PC World has an interesting weekly email called "Talk Nerdy to Me." This week's features the "Top Ten Songs About Computers." I actually have a pretty good collection of such songs myself, including a few I added from their list:
Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton
Behind the Scenes at Microsoft by Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie
Binary Code (Makes Sense Wherever I Go) by Nonso Ugbode
Computer Chanty by Dr. SETI
The Gates by DaVinci's Notebook
I Love My Computer by Nonso Ugbode
I Love My Mac by Daphne Kalfon
I Love My iPod by Daphne Kalfon
If This Geek Ruled the World by Geoff Smith
Internet Love Song by Bob Ricci
MySpace by Joshua Grosvent
Log In to You by the Arrogant Worms
On the PC by Tom Smith
PC99 by Tom Smith
The Nerds Who Rule the World by Hot Waffles
Reign of Error by Sudden Death
Reinstalling Windows by Les Barker
The Rise and Fall of the SupaSucka 9000000™ by Flying Like Wilma
Spam by Sudden Death
The System Administrator Song by Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie
Tech Support by Geoff Smith
Tech Support by Tony Goldmark
Welcome to the Internet Help Desk by Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie
What Joe Saw on the Internet by Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie
The System Administrator Song by Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie
2600 by Positive Attitude
And of course one could also include:
Having Trouble Sneezing by Scott Olson (Mac vs. PC ads)
New Soul by Yael Naïm (Macbook Air ads)
Okay, I admit it...I'm a major geek, and an Apple fangirl. These are just some of the almost 200 songs I have in my "Geek Songs" playlist in iTunes.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
A Weekend With The Doctor
I went along with several other fellow geeks who are also major fans, including the three shown in the photo to the left. They are all dressed as characters from the very first episode of the show, which aired on November 22, 1963, a date better known for the assassination of President John Kennedy. From left to right, they are dressed as the First Doctor, and his companions Ian Chesterson and and Barbara Wright.
The person dressed as the first doctor is the one directly responsible for recruiting me as a fan of the Doctor. Originally from England, has has watched the show from his youth. His father was an actor with the BBC, and he got to visit the original TARDIS set. (For those not familiar with the show, the TARDIS is the Doctor's spacecraft...and means Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.)
One afternoon he got me to watch the episode Blink and I was hooked. I started watching every episode I could, and in short order, I was a major fan.
I mean, what is there not to love about a quirky Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through time and space in a stolen spacecraft that appears to be a Police Call Box. It has that appearance because the chameleon circuit, which would normally allow it blend in is broken. Originally conceived as a way to save money, it has become a trademark for the Doctor and is one of the shows many charms.
The Doctor is joined on his journeys by one or more companions. As I said, the first Doctor was joined by Ian and Barbara, as well as his granddaughter Susan. The current Doctor is joined by Amy Pond, and her husband Rory Williams, who she married at the end of the last season.
Unlike the Daleks, which seek to exterminate other races, the Cybermen assimilate people, turning them into robots as well. In this sense, they are reminiscent of the Borg from the Star Trek universe. In fact, there are a number of elements of Star Trek that seem to possibly have been borrowed from Doctor Who.
His goal is to dominate the Universe. He can be thought of as a sort of Moriarty to The Doctor's Sherlock Holmes.
During the convention I was treated to appearances by, among others, the Fifth Doctor, who was played by Peter Davidson, as well as those who played his three companions. Also appearing were Frazer Hines, who played a companion of the Second Doctor, and Waris Hussein who was the director of the very first episode of Doctor Who.
The convention also featured appearance by a pair of life size Daleks, who were quite an intimidating presence. Also someone brought a very realistic recreation of K-9, a robotic dog acquired by the Doctor and given to his companion Sarah Jane Smith.
If you have never checked out Doctor Who, I strongly recommend that you do, though I will warn you, it can be a very addictive show. And if you are a fan of the Doctor, then you should consider a trip to the next Gallifrey One. It is a wonderful chance to meet fellow fans, and to see some of the people who have worked so hard to bring this great show to the masses.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Twenty Five Years Ago Today...
I was working for a local computer company in Florida. It was an unusually cold morning, and on that particular day, I had to go to Vero Beach with a technician to work on a customer's computer. I remember that it was a Commodore PET.
We were on our way back and I happened to look out the window and I saw the Space Shuttle going up. I mentioned it to the tech and he asked if we could stop an watch. I said, "Of course!"
Now, I had watched several shuttle launches down there. Even as far away as were were, a couple of hundred miles, it was quite visible.
