Assorted Geekery

<clears throat> This is actually just a short post to warn you that there will be a pretty major overhaul to the site in the near future. The majority of this will consist of a redesign to improve readability, as well as making the site play nicer with mobile browsers, specifically Opera Mobile and WebKit.

On recommendation of far too many people to mention, I’m checking out Google Reader again. I remember peeking at it when it was first released, when I was stubbornly intent on sticking with browser/desktop based reader, and I remember being less than impressed.

My Lameness: Your results: You are Spider-Man Spider-Man 65% Green Lantern 65% Supergirl 63% Wonder Woman 58% Hulk 55% Superman 55% Robin 50% Catwoman 45% Iron Man 40% The Flash

I was just perusing some of my Statcounter data when I came across this search string a Canadian used to find my site. It’s far from the most bizarre thing I’ve seen in my search results, but it is notable for its specificity.

Via Boing Boing: Just a quick post, but if you are at all into comics you will get a kick out of blogger Kevin Church’s hilarious reimagining of Alan Moore’s Watchmen as if it was written by Stan Lee.

So as I mentioned before I’ve been learning Python, and it has been a lot of fun. It says something that I can spend all day at work writing code, only getting up from the computer to scavenge the vending machines, but when the end of the day comes I find myself rushing home so that I can pick up where I left off in my Python lesson plan.

The World Wide Web turned 15 yesterday. Still one more year before it can get a driver’s license. :) Wikipedia Entry on the World Wide Web

Wow, where the hell have I been?! It’s two days shy of a month since I last posted, which is an eternity online. As is probably obvious, I’ve been really busy with work and all the other interesting things that life can throw at you.

Skype has released a new version for Linux with ALSA support built-in, which allows it to run even with other sound applications. Hurray! Get it here! However, it is important to note that the original HOWTO I wrote on recording Skype conversations won’t work with the new version.

If you have not heard about Bruce Sterling’s keynote speech at the O’reilly Emerging Technology conference, you really need to take a listen. It’s was a mind-blowing presentation illustrating the future of Internet technology and how the language we use to talk about it will guides technological development.

How many times have you googled yourself? Too embarrassed to say? Same here. I suppose just about everyone with a connection to the Internet has been guilty of a little ego-surfing once in a while.

Today, I finally got my Google Analytics invite. I can’t remember when I first applied for it, but it must have been several months ago. I have heard tales on the web that GA is slow and can bog down page loading, but I haven’t noticed any difference since I added the code to my template.

Via /.: Be still my beating heart! Due to the enormous pressure and demand from fans, LucasFilm is going to be releasing the original unedited versions of the Star Wars trilogy on DVD.

If you get a chance you really should read this message sent to the folks at Yahoo Mail. It’s a great piece of common sense emphasizing the need for coding according to the web standards and doing away with the ridiculous notion of a page displaying “your browser is unsupported” message, which shouldn’t ever be the case if the page is coded correctly.

I was just listening to the most recent episode of TWiT when I learned of the formation of a new non-partisan political organization dedicated to causes near and dear to a geek’s heart.

Google Calendar was released today. Full review to follow. :) UPDATE: Review will be posted next week. I’ve got a lot to say about it, but I want to spend a few more days trying it out before I commit my thoughts to non-paper.

I cannot remember how I initially heard about Krugle, but I’m glad that I did. For those of you who haven’t heard of this service (which may be many of you), Krugle is a service that aims to be the search engine for developers, and it appears to be well on its way.

It is with some trepidation that I set out to review the developer preview of the Flock browser. It hardly seems fair, does it? After all, the public beta isn’t scheduled to come out for another month.

If you are a blogger, you have probably already heard about Performancing.com. If you haven’t yet, or have procrastinated on checking out the site, you really need to go there this very instant.

Via Dvorak.org: A group of scientists in Europe have developed a functional interface between mammalian neurons and silicon chips. This is a big deal as it means we may soon be able to use this technology to monitor and diminish neurological disorders.