Quantum Darwinism

According to quantum theory, the act of observing the world changes it. Without observations, the world remains in a state of superposition, where all potential exists -- when we observe it however, the superposition is lost and the world is reduced down to a single state. Why then does the world look more or less the same to all of us? If we're all observing the world and we're all changing it via our observations, why doesn't it appear different to all of us? Why do we agree on what something looks, tastes, smells, feels and sounds like? According to quantum theory, we shouldn't be agreeing at all. Not so says a group of physicists. Some states of a system, they say, get promoted above others via a process they call quantum darwinism. A phenomenon call decoherence collapses the many quantum states into a single state, which is stable and objective, and can stand up to scrutiny. Read a summary in this Nature article, or see the PDFs below for more information.

Decoherence, Einselection, and the Quantum Origins of the Classical [PDF]

Quantum Darwinism and Envariance [PDF]

Darwinish in Quantum Systems? [PDF]

A Simple Example of Quantum Darwinism [PDF]

Objective Properties from Subjective Quantum States [PDF]

Aircraft that Feeds

The kids at the University of the West of England and the University of Bath are in a hurry to make the Wachowskis prophets. Researchers at the University of Bath are building micro-air-vehicles that mimic the flying capabilities of insects. Their hope is to make the machines as energy efficient and capable as nature's design, without waiting a few million years. Meanwhile, Frankenstein descendants at the University of the West of England have built a robot that can move and transit data via radio waves. It's power source: a microbial fuel cell. Microbial fuel cells contain microbes that consume organic matter and produce electricity. The robot, known as Ecobot II, can convert unrefined food into electricity for power. Unrefined food, for the uninitiated, consists of flies, apples and appendages of failing students. Combine the two technologies and you have something that would make Doctor Evil proud.

Dialectize

I just came across the Dialectizer by Rinkworks. It's a site that will dialectize your text or your entire site in Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Moron, Pig Latin and Hacker. Clicking the links on those words will dialectize my site. Go on, give it a try! It's a little bit of well deserved fun before the holidays are over. If you're a blogger and would like to give your visitors the option of dialectizing your post in any of the above dialects, you can easily add a link option after your post to do so. If you know what you're doing, you don't need the following instructions. If you're a little bit leery of html code, follow the instructions. I'm sorry to say that the instructions are only for blog sites that use Blogger -- if you're using another tool and would like to adapt the instructions below for your tool, please post the instructions in the comments.

Instructions

You need to be viewing your Blogger template code. Search for '$BlogItemPermalinkURL$' in the code. You'll want to place the dialectizing code right after the 'permanent link code', but probably before the 'Comments' code.

My code for blog posts looks like this: (Replace the { } brackets with < > in the code -- and I've stripped most of the formatting out to keep it simple.)

{BlogDateHeader} {$BlogDateHeaderDate$}{/BlogDateHeader} {BlogItemTitle}{$BlogItemTitle$}{a name="{$BlogItemNumber$}"} {/a}{/BlogItemTitle} {div class="blogPost"} {$BlogItemBody$} {div class="byline"}posted by {$BlogItemAuthor$} @ {a href="{$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Permanent Link" style="text-decoration: none"}{$BlogItemDateTime$}{/a} {$BlogItemControl$}***** {MainOrArchivePage}{BlogItemCommentsEnabled}{a href="{$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}"}({$BlogItemCommentCount$>) Comments{/a}{/BlogItemCommentsEnabled}{/MainOrArchivePage}{/div}

You need to place the dialectizing code where I've marked above with ***** -- ie. replace ***** with,

Dialectizing code for Redneck speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=redneck&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Redneck"} Redneck{/a}

Dialectizing code for Jive speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=jive&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Jive"} Jive{/a}

Dialectizing code for Cockney speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=cockney&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Cockney"} Cockney{/a}

Dialectizing code for Elmer Fudd speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=fudd&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Elmer Fudd"} Elmer Fudd{/a}

Dialectizing code for Swedish Chef speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=bork&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Swedish Chef"} Swedish Chef{/a}

Dialectizing code for Moron speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=moron&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Moron"} Moron{/a}

Dialectizing code for Hacker speak: (Again, replace { } with < > in the code below.)

