Friday, 09 June 2006

Ronaldinho

For those that were into yesterday's football video, here's another one of Ronaldinho getting a new pair of shoes from my boy Skylar:

For those who are living in a cave (or in America), the world cup starts today! I'm psyched, partly because I like football, but mostly I live in a primarily Latino neighborhood and can walk half a block to the local bar that will be showing all the games. Also, it'll be a good way to practice my Spanish.

Of course, Skylar's got me beat. He's headed to Germany in 10 days - apparently they're showing all the games too, but on a MUCH better system.

UPDATE: For your viewing pleasure, here is the complete US schedule for all world cup games: http://www.soccertv.com/wc-us.cfm

Posted by flow Frazao on June 9, 2006 at 10:27 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 08 June 2006

The Coolest Optical Illusion Ever

This is one of the most impressive optical illusions I've ever seen. Go to this page and stare at the black dot in the middle of the picture for 30 seconds. Then, after 30 seconds move your mouse over the image BUT DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE BLACK DOT.

What a mind job.

Posted by flow Frazao on June 8, 2006 at 11:05 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Recopilacion de Jugadas Espectaculares

Even non-football fans should appreciate this one:

Posted by flow Frazao on June 8, 2006 at 10:57 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 07 June 2006

Magnetism: The New Sixth Sense

A must-read article on people who've implanted small magnets into a fingertip to give them a sense of magnetism. It's no X-ray vision, but it's kinda nifty:

"We chose the ring finger primarily because of its size and relatively low importance in gripping action, so there was plenty of room for the implant and a lower chance of physically damaging the implant," Huffman explains. Jarrell puts it more bluntly, writing about the procedure in a BMEZine article from March: "'If you had to lose or seriously damage one of your fingers, which would it be?' This was our answer." But nobody's finger fell off, and Huffman's results were better than they'd imagined.

According to Huffman, the magnet works by moving very slightly, or with a noticeable oscillation, in response to EM fields. This stimulates the somatosensory receptors in the fingertip, the same nerves that are responsible for perceiving pressure, temperature and pain. Huffman and other recipients found they could locate electric stovetops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. Appliance cords in the United States give off a 60-Hz field, a sensation with which Huffman has become intimately familiar. "It is a light, rapid buzz," he says.

Posted by flow Frazao on June 7, 2006 at 05:09 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Opt Out of Credit Card Offers

Register to stop getting credit card and insurance offers in the mail at OptOutPrescreen.com.

The site is endorsed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Using OptOutPrescreen's secure submission form (or their 888-567-8688 number), opt out (or in, ha!) to snail mail credit card offers stuffing your mailbox by entering your name, address, social security number and date of birth. Not only will this save you from the temptation of a new credit card, it might save a few trees and help Al Gore on his noble quest to save the world.

Posted by flow Frazao on June 7, 2006 at 09:51 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sunday, 16 April 2006

Easter Egg Hunt

Here's a quickie - type "about:mozilla" in the firefox link bar. It's no Excel 97 spacefield egg, but it's pretty cool.

Posted by flow Frazao on April 16, 2006 at 02:16 PM in Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, 05 March 2006

Try This At Home

Urban Ninjas:

Posted by flow Frazao on March 5, 2006 at 07:59 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wednesday, 01 March 2006

New paint blocks out cell phone signals

This is cool:

A Rochester, N.Y., company has developed paint that can switch between blocking cell phone signals and allowing them through.

"You could use this in a concert hall, allowing cell phones to work before the concert and during breaks, but shutting them down during the performance," said Michael Riedlinger, president of NaturalNano.

Using nanotechnology, particles of copper are inserted into nanotubes, which are ultra-tiny tubes that occur naturally in halloysite clay mined in Utah. Combined with a radio-filtering device that collects phone signals from outside a shielded space, certain transmissions can proceed while others are blocked, the Chicago Tribune reported.

However, the wireless phone industry is up in arms over the development.

"We oppose any kind of blocking technology," said Joe Farren, spokesman for The Wireless Association, the leading cell phone trade group. "What about the young parents whose baby-sitter is trying to call them, or the brain surgeon who needs notification of emergency surgery? These calls need to get through."

NaturalNano paint guy: Get to work on a lotion or something that will make me not be able to hear any of the stupid shit that people say to me. Make me impermeable to ignorance, please.

Posted by flow Frazao on March 1, 2006 at 01:22 PM in Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, 28 February 2006

Autistic Basketball Star

If you haven't seen this video of the autistic kid scoring 20 points in a high school basketball game, watch it now. It'll make your day.

