computers

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Switzerland's Anti-PowerPoint Party

I know plenty of people love PowerPoint, but I personally can't stand it and apparently, I'm not alone. There's a whole political party in Switzerland dedicated to having it banned within the country's borders. According to their completely unverifiable statistics: The use of the presentation software costs the Swiss economy approximately 2.1 billion Swiss Francs a year (US $2.5billion). They base their calculation on reportedly unverified assumptions about the number of employees that attend... READ ON

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10 Classic Computers You Had as a Kid

1. Commodore... READ ON

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"Inception" Explained Via Folders

This is supremely nerdy. Back away from the computer now if you're not up to the task. Are the normals gone yet? Good. Okay, if you've seen Inception, you know that it has a complex plot (see this plot diagram for more on that). Spoiler alert: the plot involves a series of dreams; dreamers may bring others along into a dream; and there are many dreams-within-dreams. It's crucial to know who's the current dreamer at any given time to understand what's going on in the film. And this is explained in... READ ON

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How to Tweet Without Really Trying

The site That can be my next tweet analyzes your previous Twitter activity (assuming your account is public) and gives you back a "next tweet." The site appears to be using a Markov chain process to do this; Markov chains are useful for lots of things, including generating weird fake dialogue for Garfield cartoons. So what does it think of the relatively new-to-Twitter @KenJennings? There's a chapter on the Japanese cartoon from swim class. We've chosen a screen full of Mentos"? That's... READ ON

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Equating Angels with Transistors: Shatner at His Best

In this 1976* AT&T promotional video, William Shatner explains the miracle of microprocessors. As an AT&T historian writes: "Back in 1976, microprocessors had a maximum of 8.5K transistors for 64bits of memory. The Queen of England sent her first email, and Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I." The video is very Seventies with its retro-futuristic music and narration. This is basically a LOST Dharma Station training video, but real. Sample quote: "There was a time when philosophers argued... READ ON

Article

The Brother IntelliFax 2800 App Store (FINALLY)

Isn't it time you played Angry Birds on your Brother Intellifax 2800? Of course it is. All that faxing horsepower (including 2MB of memory!) is just sitting there, idle all day, with nothing to do except send and receive faxes. Sure, you have a "computer" or a "smart phone" with "apps," but who wants to deal with expensive cell phone contracts, software upgrades, viruses, and breakable, smudge-covered touchscreens? I'll stick with my inexplicably-priced $37/month landline, my Brother Intellifax 2800... READ ON

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Cassini Orbiter Videos: Saturn Flyby

Cassini is currently hanging out near Saturn, conducting various missions with its wide array of instruments (including cameras, radar, magnetometer, cosmic dust analyzer [!], plasma spectrometer, and so on). It launched in 1997, arrived at Saturn in 2004, and since then has sent back some stunning images -- many of which are collected in the video below. Cassini has seven primary objectives, according to Wikipedia: 1. Determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of... READ ON

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Phantom of the Floppera (Floppy Drive Orchestra)

Want to see how much music can come out of two 3.5" floppy drives and two 5.25" floppy drives? Check this out: From the creator's YouTube notes: Test run of my (d)iskette (O)rgan doing Toccata & Fugue. People have made floppy drives sing before, but this is my personal take on it. Features two 3 1/2" drives and two 5 1/4" drives connected to a PIC18f14k50 microcontroller. It interfaces to any MIDI source via MIDI over USB. Straight MIDI would also be possible with an additional small... READ ON

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Robot Orders Scone, Leaves Big Tip

Today's completely true weirdness: a telepresence robot orders a scone from a coffee shop in Mountain View, California. The robot is given the scone, pays for it, and turns out to be a good tipper. Now, part of what's remarkable about the following video is the whole bit about the robot (which is completely controlled by a person -- that person is visible in a screen on the robot's "face" and speaks with coffee shop patrons and employees via a mic/speaker/camera combo). So we're not talking about... READ ON

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Required Viewing: IBM's "They Were There"

It's hard to believe that IBM is 100 years old (well, nearly -- it turns 100 on June 16, 2011). Yet, watching this newly released 30-minute documentary, the point is driven home: IBMers were indeed there at many crucial points in American technological history. They invented so many devices and systems we take for granted today that it really does take 30 minutes to review them in any depth. For example, there's the SABRE computer reservation system that still powers many travel bookings. And then... READ ON