{a href="http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=hckr&url={$BlogItemPermalinkURL$}" title="Dialectize to Hacker"} Hacker{/a}

Site Mod

A quick update was just made to the site that has impacted all posts of the past. Comments from old posts have disappeared. I used to use the ReBlogger tool to manage comments -- that was before Blogger created their own. I've decided to use Blogger's facility to manage comments. It's easier than using an external service that keep the comments on another site.

A View from the North

I just came across this blog made up of "random thoughts from an unarmed Canadian," whose "views are not necessarily the same views held by Canadians in general. But they should be." With an intro like that I had to read on. Then I came across this post that made me laugh out loud ... "Admiral Bunnypants" ... I love it!

Cavalcade of Canucks

"Cavalcade of Canucks is a weekly roundup, posted every Wednesday, of interesting posts from bloggers in Canada." So says Robert McClelland, the blogger that runs the list. If you'd like to keep up with what the Canadian bloggers are posting, this is one snapshot -- not necessarily a fair sampling of what's happening out there, but start anyway.

Rude Awakening

James Bow has an informative post on his blog regarding the disaster that continues in the wake of the earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Asia. Why are some people, those that control government purse strings for one, seem less impacted by the disaster? Why are some people more impacted? Is this a question of emotional intelligence?

Sin City

It looks like Robert Rodriguez has decided to take a break from making dumb kids movies. He's back in true form with an adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City. Miller also has director credit for the movie -- which is very cool. For those who don't know Frank Miller, a little reminder. He's the man credited with bringing the serious Batman back to the screen with his hard hitting Dark Knight series. He did the same with Daredevil and Elektra, and breathed life into a number of other characters from both Marvel and DC. Sin City was his own creation, published by Dark Horse a while back -- and if you have the originals, expect them to fetch quite a few dollars when the movie hits theatres in April 2005. The trailer, available on Apple's site, gives a glimpse of the movie -- the style remains true to Miller's original -- little use of colour; hardcore action; and a little retro. I'm looking forward to this one.

iPodLinux

This is cool. A project is underway to port Linux to the iPod. It's at its infancy right now, but the future looks interesting. It will feature all the features of the iPod, but with extras, such as some PDA functionality, as well as games. Currently, the project is working on the original iPod, but when it takes on the photoiPod, we may see some innovating features. The original iPod is somewhat limited in its display, but the photoiPod provides colour display as well has great resolution for a PDA. Neat hack!

Arthur C. Clarke reports from Sri Lanka

Arthur C. Clarke is reporting from his home in Sri Lanka, on the devastation that the tsunamis have wrecked on South Asia. Clarke and his staff are all OK, but he directs visitors to his website to aid agencies that could use help.

Ka-boom!

That would be the sound no one would hear if asteroid 2004 MN4 struck Earth in 2029. 2004 MN4 is a Near Earth Object -- a group of asteroids whose orbits bring them close to Earth. Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the potential ka-boom in 2029 -- but NASA recently ruled out that possibility.

Ka-boom!

That would be the sound no one would hear if asteroid 2004 MN4 struck Earth in 2029. 2004 MN4 is a Near Earth Object -- a group of asteroids whose orbits bring them close to Earth. Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the potential ka-boom in 2029 -- but NASA recently ruled out that possibility.

Microprocessor History

IBM has an article on the Great Moments in Microprocessor History. It traces the evolution of microprocessors from the 1960s commercial products of Fairchild Semiconductor and Texas Instruments, through the 1970s with the products of Intel, RCA, IBM, Motorola and Zilog to the powerhouses of the 1980s and the recent decade. It's a great article, especially the "where are they now?" section.

Tshabalala Construction Company

I've been receiving this spam for the past couple of weeks. It's hilarious. There have been other forms of this spam floating around the internet for a while now. Does it still work? Does it still claim victims?

CleanSoftware.org

Ever installed some free software from the net only to live to regret it? Even worse -- sometimes you have to format the HD and rebuild the machine just to get away from it? Here's CleanSoftware.org. It promotes free software that is free of the adware, spyware and crap that comes with today's 'free' software. And if you use any of it, and like it -- remember, send a donation to the programmer who's work you're enjoying. They need the money more than Microsoft needs it.

