Dave Naffziger’s Blog

Interesting:

• Remote Control Pigeons. Chinese scientists have implanted electrodes in the brains of pigeons and are able to control their (up, down, left right).
• Satellites that repair satellites. Two DARPA-funded satellites were launched last week to demonstrate autonomous refueling and servicing techniques of other satellites.

Cool:

• Guide to Secret menu items at restaurants. A collection of unlisted menu items that you can order from a number of popular chain restaurants. As it turns out, In-N-Out has their list is on their website.
• Drive Baja race cars (from Sumit). I hate the flash website, but this looks like a ton of fun.
• Algorithmic Photo Beautification (via John Ludwig). Algorithms that take pictures of people and make the people prettier.

Useful:

• Printable worldwide subway maps (via Lifehacker). A single source of subway maps for systems worldwide.
• Speeding up Vista’s Resume Some drivers are very poorly behaved. I wasn’t able to speed my “Resume” time much, but others might have luck.
• Wordpress contact form. I realized that I needed to add a contact form to my blog - this plugin is solid and makes form spam unlikely.

I also stumbled on a few items that I’ll classify as

Hilarious:

• Conservapedia . No, not written by the editors of The Onion, Conservapedia is an alternate wikipedia written by home-schooled creationists. The article on kangaroos states: “like all modern animals … kangaroos are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah’s Ark prior to the Great Flood”. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
• ComVentures profile photos. ComVentures just launched a new website. Matt pulled all the partner photos together into an amusing slidestrip. I can’t believe they all collectively thought these photos were a good idea.