Recently in Technology Category
A few months ago I posted a del.icio.us link to the Norwegian Wikipedia entry on Friday. In addition to all the helpful information about the last day of the five day workweek is a little information is a photograph of a typical Shabbat dinner. That photograph of Erica, Julie, Rob, and my dad enjoying a Shabbat dinner in our D.C. apartment got to Wikipedia by way of a search for Creative Commons material. The reproduction of this photo is possible because I, like an increasing number of media creators, mark my productions with the appropriate permission.
All of my flickr photos, for example, are marked with the Attribution-ShareAlike license provided by Creative Commons. This tells anyone who comes across my images that they may do whatever they like with them as long as they attribute the work to me and allow others to use the image with the same restrictions.
This might sounds like a silly thing to do with my flickr pictures. Most of them, after all, are of places I've been and my friends. But because I apply this license to them. Because I choose to allow the community to do with my images what they like as long I get credit, I get the pleasure of running across my pictures in the strangest places. I've even gotten a few e-mails asking if people can use an image in a small publication or on a CD cover and I always say yes.
Next time you log into flickr, change your default setting from copyright to the Creative Commons license of your choice. You'll be surprised to see who likes your photos.
Here are some more places I've discovered my images in the wild:
- Londonist Peace Mom
- Dingoes Attack A day without immigrants
- Made You Look Stale, Stale, Stale Corporate Image
- field notes We are workers, not criminals
- ADDED DCist It's D.C. Pride Week! All Experimentation Will Be Forgiven
Like a good lemming I installed the 10.4.6 Software Update that popped up last night on my Powerbook. It promised better iSync, an improved Spotlight search, and general security patches.
When I fired up the Ruby on Rails "application" I've been tinkering with I discovered that the update also wiped my /usr/local/mysql/data directory where my databases live. Damn you Apple, damn you!
So if you don't know what this means don't worry about it but if you are doing any local development on your Mac be sure to backup your databases before you install the update.
UPDATE: Other people have told me that they did not lose data but that the directory was modified. I still advise caution because of what happened to my dbs.
I admit that I call companies with arcane questions involving the use of my Mac. And yes, I know that it is confusing to Microsoft pre-sales support that I should even care how my possible purchase of MS SQL will work in my Open Directory environment.
I mean, why should I really expect them care if I want to store my SQL data on my enormous Apple RAID array.
Here lies the productivity of David, Mike, Tim, and me.
Give a listen to our first try at using Apple's GarageBand: I Like Ike by GarbageBand on the General Dwight D. Eisenhower, EP. Or download a zip of the m4a.
No musical instruments were harmed (or played) in the making of this recording. You may download a torrent of the original GarageBand file.
I love my Mac. I regularly subject all of my PC using friends to diatribes about why Apple produces a superior product. I impress coworkers with the miracle of Exposé and Dashboard. Even when I am away from my desk, visitors to my office are greeted with the super cool RSS screen-saver.
One of the most bad-ass and least talked about features of Tiger is the dynamic dictionary and thesaurus.
According to the BBC, a chef bitten by a deadly spider was able to have experts identify the species by showing a picture he snapped with the camera on his phone moments after the bite. The man was attacked by a Brazilian Wandering Spider, one of the most dangerous in the world, that appeared in a box of bananas delivered to his pub. Although they have stirred controversy for their illicit use, people continue to find new ways to use this ubiquitous technology for good.
Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a robot that can independently build concrete foundations and structures. Building five inches every seconds, the robot squeezes liquid concrete from a tube and smoothes it with a trowel.
With constant housing shortages in refugee camps around the world, many technologists hold out hope that fabrication technologies, like this robot, will be able to quickly assemble structures from on-site materials and alleviate a global housing crisis.
As more of my friends become Mac users - whether as a result of my encouragment nagging or their own wisdom - I find myself constantly recommending great apps that make an already great Mac even better.
In an attempt to share this information in its current form, I have compiled my recommendations for must-have Mac apps. Please let me know your experience with these programs and any that you think should be on the list.
Because I am in New York this week staying with Felice and Ben to work on The Gates, I am temporarily deprived of Internet. You see, Felice and Ben don't have broadband, or any band for that matter, in their apartment.
I have once or twice before encountered this phenomenon in the wild and dealing with it is always a challenge.
Who is this guy?
