Internet Scout Weblog

WolframAlpha

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:14:43 -0500

WolframAlpha is a whole new type of search engine that can calculate any mathematical expression and compare any known data on the fly. From looking up information about a particular date to comparing two chemical compounds side by side to even calculating complex physics problems; it can do it all and more! While not perfect, it's a very powerful tool and either way, fun to play with and a great time-waster.

Nedroid Picture Diary

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:03:10 -0500

Follow the adventures of Beartato and Reginald at Nedroid.com, one of the funniest comic sites out there. The comic's creator, Anthony Clark, has a host of other stories (like Party Cat) and single-frame images in addition to the Beartato/Reginald line, and each has a fresh and surprisingly innocent vibe that is good for pure giggles. Like this and this and this.

Can people taste words?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:38:05 -0500

This article entitled "People may be able to taste words" from BBC explores the phenomenon of synaesthesia - the "blending of sensory experiences" as it relates to taste. Previous research has shown that people associate low-pitch tones with rounder, bigger shapes and smaller, sharper images with higher pitches. This article explores the concept of "sharp and soft-sounding words." While brie is identified as "maluma," what food would you associate with "takete"? The answer is just an article away...

Avoiding electronic survailance

Fri, 29 May 2009 12:11:32 -0500

We live an increasingly large portion of our lives online. This buys us speed and ease of communication that allow connections to be maintained with people across oceans when in the past such things were impractical. However, it also means that larger and larger amounts of personal information leak into electronic records (ISP records, phone company records, etc). This guide from the Electronic Frontier Foundation goes into some detail on how much of that information-leakage is possible to mitigate, with a focus on avoiding government snooping.

Breaking Down Curveballs

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:17:05 -0500

Every wonder why your favorite baseball player flails at a curveball when it reaches the plate? The linked visual illusion, judged "best in the world" this year by the American Institute of Physics, may have something to do with explaining why a pitch seems to "break" when it reaches home. It may not put you in the batter's box, but it will leave you similarly confused.

I Vant to Read Your Blog!

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:16:46 -0500

Bram Stoker wrote his classic "Dracula" novel in the format of a diary and it has finally met its 21st century destiny, i.e., as a number of blog posts on the web. Each diary entry by Jonathan, Mina, Lucy, and others will be posted on the month and day that the entries were "written," putting a new twist to the presentation of a story so old that it's in public domain. In a way, it allows readers to feel as if the Dracula story were actually occuring in real-time, in 2009.The posts have already begun, so if this sounds interesting, get over to the site and start reading!

Top Ten Opt Outs

Sun, 17 May 2009 12:06:49 -0500

The phone rings: another telemarketer. Check your snail-mail box: another credit card offer. Check your e-mail box: another mountain of spam. When will it ever end?!??

Unfortunately, the flow of junk mail/calls/spam is unlikely to ever completely stop, but that doesn't mean you can't do something to cut down the influx. In this article the non-profit World Privacy Forum offers their wisdom on the ten most effective routes you can take to reduce these unwanted intrusions into your life. Some are obvious and direct (the national Do Not Call Registry) while others are pretty oblique (FERPA), but all represent steps toward gaining more control over your time and information.

Lions, Tigers, and Whales: Oh My!

Fri, 01 May 2009 08:11:30 -0500

These days, there's a search engine for everything. It's appropriate that Soungle offers interested parties access to high-quality, royalty-free animal sounds. Check out the melodic whale songs here and feel free to search for anything from the fruit bat to the common bear.

The Boston Marathon

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:55:14 -0500

On April 20th I ran arguably the world's most historic road race, the Boston Marathon. It was a wonderfully chilly day in Boston. The crowds lined the route and were electric for the duration of the run. It was a wonderful day for American distance running. Two runners, Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher, both reached the award stand with a pair of third place finishes. These are collectively the best male and female American finishes at Boston since 1985. With distance running hardly in the limelight, most people cannot comprehend the type of effort these elite athletes put into their training. This video, created by FloTrack.org, can hopefully highlight the hard work done to accomplish these amazing feats. The video chronicles Goucher doing a 20-mile workout approximately three weeks before Boston.

MuseumPods

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:29:01 -0500

A great website that makes finding and following the myriad of podcasts available from museums around the U.S. and the world. The site makes selecting podcasts easy from a simple menu - just click on "Museum Directory - and the site also provides plenty of technical support (including a live chat option) for how to listen to podcasts. They also provide some freeware, museum job listings, and a blog.

Web Trends Map from Information Architects, 4th edition

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:08:54 -0500

Information Architects, a design firm with offices in Japan and Zurich, release their annual web trends map. This is the fourth one in the series. Popular domains on the Web are mapped to the Tokyo Metro and organized by how they are most related to the cities. Heights represent success in traffic and branding. Subway lines are colored by area of interest. For example, take the orange line to find the creatives.

Securing the Future (Or at Least Your Computer)

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:03:36 -0500

The NSA sometimes gets a bad rap as a shadowy uber intelligence organization, but the reality is that they do a lot of the boring but important (and often difficult) work to secure national infrastructure for both the U.S. and its allies. Most of that is of hands-on interest only to bureaucrats and security wonks, but every so often something makes it out of Fort Meade that's useful to the rest of us.

These "Security Configuration Guides" provide excellent outlines of some simple steps you can take to secure the computers in your workplace and your home against intrusion. Guides are provided for Mac, Linux, and Windows users, with in-depth recommendations for the major releases of each operating system.