A few days ago Google launched a new feature for the already marvelous Google Maps : Street View.
Have a look to this YouTube presentation:
The "walkable" cities are at the moment San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami, but the list will be extended soon. Take a look at this page, and start walking in Vegas!
Comments are off for this post
Have you ever visualized a universe in 4 physical dimensions? Don’t take "time" as a dimension by now, and let’s concentrate on something physical. I would say that for the average human imagination 4 dimensions are too many.
Maybe it could help to imagine a rational entity in a two-dimensional world that faces for the first time another entity from a three-dimensional world; take a look to the following interesting video from the discussed film "What the bleep do we know":
In this video, something like a 2d pacman meets a 3d person. It is interesting to notice how the pacman does not have any possibility to see the 3d person, and how the person could see and access everything in the world of pacman.
Now… how could a person from an imaginary 4th spatial dimension interact with our world? Could more dimensions solve the problems that the old physics theory does not understand? Is the universe in 10, 11, or 26 dimensions like it is suggested in the strings theory?
Another interesting point would be a discussion about the spacetime: the three spacial dimensions are strictly coupled with time, as strictly that the spacial and timing dimensions can interact each other. This is also something out of the normal human experience that opens the door to many other thoughts.
Reality can be much more complex than what we can experience. Many thousand of years ago our predecessors have seen lightnings in the skies, and though that it was a sign of a divinity being hungry with them. We shouldn’t do the same errors, and keep our mind open to new truths.
Anybody willing to go beyond Einstein, maybe through quantum mechanics?
Comments are off for this post
I would like to feed your curiosity now with something about physics:
"Black holes are places where space and time come to an end, and the matter is crushed out of existence. If we could understand how time comes to an end in black holes, it could help us understand how time started in Big Bang." – Stephen Hawking
 |
Where and how did time start? Did time ever start? Where does the universe come from? Does this question have any meaning?
Sometimes I think that there must be a cause for everything. Probably we will be never able to fully understand this world, because we can see only a projection of the universe. The humanity won’t probably live enough in this planet to survive to those questions. This debate can probably help us to remember that we all are small drops of an ocean of life. As human beings we have the power of thoughts; unfortunately history proved that we aren’t clever enough to use our brilliant intelligence to protect and develop life on our planet. I am convinced that we should try to picture ourself and our hearth as a unique living entity. We, our parents, our children, and all the life around us is a unique ring in the chain of life. I am lost in my thoughts! |
From Amazon: Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we’re looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists’ search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can’t help but marvel at Hawking’s ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God."
Comments are off for this post
This time I really couldn’t wait! It is already time for a new, shiny release for Ubuntu. This is Ubuntu 7.4, codename Feisty Fawn. This release claims to be the most user-friendly, and contains interesting tools to assist the migration of Windows users to Linux, and the new 2.6.20 Linux Kernel.
This is a "beta" (=not 100% complete) release, but even if the release date is set for April 19th, I wanted to give a run to this new Linux incarnation. Since one year I am big fan of Ubuntu; the strongest reason for which I choose Ubuntu is the incredible support that its community can give. This pre-release is quite complete, and you can download if from here.
If you like Windows Vista’s shiny effects, you will get them and lots more for free with this amazing open source operating system!
If you are afraid that migrating from Windows will be hard, I tell you that you will need one or two weeks time to get acquainted to Linux, but you won’t regret that. With Linux, among lots of other things, you will say good bye to spyware, viruses, trojans, "Please restart you PC" messages twice a day… and you won’t need a new PC every two years.
Give Linux a try!
If you already know the Linux world, You can find a nice review of the current status of the latest Ubuntu Linux here.
Some (?random) links:
Ubuntu Linux Homepage: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Linux Podcast: http://www.linuxreality.com/
The Beryl Project: http://www.beryl-project.org/
Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu founder) interview:
Comments are off for this post
It’s a fact: geeks, after never-ending hours of sitting in front of a PC, get fat easily. I will present you now my experience in losing weight. Too many web sites can give you a lot to read, but geeks like us need clear indications, like in computer programs. This is the reason for which I will present my findings in easy steps, clear to follow. I’m not a fat guy, and I’ve lost more than 7 kilos in three months, without privating myself of pizzas, cakes, icecream, … just making sport and eating better. Forget about pills and diets, follow me, and geek healthy! Remember that reaching (and keeping) the ideal weight for a healthier and happier life is a way of living, not just an exercise to do some months.
STEP 0 - Set your target [boot-up]
Before to start losing weight you need to know your ideal weight. Many web sites offer you such calculators, and I know you are too lazy to go down in the real world and fix an appointment with a dietologist. You can find a nice ideal weight calculator here. Set your target: it can be a weight, or to fit in some old trousers that you used years ago, or something else. Be realistic, and think about that we are happily living geeks, not models; we don’t really need six-pack abdominals.
