Grinn Blog

Tech's Next Global Challenge

2008-07-11T10:21:00.001-04:00

In the early 1960's, Japan began to re-industrialize. Eventually what was once viewed as a nation who produced cheap and sub-standard electronics became the world leader in the manufacturing of automobiles and technology. The same is happening in developing nations such as India and China in regards to the IT industry. Today we outsource much of our development to these countries but in the near future, these countries could take over the IT industry altogether, once again changing the face of the global economy forever.

We can choose to ignore this change or embrace it. We as an industry can live or die by it. Let the games begin!

Read: Tech's Next Global Challenge

SEGWAY RIDING SWAT TEAM!!!

2008-07-08T08:24:00.001-04:00

To be fair, this CRAZY HAPPY FUN POST!!! doesn't hail from Japan, but China where police in Jinan prepared for the Olympics by putting their SWAT team on knock-off Segways. Those tiny guns are so cute! Accept for the guy in the back with an AK, and the other guy (middle back) with what appears to be some sort of sniper rifle. Good luck with that, guys.

Read:The Chinese Segway Division Seemed Unstoppable... Until Criminals Started Using Staircases

Computer Job Employment Hits Record High!

2008-07-08T07:44:00.001-04:00

The IT unemployment rate hit a record low of 2.3% last quarter, with over 4 million employed in IT jobs. Compare that to the current overall unemployment of 5.5% which is double that of computer-related fields. So, if you're currently unemployed in a computer-related field, you now have to stop blaming it on the economy like everyone else.

Computer Jobs Hit Record High

This is Sand

2008-07-07T16:38:00.001-04:00

All of us who were once kids (which is all of us) have made those sand art bottles, where you fill a bottle with layers of colored sand. Well, this is the digital version and equally as addictive. Bring your inner 8-year-old artist back to life and play in this sandbox. Oh, and don't forget to check out my piece in the gallery. :)

thisissand.com

Shortcut Key for New Folders in Windows Explorer

2008-07-07T14:42:00.001-04:00

I don't spend much time in Explorer (I'm a Total Commander fan, myself.) In my opinion the biggest pain in the butt about Windows Explorer is that there's not hot-key for creating a new folder. Well, this little app takes care of that as our friends at LifeHacker explain:

"There's never been an elegant or efficient way to create new folders in Windows without getting the mouse involved. Alt+F+W+F? Definitely not quick. But lightweight application mdAxel can assign a keyboard shortcut to the act of creating a new folder."

Featured Windows Download: MdAxel Creates New Folders Faster

Clip-On Geotagging for DSLRs

2008-07-07T07:44:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big camera buff, but this is just too cool to not post. The Kato is an add-on that works with any DSLR camera to add Geotagging to your photos.

"It slides into the hot-shoe of a DSLR and, when you take a photograph, captures a snapshot of the satellite data. Back at the ranch, the client software takes the data and turns it into GPS coordinates, which are then embedded into the photographs."

Clip-On Geotagging for DSLRs | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

1-UP Mushroom Burger

2008-07-02T10:24:00.001-04:00

Combine the love of old-school NES paraphernalia with grilling in your back yard on a warm summer day and what do you get? The 1-UP Mushroom Burger. Quite simply, this is a burger that looks like the 1-UP mushroom from Super Mario Bros. This Instructable is for vegetarian mushroom burgers but if you're as carnivorous as myself and don't mind missing out on the irony of your 1UP mushroom burger consisting of actual mushroom, you can use plain ol' hamburger meat instead. And you thought grilling was for nerds!

"1UP Mushroom" Mushroom Burger! - Instructables

42 GB on a Single DVD (Not Blu-Ray)

2008-07-01T13:01:00.001-04:00

"Japanese researchers have figured out a way to cram a Blu-ray slaying 42GB onto a single, old fashioned DVD. How have they managed this? By making the small pits that hold the data bigger."

If they can do that with an old fashioned DVD, imagine what they can do with a Blu-ray Disk!

Japanese Eggheads Fit 42 GB Onto a Single DVD | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Really Pretty iPod Stickers

2008-07-01T06:31:00.001-04:00

I never leave my house. If I did become someone who ever leaves the house, I would totally get an iPod. I keep my music going as if it were my pacemaker. I also am all about some customization. That's why if I ever left the house and got an iPod I'd most definitely pick up some of these Shufflesome stickers for it.

Forget bulky rubber, silicone or rubber protective sleeves and cases - they're ugly, and who needs that? Besides, how much protection do you really need for your Shuffle? These cast vinyl stickers should protect your musical friend from scratching just fine, I imagine. And Dear Lord are they lovely. They should start making these for cellphones.

