rant

We send email:

Officer, when a citizen offers you a “Good Morning” even as he knows he is about to cited for a traffic violation, would it hurt to reply with something other than a request for a license and registration?

And when you render the citation, is it that difficult to actually inform the citizen what they were cited for? I realize public safety is a thankless job, but I would hope that when you meet members of the public who are not a challenge to deal with, you might acknowledge that.

Ouch. That’s gonna run me $101.

anyone tried this?

Maps Help:

What is the click to call feature on Google Maps?

We’re testing a new feature, click to call, on Google Maps. Click to call gives you a fast and easy way to speak directly with businesses found on our maps.

I noticed this tonight when I was setting up an appointment on my Google Calendar (I feel like a wholly-owned subsidiary of GOOG some days). Apparently, you can “click to call” and Google will take your phone number and initiate a call from the number you want to be connected to.

Do we even need phone numbers anymore? Is computational power and networking so cheap we need remember nothing?

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. When we enquire into any subject, the first thing we have to do is to know what books have treated of it. This leads us to look at catalogues, and at the backs of books in libraries.”

Could Dr Johnson have anticipated the internets and search engines?

I built the MAKE magazine $5 amp project




MAKE magazine $5 amp project

Originally uploaded by paulbeard.

Took me a good deal more than $5, even with some donated parts, and it look way more than an afternoon. But I learned a lot in the process, and I get a toy out of the deal. Can’t beat that.

It sounds surprisingly good for something driven by a $1.50 amp chip, and with the design incorporating a master volume and a gain control, you can get a pretty robust sound without annoying anyone. You can annoy quite a few people, and I suspect with 2 9v batteries (the circuit can be driven at 18v) it would really hum.

I have bunch more cigar boxes as well, so I may make a couple more of these, perhaps for eBay or etsy.

links for 2007-03-27

cameras as art?




oblique view

Originally uploaded by paulbeard.

I just got an email today: this camera will be on display at a show in Pittsburgh, from April through June.

This exhibition takes place in association with the Society for Contemporary Craft and will be held in their satellite gallery space. This space is a ‘walk-by’ gallery -visitors are unable to enter the gallery, but view the shallow space through floor-ceiling glass walls- passed on foot by hundreds of commuters daily on their way to catch the ‘T’ -Pittsburgh’s miniature version of a subway/light rail system.

If you can get there, it should be interesting — not for this camera — I’m sure there will be lots of great stuff to see.