"Join the Future" written by Paul on estrip.org

09/20/04 08:35 - ID#31238

Join the Future

paulSideKick: i can't believe ### thinks this stuff belongs in computer science
paulSideKick: he is just jelaous
paulSideKick: this is the future of computer art and interactivity
paulSideKick: i mean really, photoshop was computer science 10 years ago
paulSideKick: and many traditional artists, even today, still resist it
paulSideKick: but he embraces that pre-programmed toolset
paulSideKick: this is just a continuation of that
paulSideKick: it s actually even more free because there are fewer constraints in what it can do that in a pre-packaged program

Permalink: Join_the_Future.html
Words: 83
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/20/04 10:09 - ID#31237

Jim Mac's Up For Sale

Jimmy Mac's is leaving!! Jimmy Mac's is one of my favorite restaurants in Buffalo. It has fueled many of the calories that were required to create this site. I am sad to see them go. Here is the artcle

Here is an excerpt:
A restaurant that has openly defied the state's smoking ban is now for sale.

Owner Rick Naylon is asking $125,000 for Jimmy Mac's, a restaurant with a bar at 555 Elmwood Ave. E.K. Henderson Assoc., a company in which Naylon has a minority ownership interest, would retain ownership of the building. The restaurant's equipment and other assets are for sale.

"Jimmy Mac's is for sale," Naylon said. "But because of all the pending legal actions, I'm really not in a position to discuss the sale at any length."

Permalink: Jim_Mac_s_Up_For_Sale.html
Words: 139
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/20/04 01:46 - ID#31236

Posting From SecondLife

I went to see (e:maidencateyes) in second life

today. I figured it is time I finish up my second life independent study from last year. I went to go get all of my scripts and take some screen captures for my paper/web page about it and then I got distracted trying to post this journal entry from second life. It works it you are reading this but its not the easiest way to work. It's actually easier to just leave second life and post.

Here is the object i scriptted to let me post from secondlife. It is a handsign witha picture of (e:maidencateye) journal on it. I atcually hate second life. I am so sick of looking at it. It gives me the feeling that you have when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't move your arms or legs cause they fell asleep.

Permalink: Posting_From_SecondLife.html
Words: 159
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/19/04 11:13 - ID#31235

Introducing new chat commands

I am trying to work on more efficient interfaces that give information at command rather than during each load cycle. For example, I used to have the weather box, it just took up more screen space and loaded an uneccessary number of times. Each time you changed pages it would have to load in the XML weather data, that wasn't really changing each time. I could have made it check for its last check and only check once an hour, but in that case it would still have to load into the display on each refresh of the page, which is annoying.

I finally came up witha great idea to combat this problem. At first I thought I could make a command box but then I realized I could integrate the command box with the chat. At this point there are only two commands for non admin users.

[size=m]Chat Commands[/size]
weather - type the word weather into the chat by itself and I will answer with the current weather conditions, temp, humidity, and a link to an extended weather forecast.

peeps - I respond with the number of peeps online and their usernames so that you don't have to click on the link in the top twelve list. This was (e:maidencateyes) idea!

More to come soon . . .

Permalink: Introducing_new_chat_commands.html
Words: 217
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/19/04 08:26 - ID#31234

Weather Feeds Leads to storm FAQ

I was working on finding a fast, free weather feed for the site and realized, why not turn to the government." So I found that the government has tons of free information in xml format, which is really convenient.

While perusing through the various weather data, I found a FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions section regarding tropical storms. Mind you this is on a real government site funded by our tax dollars. It just shows what an inappropriate response americans take toward any sort of threat if this qualifies as a frequently asked question.

The Frequently Asked Question is:
Subject: C5C Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?

You can find the answer

in case you arn't sure.

For those of you that are too lazy, here is an little excerpt, it is mucho entertaining.

