it would seem i'm not alone in my interests, just check out this
by comparison, my own lego hand is just sad... mine doesn't even move on it's own... what can i say? some folks have a lot better lego than i do...
Saturday, October 22, 2005
the wonderful world of lego
y'know, there's no cooler convergence of geeky things than robotic hands made out of lego... i've always liked lego and i've always been interested in robots and duplicating the articulation of a human hand was one of those things i worked on as a kid...
it would seem i'm not alone in my interests, just check out this
by comparison, my own lego hand is just sad... mine doesn't even move on it's own... what can i say? some folks have a lot better lego than i do...
it would seem i'm not alone in my interests, just check out this
by comparison, my own lego hand is just sad... mine doesn't even move on it's own... what can i say? some folks have a lot better lego than i do...
Thursday, October 13, 2005
bowling, bowling, bowling
so last night a bunch of folks from work got together and went bowling... i haven't been bowling in years, and i'd certainly never been bowling with any of these folks...
and i'd never bowled while drinking before...
they were trying to convince me that drinking makes you bowl better, and it seemed to be working too... for most of the first game i was winning with a comfortable margin after having a couple strikes in a row...
then in the last frame the ball slipped out of my hand in the wind-up (or whatever you want to call it) so the ball went backwards instead of forwards (good thing the bowling computers are stupid and didn't know anything about that)... then i started out the next game by hitting myself in the leg with the ball (because i'm just a big bowling pin, dontcha know) which resulted in an immediate gutter ball... it didn't really improve much from there... so much for 'drinking makes you bowl better'...
and i'd never bowled while drinking before...
they were trying to convince me that drinking makes you bowl better, and it seemed to be working too... for most of the first game i was winning with a comfortable margin after having a couple strikes in a row...
then in the last frame the ball slipped out of my hand in the wind-up (or whatever you want to call it) so the ball went backwards instead of forwards (good thing the bowling computers are stupid and didn't know anything about that)... then i started out the next game by hitting myself in the leg with the ball (because i'm just a big bowling pin, dontcha know) which resulted in an immediate gutter ball... it didn't really improve much from there... so much for 'drinking makes you bowl better'...
Monday, October 10, 2005
pancakes
so i was all set to make myself pancakes this past sunday, as i've done just about every sunday since i was 13 (i know, i'm such a creature of habit), only to discover i was all out of mix and i needed to make more...
yes, make more... i'm not talking about some store bought crap, there's been a general purpose mixture (not unlike bisquick in it's ability to be used for lots of things) recipe used by my family for many moons and i needed to make more..
and as is often the case, my memory failed me... so i'm going to write it down for posterity...
9 cups of flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of milk powder
1/3 cup of baking powder
4 teaspoons of salt
1 3/4 cups of vegetable oil
you mix them all up thoroughly - you don't want any chunks (at least nothing bigger than a pea)...
pretty simple, i just couldn't remember whether it was 1/3 cups of baking powder or 2/3 cups...
and then i made my pancakes... people seem to like my pancakes - and i don't mean crepe-style pancakes either, i'm talking about pancakes that rise like bread, that are at least a half inch think and light and fluffy... pancakes that emphasize the cake part... they're also simple to make...
1 egg
~1/2 cup of milk
~1 cup of the aforementioned mix
the measurments are approximate because i like to tweak it to get just the right consistency (like a really thick milkshake, only this isn't something you'd want to slurp up through a straw - well you could do it, i suppose, the batter tastes fine the way it is)... i also double everything because i really can eat a tower of pancakes all by myself...
anyways, you mix it thoroughly (again, you don't want lumps) and you drop 1/4 cup amounts in a non-stick pre-heated frying pan (sorry, you'll have to experiment with temperature - 6 1/2 on my stove is probably something entirely different on yours) and cook till several bubbles rise to the top and then flip.. you should be looking at a nice golden brown pancake at this point (though only half cooked) and if not that's your cue to adjust the temperature... if, at this point, your pancake rises so much that the already cooked side splits open then you've got yourself a really good pancake...
if you want you can throw some apple slivers into the mix too, but i'd suggest making the batter more watery for that.. thicker batter doesn't cook as easily when apple chunks get in the way...
yes, make more... i'm not talking about some store bought crap, there's been a general purpose mixture (not unlike bisquick in it's ability to be used for lots of things) recipe used by my family for many moons and i needed to make more..
and as is often the case, my memory failed me... so i'm going to write it down for posterity...
9 cups of flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of milk powder
1/3 cup of baking powder
4 teaspoons of salt
1 3/4 cups of vegetable oil
you mix them all up thoroughly - you don't want any chunks (at least nothing bigger than a pea)...
pretty simple, i just couldn't remember whether it was 1/3 cups of baking powder or 2/3 cups...
and then i made my pancakes... people seem to like my pancakes - and i don't mean crepe-style pancakes either, i'm talking about pancakes that rise like bread, that are at least a half inch think and light and fluffy... pancakes that emphasize the cake part... they're also simple to make...
