As I may have mentioned before, for our Christmas gift to each other Debbie and I bought a new Samsung LCD/LED TV. It’s got a lot of bells and whistles, including built-in WiFi and that great edge-to-edge picture that makes it look like movies are literally coming out of the woodwork. And it’s also got… Continue reading 3D TV might be 1D too many
Category: Technology
QRazy Codes vs Tags
Attentive Gazette readers understand that I’m fascinated by QR codes, those little boxes filled with random tiny squares that lead to a website when scanned on a smartphone. They’re becoming ubiquitous in printed material, and yet I continue to find surprising implementations. Like this one, which I found embedded in a story in Cycle World… Continue reading QRazy Codes vs Tags
TiGr Bike Lock
Update (2/2012): The Tigr Lock website has launched and the locks are now available for purchase. They’re not inexpensive, but they’re also not cheap, if you know what I mean. I took delivery of a new bike lock yesterday. I realize that sounds like dull news, or no news at all, but it’s actually quite… Continue reading TiGr Bike Lock
Installing a BHP
Big Honkin’ Plotter, that is. Or, to be less dramatic and more boring, an HP T-1300 Designjet large format plotter. Yep, that’s what I [almost] singlehandedly assembled and put into operation at the office yesterday, in fulfillment of my loosely-defined IT responsibilities. It was actually ridiculously easy, despite having 94 discrete steps in the instruction… Continue reading Installing a BHP
Hardware Guy
While the greater part of my new job involves GIS, I’m also the IT contact for the Midland office. Our IT department is centralized in Denver, and the regional offices don’t have IT professionals to handle computer-related tasks. Apparently, because I had worked previously in a technocentric field, they thought I would be the right… Continue reading Hardware Guy
Customizing QR Codes
So, what’s this? Being the perceptive reader I know you to be, you instantly recognize this as a QR Code…sort of. Go ahead – use your smartphone scanner and see if it works for you (you should end up at a Louis Vuitton website, for better or for worse). If your scanner app won’t read… Continue reading Customizing QR Codes
I, Cartographer
Two months ago, I couldn’t spell “cartographer,” and now I am [on my way to becoming] one. As a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist, my duties include generating and editing maps, and I’ve found the learning curve to be challenging. There are actually two different challenges. One involves learning the systems we use for mapping. Most of our… Continue reading I, Cartographer
Road Warrior Gear
I don’t travel much on business, or conduct much business when I travel, but when I do, I have a handful of accessories that I always pack to make the trip more efficient. In addition to the usual electronics (e.g. notebook computer and iPad and associated cables and chargers), here’s what I bring: eBags backpack:… Continue reading Road Warrior Gear
The photographer’s equivalent of “Hey, watch this!”
Ever heard of the “Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK)”? If you have, I bow before your superior geekiness. I had never heard of it until I decided to research how I might be able to use my Canon PowerShot S95 to shoot in time-lapse mode. Out of the box, this otherwise highly competent point-and-shoot (P&S)… Continue reading The photographer’s equivalent of “Hey, watch this!”
Rocking the Boat
Twisted Sifter’s Friday Shirk Report is a guilty pleasure, a weekly compilation of 20 amusing (usually) images, 10 fascinating (usually) articles, and 5 interesting (usually) videos. The following caught my eye in this week’s report. I’ve never spent much time considering how new ships are launched, beyond the traditional smashing of the champagne bottle against… Continue reading Rocking the Boat