Radio Channels

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Photo courtesy of _mpd_

As I was trolling the radio dials this morning I thought about how interesting it would be if every song had it's own radio station. That would be the extreme of a genre-based broadcast: a genre which is so specific that only one song fits the description.

It would be annoying because you would most likely tune in, in the middle of the song. But it would be cool because you could always find a station that was playing something decent.

It would change the notion of a playlist from one which plays content to one which switches channels at timed intervals.

I wonder if there is a way to make the bandwidth support playing every song ever recorded?

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My Academic Family Tree

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An academic family tree is the succession of Ph.D. advisors that go back in time. It's like a normal family tree, only it represents a professional heritage rather than a genetic one. I constructed mine. To see the details click on the image on the left. It was cool to find names like Fourier, Dirichlet, and Poisson in my academic ancestors. All from Dieter's side of course.

The source for this is the Mathematics Genealogy Project located here.

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I don't see Algore anywhere in here..?

Posted by: Nate at December 26, 2006 4:08 AM

Real Estate Fact

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Photo courtesy of jon|k

Fact of the day: 2.6% of the homes for sale near us are affordable by people who make the median income. Median income is $78K! More info on CNN.

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Oh, the dentist

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Photo courtesy of nyominx

You know, when I was young, I used to be confused about the cultural message that told me to not like going to the dentist. Honestly, I didn't understand why everyone disliked it so much. The people were friendly, the atmosphere was decent considering the medicine that was being performed there, you got out of school and you got a bouncy ball at the end of an appointment.

Today, I have decided that I hate going to the dentist. I therefore must have crossed some mythical boundary into adulthood as I have adopted the cultural prejudice with authenticity. I am surprised at why I hate going though.

I hate being told every-time that I go in that I have really white teeth and that if I had teeth whitening then I could have "celebrity white teeth." News flash: I don't care about white teeth. I'm sorry if your entire life is spent splitting hairs about the shades of tooth white on 5-8 people a day. I just don't care.

I hate being confronted with some new technology at every appointment the end result of which is to inform me that I must come in more often, spend more money, while waif-like hygienists insert long needles filled with strange candy-flavored concoctions deep into my gums. Today it was the "fluorescing laser." Apparently this device is designed to identify decay. Decay that we never could see before. Decay that hasn't caused any problems yet. Decay which must be addressed with four fillings because the stupid new technology beeps when it gets waved over my molars.

I hate the dentist because it's like going to a church with no theology. You sit down and for an hour are read the riot-act by a perky feminine character who has perfected the art of delivering guilt. Guilt about things which I have no control, but about which I can also find no grounds for denial. The stupid micro-camera is showing the brown spot to me on an LCD monitor inches from my dry and cracking lips. I *already* floss, I already brush after every meal, I already use the mouthwash at night and go to the dentist every 6 months and cross over to the other side of the street when I see salt water taffy. So great, a pile of guilt. No redemption. No solution. Just an angry Greek god and a future of suffering through bad feelings because the prior "new" technology, the stupid probe, reads a "4" when they stab me. Oh and leave your offering with Janet on the way out.

So I'm done at the dentist for now. I claimed that I just got over a really bad cold and that's why my #10 lingual was hemorrhaging. I claimed that I was going to have a baby in the next month and that's why I can't schedule those fillings right now. I smiled warmly and wished everyone a Merry Christmas as I walked out the door. They just looked back sadly at the tooth-sinner who refused to acknowledge the link between poor dental hygiene and heart-attacks.

Now I have six more months of oral hedonism until the next Dental-Christmas or Dental-Easter when I return to the pews in shame ready to deflect the latest divining rod for decay, an instrument which we really know is revealing that my soul is as off-white as my teeth.

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We have good dentists here: visits every 6 months, concerned only with tooth and gum health, not image (sorry SoCal). Guilt only applied if necessary. No R&D equipment- just the brush and drill. All in all, not a bad experience, but I still dislike the visits. My only joys are: No cavities, and swiping extra tubes of toothpaste when the receptionist is not looking.

Posted by: Nate at December 26, 2006 4:06 AM

Roomba Accelerometer

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Learn how to control your roomba with the accelerometers in a Mac.

Click on image for link to video tutorial.

Thanks Charles!