Posted by flow Frazao on February 28, 2006 at 09:24 PM in Cool Stuff, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, 25 February 2006

The Prius is the New Hummer

Via Metafilter:

Meet the Loremo. Up until now high efficiency vehicles have looked a little bizarre, to say the least. Recently the Toyota Prius (in its 2.0 form) brought HE cars more into the mainstream, but the Loremo looks to beat it hands down. Having lightened the car as much as possible -- it weighs a paltry 450kg, less than half a ton -- engineers were able to bring its fuel consumption down to 1.5l/100km, or over 150 mpg. And make it look pretty good. And bring the cost down to less than 11,000 euro. The company says it'll be available in 2009.

Posted by flow Frazao on February 25, 2006 at 04:19 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 26 January 2006

The World's First Solar Hearing Aid

Here's an excellent example of African ingenuity. Godisa Technologies, a Botswana-based company, has invented the world's only Solar Powered Hearing Aid. In the developing world, getting access to a power point for recharging or a store that sells those tiny hearing aid batteries is not always feasible, so why not just use the sun?

In 1992 the Solar Aid Workshop was started in collaboration with the Botswana Technology Centre to manufacture solar rechargeable hearing aids that could be used by hearing-impaired people living in Africa and other parts of the developing world. Recently Solar Aid changed its name to Godisa in line with the broadening of its product base. Godisa means to do something that is helping others to grow. Its objective is to develop practical technologies for developing countries and to create employment and training opportunities for hearing disabled people.

We manufacture three hearing aids; these use regular zinc air or rechargeable batteries. We've developed a solar power battery recharger and the first No. 13 and low-cost No. 675 rechargable button-cell batteries. The latter can be charged up to 300 times over its two-year lifespan and sells for less than US$1.50.

We meet our mission of lowering the cost of hearing aids and maintenance for everyone.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2006 at 06:55 PM in Africa, Cool Stuff, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

U.N. Lends Backing to the $100 Laptop

The sub-$100 laptop - yet another great invention from the nerds at MIT. Of course, my own personal opinion is that before we get started on the One Laptop Per Child program we might want to finish up the whole One Meal Per Child Per Day initiative, but what do I know:

The United Nations on Thursday lent its support to a project which aims to ship inexpensive, hand-cranked laptops to school-aged children worldwide.

Kemal Dervis, head of the U.N. Development Program, will sign a memorandum of understanding Saturday with Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of One Laptop per Child, on the $100 laptop project, at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.

The program aims to ship 1 million units by the end of next year to sell to governments at cost for distribution to school children and teachers.

UNDP will work with Negroponte's organization to deliver "technology and resources to targeted schools in the least developed countries," the U.N. agency said in a statement.

Negroponte wants to start shipping the cheap laptop, which is to have wireless network access and a hand-crank to provide electricity, later this year. The aim is to have governments or donors buy them and give full ownership to the children.

Negroponte, who is also chairman of the MIT Media Lab, has said he expects to sell 1 million of them to Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria.

The laptop is expected to run on an open-source operating system, such as Linux.

The devices will be lime green in color, with a yellow hand crank, to make them appealing to children and, so the thinking goes, to fend off potential thieves.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 26, 2006 at 08:10 AM in Cool Stuff, Microfinancing, Web/Tech, World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 03 January 2006

Low-cost Lamps Brighten the Future of Rural India

Khadakwadi, India:

Until just three months ago, life in this humble village without electricity would come to a grinding halt after sunset. Inside his mud-and-clay home, Ganpat Jadhav's three children used to study in the dim, smoky glow of a kerosene lamp. And when their monthly fuel quota of four liters dried up in just a fortnight, they had to strain their eyes using the light from a cooking fire.

That all changed with the installation of low-cost, energy-efficient lamps that are powered entirely by the sun. The GSBF lamps use LEDs - light emitting diodes - that are four times more efficient than an incandescent bulb. After a $55 installation cost, solar energy lights the lamp free of charge.

"Children can now study at night, elders can manage their chores better," says Mr. Jadhav. "Life doesn't halt anymore when darkness falls."
The innovative lights were installed by the Grameen Surya Bijli Foundation (GSBF), a Bombay-based nongovernmental organization focused on bringing light to rural India. Some 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity. LED lighting, like cellphones, is another example of a technology whose low cost could allow the rural poor to leapfrog into the 21st century.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 3, 2006 at 08:34 AM in Cool Stuff, Microfinancing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 02 January 2006

Techmology - Eez It Good?

Along with more frequent postings, another one of my goals is to become a much more efficient time-waster. I generally spend a few hours a day doing web research on microfinancing, keeping up with the news, checking out the Asian Babe of the Week, and so forth. However, I've decided that I'm just not wasting my time wisely enough.

