Perpetual motion is one of those seemingly easy to solve problems that, to date, has no solution. The idea behind perpetual motion is that once something is in motion, it will power itself for eternity. Smart people have worked at solving it, and have discovered some quite interesting things as a byproduct, but are still stumped by the original issue. It's just one of the selections you'll find at the Museum of Unworkable Devices.
Caring for nerds
devx.com/devx/editorial/11659
As long as you're not driving or operating heavy machinery, close your eyes and visualize a computer programmer. I think you'll agree that programmers have a terrible PR problem. They're traditionally seen as intelligent yet socially inept introverts with bad sense of dress. But if this article is to be believed, what you see in your head isn't quite the reality. It's a good read for anybody who deals with programming folks on a regular basis. I think it's mostly accurate, especially the bit about showers.
A digital camera is a great tool for me because I can create truly lousy pictures without the hassle and expense of getting film developed at the local drugstore. It's a time saver. But I'm trying to take better pictures, and this well-done article from O'Reilly's Mac Development Center opened my eyes to some nifty techniques. If you're a digital camera buff or just getting started, this page might just teach you a thing or two.
Everybody's entitled to his or her opinions on current events, and a blog is perhaps the greatest way to express them. I've resisted going crazy with links to war sites because so many of them have a clear pro- or antiwar bias regardless of how well the content is written. But here's a site that's fit to link and specializes in overview rather than opinion. It's like a cross between the old Yahoo and Google's news personality. The information comes at a fast and furious rate. If you're a serious news junkie, it could be a winner.
Are you managing your bookmarks or are they managing you? Until recently, the latter was true in my life. Trying to keep bookmarks synchronized between five different Mac OS X browsers was driving me farther up the wall than usual. But that's all changed. The latest must-have utility for my Mac is URL Manager Pro, a $25 try-before-you-buy utility that keeps everything in a central place. When running, the program adds an item to the menu bar and allows you to get at your bookmarks quickly. It's great if you hide your Dock to squeeze out a few extra pixels of screen real estate.
[Last modified April 7, 2003, 08:34:40]
Personal Tech today [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Specials Hackers:a special report by the St. Petersburg Times.
Archives Click here for previous technology coverage
