vigor of youth

If you are an engineer, or even if you aren't, you might find this inspiring. This 17 yr old has combined bits of information, no small amount of gumption, and a heroic consumption of stimulating beverages in order to bend the will of two large corporations - Apple and Att. His blog says it best. But I can't help echo. He documented and performed the first complete hardware unlock of the iPhone so that is can be used with any SIM on any network globally. It was entertaining, as an computer scientist and amateur hacker myself, to go over his steps and marvel at the hours of time it took to complete this task with no certain end. Admittedly, he was not alone. But no one put the pieces together before he did.

I remember well cracking open my own Playstation case with soldering iron in hand. At least I had a 15x15 glossy diagram showing me what to solder. But 8 molten globs of solder later I was the proud owner of a cracked machine that could play any game from any country. Which in no way compares to his monumental achievement. But I can identify with the glee of subverting the corporate will of protectionism.

In similar news of dissolution of corporate angst, Sony is releasing the walkman to DRM free music and evaporating the Sony music service. I'm not sure why one had to lead to the other. But I'm hopeful for the example this may serve. And also hopeful this puts Sony back in the black. I'm fearful their BluRay bid will be spoiled by their greed. This gives me hope that the pain of isolationism will infect other areas of the company thinking. Perhaps what they need is more of the unafraid vigor of youth.

crazy quaff

What is that growing on his head? Oh, that's just my latest attempt to make something for myself in Second Life. Boring hair, begone. So if you haven't heard, Second Life (SL) is a boom town. And the exciting bit is... you can make real money. This has a lot of people rushing to stake their claim and make a quick buck. SL is an online world with about 30,000 people on average playing simultaneously. With about 9 Million accounts they see 1 Mil US dollars spent there every 24 hours. Wow. I won't bore you with crazy stats, they are all up on their web site www.secondlife.com . So the cool twist is anyone can make anything and then they own it, set a price, and can sell it. The details get more complicated, but the mechanism is simple and everyone gets it. You can make dough online. And man does that put dollar signs in people's eyes. Even mine.

So I'm considering ideas about what kind of store to open myself. Ideas anyone? So far I'm thinking.. hair shop ( don't laugh too hard ), maybe sunglasses or hats, or maybe an all asian atire kimono shop. There is not a lot that hasn't all ready been done. So I'm trying to think of something original for which there will be demand. Anyway, it's just fun to make stuff..

Did I say that this was my idea too? I was working on technology 4 years ago to do this same kind of thing.. (big online world where people can make and share stuff). Maybe I should finish that instead of making hair. :P

take a trip

There may be a flying car in your future, if big business doesn't shoot it down. Moller International is slowly but surely nearing operational tests that will enable it to pass FAA regulations and enable users to take off and land at any airport. This amazing achievement is made possible in no small part by it's 8 Wankel rotary engines delivering 1700hp. Conceived in 1924, the rotatary design was used by Mazda but has yet to achieve wide spread use. It has fewer moving parts, lower vibration, and higher fuel effiency than conventional piston designs. Maybe my son will have one. There's a 500 acre plot in Canada I was eying for my futuristic utopian experiment in living. This would be the perfect vehicle for my tech savy inhabitants. Now I just need that billion dollar idea to fund it all...

in another life

Do you have another life? I do. It's where I do all the things I tell myself I should do - but lack the will to do - now. The wonderfully magnanimous, civilization improving, selfless acts that ignore such trivialities as personal pain or hardship in the interest of future humanity. 10 years ago, when filled with much more of this youthful elixir, I imagined a career in particle physics - particularly the lines of research that would lead to practical, clean, sustainable nuclear fusion. In my gut, I know it would change everything about the world now. I followed the work of scientists on the Tokamok and I was disheartened to see the UCSD program cancelled in 1998 from lack of progress. I know other international bodies continue to pursue this dream. But until I saw this video, I thought it very far away. Seeing this raises my conspirational hackles and I try hard not to look cynically at the forces which work to keep this dream a reality. It's a huge step, that this secret work of 11 years is now seeing the light of day in a scientific forum. I hope it's not like many other discoveries, that lay dormant for centuries before adventurous souls discover the hidden gem. And I wonder what I could do to help push this effort forward in some minuscule way?

guilty cravings

3 months in Japan and I was joning for a real American brownie. Monday is my day off and I jumped on the tiny rail going downtown to the only place I can get this guilty treat. The train lets out into a large underground shopping mall with a large variety of bakeries, chocolatiers, grocery store, and my favorite - the import store. It's a magical place were they always serve a little paper cup with strong coffee just the moment I need it - as I walk in. I've tried half of the 10 curry mixes they have available and I'm also back today for our favorite green curry mix. It's the closest to we've found to matching the authentic Thai that we craved. I was also on the prowl for spaghetti sauce, the food of life for a pasta lover like myself. They had a wonderful selection as well, and I found a large Italian brand familiar to me - but it was on the expensive side. And of course, the brownie mix. Good ol' Betty Crocker. Overpriced as well, and completely worth it!

My 4 yr old son helped me stir in the oil, water, and egg ( breaking the measure cup in the process. oh well ). We made half a recipe - because it's gold - and baked it for 45 minutes in our combination microwave/oven. Our tiny apartment soon filled with the sweet chocolatey smell of baking brownies and that alone was worth the trip. It was a little too late to let our son eat sugar, so he was off to bed. But I slipped on some sandles and made a late trip to the market across the street and bought some vanilla Hagendaas - the tiniest container you've ever seen. My wife and I served ourselves and her eyes got big when she saw the size of the piece I cut. I was past guilt and scooped a large dallop of ice cream on top ( almost half the container gone ). We both smiled. "Itaidakimas" It was a little slice of heaven :)

wandering the streets

So far we are having an "empty" rainy season, and today my son was with his grandparents, so I jumped on the chance for a private walk on this sunny, humid Sunday. I took a walk to down town Shin Shimizu; the friendly little port side city in Japan where we are staying for the next year. The streets were very quiet and mostly empty. The air smelled faintly of sea salt and fish. The sidewalk paved with coulourful bricks carefully interlocked to flex in temperture and seizmic preasures. All the growing things are green and exude a happily damp fresh air. I walked with my pack and iPod, taking long smooth strides and wanting to get a sweat going. I provided some mild interest for bored onlookers. It's a little unusual to see a gaijin in this part of Japan. I've seen only a handful of europeans since I arrived this April. It's a humbling experience to be an extreme minority. I see their curious and sometimes blank stares and I can not guess what they are thinking. I do not understand enough of what is running through the average Japanese person's mind. I'm beginning to grok the sense of duty, the sense of being watched. They are similar. Maybe they are thinking, "I wonder what he is thinking?" Perhaps we are a mirror.