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News -
Austin
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
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We just had a major hail storm pass through Ausin. Luckily my boss, who was at home, gave us an advanced warning call that a huge hail storm was on the way. I was a little hesitant at first thinking that it might not be all that bad. But then the wife of one of my co-workers called in what sounded like a moment of distress. So I quickly got in my car and found a small parking garage nearby. I was glad that I did, the hailstones that followed were HUGE! Many of them were larger than golf balls and were raining in destruction on everything around. If you looked at trees nearby all you saw was a blur of green and white as the hail ripped through the branches. The ones in my picture are shown next to my iPhone for comparison and these ones are actually "small" compared to some of the other ones I saw. I had to go home to get a camera so a good amount of melting had reduced the size of whatever I was able to find. The worst of it only lasted about 5 minutes but the damage it caused was considerable. After I left the garage I saw a number of cars with their windows smashed. There was an SUV with 3 holes in the rear window. A number of cars in my office parking lot had their windows destroyed. Only a minute or two saved me from having the same fate.  Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (141) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 613
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 March 2009 )
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News -
Latest News
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Friday, 13 February 2009 |
At the instant of this post the time will be 1234567890. Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (150) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 886 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 February 2009 )
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News -
Latest News
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Friday, 13 February 2009 |
Today, Friday the 13th, at precisely 23:31:30 GMT (5:31:30 PM Central Time) the time as measured by UNIX computers will be 1234567890. UNIX time is measured as the number of seconds since midnight, January 1, 1970. So at 5:31:30 PM Central tonight it will be exactly 1,234,567,890 seconds since the start of UNIX time. While not particularly meaningful to most people it is a bit of a milestone in the history of computing. It is also a bit of a reminder of the upcoming UNIX-ocalypse in 2038 (think Y2K). So everybody, join with me now and party like it's 1234567890! PS Wow, it's been a really long time since I posted anything! Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (114) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 746 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 February 2009 )
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News -
Bibble
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 |
At my day job we just released a sneak peek of Bibble 5 in action. There's a video that shows a quick overview of a few features from Bibble 5 - our multi-image comparison tool among other things. There hasn't been too much announced just yet regarding Bibble 5 so this is a nice treat for those that are wondering what it's going to do, or wondering what I've been up to.
Also we just released an update to Bibble 4, Bibble 4.10.1 to be specific. This update fixes some bugs and adds support for the Nikon D700.
Discussion about Bibble 5 and any publicly announced features can be found in the Bibble Forums. I'll be posting more information about Bibble 5 when there's more stuff to show off.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 July 2008 )
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Interestingness -
iPhone
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Friday, 11 July 2008 |
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The iPhone 3G is now upon us and now the question for me is whether I really want one or not. Well, yes, I REALLY want one, I just don't want all the AT&T baggage that comes with it. I want the iPhone for many reasons, chief among them are that I'm a big Mac Geek and developer and I'd really like to write some software for the iPhone. The fact that it runs Mac OS X and has a built-in camera and GPS is just too cool for a software engineer to ignore. So I think that I won't be able to stay away from the iPhone for long, it's only a matter of time before the Mac lover in me gives in and I buy one.
That brings us to the AT&T baggage. The actual phone plans that are available from AT&T are nothing short of outrageous. They can get away with this because you have no other choice in the matter. If you want an iPhone then AT&T is your only choice so they can charge whatever they can get away with. So let's look at the cheapest plan and compare it to what I have now with Sprint. The base iPhone plan is $70/month which is really a $40 voice plan + $30 for unlimited data. This gets you a measly 450 Anytime Minutes, 5000 Night & Weekend minutes, Unlimited Data and no Text Messaging. The plan I have right now from Sprint is only $55/month for 1000 Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Night & Weekend minutes, Unlimited Data and also no Text Messaging. If I wanted to get the same service that I have now with Sprint from AT&T with the iPhone I'd have to go with their $90/month plan which still only has 900 Anytime MInutes. That makes the iPhone 1.6x more expensive than the Treo 700p that I have now with Sprint. Such is the price of progress I suppose. Luckily I barely use any of the 1000 minutes I have now and the base 450 minute plan will be more than enough for me, that's still $15 more than what I have now and includes a lot less.
And don't even get me started on Text Messaging rates. The fact that text messaging is extra when you have an Unlimited Data plan is mind boggling. Especially since it has virtually zero overhead for the Cell companies. It's basically a way for them to print money. The actual network overhead for a text message is less than pretty much any other service they provide on their network - less than voice calls, less than voicemail, less than data (internet) services - yet text messaging @ $0.20 a message costs more than any other service. Not only that but each message is charged twice: once when it is sent and again when it is received, so that's really $0.40 per message. It's quite possibly the most expensive form of communication ever invented. In fact, a professor recently concluded that text messaging is more expensive than communicating with the Hubble Space Telescope! Four times more expensive to be precise! Luckily I don't do much, if any, text messaging. If I did I think I might just go postal.
On top of all of that, AT&T also charges a $36 activation fee for the privilege of becoming their customer. Yep, you get to pay them an extra $36 for the honor of signing up to a two year contract that at minimum will cost you $1680 over two years. A $36 fee for the privilege of bending over and taking it for the next two years seems a little over the top, even for AT&T. But that is the price of progress.
Sadly I'll eventually give in and become a slave to AT&T, but that sure is one damn expensive phone.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 July 2008 )
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News -
Latest News
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Written by Dave Thorup
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Monday, 30 June 2008 |
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It looks like the cat is officially out of the bag regarding Nikon's new D700 digital SLR. I'm not sure if Nikon UK jumped the gun (still not available on other Nikon websites) but if you go there right now you'll see information about the new Nikon D700 and the SB-900 Speedlight. The D700 features a 12.1 MP Full-frame (FX) sensor, ISO 200-6400 and 5fps. It's basically a D3 in a D300 body. While the D700 hasn't been a closely guarded secret, with multiple leaks coming out in recent days, this is the first official information from Nikon about the camera.
I don't think I'll be replacing my D300 with this any time soon, but I really can't wait until we get one in the office so that I can play with it.
Read on for more information.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 July 2008 )
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