City at Sea

Freedom Ship International is an interesting concept. It's a ship designed to cruise around the world, hugging shorelines and circling the world once every three years. It will sell suites for anywhere between $180,000 to $2,500,000 -- with some select suites going for $44 million. It will contain all the amenities of a small city, including a trade center, a casino, a medical facility, a school system and one hundred acres of outdoor park and recreation facilities. It hasn't been built yet, but is looking for financial backers.

CD Art

If want to be impressed by some cool art, check out the CGTalk board.

New Site Design

My site needs to be redesigned. OK, maybe I am bored of it. It's only been six months since the last change. Since the last change I went lite on the graphics and pushed more text. I think now there is too much text per page. Even the archives. So I'm looking at retooling how it works. I've been surfing the web looking for design ideas and have found no end of ideas. Too many perhaps. Mandarin Design is a good site for not just ideas, but the execution. It's a site I'm going to have to bookmark to revisit time and again to learn new tricks. Another site that I'm using for design ideas is Blog Moxie. These ladies are cool designers -- although I don't have the money to pay them to design my site.

  

  

  

Google's Doodles

Google is young company -- young and still innocent. They still believe that they can have fun, and they haven't yet been frowned upon by shareholders to get serious. I've enjoyed the ever changing Google logos over the past couple of years. If you've missed any, or just want to relive certain occasions, check out Google's Doodles.

Moxie Design Studios

Here's a great web design firm. They offer web design services for large business, but especially, they cater to bloggers. Check them out.

Christmas Full Moon

The Moon will not be full in the sky until the 26th -- but tonight it will appear to be full, although it will be smaller than it usually appear. Huh? The Moon's orbit is actually lopsided -- it's not in a perfect circle around Earth. The Moon can be anywhere between 356,400 to 406,700 km from Earth. When the Moon is furthest away from us during full moon, the Moon appears smaller in the sky -- like it will tonight. Check out this NASA site for more.

'Twas a Night Before Christmas

This site contains 721 versions of the venerable poem first penned by Clement Clarke Moore.

Martha Talks

Too funny! Martha Stewart is behind prison -- and she probably doesn't deserve it -- she's mostly likely being made an example. Let's face it -- rich people shouldn't really go to jail, and white collar criminals should get a 'get out of jail free' card [that's sarcasm folks]. Yes Martha, we really feel for you. Suggestion to make some money: Martha Prison Cam. People will pay to watch it.

Concrete Blonde

I'm listening to a live version of Concrete Blonde's Tomorrow, Wendy. Johnette prefaces the performance with, "This is a song about a woman with AIDS, which someone in this room has -- a few of these people in this room has -- and you'll go though it, you'll know it, we should stop it." The song was written by Andy Prieboy of Wall of Voodoo. There's a lot of anger in the song -- an expression of helplessness.

Santy Worm

eWeek is reporting that the worm known as Net-Worm.Perl.Santy.A, leverages the search power of Google to find sites that run phpBB forum software, then proceeds to overwrite several files, defacing the site. phpBB is freely distributed and widely used. The worm exploits a vulnerability in scripting language, PHP.

Killing Time with CIO Magazine

This is the first issue of CIO Magazine I've read pretty much end-to-end. I had nothing else to read while riding to and from work yesterday, so it kept me occupied. The magazine was not a hard read. The language was fairly simple, which surprised me. I expected a magazine dedicated to CIOs would be more financial, from an IT perspective. Guess not. Anyway, here are a few things I found of interest:

Best Practices for Disaster Recovery - there are eight of them according to this article. 1) Have dedicated and empowered staff. This can't be secondary responsibility for another department. 2) Disaster Recover and Business Continuity Planning are two different things, requiring different resources, and different governance structure. 3) The recovery plan needs to be capable of execution without the staff who know it intimately. 4) Usually, everybody wants to have their processes covered by the plan. Not all processes need to be covered. Push back. 5) Put disaster recovery into the development process, so that critical apps can be certified recoverable during testing phases. 6) Live test is important. 7) Before you purchase a new app -- test to see if passes your recovery plan. 8) Follow up with recovery tests. You can learn things, and change what needs to be changed to make them better.

Wal-Mart RFID -- Jan. 1, 2005 marks the deadline for vendors participating in Wal-Mart's RFID expedition. CIO Magazine has interviewed quite a few of those vendors, and evaluates Wal-Mart's efforts. Bottom line: Wal-Mart will not hit their target. Few major issues: 1) There are no standards. 2) RFID doesn't have a business case for many companies. 3) Today's technology only works really well in controlled situations.

