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Matthew

Personal

I find myself at a loss for words

heavenstairwayIt happens very rarely that I end up at a loss for words. In the post decade I have lost 2 friends from High School unexpectedly. The first was quite a few years ago and the most recent was yesterday morning. The reason I am at a loss for words, is trying see the logic in how a person so young (late 20’s to early 30’s) can pass so early in life. Both leaving behind a child and a loving husband. In the most recent, a newlywed husband, having been admitted to hospital almost immediately after the wedding, they never got to go on their honeymoon.…

Rants Technology WTF

Will the USA be responsible for the downfall of mankind?

Now before you get all upset I am not talking about the American People, I know quite a few Americans and in general they are pretty nice people. No, I am talking about the idiots in power. Now again, before you start bitching, I am not talking about the President either (Ok, some of them have been pretty out there [cough]Bush[cough]), I am talking about those with the real power… the brainiacs (said sarcastically) in charge of the military.

I just read 2 articles that make my head spin. And both are from ages ago, long before my time. I am talking about the Starfish Prime Nuclear Test (on wikipedia) and Project West Ford (on wikipedia).…

Rants Technology

How far is too far with 3D Pritning

Over the past few years 3D printing has come a long way, and when used for good, amazing things result. However used in the wrong hands, chaos can emerge.

What am I talking about? I am talking about this post I found on Gizmodo today, “The First 3D Printed Rifle Now Fires Multiple Rounds—Without Breaking”, and another related article I found (here) “100,000 People Already Downloaded 3D-Printed Gun Plans. So What?”.

To be honest I am not really surprised that someone came up with the idea to print a gun. What I am more worried about is who has access to the plans.…

Technology Windows

[FIX] Windows could not finish configuring the system error after using Sysprep on Windows 7

Over the past week I have been re-imaging the 13 computers in our public computer centre at work, and I came across a small problem. In the past, and by past I mean pre-college, I used to use a program called Norton Ghost to create images of my home system so that at a moments notice I could re-image my system and have all my applications installed without the hassle of re-installing everything manually, but those days are gone as Norton Ghost transformed into something entirely different. These days it is said that it is much easier to use Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK for short) however it is not without its issues, like most Microsoft products.…

Fun Personal

Lucid Dreaming

A few weeks ago I found an article on what is known as “Lucid Dreaming”. For those of you who have never heard of it, this term is used for a dream in which you are 1. aware you are in a dream, and 2. you can guide/manipulate/control the dream. There have been times in the past where I have been able to have lucid dreams, where I was in control of it for a very short time, and I use the term control loosely. By this I mean the only part of the dream I can remember was riding a motor bike which then turned into a broken Mary-Go-Round Pony… So although control is possible, I obviously don’t have the concentration factor (Could be linked to my lack of attention span).…

Fun Personal

Bixi is the way to go…

bixyToday I took my first Bixi ride, talk about a workout. Took about 20 minutes or so to get home, but that’s only because I had to stop half way. Seems the first Bixi bike I “signed out” had a flat tire, why the last rider didn’t flag the bike as damaged I have no clue, but I made sure I flagged it after walking 2 blocks to nearest Bixi station. walking 2 blocks to nearest Bixi station.

Now if you wanna “Bixi” (short for “BIcycle TaXI“) I would not recommend using your credit card at the Bike Rack, if you do make sure you have an extra $250 as they will put that amount on hold as a deposit in case you decide not to return the bike.…

Fun Personal

Educational Youtube Channels worth visiting (and some not so educational)

In my spare time I love to browse Youtube, but unlike most of the world which is more interested in “i can has cheezburger” and Epic fail videos, I prefer educational videos. Here is a small list of channels I like to frequent along with a few sample videos to give you a taste:

First up is C. G. P. Grey which explains a lot of strange geographical/governmental grey areas and tries to limit some confusion. Here is their most recent upload (as of the date of this post)

Next up, another highly educational channel called Minute Physics which as you guessed it, teaches you all about physics in a short period (most videos are under 5 minutes).…

Personal

My next car? Maybe… LOL

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Ok, I came across this wicked post on Hi Consumption and just fell in love with the Watercar Pather Amphibious Jeep. Now I have seen a few amphibious cars in my life time, but none that can travel up to 44 mph (about 70 Km/h or ~38 knots since we are talking water speed). And with a land speed of 80 mph (~128 Km/h) this vehicle is a beast on land and sea.

The kit is available in the states in 3 different stages (as some states have higher regulations for custom-built cars and how they are licensed for road safety) with the full build priced at $135,000.…

Technology

They Nailed it, in 1982.

Every so often I come across an old ad for “The Future”, of how things will be etc.  CompuServe nailed it dead in 1982.

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Mind you, if you can read the small text, they are actually talking about their own services.  If anyone can remember the days before the World Wide Web (WWW) and before the internet as we know it today (High speed internet via DSL/Cable).  If you can remember the days of 14.4k modems and BBS dial up servers, you may remember CompuServe, who closed competitor at the time was AOL (Which I am sure almost everyone knows).  My father used to subscribe to CompuServe.…