I'M IN YER MAPZ, SITTIN' ON MY PERCH

"Google Maps is spying on my cat!"

Well, not exactly *my* cat (as far as I know!), but *somebody's* cat:

The new Google Maps zoom feature zooms all the way into my living room window. See cat on cat perch.

Boing Boing story.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 15:11:05 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

Tweaking color curves with GIMP

I've mentioned the GIMP image editing program before, and why you might want to acquire a copy. Below, an explanation of how to use it to quickly turn this:

into this:

more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Beta at 16:18:01 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 653 words, total size 5 kb.

Okay, is this really evil, or just REALLY strange?

 HAI
 CAN HAS STDIO?
 I HAS A VAR
    IM IN YR LOOP
       UP VAR!!1
       VISIBLE VAR
       IZ VAR BIGGER THAN 10? KTHXBYE
    IM OUTTA YR LOOP
 KTHXBYE

I HAS 1337 CODE.LOL
(If this totally mystifies you, try starting with this Fark thread.)
Blame McGurk for spotting this first.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 21:46:33 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 56 words, total size 1 kb.

"Memorial Day"

I hadn't planned a "Memorial Day" post, at least not one for today. (For me the real Memorial Day remains May 30th, not the "nearest Monday required to give everybody a three-day weekend.") But SDN posted this at Daily Pundit, which inspired me to give it wider distribution:

Memories

(1930)
"The eradication of memories of the Great War.”
-SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT ORGAN

The Socialist Government speaks:
THOUGH all the Dead were all forgot
And razed were every tomb,
The Worm-the Worm that dieth not
Compels Us to our doom.
Though all which once was England stands
Subservient to Our will,
The Dead of whom we washed Our hands,
They have observance still.

We laid no finger to Their load.
We multiplied Their woes.
We used Their dearly-opened road
To traffic with Their foes:
And yet to Them men turn their eyes,
To Them are vows renewed
Of Faith, Obedience, Sacrifice,
Honour and Fortitude!

Which things must perish. But Our hour
Comes not by staves or swords
So much as, subtly, through the power
Of small corroding words.
No need to make the plot more plain
By any open thrust;
But-see Their memory is slain
Long ere Their bones are dust!

Wisely, but yearly, filch some wreath-
Lay some proud rite aside-
And daily tarnish with Our breath
The ends for which They died.
Distract, deride, decry, confuse-
(Or-if it serves Us-pray!)
So presently We break the use
And meaning of Their day!

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 21:25:30 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 242 words, total size 2 kb.

Debasing language, corrupting discourse

Wretchard raises a question:

Now that the term "torture" has been put in one-to-one correspondence with such admittedly unpleasant activities as punching, sleep deprivation, a handkerchief pulled over one's face and loaded with water, searches by women upon sensitive Islamic men or the disrespectful handling of Korans -- what on earth do we call gouging people's eyes out?

Cynic that I am, I've long wondered how the members of the "pomo community" would react if they found themselves the objects of  some good old-fashioned line-'em-up-against-the- wall-and-shoot-'em repression. Godwin's Law (or maybe, The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!") in practice: When you label everyone who disagrees with you a "Nazi," what do you say when the real Nazis show up?

Meanwhile, "david t" at Harry's Place notes an unusual (not!) silence.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 16:11:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 131 words, total size 1 kb.

Kitty Zen at Andrea's

Link.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 17:39:08 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 5 words, total size 1 kb.

Family Saturniidae, Genus Actias, Species luna

Basking on a window frame, seen on my way to work.

more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 15:24:41 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.

BBCode Test

UPDATE 21 May, 15:51: Fixed!

Fixing something maybe only I can see...
mee.nu's help page:

(The last line of this comment is what broke it.)
Test code follows...
more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Beta at 15:29:34 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 73 words, total size 2 kb.

Ultimatum

Okay, so it might be a fake. Where's your sense of humor, anyway?
From Tamara, who found it at Zoe Brain's.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 03:31:01 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.

Do-It-Yourself 3-D Fabrication

This is a model of a drywall screw. It's 20 inches long and is made out of sugar. On a homebrew 3-D thermal fabricator. Other objects made so far: A dodecahedron, a toroidal coil, and some CNC (computer numeric control) toast (branded "HELLO WORLD"). Story and more pictures here.

-----
Tnx: Chizumatic 20070509.1330 (when's he gonna get permlinks?)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 16:17:36 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.