The hosting company provides electricity, cooling, physical security, and some minimal "remote hands" service if you need someone to press a button or look at your blinkenlights. But ask not for whom the pager beeps — for sysadmin, it beeps for thee.

Intel® 82579 Gigabit Ethernet Controller

I call this technology Pictures Under Glass. Pictures Under Glass sacrifice all the tactile richness of working with our hands, offering instead a hokey visual facade.

The wavefunction is a real physical object after all, say researchers.

*Sooo* much snark in this recipe.

TL;DR : it's Hard(TM)

sync ; sudo echo 3 | sudo tee /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

If you like Black Triangles, you may be a Backend Engineer.

if google reader goes further down the drain, try this

Over time, I developed the scripts more and more. As they got better, they saved me more time, which I used to continue improving them. Eventually my team started benefiting from my scripts enough...

It looked simple enough at first, just cut a hole in cake dough, then cut it in half and bend it a little – voila done! But then I started thinking and soon realised you can’t just bend a cake. The cake dough is not a bendy material; it is actually very brittle and sensitive and not cooperative at all! And what would happen tho the fill if the layers were vertical and not horizontal and how the heck do you cut a cake like that? Nope, the layers have to be horizontal. And there was my first big problem – the cake layers were not simple shapes anymore.

Hugh Pickens writes "NPR reports that not so long ago, the prospect of a debt-free U.S. was seen as a real possibility with the potential to upset the global financial system. As recently as 2000, the U.S. was running a budget surplus, taking in more than it was spending every year — and economists were projecting that the entire national debt could be paid off by 2012. So the government commissioned a secret report outlining the possible harmful consequences of retiring the debt completely. For one thing, paying off the national debt would mean the end of Treasury bonds, a pillar of the global economy. Treasury securities are crucially important to the world financial system in a number of ways: banks buy them as low-risk assets, the Fed uses them for executing monetary policy, and mortgage interest rates vary based on Treasury rates. 'It was a huge issue ... for not just the U.S. economy, but the global economy,' says Diane Lim Rogers, an economist in the Clinton administration. In the end, Jason Seligman, the economist who wrote most of the report titled 'Life After Debt (PDF),' concluded it was a good idea to pay down the debt — but not to pay it off entirely. 'There's such a thing as too much debt,' says Seligman. 'But also such a thing, perhaps, as too little.'"


Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Remember the kerning game? The same folks have built a letter shaping game where you can play at being a type designer. I found this to be a bit more difficult than kerning.
Tags: design   typography   video games

This totally awesome TARDIS teapot was designed by Etsy user Rebekka Ferbrache. The teapot was initially made as a special request, but Rebekka is now offering it up as a made-to-order item.
This functional stoneware teapot is made entirely from scratch – no molds or pre-made components are used. Like my Tardis Banks, the Tardis Teapot is made from many pieces, which I cut with precision from thinly rolled-out slabs.
The handle and spout are added after the main body of the teapot is built. I love the curvy-style spout – so much more British, don’t you think? The handle is solid and substantial. The weight of the teapot is not too heavy, but this is not a dainty piece of dishware!
But Rebekka, you forgot to mention the most important part: Is it bigger in the inside? :)

[Tardis Teapot]
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Software updates will come automatically via the web, and motivated users can perform analytics on their own energy consumption, perhaps learning ways to cut costs without much sacrifice.

Fadell got the idea for Nest Labs when he was building a green home in Tahoe. A long-time aficionado of architecture, he threw himself into the details of house design. His domicile would be as gorgeous as the products he worked on at Apple, endowed with the same love of detail. When it came to HVAC — the industry acronym for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning — he worked with architects to drill sophisticated geothermal wells to regulate temperature. Everything was looking great. And then the architects presented him with the options for the thermostats that would adorn the walls of his perfect home.

They sucked.

“What was wrong with them?” he now says. “They were ugly. They were confusing. They were incredibly expensive. They didn’t have half the features you would expect for a modern thing. None of them were connected, so they didn’t talk to each other. I wasn’t able to remotely control them. In Tahoe, you want to be able check on the temperature of the house or turn it on before you get there. Because it’s really cold in the winter. I couldn’t do any of that, and I was like, Why is this?”