Shufflesome stickers for iPods

GoDaddy VP Caught Bidding Against Customers

2008-06-30T07:41:00.001-04:00

An employee of GoDaddy had been bidding against customers for domain names. It turns out this is unbelievably not against GoDaddy's policies.

"A GoDaddy Vice President has been caught bidding against customers in their own domain name auctions. The employee Adam Dicker isn't just any GoDaddy employee; he's head of the GoDaddy subsidiary that controls the auctions. Dicker won some of the domains he bid for, and pushed up the bid price on auctions he didn't win."

It does seem however that in an effort to lessen this obvious PR nightmare that GoDaddy is changing its policy now that an employee has been caught by the public with their hand in the cookie jar. What is said to be a response from GoDaddy has been posted in this Digg comment:

"Go Daddy has reviewed the auction and found nothing improper.

Adam Dicker's knowledge on the auction was no different from what any customer coming to our TDNAM site would have had.

To ensure customer confidence and to avoid any possible future questions of impropriety all GD employees are now and in the future prohibited from participating in TDNAM auctions, purchasing, sales & back orders."

Digg - GoDaddy VP Caught Bidding Against Customers

The Mouse is Dead

2008-06-25T14:21:00.001-04:00

Ok, maybe not yet but both Microsoft and Apple clearly see multi-touch input devices as the (dare I say near?) future of computer interfacing, with MS announcing that Windows 7 will be optimized for Microsoft Surface-like touch interfaces and Apple having many patents for similar multi-touch systems.

The Mouse Is Dead

"Lots of Bots" Wall-E Featurette

2008-06-25T14:07:00.001-04:00

I <3 Robots.

Ampbot Follows You Around, Delivers Music

2008-06-25T13:42:00.001-04:00

This little fella with Segway-style legs follows you around your house playing your MP3 player for you. I thought of something like this a while back. My concept ran along powered tracks on the ceiling and was more of a voice-activated input/output device for a PC. I'd snatch Ampbot this thing up in a jiff when it comes out this fall, if it weren't for the $745 price-tag. Shoot, I could just about build my bot for that much.

BotJunkie » Ampbot Follows You Around, Delivers Music

Shoot the Hell Out of People While Surfing the Interweb

2008-06-25T08:51:00.003-04:00

The Pan Tilt Airsoft Gun Mod is a kit you add to any standard Airsoft gun to make it remote-controlled by a computer. You can even attach a webcam to it for maximized shot-to-kill ratio.

Pan Tilt Airsoft Gun Mod - Hacked Gadgets - DIY Tech Blog

SENF Finds Credit Card Numbers, SSNs on Your PC

2008-06-25T06:35:00.001-04:00

Like most security tools, SENF (Sensitive Number Finder) seems very useful not only for those wishing to up the ante on their personal security and for security experts, but for hackers as well. From Lifehacker:

"Free, open source application Sensitive Number Finder (Senf) scans your hard drive for personally identifying data worth stealing, like Social Security and credit card numbers. The software points out these vulnerable digits so you can remove or encrypt them to keep your personal finances or identity safe."

SENF

Laptop 2600

2008-06-24T11:11:00.001-04:00

In my search for printable contact paper for designing my own laptop cover (which I never found... If you know where to find some PLEASE COMMENT!) I ran into this dude who used Con-Tact's Wood Grains contact paper to Atari-ize his laptop. Neat idea (and the controller is a nice touch, too!)

Jaybill.com » Blog Archive » Laptop 2600

NES Controller Car Engine Mod

2008-06-24T09:38:00.001-04:00

Not exactly tech, but definitely geek; This guy made his engine cover look like an NES controller. MAKE Blog notes, "Playing a game with this controller might be difficult if you are driving, although you'll be the popular one at the tailgate party."

Mods: NES Controller Car Engine Mod

Indie Video Game Designers Finally Catch a Break

2008-06-24T07:37:00.003-04:00

Here's a great article on how game console companies like Nintendo, Microsoft and even Sony are doing things to help independent game developers make their mark. I'm so glad I'm an applications developer and not a game developer. You guys have it pretty rough.

Indie video game designers break through - CNN.com

Making a class private to only your assembly

2008-06-23T08:01:00.001-04:00

Sometimes in .NET you'll want to make a class that is only accessible/exposed within your assembly. This happened to me, and for the life of me I couldn't remember how to get the thing to work, but it's actually quite simple:

In VB.Net:
Friend Class MyClass
...
End Class

In C#:
internal class Widget
{
...
}

Now, it's important to note that this will limit your class's accessibility to the assembly, but it will still be visible/accessible between namespaces within the same assembly. I'm not sure how to make a class only accessible to the namespace. If you do, how about you tell us in the comments!

HUMAN TETRIS!!!!

