"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
I saw an article on building a Linux-controlled “Corretto” coffee roaster and thought, “Cool, but where would I put everything in our kitchen? I’d have to build on an addition!”
*heh*
Still, one of the things that gives Henry Ward Beecher a claim to historical immortality that rival’s his sister’s is his appreciation of good coffee:
“A cup of coffee – real coffee – home-browned, home ground, home made, that comes to you dark as a hazel-eye, but changes to a golden bronze as you temper it with cream that never cheated, but was real cream from its birth, thick, tenderly yellow, perfectly sweet, neither lumpy nor frothing on the Java: such a cup of coffee is a match for twenty blue devils and will exorcise them all.” – Henry Ward Beecher
And, after reading the above paean to a good cuppa joe and singing a few verses of O Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree i9n appreciation of The Holy Brew (#1) myself, almost the article cited above persuadeth me to do a “Linux Coffee Roaster” build of my own… Almost. I’d still need to build that addition onto the house.
I do NOT watch any professional sports at any level (including college pros–yeh, they’re mostly pros. Don’t let me get started). Boring. But this guy, with one lil save, has made me a fan. Not a baseball fan or a fan of his “club,” just an Evan Longoria fan:
Imagine that woman’s face if Longoria hadn’t sensed the ball coming and intervened. I’ve caught hard-hit balls barehanded, and it’s not a lot of fun, but my peripheral vision wouldn’t have zeroed in on that ball, even with the warning crack from the hit, on my best day, in my best shape.
Good save.
And did you see the look of shock (and awe?) on the interviewer’s face? Priceless. No doubt she’s a fan now, too, eh? 😉
I’ve long known of the air rifle taken on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but this video adds some interesting information. I do think the guy takes his thesis to unsupportable lengths, but even that is intriguing.
Unlike the iPhad, this holds some attraction for me. Check the basic specs to see some of the appeal:
Not too shabby. The features that appeal to me are obvious: the ports and connectivity, the screen and the enhanced functionality of a dual core nVidia processor. Taking the last first, full multitasking and 1080p video processing? Very cool. The ports? 2USB and one mini-USB, an HDMI port (how about that? a real media portal!), and 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and 3G built in (just add your own sim card). And the screen. Wow. A transflective screen that can do full color (with, as I said full 1080p video) AND automatically adapt to lighting conditions or be switched to an epaper mode for ebooks or full sun display that still can do 64fps video even in epaper mode. (And yes, there does appear to be a compatible Kindle app for Android. :-))
Oh, and the first production run has already sold out at about $350 U.S.
Yep. A real feature-full product that’s also a price-beater. By feature comparison, the iPhad is looking more and more like a typical, over-hyped and under-featured Apple fanboi honeypot.
Adam: Very, very nice. Tempting. (Singing a verse or two of “Yield not to temptation” *heh*)
Apart from the chuckles (if not outright guffaws–puppy-training pad?) the name inspires, this looks like what the iPad ought to have been in order to appeal to anyone who wanted something other than a large format, less capable iPod Touch:
Yeh, my German’s way, way out of date, but I caught enough to spur my interest.
OK, so all the loan phrases imparted a lot of info on top of what little German I caught, but it does look intriguing. Price point’s apparently a slight tad over the iPad, but it answers nearly all the objections I had to the iPad, so that’s a Very Good Thing. Can it gain traction in the US? Well, it’s not even for sale here, so there’s no way to tell yet. And, of course, there’s the Apple “mystique” that appeals to those with more taste for sizzle than for steak, and there are more lobotomized Americans that fit that characterization than I find comfortable to contemplate, so that’s another barrier. Still, I’d kind of like to get my hands on one…
The WePad is a Google Android tablet with 11.6 inch touch screen display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 16GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, and 1.3 megapixel camera starting at $611 and will have another model with a 3G-32GB version that will be available for $774 USD. The We-Pad launch date according to the company is August 2010.
Other notable features include memory card reader, two USB sockets, audio output, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, stereo speakers and Flash and Adobe AIR support. Additionally, the WePad will also come touting HDMI out as well as a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for 1080p video playback.
Add the fact that multitasking is a part of the mix, and that’s LOTS more usability than the iPad!
*heh* I’d probably use it as a entertainment room “surf tablet” and media controller, for the most part, or as a notebook replacement (which would call for an easily added–via USB–wireless keyboard and mouse), and most of the add-on mobile capabilities would be something I’d probably not need. But that’s just me. Yeh, a convertable multi-touch tablet/netbook would probably suit me better, anyway, but still… nice to know that–if these videos are any indication at all–somebody has built a more sensible and more capable iPad-like device at a competitive price point.
Oh, and back on the videos now, I liked the presenter’s shirt cuffs and the nice, cool 54 degrees Fahrenheit day in Hamburg. *heh*
