An obnoxious meme has returned to the fore lately, claiming that innovation is dead. The hippies did it, or maybe it was the Internet, or even a decline of America. But nothing could be further from the truth, and statements like this make me question the perspective of the speaker. "These Kids These Days!" "These kids these days don't know how bad is used to be! We had … [Read more...] about On the Death of Innovation, or “These Kids These Days!”
LED
How I Eliminated Over 2 kW of Lighting at Home
The average home is incredibly inefficient, and nowhere is this more obvious than the ubiquitous electric lightbulb. Compact fluorescent (CFL) and LED lights are an order of magnitude more efficient at converting electricity to lumens rather than heat, but making the switch is not simple. The limitations, pricing, and sheer variety of lighting options are daunting. 1 kW No One … [Read more...] about How I Eliminated Over 2 kW of Lighting at Home
My 2012 Project: Improving Energy Efficiency
I am in the process of upgrading my own home to make it more energy efficient. I do this mainly as an exercise of faith and science, since my electric and gas bills are not currently all that expensive. But I just can't countenance burning 10 times more electricity than I need to, even if I can afford it. It's also an exercise in geekiness, since today's lighting alternatives … [Read more...] about My 2012 Project: Improving Energy Efficiency
Friday Fun With Hard Drives
Let's end this terrifying week on a positive note by exploring the many fun things you can do with old dead hard drives. LED Display Clock First up is this LED display/clock. It consists of a series of colored LED lights which flash on and off below a slot cut in the hard drive platter. The perceptual illusion images it creates are just amazing! … [Read more...] about Friday Fun With Hard Drives
Switch Day 58: Ten Pros and Cons of the MacBook Pro
I've now been a Mac user for two months. Since I switched primarily to get access to Apple's excellent hardware, I thought I would issue an update on my observations about it at this point. I should note that I'm limiting this post to the hardware (maybe I'll cover OS X some other time), and that I'm using a maxed-out Late-2007 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro. Although some shortcomings … [Read more...] about Switch Day 58: Ten Pros and Cons of the MacBook Pro