After monitoring my behavior over the past week or so, I've come to the realization that I use a lot of bandwidth returning to sites to check if they've been updated. With the advent of RSS a few years ago, that kind of thing is no longer necessary. From now on I've vowed that I'll be running an RSS News Aggregator (NetNewsWire is my early preference) to keep me automatically alerted to any updates.

Currently, I'm using it to monitor all my favorite freedom-hater blogs, relevant news stories, and anything concerning Microfinancing. I've got the RSS feeds for Daily Kos, Eschaton, and a couple of other blogs. As for news, I'm continuously monitoring Google News for any articles published by any of the 4500 news sources about Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. Every time a new article is written, this magical application sucks it down off the net and regurgitates it directly into my brain like a well-read mama bird.

I figure it'll also come in handy when we're in Africa and internet connections aren't readily available. With a newsreader, I'll be able to plug in whenever I get a connection, fire up the application and hit "Update" to download all the recent postings. Then I'll be able to read everything offline at my leisure.

My only complaint is that the Asian Babe of the Month doesn't have an RSS feed. Oh well. I guess one can only expect so much from technology.

By the way, this site has been publishing an RSS feed for about two years. The link can by found by doing a page search for the words "Subscribe to this blog's feed" or by simply clicking here.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 2, 2006 at 12:14 PM in Cool Stuff, Me, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 20 November 2004

Survey Sez

Take the test at politicalcompass.org and find out where you are on the political spectrum as compared to world leaders like Gandhi, Hitler and W.

Thanks to my boy Josh for pointing this one out.

Posted by SmooveJ Zao on November 20, 2004 at 05:12 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 27 October 2004

Eclipse

Posted by flow Frazao on October 27, 2004 at 01:34 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, 07 October 2004

Google SMS

This is pretty cool. Now you can send a query to Google as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices, etc:

By the way - I've got a couple of GMail invites...

Posted by flow Frazao on October 7, 2004 at 02:46 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 01 September 2004

Macintosh

We got the new Powerbook over the weekend.

I've been using computers for almost 20 years, and for the first time I've gotten one that actually works. It's been like a sort of epiphany.

As for all you PC die-hards who say "Yeah, well, Windows sucks, but it's what 95% of the world uses" all I have to say is quit being such a retarded Luddite.

I just can't believe I waited so long to switch.

Posted by SmooveJ Zao on September 1, 2004 at 01:01 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 25 August 2004

Instant Gratification Part Deux

I stand corrected. There is something more frustrating than getting a 512MB RAM upgrade for a computer you haven't received yet.

It's getting the software you ordered before you get the computer.

Sweet Baby Jeebus, why do you tease me mercilessly?

Posted by flow Frazao on August 25, 2004 at 05:54 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 23 August 2004

Whatever Happened To Instant Gratification?

I just received my 512MB RAM upgrade in the mail. Is there anything more frustrating than getting a component for new computer before you actually get the computer?

I submit that there is not.

Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 23, 2004 at 08:43 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 19 August 2004

Making The Switch

I finally made the leap.

First I'm going to admit that I've been working on PCs for my whole life. I am a certified genius when it comes to fixing and maintaining Windows based computers. However, I've gotten rather bored with spending two to three hours a week screwing around with windows updates, device drivers, and virus patches.

Now, as most of you probably know, Fiona and I are planning on leaving the country in a few months to do some more travelling. We both have a fair number of projects going on right now, so it seemed logical to bring a computer with us.

When I started looking for laptops, reliability was (and is) my major concern. I've had my fair share of Dells, and they've been hit or miss. I have a desktop that's been pretty dependable, but my Dell laptop is a total piece of shit. I've had the keyboard break, the power cord tear, the motherboard fry and the screen go dark.

I've also had a couple of Sony Vaios that sucked balls. They looked cool, but when you turned them on it was about 50-50 whether or not they'd actually complete the bootup sequence.

Obviously, I don't want to have to deal with that type of nonsense when I'm in the middle of some Cambodian jungle. I need a computer that works.

So I've bought an Mac.

I can't wait to get it. For the first time in years I'm actually excited about using a computer. And who wouldn't be with specs like these:

Wait. My mistake. Wrong computer. That's actually the first Apple ever sold (for the low, if ominous, price of $666.66).

Unlike the Apple I, my computer actually comes with a case and everything. They've also increased the RAM from 8K to 256MB. Stop and think about that for a minute. According to my calculations, in 30 years the power of computers has increased by approximately 90 quinzillion times. If the auto industry were to make a similar leap you'd be able to drive a Hummer from New York City to Alpha Centauri on less than one molecule of gas.

In case you're interested, here's the one I'm getting:

12" Powerbook G4

Posted by flow Frazao on August 19, 2004 at 10:48 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack