Someone wanted a program to toggle the Caps Lock key on Windows. Here you go! Each time it’s run it just changes the state of the Caps Lock key.
Author Archives: Dustin - Page 2
Placebos, dude
Posted by Dustin
on March 7, 2011
No comments
- Ben Goldacre shares some amazing studies about the placebo effect in stand-up comic format in this video.
- Daniel Keogh talks some more about placebos.
- HDL cholesterol makes you live longer.
- This is what it’s like to spend nearly thirty years in prison for something you didn’t do.
- Infographic of the day:
Tip for asking questions on StackOverflow (or anywhere else).
Posted by Dustin
on March 6, 2011
No comments
Don’t say “urgent”, “deadline”, “QUICK”.
These are just people answering questions because they like to share knowledge. Saying you need an answer quick sounds ungrateful, and doesn’t speed up getting an answer, and probably reduces your chances of getting a speedy answer.
The person who is going to give you the answer you need isn’t going to answer your question more quickly. He’ll answer it when he sees your question.
How long does it take to play the Half-Life series?
Posted by Dustin
on March 5, 2011
2 comments
I recently played all the way through the following games on the hardest difficulty. Following each title in parentheses is how many hours it took to complete the game.
| Total playtime | 65.9 |
|---|---|
| Half-Life | 33.8 hours |
| Half-Life: Opposing Force | 8.2 hours |
| Half-Life: Blue Shift | 3.6 hours |
| Half-Life 2 | 11.6 hours |
| Half-Life 2: Episode One | 3.8 hours |
| Half-Life 2: Episode Two | 4.9 hours |
I have played through all the games before, but it’s been years. I didn’t rush through any of the games. I didn’t look in every nook and cranny of each level, but things that were interesting, I investigated.
I must say, the whole Half-Life series is a blast to play. I am, however, disappointed at how much shorter Half-Life 2 was then Half-Life 1.
No wires for your monitor
Posted by Dustin
on March 1, 2011
No comments
Sure, it’s not ready for prime time yet, but I’m sure this will be available sooner than later.
From Engadget:
Well, Fujitsu’s taken it one step further here at CeBIT this week, throwing together what it claims to be the world’s first totally wireless desktop display — no video, no power. The imagery is handled via wireless USB and can connect to any appropriately-equipped PC, while the juice is sucked in using a newly-minted proposed standard for wireless power delivery called SUPA
Our alien benefactors
Posted by Dustin
on February 25, 2011
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Ten years ago a powerful alien race appeared in the skies above humanity’s major cities.
These aliens are so far in advance of our technical abilities that they have what seems to be magical powers. Remember Clarke’s third law: ”Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” These aliens, who call themselves the Oodat, claim to have experience all over the universe helping species like humans reach their full potential and in fact to reach a state of “perfection”. They’ve helped millions of species. If you accept them at their word, you have no reason to doubt that they know whats better for you than you yourself does.
To receive their aid, all you have to do is do what they say. Because of their unique history, they have many customs for you to follow. For example, they have a large digital archive full of advice and stories from their past that they require you to read from every day. They require you to gather together with other like-minded individuals and read from this archive together and listen to others expound upon what they think this archive means to you. The Oodat require you to hold them in…something even more than esteem and appreciation. Maybe the right word is reverence.
The most important part of the Oodat’s requirements is this: you must reject the any ideas that could possibly be construed as not agreeing with what they’ve taught you no matter what the outside evidence. Not only that, you must also reject any people who aren’t living up to the requirements the Oodat have set out for you.
After awhile, it becomes apparent that many people who follow the Oodat actually are happier. Of course, it isn’t possible to know whether they are actually on the way to perfection, but the evidence for some people is that their lives are better.
On the flip side, some people actually seem to be worse off. There are conflicts on the edges between people who follow the Oodat and those who don’t. Even people who are happier under the Oodat’s tutelage lie, murder, and steal just like other humans.
Would you follow the Oodat?
Say you knew that the Oodat were legit, and actually had raised people of many species to “perfection”. Would you follow them?
What if you realized that your idea of perfection wasn’t the same as the next person contemplating following the Oodat?
What if you realized that the Oodat’s idea of perfection was different from your own?
Traildown is the new atd (aka, I’m slowly working on a new trailer downloader)
Posted by Dustin
on February 22, 2011
2 comments
Image via Wikipedia
The old atd was more limited than I wished and when Apple made changes on their end that caused it to break, I just didn’t have the heart to fix it. I’ve recently picked up work on a new trailer downloader that I’m calling traildown (lowercase t because I’m crazy like that).
Traildown will fetch trailers from Apple and Yahoo. Even if it doesn’t implement an exact replication of each feature of atd, I hope you’ll be able to do everything you could with atd and more!
I’m writing this project in Java instead of Python. This isn’t because I think Java is better than Python, but because I’m currently learning Java and needed a project to work on.
You can find the source on github.
Reality isn’t what we think it is
Posted by Dustin
on February 21, 2011
No comments
…our brains are not objective perceivers of reality. Not even close. What we perceive as reality is constructed in an active process that is rife with assumptions and flaws. Everything you take for granted about what you experience as yourself and the outside world is actively constructed by specific brain processes.
I love this quote. It so succinctly describes the reason most people are so wrong about so much.
Android Application Development for Dummies
Posted by Dustin
on February 20, 2011
7 comments
I’ve been working through the book Android Application Development for Dummies and noticed 
a little problem on page 182, paragraph 3 where it states:
At this point, you can install the Silent Mode Toggle application, long-press the home screen, and choose the Widgets category; now you should see the Silent Mode Toggle present.
The problem is that this isn’t true. It’s not till the next page where you edit the AndroidManifest.xml file will you be able to see the widget.
Hopefully, this helps anyone getting frustrated trying to get the widget to show up!
On a related note, the author, Donn Felker, has been very responsive to emails about this issue. He even offered to take the time to go through the code I’d already written. I’ll definitely be looking for other books by him because of this. Thanks Donn!
Soundswitch source on Github
Posted by Dustin
on February 15, 2011
No comments
If anyone is interested in hacking on the Soundswitch source, you can find it on GitHub. Be sure to submit a pull request back to me if you make any changes!