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techRivet techRivet techRivet is all about the balance, keeping tech topics in balance and the readers off-balance. The rivet will range from SEO, to NASA, to wetware. You'll get the variety you crave! Articles
Superman goes to college.
2008-05-08 18:34:00 heh. eh...not sure if this is off-topic or not. I guess I'll categorize it that way. Really funny. > > More About: College , Superman
Clay Shirky - Cognitive Surplus: This is a remarkable video. Watch the whol
2008-05-02 19:35:00 At first you may think Clay Shirky is stretching the analogy between the industrial revolution and the interactive computer experience of the 21st century, commonly called Web 2.0. But as he continues and fleshes out his argument in the second half of the video, and especially the example of the 4 year old, I flipped my interpretation and thought the industrial revolution example may still be the wrong analogy, but because it is not STRONG enough. if the video doesn't show, right click and click on play in the context menu. A couple of key quotes: On comparing WOW and Gilligan's Island: "However lousy it is to sit in your basement and pretend to be an elf, I can tell you from personal experience it's worse to sit in your basement and try to figure out if Ginger or Mary Ann is cuter." Television is the "heat-sink" of cognitive surplus: "And this is the other thing about the size of the cognitive surplus we're talking about. It's so la... More About: Video , Watch , Surplus
Phun: the 2d physics sandbox! - verdict? AWESOME.
2008-04-30 19:25:00 So I have kids and I am constantly looking for fun, educational, entertaining, games for them to play. I like discovering open source free applications that satisfy this most of all. Some examples of great programs: tux paint and tux typing. Phun is different. Where those two programs excel in teaching kids, Phun is just fun. It's interactive in a way that not many programs are. It actually has the playability that feels much like an RTS. It does what you make it do now. You add something and the environment acts upon it. Watch this video. > > And it's a toy...except it isn't: Radial engine: > > > Gears: > > > It's a remarkable achievement. One big benefit I see in Phun over the other kid applications I've found is that Phun uses an almost standard application user interface. The user needs to navigate menus and toolbars and context menus. The other kid apps focus on learning something or d... More About: Physics , Awesome , Verdict , Sandbox
Kindle v2.0 concepts
2008-04-28 23:15:00 Some of these might make me a convert. http://www.blogkindle.com/archives/2008/0 2/kindle-v20/ I think I like this one the best. Looks the right size, rotates view, can be opened, some interesting UI elements. When can I get one? More About: Concepts , Kindle
Cool periodic chart.
2008-04-26 02:51:00 http://www.touchspin.com/chem/SWFs/pt2k61 012.swf More About: Cool , Chart
The four reserved domain names - dibs-ed and nobody can use 'em...do you kn
2008-04-25 21:57:00 From RFC 2606, and I quote: There is a need for top level domain (TLD) names that can be used for creating names which, without fear of conflicts with current or future actual TLD names in the global DNS, can be used for private testing of existing DNS related code, examples in documentation, DNS related experimentation, invalid DNS names, or other similar uses. There are four such domain names set aside that are un-claimable by anyone. One of them is obvious: .test.com [.org, .net, etc] But there are three more: reveal .test .example .invalid .localhost ".test" is recommended for use in testing of current or new DNS related code. ".example" is recommended for use in documentation or as examples. ".invalid" is intended for use in online construction of domain names that are sure to be invalid and which it is obvious at a glance are invalid. The ".localhost" TLD has traditionally been statically defined in host DNS implementations as having an A record... More About: Domain , Domain Names , Names
Accelerating Change and what it will be like in ten years.
2008-04-25 20:50:00 Charlie Martin makes some fairly straightforward "in-the-box" predictions about the power of computing coming in the next ten years. Even so there are some remarkable facts buried in the article. What Will Your Next Computer Be Able to Do? We haven?t talked about networks much yet, but the same kind of rule applies to them as we?ve applied to computers: the total speed of the network at the house should go up by between 16 and 32 times in ten years. My cable modem: 8 gigabits a second, at least in theory. My home network in 2018: 128 gigabits a second, or call it 12 gigabytes a second. That?s a whole HD movie in around 5 seconds. More About: Change , Years , Accelerating
FÖNETIK ŸLFUBET FÖR ÏNGLISJ
2008-04-25 02:25:00 Phonetic Alphabet for English It'll never happen, but boy it'd make some things easier. What this gent doesn't take into account is the A-plus class, super intense, ingrained network effect inherent with the current spelling methodology (or lack there-of) used in the english language. It's obvious that there would be some great benefit to simplifying the rule structure surrounding the way we spell. But it ain't going to happen.
DON'T FREAK OUT!