STEP 1 – Move: 90 minutes aerobic exercise, twice a week [main]
Buy a pulse rate belt (a cheap one can cost as low as 20€ – and will do his job brilliantly), find a your way to exercise keeping 90 minutes at 130/140 pulses per minute twice a week. Not more. Some web sites like this will help you calculating the ideal pulse rate for burning fat. Indoor bike fits me best, but you enjoy trying bike, jogging, dancing, and every aerobic ativity. Drink one liter water while exercising: you will sweat a lot! You will discover that you can’t run like athlets and keep a pulse rate between 130 and 140. We are geeks; atleths do not have much fat, this is no competition, our target is not theirs, many athlets can’t write Java or Shell scripts. As a good start, you can try a fast peaced walk (not run!) in the park, maybe climbing a small hill. With a pulse rate of 150 you are really doing too much, and you are going to be tired and unmotivated soon. Really do 90 minutes twice a week, without breaks: during the first 15-20 minutes you won’t burn any fat because your body will use sugar reserves from your blood. Don’t give up! Start slow, do some stretching, smile and keep up your morale: after the first 30 minutes you are going to feel better, and… actually you are losing weight! Yeah! Isn’t this the reason you are reading this post?! It’s easer than you can think, and becomes more easy with a friend, a music player or something to read. If you feel hungry while exercising, drink plain water: helps instantaneously. Avoid anything else than water while exercising. Eat a candy (one is more than enough) in case you feel terribly down, and rest. At the end of the exercise, you could have spent 600 calories or more. Move more. Go to work with a bike if you can. You can also if you don’t want. Leave your car parked. Avoid lifts: do you know that geeks are capable to reach the 6th floor without sweating at all? If it’s raining, just take an umbrella and walk. Forget about spot-fat-reduction: the first place where you put on fat is the last place where you will lose it. As simple as that. Weight in the morning after going to the toilet, before breakfast. Try sitting in the toliet in the morning: this will get your intestin more efficient and regular. Expect your weight to be always different each day. It’s normal the to have ups and downs: some days we retain more water in our body, and you will see more weight. Also think that you will build some muscles that will have some weight, and will help you burn calories.
STEP 2 – Eat better [input pipe]
No more calories concentrators like biscuits or crackers as a snack: just fresh fruit and vegetables. Drink green tea. Avoid greasy things. Read the calories income in your snacks. 100 or 150 calories are enough for a snack. Take a look here to see how 200 calories look like. If you eat because you are ansious or nevous, fight your stress and then start losing your weight. Even if we are geeks (=better than the other normal human beings), we can suffer stress. Stress destroys us: stress for geeks is like kryptonite for Superman; have a look at my non-original post on how to reduce your stress. Then you will find much more energy to get fit and to avoid fast food chains. The rule is to change often, eat fruit at least twice a day, and a good portion of vegetables at least once a day. Don’t forget that you need sugar in the morning, but not in the evening before to go to sleep. Proteins will take care of your geek muscles, reparing and giving strength. Just buy some books about nutrition, speak with a dietologist, or surf web sites like this to get a better food culture. By the way, you do not need much salt in the salad.
You should never experience hunger. Do you have a work (like me) or some hobby (like me) that makes you sit for hours? Take two fruits (either bananas, apples, oranges, kiwis, strawberrys, ananas, … change often!) and a big bottle of plain water at work. Place the water bottle in a visible place at your desk. Drink often, and eat fruit when hungry. Drink green tea without much sugar. Do NOT skip meals! Never ever. If you had a big lunch, eat at least a fruit or a salad as dinner. Concentrate sweets, sugar, milk and carbohidrates at breakfast, proteins (=meat, fish, cheese…) and vegetables at luch and dinner. Try new vegetables and fruit each week: just go to your favourite market and pick something new. A banana one hour before trining will increase your performance.
STEP 3 – Motivate yourself! [power up]
Tell everyone that you started losing weight. Share your success with your family and friends. Write down an history of your efforts and admire it from time to time. Never decide to do sport or not: just do it twice a week. Enjoy some free time without a keyboard, and forget work…
STEP 3++ – GOTO STEP 1 [recursion or infinite loop cycle]
_________________________________________________________________
A couple of links to learn more:
This is a quick summary/review of my Canon Powershot S3 IS, pointing out the positive and negative sides of it. I bought this camera in August, and I’m very happy with it. The money value is very good, and at the moment the best compromise for a good camera without the cost (and volume) of digital SLR cameras and with huge and expensive objectives.
