I haven't posted a journal here in almost three years, because I couldn't find the button to start a new entry. ...yeah, it turns out that it's at the bottom of the page.

So... hi, Slashdot. I used to be really active here, but now I mostly lurk and read. I've missed you.

Hey! I am a finalist in the National Science Foundation's Visualization Challenge: Check it out and vote: Metabolomic Retina The full list of entries is here.

Every generation needs an intellectual hero... Ours was Steven P. Jobs

New JonesBlog update. STS-135 Landing photos and my visit to Kennedy Space Center

A Photographic Study of The Fly with anatomical details and discussion of potential applications in unmanned aerial vehicles here.

New JonesBlog update. Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy

New JonesBlog update. Louisville, Kentucky

We are starting out on a new collaboration on retinal research. Fun stuff.

Jonesblog has finally made the transition to modern underpinnings. It is now running on Wordpress... Huzzah.

New JonesBlog update. Experiments
 

So, we entered our den and settled down. I got down to soldering the bug, while Mike sat in front of the computer and pressed the Power button.
"Gonna transfer the cash to high-percentage account, so by the time we return it, we'll have a neat bonus for us." he said, as BIOS messages scrolled by.
"Just don't freeze it somewhere. Don't be too greedy."
"No sweat. I know my job." he said and began typing his truecrypt password.
Monotonous clicking of keys reminded me I'm hungry. "Mike, let's order a pizza."
"Fine." he continued typing, as third line of asterisks appeared on the screen.
"What flavor?"
"Same as always, Ham and Pineapple."
"Got it." I dialed the pizza place and placed my order, watching Mike press enter after finishing fifth line of asterisks. Wrong password.
"Damn it, I made a typo!"
"Look, Mike. Why do you think a password this long will stop anyone from accessing your data? If they want your data, they will put a gun against your head and demand you enter the password!"
"HA! That's why it's so long and complicated! You see, recreating it is a complex mnemetic exercise. Something so insignificant as asking about a pizza made me lose my focus and make a mistake. There is NO CHANCE IN HELL that I could ever type this password correctly with a gun against my head!"

Specifically, connect up accelerator to brakes pedal, while making the brakes switchable on with the right position of ignition.

That's how the new Ubuntu UI feels like. The idiots killed the "menu" button and moved all the other window buttons to the right side.

Just to make transition from Windows easier for new users, for sure.

Luckily: gconf-editor; apps -> metacity ->general; button_layout: menu:maximize,minimize,close

the fix works instantenously.
still, retards.

I had checked out... The environment was so complete that for a discrete moment I had completely forgotten that we were still in the continental United States. Perhaps it was the smell of kebabs cooking or the sound of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan playing from the electronics shop that also sold pirated Western DVDs or the afternoon call to prayer coming from the tops of the minarets in the local mosque. It could have been the women selling bread, fruits or flowers by the side of the road or the Arabic men playing backgammon in the cafe with shisha pipes. Toyota trucks or bicycles being repaired in the roadside repair shops under Iraqi flags added to the realism along with a tangle of wires on poles carrying telephone and electricity around town with satellite dishes for television on rooftops were added elements. But the thing that completed it was the sound of Baghdadi Arabic from a gentleman greeting us as we drove through town.

Read all about it here. Medina Wasl with the 3rd Special Forces Group

New JonesBlog update. Sundance New Frontier 2010 and a Banksy sighting

I ran up to Park City for the Sundance Festival and to photograph an art installation, the Cloud Mirror by Eric Gradman. The point of the Cloud Mirror is to search out information on the Internet about visitors and merge that information with a real time image of the person on an LCD screen in front of them using computer vision to augment reality. You see yourself reflected back live, in person on the LCD screen in front of you with a thought bubble out of a comic book superimposed next to your head displaying all sorts of information that can be dug up through the Internet. The Cloud Mirror searches Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, IMDB, sex offenders databases and displays activities, relationship status, your favorite movies, books, music, any status updates you post etc...etc...etc... along with snarky comments.

I flew down to Las Vegas to do some work that I'll talk about here later. But while I was in town, I took two days to document Media Day and Shot Show 2010 for a number of sources including Wired, The Firearm Blog and other resources. There was some interesting new technology including a new pistol from Armatix that uses RF signals to disable the sidearm if it is too far from the wristwatch the accompanies it. Also new ballistics computers that are mounted on rifles are discussed.

New JonesBlog update(s). Shot Show 2010 Media Day

Shot Show 2010. The Actual Shot Show

and a little after party. AAC Big Bang Party

I have this bottle of isopropyl alcohol sitting in front of me. $5 for about a liter. It tempts me.

I went on the net to find its toxicity data. And... ...God the misconceptions.

1) Isopropanol is not wood alcohol. Methanol is. This is an entirely different substance.
2) Isopropanol doesn't kill in 15g dose. First symptoms of intoxication may appear then.
3) Ethanol is not the only alcohol we can metabolize. We can perfectly well metabolize Glycerin and it is pretty much neutral, goes without effects - it is used as sweetener for high-quality vodkas instead of sugar.
4) Isopropanol produces acetone in your liver. OMG THIS WILL KILL YOU! So does Ethanol.

It seems it is slightly stronger than ethanol but pretty much the same in effects. What I am afraid is that it might be denaturated and contain 3rd party poison additives. *shrug* gonna try some some day maybe...