I always wondered about ball lightning, even when I first heard of it in grade school. It just didn’t seem to make sense. This is certainly one explanation, and it makes more sense than some form of lightning that ignores the known laws of physics. I’m not sure I buy it though. I’d have to …
Continue reading ‘“Ball lightning is all in the mind, say Austrian physicists”’ »
Procrastination is one of my bad habits, and this article helps explain why it has been so difficult to overcome. I’m usually pretty good at identifying my mental landscape, but it never occurred to me to see why I procrastinate.
Interesting facts and statistics. And if you squint at it just right, you can almost see the future that science fiction has foretold for the last sixty years or so, right around the corner. (Via Lifehacker) EDIT, 2013-05-01: The first sentence above used to link to <http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/wild-world-robots/>, but I was asked today by someone from …
Just for balance, after yesterday’s thorough Microsoft-bashing post, here’s an Apple-bashing one that I thoroughly agree with too. I still plan to get a fourth-generation iPod Touch when they come out later this year, to replace my aging first-generation one, because it’s still the best non-cell-phone organizer available at present — but I’ll get it …
Why? Probably because Microsoft is rapidly fading into an irrelevant computing has-been, and Windows 7 is good enough that most people no longer feel the urge to abandon the Windows ship.
World War II warplanes were often painted with sharp-toothed heads on the fronts, to improve the morale of the pilot’s side and, hopefully, decrease it on the enemy’s. But apparently that’s not enough; now scientists have come up with a justification for stenciling the whole thing to look like a shark. 😉 (All kidding aside, …
Continue reading ‘“German boffins develop sharkskin paint for ships, planes”’ »
I like snarky-but-true comments. This one is particularly good. The article it leads to is also packed with good advice. I don’t particularly worry about my online privacy. I have my browser set to delete cookies (including Flash super-cookies) whenever I close it, I keep Javascript blocked for most sites, and I absolutely refuse to …
Continue reading ‘“Online Privacy: Check Yourself (Before You Wreck Yourself)”’ »
Smart move on Canonical’s part, getting themselves on more machines to get more manufacturers to sign maintenance agreements with them. Who says you can’t make money by giving stuff away? 😉 (But you can definitely make more money with commercial software, which is why more than half of my development work is commercial.)
Bill Gates has been metaphorically kicking tech-enthusiasts in the balls for decades. Now it looks like he’s taking it to the next level — offering everybody a kick in the ‘nads, and in a much more physical way. 😉
Maybe giving up Mountain Dew wasn’t such a good idea after all… (Via Lifehacker)