- A handy tutorial regarding how to build your very own micro-processor chess set.
Got some old computer parts laying around? If so, crack it open and start getting to work on this tutorial. You'll have on unique looking chess set as a result and a cool desk ornament/decoration as well.
- Ten SQL tips you can use to speed up your beloved databases.
This is a great collection of tips for anyone who happens to deal with writing SQL queries on a daily basis (cough). And yes, I actually own the t-shirt contained in the attached thumbnail.
- Eight basics of regular expressions that can make you an expert.
Scared of the whole regular expression (as it relates to programming, not dialect) concept? This post provides eight quick tips that should help you get a better grasp on the basics to wrap your head around it. Print this out and keep it pinned to your wall (if necessary).
- Hacking popular ticket sites may land you with several unfriendly charges.
What kind of charges you ask? Well there is conspiracy, wire fraud and unauthorized computer access for starters. According to the source article that wire fraud charge carries a twenty year prison sentence.
- Ten year search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo finalized and approved by regulators.
Microsoft is hoping to give Google some viable competition with this new deal. Also, Yahoo's search will soon be powered by Microsoft perhaps spawning an even sillier name for a search engine like Bahoo or YaBing. One last point, both names are actually sounds (try it, YAHOO... BING!).
- New Apple products might be arriving tomorrow according to Best Buy inventory systems.
Dear Apple, please release an updated version of the MacBook Pro so I can eagerly give you my hard-earned cash to replace my aging plastic (cracking along the edges I might add) regular MacBook.
- Microsoft to bring MySpace and Facebook into Outlook.
I foresee this particular move as something that will greatly increase the productivity of every corporate employee that happens to use Microsoft Outlook as their primary email program.
- The top eleven undocumented features of HTML5.
3. Enhanced support for people with disabilities by automatically correcting 'its', 'it's' and 'your', 'you're' mistakes on pages. Hey, what happened to item number four?
- Twelve cool products for your kitchen that you not have previously known about.
Now you can dispense butter in a way you have always dreamed about - with a single click. Other products on this list may coerce you to pull out the credit card as well. Happy eating.
- Macbook Pro models might be getting an update in the very near future.
This news comes after a Best Buy employee snapped a pic of their inventory screen with old models no longer being available for order. Oh, and the Apple Store is also down this morning. Coincidence? Eh, who knows.
- Forty-seven amazing CSS3 demonstrations for your viewing pleasure.
Behold the mighty power of CSS3 which can take on some powerful animation techniques (thus negating the need for Flash or intense JavaScript). You'll need a webkit compliant browser (Safari, Chrome) to enjoy said demos though.
- 88,000 students team up to try and break world record for jumping rope.
Organizers say more than 88,000 people participated at more than 500 schools. That would easily beat the current record of 59,000 jump ropers set in Australia. The results still have to be certified by the Guinness people.
- Hacking cable modems for profit and advertising this fact publicly not the smartest idea.
Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. Selling hacked cable modems and advertising them openly may have been a decent business model a decade ago, but it hardly seems worth bothering about today.
- FAA would like to make sure that next generation 747 is hack-proof.
Essentially, the FAA seemed worried that the 747-8 will be vulnerable to outside access and that the 'applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features,' mandating the issuing of the special conditions.
- The many advantages and methods to using a CSS reset implementation.
Everything you ever wanted and/or needed to know about the beauty of CSS reset all on one handy article. Yes, this site employs a CSS reset implementation as I'm sure you were dying to know.
- Intel sales promotion snafu reveals Macbook Pro about to get an upgrade.
A sales promotion for Intel retailers offers a chance to win a MacBook Pro featuring a Core i5 processor during the month of January, though such a machine does not currently exist in Apple's lineup.
- Facebook to team up with McAfee for beefed up security operations.
Become a fan of McAfee on Facebook and get ten percent off your next anti-virus subscription. To qualify you'll need to purchase McAfee's Internet Security Anti-virus Privacy System Protection Suite. Enjoy.
- Ten cool products inspired by puzzles just for you.
