Monday, July 06, 2009

Photo of the day


Buenos Aires beautful architecture
Tucumán at Cerrito street

My blog is 5 years old this week!


This blog is 5 years old this week.

I started in July 2004. Whoohoo!

Happy Birthday Blog!

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Photo of the day


Palace of Justice detail
Buenos Aires

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

Jake Shimabukuro plays the Star Spangled Banner on the ukulele.

Photo of the day


Palace of Justice and Lavalle's statue
Buenos Aires

Friday, July 03, 2009

Photo of the day


Florida St.
Buenos Aires

BTW, the ARP$23.50 for lunch translates to about USD$6.25

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Cannon P.I. - Make Web Not War

You'll enjoy this video on Microsoft Web Platform Installer. The way it should be done.



YouTube link

Was Earth designed for life?

I wonder if Edward Current actually makes creationists think.



YouTube link

Photo of the day


Colon Theatre - Opera House
Buenos Aires

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Ukulele weeps

Jake Shimabukuro plays George Harrison's "While my guitar gently weeps" on the ukulele. Excellent performer.

Firefox released v3.5

Mozilla has released the next major version of Firefox, v3.5 It has support for HTML 5 video, security and speed enhancements. Privacy improvements include a private browsing mode that allows you to surf the web without leaving a trail in the browser's history, cache and cookies. This puts it inline with the latest enhancements to IE 8, Safari and Chrome.

Not all existing plugins have been updated so some of the programs you may currently use with Firefox 3.0.x may not work until their next release.

There are a few glitches reported. Some user said their bookmarks did not import properly. Many users reported no problems.

If some photos viewed in FF3.5 suddenly seem really dark and/or contrasty after the upgrade, there's a known bug in 3.5 that causes it to mis-display photos with embedded ICC v4 profiles on certain wide-gamut monitors. The only workaround is to disable FF's nice color profiling system until they release a fix, likely in a near future update.

Ars technica review of FF 3.5

You can download Firefox 3.5 from here

Photo of the day


Obelisk at 9th of July Ave.
Buenos Aires

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Bait and switch: Online electronics stores caught in fraud

It's about time governments do something about these crooks and scammers. There are lots of marginally legal, and outright scammer businesses that advertise on the web.

This was a case in New York state of online electronics stores that offer ridiculously low prices and scam consumers.

Seven online merchants operating more than 40 Web sites have agreed to pay a $765,000 settlement following an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's office, the AG's office said.

The fine is too low, a wrap on the wrist, for some 40 websites which is actually about seven companies doing business through different fronts. They should have charged that amount per website, but at least we are doing something about it.

Remember, if it is too good to be true, it probably is. That's why I buy my photo equipment online only from reputable dealers like B&H and Adorama, and sometimes from places that sell through Amazon. Period.

Wired: Humans No Match for Go Bot Overlords

From the grab bag:

Wired Science has an interesting article on the progress computer programmers have made in the last 20 yeras in playing the Game of Go.

Using Monte Carlo algorithms they have been able to beat professional players six times. While this in itself may not impress, once you understand the complexities of the game, with the number of Go’s end-states — 10171 — a number almost inconceivably smaller than the 101100 different ways of getting there, you begin to be amazed that we can play this well at all.

For the last two decades, human cognitive superiority had a distinctive sound: the soft click of stones placed on a wooden Go board. But once again, artificial intelligence is asserting its domination over gray matter.

Just a few years ago, the best Go programs were routinely beaten by skilled children, even when given a head start. Artificial intelligence researchers routinely said that computers capable of beating our best were literally unthinkable. And so it was. Until now.

I consider myself an intermediate player, having played the game for the past 30+ years, yet there is much more for me yet to learn, than what I have learned so far. That's what makes it interesting.

Photo of the day


Palace of Justice and Juan Lavalle's monument
Buenos Aires

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Trunk Monkey theft retrieval system!

A friend of mine was asking online for a way to secure his expensive camera gear while left in the car. Somebody recommended the Trunk Monkey products. While those definitely would work, they may not stand the heat of the summer inside the vehicle, so I recommended to have good insurance and not fret over it.

YouTube link

Photo of the day


Buenos Aires - Florida street

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Photo of the day


Toronto's Distillery District

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Magnetic Levitation Toy Train




YouTube Video


(Via Cynical-C)

Photo of the day


Yellow Brick Road
Toronto

Friday, June 26, 2009

Photo of the day


Rogers Centre and CN Tower
Toronto

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Photo of the day


BCE Place, Heritage Square and Galleria, Toronto

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Photo of the day


Toronto: New City Hall

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Photo of the day


Toronto: Old City Hall (now used for the local Courts)

Monday, June 22, 2009

Photo of the day


Miami Art Museum
Downtown Miami