Free Soft
Oct 28

To: Jason
From: Brian
Subject: Brando, King of Weird Gadgets
I can't believe I'm home, after being away for a month on that working trip. And yes, I am back in your hair. I've got some stories to tell, some gadgety, some not, but I only have one regret. On a side trip to HK to see my family, I tried to find the time to meet Brando, of weird gadgets fame, but we couldn't connect. I kept moving the time, and then he had to cancel and then he tried to undo the cancel, but it was too late. Maybe next time, but until then, I'm going to wonder what that guy is like in person. At least Elaine Chow and I got to finally meet and eat some noodles.

The site looks nice, and it's great to be around again during the day to cover you while you go get lunch, etc. But it is a lot harder to dig into the long term work while the news is buzzing about. Here are my favorite stories you and the gang found today:

•Sears Black Friday Ad Leaks, Full of HDTVs, Digital Cameras, and Other Gadgets
• Motorola's Aura Luxury Phone Given First Groping, General Thumbs-Up
• iPhone 3G Baseband Break-In, Unlock Closer

*with regards and thanks to Crecente and Ashcraft for letting me lift their night notes format.



Tagi: weird gadgets, iphe, sears, black friday ad, hdtvs, side trip, digital cameras, mth, jas, noodles, leaks, elaine, chow, hk, pers, fame, motorola, lunch

Oct 28
Two years ago I gathered some interesting stats from the DCSquares score database. Here's an updated version of those stats using the data as of today:

General Stats

* Total users that have submitted a score: 457
* Total games played: 54,132
* Total squares collected: 1,564,992
* Total time spent playing: 38 days (note: scores entered through the website do not record a time, so this is actually higher)
* Average games played per user: 118
* Average number of squares collected per game: 48
* Average score per game: 30,556
* Average combo per game: 47
* Average game time: 61 seconds
* The most users that have scored the same score is 74. They all scored 1,080 points.

Players by platform

* Windows: 55%
* Mac: 43%
* Linux: 2%
* Dreamcast: 0% (only 23 scores ever submitted for Dreamcast)

Hall of fame:

* Highest score: Harryfronman scored 677,472 points
* Highest combo: captain collected 354 squares in a row
* Most squares: Harryfronman collected 731 squares
* Longest time: jason survived for 16:47 minutes

Hall of shame:

* Lowest score: runkennyrun scored 1,000 points (scores below 1,000 are rejected)
* Shortest time: Baphmomet survived for 2.3 seconds

16 players only collected 1 square but managed to score more than 1000 points.
99% of players use the in-game score client, only 1% of scores were entered through the web.

Tagi: score database, game score, random stats, hall of shame, highest score, game time, ayers, hall of fame, jas, squares, dreamcast, linux, games

Dec 4

Hurricanes, as we've seen, can wreak serious havoc when they strike populated areas. We've never had control over them before, but one researcher thinks they could be broken up with F-4 fighter jets.

In theory, sending in a pair of the jets to do loops around the eye of the hurricane while it's still out over the ocean, creating sonic booms, would break it up before it hits the shore.

Jet fighters flying at supersonic speeds along special trajectories with a hurricane/typhoon at various altitudes would create supersonic booms. In one such embodiment, the trajectories for the supersonic booms of the present invention are counter to the rotational component of the hurricane and/or typhoon being targeted. As such, supersonic booms can be tailored and/or designed to partially and/or fully -negate the basic rotational contribution in a hurricane by slowing down a hurricane's/typhoon's rotation. Additionally, when supersonic booms propagate downward to the surface of the ocean they also destabilize a hurricane's/typhoon's structure by increasing the pressure in the central part of a hurricane's/typhoon's eye.

It's a pretty crazy idea, but I guess it makes sense. It would be pretty amazing to be able to stop any hurricane before it hit shore, saving millions and millions of dollars and who knows how many lives. I can't wait for them to test this out. [Patent via AV Web; Thanks, Jason!]



Tagi: supersonic jets, eye of the hurricane, weather control, fighter jets, web thanks, jet fighters, millis, booms, trajectories, altitudes, embodiment, jas, hurricanes, havoc, researcher, cy, patent

Dec 4

Sure, the Soviets had the first cosmonaut and the Americans won the moon. But leave it to the Japanese to brew the first space beer in history. Called Space Barley, it uses barley grown in the International Space Station.

Made with the collaboration of the breweries, Okayama University, and the Russian Academy of Science, the Space Barley is made only of barley and has no additives. And even while Adam says that it must taste like metal and loneliness, and Jason says that it probably comes out of Bender's ass, I would like to try it. Or precisely because of that.

Sadly, Sapporo has only made 100 litres of this extra-terrestrial beer with a 5.5% alcohol content, which will only be available for a limited tasting in Japan. [AFPBB (Japanese) â?? Thanks Mona]



Tagi: russian academy of science, japanese thanks, academy of science, sapporo, barley, breweries, soviets, jas, additives, alcohol, japan

Mar 31
Having a custom-painted wall mural by Jason Hulfish, a professional artist based in Tampa Bay, FL, is usually reserved for those who can afford the hefty price tag. But when the IMPACT Foundation, a nonprofit started by Buccaneers linebacker Shelton Quarles, asked the artist to spruce up the walls of some [...]

Tagi: hefty price tag, wall mural, artistic vision, families in need, quarles, jas, buccaneers, tampa bay

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