1 egg
~1/2 cup of milk
~1 cup of the aforementioned mix
the measurments are approximate because i like to tweak it to get just the right consistency (like a really thick milkshake, only this isn't something you'd want to slurp up through a straw - well you could do it, i suppose, the batter tastes fine the way it is)... i also double everything because i really can eat a tower of pancakes all by myself...
anyways, you mix it thoroughly (again, you don't want lumps) and you drop 1/4 cup amounts in a non-stick pre-heated frying pan (sorry, you'll have to experiment with temperature - 6 1/2 on my stove is probably something entirely different on yours) and cook till several bubbles rise to the top and then flip.. you should be looking at a nice golden brown pancake at this point (though only half cooked) and if not that's your cue to adjust the temperature... if, at this point, your pancake rises so much that the already cooked side splits open then you've got yourself a really good pancake...
if you want you can throw some apple slivers into the mix too, but i'd suggest making the batter more watery for that.. thicker batter doesn't cook as easily when apple chunks get in the way...
the public discourse
i was reading al gore's comments on what the threat to american democracy and found it to actually be very interesting reading about what has happened to the public exchange of ideas that american democracy depends on...
al gore mentions trying to address the erosion of the public forum with his own television broadast and to that end i have an idea for him...
in canada, specifically on citytv, we have this thing called speaker's corner - it's the starting point for the idea... consider the possibility of having kiosks (like speakers corner) spread around the country with live video (screen in screen) from other kiosks showing people engaged in debate... consider further opening up the
conversation(s) to being accessed over the internet by webcam and/or text-based chat sessions... obviously there will need to be some sort of moderation facility to prevent abuse of the facilities that would interfere with the public forum...
if you then broadcast the resulting conversations on network television you could quite conceivably bring the 'marketplace of ideas' to the television airwaves...
apparently he's already taking in and broadcasting 'viewier content' but that's hardly the level of interaction necessary to truely have a public debate - you need to multiplex feeds together in real-time so that people can interact with each other in the debating process...
al gore mentions trying to address the erosion of the public forum with his own television broadast and to that end i have an idea for him...
in canada, specifically on citytv, we have this thing called speaker's corner - it's the starting point for the idea... consider the possibility of having kiosks (like speakers corner) spread around the country with live video (screen in screen) from other kiosks showing people engaged in debate... consider further opening up the
conversation(s) to being accessed over the internet by webcam and/or text-based chat sessions... obviously there will need to be some sort of moderation facility to prevent abuse of the facilities that would interfere with the public forum...
if you then broadcast the resulting conversations on network television you could quite conceivably bring the 'marketplace of ideas' to the television airwaves...
apparently he's already taking in and broadcasting 'viewier content' but that's hardly the level of interaction necessary to truely have a public debate - you need to multiplex feeds together in real-time so that people can interact with each other in the debating process...
Monday, October 03, 2005
me at work
recently i happened upon a picture of fred von lohmann in his office at EFF and i was struck by how small his space was - it's no bigger than my own space at the office...
now, i'm no famous EFF lawyer - and i don't have the kind of razor sharp wit to come up with things like "more carrot, less stick" but i thought folks might like to see me at work... thanks to the office shutterbug, alex, that is now possible..
alex will probably wonder why i chose to show the bad picture but it's kind of a running gag with me - i don't take good photos, i'm not photogenic and i find that humorous... besides, now that i'm working in a reclining position, don't you sort of expect to see me with my eyes closed?
now, i'm no famous EFF lawyer - and i don't have the kind of razor sharp wit to come up with things like "more carrot, less stick" but i thought folks might like to see me at work... thanks to the office shutterbug, alex, that is now possible..
alex will probably wonder why i chose to show the bad picture but it's kind of a running gag with me - i don't take good photos, i'm not photogenic and i find that humorous... besides, now that i'm working in a reclining position, don't you sort of expect to see me with my eyes closed?
i've been naughty
i've been neglecting my blog - bad, bad kurt...
ok, well i went to a club on friday - first time in a long time and that's a shame because it means i forgot all those things i said i'd do the next time i went to a club...
like wearing ear protection... i don't know how people can enjoy that volume - i could feel my hearing deteriorate as the minutes went by...
another little trick i've found (not specifically related to clubs, but it does apply) and forgot to apply is to not eat before going... what's that you say? you're not supposed to drink on an empty stomach? well i'm a weirdo because that's pretty much the only way i can drink... if i try to drink with food in my belly i don't get a buzz i just get nausious...
but there were still interesting things - plenty of pretty girls, some (though not a lot) good music, and a glassed in smoking room where we could watch darwin in action, real-time, and with a musical score...
ok, well i went to a club on friday - first time in a long time and that's a shame because it means i forgot all those things i said i'd do the next time i went to a club...
like wearing ear protection... i don't know how people can enjoy that volume - i could feel my hearing deteriorate as the minutes went by...
another little trick i've found (not specifically related to clubs, but it does apply) and forgot to apply is to not eat before going... what's that you say? you're not supposed to drink on an empty stomach? well i'm a weirdo because that's pretty much the only way i can drink... if i try to drink with food in my belly i don't get a buzz i just get nausious...
but there were still interesting things - plenty of pretty girls, some (though not a lot) good music, and a glassed in smoking room where we could watch darwin in action, real-time, and with a musical score...
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