF-540FGZ hotshoe flash triggered optically.

Pixar Short: George and AJ

2009-12-15T13:36:00.002-05:00

... now you know the rest of the story.

CSI Mississauga

2009-10-25T17:01:00.002-04:00

CSI Mississauga, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

A shot from my very first modeling photoshoot! Great fun for me, though hard work. Hotshoe flashes are versatile little buggers, and I was using two of them remotely. But the lack of a modelling light in the setup so one can get accurate focus is a serious impediment. I had to keep turning a small gooseneck halogen lamp on and off, and that really slowed me down.

All shots were lit by one or two Pentax AF-540FGZ flashes. In this one, the main strobe is behind a Westcott 45" shoot-through umbrella, camera-right, 1/4 power. 2nd strobe is camera-left high, snooted (rolled-up black construction paper), focused to a tight beam (58mm), 1/2 power, about 10 feet back and shooting through a screen to get that interesting background.

My model is Tina Hung, an aspiring actor/singer/dancer. Tina is practicing her "serious look" here. :-)

Model: Tina Hung
Makeup & styling: Tina and Louise Peacock

Dusk

2009-10-21T10:21:00.001-04:00

Dusk, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

1937 Dodge humpback panel truck. Taken at the final evening of a 2009 Classic Car Cruise held in the parking lot of a Harvey's (decent hamburger chain) in Oakville Ontario. Tinted duotone.

This shot almost didn't happen at all. The evening was windy and cool, variable overcast, the sun had almost set and hardly any cars had shown up by the time we arrived and had our dinner. I wandered around the lot with my kit in my bag on my back and looked rather dejectedly at the classic vehicles parked there.

I was about to suggest to my wife that we just head on home when I recalled that I told her I'd like to try silhouette shots this evening. So I sighed, hauled out my K20D and looked around for a candidate. Wait! This odd looking truck was parked 90 degrees to the lines and parallel to the horizon where the sun had now disappeared -- casting fiery orange onto the strips of clouds! Oh my!

I took 46 frames, some with fill flash, but this one was the clear standout.

Cosmos

2009-09-21T08:02:00.001-04:00

Cosmos, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

The biggest Cosmos I've ever seen! Seen in Mississauga's Riverwood during a Flickr walk on Sunday.

Flight

2009-09-16T17:44:00.002-04:00

Flight, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is Finn. Blink and you'll miss him!

Royal

2009-09-16T17:43:00.002-04:00

Royal, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Ahhh, classic cars ...

Emergent

2009-07-20T11:25:00.002-04:00

Emergent, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

Becoming acquainted with less than 2 week old enablement: DA* 55mm F1.4

Exp 1/100, f/1.4, ISO 200, 540FGZ flash inside Westcott 18" softbox; PP in CS4.

Too close for comfort

2009-07-01T21:37:00.002-04:00

Too close for comfort, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

This is how I spent much of my Monday night. We were woken up at 11:45 PM by loud beeping that turned out to be the UPSes going off. I got up to investigate how extensive the power failure was. When I stepped out the front door, I discovered the entire north-west sky lit up by a huge orange fireball. There's a new "luxury executive" townhouse complex being built over in that direction, and sure enough it turned out that the entire complex was up in flames. This is the second time in five months that the same complex has been torched, the first took out 8 units. This one destroyed over 75% of the site, about 57 units by one count.

The image directly above is the view from the bottom of my driveway, looking north-west. A light breeze was carrying the smoke and burning embers north-east over a church and a big park.

Anemone pulsatilla

2009-07-01T16:13:00.002-04:00

Anemone pulsatilla, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

You can see incredible detail if you view this large on Flickr.

Specialty Alium 2

2009-07-01T16:08:00.004-04:00

Specialty Alium 2, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

I like the calm, cool simplicity of this.

Redbeard

2009-07-01T16:05:00.003-04:00

Redbeard, originally uploaded by Bruce M Walker.

I've been shooting flowers again. First of a couple.

Dead Pirates, Wood, animated topless dancing chicks

2009-06-30T20:07:00.002-04:00

Cool animated video for the Dead Pirates. Via BoingBoing.

Secret life of tulips

2009-03-19T12:50:00.007-04:00

I picked-up a ring flash for doing macros and, hopefully, decent portraits. Here are some initial macro shots ...

Pixel-peepers can see these much larger on Flickr -- click on the pix!

Hey, I'm in a book!

2009-02-16T12:48:00.006-05:00

Members of a mailing list that I'm on, The Pentax Discussion Mailing List, got together recently and edited a book of some of the member's images created during 2008-2009. Everyone was encouraged to contribute one or two shots to this collaboration, and my two submissions were accepted. Sales of the book will be donated to the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.

There are 110 photographs in the book, representing every imaginable style, from photographers in fifteen countries.

You can read more about PDML Photo Annual 2008-2009 book project, and even order one if you like the idea, here ...

