~The Catch-All Drawer~

The baud is named for the French telegraph engineer J. M. E. Baudot (1845-1903), the inventor of the first teleprinter.

salmanazar: a large wine bottle holding about 9 liters

noy: a unit of perceived noisiness introduced by the American acoustics engineer K. D. Kryter in 1959. An observer uses the unit to described the noise levels he or she experiences as multiples of a standard level. The standard level, one noy, is defined to be the noisiness of a random noise signal within the frequency band from 910 to 1090 hertz at a sound pressure level of 40 decibels. As you have already guessed, the unit's name is chosen so that its plural is pronounced "noise." A jet aircraft takeoff is rated at about 110 noys.

Tossed in by: PDQ

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Segway Polo

There is an interesting video posted here of a polo game played by Segway enthusiasts!

Kind of looks like people standing on lawn-mowers, knocking around a ball. At least they are wearing WHITE, like true polo players.

Tossed in by: PDQ

. . . Wednesday, July 28, 2004 (0) comments

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Tuesday, July 20, 2004

A great idea, by the Japanese, of course

The world's first bottle cap tripod. It magically turns a bottle into a tripod, ideal for night shots and self portraits.

Tossed in by: PDQ

. . . Tuesday, July 20, 2004 (1) comments

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Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Track me!

Does the term RFID scare you yet? That's the little raido frequiency ID tag that is replacing the barcode in the retail supply chain, notably by our good friend Walmart. The efficiency of standing with a RFID reader next to a pallete of goods in a warehouse, and all the little tags yelling "here I am, count me, I have been here 63 hours and 14 seconds" versus swiping barcodes on thousands of products is obvious. However the privacy nuts like me say that these tags are still active on your grill in your back yard when you get it home, so it can tell market researchers driving by something about you that may be none of their business. Also, the world is brainstorming daily as to what they can track with these little devils.

Here is a prime creative use being implemented in Japan.
Headline Japan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips
By Jo Best, Special to CNETAsia
Monday, July 12 2004 10:33 AM
Japanese authorities decide tracking is best way to protect kids

Tossed in by: R.G.B.

. . . Wednesday, July 14, 2004 (0) comments

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Sunday, July 11, 2004

anomalous perturbation

Where else than The Skeptic's Dictionary can we peruse such intellectual terms as "the Texas-sharpshooter fallacy" or deep scientific studies such as "anomalous pertubation".

Tossed in by: R.G.B.

. . . Sunday, July 11, 2004 (0) comments

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Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Would you like some ice cream?

Summer weather making you feel like some frozen dessert? Take a look at some of these strange flavors sold in Japan: The Wacky World of Japanese Ice Cream.

Tossed in by: PDQ

. . . Wednesday, July 07, 2004 (1) comments

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Units of Measurement
Segway Polo
A great idea, by the Japanese, of course
Track me!
anomalous perturbation
Would you like some ice cream?