Collaboration -- this article is supposed to serve as a CIO guide to collaboration. As someone who's spent quite a bit of time in Supply Chain, this seems like a no-brainer to me. But I suppose some CIOs need to be educated. More and more, collaboration is becoming easier -- technically. The tools are there. The automated processes are there. What's not necessarily there is the culture, the trust, the maturity and the understanding of how collaboration works.

Business Models -- CIO Magazine has a short excerpt from the book, Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right, by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan. The book uses the concept of a business model help organizations respond to structural changes within the business environment that's driving competition globally. Three fundamental structural changes are identified: 1) Globalization of business, aided by technology and resulting in sharing of ideas across borders. 2) Flow of global capital. 3) Global purchasing has shifted power to consumers and giant retailers.

SyFy Portal

Here's another site that serves as a gateway to everything SciFi. If you don't get enough already, this is just another source.

Out-Law.com

Here's a site for IT professionals to logon to. Out-Law.com offers legal advice for those in IT, and comments how laws can impact the IT industry. It's British, but don't hold that against them.

Business Reading

Last week on my rides to work, I read the Dec. 20/04 issue of BusinessWeek magazine (amongst other things). Here are the notable articles from the issue.

Collapse -- this is a short book review of Jared Diamond's Collapse. If I find this at BMV, I'll definitely pick it up used. Diamond contends in his book that societies chose to fail or succeed, and considering today's environmental degradation and population growth, he suggests that we're heading towards a dark age of our own making. He contends that within the lifetime of our children, the world's environmental problems will be resolved one way or another -- one way is of our choosing, the other isn't, but will most likely be global calamity.

China Shops -- With IBM's recent announcement that they're selling their PC business to China's Lenovo, the world is starting to take notice of China -- not just as a place for cheap labour, but also as a nation bent on joining the big leagues and willing to spend their way to there. It's estimated that China spent US$2.85 billion in foreign acquisition in 2003 -- a figure that could total US$7 billion in 2004 and double to US$14 billion in 2005. Large Chinese companies have no choice but to partner or acquire large foreign competitors. For them to succeed, they need skills in management and marketing, as well as brands.

Steel Raja -- the steel business is so yesterday. That was until China's boom tapped out the global supply. Suddenly, steel is important again, and prices started to rise. Still, steel is a commodity, and buyers name their price when the industry isn't in a supply crunch. That reality is going to change however if Lakshmi Mittal has his way. Slowly, the Indian born British steel magnate, is buying up steel mills across the world. His goal: build a large, healthy steel company that will bring stability and sustainability to the industry.

Gazprom Prophesies Russia's Future -- with the destruction of Yukos, the Russian government is directing the government backed Gazprom to increase its stake in Russia's energy production. Slowly, Gazprom is buying up competitors. Does this signal the end of market reforms in Russia?

Textile Trade -- in the new year, the US and Europe textile import quotas will disappear, and with it will be jobs from the US, Europe and many developing nations that have benefited from the quotas. China will suddenly make its presence felt on the market, and with labour as cheap as it is in China, a whole lot of hurt is about to be felt.

Gadget Affliction -- gadgets don't make us more efficient. PDAs, cell phones, and their ilk that keep us in the constant stream of information flow only make us waste time -- increases errors, lower attention spans, induces stress and slows us down. There is a new disease: attention deficit trait. It lowers performance and increases irritability.

Marketing Champ -- I don't have a George Foreman grill, but I have a knock-off. This article is all about Foreman and his new found role as the marketing champ of the world. The guy can sell just about anything, and his earnings on endorsement is tagged at around US$240 million.

Online Betting -- it's big business, and while it's not against the law, the US government wants to crush it.

eMail Fear Factor -- Businesses want the ability to destroy electronic data and not have to keep it around for years -- sensitive data, such as email correspondence that could be valuable during litigation. Seems like a bad idea. And it is -- until you realize that for businesses, paying to have their old data sifted through to produce pertinent evidence is hideously costly. Anyone who's been on the receiving end of even just a tax audit can empathize.

