2004 - Page 19 of 39 - McGee's Musings

Listen to the sound of the Universe on your iPod

I’ve downloaded the mp3s, but they haven’t made it to my iPod quite yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Listen to the sound of the Universe on your iPod.

The New York Times had a great story about Dr. Mark Whittle, a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia who has taken the cosmic background radiation of the universe and made a series of sounds.

For the first 400,000 years, Dr. Whittle said, it sounds like a descending scream falling into a dull roar.

So of course the first thing we did was google him, find the site and turn the .WAV files in to MP3s for our iPods!

Right click / option click this link to download a zip file of the 13 sounds we also combined them all in to one MP3 which is in the zip as well.

If you d like to read more about Dr. Mark Whittle s work visit his site, there are a lot of presentations and information regarding Big Bang Acoustics.

[Engadget]

Google is your friend

Thanks again to Jenny for finding something to brighten my day.

“Google is your friend. All smart people use Google. You appear to not be one of them.” [via MetaFilter]

[The Shifted Librarian]

Installing mod_python

I have a feeling I’m going to need this before too long.

Installing mod_python. If you’ve been wondering (like me) how to run Python programs efficiently under Apache, here’s an article on installing mod_python. [Windley’s Enterprise Computing Weblog]

Maybe it’s time for a new backpack?

I may have to go buy myself a new laptop backpack. I’ve been thinking about it anyway and I’m always willing to support a subversive sense of humor. We need more wry thinkers regardless of their politics

Bihn Label. Do washing instruction tags on Tom Bihn bags carry a hidden message in French? [New Urban Legends]

A refreshing 404 Error Message

Thank you Jenny. Today it’s hot and humid instead of raining, but the walk to lunch was a nice break. Also, thanks for the pointer to the Neat Net Tricks blog.

Of Course, Right Now It’s Raining Outside.

A refreshing 404 Error Message [via Neat Net Tricks mailing list, which I just realized is now a blog with an accompanying RSS feed!]

[The Shifted Librarian]

Download the US Constitution for your iPod

Something to have handy while waiting to go through security screening at O’Hare.

Download the US Constitution for your iPod. An anonymous BoingBoing reader says, “The Constitution of the United States has just been released for the iPod. This is cool on several fronts, not the least of which is the fact that it was produced by the American Constitution Society, a progressive lawyer’s group associated with Mario Cuomo and Janet Reno. To my knowledge, this marks the first time a major DC policy group has attempted to use the iPod to accomplish its goals.” Link [Boing Boing]

Can adults learn?

Something to think about. No surprise, I’m sure, but I view the continued capacity to learn as the important factor here. Which generally depends on the capacity to not know and the capacity to be comfortable with not knowing.

I was lucky enough to go to schools that did not systematically crush and destroy that capacity. I guess that means I am still a kid. Fine by me.

One curious thing about being willing to not know. If you do succeed in getting conventional credentials that suggest that you have learned a lot, people assume that your claims of ignorance and not knowing are a strategy, not a simple claim of fact. They’re not.

[Seb’s Open Research]

Step away from the laptop

Another bit of fun from Dina. I’ve been engaged in this argument for almost as long as there have been personal computers, perhaps longer than that. In fact, I think I will follow this advice now and call it a night. There’s certainly no way I’m going to catch up with Scoble anyway.

Conversations !.

This is for all blog spouses – Judith sent me the link this morning – thanks J !

Do you find yourself in this situation ?

I do sometimes :):):).

[Conversations with Dina]

Corporate Blogging – Blogs as Paths in Open Spaces

This is a classic and largely familiar story of user center designed from the field of architecture. It had never occurred to me to make this very natural connection to blogs and blogging in the organization. Now that someone else has, however, I expect to use the analogy routinely (with all due credit recorded here).

Thank you, Dina.

Corporate Blogging – Blogs as Paths in Open Spaces.

One more way of looking at blogging in organisations …

“Blogging Paths in the Grass – Will Pate.

Jon Strande was blogging the other day about how Slonian corporate structures divorce employees from each other and customers. He told this litle story that sparked some thinking about one of my favorite subjects these days, organizational blogging.

An architect once designed a cluster of buildings. When asked by the landscape crew where to pave the sidewalks, he told them to plant grass between all the buildings, wait a year, then, after the occupants had worn the most useful paths, the architect told the landscape crew to pave the pathways that the occupants had created.

In an organization blogs can operate much the same way. They become open spaces where people can create their own path. Discussions emerge and the lines wear deeper into the solid ground, creating meaningful relationships built on common interests.”

[Conversations with Dina]