As I watched the little dot of flame moving upward, leaving a trail of smoke, I thought, "There are people on there going to space..."
Suddenly, there was a sort of a flash, not unlike that seen in the earlier rockets when they stages would separate. In fact, my first thought was "Well, there goes the first stage...." followed immediately by, "Wait, there are no stages on the shuttle...this is very bad." The smoke trail formed the now familiar Y-shape as the boosters broke away.
I said, "I hope they are doing an RTLS, a return to landing site." I just could not wrap my mind around what I knew was happening.
I turned on the radio, and found a station covering the launch. The first thing I heard was, "Something appears to have gone very wrong..." Over the next few minutes they talked about how NASA was trying to figure out what was going on, that there had been a major malfunction, and then, there was an odd report that said that paramedics were being dropped into the water.
But the truth quickly became clear. Seven astronauts had died that cold January morning.
Over two and a half years later, on September 29, 1988 I was privileged to see the first post-Challenger shuttle launch. I was in college, and a number of us went out and watched as America returned to space. We all agreed, if offered the chance, we would have gladly gone along on that flight.
We were on our way back and I happened to look out the window and I saw the Space Shuttle going up. I mentioned it to the tech and he asked if we could stop an watch. I said, "Of course!"
Now, I had watched several shuttle launches down there. Even as far away as were were, a couple of hundred miles, it was quite visible.
As I watched the little dot of flame moving upward, leaving a trail of smoke, I thought, "There are people on there going to space..."
Suddenly, there was a sort of a flash, not unlike that seen in the earlier rockets when they stages would separate. In fact, my first thought was "Well, there goes the first stage...." followed immediately by, "Wait, there are no stages on the shuttle...this is very bad." The smoke trail formed the now familiar Y-shape as the boosters broke away.
I said, "I hope they are doing an RTLS, a return to landing site." I just could not wrap my mind around what I knew was happening.
I turned on the radio, and found a station covering the launch. The first thing I heard was, "Something appears to have gone very wrong..." Over the next few minutes they talked about how NASA was trying to figure out what was going on, that there had been a major malfunction, and then, there was an odd report that said that paramedics were being dropped into the water.
But the truth quickly became clear. Seven astronauts had died that cold January morning.
Commander "Dick" Scobee
Pilot Michael J. Smith
Mission Specialist 1 Ellison Onizuka
Mission Specialist 2 Judith Resnik
Mission Specialist 3 Ronald McNair
Payload Specialist 1 Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space
Payload Specialist 2 Gregory JarvisThat evening, I went home and watch The Right Stuff. It was my way of processing the tragedy I had witnessed. I thought back on how risky those early flights were, and how routine space flight seemed to have become.
Over two and a half years later, on September 29, 1988 I was privileged to see the first post-Challenger shuttle launch. I was in college, and a number of us went out and watched as America returned to space. We all agreed, if offered the chance, we would have gladly gone along on that flight.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Momma, They Took My Kodachrome Away....
Well, sometime in the next few days, the absolute, final roll of Kodachrome film will be processed. A place in Kansas, known as Dwayne's Photo is the last lab in the world to process Kodachrome. Kodak stopped making the film about a year or so ago, and Dwayne's is shutting down the final line and selling the machinery for scrap.
Years ago, when I got heavily into photography, I became fascinated by the who mystique of Kodachrome. Unlike other color films, it could only be processed at certain labs. The process was extremely complex, and at the time, required specially trained staff, including an on-site chemist.
Of course, that seemed like a challenge to me. I wanted to become the first person to "home process" Kodachrome. I actually managed to talk someone at Kodak into sending me detailed information on the process. Now, the actual processing manual were described as being the size of a phone book, but I got my hands on a document that included information like the actual chemicals required (they had to be mixed from raw ingredients) and the specific color filters and lighting needed for the three exposures needed to do the color reversals. It also included other details like the timing, and temperatures for each step.
Kodachrome was not like other color films. It was, essentially, a black and white film with color filters that created three layers. The first step required removing a black coating, which could be quite messy. In fact, if Kodachrome film accidentally found its way into a machine designed to process other films, it would likely cause the other rolls of film to be ruined.
Next, was simply black and white processing. Then, through a series of steps involving exposure to very specific colors of light, and complex chemical baths, the various color layers were created. This was where Kodachrome processing became complicated.
The chemicals involved were extremely toxic. And outrageously expensive. This was what stopped me dead in my tracks. I might could have built the processing equipment out of parts scavenged from local labs's outdate equipment. The filters would have been costly, but would be a one time expense. But when I checked the Kodak catalog where, amazingly, the chemicals were all listed (though there was no indication what they were actually for) I found that the cost would have run into several thousand dollars. Some of the chemicals were hundreds of dollars for a few grams, and there were a lot of chemicals involved. In time, Kodak would develop a simpler machine, that used packaged chemicals, but at the time I was looking at the process, that was not available.
I look back fondly on those dreams. It would have been a grand experiment, and would have surely won me fame, and possibly even fortune. But, alas, it was simply not to be.
And now, Kodachrome is all but gone. The last rolls will soon pass through the last processor, and an era will end.
Years ago, when I got heavily into photography, I became fascinated by the who mystique of Kodachrome. Unlike other color films, it could only be processed at certain labs. The process was extremely complex, and at the time, required specially trained staff, including an on-site chemist.
Of course, that seemed like a challenge to me. I wanted to become the first person to "home process" Kodachrome. I actually managed to talk someone at Kodak into sending me detailed information on the process. Now, the actual processing manual were described as being the size of a phone book, but I got my hands on a document that included information like the actual chemicals required (they had to be mixed from raw ingredients) and the specific color filters and lighting needed for the three exposures needed to do the color reversals. It also included other details like the timing, and temperatures for each step.
Kodachrome was not like other color films. It was, essentially, a black and white film with color filters that created three layers. The first step required removing a black coating, which could be quite messy. In fact, if Kodachrome film accidentally found its way into a machine designed to process other films, it would likely cause the other rolls of film to be ruined.
Next, was simply black and white processing. Then, through a series of steps involving exposure to very specific colors of light, and complex chemical baths, the various color layers were created. This was where Kodachrome processing became complicated.
The chemicals involved were extremely toxic. And outrageously expensive. This was what stopped me dead in my tracks. I might could have built the processing equipment out of parts scavenged from local labs's outdate equipment. The filters would have been costly, but would be a one time expense. But when I checked the Kodak catalog where, amazingly, the chemicals were all listed (though there was no indication what they were actually for) I found that the cost would have run into several thousand dollars. Some of the chemicals were hundreds of dollars for a few grams, and there were a lot of chemicals involved. In time, Kodak would develop a simpler machine, that used packaged chemicals, but at the time I was looking at the process, that was not available.
I look back fondly on those dreams. It would have been a grand experiment, and would have surely won me fame, and possibly even fortune. But, alas, it was simply not to be.
And now, Kodachrome is all but gone. The last rolls will soon pass through the last processor, and an era will end.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Have Yourself a Geeky Little Christmas..
I really need to put more effort into this blog... But, life can be busy. Between a huge stack of books I need to get around to reading, and quite a bit of effort going into learning some new skills, I have felt stretched a bit thin.
But I wanted to take the time to ponder the holiday season. In a couple of days, I will depart on a visit to see my daughter, her husband, and my three grandchildren.
My oldest grand child is almost seven, and she is very smart. My middle grandchild is three, and has been described by my daughter as "scary smart." And the youngest is just over a year old.
I fact the question of what I will get them. Sadly, they are all too young for anything really interesting. I was about eight when I got my first chemistry set. Of course, when I mixed up a bit of Prussian blue (a very simple thing to do) and left indelible stains in the bathroom sink, my mother began to question the wisdom of the purchase.
I am hoping to spark interest in things like science. Who knows, maybe one of them will make some major breakthrough in theoretical physics.
Speaking of which, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have managed to create something that vibrates in ways that can only be described through quantum mechanics. That is to say, it is going somewhere that is not in the classical realm. This opens the door just a crack towards things like time travel and crossing over to other dimensions.
Now, a week or two ago, word came out of England that some researchers are closing in a creating a "sonic screwdriver." Hmmm, time travel...a sonic screwdriver...throw in a blue police box, and well, I have dibs on being the Companion.
Now, THAT would be the perfect Christmas present...
But I wanted to take the time to ponder the holiday season. In a couple of days, I will depart on a visit to see my daughter, her husband, and my three grandchildren.
My oldest grand child is almost seven, and she is very smart. My middle grandchild is three, and has been described by my daughter as "scary smart." And the youngest is just over a year old.
I fact the question of what I will get them. Sadly, they are all too young for anything really interesting. I was about eight when I got my first chemistry set. Of course, when I mixed up a bit of Prussian blue (a very simple thing to do) and left indelible stains in the bathroom sink, my mother began to question the wisdom of the purchase.
I am hoping to spark interest in things like science. Who knows, maybe one of them will make some major breakthrough in theoretical physics.
Speaking of which, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have managed to create something that vibrates in ways that can only be described through quantum mechanics. That is to say, it is going somewhere that is not in the classical realm. This opens the door just a crack towards things like time travel and crossing over to other dimensions.
Now, a week or two ago, word came out of England that some researchers are closing in a creating a "sonic screwdriver." Hmmm, time travel...a sonic screwdriver...throw in a blue police box, and well, I have dibs on being the Companion.
Now, THAT would be the perfect Christmas present...
Monday, October 4, 2010
A Very Geeky Saturday
Sorry to be so long between posts. I have had a lot going on, and I keep putting off writing something. I promise to try to be a bit better.
On Saturday I attended the open house at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Berkeley, CA. LBNL is one of 16 national labs operated by the Department of Energy. It is a part of the University of California.
It was original referred to as the Radiation Lab at the University of California. It was part of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.
I first became familiar with LBNL when I read the book "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. He was managing some computers at LBNL and was asked by his supervisor to figure out why there was a $0.75 accounting error in the usage records. This led Stoll to discover that a hacker has accessed the system.
LBNL performs unclassified research primarily in the field of physics, though it has diversified into almost every area of scientific research.
LBNL has a very distinguished history. Eleven of its research have won Nobel Prizes, starting with Ernest Lawrence, and most recently George F. Smoot. Smoot is one of my favorite scientists. He not only won the Nobel Prize for the COsmic Background Explorer, is also the cousin of Oliver Smoot who is famous as the "Smoot" who was laid end to end to measure the Harvard Bridge by students at MIT. The Smoot Marks are still visible, being traditionally restored each year. Appropriately, Oliver Smoot went on to be the chairman of the American National Standards Institute(ANSI) and the president of International Organization for Standardization(ISO). George Smoot has also made a cameo appearance as himself on "The Big Bang Theory" where he asked Dr. Sheldon Cooper if he was on crack, and was the second person to win a million dollars on "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader."
In order to get to LBNL we had to go to the University of California campus where we boarded a shuttle bus that took us up through the Berkeley Hills to the lab.
When I arrived at the lab the first impression I had was "Eureka." That is, I felt like I was visiting the fictional town of Eureka from the SyFy television show. The whole event seemed sort of like "Fonder's Day" from the first episode of the current season of the show.
I wondered around, checking out the various booths highlighting aspects of research conducted at the lab. I then took a bus tour of the campus, which included a trip by the Bevatron building, which is, sadly, being torn down. The Bevatron was the first particle accelerator to achieve billion electron volt(BeV) levels. The Bevatron was where antiprotons were first observed, which confirmed the existence of antimatter. It also allowed the discovery of many other particles leading to a new era in physics. While it will soon be gone, its legacy will live on at locations like the Large Hadron Collider in Bern, Switzerland.
The real highlight of the open house was visiting the Advanced Light Source(ALS). Housed in a building original designed for a cyclotron, it is a synchrotron providing over 40 beamlines. Both ultraviolet and soft x-ray beams are available for scientific research. It is one of the brightest light sources of ultraviolet light and soft x-rays, which allows research that had previously been impossible.
The ALS facility defies easy description. During the tour we walked around the outer area surrounding the facility. This allows access to the various experimental stations which can be used by approved researchers. Each station has a specific purpose.
Overall, the ALS is a maze of wires, pipes, computers, instruments, etc. Much of the pipes are covered in a specialized form of aluminum foil that helps protect the vacuum that the beams travel through.
Another facility at LBNL,houses a pair of scanning tunneling microscopes, that are capable of a level of resolution to half the width of a hydrogen atom. Unfortunately, that building was not open during the recent event.
On Saturday I attended the open house at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Berkeley, CA. LBNL is one of 16 national labs operated by the Department of Energy. It is a part of the University of California.It was original referred to as the Radiation Lab at the University of California. It was part of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.
I first became familiar with LBNL when I read the book "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. He was managing some computers at LBNL and was asked by his supervisor to figure out why there was a $0.75 accounting error in the usage records. This led Stoll to discover that a hacker has accessed the system.
LBNL performs unclassified research primarily in the field of physics, though it has diversified into almost every area of scientific research.
LBNL has a very distinguished history. Eleven of its research have won Nobel Prizes, starting with Ernest Lawrence, and most recently George F. Smoot. Smoot is one of my favorite scientists. He not only won the Nobel Prize for the COsmic Background Explorer, is also the cousin of Oliver Smoot who is famous as the "Smoot" who was laid end to end to measure the Harvard Bridge by students at MIT. The Smoot Marks are still visible, being traditionally restored each year. Appropriately, Oliver Smoot went on to be the chairman of the American National Standards Institute(ANSI) and the president of International Organization for Standardization(ISO). George Smoot has also made a cameo appearance as himself on "The Big Bang Theory" where he asked Dr. Sheldon Cooper if he was on crack, and was the second person to win a million dollars on "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader."
In order to get to LBNL we had to go to the University of California campus where we boarded a shuttle bus that took us up through the Berkeley Hills to the lab.
When I arrived at the lab the first impression I had was "Eureka." That is, I felt like I was visiting the fictional town of Eureka from the SyFy television show. The whole event seemed sort of like "Fonder's Day" from the first episode of the current season of the show.
I wondered around, checking out the various booths highlighting aspects of research conducted at the lab. I then took a bus tour of the campus, which included a trip by the Bevatron building, which is, sadly, being torn down. The Bevatron was the first particle accelerator to achieve billion electron volt(BeV) levels. The Bevatron was where antiprotons were first observed, which confirmed the existence of antimatter. It also allowed the discovery of many other particles leading to a new era in physics. While it will soon be gone, its legacy will live on at locations like the Large Hadron Collider in Bern, Switzerland.
The real highlight of the open house was visiting the Advanced Light Source(ALS). Housed in a building original designed for a cyclotron, it is a synchrotron providing over 40 beamlines. Both ultraviolet and soft x-ray beams are available for scientific research. It is one of the brightest light sources of ultraviolet light and soft x-rays, which allows research that had previously been impossible.
The ALS facility defies easy description. During the tour we walked around the outer area surrounding the facility. This allows access to the various experimental stations which can be used by approved researchers. Each station has a specific purpose.
Overall, the ALS is a maze of wires, pipes, computers, instruments, etc. Much of the pipes are covered in a specialized form of aluminum foil that helps protect the vacuum that the beams travel through.
Another facility at LBNL,houses a pair of scanning tunneling microscopes, that are capable of a level of resolution to half the width of a hydrogen atom. Unfortunately, that building was not open during the recent event.
One other highlight of the visit was seeing Ernest Lawrence's desk. Among the items preserved there are a cigar box that was used to house the first plutonium ever produced, some of Lawrence's lab notes, and the first radiation warning sign. The now familiar symbol was first created at LBNL. The original version was magenta on a blue background. Today, the official version is black on a yellow background. The design was based on a pattern observed in a cloud chamber.
Visiting Lawrence Berkeley was the fulfillment of something I had desired since first reading "The Cuckoo's Egg." It was also a chance to get an up close view at some of the cutting edge research going on while making a connection to scientific history.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sorry For the Delay...
It has taken me way too long to get back here to post another article. I have been kind of busy working on learning iPhone programming and working on my first program, which is coming along slowly.
Anyway, it is time to catch up on things...
On Saturday I went to the Apple Store here in San Francisco and after a short wait I got a new iPhone 4. I bought my first iPhone just over a year ago, and I was a little surprised to discover that I qualified for an upgrade at the same price as new users. So, I decided to go all the way and buy a 32 GB model.
It is certainly worth the cost. As much as I loved my old iPhone, this one is so much better. The graphics are greatly improved, I have the compass app that was introduced on the 3GS, I have all the new new features available in iOS 4.0 which were not available on my 3G, and most importantly it is much faster.
Apps that were painfully slow on the 3G are greatly improved. On the 3G many apps took too long to load. On the 4 they open almost instantly.
The camera is now up to the point where it can actually take decent photos, and it now has a flash. The 4 also can take 720p HD video with the LED for the flash serving as a light source if needed.
Overall, Apple has created another hit.
Anyway, it is time to catch up on things...
On Saturday I went to the Apple Store here in San Francisco and after a short wait I got a new iPhone 4. I bought my first iPhone just over a year ago, and I was a little surprised to discover that I qualified for an upgrade at the same price as new users. So, I decided to go all the way and buy a 32 GB model.
It is certainly worth the cost. As much as I loved my old iPhone, this one is so much better. The graphics are greatly improved, I have the compass app that was introduced on the 3GS, I have all the new new features available in iOS 4.0 which were not available on my 3G, and most importantly it is much faster.
Apps that were painfully slow on the 3G are greatly improved. On the 3G many apps took too long to load. On the 4 they open almost instantly.
The camera is now up to the point where it can actually take decent photos, and it now has a flash. The 4 also can take 720p HD video with the LED for the flash serving as a light source if needed.
Overall, Apple has created another hit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