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The Roomba seems too cool to be true. Can you vouch for this? (And I even think this accelerometor thing is cool too)

Posted by: Nate at December 21, 2006 3:41 AM

mmm.... I'm torn. I can't believe that's a very good vacuum as the whole Dustbuster class of vacuums kind of stink. This thing is a Dustbuster on wheels. However, CostCo is selling them and they don't sell much junk. I have a friend that has one and he is pretty unpassionate about it. He says it scares the cat.

Posted by: DJP3 at December 21, 2006 9:08 AM

Middle East Conquest

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Click on the image on the left for a great 90-second Flash-based infographic about who has conquered the Middle East over the last 5000 years. In particular it puts the rhetoric about Christian Crusaders into perspective.

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UCI Zot Shirt

My latest product to hit the virtual shelves, this stylish urban inspired UCI Anteater Zot shirt. This product was motivated by my inability to actually find any shirt that I liked for my daughter from the UCI Bookstore. So I made my own.

Buy your own by clicking on the image on the left.

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Front

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Back

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Try ZotZot! Otherwise I love it. If you do that. I'll buy one and wear it myself even if it is pink.

Posted by: Growly-Pants at April 23, 2007 6:45 PM

Home Prices Update

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Let's review: I live in Orange County. I am therefore obsessed with real estate. I did not buy a house a year ago because the real estate agents were talking crazy talk. Now I am vindicated. Thank Jesus I didn't jump into the fray.

More info from infographic at CNN by clicking on the image on the left.

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Pervasive Computing in Healthcare

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Tylenol PM not strong enough for you? Then I suggest you check out the following book Pervasive Computing in Healthcare. Chapter 4 is by my advisors and I! Everyone else is a bit bored by this, but it's my first book chapter, so I'm kind of jazzed.

From Amazon:

"With a holistic view, Pervasive Computing in Healthcare offers an overview of the subject and its application to problems in healthcare and disability. This book covers the basics, including various types of computer science tools and techniques, and introduces important models in applying technology to healthcare, disease, and disability. It presents specific examples of pervasive computing applications in various contexts, such as in the home or in the hospital, and how it can be applied as proactive or preventative methods to help with diseases. This text also provides an understanding of research and methodological issues related to developing technologies and evaluating their performance."

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Bling

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Photo courtesy of mezzoblue

Check out the last drink on the Algonquin Hotel's signature bar menu

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The last I had heard, nobody had ordered this drink, although there had been some interest.

Posted by: Nate at December 15, 2006 3:48 AM

Laser Etching my Powerbook

Some might ask why would you laser etch your Powerbook? I would say because I'm never going to get a tattoo.

I went to Atlanta and GA Tech this weekend. They have some sweet toys! Since the opportunity was at hand, and I was very tired, and I had a couple hours to kill, this just sort of happened....

The design in based on the LUCI website

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1. Starting the laser etch.Kind of nervous, why is it being lased all the way across!?!?

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3.Laser glowing white where it is cutting a lot.

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6. Don and Shwetak, grad student at GA tech and master of the etcher

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7. Don and Shwetak

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8. Close up of the don't-lase-the-plastic-thinking-its-aluminum zone

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9. Starting the skyline

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10. done lasing

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Final product

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11. Julie, the jedi knight, and Shwetak the jedi master with the finished product

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12. Don, happy with final laptop

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Back to work with my logo reaffixed

Then last but not least, a reduced quality version of the source image:
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News Aggregators (Updated)

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A news aggregator is a program that is a little bit like an email reader program, but instead of reading emails, it lets you read headlines. The headlines are provided by lots of different sites in the form of RSS feeds. For example, the BBC news, Wired News, and most blogging software provide RSS feeds. Once a site has an RSS feed, and you have a news aggregator, if you want to keep up to date on news from lots of different sources (some of which might not be "news" in the traditional sense, but rather updates of any form), you fire up your news aggregator. It goes onto the web and collects all the new headlines and lets you scan them quickly. As you scan them you get a quick summary of the story and if you want the full story, then you click on the headline and a browser opens to the original site. This is much more efficient than checking every web site you are interested in continually. Speed-surfing...

Here is a site with lots of links to RSS feeds http://www.syndic8.com/

Click on the image on the left to get Pulp Fiction or Pulp Fiction Lite (my preferred news aggregator), an RSS Aggregator.