Air - La Femme D'Argent

2009-02-08T16:55:00.001-05:00

I simply cannot believe it's already been 10 years since Air released Moon Safari. I refuse to believe it, in fact. Hrmph.

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

2009-01-31T16:57:00.003-05:00

There is more creativity crammed into this video than I've seen in the last years' worth of videos. Put a huge smile on my face -- and you prolly don't appreciate how hard that is to do. :-)

As seen at Ken Brown's blog

Winter announced itself

2008-12-23T13:19:00.004-05:00

Dollars and Sense

2008-12-19T10:02:00.001-05:00

Lefsetz is always a good read, but this posting really resonates.

Fall colours time ...

2008-11-03T20:15:00.006-05:00

More photos ...

Japanese maple

Weeping birch

I've been tempted to do this

2008-10-20T07:55:00.002-04:00

Noteboek

2008-10-15T19:26:00.001-04:00

Extremely clever!

2008-10-08T12:19:00.003-04:00

I've been enjoying my dSLR a lot lately. I've even been getting all artsy-fartsy ...

New Brian Eno & David Bryne album

2008-08-18T19:41:00.000-04:00

Mr. Rogers: piss off

2008-06-28T21:41:00.003-04:00

Well Mr. Rogers has gone and done it: totally screwed the pooch with the iPhone's intro to Canada. The rates for voice and data, especially data, are way out of line with US, UK, and in fact most of the rest of the world. He's caused some pretty serious rage out there in blogland ...

Fuck You Rogers

Phun for Mac OS X is out

2008-05-21T08:48:00.001-04:00

Cool! You can get Phun on the Mac now ...

http://phun.cs.umu.se/wiki/Download

Phun - 2D physics sandbox

2008-02-23T15:35:00.002-05:00

I can't wait for the Mac OS X version!

Link to Phun website ...

"Radio Ladio" - Metronomy

2008-02-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

The 80's have returned in glorious colour!

Headline of the year?

2008-02-06T08:39:00.000-05:00

Source: The Language Log

Eat Krispy Kremes, save taxpayers dough

2008-02-05T10:13:00.001-05:00

Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.

Link ...

Ch-ch-ch-changes ...

2008-02-04T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is very well put together. Bravo!

Symphony In SLANG

2008-02-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

Fake Steve Jobs on Real Steve Balmer

2008-02-03T10:33:00.000-05:00

FSJ may be fake, but his insights are real. Here's his take on the Microhoo! buyup plan. Brilliant.

[...] here's the really dark part of all this. He knows it won't work. He has to know this. He's not stupid. The cultures will never fit together. And the deal is too big. It's not manageable. And it's completely anathema to Microsoft. It's totally out of character for them. It goes against everything the company has ever stood for. Ballmer knows this, and he's doing it anyway. Because this is exactly what every old-guard CEO does when all else fails. I mean it's right there in the official playbook that you get in business school. And ultimately, smart as he is, Ballmer is an old-school kind of guy. He's not really a tech guy. He has a mindset that was formed in Detroit, where he grew up. He's a Big Three automaker kind of guy. And this is a Big Three move. It's Ford buying Jaguar and Land Rover and Volvo because they can't think of anything else to do.

So if the deal happens -- and I'm not convinced it will -- Ballmer will have bought himself maybe two years before it becomes clear to the entire world that it has failed. By then maybe Ballmer will be gone and someone else will have to mop up the mess. [...]

Link ...

Kaossilator

2008-02-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

This looks like a must-have for would-be Air tribute bands ...

Post to instapaper (AppleScript)

2008-02-01T15:18:00.002-05:00

Update (26-Jun-09): This script doesn't handle more recent versions of InstaPaper very nicely. Another NNW-to-InstaPaper script, "NNWInstaPost", has appeared in the meantime and I suggest that you give that one a try ...

Update 2 (29-Jun-09): Also checkout Logan Rockmore's little Javascript which promises to be even faster ...

Here's a little script to post the currently selected headline in NetNewsWire (my favourite Mac OS X newsfeed reader) to your instapaper account.

You need to create an instapaper account before using this the first time. The script is not very good about errors, so just correct the issue and retry the script. It creates a short summary by "un-HTML'ing" the description, but it does this naively (using a long sed invocation), so it's restricted to a subset of HTML entities -- basically common Western ones.

To install this, select and copy the script from the box, paste it into the AppleScript Script Editor and drop it into NNW's script folder.