what is POSITIVE:
- picture quality: sharp pictures and good tonalities
- tilting monitor to take pictures from every angle
- 12x zoom opens new horizons to creativity
- amazing battery life
- uses normal AAA batteries
- many manual controls ans settings, but also superb "auto" mode
- strong enough flash light
- user friendly menu, easy to learn
- best camera in this price range
- very fast OFF<->ON time, fast continuos shots
- small enough to fit in a small bag
- silent during operation and zoom (very low noise)
- very good microphone sensitivity and sound recorder mode
- good plastic quality (shock resistant), black color
- 6 megapixels is enough for sharp A3 pictures… need more?
what is NEGATIVE:
- purple fringing at big zoom, can’t be better in such cameras
- some noise in dark pictures without flash
- MJPG video compression: takes a lot of memory space
CONCLUSION:
After using it extensively, I recommend it without dubts for amateur photographers. Other competitors with similar cameras deliver worse picture quality. Amazon delivered in a shock-proof packaging in two days. Very professional. I recommend a fast SD-card. I took a 2-gig Sandisk Extreme III card, and I’m satisfied to have such a fast response from my camera.
Comments are off for this post
This list has been copied from this web page, and discovered through Lifehacker (a site with the motto "geek to live") . I hope you can find one or two tips to better face everyday’s challenges.
Think positive, and have some relaxing and productive time!
Vincenzo
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
This book has been a real joy to read. Inside you won’t find any ground-breaking revealed truth, but the author (Robert B.Cialdini Ph.D.) will bring you into a journey around the human brain, and the brain paths that lead us to decisions. Let’s face it: our reality is terribly complex, and each second our brain is bombarded by an incredible quantity of information. How could we still make good choices? Easy: through shortcuts. Our experience and culture helps us to choose the right direction through clues that most of the times lead us to the best choice. Sometimes some people more skilled than us in the influence tactics (usually people trying to sell us something!), use those clues trying to bring us to the choice the want us to choose, typically “Yes, I buy it”. Sometimes those sellers can tell us that some offer is “for a limited time only!”, triggering our urge for a quick decision through the principle of scarcity, and trying to convince us that if we do not make a positive decision now, we won’t be able to profit of some special offer in the future; this clue will guide us to desire something that normally wouldn’t attract us.
From the epilogue at the end of the book:
<<Where we are rushed, stressed, uncertain, indifferent, distracted or fatigued, we tend to focus on less of the information available to us. [...] for the sake of efficiency we must sometimes retreat from the time-consuming, sophisticated, fully informed brand of decision making to a more automatic, primitive, single-feature type of responding. For instance, in deciding whether to say yes or no to a requester, it is clear that we frequently pay attention to but one piece of information that we use to prompt our compliance decisions. [...] That’s why we employ the factors of reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity so often and automatically in making our compliance decisions. Each, by itself, provides a highly reliable cue as to when we will be better off saying yes than no.>>
Our instinct can also help us: sometimes we have to listen to our stomach! The stomach is one of our organs which is more strictly connected to ancestral areas of the brain which we cannot easily control and understand; most of the times the answer of some our questions are there, in the most ancient and uncontrolled part of our brain. Just giving an example, if we are conducting an interview, and we feel something like “an uncertainty feeling” in our stomach (no joke!), most probably our amygdala is aware of some negative signal of which we are not conscious. Learning to listen to our such clues can help us to use this kind of intelligence that is many times underused and underestimated. This kind of approach can save us sometimes to accept something we don’t really want.
The book explores systematically, one by one, the different principles that we usually tend to apply to shorten our decisions, and proposes also some mean to counter-attack to such principles once artificially triggered by people trying to make their own profit.
I recommend this book as a relaxing lecture; with lots and lots of real-life examples, the author will give the reader some consciousness of how people make decisions, which techniques usually people adopt to to convince us, and which weapons we can employ to contrast them.
You can google for some more information, finding out more about the “influence principles” by the author here.
Comments are off for this post
Did you ever dream of being able to generate astonishing 3D worlds? Have you ever desired to simulate phisical objects, collisions, and particles in space? Well, it is time to start, and the cost of commercial quality software is will not stop you. Blender is a marvellous open source 3D content creation suite that you can have free of cost at Blender web site. blender.org (Blender 3D project home page)
blenderart magazine
BlenderNewbies – a beginner’s resource for learning Blender 3D
BlenderWiki
Blender Tutorials at BlenderNation
Blender Tutorials Collection
If you are one of the lucky owners of one of the newest multi-core processors, you will be happy to know that multi-threaded rendering is supported, even though it must be explicitely enabled in the rendering parameters.
Blender comes with native support for an additional powerful external render: Yafray. Give it a try to see the raytraced image quality. The newest version of Blender has just been released. There are many noteworthy updates to this software; the most notable this time (at least for the average user) are Sculpt Mode and Multires Meshes. Have a look to this Blender page to learn about those features through videos.
Comments are off for this post
.jpeg)
