I had to post this because it goes along with the Fantasy Hunt site that I talked about earlier. Slashdot pointed me at this article that says, “A new camera could help save dwindling fish stocks by letting fishermen identify and free unwanted catch immediately after nets are hauled in, its Danish inventor said yesterday.” This camera takes a picture of a fisherman’s catch and can immediately tell them the type and size of each fish! According to the article, currently 1/3 of all catches are “waste”. This would eliminate that. The question is, is the technology cheap enough for the average fisherman? And do they need a sys admin aboard to keep it running?
Fantasy Hunt
When my boyfriend first told me about the Fantasy Hunt website, I told him there was no way people would pay $5/month to watch a video cameras of fields. I was wrong. The first time you catch glimpse of a zebra or big buck and you spend 10 minutes trying to keep it in camera range and focus long enough to get a good picture … you’re hooked. So don’t say I didn’t warn you! (The best time to check out this website is at dawn or dusk, as that’s when the animals come out.)
Update: It looks like Fantasy Hunt is no longer around but here’s a similar site, BNC Ranch.
Audible.com
My absolute favorite toy right now is my Audible Otis. I listen to audio books and NPR while I’m running errands, running with my dog, working out in the gym, cleaning the house, … Right now I’m listening to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. It’s funny hard core science fiction.
Check out Audible.com. If you sign up, let them know “storming” sent you!
Neal Stephenson wrote one of my favorite books ever, The Diamond Age : Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. It takes place in a future full of nanotechnology. A young girl gets ahold of a book that acts as her tutor, modifying itself over time to meet her needs. It examplifies the notion that education can make a person, giving them opportunities they never would have had otherwise.
Addall.com
If you buy a lot of books, addall.com can save you some money. It searches a huge number of online book companies, adds shipping, and displays them in a nice table sorted by price. I’ve found it very useful for text books – it’s usually cheaper to buy my textbooks from Amazon in the UK, including shipping, than it is to buy them in the US!