Stars, Rocks, Sounds, etc…

Inspired by http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=2722

iPhone 3G at 26x magnification:

iPhone 4 at 26x magnification:

iPhone 3G at 375x magnification:

iPhone 4 at 375x magnification:

iPhone 4 iBooks text at 26x magnification:

OK, I got one of these because a friend told me they really work.

Then I read the warnings on the repellent refill:

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS:
CAUTION: Harmful if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing. Avoid breathing vapor. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling and before eating, drinking, chewing gum, or using tobacco. Remove and wash contaminated clothing before reuse.

Store away from food, beverages and pet food. Do not use indoors or in enclosed spaces. Do not touch device with metal instruments or wet hands. Do not allow materials of any kind to cover the unit while it is in use. Replace refill only when unit is off.

FIRST AID: Call a poison control center or doctor immediately for treatment advice.
If Swallowed: Have person sip a glass of water if able to swallow. Do not induce vomiting unless told to by a poison control center or doctor. Do not give anything to an unconscious person.
If on Skin: Take off contaminated clothing. Rinse skin immediately with plenty of water for 15-20 minutes.
If Inhaled: Move person to fresh air. If person is not breathing, call 911 or an ambulance, then give artificial respiration, preferably mouth-to-mouth if possible. Have product container or label with you when calling a poison control center or doctor or going for treatment.

For additional information in case of emergency, call toll free 800-558-5252.

Be sure to wash hands after handling.

Whoa. If able to swallow? If person is not breathing?

So I looked up the active ingredient: metofluthrin. It is a pyrethroid. According to one article:

Pyrethroids affect nerve impulse generation throughout the entire nervous system. Multiple nerve impulses occur when only a single one was expected, and there is an increased release of chemical neurotransmitters as well. These actions result in convulsions, prostration, and death.

I’m starting to think that being bitten by many disease-carrying mosquitos will be healthier.

Seen on the bulletin board at the local Five Guys.

The latest OS for the iPhone, iOS4.1, includes a new social gaming app from Apple called “Game Center”. It has only been released to developers at this point, not the general public, and the backend is not really working yet. As a result, when you view the other gamers that you have connected with, you get this:

I can’t help but think of this: South Park: You Have 0 Friends

Engineers at Amazon need to adjust their targeted marketing algorithms. Granted, if I buy a Katy Perry CD or a James Patterson novel, I might be interested in more of the same. However, I bought a ladder, and have been getting crap like this for the last month:

Someone over there needs to realize that there is different category of product where buying one means you’re all set. Another ladder is, right now, the thing I am least likely to buy.

I just got a new scanner which is able to handle medium format film, so I have started scanning in old negatives taken with my Mamiya C220 and Pentax 6×7.

These aurora were from the summer of 2004 and were taken from Miller State Park, on Pack Monadnock Mountain, New Hampshire.

After several trips down to Florida and many launch scrubs for weather and other issues, we finally got a payoff!

This was recorded in 720p HD with a Pentax K-7 DSLR mounted on a William Optics APO Refractor.

For the full effect, make sure you watch it in 720HD mode, full screen.

Here’s the setup; mine on the right and Tom’s on the left. The big fuzzy grey thing is just a windscreen for the video microphone.

Just got back from vacation in Italy. A small sampling of pictures can be found here: http://gallery.me.com/matt_m

Comcast is constantly running ads saying how they have far more HD than either satellite or Fios, and I am getting a little sick of their lies.

When they count channels, Comcast considers each on-demand program like a separate live channel. It isn’t. That is a lie.

A few weeks ago I wanted to show a recent episode of Frontline to a couple friends, and much to my surprise, it was available on-demand in HD from Comcast (9 times out of 10, nothing I want to see is in their on-demand list). However, due to the poor bandwidth inherent in cable, the program stopped and stuttered several times a minute. It was like the old days of trying to watch video online with a dial-up account (buffering… buffering…). It was completely unwatchable.

So if we take as a given that Comcast’s HD on-demand is useless, how do they compare in terms of actual HD channels?

For this exercise, I included the maximum number of HD channels available, regardless of price; but did not include any premium movie channels or out-of-area sports programming that requires a separate subscription.

Scroll to the bottom for totals.

Channel	Comcast	Verizon Fios	Direct TV	Dish Network
WCVB (local ABC)
WMUR (local ABC)
WBZ (local CBS)
WFXT (local Fox)
WHDH (local NBC)
WLVI (local CW)
WSBK (local Ind.)
WBPX (local Ind.)
WBGH (local PBS)
WBGX (local PBS)
WSBE (Rhode Island PBS)
A&E
ABC Family
Altitude
AMC
Animal Planet
BET
Big Ten Network
Biography
Bravo
Cars TV
Cartoon Network
CBS College Sports
Centric
CMT
CNBC
CNN
Comcast SportsNet NE
Comedy Central
Comedy.TV
Crime
Discovery
Disney
Disney XD
Encore
Epix
ESTV
ESPN
ESPN U
ESPN2
ESPNEWS
Fashion TV
Food Network
Fox Business
Fox News
FSN Prime Ticket
Fuel
Fuse
FX
Golf Channel
Hallmark
HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
HGTV
History
HSN
IFC
Lifetime
Lifetime Movie
Logo
MavTV
MGM
MLB Network
MSNBC
MTV
MyDestination TV
Nat Geo
NBA TV
NESN
NFL Network
NHL Network
Nickelodeon
Outdoor Channel
Palladia
Pets TV
Planet Green
QVC
Recipe TV
Science Channel
Smithsonian Network
Speed
Spike
Syfy
TBS
Tennis Channel
TLC
TNT
Travel Channel
Universal
USA
Versus
VH1
We
Wealth TV
Weather Channel
WFN
WGN America
Yes
	Comcast	Verizon Fios	Direct TV	Dish Network
Total HD Channels	40	85	63	67

Windows 7 is the best PC operating system ever, according to Steve Ballmer. “We’ve already sold twice as many units as any OS in a comparable time frame,” an exultant Ballmer informed shareholders at a meeting on Thursday.

Step One: Release the worst, most annoying, most bug-filled OS ever; Windows Vista.

Step Two: When everyone desperately grabs for its replacement like Titanic victims reaching for life rafts, declare success.