Blorwag - We're Bloggin' Straight Outta ORWA2010-09-05T04:44:48ZOregashintoniansCopyright 2010, OregashintoniansSPHPBLOGTunisia 'Star Wars' set now desert homes and tourist attraction
The driver stopped the car at the top of the hill and stepped out for a cigarette, turning up the "Aicha" volume. The guide said: "Prepare yourself for the ultimate Star Wars experience — we are going to see the real movie location!"
Yeah, yeah, I thought, some more sand and a rustic lunar landscape.
The driver started the engine and the roaring car slid down the valley, leaving sandy fog behind.
What seemed to be just another pile of desert rocks, gradually, as we approached, took the shape of the rockets, satellites and spheres of the 1976 "Star Wars'" production, the real-life science fiction amid the ancient desert.
Link ]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070710-1149362007-07-10T00:00:00Z2007-07-10T00:00:00ZOnion's take on consumerismYo, check it:
"Five a.m. is when the facility is most vulnerable to attack, when the morning shift security personnel replace the overnight crew," said Adib Dhakwan, the cell's second-in-command. "Unfortunately, Starbucks doesn't open until six, and I don't know about you, but if I don't have that first cup of coffee, forget it."
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But all these extra things—where do the Americans put them? How many times will you use a taco-shell holder? 'Oh, I really need this silverware-drawer sorter or I will have fits.' Shut up, stupid American."
]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070618-1811322007-06-19T00:00:00Z2007-06-19T00:00:00ZWhat (15 families in) the World EatsPizza and Coke?]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070607-1338082007-06-07T00:00:00Z2007-06-07T00:00:00ZFIC-in awesome!Wow FIC has come out with this sweet Linux phone. Drool.... I love it. I'm way more excited about the future of this than the iPhone. ]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070607-0942112007-06-07T00:00:00Z2007-06-07T00:00:00Z1.5W CPU?Intel is pimp. I hope this does wonders for their stock price.
Maloney also talked about Intel's upcoming 45nm processors, and in particular the new Silverthorne core, one that will likely be featured in upcoming UMPC's as it is an extremely low power part, likely around 1.5W.
He also brought in ASUS's CEO to introduce
a new and surprisingly inexpensive laptop that is designed to spread the internet and computing to less affluent regions of the world. Shih announced that the Eee PC will have two models, one priced at $199 and the other at $299. Shih revealed some specifications of the Eee PC as well, noting that it had 512MB of memory, was running Linux, and that it was designed to be an easy way for the rest of the world to get connected to the internet.
I say this is any easy way for ME to get connected to the net. I'd love this cheap mini lappy. That looks sweet.]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070607-0934322007-06-07T00:00:00Z2007-06-07T00:00:00ZIP changing The router does not seem to reliably reserve an address for use by a specific computer in the DHCP service so I setup the Ubuntu machine with a static IP (x.x.x.3) outside of the DHCP range (x.x.x.4 to x.x.x.100). Then the web traffic is routed to x.x.x.3 by our router.
However when it appears the website is down, I run "ifconfig" to see if there are any problems with the interface and I find that the IP has changed to an address in the DHCP range. For instance last time it said "inet x.x.x.7".
To fix this I open the networking GUI and find that it says I am on my fixed address x.x.x.3. So to get this setting to take effect I disable the ethernet adapter in the GUI and then enable it again. When I go back to "ifconfig" it says my address is now x.x.x.3 again.
What the heck!?!? Why does it keep changing? Is there someplace ELSE where I need to disable DHCP or hard wire the IP address.]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070607-0921572007-06-07T00:00:00Z2007-06-07T00:00:00ZHuge Heat Sinks Wow, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it on the internet... Famous last words?
They look like they should be in a motorcycle or car, not strapped onto your CPU or GPU... Wow. That is cool in a non-sustainable power wasting kind of way.]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070607-0920352007-06-07T00:00:00Z2007-06-07T00:00:00Ztake a sec and vote for "Nathan Martz" http://www.autodesk.com/masters
Nathan Martz is a friend of mine from college going for some CG industry award thingy. Voting is open until June 3. Thanks in advance & pass it on peeps! ]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070523-1445412007-05-23T00:00:00Z2007-05-23T00:00:00ZHybrid Solar HouseHybrid Solar House has been designed and built by Enertia Building Systems for a few decades now. It is pretty sweet technology and the houses are nice to look at too!
Enertia® is a new technology for building houses so that they heat and cool themselves. This is achieved from the design, the orientation, and the materials of the home, rather than a furnace, heat pump, or air-conditioner. Three basic, millions-of-year-old principles of nature, combined with state-of-the-art windows, radiant coatings, and prefab manufacture, make it possible, and practical. The principles are inertia, thermal currents, and the energy capacity of wood.
What I find interesting is that they use solid wood walls (southern yellow pine) which have a great heat storage capacity with the resins in the wood.
When heated the resins turn from crystal to liquid. This state change uses a lot of engery (just like converting ice to liquid water). But this state change happens at around 70 degrees instead of 32 degrees. So you have this massive structure of the house that really wants to remain at 70 degrees. The daytime heating and night cooling keep the house in equilibrium.
These house plans also call for the use of a basement which surrounds that part of the house with another constant year round temperature of about 50 degrees. This provides a source of cool air in the summer and a source of heat in the winter. The outer shell of the house allows air to circulate from below ground up to the attic which keeps the temperature constant throughout the house.
Looks like you could get a 2100 square foot kit for $64,400 (pre cut solid wood pieces). You would then need to buy doors, foundation, windows, and other items. They said you should expect to pay 3 to 4 times that number for the total cost of building the house. That means this model would be $193,000 to $257,000 to build ($89 to $119 per sq ft).
Pretty sweet when you figure you would not have to the house much. Our annual heating gas costs in Seattle for a 1800 square foot house is about $500. Spread that out over a 30 year loan and that saves you $15,000. But when you look at homes, they often last 100 years or more so the long run energy and cost savings would be huge!]]>http://james.harrisnotes.com/blorwag/index.php?entry=entry070518-0805022007-05-18T00:00:00Z2007-05-18T00:00:00ZGerman Love StudyGerman Love Study: No Sex Leads To Less Sex, Research Shows - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
This is the best part
"On the other hand, people who have sex at least twice a week don't want to work. "
He also brought in ASUS's CEO to introduce 