Although it would be cool to look at a puzzle rug on most days something tells me that a puzzle rug would not be able to provide that much warmth. It's a probably a bitch to vacuum said puzzle rug as well.
- Daily Grind: Twitchy
Name: Vin (aka shakey mctwitchy)
Occupation: Webmaster / Procrastinator / Dad
How Vin feels today: Twitchy @ 1:38:25 PM
What Vin really wants today: More sleep. Also, more coffee but without the twitchy side effects. Attempt to lessen coffee intake as day progresses.Music Stuck in Head: Night Moves / Bog Seager
Disturbing yet fitting all at the same time.Stuff to do today:
- Launch a whole bunch of updates for work related tasks/projects/favors/requests
- Fix several stupid mistakes made due to lack of sleep
- Pat self on back for being smart enough to make backups first
- Yawn
- Prep house for ensuing pipework with chances of dirt/dust clouds that will begin shortly
- ...all of which should be just great for the sinuses
- Buy masks for family
- Nine of the most terrifying attempts to improve popular foods.
Covers everything from spray-able pancake batter and carbonated yogurt all the way over to colored ketchup and edible plates (Ritz crackers are a quick substitute for this as well - thank you Mitch Hedberg). So, who's hungry?
- Prolonged 3D sessions may be bad for your eyes. Who knew?
Experts say there are no studies tracking how common it is to get a headache after watching a 3D movie, but Rick Heineman, a spokesman for RealD, a provider of 3D equipment to theaters, said headaches and nausea were the chief reasons 3D technology never took off.
- Latest rumors see Apple tablet announcement happening on January 27th.
Sources in a position to know tell me Apple is indeed planning a media event later this month at which the company will announce a major new product. The gathering is to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, a space Apple often uses for media events like this.
- Marvel stockholders decide to go ahead and approve the Disney merger.
Disney officially has the rights to over five thousand of your favorite Marvel comic book characters. You can expect to see most of these characters in the next Kingdom Hearts game or at the very least some kind of Disney versus Marvel Street Fighter type game (which actually sounds kind of cool come to think of it).
- CSS techniques that you wished you knew about prior to designing websites.
This is a great for anyone who happens to be looking to dive into CSS based web design. Read this, learn it, and eventually try to love it. Yur forray into web design just might be a little smoother as a result.
- The top ten tech trends of 2009 according to CNN.
app-laden phones helped us manage our on-the-go lifestyles; books fell off the shelves and into e-readers; televisions and video games unchained themselves from home entertainment centers; mobile updates helped organize protests and even threaten governments.
- A seventy minute video review as to why The Phantom Menace was absolutely horrible.
For those of us who consider the the original trilogy the gospel of movies this review is a great and entertaining watch. It's also funny as hell. Now sit back, grab some blue milk, and enjoy.
- Google reveals URL shortening service for some of their products.
Google said that it may eventually roll out the service as a standalone site, but that for now it's being built into Google products. Such a feature would likely allow third party sites to build Goo.gl link shortening into their own products.
- The Big Dipper constellation gets an upgrade via brand new star addition.
Alcor, the bright star that forms the bend in the dipper's 'handle,' has a dim red dwarf star orbiting it. They've put out this very pretty image, in which Alcor is renamed Alcor A, and its newly-found satellite star is called Alcor B.
- Apple decides to kick a thousand apps out of the app store for gaming the system.
It turns out that all of the thousand applications in question were actually from the same developer. The developer was trading promotional codes in exchange for five star reviews. Apple was none too pleased hence the swifty expulsion from the app store island.
- Fifteen best practices for writing super readable code.
Although you might not be able to tell from viewing source code of my beloved website, I'm actually a pretty big stickler when it comes to writing easy-to-read code. Indentation is your friend.
















































































































