Patent idea #1

I want to be able hum at my computer and have it return the song in my music collection which most closely matches.

Chris calls it "Hum Search". I think it's not a bad name.

The Unix Legacy

Just read The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Unix Legacy by Rob Pike. Great read.

The Hunt

Blink blink.

Dewy grass clutches hidden easter egg
and half chewed puree apple.
The bold red of the Shiraz is disembodied
against this overcast sky.

Gum boot kids feign sprinter postures
and we shout..
"Ready...
Setty...
Goooooo!"
Tiny water drops alight fly-away
blonde hair as they race down hill.
"Comeon girls, beat the boooys!"

So they scurry in their little bodies,
plodding short stepped curves,
legs moving fast to keep upright,
bumping into each other in their excitement.
Nappy bottoms crouch and small hands grab at grass.
Whole tufts are brought up with pink and blue,
green and glittering gold.

She returns first, panting and proudly
showing us her tiny, shivering outstretched fingers.
Her colourful foil prizes!
Her pale blue eyes.

Our laughter rattles the window panes.
The fog swirls in the valley below us.
You smile.

Blink blink.

Flash advertising with sound on smh.com.au?!

My God!

This is so annoying. smh.com.au has started using a flash ad which plays an intrusive "glass breaking" sound.

The shockwave file is played in a loop, so you could be busy trying to concentrate on a Java implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm listening to some soothing music by Nick Drake, with a smh page open in a Firefox tab somewhere and you'd be constantly bombarded by a low quality sound byte of shattering glass. What the hell? Are these guys serious?

My God - it drives me mad. Who decided it would be a great idea to draw people's attention to some advertising by placing sound in a flash ad? Who do they think they are - a GeoCities site circa 1997?

This is the offending flash file in question. Thank god for ad blocking Firefox extensions.

Dearth of Music?

No! That's no typo!

Interesting critique of RIAA strong-arming from an ex record store owner.

the sound of curl

imagine the curl of a flower
and the way its brief shadow strikes
at its feet.