http://radiantmatrix.org A collection of thoughts and links from the minds of geeks Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:32:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Sometimes advertising can be so very cool: Sea Orchestra from Shy the Sun on Vimeo. Definitely pop over to Vimeo and watch the HD version! http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/151 > The gay lifestyle involves stuff like doing laundry and taking the dog out. -- [comment](http://www.flickr.com/photos/burstein/2979979221/comment72157608484705008/) by marymactavish at [Flickr](http://flickr.com) http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/150 Via [DaringFireball][0]: [A first look at Windows 7][1] from ArsTechnica. I'm struck by how many of the 'new and innovative features' are essentially re-implementations of OS X features. * The new taskbar is an awful lot like the Dock * The "peek" feature is a lot like Exposé (yeah, a different interface to ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/149 > Politics and religion are just like software and hardware. They all suck, the documentation is provably incorrect, and all the vendors tell lies. -- *Andrew Dalgleish*, in the Monastery http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/148 > According to the report, many girls with extremely high aptitude for math exist, but they are rarely identified in the U.S. because they veer from a career trajectory in the mathematical sciences due to the low respect American culture places on math, systemic flaws in the U.S. public school ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/147 > Continuing the theme of turning healthy snacks into deadly artery bombs, an apple was sliced, battered, and fried. What emerged from the oil was something so delicious it made Mother Nature weep at her own incompetence in the face of what man hath wrought. -- *[Skepchick: Critical Thinking at ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/146 > "You know that sign in the lobby that says improve everything we touch? Please don't." -- Francis S. Blake, CEO Home Depot Context: speaking on how Home Depot has had so many initiatives that it wasn't succeeding at any of them. Source: [*Home Depot's total rehab*, pg 2](http://bit.ly/info.php?id=1hh1zq). Retrieved ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/145 The venrable NeuroLogica Blog writes, in [Teaching Creationism](http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=376): > Reverend Professor Michael Reis, Director of Education at the Royal Society has [recently advocated](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7612152.stm) the "teach the controversy" approach to creationism in schools. The author goes on to point out the flaws with said "teach the controversy" approach. Unfortunately, while I entirely ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/143 SQL statements in code should *always* be written using binding. There are a very few edge cases where this is not possible: if you encounter one, you need to re-think your approach so that you don't need to use that edge case (e.g. perhaps a stored proc or trigger ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/142 Productivity is widely pursued: managers want to measure it, workers want to maximize it, and just about everyone seems to want to talk about it. Productivity-enhancing systems abound, from Frankln-Covey to GTD. Most of the productivity systems I've seen focus on getting as many things accomplished as possible. More ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/141 Frog Design has come up with a [concept for a 30-year LED-based "lightbulb"](http://www.frogdesign.com/case-study/led-light-bulb-concept.html) that is dim-able, draws less energy than a CFL, and fits in any standard incandescent light socket. They say they're trying to bring it to market, but I wasn't able to find any information on timing ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/140 A family member sent me this news item: > "Section 8 of Senate Bill 200 is a wide open door for any judge to censor anything that condemns homosexuality, including Scripture," Colorado State Rep. Kevin Lundberg said. > > Many Christians fear that one day the Bible will be considered illegal ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/138 > It's as if H.P. Lovecraft, returned from the dead and speaking by seance to Larry Wall, designed a language both elegant and terrifying for his Elder Things to write programs in... -- Matt Olson, asr And people wonder why I love Perl. ;-) http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/137 In response to [Buy n Large to Brand Direction "North"](http://buynlarge.com/NewsCenter.html?storyId=34), John Gruber writes: > What’s next, the Year of the Depends Adult Undergarment? Jiminy.-- [DaringFireball](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/07/02/bnl) I can't tell if he knows that "Buy n Large" is the pretend company from Wall-E or not. Were you kidding, John, or did you really ... http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/136 > The search for static security - in the law and elsewhere - is misguided. The fact is security can only be achieved through constant change, adapting old ideas that have outlived their usefulness to current facts. -- Henry Miller http://radiantmatrix.org/radiantmatrix/2008/134