(*
* Submit NetNewsWire headines to instapaper for later reading.  See http://www.instapaper.com/
* Create an instapaper account first, select a news item in NNW, then run this script.
* Assumes you're using Safari. Doesn't handle all html entities; works best on English feeds.
* Doesn't check if the submission succeeded, so you need to keep your eyes open. :-)
* -- Bruce Walker <bruce.walker@gmail.com> -- Feb 1, 2008
*)

on unhtml(html)
 -- remove markup, convert common entities to ascii (the rest to "?"), nuke blank lines & restrict length
 return do shell script "echo " & quoted form of html & "| sed -e 's/<[^>]*>//g' -e 's/&nbsp;/ /g' -e 's/&mdash;/--/g' -e 's/&lsquo;/`/g' -e 's/&ldquo;/``/g' -e 's/&#8220;/``/g' -e \"s/&rdquo;/''/g\" -e \"s/&#8221;/''/g\" -e \"s/&#8217;/'/g\" -e \"s/&rsquo;/'/g\" -e \"s/&#39;/'/g\" -e 's/&[^;][^;][^;]*;/?/g' -e \"s/'/\\\\\\'/g\" | tr '\\r\\n' ' ' | dd ibs=1 count=192"
end unhtml

tell application "NetNewsWire"
 set NNWURL to URL of selectedHeadline
 set NNWTitle to my unhtml(get title of selectedHeadline)
 set NNWSummary to my unhtml(get description of selectedHeadline) & " …"
end tell

tell application "Safari"
 -- submit to instapaper using Safari's saved session/account cookies
 set foo to do JavaScript "window.open('http://www.instapaper.com/b?v=3&u='+encodeURIComponent('" & NNWURL & "')+'&t='+encodeURIComponent('" & NNWTitle & "')+'&s='+encodeURIComponent('" & NNWSummary & "'),'t','toolbar=0,resizable=0,status=1,width=250,height=150')" in document 1
end tell

Enjoy!

Cartoon (Мультфильм)

2008-01-30T18:43:00.001-05:00

Manic animation -- whack music. What's not to like?

Criminally nude

2008-01-29T21:20:00.001-05:00

If they outlaw foreign strippers, then only outlaws will be stripping ... or something like that.

MPs Mull Proposal To Ban Foreign Strippers

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote

2008-01-29T20:38:00.001-05:00

Seriously kewl!

Da Shatner Funk

2008-01-29T20:36:00.001-05:00

William Shatner and Conan O'Brien remixed.

"They know. They're onto something." "Fear! Woo, woo."

Google Blogger Data API

2008-01-29T15:21:00.001-05:00

The Blogger data API allows client applications to view and update Blogger content in the form of Google data API feeds. Your client application can use the data API to create new blog posts, edit or delete existing posts, and query for posts that match particular criteria.
Here are some of the things you can do with the Blogger data API:

Add a running list of blog posts and comments to a site.
Create a desktop application or plugin that allows users to create and post entries from the desktop.
Create a blog aggregator application.

Link ...

Blogger widget for Mac OS X

2008-01-29T15:14:00.001-05:00

I'm just trying out the Google Blogger Widget from my Mac's dashboard. Here's the link ...

ZENN

2008-01-29T08:27:00.000-05:00

Too cool: Zero Emissions, No Noise ...

First and last Canadian political comment

2006-01-13T20:52:00.000-05:00

[Paul Martin and Stephen Harper are two dudes both vying for top spot in Canadian politics. Martin so amused me with his recent highly negative public characterizations of Harper, that I just had to imagine what further things he would tell me about Harper if I called him up personally ...]

I called up Paul Martin today and he told me a number of things about Harper that they were going to reveal, but had to pull at the last minute:

Stephen Harper habitually kicks dogs.

If you play any one of Stephen Harper's speeches in reverse, you can just make out the words, "I buried Medicare."

Stephen Harper and Osama bin Laden are drinking buddies.

Stephen Harper casts no shadow. Stephen Harper cannot see his own reflection in a mirror.

Stephen Harper is paying thugs to create a gun problem in Toronto so he'll have a good campaign platform item.

Stephen Harper bites the heads off of bats.

The Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil was originally written about Stephen Harper, but they were forced by the record label lawyers to rewrite it so they wouldn't risk obscenity charges.

Stephen Harper is a direct descendent of Jack the Ripper.

Paul told me more, but it gets much, much worse.

Moronic interrogatives

2006-01-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

Something that bugs me a lot is the increasingly common speech impediment that causes speakers to turn simple statements into questions.

"So I was with my friend? And we were like in Starbucks? And the barista had these velvet pants?"

According to some British websites it's known as a ...

Moronic interrogative: coined by British comedian Rory McGrath to describe the use of intonation at the end of a sentence that is not a question.

I hear this daily on one of Toronto's "all-news" radio stations. 680News, unhappily, feels it necessary to interview people on the street regarding subjects about which they are woefully uninformed.

680: I'm here at Union Station and I asked Brittany why she looks so wide awake this morning.

B: Really, I'm not? I'm just on my way to work?

Aaaaargh!

It suggests that a lot of people are tremendously insecure and need constant reassurance that they aren't mistaken about ... well, most everything. "I've just said something, but I could be wrong, so please nod or smile and blink or something -- ok good, you nodded -- where was I? Oh yeah: velvet pants ..."