Mr. Cheeks

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another script: scrape national geographic desktop photo

Click here to download:
Get_National_Geographic_Photo..zip (119 KB)

While I'm sharing services, here's a script that grabs the National Geographic Photo of the Day and sticks it to your desktop. It gives you an unending source of pretty pictures. For extra credit you may be able to call it on startup for a new pic each time.
 
FYI, sometimes NG doesn't post a high-res pic, so the script won't pull a new image. Also if you use it you may need a folder "National Geographic" in the pictures folder. Not sure if this would break the script or if it would make a new folder -- I hope it's the former, but haven't tested it.
 
To install, copy the file to ~/library/services. It shows up in Finder's services menu.

mac: shrink pics quickly!

Click here to download:
Shrink_Pic.workflow.zip (36 KB)

Here's a cool new Service for mac, which lets you easily shrink a photo to web size. I have this problem a lot, say I'm taking a photo of a used piece of junk to sell on craigslist. The original image is 2MB, but there's no way to quickly cut it down for easy posting. UNTIL NOW! Using this service, you can select one or many images in Finder, then click this menu option and it will automatically make a new, small copy suitable for web posting.
 
Copy this file into ~/Library/Services, then open up the services menu (right click or in the Finder menu) when selecting an image file.
 
Automator is kinda cool sometimes - it only took me 10 mins to put this together.

FREE WOODSTOCK STYLE BUS!!

INAD - Woodstock Bus
Found On: SantaFe Craigslist By: Angela L

1956 International bus, built -on loft. Dose’nt run, no title, will write you bill of sale. You tow away & it’s yours!!

“You tow.” To the nearest overpass, where the top will be sheared off. It will hit the car driving behind you, seriously injuring the driver. You will then be sued. Your insurer will decline to pay on your policy, citing the “incredibly stupid acts” clause on page 74. You will lose the suit, and have a judgment for $875,000 entered against you. Your wages will be garnished. Any property you own will be attached and levied against. You will be left with nothing - except the notation on your check stub indicating that “your wages have been garnished.” Your only hope will be to sue the person who gave you the truck, for fraud. After all, “free” was obviously a lie.

Tim-Tom Uncategorized, voting-page , , ,

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Reader claim: new Apple TV SKU's loom

We’ve been unable to collaborate this claim which has been sent in by one of our readers (who chose to remain anonymous), and we're warning that this should be treated with a rather large pinch of salt.

We’re pretty certain some Apple retailers read our stuff from time-to-time, so perhaps they’ll be able to shed a little light in comments.

It appears Apple’s preparing to introduce new form Apple TV, and to release (we think) new software for existing models of the device.

Our source told us: “New Apple TV SKU’s have appeared on Apple’s back of house systems.” Which means new product people.

The reader also said: “Specifically we have a European Apple TV refresh coming as well,” then speculating, “I hope they've tied up some BBC content. iPlayer for the Apple TV would be a win.”

OK - we’re not saying this is a factual report - it is entirely based on one reader’s claim, but we think the timing feels pretty good and it is eminently the case that Apple TV deserves a little love. So we’re optimistic. We’ll let you know if and when we learn any more.

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omg! If you're looking to sell an old apple tv, you better do it soon! hopefully the new version will be functional and serve a purpose, unlike the old version!

We are the next wave! We have the submarine!

Translation party -- you type in a phrase, and it translates it back and forth between japanese and english until it reaches equilibrium. 

Start with an English phrase:

let's go!
In the town that I was born lived a man who sailed a sea. And he told us of his life in the land of submarines. So we sailed off to the sun, till we found a see of green. And we lived beneath the waves in our yellow submarine.
into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。そして、彼は人生の潜水艦の地で私たちに語った。まで我々はグリーンを参照してくださいが見つかりましただから我々は太陽に、オフ航海。そして、私たちは黄色い潜水艦では波の下に住んでいた。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. And he told me of life in the land of submarines. So until we have found us please see the green of the sun, sailing off. And we are in a yellow submarine lived below the waves.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。彼は潜水艦の地で私の人生を語った。だから、私たちは太陽までの緑を参照してくださいセーリングを発見した。そして、私たちは、黄色の潜水艦では波の下に暮らしている。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said my life in the land of submarines. So, we discovered a sail, please refer to the green of the sun. And we are in a yellow submarine are living below the waves.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。かれは言った。潜水艦の地で私の人生。そのためには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。波の下に住んでいる私たちには黄色の潜水艦にされています。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do so, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are living under the waves is in a yellow submarine.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。我々は波の下に住んでいるが黄色の潜水艦である。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in the yellow submarine that live below the waves.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色い潜水艦では、波の下に掲載されています。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, are listed below the waves.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色い潜水艦で、波は次のとおりです。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, the wave is as follows.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色い潜水艦では、波とされている以下の通りです。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, the following are the waves.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色の潜水艦には、以下のは、波があります。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, the following is a wave.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色の潜水艦には、次の波にされています。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, is the next wave.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色の潜水艦には、次の波があります。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are in a yellow submarine, it is the next wave.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは黄色の潜水艦が、それは次の波です。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We have a yellow submarine, which is the next wave.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。私たちは、次の波は、黄色の潜水艦を持っています。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are the next wave, we have the yellow submarine.
back into Japanese
町では、私は海を航海に住んでいた男が誕生した。と述べた。潜水艦の地で私の人生。これを行うには、私たちは、太陽の緑を参照してください帆を発見した。我々は次の波は、我々は黄色の潜水艦があります。
back into English
In town, I was born a man who lived in a sea voyage. He said. My life in the land of submarines. To do this, we discovered a sail, please see the green of the sun. We are the next wave, we have the yellow submarine.
Equilibrium found! 
Come on, you can do better than that.

Cellphone-Camera Microscope: Field tool for the developing world...

Pete Kazanjy is at it again, finding so much material for this blog that I'm starting to feel guilty that he's not on the payroll. This time, the suggestion came with a disclaimer, "not sure if this is Unpressable Buttons material" - oh, Pete, it certainly is! The subject is the development of a microscopy attachment for cellphone cameras, by the University of California at Berkeley. The value of such a tool may not be obvious to most of us, but that's because most of us have never been where this tool has value: in the clinics of the developing world, where (according to the article on ScienceBlogs) "resources are limited and laboratory facilities scarce, but mobile phone networks are ubiquitous." This attachment provides the necessary hardware to enable life-saving diagnoses, while keeping costs down by leveraging existing devices and infrastructure. That is good, usable, well-thought-out product design!

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