This past Thursday, a huge windstorm ripped through the pacificnorthwest, leaving  hundredsof thousands withoutpower . I know I didn't get the worst of it, but I did get hit pretty bad: ahuge tree landed on my car. I can't seem to get embedded images to work, but there are quite a fewpictures at the link.

I stumbled across a feature of Gmail that I found too ridiculous to keep to myself: When looking at the Spam email folder in Gmail, Google Adsense displays ads related to actual spam. Some of my ads included Spam Quiche, Ginger Spam Salad, and Spam Breakfast Burritos.

I stumbled across a feature of Gmail that I found too ridiculous to keep to myself: When looking at the Spam email folder in Gmail, Google Adsense displays ads related to actual spam. Some of my ads included Spam Quiche, Ginger Spam Salad, and Spam Breakfast Burritos.

I have been developing a Java application for use on cell phones. Today I attempted to install my program onto a cell phone (a Motorola RAZR). I plugged the phone in to my computer, but no drivers were found for it. I searched on the internet for drivers, found nothing useful on Motorola's website, and eventually had to settle for a link I found on a forum. Turns out the only thing the driver does is charge your cell phone. I spent roughly an hour scouring the internet for clues on how ...

I attest that the following story is true in its entirety, except thenames of people have been changed to protect identities (and hopefullyto provide a few cheap laughs). First, a little background: this summer for work I am traveling,teaching workshops for junior high and high school students. Sunday Iwasscheduled to travel across state (I live in western Washington) toteach a one week workshop. From Bellevue where I live to Newport whereI was headed is about 300 miles, so no small trip. ...

Early this year we bought an HDTV receiver for my house at about $200.It was the biggest waste of money we have spent on household equipment. Judging by the hype surrounding HDTV, you would expect that switchingfrom standard broadcast to HD would bring a noticeable difference inquality that somehow makes the entire television experience better.This is not so. There is a slight improvement in quality. When I stoppaying attention to the show I am watching and focus instead on thepicture qual...

I flew in to Greenville SC today, where a double mix up ultimately gotme a free dinner. You see, I was checking in to the "La Quinta". However, there are twoLa Quintas in town, and I ended up taking a taxi to the wrong onewithout realizing it. So the first mix up was my fault. Once I got to the wrong hotel, I gave my name to the front desk. Theychecked me in, gave me my roomkey, and put it all on the credit cardthat had been used to make the reservation. But it wasn't my reservation .S...

The goal of computer graphics is to transform raw data stored in acomputer into something visually recognizable by a human being. On alower level, that means that for every pixel on the screen, thecomputer has to decide what color to give that pixel. For threedimensional scenes, there are two accepted methods for making thisdecision: ray tracing and polygon rasterization. Ray Tracing Ray tracing is based upon how light works in the real world: beams oflight bounce off of objects and i...

Garbage collection comes on Thursdays. At my house, we always put outour garbage the night before, usually close to midnight since we arenight owls. This past Wednesday something unusual happened: our neighbor across thestreet had a refrigerator in their driveway. On this particular night Iwas already in bed and my roommates were in charge of taking out thegarbage, so I deny any responsibility for what transpired. My roommates took the refrigerator and put it in our garage. The ques...

For a college student, there are two choices over the summer: work orsummer school. Some students choose both. I choose work out ofnecessity to store funds for rent the following year. Two years ago, I painted over the summer. The nice part was workingoutside in the sun doing good, solid physical labor. But physical workcombined with 40-50 hour weeks really wears on you, especially whenworking at close to minimum wage. I had no desire to go back the nextsummer. So the next summer (last ...

I got a kick out of this flash program, especially the media player. Just play around with it for a little while. Windows RG (Really Good Edition)

I got a kick out of this flash program, especially the media player. Just play around with it for a little while. Windows RG (Really Good Edition)

There are two times throughout the year when people are most likely tobe open to an invitation to church: Easter and Christmas. These are also the two times when I have the most reluctance aboutinviting people to church. Why? Let me explain. (While the following holds true for both Easter and Christmas, it ismuch more so for Christmas.) I am a Christian, and have been a regular church goer my entire life.My experience stems from several different protestant churches that Ihave attended...

Today my school, DigiPen ,held a career day for the graduating seniors. DigiPen specializes ingame development, so the career day consisted of recruiters from thegame industry getting a chance to look at senior projects andconvincing students to apply with them. I'm not graduating this year so I didn't have an explicit reason toattend the event, but I went anyway to see what kind of companies werehiring. The school claimed that thirty-five companies were represented.Five companies gave pr...

Every April Fools Day the internet is bombarded with loads of hilariouscontent. What are the funniest April Fools Day jokes you can find,either from this year or previous years? Here are some good ones: GoogleRomance (Current) CowbellHero (Current) BurgerCraft (Current) Thetechnology behind Google search (2002)