Ed Berger dot com

Welcome To the SchmApple Store – Shiny gadgets for the shiniest people ONLY

Ed — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:54:33 +0000

If you think apple is just a bit smug, you will get a big kick out of this. Definitely worth a click.

Welcome To the SchmApple Store – Shiny gadgets for the shiniest people ONLY.

The Large Hadron Collider Rap

Ed — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:15:11 +0000

Check it out. Physics geeks make a good rap about the collider. Terrific!

Large Hadron Collider Rap

Natural science demonstration in a photo!

Ed — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:57:29 +0000

Now I learned a couple of things from this one photograph. Its a fascinating practical example of things we all should know if we really thought it all through. Can you guess what is shown in this photo? What is the plume extending upward from the ground? Why is the top of the plume brighter than its bottom? What is the bright object in the lower righthand corner of the picture, and what is the dark, cone-shaped feature that seems to be leaving the plume and converging on the bright object? Examine the picture carefully, look at the high-resolution version if you want to, and see if you can figure out the answers to these questions. Then, read the caption below to test yourself.

Explanation and original posting on NASA website.

How to gently teach email nettiquette

Ed — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:18:42 +0000

Do you get those forwarded multiple times emails with a joke / cute picture / pithy saying all the way at the bottom? Does you email address appear in the cc not the bcc field, thus broadcast to the world?
Here is a simple free, no advertising nor graphics web page to get the message across about email netiquette.
Just reply with this link and you are done.

clipped from www.thanksno.com

Thanks. No.

Hi. The person who sent you this link is a friend who likes you a lot but who wants you to respect their email address, their privacy, and their time.

Chances are, this person asked you to visit this page because you did one of these things:

Forwarded a funny story, a virus warning, or a photo that you enjoyed

Sent email to lots of people using the “To:” line (instead of the “BCC:” line), thereby exposing your friend’s email address to strangers

CC’d your friend unnecessarily on something you had sent primarily to someone else

Aftermarket external hybrid car conversion!

Ed — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:34:43 +0000

Now here is thinking outside the car. This company, Poulson Hybrid, Inc. is making and aftermarket kit to turn compact front wheel drive cars into all wheel hybrids.
The kit is a set of externally mounted disk motors on the back wheels. These motors are driven by a large battery installation in the trunk.

One method of taking great notes

Ed — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:07:45 +0000

From a lifehacker.com article about how to take great notes.

clipped from lifehacker.com

Method 1: Symbolize the next action

Using notepaper or a simple text file on your laptop or tablet, indent the pages of your notes in from the left margin. Then, use a simple system of symbols to mark off 4 different information types in the column space left in the margin.

[ ] A square checkbox denotes a to do item
( ) A circle indicates a task to be assigned to someone else
* An asterisk is an important fact
? A question mark goes next to items to research or ask about

After the meeting, a quick vertical scan of the margin area makes it easy to add tasks to your to do list and calendar, send out requests to others, and further research questions. (This method is the brainchild of Michael Hyatt, someone who clearly has mastered the art of attending meetings.)

Do something to reduce Global warming?

Ed — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:44:02 +0000

A proposal to passively increase cloud cover over the southern ocean to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

The idea my colleagues and I are pursuing is to increase the amount of sunlight reflected back into space from the tops of thin, low-level clouds (marine stratocumuli, which cover about a quarter of the world’s oceanic surface), thereby producing a cooling effect.

In order to deploy our scheme and produce adequate cooling, we would need to spray sea-water droplets continuously over a significant fraction of the world’s oceanic surface, at a total rate of around 50 cubic metres per second.

3-D TV That Actually Works

Ed — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:57:55 +0000

Wired News: 3-D TV That Actually Works
A 3D flat panel that works without glasses! It generates nine different left and right eye views at slightly different angles. The effect is therefore apparent at nine different but fixed viewing angles.
Not much content yet but they make the point that video games are inherently 3D and could easily adapt! I’m up for a 3D first person shooter especially if it looks like Far Cry!

Skinit.com

Ed — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 19:36:30 +0000

Skinit.com

Now this is cool. If you’re tired of the same old beige or black box get a vinyl skin for your pc, laptop or cell phone! They have some very cool designs or you can get custom. Remember though putting your company logo on all your laptops is probably a security violation — even if it is good taste!

Watch for an IPO on SkinIt!

Technological Singularity

Ed — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 20:17:07 +0000

Technological singularity – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So in some circles debate over “the coming singularity” rages. The singularity is the point in time at which AI surpasses human intelligence or human intelligence is artifically enhanced. When the singularity occurs all bets are off and there is no way to predict the direction or amount of change that will occur to society and the species.

The primary concept to me is the scaling of intelligence such as could occrur by throwing more and more hardware at an AI. Also “natural selection” could be GREATLY speeded up by trying many variations of intelligence at a much faster pace than a human lifetime. The AI or post human will evolve at a pace almost inconceivable to us.

In addition you might want to check out Charles Stross’ Rough Guide to the Singularity . Charlles is really an excellent Science Fiction writer well worth reading on this and other subjects.
Ray Kurzweill has written the book “The Singularity Is Near” which is linked here (affiliate link).

Some folks think it is a good thing to be fostered and others think it is evil event to be controlled at all costs. Have you got an opinion?