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Tuning up your sandpaper

I’ve finished construction on a loft bed for son #2 and have started the sanding. Except that my 120 grit sandpaper was leaving much bigger scratches than I’d expected. A call to my father to ask if he knew what I could be doing wrong elicited this tip:

Tune up your sandpaper by taking two pieces of the same grit and rub them together to knock off any oversized grit that might be present.

Saturday July 26, 2003 · Permalink

Back Channel Chatter

The New York Times has an article looking at the “new” phenomenen of back channel chatter during lectures, speeches, etc. My co-workers and I have been doing this for quite a while, using IRC for communications during conference calls with vendors and the like.

Maybe now more folks will know about this and keep up the pressure on the suits and talking heads, since they know about how to coordinate outside the expected communications channels.

Thursday July 24, 2003 · Permalink

Blosxom 2 Has Been Released

Today Rael Dornfest released Blosxom version 2. It was a very simple upgrade from rc5 that I had been running.

Thanks Rael (and all the other helpers) for Blosxom!

Monday July 21, 2003 · Permalink

Paper Craft from Yamaha

Yamaha (the motorcycle company) has something completely unexpected on their website, a nice collection of papercraft for your cutting and assembly pleasure (or frustration, as the case might be). There are a number of motorcycle models along with animals and seasonal decorations.

(Thanks Major FUN)

Tuesday July 15, 2003 · Permalink

Munich's Choice of Linux over Microsoft

USA Today examined the decision that Munich made in it’s choice of Linux over Microsoft.

In the article, it is clear that folks making the financial decisions are beginning to realize what Microsoft has been up to recently:

.bq Though Microsoft underbid IBM and SuSE by $11.9 million in Munich, city officials were concerned about the unpredictable long-run cost of Microsoft upgrades, says Munich council member Christine Strobl, who championed the switch to Linux. And the more Microsoft discounted, the more it underscored the notion that as a sole supplier, Microsoft could—and has been—naming its own price, she says.

It will be interesting to see how SuSE and IBM capitalize on this deal with Munich.

Monday July 14, 2003 · Permalink

BananaSlug: Searching Google with Randomization

BoingBoing pointed to BananaSlug which uses the Google APIs to search for your search terms plus a random word chosen from a list of sources including a dictionary, Shakespeare, proper names and cities. It’s a semi automated way to get serendipitous search results for your surfing pleasure.

Of course, getting mentioned on BoingBoing is a sure way to run out the 1000 searches for your Google API key quickly. Steve Nelson has updated the site already and now it will return a link to Google with a random word setup for you, or let you use your own API key. Very cool!

Saturday July 12, 2003 · Permalink

Lileks Dreams Rich Dreams

James Lileks in today’s Bleat dreams about what he would do if he hit the 165 mil PowerBall lottery. I particularly like this passage:

As for my daughter, well, I’d put money in bank accounts around the world, with the stipulation that she show up in person to get the money, and she’d have to be of a certain age. This way I could make sure she spent her 20s acting responsibly, and her 30s traveling the world when she’s old enough to appreciate it. Unlike her bassackward dad.

Go and read the whole thing, it’s worth your time to dream a little.

Thursday July 3, 2003 · Permalink

Making Sports Even More Extreme

It’s no longer extreme enough just to strap yourself to a kite and throw yourself off a cliff or sand dune. Folks in the UK have modified a hang glider to include a 95 lb thrust gas turbine (jet) engine

(Thanks Gizmodo)