Linked List: February 2014
Friday, 28 February 2014
- Wireless Power Transmission ✶
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From How Steve Perlman’s “Revolutionary” Wireless Technology Works - and Why its a Bigger Deal than Anyone Realizes:
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My brain almost exploded when I realized this. While 5G is a big leap in performance from existing 4G technology, it doesn’t provide any fundamentally new capabilities to us. Wireless power, though would be a total game-changer. What would the implications be?
- Consumer electronics that never need to be plugged in again - phones, tablets, laptops, televisions could all be powered wirelessly in the home and office.
- With transmission towers spaced every kilometer along major highways, electric cars would not need massive, expensive batteries. Everyone could afford a Tesla, and the demand for oil would drop.
- With transmitters on a few rooftops in a city, you could have drones and quadcopters delivering groceries and mail, again without heavy batteries that limit their flying time.
- You could an electrical grid that’s a wireless mesh network, especially in developing countries, and have excess power from solar panels beamed to other locations which need it.
- There are probably a slew of other ideas that I haven’t even considered – readers, please comment below!
- Firefox 301 Cache Problem ✶
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I’ve been having issues with this when developing new websites. Firefox saves the 301 redirects in the cache, so if your server or application is configured to redirect
/index.htmlto/en/index.htmland you make changes, the cached redirect is used instead and you can’t see the changes.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
- Atom Text Editor ✶
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Sounds good, but disappointing they’re not making it open source.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
- In Praise of Idleness ✶
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Classic text by Bertrand Russell.
First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given. Usually two opposite kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this is called politics. The skill required for this kind of work is not knowledge of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising.
- Krishnamurti at the United Nations in 1985 ✶
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Here’s a transcript.
- Steve Jobs in 1997 ✶
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Focus is saying no.
Monday, 24 February 2014
- How Not to Be Seen ✶
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Good instruction from Monty Python.
- Content First, Then Design ✶
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I play this record often at work.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
- Linux Filesystem Tour ✶
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To make something easier to understand use a metaphor and tell a story.
Friday, 21 February 2014
- Kiev’s Fatigue ✶
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Photographs by Eric Bouvet.
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
- Water in WebGL ✶
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The application runtime of the future is here and it is the web browser. By Evan Wallace, the creator or Robots Are People Too.
- Quick Access to OS X Terminal ✶
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A system-wide terminal available on a hot-key.
- OpenEmu Multiple Video Game Emulator for Mac ✶
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I need to get NES and SNES USB controllers to try this.
For DOS games, see Boxer.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
- Random Post in Jekyll ✶
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Simplicity is beautiful! Got this working in my photography site’s ongoing conversion to static-site-with-dynamic-bits. It should all be up later this week and I’ll write about it there and link from here.
Monday, 17 February 2014
- Using Django for Static Sites ✶
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Meanwhile, almost done converting SimonGriffee.com to Jekyll.
See also: djangothis.
- Frequency ✶
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My favorite:
The star PSR J1748-2446AD rotates 1,000 times.
See also: Hertz.
Friday, 14 February 2014
- Gitlab Open Source Alternative to Github ✶
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See also: Private Github Enterprise Alternatives.
- John Cleese on Creativity ✶
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Humour always accompanies a wider perspective.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
- Connecting Mac OS 10.7-9 to Network Printers ✶
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The internet saves the day at work again.
- Map Projections for D3 ✶
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Found this while looking for a Waterman Butterfly map for a project at work.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
- Firefox Keyboard Navigation Tip ✶
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Search for text when I start typing allows you to quickly navigate to text or hyperlinks in a web page. This feature has two modes. Press / and start typing to search all text on the current page, or press ’ before your string to search hyperlinks only. Firefox will highlight matching text or hyperlinks as you type.
Press ’ followed by a word in the hyperlink you want. Then press Return and the link is followed.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Monday, 10 February 2014
- The Intercept ✶
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We believe the prime value of journalism is that it imposes transparency, and thus accountability, on those who wield the greatest governmental and corporate power. Our journalists will be not only permitted, but encouraged, to pursue stories without regard to whom they might alienate.
- Scott Expedition Complete! ✶
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Dear Ben,
I’ve followed your plan since 2006, and am thrilled you have done it — congratulations!
With warmest regards from Rome, where I’ll treat you and Tarka to a massive meal any time you visit!
Simon
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
- Microsoft Woes ✶
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There’s still a lot of the old Microsoft there, the Windows, Office, Exchange, and Sharepoint (WOES) company. It’s most of the company by far, surely. (I just made up the acronym WOES. It fits.)
But in the Azure group, at least, there’s recognition that Microsoft can’t survive on lock-in, that those days are in the past.
See also: Microsoft, Past and Future.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
- Github for Writers ✶
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Penflip is an upcoming collaborative writing platform designed for writing instead of coding.
Monday, 3 February 2014
- On Public Domain ✶
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Though John Walker’s essay is about computer games, its arguments apply to ‘intellectual property’ in any field.
Everyone has experienced the dribble-chinned tedium of various copyright industries screeching, “BUT YOU WOULDN’T STEAL A CAR!”* at us, as we sit in the cinema to watch a film while being told about how it’s our fault that no one’s sitting in a cinema watching a film, or indeed as we sit back to enjoy our legally purchased DVD. The comparison is false. And it’s a false comparison that it’s very much in the interests of the copyright industries to have us conflate. No, I would no more steal a car than I would tolerate a company telling me that they had the exclusive rights to the idea of cars themselves. However, there are things I’m very happy to ‘steal’, like knowledge, inspiration, or good ideas. And it was until incredibly recently that amongst such things as knowledge, inspiration and good ideas were the likes of literature and music.
- Open Street Map Your Online Map ✶
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The Wikipedia of online maps has acquired a GSM navigation company.
- Chaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against the German Government ✶
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In the criminal complaint, we ask to hear technical expert and whistleblower Edward Snowden as a witness, and that he be provided safe passage and protection against extradition to the US.