An interesting glimpse into the many and varied defenses of the plant kingdom.
Archive of entries posted on January 2010
“DIY mosquito killing device”
Even if I didn’t hate the little bloodsuckers, I’d want one of these. C-square, you might suggest it to your wife too, as a guaranteed way to get your fireplace going…
Secure FTP Headaches
I like the hosting company that we use for Oak Circle (and this blog). I’ve been a customer for about ten years, with various websites, and in that time, they’ve consistently improved what they offer, without raising their prices. But with my yearly renewal coming up next month, it was time to decide whether I [...]
“Controversial gym ad warns that aliens will eat overweight people”
There’s nothing controversial about it at all. Sure, it’s tacky and probably insensitive… but it’s also probably true. And I say this as a guy who is carrying a little more weight than he probably should be. This is one case that the market will solve: people who are offended by the sign won’t use [...]
“Outrageous new means of megastar demise spotted”
As “antimatter-driven hypernovae.” Quite interesting, in a science-geek kind of way, but when I first clicked on that title, I was expecting to read something about Prince or Cher dying in a novel manner.
“Minnesota levies world’s first carbon tariff…against North Dakota”
It’ll be interesting to see how this fight turns out. And important as well. If North Dakota wins, it’ll put a damper on any attempts to use carbon tariffs. (Yes, it does “unfairly” give renewable energy an advantage over coal powered energy — that’s the whole point to it. But if I read the law [...]
Triple Monitors!
As a programmer, I’ve always found that the more monitor space you’ve got, the more productive you can be. And multiple monitors are even better than a single huge monitor, in a lot of ways. When you’re referring to online documentation while you’re programming, for example, it’s a lot easier to just glance from one [...]
“Body Cavity Scanners”
I guess this beats having a sadistic guard do a body cavity search on you every time you need to fly somewhere — which is where things have been headed for the last decade or so.
“Why I Believe Printers Were Sent From Hell to Make Us Miserable”
Very timely, since GoddessJ and I helped her mother set up her new printer over the weekend. She replaced a semi-expensive Canon inkjet printer from around the turn of the century, which never worked particularly well and was extremely slow on top of that, with a really cheap (less than $150) Brother black-and-white laser printer/scanner/copier. [...]
“How to Teach Physics to Your Dog”
At least a dog is likely to listen, or look like he’s listening. Cats, children, and non-scientist adults (unless you’re paying them) aren’t likely to even pretend interest.