. . .for a more rigorous scientific explanation of why this would not be an effective hurricane modification technique. The main difficulty with using explosives to modify hurricanes is the amount of energy required. A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20x1013 watts and converts less than 10% of the heat into the mechanical energy of the wind. The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. According to the 1993 World Almanac, the entire human race used energy at a rate of 1013 watts in 1990, a rate less than 20% of the power of a hurricane . . .

Permalink: Weather_Feeds_Leads_to_storm_FAQ.html
Words: 253
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/18/04 10:49 - ID#31233

WAP additions to the site

I decided to realize my dream of enabling further mobile phone functions for the site via the WAP broswers on most cell phones. This all goes back to when I lived in Arizona in 2001. I received my usual computer programming magazine that had a special artilel about WAP and the future of mobile computing. It was my dream to get involved but I never had time, by the time I had the time and skill to work it, the sidekick

came out and i moved onto that.

Now I realize that the rest of the world still has WAP browsers and so I would like to allow them to use the site over their phones.

The site is almost 100% functional on the t-mobile sidekick but the extension to WAP browser is a really great addition. Currently, at elmwoodstrip.com/wap you can view who is online, the last 12 entries by user - title, and by clicking on the entries you can read the full entries which are currenly not stripped properly of excess crap like formatting tags. However, Ii only had an hour and a half to work on this and I have to get going. Check it out.

If anyone who is rich and generous would like to support the continued development of the mobile features of elmwoodstrip.com, please donate for the software required for development. The cell phone emulator software that I need for development costs ~ 249 pounds, it can be found here

. The software allows me to test the page on various cell-pone models online without having to own the actual phones which would cost a fortune. Feel free to simply buy a license and send me t he software!!

Does anyone know of any grants I could apply for to cover costs like this? I am offering to give up tons of my free time to offer services to the public but having useful ideas is limiting when I don't have the cash flow to make them happen. Alternatively, I could pick up another job but then the site development would would be on the back burner because of lack of time. It's a vicous circle.

Permalink: WAP_additions_to_the_site.html
Words: 370
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/18/04 11:21 - ID#31232

Ajay you Rock

In regards to my helium question[inlink]paul,1935[/inlink] I finally got a repsonse from ajay [inlink]ajay,122[/inlink]. I have been asking this question for about 10 years now and just kept hoping I would meet some person who understood physics and could give me an answer.

I am not sure what I want to send up but I am sure that I want to send something up as a promotional gimick for the site. I don't want to send anyone into the atmosphere but I would like to make an airbus that can hold one person and float them down elmwood about 5-15 feet off the ground. Like a parade float but in the air. From there they could give out flyers or candy or something. Do you have any ideas which materials would be best for this? I think it would be the most fun project ever.

The more I think about it, the more I think that it would be best to build it out of many little helium balloons because then if one popped we wouldn't lose the whole thing. Kind of the same idea as a multi chamber blow-up raft. Unfortunately, the extra surface area would add extra weight, right? Any ideas?

Permalink: Ajay_you_Rock.html
Words: 202
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/17/04 11:03 - ID#31231

Important Helium Question

I really want an answer to what seems like a simple question. How much helium does it take to lift a hundred pounds? Anyone know?

Permalink: Important_Helium_Question.html
Words: 25
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/17/04 09:46 - ID#31230

Who posted this link on slashdot?

Who posted this link to our site on slashdot ?

Permalink: Who_posted_this_link_on_slashdot_.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY

09/17/04 06:42 - ID#31229

e:pad update

I updated epad to work from the database instead of text files, making it more secure and quicker too. I will continue work on it in the near future but for now it is totally functional as a web notepad and is being offered as a free bonus for being a member of elmwoodstrip.com.

If you want to get to your epadwhen you are not on the site go to elmwoodstrip.com/epad . This will take you directly to the epad interface where you can log in (if not already logged on) and type your notes. Think of it as an internet scratch pad. I hope it saves lots of paper. Maybe I will make a paper saved calculator!

Permalink: e_pad_update.html
Words: 120
Location: Buffalo, NY