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Prolific Printer

Ever heard of Sliverbrook Research? Didn't think so... They've never produced a product, but after years of research claim to have created a 60 pages/minute printer *. In fact, they also claim (and a video appears to show) the "ink jet" prints 30 pages/minute in full color! Now that would be something to see become mass-produced...

*external link to technabob.com

Deleted...uh, completely!

Accidental deletion of not only the main HD but also the backup* resulting in a technician needing the tape backup of some very important data. Unfortunately, that copy was found to be unreadable. ~$220,000 later the data was reentered and the mistake corrected. Ooops indeed!

Oops! IT technician wipes out $38B fund (external link to usatoday.com)

*external link to jonbart.com

Artificial Planetary Chronometer

Now this is a novel idea for a clock: The "hands" are portrayed as orbiting planets around the central larger planet. Evidently, you can only tell the time by looking at the device from top. I think I would like one; part of the problem, however, is that it's from Japan*. Oh well...

Image courtesy of: technabob.com
* external link to technabob.com

No Transmission Needed

This afternoon I went unicycling at a park along the Ohio River. It was, in my opinion, a picture-perfect day: sunny, with a cool breeze, and a few puffy clouds in the sky.

On the way back from the park I crossed to the Kentucky side on a ferry.

Looking east towards Cincinnati

Automatic Bicycle Transmission

Trek Bikes, along with a couple of other manufacturers, has released bicycles featuring Shimano's new automatic shifting transmission. Called the Shimano Coasting, this three-speed transmission auto-shifts gears as you ride.

Obviously, three gears limits the bicycle to "around-town" riding but none the less, the actual production of an automatic transmission bicycle is a major milestone. Trek calls their bicycle using this technology the Lime*; a rather hideous looking machine in my opinion.

Image courtesy of trekbikes.com

*external link to trekbikes.com

Dominant Eye Determiner

Since I was early for a meeting in the library this morning I browsed through a recent copy of "Astronomy" magazine while I waited. (Read: Astronomy...not that other stuff!) Below I've reproduced an illustration I found intriguing.


How it works: Look at the diagram while crossing your eyes slightly to make three circles appear. The word that appears in the middle circle tells you which eye is dominate.



The article provided a reason why this is helpful to know, but only in relation to studying the stars. Otherwise, I'm not sure why it matters exactly!

I've Still Got It

This morning I took my new unicycle out for an ~one hour rip around the Mt. Adams/Eden Park area. It was exhilarating to be riding again... The terrain included stairs, rocks, ramps and off-road. Oh, and did I mention hills...lots of hills?

With some other things going on in my life right now, just tearing up some pavement and letting the sweat pour off me felt great also. So, thank you again Cameron for a enjoyable and timely gift!