I just finished reading this article on the New York Times called ‘Trolling for Trouble in the Red Light District’ which can be read here. It was an interesting read about how ineffective red light cameras at intersections were. At the same time, I have to agree with the article that these devices do not actually prevent accidents; whether it be running these red lights or making a right turn on red. So if it is not here for our safety, then what it is, is to gain more revenue for the city, the state, etc. After all, a red light camera is not intelligent, it cannot tell the different between a blatant red light traffic offender or an accidental one where a driver was caught and had to make a turn after the light turned red. An example would be during heavy traffic congestion or an oncoming driver trying to beat the yellow light thus making the driver trying to turn miss their opportunity at green and turning on a red.
The problem is not more enforcement or to catch more traffic violators. The problem is bad awareness in drivers. The logic in driving is that ‘one has the right of way’ which can cause lots of problems. Sure, the person going straight has the right of way but how often do you speed up because someone on the opposite side is making a left turn? Or do you speed up instead of slowing down to let a driver make his or her right turn? Education is key and people are driving without any awareness just knowing they have ‘the right of way’. Instead, people should just be overall more aware of what is apparently going on, on the streets. Surveying the road, checking traffic conditions and having some common sense of how another driver will react.
Continue reading ‘Trolls running on the streets’
So over the weekend, I started using some profile pictures of people to try to manipulate them, either from removing normal blemishes, losing weight, etc. I decided to go for a more extreme and found a photo online that gave me an interesting time trying to manipulate the photo in photoshop. How extraordinary is with a few filters, some skewing, adding some hair and color, a person can totally look different.
I think this gives a really good idea of how one should consider before going for an extreme make over. Take a look at what I did below:
Continue reading ‘Photo manipulation, practically is reconstructive surgery.’
Yep. I called it in the last post at half-time of game four of the Western Conference finals. I already knew that the Lakers were going to win games 4 and 5 and voila! We are back in the NBA Finals. Finally, I don’t have to hear any more about the Spurs.
As for who the Lakers will face? I personally think it would be an easier match up against the Celtics just because even though they got the ’supposed’ Big 3; they choke. Only when they are playing at their best, they are really good and quite a scary team. However, their inability to win on the road in the first two rounds gives me assurance that the Lakers can win easily in a NBA Finals match up with them.
Continue reading ‘Welcome back to the NBA Finals, Lakers!’
Its halftime, the score is 53-47 with the Lakers up by 6. Kobe just made a jumper over Ginobili. One thing is for sure, the Spurs are one of the most annoying teams. Just watching a single half; I cannot stand the team. They are too sheltered by the media where all the broadcasters just seem to love the Spurs. All game long, all the analysts and commentators talk about how poised these Spurs are, how Parker is unstoppable, how Ginobili is due for a great game because he is a competitor and how Duncan has been bored in the regular season and needs a challenge that comes with the playoffs. Screw that! The Spurs are just protected by the referees and the NBA organization.
I mean, I watched game 3 on Sunday when Ginobili miraculously started draining 3’s. Three pointers are such a crucial part of the Spurs game. Just look at how they beat the Hornets in game 7, nothing but three’s! The fascinating thing is how the ref’s keep protecting the Spurs. First, we got the horrible and blatant traveling done by Ginobili every time he gets into the lane. Call the travel dammit! And it is contagious because just now, in game 4, Duncan supposedly dunked from the top of the free throw line. That is TRAVELING! There is nothing exciting about the Spurs except to see how much they are able to get away with. Just because they are the defending champions which is bullshit because technically, they should have lost to the Hornets already.
Continue reading ‘Ref’s deteriorating the game, screw the Spurs!’
Having more bandwidth is costly, having a lot of bandwidth is expensive! For this one week event, I brought in a 6 mbps link through Covad Wireless for $3,000. The $3,000 gives me this 6 mbps ethernet drop off with a full Class-C of IP’s for one month. What type of speeds did I actually get?
Continue reading ‘$3,000 = 6 Mbps’
I was fortunate to get an inside look at the annual ICRA event, known as the International Conference on Robotics and Automation. It is a gathering of about 1200 engineers, about 98% male is the demographic, who spend an entire week listening in on intense workshops based on published essays, a couple nice lunches and dinners combined with a student party and a gravel pit where you have robots perform on the terrain. I was a bit let down because the robots at the conference were more about education or the Mar’s rover type of robotic vehicle. I was hoping for more artificial intelligence robots like the Honda Asimo of sorts.
Nonetheless, there was a couple cool things that I did see. Such as the supposed robot from the YouTube hit, KeepOn.
Continue reading ‘Annual robotics competition, ICRA 2008′
For about $60 to $80 per month, you are able to get high speed internet access at home via DSL, cable or now FIOS through Verizon (limited to certain areas). To the right, you can see a speed test I conducted on a DSL connection at home. Sure it is a decent download speed but the upload is a bit slow. That’s the problem with most home connections, the download is fast but upload is slow. Even with typical cable providers of internet access, you have this as well. I think most DSL and cable access have download speeds of about 5-6 mbps and upload speeds up to 1 mbps.
Now let us compare that to true T-1 lines as I see at work. As a service provider, we get T-1 lines from AT&T, MCI, Qwest, Verizon, etc. A single T-1 line gives you exactly 1.544 mbps download and upload (no more, no less). You always have the option of adding to the bandwidth by adding T-1 lines, thus introducing NxT1, which N = number of T-1 lines. So for a 3xT1, it just means 1.5444 mbps times 3 or roughly 4.5 mbps. Of course you will get about three T-1 drop offs and need an enterprise router like Cisco with multiple interface cards to get these T-1’s bonded together. The cost for a T-1 circuit can range from different providers but a safe bet would be about $1,000 per month. (This number could be less now with many different LEC’s (Local Exchange Carriers) selling T-1’s now.
Continue reading ‘We all need just a bit more bandwidth!’
When I typically walk into the Apple store, I spend no more than five minutes; browsing to see if they got any new accessories for the iPhone. However, I was stuck in the store this afternoon as it suddenly started pouring hailing rain. The store actually is quite interesting, when it is not crowded on a weekday. I can hop onto any Mac or laptop and actually figure the system out. The OS is nice, a bit dumbed down from the Microsoft XP, but I think thats the appeal. As a hardcore PC user myself, I would probably have trouble adapting and learning a Mac but for a new user to computing, I would recommend a Mac as they will pick things up that much more quickly. Sure, Vista is going for that approach, but its just a faulty crappy OS at the moment. I’m still sticking to my XP SP2.
What I am most impressed with the new iMac is display monitor. It has a glossy finish and photos appear to be that much clearer. That monitor, whether it be the 20 inch or 24 inch version, is just far superior than most other LCD/Plasma displays out there.
Continue reading ‘What’s in a display?’