Scott Hanselman on Programming, User Experience, The Zen of Computers and Life in General

Here is how I prepared. Amazon people, take note. This will help you. I am dead serious.To prepare a presentation for Jeff, first make damn sure you know everything there is to know about the subject. Then write a prose narrative explaining the problem and solution(s). Write it exactly the way you would write it for a leading professor or industry expert on the subject.That is: assume he already knows everything about it. Assume he knows more than you do about it. Even if you have groundbreakingly original ideas in your material, just pretend it’s old hat for him. Write your prose in the succinct, direct, no-explanations way that you would write for a world-leading expert on the material.You’re almost done. The last step before you’re ready to present to him is this: Delete every third paragraph.Now you’re ready to present!

What Is Kinetic Energy?

You know our love for Pantone and every time they launch a new product we feel obliged to introduce it to you. These lovely two-toned glass Christmas ornaments were designed by Selab Studio for Italian design house Seletti. Coming in 10 different colors, each X-mas ball measures 8cm or 3.14″ in diameter. Perfect for your modern Christmas tree!(...) Read More about Pantone Christmas Ornaments (42 words)
© C* for Trendland: Fashion Blog & Trend Magazine | Permalink | No comment |

We've seen our share of homemade Portal turrets, even huggable ones. What we haven't seen, until today, is an official (and huggable) Portal turret that doesn't require crafting skills and a significant time investment. Enter ThinkGeek, which will exclusively offer its plushie Portal turret this December.

The adorable menace comes complete with a glowing red eye and motion detector, and will spout its trademark lines when someone (or an unsuspecting pet) saunters by. The turret even has context appropriate quotes when it is picked up or knocked over ("critical error," etc). The plushie goes on sale in mid-December. Interested test subjects can sign up for an email notification of its availability over at ThinkGeek.

Unlike real Aperture Science turrets, it appears the plush model only comes in one color.Official plush Portal turrets deploying this December originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So, ladies, is there any truth to this, or is your ideal dream a little different? :)

Deviantartist Linkitch inspired himself from Portal and M.C. Escher’s Relativity to create this awesome portal-esque mashup. Enjoy!

The first-generation Kindle e-reader was a revolutionary device, but it was far from pretty. Now the reasoning behind that ugly design has become a bit clearer: Jeff Bezos pushed his designers to replicate elements of his beloved BlackBerry, the New York Times reports.

Nicolas Berggruen is rich, handsome and homeless. And he'd like to save the world.

Sam Harris, neuroscientist and author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The Moral Landscape.

Our goal at Indeed is to help job seekers find the perfect job. For seven years, our focus has been providing the world’s best job search experience. Today we are excited to introduce Indeed Resume–fast, simple, free resume search.

We built Indeed Resume with the same goals as job search:

Indeed Resume is an open resume search engine. Search is free, requiring no membership or fees.
Job seekers come first. They have complete control over their privacy and contact information.
Indeed Resume is for everyone. Search is simple and intuitive, making it the right tool for both small employers and Fortune 500 recruiters.
Instant search and preview make common tasks extremely fast.

Employers can contact job seekers for free during beta.

Take Indeed Resume for a spin today at http://www.indeed.com/resume.

Here are a few searches to help get you started:

Looking for an Administrative Assistant or a CFO?
Does your ideal candidate come from Google or IBM?
Need someone with a Masters degree in New York?
Want to hire a Military veteran from Iraq or Afghanistan?

We are excited to provide a whole new way to help job seekers find the perfect job, and look forward to providing the world’s best resume search experience.

For more information, view the Indeed Resume press release.

And of course, post your resume on Indeed today.

I used to be a biochemist that worked in projects involving DNA repair, and the field of stem cells. There is one interesting theory about aging and cancer. As you read this: keep in mind that this is a theory that is supported by SOME scientific evidence (in terms of cells), but there is no clinical evidence behind it (in terms of people). I wrote this for interest only.

The main balance is between aging and cancer. Aging protects us from cancer, while staying "young" at older ages such as immortality predisposes you to cancer.

You get cancer not because telomeres get long, but due to the DNA damage you accumulate over the years. It has very little to do with telomeres. Telomeres are just one of many regulatory processes, not sure why media loved it so much.