Flat Coke -- Coca-Cola has been having a hard time since its former CEO, Roberto Goizueta died. It's been through a number of CEOs since, and has now called a former executive, E. Neville Isdell, out of retirement to save it. For a company that boasts such luminaries as Warren E. Buffett, Herbert A. Allen and Donald Keough on its board, you'd think it would be having an easier time at running its business. Think again -- and the fault may lie partially with the board, the resists change, and Coke's culture that doesn't want change, even though the world has moved on from colas and have adopted a wider range of taste.

Warranty Windfall -- If you're buying electronics this Christmas, resist the hard sell to purchase extended warranty. They're not worth it. Look at it this way -- last year, all of Circuit City's operating income came from warranties; and half of Best Buy's. They're not making any money from the products they're selling, that's why the hard sell on warranties.

Samsung Design

BusinessWeek Dec. 6/04 issue has a great article on how design has turned around Samsung, from a Sony wannabe to a company Sony now wants to emulate. When it comes right down to it, the functionality of most consumer electronics has become a commodity. Everybody can make it. The Americans used to produce the best, then the Japanese shook the market -- the Koreans have now arrived, and in case anyone has been asleep, the Chinese are heading there rapidly. Businesses are turning more and more to design to play a big part in differentiating their products from the pack, and Samsung is showing them how to do it.

The China Price

2004 was the year of outsourcing as businesses moved more manufacturing offshore, and started on white collar jobs. China made the news not only for taking low wage, low skilled jobs, but more and more, for taking high wage, high skilled, technical jobs. More and more China is shaking up the global economy by competing with low wages in the highly skilled and technical sectors. This is good on one hand, in that businesses have found a new source of cheap labour to bring costs down, as well as a new market to sell just about everything. On the bad side however, is the short term turmoil in countries that are losing jobs to China and the trade imbalance China has with first world countries. BusinessWeek has a special report on the topic -- looking at both sides of the debate. It makes for a great read. For further reading on this and related topics, see the links below.

Overview of the Theory of Comparative Advantage

A Direct Test of the Theory of Comparative Advantage: The Case of Japan [PDF]

International Trade Theory [A Course]

Multinational Firms and the New Trade Theory [PDF]

When Your Competitor Delivers More For Less

What happens when the world is taken over by mass merchants, providing low cost and high value? Wal-Mart exemplifies the beast and has provided its name to new terms, such as the 'Wal-Mart effect,' to describe the results. McKinsey sees these value-driven companies moving beyond price and, more and more, competing in quality, service and convenience -- attributes that niche players across industries used to label themselves with to differentiate from the mass merchants. Value-driven competitors have two advantages in the consumer market: 1) cost advantage via their industry and execution, and, 2) an advantage in consumer perception of the quality of their products. Value players are hear to stay, and consumers have been trained by the expectations they have set. They already have a significant influence on the global economy that isn't about to relax. The lasting social and economic impact on most countries are still unknown, and the uncertainty needs a lot more attention from governments.

Radical Changes Needed in Schools

Ever been bullied in school? I was. Mostly because I was smart, had an accent, and as I was often reminded, a 'paki.' Actually, I'm Canadian. I came from Guyana. But that didn't matter. It continued through to high school. It didn't affect me much -- I was a bit stupid that way I suppose. I fought back -- although I mostly got beaten up for it. Years later though, I was vindicated when I was renting a car for work. At the car rental company, I was served by a guy who kept calling me 'sir.' It took me a bit before I recognized the idiot. He was one of my high school bullies -- and he was serving me. Bet he wished he had paid more attention in school. Read this post about the state of our school system -- and if you have young kids, listen to them, observe them -- hope they're not being bullied or being a bully.

Technically Funny

A comedian for the IT crowd stuck in cubicle hell -- check out the comedy of Don McMillan. A guy who amuses with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation. [Thanks for the link Darren.]

