Categories:
Design
Wednesday, September 16. 2009
First, let me preface this tale of User-Interface Woe with a
disclaimer: I am far from an Adobe fanboy. I love open-source
software. And of course, like everyone else, I really hate
Adobe's prices. But I've learned to use Illustrator and Photoshop
pretty well, so now, of course, switching to anything else causes work
not-so-much to grind to a halt as to slam into a brick wall while I
figure out all of the different metaphors, keyboard shortcuts, and
little tricks I need to approach anything like my former
productivity.
Trust me, I yearn to cast aside all Adobe products! Which brings me to
Inkscape, the open-source vector illustration program. I
really, really want to like it as a replacement for Adobe
Illustrator. It's one of those open-source apps I install every couple
of years to see if it's There Yet. And, yet again, I'm starting to think that it's not. Which brings me to the first problem I
encountered on my most recent attempt at mastering Inkscape.
Continue reading »
Comments (0)
Categories:
Good Ideas
Sunday, August 9. 2009
Picture it with me: an MMO based in the Italian Renaissance. Races could correspond to the various city-states of Italy, or to foreign nations, perhaps. Play as:
- Merchants (sea voyages out of Venice, perhaps?)
- Unscrupulous churchmen
- Stiletto-armed assassins
- Scheming Medicis
- Your typical painter-sculptor-scientist-architect renaissance genius (should be a epic roll, this!)
Imagine riding into battle atop some Leonardo-designed war machine! Fencing with rapiers! Imagine going on quests:
- Steal the head of John the Baptist for the glory of Florence
- Dissect executed prisoners to level up in Anatomy
- Bring back exotic goods from around the Mediterranean
- Earn yourself an equestrian statue in your city-state's palazzo with military exploits
There's something very appealing about this, at least to me. It would be just the thing to finally get me to play an MMO.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Media
Wednesday, July 8. 2009
is Neal Stephenson. Without a doubt! I've read all of his books save one (haven't gotten around to Zodiac yet). I devoured all three weighty volumes of his Baroque Cycle, and bought Anathem the very day it came out, which I almost never bother with for any other kind of new release—artistic, technological, or otherwise. I didn't read the Harry Potter books until years after they were published, and I own no Apple computer products at all!
So there is some empirical evidence that Neal Stephenson is my favorite author. But lately I've been dwelling on why that might be, and I think I have part of an answer. Reading his books I am constantly running into ideas and observations, clearly and artfully developed, that I've thought of before, only vaguely. I've spoken with a friend of mine, also a Neal Stephenson fan, about this, and he confirms it is so for him also. It's a thrill to see someone with real talent flesh out the sketchier, dimly-lit parts of your own mind.
This is an intellectual pleasure, of course, but there is a more primitive reason as well. It hits that "someone gets it" part of the brain, provides the sense that you are not alone, that there are other people like yourself.
This is a feeling that all humans crave, but that unusual humans experience only rarely.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Exploits
Friday, June 5. 2009
My apologies for the belated post. This was my first, though I certainly hope not my last, visit to the famous endurance races; I'd like to offer my thanks to our gracious host Bell Microelectronics, sponsor of the Panoz team that took third place in the GT2 class, for making it possible.
The pictures are all the work of my cousin Torm.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Good Ideas
Sunday, May 31. 2009
It's true: you can sprinkle them on anything to make it
better. Some examples:
- Structures (obviously)
- Reverse Osmosis membranes
- Semiconductors
- Fuel cells
- Solar panels
- Scaffolds for nerve regeneration
Certain technologies seem to have this magical quality of
near-universal applicability to engineering problems. They not only
make possible what would have been fantasy otherwise (space elevators,
in the case of nanotubes) but also have a knack of improving
everything they touch, or of being applied to a breathtaking variety
of already-familiar applications.
Continue reading »
Comments (0)
Categories:
Administration
Monday, May 25. 2009
I'm sure that all three of my regular readers will notice the long-in-coming change now visible at eikimartinson.com. Most of my friends are probably sick of telling me what they think of innumerable design mock-ups, so I just went ahead and implemented one of my ideas, and I'm actually happy with the results. It's not too fancy, but I think it'll get the job done.
