Pieces Form the Whole

I love the use of col legno in Pieces Form the Whole recorded by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It is a feature instead of just being a background effect.

Blurry 2560x1080 Display

I just got a SuperWide 21:9 monitor, and when I plugged it in via the DVI cable that was running my previous monitor, I was dismayed to find that on the highest resolution (2560x1080) the display was blurry. I was barely able to read text. After some searching for answers, I found one in an unlikely place. I discovered that it wasn't a software issue, but just a cable issue.

The DVI cable that was connecting my previous monitor was "single link DVI." I had to use the "dual link DVI" cable that came with the monitor. Same plug, just more pins.

Problem solved.

Hopefully anyone else with this same issue can find their answer solved here quickly without wandering.

On Happiness

"If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad; if it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?" - Sheryl Crow

"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, which is the good he seeks." - Mary Wollstonecraft

Free item exchange in laundry room

An interesting and organic thing has happened to the extra shelf-space (or the clothes folding shelf?) in the laundry room at my apartment. I think it began before I moved in, but one afternoon I noticed someone left a stack of books, a small whiteboard, some plates and a pot there. It certainly didn't seem like anyone was planning to come back for them. I took some of the books that looked interesting. At later times I would go back there and notice all manner of things- kitchen appliances, flatware, cd-cases, etc. It was apparently somewhere people left things they did not want or could not take with them on their moves out. Now-a-days however, the selection of things is a lot more varied- and most strikingly not always in large bunches. Tonight I was there and there was only a pair of high heels, a trashy love novel, some female jeans and a sweater. Perhaps these are special things someone wanted to give away- not just give up.

I am always trying to reduce my worldly possessions, and I frequently find myself with things that are too nice to throw away, but that I really don't need or use. Now I know the perfect place where I can leave it as a free, anonymous gift to a stranger. I like to think that other people are doing the same. It is a wonderful mystery exchange that makes all parties happy and saves a lot of space in landfills.

A system like this could not have been better planned. I guess the people living here just know what to do.

"Embryo Insufflation"

Only posting this because it returns no hits on a Google search. Quite a disturbing search term I suppose. If you searched for this term and it brought you here, what were you hoping to find?

Human quorum sensing

A recent microbiology blog post made me think about possible analogous quorum sensing mechanisms between human and bacterial population growth. Do humans have quorum sensing traits and will we stabilize into a stationary phase?