ExpanDrive

Apple’s web browser, Safari, has a feature euphemistically named “Private Browsing…” When enabled, private browsing makes it so that the sites you visit aren’t stored in the browsers history, and cookies from those sites are deleted when “Private Browsing…” is turned off. In short, there’s no record left on your computer of what you’ve done on the web when “Private Browsing…” was enabled. If used judiciously you can be confident when guests borrow your computer and type www.you into the browser location bar, Safari will always suggest the completion tube.com and never porn.com.

In light of the recent news with Tiger Woods, I wonder if there might be demand for a similar feature on the iPhone. Users could, in a password protected configuration panel, flag certain contacts with a special setting. Incoming, outgoing, and missed calls for these contacts would simply not be saved, and text messages would be deleted automatically after they’ve been read. A contact with this setting would look like any other contact that you never called or heard from. Apple could call the feature “Private Calling…”, or maybe they could come up with a better name.

Also, don’t miss the making of.

Photos of a very Martian Sydney at the Big Picture.

According to Yahoo, “AT&T” [sic] is about to release a “MicroCell”. You plug it into your internet connection, and it broadcasts a short range 3G signal that a few phones can use for voice and internet. Basically a wireless router for cell phones.

I’m having a little trouble wrapping my head around it. On the one hand, you can fix the dead spot in your basement apartment or get an iPhone in Vermont. That’s really cool. On the other hand, you’re going use your own internet connection to augment AT&T’s shitty network, and you’re going to pay AT&T for the privilege?

You know what would be great? If you could get one without the AT&T. I mean, if the call is going from your phone to your MicroCell and then over your internet, then what is AT&T really bringing to the program?

A Typophile user named miha has done some amazing pixel art that exploits subpixel antialiasing. In his first post he reworked the YouTube favicon from a pink mess into something that looks sharp and legible.

His second post debuts a draft of a completely legible typeface with an x-height of 3 pixels. The picture above (taken from miha’s comment on the post) shows the word “ipsum dolor” at 16× magnification. The original size text, so small you might not notice it, is in the lower right corner.

Subpixel antialiasing is some magic stuff. As he said in his YouTube post “If you want to be suprised: white text on red is not really white, it is purple & yellow! There is no spoon.” I’d love to see a 9× mockup of what it looks like after antialiasing is applied.

(Mac users can open Digital ColorMeter, in Applications -> Utilities, for a quick way to zoom in on the pixel art.)

Last week I linked to a story in the Boston Globe Magazine about a tragic accident during the final stages of construction of a 9.5 mile long tunnel under the ocean near Boston. Part two came out this past weekend. Part 2 tells the thrilling story of the worker’s escape from the tunnel after their air supply mysteriously goes bad. There’s also a somber lesson somewhere in there about how things can go wrong when you rush to finish things at the end of a big project.

In case you missed it, here is part 1.

There’s an amazing thread on Stack Overflow titled “What is your best programmer joke?” The whole first page is full of good ones that I hadn’t heard before, but the top post is really priceless:

A man flying in a hot air balloon suddenly realizes he’s lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts to get directions, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below says: “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.”

“You must work in Information Technology,” says the balloonist.

“I do” replies the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the balloonist, “everything you have told me is technically correct, but It’s of no use to anyone.”

The man below replies, “You must work in management.”

“I do” replies the balloonist, “But how’d you know?”

“Well”, says the man, “you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”

The Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant is the second largest sewage treatment plant in the US. It was built in the 90s as part of a $4 billion effort to clean up Boston Harbor. The treated water is pumped through a 9.5 mile long tunnel under the Atlantic ocean, and diffused away from shore through 55 vents space out over the last mile.

There’s an amazing story in the Boston Globe Magazine this weekend about the final steps in building the tunnel. After construction was completed the lighting and ventilation were taken out of the tunnel. A team then had to drive 9 miles down the unlighted, oxygen-less tunnel, and remove backup safety plugs from each of the 55 vents. It’s a terrifying lesson about how even a billion dollar project can paint itself into a corner.

PS: During Jeff’s bachelor party last weekend I made fun of him for claiming that the giant egg shaped containers on Deer Island were for water treatment, when they obviously contained some kind of pressurized gas. In fact, he was right and I was wrong. The 150 ft tall containers are sludge digesters.

I love the “Automata” series they’ve been working on at Penny Arcade. Gabe’s art is gorgeous, the world is imaginative, and the story is fascinating. I don’t want it to end.

The Tour Divide is a mountain bike race along the continental divide from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico (on the border with Mexico.) It’s “self-supported”, which means that you can’t pre-arrange any outside help, though you can buy food and bike parts as you go. And it’s “one-stage”, meaning there’s no rest off-the-clock (unlike that wimpy Tour de France bike race).

This year’s winner, Matthew Lee, finished the 2,745 mile course in under 18 days. It rained on 16 of those days. There’s a great interview up on Outside’s blog. Here’s my favorite snippet:

There are certain elements you have to try not to think too much on: comfort, eating well, sleeping well, safety. All those cares are cast with the winds. You establish a new, temporary regime on day 1 and just stick with it religiously. When the alarm on your wrist watch beeps at 4:40am, you don’t roll over. not even once. you sit up, rip the sleeping bag off and suddenly you’re freezing! The only solution is to get dressed. Then the only way out is to saddle up and ride. This forced routine is the key to success. If you get up and go, the biking takes care of itself. after about an hour you start to feel okay. the soreness is masked, the beauty unfolds before your eyes, perhaps a bear gives you a shot of adrenalin.