2008-04-25 01:28:00 Yes. The rivet has undergone a redesign. This has been mandated by our corporate headquarters in Stockholm. They are in merger negotiations with a major media company and seeing as techRivet .com is the jewel in their crown of websites, they felt it only prudent that we undergo a refresh, as it were. The direct management team of the website is not undergoing any change so rest assured the high quality content will remain unabated regardless of the outcome of the two media giants merging. That is all for now. More About: Freak
ALL things web. webware.com lists the top 100 web applications/tools/sites
2008-04-23 18:56:00 It's a good list. But let's take one category for instance. Publishing: They list 10 entries ranging from Picassa to WordPress. The two problems with this list (and the rest of the categories) is that some are there due to size and first mover status (eg. blogger) and some are missing even though they might have superior flexibility and functionality (eg. typepad or blogEngine dotNet). And with this list of 100, how in the heck is anyone supposed to make a decent evaluation of even one category. I mean you should spend some decent amount of time fiddling with the app. Could be hours or it could be days depending on the use. So you'll end up using the app with a network effect in place or the one that is "coolest" but maybe sub-optimal. Still...good list. More About: Tools , Applications , Sites , Lists , Things
Stephen Hawking, Frank Drake and life in the Universe.
2008-04-22 19:03:00 Frank Drake is famous for his Drake equation which attempts to estimate the amount of intelligent life in the universe. It is actually fairly simple. N = R* × fp × ne × fl × fi × fc × L where: N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which we might hope to be able to communicate; and R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets ne is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets f? is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point fi is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life fc is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space. Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking comes along in this speech and essentially, from what... More About: Life , Universe , Frank
The Day with no internet...AAAAHHH!
2008-04-17 19:09:00 heh. This clip is only funny because it is an exaggeration on the truth. > More About: Internet
Top Gear - Launch their own Space Shuttle...
2008-04-16 20:10:00 Based on a sub-compact car the little Reliant Robin. Excellent. > > More About: Space , Top Gear , Gear , Launch , Space Shuttle
Poll: how much personal storage space do you have?
2008-04-16 05:55:00 In this day and age where he have memory cards approaching 64 gigabytes in size and hard drives in the terabyte plus range, we here at techRivet research were curious to find out how much personal storage our readers have. so...tell us...please. More About: Personal , Space , Storage , Poll
Caution: Everything you see is fake.
2008-04-15 03:54:00 > > > In this world of trivial photo and video manipulation, you can trust nothing you see on any screen or print to be true. More About: Fake
So you say you wanna Race Rockets? Now there's a league for you.
2008-04-14 18:51:00 Look! In the Sky. It?s a Rocket Race r. eh...what? It wasn't you? Oh it must of been one of the other many daredevil astronaut/test-pilot types that read the rivet. It's one of our core demographics you know...the astronaut. Racers in rocket-powered aircraft will fly four laps around a five-mile ?track? at anywhere from 150 feet to 1,500 feet above the ground. The planes, designed to fly at 340 miles an hour, will start side by side, two at a time. The pilots include professional test pilots who received their training in the military and a former astronaut. This is a great idea... Red Bull Air Race already has a competition with acrobatic prop planes. I guess that isn't hairy enough. I mean 240+ miles an hour, doing flips and stuff...not enough. Add rockets. Race 'em together. 50% faster. 100% louder. 100% more dangerous...what's not to like. More About: League , X-Prize , A-League , Rockets
Game Design Issue - Color blind users.
2008-04-14 04:43:00 If you've ever played a first person shooter then you know that you can tell the good guys from the bad guys by the color of a little triangle (or circle or hexegon or whatever) floating over their head. Well they are typically red and green. What if you are colorblind, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I believe game designers are remiss for not taking this into account for nearly 8% of all males have some form of color blindness. Males being the larger demographic for gaming, I think there might be some benefit to pursuing some usability improvements in the use of color. It wouldn't be hard, just make it a setting that the user can change. Done and done. More About: Design , Color , Game , Blind , Users
The Monty Hall problem - statistics and counter-intuitiveness.
2008-04-13 01:57:00 The Monty Hall problem goes like this. Say you are a competitor on the game show "Let's Make a Deal" and legendary game show host Monty Hall has his classic choose which door contest. Behind one is a new car, behind the other two are goats. You choose one door. Before that door is opened, Monty opens one of the remaining doors so you can see what is behind it. And it's a goat. Question: Should you keep your first choice or switch to the last remaining door. Answer: You should switch. It is a definitive choice. Switch. The logic is that if you keep the door you have a fifty fifty chance but if you switch you have a 2/3 chance. Because you are essentially choosing the 2 doors choice over the one door choice. Don't believe me go here and try it out. For a more detailed explanation go over here: wikipedia here is a decision tree from that article. Assuming the player chooses door 1 to begin with. More About: Statistics , Problem , Counter
How to write a game loop.