2008-06-20T15:12:00.002-04:00

I almost forgot our second installment of CRAZY HAPPY FUN POST!!!!!! For those of you who missed the first one, CRAZY HAPPY FUN POST!!!!!! brings you some of our favorite crazy, happy and/or fun things from Japan. This week, it's all about Human Tetris, which is one of the funniest things to ever exist. EVER!!!!!

The Search For ET (a.k.a: A Huge Waste of Money)

2008-06-20T14:36:00.001-04:00

I grew up near Kennedy Space Center, and actually worked out at NASA during my last two years of High School with the US FIRST Robotics competition. Those NASA guys are doing some great and important stuff so I'm among the first to defend this country's space program. However, there is a side of space exploration that I truly feel is such a monumental waste of time, money and just pure brain power, and that is the search for aliens.

I'm not saying this because I believe that there aren't other life forms out there (for the record: I believe there aren't), I simply think that if there are they are either not worth all the effort we put into finding them, they don't want to be found or they are perfectly capable of finding us without our help.

Let's first explore the ulterior to these three options which is of course that there is something (dare I say someone) out there worth finding. The most common and appealing reasoning for seeking life on other planets is that this life may be far more technologically advanced than ourselves. If this is the case, they will have a lot easier time finding us than we would ever have finding them - so just let them!

If they are not technologically capable enough to finding us, why bother looking for them? If they are technologically advanced but don't want us to find them, we probably should not want to bother them either!

There's always the argument, "Well, what if they're not technologically advanced but can provide something else wonderful for us humans... Like their piss can cure cancer or something." That could always be the case, but perhaps there's an unknown organism at the bottom of the ocean whose piss can cure cancer, and we know far less about that environment than our immediate universe. Furthermore, wouldn't it make more sense to spend our time, money and brains actually looking for the cures to our problems than looking around for someone who might not even be worth finding if they even exist at all?

It's ridiculous some of the things we blow millions on trying to find these alien forms that we have no reason to think exist (other than the occasional hoax or nut-job that says they saw an alien.) Take for example SETI. Their whole thing is sending out a message into space. Since the electromagnetic spectrum is far too large to send out this message on every frequency someone out there might pick up, SETI just sends out the message at 1420 MHz - 1660 MHz (mostly just at 1420 MHz, really.) The EMS goes from 0Hz to infinity EHz! That's... (twelve times infinity... carry the one...) an indefinite spectrum that our alien friends could be monitoring. Silly.

Ok, I've wasted enough breath on this. It's going to be funny when this Stan Romanek video turns out being real. I for one would welcome our new alien overlords.

Programmable Guitar Effects Pedal

2008-06-19T18:15:00.001-04:00

I've always thought it would be awesome to have an effects pedal that you can program yourself. Oh look, here's one!

"The OpenStomp^TM Coyote-1 is an open source audio effects processor built for guitar players. With the Coyote-1 users can develop custom audio effects in software (like distortion, echo, chorus etc.), mix multiple effects to build "patches", and exchange those effects and patches with the OpenStomp^TM community. "

OpenStomp(TM) Home

You may or may not have already noticed the latest update I've made to this blog's template. As I stated earlier, I've grown so tired of the crappy articles that make Digg's front page that I decided to remove the "Digg It" widget from my blog (the one on the right of this post is just an image.)

However, I have not sworn off Social Bookmarking altogether, and I want it make it easy for you social bookmarkers out there to tell people about my blog! So, I've added a new feature, the ShareThis icon you see at the bottom of every post. From here you can not only add the article you're reading to Digg, but to Reddit, Facebook, del.icio.us, Technorati and about 20 other social bookmarking sites as well as post it to Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter, etc. or email/txt it to a friend. Enjoy and USE PROFUSELY!

Code Execution Vulnerability Found in Firefox 3.0... Already!

2008-06-19T10:15:00.001-04:00

It looks lie IE isn't the only one sporting major vulnerabilities these days:

"Just hours after the official release of the latest refresh of Mozilla’s flagship browser, an unnamed researcher has sold a critical code execution vulnerability that puts millions of Firefox3.0 users at risk of PC takeover attacks."

Code execution vulnerability found in Firefox 3.0 | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

Build Your Own Vacuum Form Machine

2008-06-18T06:30:00.001-04:00

This detailed guide complete with images, build/circuitry diagrams, and links to manufacturers explicates how to build your own "Vac-U-Form" machine. If you're not familiar with this, it's basically a device that lets you turn out a hard-shell plastic replica of about any 3D object. So you could, for example, build a prototype out of wood or foam and Vac-U-Form a plastic copy of it like the ones shown in the image to the right.

www.TK560.com: Vacuform Table IV