Cancer seems to be the inevitable killer of all mammals. I don't see there being a one "cure for cancer". There definitely is a lot of promising research into some common deadly cancers that hit people at a young age. However, it seems as though the older we get, we get more susceptible to other less common cancers.

The theory goes like this:
Metabolism in all mammals is not 100% efficient. Oxygen is actually a very toxic chemical that produces free radicals, which can be very destructive. Same goes for sugar. When we break down sugar and use oxygen to generate energy (ATP), our cells inevitably generate free radicals, which is a waste/unwanted substance. The main defense mechanism against free radicals are antioxidants. If the cell lacks antioxidants (usually it does), these free radicals attack lipids, proteins, and more importantly, DNA. The cell tries to repair DNA, but the process is not perfect. Over the years, due to our own metabolism, we acquire cumulative DNA damage, and the longer we live, the more chances that some key proteins are mutated, and we get cancer. Apart from antioxidants, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, another mechanism exists to protect us from inevitable cancer: aging.

As we get older, and accumulate DNA damage, our stem cells sense this happening, and put limits on their own reproductive potential. They slow their own cell replication to move themselves as far back from cancer as possible (fast replication). As a result, our tissue does not turnover as fast, hence our skin gets wrinkled, our immune system weakens, etc... Whether we remain young and have a high risk of cancer, or age very fast and be protected from cancer is a balance intrinsic to each and every one of us. Dogs get cancers at a very early age because their metabolic rate is incredibly fast, and they develop DNA damage much faster. However, your lifestyle can edit that balance. If you have a healthy diet low in sugar, high in antioxidants, in theory you can reduce DNA damage, keeping your DNA looking younger, and reducing risk of cancer when you are older, and prevent aging at a young age. Other things you can do is a long topic of discussion, but generally eat less sugars, eat "healthy", have a low basal metabolic rate, avoid radiation exposure, have good DNA repair genes, and don't stress (cell stress response).

Edit: thanks for those that helped me format this...
Edit: A few things to keep in mind:

This is simply a scientific theory! It shouldn't impact you directly. What does make an impact is clinical evidence, which is simply "doing A reduces mortality in PEOPLE" (not cells). There is no clinical evidence behind what I said. I didn't mean to scare anyone, especially those with a high metabolic rate. Clinical evidence does support maintaining a healthy and active balanced lifestyle.

Please don't think i'm promoting buying antioxidant supplements and stuff. There is little CLNICAL evidence that they directly help - very controversial. Ask your doctor if you have questions.

Nothing wrong with drinking tea and coffee. However, adding sugar/cream/sweeteners is not a healthy option, I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

Now if you’re reasonably paranoid, you may ask: “What if two different objects compute the same SHA1 hash code? Won’t this happen someday?”

It turns out you’ll never generate two of the same SHA1 hashes. The chances are miniscule. There’s room for all kinds of flowery comparisons like: You’d have to generate more hash codes than the number of stars in the universe before you’d get two of the same!

But my favorite is from Pro Git: “A higher probability exists that every member of your programming team will be attacked and killed by wolves in unrelated incidents on the same night.”

15-year-old Swindon, UK-resident Chloe Holmes has become the youngest person in Europe to be fitted with a bionic hand.
After contracting chicken pox as a toddler, Chloe came down with septicemia, which claimed the young girl’s fingers. Her whole life she’s been wearing rubber hands which would cover up her lack of fingers, but were not very functional besides that.

[Via TechEblog]
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Facebook fan Joe Adams brought this awesomeness to our attention (thanks, Joe!)–it’s a life-sized mirrored replica of the TARDIS, and depending on the viewing angle, it can nearly disappear into its surroundings. Mark Wallinger, he creator of “Time and Relative Dimensions in Space 2001,″ the piece’s official title, says:
“I have always been interested in how we define and are defined by thresholds and boundaries, the events of history. The works in the exhibition use illusion, artifice and dislocating devices to look at our accidental time and place in the world afresh.”
Wallinger’s TARDIS was exhibited at The Hayward Gallery in February, 2009.
[Retronaut]
 
 
 
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