A Strange Web

Not imported from China

Chris DeBrusk — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:48:31 +0000

In today’s world of massive consumption, it is refreshing to run across a story of a hand built toy that someone really put a lot of effort into.

My great uncle built this boat for my cousin. I sure wish I had one when I was a kid. My smile would have been a mile wide.

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The banking crisis in Japan

Chris DeBrusk — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:00:40 +0000

Seems like things are as bad in Japan as they are here in the US.

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More news from the banking sector on the wire this morning.

Uncertainty has now hit the Japanese banking sector

In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded.

Sumo Bank has gone belly up.

Bonsai Bank has announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.

Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks.

Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at the Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

Tina Fey does Palin in the VP debate

Chris DeBrusk — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:31:37 +0000

Despite your politics, you’ve got to admit that this election is resulting in some of the best fodder for Saturday Night Live.

Absolutely hilarious. Brought a smile to my face…which was desperately needed as I watched the market fall yet again over the weekend.

2008 Presidential election results leaked

Chris DeBrusk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:44:59 +0000

This is pretty funny. It is cool to see the overlords make a mistake once in a while.

360 Degree Immersive Camera

Chris DeBrusk — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:51:23 +0000

The Wall Street Journal has a rather cool video on a new “grapefruit” camera that stitches together an 360 degree view in real time. It kind of makes Google street view seem quaint.

I’d embed the video but the WSJ, in true 2005 fashion, doesn’t support embedding yet. Come on guys…

Dilbert, Economists and the Election

Chris DeBrusk — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:47:10 +0000

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame published a survey of economists that he commissioned to see if any insight on the election might come out of it. Not surprisingly, economists split pretty evenly along party lines with Obama getting a bit of a lift due to the independents in the bunch.

It didn’t change my vote but some of the numbers are rather interesting.

Where The Hell is Matt?

Chris DeBrusk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:13:19 +0000

I know like a gazillion people have seen this video but I really like it so here it is again.

Paintball and the Mona Lisa

Chris DeBrusk — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:59:11 +0000

This is so cool…

Joe Biden not exactly a friend to free speech and technology

Chris DeBrusk — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:10:55 +0000

With all the breathless mainstream coverage of Barak Obama choosing Joe Biden as his running mate this week I found it interesting that little of the writing actually focused on his voting record. One of the better pieces with regard to how Joe Biden feels about free speech and new technology in general was published by CNET a few days back.

The best part may be that his desire to limit the level of encryption that you and I can employ in our daily lives lead to the creation of PGP. The rest of his voting record is pretty scary. I guess we should all be warned.

A tip of the hat to CrunchGear for alerting me to the post.

Apple NDA Cripples iPhone Developers

Chris DeBrusk — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:45:17 +0000

As a huge fan of open source in all its various forms, I get a kick when a company so focused on secrecy shoots themselves in the competitive foot via the limits they place on their customers.

Apples Secrecy Obsession About to Backfire on the iPhone

The future of software is in wrapping value added services around an open platform. Granted, Apple isn’t know for open platforms and you can argue that is part of their success but I strongly believe in the end open wins over closed. Android is going to be interesting to watch.