This just in: At Edinburgh, researchers build light triggered molecules that can shuttle comparatively huge objects around on a surface. Harvard scientists have convinced algae to carry microscopic loads over comparatively large distances. In Zurich, still other researchers build a microscopic robot so small it can fit within the needle of a syringe. A microscopic [...]
At the behest and cajolery of various friends, I've been attending the Dragonflight gaming convention these last few years and, I plan to go again tomorrow afternoon. I've playing RPGs for many years, ever since discovering them back in high school back in 1978 but, I've been pretty closeted about it. Many nerds are bigger [...]
My redesign continues as I merge some of the very detailed usability suggestions given to me by Greg Lowney. In the process of exploring these issues, he discovered some major problems with the way Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer handle printed media stylesheets. His argument was that sometimes users want to print the page out [...]
I find it ironic that the revival of creationism that I spoke of earlier is taking place during a decade where research into artificial life is making enormous strides. Now I've been following developments in artificial life ever since reading about it in Steven Levy's book and I've spoken about artificial life many, many, many, [...]
This one is primarily for my benefit. In my line of work, I spend a lot of time converting proprietary file formats to other, usually open, formats. This I try to do without actually having to buy any software. Why should I buy Adobe products when all I want are the images from a silly [...]
I guess I should have said something a few days ago when Mr. Bush made his “alternatives to evolution” pronouncement but a good reply didn’t come to me until today.
So I’ve inserted a site specific Google search form on most of my pages. Since I have a lot of legacy content built with other tools and no easy way yet to incorporate it into my current CMS without breaking all the URLs, I can’t use the CMS’ search function to sweep my entire site. [...]
So what do you think of this new layout? Yeah, it’s still very simple; I said it would be simple. It should be easier to read and easier on the eyes. The masthead image is something Jean-Charles Marteau generously allowed me to swipe and slice. Even though it looks like a real scanning electron microscope [...]
Some bright sparks at Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have developed tougher tips for scanning probe microscopes. A past problem with tips in such microscopes has been that they wore down too quickly when scanning surfaces. The old process of creating new tips was very slow and expensive. This has prevented the creation of [...]
When I know exactly what to do, I am pretty good at doing something. People have commented on how intense I am when I’m focused on something. This is odd because at the same time, I’m a lazy bastard. What I’ve found is that when I’m unsure how to do something, or if I’m unhappy [...]