I’ve been thinking that it might be a good idea to start a favorite songs list on occasion. The material’s sitting right there in my iTunes, ready to bore anyone who reads it. I’ll try to limit the list to an arbitrary number, to encourage myself to only pick the best. You know, maybe someone could glean something off the list. Anyhow, here we go:
George Winston, “Young Man’s Fancy” — Linus & Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi
Joe Mathlete Explains Today’s Marmaduke - Since Marmaduke is essentially the anti-Calvin and Hobbes … you get websites like this. Writes the author on why he doesn’t even attempt to ridicule the Sunday strips:
I’ve wasted a big enough chunk of my time and energy on this godforsaken dog without having to risk madness trying to decipher Brad Anderson’s full-color fever dreams once a week. I hope you can understand, and if not, remember that this entire blog is both 100% free and really, really dumb to begin with.
To operate at the 10E31 bits/kg limit, however, the entire mass of the computer must be in the form of pure energy. By E=mc2, the rest energy of 136 billion kg is 1.2x10E28 J. The mass of the oceans is about 1.4x10E21 kg. It takes about 4,000 J to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree Celcius, and thus about 400,000 J to heat 1 kg of water from freezing to boiling. The latent heat of vaporization adds another 2 million J/kg. Thus the energy required to boil the oceans is about 2.4x10E6 J/kg * 1.4x10E21 kg = 3.4x10E27 J. Thus, fully populating a 128-bit storage pool would, literally, require more energy than boiling the oceans.
West Photo - They were a bit snobby to me at West Photo when I visited.
I had just purchased a not-inexpensive camera bag by Lowepro. Nevertheless, as I struggled to mount Canon’s $1,100+ 24-70f/2.8L lens on my 300D, the sales lady commented “haven’t you ever done this before?” Thanks. And no, I haven’t.
Still, I link them because it’s the only place in the Twin Cities I know of that will rent camera equipment. And rent is what I will do, as I look forward to covering Matt and Shayla’s wedding with some photographic specialities.
Keillor Writes about the holidays - Keillor’s written tone swings like a pendulum between stinging, acrid, political pieces barely containing his rage … and much more pleasant prose, as seen here. This has been waiting to be uploaded to tumbledry since the middle of December.
Penthouse triplex of the Hotel Pierre - While the $70 million price tag is the “highest ever listed for a city residence,” I find the price, for once, to be justified. This isn’t any price-inflated handbag—this house is the real deal:
The primary selling point is the 3,500-square-foot grand salon, the former ballroom of the Pierre Roof. Occupying most of the 42nd floor, the room is bordered by 20-foot-high Palladian windows and topped by a curved 23-foot ceiling. On each of the room’s two west-facing corners, soaring French doors open onto terraces offering breathtaking views of Central Park and beyond. The master bedroom suite has two additional corner terraces.
French Paper Company - Let’s say you are printing a poster, and you want it to appear on nice paper. These would be the guys you go to. I’d almost like to buy some of their bright white paper, just so it’s available for later projects. About that white paper:
Smart White
Programmed for maximum opacity, brightness of 98 (independent lab tested), and an ultra-smooth uncoated surface. 10 pts. whiter than a LCD monitor can display.
I can’t figure out what a point is. But that’s bright!