2008-04-12 03:45:00 This is an interesting article that talks about the pitfalls of poorly thought out game loops. For example this simple one: bool game_is_running = true; while( game_is_running ) { ; update_game(); ; display_game(); } Read more: The Game Loop , by Koen Witters More About: Write
You wanna sail around the world? Do you wanna avoid Pirates? Then you're
2008-04-11 20:11:00 IMB live piracy map 2008 Just providing a service folks. What is remarkable from a technical perspective is that you can access this map anywhere in the world where you can get an internet connection. It's updated in real time so you can keep track of activity. I wonder if the captain of the Le Ponant knew about this service and if not does that make the ship company liable for endangering the passengers and crew? According to the ship owner's Web site, the three-mast, 64-passenger Le Ponant features four decks, two restaurants, and indoor and outdoor luxury lounges. About a dozen pirates stormed the yacht April 4 as it was returning without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea. ...ah it was empty of passengers. More About: Pirates , World , Around the world , The World , Sail
Running: My body's "hull speed"
2008-04-11 03:20:00 I've been thinking about this lately. You see, I'm becoming a runner. Never been before but I think you'd have to say that I'm getting there. Which brings me to this point. I think my "hull speed" is a 9 minute mile. For those of you not familiar with "hull speed" it refers to a boats natural "max-speed". Essentially the point at which you have to begin expending vastly more energy into the boat to get incremental speed increases. For our family's Cal 40 sailboat that is approximately 6+ knots (6.5 maybe). For me and running it appears that the 9 minute mile is about where my body likes to be. Check out this chart. Of course I have a chart, I'm a geek aren't I? Anyways, the first datapoint is from February 6th. Just coming off the long winters break and I walked half my route. But look at the way the curve is settling down very nicely right at the 9 minute mile mark. My goal of course is to get it much lower ... More About: Running , Speed , Hull
Off-topic: Super Dave Osborne
2008-04-10 19:12:00 "...incedentally Super Dave has been outfitted with a special transistorized microphone so we can be in full contact with him at all times." > > More About: Topic , Osborne
Cool Toyota Prius Continuously Variable Transmission.
2008-04-10 03:36:00 Check out this cool demo for the Prius ' main gear. http://eahart.com/prius/psd/ There is a simulation at the bottom of the page that let's you vary the input parameters and watch the gearing adjust. The PSD is a planetary gear set that removes the need for a traditional stepped gearbox and transmission components, and also the familiar rev-lurch-rev-lurch of acceleration in an ordinary gas powered car. It acts as a continuously variable transmission (CVT) but with a fixed gear ratio. Cool stuff. They need to get their car designers to work on the car though because it is the ugliest thing on the road...well maybe that Pontiac Aztec thing was uglier, but it's close. More About: Toyota , Transmission , Toyota Prius
Remember, anything you can think of...well there's a website for it - Fly p
2008-04-10 01:46:00 Case in point. In our research for ever more interesting facts and factoids to keep techRivet's vast readership entertained we dug up this little gem. »»» Pretty cool huh. Apparently the graphic is from Esquire magazine from a few years ago. This is pretty interesting for a couple of reasons. I've done something similar to this as a child. My friends and I used to catch bumble bees and tie them to a string and go around with them flying on a leash. It's pretty cool. At one point we had a pet spider. Not one of the fancy dancy store bought models but one like this: Well she lived for more than two years in a little terrerium and we fed her spiders that we had at first frozen and then dropped inside her cage where they woke up and were eaten. It was gruesome and my daughter, the bug collector, thought it was awesome. Oh I've also taught my nephews how to catch and "fly" your own bees. So I wanted to see if there was a more definitive ... More About: Website
Improv Everywhere: What if you took your DESKTOP computer to Starbucks and
2008-04-09 19:18:00 Well these guys do it. It's pretty funny. They all keep straight faces and there's a video of their exploits. Improv Everywhere has a bunch of other "missions" they undertake. One of the coolest is when they descend on a normal little league game with a crowd of fans for both teams, real NBC announcers, a jumbotron, mascots and the flippin' Goodyear blimp. The players and coaches and families were not in on the joke, they merely get the best game ever. More About: Desktop , Computer , Starbucks , Desktop Computer
Rube Goldberg Machine National Champions: Purdue
2008-04-08 22:48:00 > > > http://www.rubemachine.com/ The Task: Assemble a hamburger consisting of no less than: one precooked meat patty, two vegetables and two condiments sandwiched between two bun halves. National Champions hip...who knew. More About: Machine , Goldberg , Rube Goldberg
The Big Brother chip...human tracking via RFID.
More articles from this author:2008-04-08 03:31:00 Will we come to accept this as the ubiquitous norm? If you've seen the movie "Minority Report" then perhaps you agree that the creepiest part of that movie is the acceptance shown by the general populace regarding universal tracking via retina scans. You get on a subway train and blink-blink you're tracked. You enter a building and blink-blink you're tracked. Everywhere. Which is creepy. But the populace is shown to just ignore it and let it happen. Is this our future? Because the calm acceptance is creepier than the act itself. Well...my alma mater, the University of Washington, is researching the impacts of a similar technology. RFID tracking. "What we want to understand," Borriello said, "is what makes it useful, what makes it threatening and how to balance the two." They are interested in the implications, applications, privacy and restrictions. Their explanation is that it is better to test now and understand the ramif... More About: Big Brother , Human , Tracking , Brother , Chip 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
