Category: Geek

Here’s your daily dose of cuteness – at Ainslie’s request

Cute Baby Hedgehog – video powered by Metacafe

Okay, it’s not just opinion now. Here are the FACTS. Scientific PROOF that PowerPoint rots your brain and makes you dumb.
Research Points The Finger At PowerPoint.

It is more difficult to process information if it is coming at you in the written and spoken form at the same time.

I especially like the way the church also attracts some collateral damage:

It also questions the wisdom of centuries-old habits, such as reading along with Bible passages, at the same time they are being read aloud in church. More of the passages would be understood and retained, the researchers suggest, if heard or read separately.

Okay, so be warned. If I’m in one of your presentations with my eyes closed – I’m not asleep – I’m just making sure I’m not distracted by the sight of you. If my eyes are open, I’m simply not listening to you.

Fark.com has been one of my favourite infrequent interweb haunts over the years. Amongst the usual ‘Weird News Of The World’ posts, you find some gems. And sometimes, the editors hit the jackpot. I’m glad I renewed my acqaintance this week in time to see this headline:

Couple buys monkey as pet, get upset when it dominates them and their dog. Marmoset knock you out (link)

Call me a geek, but it’s days like today that make me glad I’m online.

Over the last few months, I’ve gradually been falling victim to the Google Renaissance and moving a lot of my activities onto Google servers:

• Moved the family calendaring application from Mediabee to Google Calendar
• Moved my blog-reading schedule from Bloglines to Google Reader
• Put a couple of significant, shared Microsoft Office documents into Google Docs format
• Made ‘Google Personalized‘ my default browser home page
• I even played with putting my task list on the Google-friendly, very cool, Australian site rememberthemilk, but found that Outlook still did the job well enough
• Started using Google Notebook instead of scraps of paper.

Last weekend, I got into the Mashup craze with good old Google Maps, and started mapping my company’s contact information.

And now, this week, Google have switched on the full Google mapping functionality I’ve been hanging out for. In Australia, you’re now able to trace driving directions and search for local businesses, and more, with the Google Mapping engine (including Google Earth).

There’s probably a whole bunch of other stuff, but the ‘driving directions’ functionality is one that really helps me out in a strange city. Especially when I’m being given new places to visit each weekend by my birthday-party-going offspring. Whereis does a great job, but not smoothly enough.

I’m waiting for Google to switch on a setting in Gmail whilch allows me to manage my non-Gmail accounts, then I can add a line that says

• Moved my email from Outlook to Gmail

I really think Microsoft has cause to be scared of Google.

Now that I have moved a lot of my e-life onto Google servers, I hope I don’t.

Scene: interior of LA Airport Lounge. Our hero is unsuccessfully trying to make a phone call using his credit card. After a couple of aborted attempts, he talks to an operator.
Operator: Hello, Sir, can I help you?
Hero: I hope so. I’m trying to make a call to Australia, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Can you help?
Operator: Certainly. What number are you trying to reach?
Hero: 02 12345678
Operator: Oh, I see the problem. I’m sorry, but you’re not able to make a call to that country with the phone handset you’re using at the moment.
Hero: Oh, that’s a shame.
Operator: Would you like to try to call a different country?
Hero: … I was kind of hoping to reach Australia. I can’t really think of another country I’d like to be talking to at the moment.
Operator: I see. Thanks for calling.
Hero: Thank you.

Here’s a great link for anyone who shaved their head for Camp Quality recently

After a couple of years of building up a decent collection of Christmas Lights (and having a break this year), I’d made a point not to be put off by other, more significant displays nearby. I’d always thought I’d get serious one of these years and put in a serious effort.
Until I saw this setup. It’s amazing, authentic, and raises the bar sufficiently high for me not to feel like bothering any more. Maybe I’ll work on my Christmas BBQing skills instead.

This is easily the most fun I’ve had with a computer for a looong time. Google have put their mapping technology to work to create ‘Google Earth‘, a piece of software you can use to ‘virtually fly’ anywhere on earth.
Seriously. You start with a view of the world, and you can keep zooming in to anywhere. For example, there’s a satellite photo of my place. Then I can tilt the camera so I can see perth in the background. Then I can fly to New York. Then back to Rottnest. All with fairly high-resolution images of each location.
The interface is slick, if you have a computer to handle it, and it’s dead easy to understand. And (drumroll)… it’s free.
I’m happily recreating all my last few years of travelling. It’s so nice not to have to fly economy.

Interesting image when loading Perthcam tonight – seems someone left the light on. We get to see the other side of the picture. [full size]
Now, if the world were like CSI, we’d be able to enhance the image to see what’s written on that whiteboard back there. Go for it.