Researchers Control Chemical Reactions One Molecule at a Time

Researchers at the University of California have successful used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to manipulate a single molecule of benzenethiol, anchoring it to a metal electrode. This success has got the nanoheads (or are they nanoites?) all excited, as it suggests a stepping stone (or molecule in this case) to future nanoscale assembly of 'molectronic' devices. The experiment validates the prediction made by L.P. Hammett [PDF] in 1937, that the strength of different acids can be transferred to the activation of individual molecules on metal surfaces. Using a STM, the researchers transferred electrons to the benzenethiol molecule via electrical pulses. This modified the chemical makeup of the molecule, allowing them to bond to the metal electrode. A similar process can be used to assemble individual molecules into molecular electronics instead of relying on silicon. For more on this topic, check out:

Translation and rotation of a haloaromatic thiol [PDF]

Sulfur Atoms as Tethers for Selective Attachment of Aromatic Molecules to Silicon [PDF]

Monitoring Surface Chemical Reactions and Interactions on Thin Films and Ordered Interfaces

[PDF]

Molecular Electronics - Current Status and Future Prospects [PDF]

[Thanks for the link Darren.]

Screwed by the Government

The Ontario government is looking to make some changes to the auto insurance policy. One of the significant changes would be the elimination of the neutral assessments of insurance claims in times of dispute between and the auto insurance companies in favour of letting the insurance companies choose the medical professional that will make the final decision about an individual's eligibility for coverage as a result of an accident. The government is rushing consultations on the changes, hoping to get the changes in quickly without making too much noise. Consider this noise. Who's side is the government on?

woot!

Here's a different spin on online retailing. Woot sells just one thing, everyday. And everyday it could be something new. Woot, short for "Wow! Loot!", sells mostly discontinued or overstock items. Since its stock is limited, it doesn't communicate its inventory levels -- it just sells until there is no more to sell -- and it has got some good deals. [Darren, thanks for the lunch time info.]

Oracle nails PeopleSoft

Larry Ellison must be one happy dude. He got Craig Conway fired, then took his company. This is one victory that Bill Gates can't take from him -- even IBM tried to make it difficult, but the PeopleSoft board caved before IBM could ink any lasting deal in January. PeopleSoft has agreed to let Oracle acquire it for US$10.3 billion. Both companies stock price rose with the news. The deal will make Oracle the number 2 player in supplying big businesses with software. BusinessWeek has an interview with Larry Ellison on the topic.

Google Suggest

Check out this beta service from Google -- Google Suggest. As you type your search criteria, slowly, Google offers suggestions on what you might be looking for. Interesting ... very, very interesting!

The Business of Blogging

Two years ago, there were only about 100,000 blogs -- today, the figure is estimated at 4.8 million. That's a lot of people having a lot to say, and a lot of content being created each day. It's also a lot of time being spent creating content and a lot of time being spent consuming them. It's inevitable that blogs would become business. From individuals, like me, carrying online advertisements, to professional bloggers that blog for a pay cheque. Businesses are adopting blogs as a way of giving their customers access to the company -- and the reverse is also true. Some bloggers are becoming hired guns -- hired to create a lot of buzz about a product or service and directing traffic to a business. Where does it end, however? It used to be that when you visited a blog, you were getting someone's opinion. Is that still true? Is it paid opinion? And what role is advertising playing in influencing blog content? BusinessWeek magazine has a short article about the business of blogging that got me thinking.

panoramas.dk

Quicktime VR allows panoramic photography to be displayed on the internet. It allows you to place yourself in the centre of the image and rotate your view around it -- viewing the scene essentially in three dimensions. panoramas.dk presents a collection of panoramic photographs from all over the world. This is a site for you to enjoy when you have a few hours to spare. There some really beautiful images there.

Disposophobia

I've been told that I suffer from this -- that I have a fear of getting rid of stuff. Not true. I just have a fear of throwing away things I may some day spend money to buy again. Maybe that's my fear. But I have found salvation. It's called eBay. And I'm going to sell my junk to other people! If you haven't found salvation, perhaps you need professional help. If so, contact these folks.

CollegeHumor

Here's a site for the College/University types, and shouldn't be frequented by old-farts like myself. It's kind of like a blog, but not always funny -- sometimes down right "get a life kids." (Yes, I'm now old.) The humor is college humor -- higher education pranksters going away at it like the Engergizer bunny. Some of it will take you back -- some of it will make you wonder if you were that stupid -- some of it may make you realize, with a smile hopefully, that you haven't really changed a bit. Check out the pictures and movies on the site. Some are too funny!

New Products

I spent a little time this weekend, and put a couple of ideas into action. The results are a few new products in my online store. Check out the 'Blogosphere' and 'Blog This!' stuff in the new Gifts for Geeks section of the store. If you're a blogger, or know one, here's some stuff that you shouldn't be without! ;-)