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Segway!

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I got to ride a Segway today! GA Tech has tons of great tools. 3-D printers, laser etchers, segways, oh my!

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That's so last year!

Posted by: Nate at December 13, 2006 9:47 AM

Wyndham Shampoo

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Thank you Wyndham Midtown Atlanta for introducing me to the shampooing experience that is "Cedarwood and Spanish Borage Oil". I feel like I'm shampoo'ing in the middle of the Alamo on a really bad day. But why let a bad day at the Alamo mean you can't have *great* hair.

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Are you sure they just didn't squirt Pert Plus into their bottle? I don't like the sound of "borage oil" Although I did hear that it's been trading a bit lower over the past few weeks.

Posted by: Nate at December 13, 2006 9:50 AM

Where can i get this shampoo? I can't find it anymore.

Posted by: Donna at November 12, 2008 10:45 AM

Well if you mean where can you get it besides the Wyndham Midtown Atlanta, I have no idea. Maybe call the hotel?

Posted by: DJP3 at November 12, 2008 12:29 PM

I wish to God the Wyndom had not changed to the "Blue" collection they have right now because it smells like 409 and could take paint off the walls it is so harsh! We stay at the Wyndom on a frequent basis, or at least we did as I guess the economy has hit them too as I have to say it is not the only area where I've seen they are cutting back, everywhere but their prices!
When I first saw the name "Cedarwood and Spanish Borage Oil" I was a bit put off myself until I smelled it and then used it! It was the most refreshing thing! The scent was not overpowering but stayed with you all day, every time you brush your hair it gets freshened-up too and I've got the hair for it, waist length and I do not like anything overpowering, at least not since high school when Agree (*or gee your hair smell terrific) were the IN shampoo's at the time...
Wish I knew where I could find it. The only thing I'm thinking of doing is making my own since I made my own 'compare to the ex-shampoo agree' and it's GR8. They sell the oil for that as well as for *gee your hair smell terrific & lots of other scents which people can't find anymore but love anyway in spite of the fact the original manufacturers go after them for copyright infringement even though they haven't made the stuff in 20 years and have no intention of ever making it again so they grudge some little guy in smalltown usa for making $5 a bottle...... And would ya believe I'm a Republican????
Soap box going back in closet.......
Till the next time my Ire (Irish temper) rises
(5-10 min from now minimum.....)
Maegi

Posted by: Maegi McCann at February 10, 2009 8:03 PM

Ok, I have to weigh in. This shampoo is everything you guys said and more, and it's been obsessing me a bit lately that Golden Door discontinued it. Back when they did so, (2004 or 2005, I'd say it was), I spoke to someone there, and they offered me free samples of all their new shampoo. NOTHING like it, and didn't work at all similar. This shampoo did such amazing things for my hair that I collected enough for a month from the maids (tipped them well, too), plus, any of my coworkers that were on the trip with me that had happened to bring back the Cedarwood & Spanish Borage Oil Wyndham Set, gave them to me and received my undying gratitude. But it didn't last forever, you see, and here it is Thanksgiving Day of 2009, and I'm doing frantic searches for anything similar, and of course stumbled upon your conversation.

Can I just say, you all experienced the Halley's Comet, of hair care. Maegi, if you do manage to make a good substitute, email me!

Posted by: Cathy at November 26, 2009 5:27 AM

Does any one know where i can buy some Cedarwood and spanish borage oil shampoo.
Lanene Holder

Posted by: Lanene Holder at December 4, 2009 10:15 AM

How can one by the Wyndam cedarwood and spanish borage oil?

Posted by: Mary Beth at July 18, 2011 5:27 AM

I am looking for cedarwood & Spanish borage oil shampoo. I tried it once and loved it, but I can't seem to locate it on any website.

Posted by: Laurel Smith at November 9, 2011 7:45 AM

Getting Things Done meets 43 folders

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I am a "Getting Things Done" devotee. It's a personal productivity system that is marketed and taught by David Allen.

Merlin Mann, a commentator about personal productivity on the web site 43 folders, did an interview with him about GTD. The result is called "Productive Talk" and it was a good little pep talk to keep me going with GTD. I recommend listening to it.

Get it here.

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