September 2011

Sorted stars: The Art of Clean Up #

Hot: For Burning Man, an Airstream Done Up in Moorish Splendor (check out the slideshow) #

Rad visualization from Kiva: Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance #

Can’t say I’m a fan of “Ubuntu Unity”, and this post kinda demonstrates why: 20+ Things To Tweak/Fix After Installing Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal #

Was in the process of setting up my new Lenovo X220 (with premium IPS screen) when I started to notice “image permanence” issues. Turns out I am not the only one. Google lenovo x220 ghosting for more. Bummer.

Lenovo’s response so far: instead of using your computer, just run a screensaver 100% of the time…

Update: sent my laptop in to have the screen replaced, got the laptop back with a much, much better screen with no noticeable image permanence. Phew. #

“3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage…” EAT, LEARN, MOVE #

Thanks to Glenn, I don’t feel bad calling myself a software engineer: Craft, Engineering, and the Essence of Programming #

My brother and his wife Beth (and their cat Calvin) are ok, but they voluntarily evacuated themselves from their house in Bastrop last night (and stayed with us in Austin) due to the immense wildfire there #

Keith Tantlinger, Builder of Cargo Container, Dies at 92 (via Andre)

The crucial refinements he made — including a corner mechanism that locks containers together — allowed them to be hefted by crane, stacked high in ships and transferred from shipboard to trucks and trains far more easily, and cheaply, than ever before.

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File under “sounds like The Onion”: World Must ‘Get House in Order,’ Not Rely on China: Wen #

Three guys got into an elevator with us at the Sands Regency Casino in Reno on Thursday night talking about a plane (by name) and whether it would be ready to fly. Today I learn that a WWII-era P-51 Mustang crashed into the crowd at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show yesterday “killing at least two people, including the pilot, and maiming dozens of spectators”. Horrifying. #

Photo of the day: Keep ’em under 88mph (see also: Me and the DeLorean) #

Ouch, that hurts:

Elaine Donnelly, a longtime opponent of allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces, has already said that “as of Tuesday the commander in chief will own the San Francisco military he has created.”

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There you have it: Bastrop fire’s apparent cause: trees hitting power lines #

What an uplifting article: Fighting Cervical Cancer With Vinegar and Ingenuity #

Beautiful and useless (and wish I had thought of it first): qrtime.com #

So glad I’m with Schwab (which actually refunds all ATM “convenience” charges):

Bank of America is the latest bank to say it will begin charging a monthly fee for checking accounts that use debit cards. Starting early next year, the bank will charge $5 a month, in any month that the customer uses a debit card to make a purchase. (If customers have a debit card, but don’t use it, they won’t incur the fee.) The fee won’t apply to A.T.M. transactions, and it won’t be charged to customers with certain premium accounts.

Ouch.

Update, November 1, 2011: Wow, that was quick: Bank of America backs off debit card fee after consumer backlash

“This is a victory for consumers who are voting with their feet,” said Ed Mierzwinski, head of the consumer program at U.S. PIRG. “For the first time, a bank fee has bitten the bank.”

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Neat: Painting with gravity #