This is a fascinating history of Microsoft BASIC, that starts from it’s origins on the Altair 8800 through to the Commodore 128. Gates himself inserted several “easter eggs” in the code for BASIC in case it was ever lifted by another company for use in another machine– he’d have the proof.
Link.
Monthly Archives: October 2009
My PV Tweets
Follow my Twitter Feed to get a daily report of the solar production at our house. It’s posted automatically at 8:00pm each evening.
Cranberry Orange Pie
It’s that time of year– the air is crisp, the leaves are turning color and the days are getting shorter. Autumn! I saw fresh cranberries in the produce isle at the grocery store, a sure sign of fall. In a moment of weakness, I bought two bags. (It said to buy two on the package, who am I to argue with the bag?!) What to do with them..
Jeff makes this pie every thanksgiving and it’s absolutely delicious. A fresh cranberry orange pie. It’s early for thanksgiving but what the hell. And by the way, the pie is half way gone already.
Cranberry Orange pie
by James McNair1 bag cranberries
1 c. sugar
1.5 T flour
.25 t salt
3 T OJ
2 T minced zest
2 T melted butterCombine and pour into dish lined with unbaked crust. Egg wash & sugar the top crust. Bake 10 mins. @450 F then 45 mins @ 350 F.
upl8.tv: Genius Site Plays YouTube Like The Tube
I’m hooked on this new site called upl8.tv. The genius is in it’s simplicity. It continuously plays “curated” videos from YouTube. Don’t like what’s on? Change the channel by pressing the space bar. You can “seed” the tv by putting a term after the URL like “/monkeys” or whatever. Up late indeed.
Remix: Windows 7 Party Pack Video
Windows, long known for making painfully embarrassing product videos, are up to their old tricks again. And as usual the tables have turned. Oh Microsoft, when will you learn?
Make sure you watch the real one first (don’t worry, you won’t be able to get through the whole thing and that’s ok– it just sets up the remix that much better).
Link via Engadget.
Dropbox: Free Personal File Synchronization
Want 2GB of free space that you can access from any computer (Mac/PC), iPhone or web browser? Get Dropbox! Free 2GB accounts synchronize across all of your computers and to your iPhone. Easily share files/folders with any other Dropbox user. The files are stored locally on all machines so you can work “offline” and sync back up when you get a network connection again.
PV: Day 30
So after 30 days, I am happy to report that the solar PV system has been working flawlessly. We’ve generated about 450 kWh (the web version shows a little more than the electro-mechanical version that’s metering the actual power).
Antioxidant Foolishness
Really? Just because it has “antioxidants” it suddenly has a “healthy” glow? I’ll pass. Eat some real cherries instead and have a glass of water.
Drying for Freedom
I’m an advocate for drying clothes outdoors. There are many reasons why I choose to do this but the biggest is the reduction in the utility bill (we have an electric clothes dryer). Even before we installed solar panels on the roof, I would hang laundry outside to reduce our carbon footprint.
Jeff just tipped me off to a new movie coming out in 2010 called Drying For Freedom that explores the growing and reversing trend of drying clothes outside. The trailer mentions that $5 billion (yes BILLION) is spent on just drying clothes in America. What a waste! The movie also exposes the growing trend of communities passing laws that prohibit clothes lines. What this causes, according to the trailer, is to equate power consumption with status. (This sounds awfully familiar!)