for the Toronto technology scene in 2007. More later.
Category: Geek
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My Articles on "Tucows Blog"
For those of you who have Blogware-based blogs (that includes blogs from Domain Direct, NetIdentity, BlogHarbor and so on) and have looked on jealously at other people’s beautiful blog designs, the Blogware Mechanic series of articles is for you! I’ve been blogging on Blogware for over three years and have started a series of articles in which I’ll show you all sorts of ways to customize the design of your Blogware blog! The first article, Blogware Customization Basics, covers some out-of-the-box basics, but I’ll soon start covering some nifty customizations. Check it out!
If you’ve tried my domain name suggestion tool, Duke of URL, and were wondering what the code behind is, you’re in luck. I’ve got a new series of articles titled Coding the Duke which looks at the underlying code behind the Duke of URL and introduces other things such as the OpenSRS API and the OpenSRS-PHP library. The first article, Introducing OpenSRS-PHP, covers the downloading, installation and taking of a test spin of the OpenSRS-PHP library.
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Recent Articles in "Global Nerdy"
“Can’t sleep…Windows Vista will eat my network connection settings…”
When a suit named George and a geek named Joey put a blog together, what do you get? Global Nerdy. Here are the most recent stories:
- Guy Kawasaki’s VC Aptitude Test
- Citizens of iPod World
- Happy Birthday George!
- “Can’t Sleep…Vista Will Eat My Network Connection Settings…”
- Welcome to the Social Phone Numbers
- Cult of Mac: iPod Chargers Outselling Zune on Amazon
- Shortsighted studios stymie Apple video ambitions?
- NBC may move Saturday to Friday, and TV to the web
- Searchblog: It’s all over for AOL save the price tag
- Developers Stop Eating Grass Clippings, Switch to Tree Bark
- And Now, This Message from an Extreme Tab-Surfer
- OpenCola Lives On in Swarmcast
One of the fun parts of my job at Tucows is coming up with interesting technology demonstrations. Here’s one called the Duke of URL, a little web app that suggests up to 100 available domain names based on a word or phrase that you provide it. You can either visit the Duke of URL page and enter your own word or phrase, or see what the Duke suggests for the following:
The Duke is written in PHP (PHP 5, but it’s compatible with PHP 4) and makes use of Tucows’ OpenSRS API for provisioning and managing domain names. I wrote it to showcase the NAME SUGGEST API call that was recently added to OpenSRS and to demonstrate one possible use. Over the next few weeks, I plan to post the code along with explanatory notes as well as upgrade the Duke to some other possible applications, including mash-ups, over at the Tucows Blog.
If you use the Duke and find a domain name you’d like to buy but don’t know how to order one, drop me a line and I’ll give you a hand.
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The Korean Math Problem, Translated
If you read this blog last week, you might have seen the article titled Why Asian Kids are Good at Math. I put out a call for translations, and someone came forward in the comments! Here’s it is:
The top part:
Let’s assume that from the top part of the skirt to where the thighs meet is vertically 4cm. Also assume that from the end of the skirt to the point we are interested in viewing is horizontally 12cm. Looking from the side, the point of interest and the edge of the skirt form a triangle ABC.
The bottom part:
Extending BC we reach our ideal observation point E where we our point of interest comes into view. blah blah explanation of where ABCDE is we come to the conclusion that DE must be 53.3cm in order to achieve the optimum viewing angle. Assuming an average height of 170cm and seating height of 70cm the observer must bluntly lean over and reduce his viewing height by 17cm to see the inside of her thighs. I don’t think she would mind so much. Go for it.
I think the last two sentences — “I don’t think she would mind so much. Go for it.” — are actually editorial on the commenter’s part, but the rest of the translation seems to be legit.
Can you imagine the furor that would arise if this was presented as a math lesson here? Perhaps it might be good material for a “Borat” skit.
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Today’s "Global Nerdy" Stories
Global Nerdy is probably the only serious tech news site that would publish this photo:
How do we do it? Chutzpah. That’s Yiddish for balls.
(And I hope someday, I will be able to pronounce the word in a manner that my wife finds satisfactory.)
Today’s Global Nerdy stories so far:
- 21 Years of Windows Ought to be Enough for Anybody: That’s right — on this day in 1985, Microsoft release Windows 1.0 on an unsuspecting world.
- Whither Now Yahoo!? “First, you get the direct fallout from the Wall Street Journal’s story covering “the Peanut Butter Manifesto.” Then you get the secondary analysis of just what ails the world’s most popular network of web properties. Finally, Yahoo! announces a deal with a clutch of newspaper chains. What’s it all mean, and what’s the relationship between these stories?”
- Comedy is Tragedy + YouTube (With a Dash of Legal Stupidity). “This story starts out with video of a tragically bad corporate reinterpretation of U2’s “One” (commissioned to commemorate the union of Bank of America and MBNA’s credit card businesses). It was so painful, it became something of an internet comedy senation. The New York Times, however, notes that the tale has turned tragically stupid…”
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Why Asian Kids are Good at Math
It could be that their textbooks are more motivating:
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele and hardhat.
I recognize the trig and geometry bits, but if any of you out there can translate the Korean, could be you please enlighten us in the comments? I’m burning with mathematical curiosity.