Hawk's Nest

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Broken Elbows in Children

"Supracondylar Humerus Fracture" or at least that's what it seems to be. My oldest experienced this joy on Monday. We're helping her keep it protected for two weeks while it heals enough to be out of the danger zone. Any re-injury now could mean surgery.

How did it happen? Visiting a friend's house and falling from gym rings suspended from the ceiling onto a hardwood floor. Owwwwwww!!

CNN.com - MySpace's the place online - Feb 14, 2006

Don't know where your kids are? For better or worse, you just might find them here.

Friday, February 17, 2006

TIME: Life in the Googleplex Photo Essay

Take a peek inside and see what it's like to work at Google.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

PC Magazine: Will Apple Adopt Windows?

This is an interesting theory. If this were to happen and Apple focused completely on hardware, there would be more than riots going on in the U.S. But I'd like to propose one more step which Dvorak doesn't mention...open source.

The real kicker for this scenario would be if Apple released its operating system to the Open Source community. Imagine the ability to continue to develop this OS in a community which has tried to make a compelling case for desktop Linux but can't get the GUI or OS to be as simple as Windows. Suddenly they would have a compelling GUI and the ability to develop an OS many average users would find useful. With a shift to "Intel Inside", there is no reason why this couldn't happen. Desktop Linux would be left in the dust as a serious contender and a solid alternative to Windows would emerge. Maybe Google would tweak it and rebrand it so the dream of a GoogleOS would be a reality.

I know it's only one possible scenario but since John Dvorak and the Rutgers University professor Yakov Epstein have raised the question, I'd like to think the answer might be even more profound.

Note: Thanks to "The Pirate" for this intriguing start to my morning.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

CBS 2 / KCAL 9: Sand Truck Overturns

I have connection to this story which makes it of interest to me. I understand it took about four hours to clear it and it resulted from avoiding a wreck with an unlicensed, uninsured driver.

Extend Firefox Contest Finalists :: Mozilla Update

I'm still a big fan of using Firefox for my main browser. I just can't give up the flexibility with all of the extensions available. Here are some of the best. And also 10 must-have extensions.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Paid E-Mail and the Road to Perdition --Dvorak

Don't believe the Seth Godin's of the world that paid e-mail is our savior from spam. There are technologies to stop this stuff and Yahoo/AOL are just wanting to be lazy.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Microsoft Research Group Shot

This is an awesome tool! Haven't you taken group shots and have several in a row which are of the same thing but somebody wasn't smiling or was looking the wrong way? Well, Microsoft Research has a new program that automagically is able to bring these shots together. Last night I did some unbelievable composites of two and three shots. Below is one. Here is the help for it.

Also, I found selecting a variety of smaller areas avoided double-headed subjects or 3-footed children.

How Much Should Hotel Web Access Cost? - Sometimes it's free. Sometimes it's $20 a day. Why? By Steven E. Landsburg

I thought about this while I was traveling recently. Greenville, SC has free WiFi in the airport; Memphis, TN and Los Angeles don't. My hotel also didn't but did have a T-mobile pay as you go plan for $6/hr which worked out the best for me. Finding the right balance is the key. Of course, I think it should be "free" just like water and electricity.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Trains at Christmas!

One of the highlights during Christmas was a visit to Mr. Strange's (yes, that's his name but he the opposite of strange) 1950's Train setup. The kids loved it...steam coming out of trains rolling down the tracks, bridges, tunnels, horns blowing, cityscapes and small city and town areas accompanied by Peggy Lee's sweet voice playing on an old record play. Wow!! Pictures can't capture the experience but here are a few to get a taste....



IN-N-OUT Burger

During my recent trip to Long Beach, we ate at IN-N-OUT Burger. I stood ready to order knowing there was a secret menu but at a loss as to what it was. If only I'd had these links, I would have known about "Animal style". I tried to tell my wife and parents about the secret menu but just got blank stares. So here...seriously! The Most Accurate Secret Menu

USNews.com: Technology: Bill Gates' House

A virtual tour of the house you'd want to visit.