All the pages are valid XHTML and CSS, or they should be; if there are any exceptions to that, I'm interested to hear about them. That contact page, by the way, is a new feature; I've implemented a mailer form and script for purposes of spam protection. The site is composed according to the vertical rhythm concept (click the check box in the footer to see for yourself) with a new addition of my own—a bit of javascript to maintain the rhythm across images of any possible height.
Continue reading »
Comments (0)
Categories:
Exploits
Saturday, May 16. 2009
I spent some time after my training session in Denver driving around with my co-workers in the Rockies, seeing some worthwhile sights; I apologize for the pictures but all I had was a disposable camera.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Vittles and Libations
Sunday, February 22. 2009
Nothing fancy, this; but that's okay: dinner was done and on in the table in exactly 15 minutes (disclaimer: I had to go to the supermarket, wash dishes, clean the cast-iron pan, etc—you didn't think it would really be 15 minutes, did you?). Take your tilapia fillets, add salt and pepper and squeeze out a lemon onto both sides. Meanwhile, get your well-seasoned cast iron skillet to medium-high temperature and coat the bottom with olive oil. Lay your fillets down in the pan, away from you to avoid splattering yourself with hot oil. Try to avoid flipping or moving it more than is strictly necessary as it will fall apart when it gets close to done; I'd recommend flipping with a spatula rather than tongs for the same reason.
Cook for three minutes per side, which should give it a golden-brown surface and just-barely-done center; the thinner parts of the fillet will get crispy, but that's part of the appeal. Serve with salad and rice or whatever you want. Some brown crispy bits will be left in the pan which just cry out for deglazing and making into a pan sauce, but I haven't experimented with that just yet.
I promise not to let this site become a recipe blog. I post things like this really more for my own reference (the three minutes per side number is something I tend to forget).
Comments (0)
Categories:
Exploits
Wednesday, December 31. 2008
in the smallest of ways. I was an extra (excuse me, "Background Artist", as they like to be called now) in the Twentieth Century Fox movie Marley and Me while it was being filmed in Fort Lauderdale. Observe closely the scenes in the Sun-Sentinel offices and you might just catch a brief glimpse of the back of my head, say. If you want your money back because the movie made you cry or disappointed you, address your demands elsewhere: I just stood where they told me to stand. All I added to the picture was a handful of photons. Of course I'll still get the blu-ray disc when it comes out, if only to freeze-frame through the scenes I was in!
Comments (0)
Categories:
Administration
Sunday, October 19. 2008
I recently created a subdomain on my Mediatemple DV service, but for various reasons, I wanted to have a separate user responsible for that subdomain, with FTP and shell access. The user can be created along with the subdomain in Plesk as normally. Unlike the creation of users associated with domains, however, there is no option in Plesk to give this subdomain user shell access.
Fixing it is trivial if you have root access. Just edit /etc/passwd, find the line that starts with the username you just created, then change the last field of that line from /bin/false to /bin/bash (or whatever shell you like). This will allow you to su to the subdomain user or login via SSH, as you prefer. Easy, I know, but I noticed the option wasn't present in Plesk and well, maybe this tip will be helpful to somebody else out there.
Comments (0)
Thursday, July 31. 2008
I am no longer the only one in my circle reporting to the Internet. Fellow FAU electrical engineer and roboticist Melissa Morris has recently launched her site with a name I wholeheartedly endorse: melissatronic.com! Visit for information about her robotics research and other engineering projects.
Comments (0)
Sunday, June 1. 2008
In the interest of saving my soul through good works I have recently taken in a family of unfortunates: two lost kittens! They are street cats, brother and sister, 6 weeks old and a shade over a pound each. I have given them the unlikely Estonian names of Miuks (the girl) and Murakas (the boy).
Murakas is all black with blue eyes and is bigger and more adventurous, leading the way into all sorts of danger. He also sleeps a great deal and seems to be visibly growing by the day.
Miuks has white paws and white whiskers, and green and blue eyes. She has a bit more of a nervous temperament, hopping into the air on spindly legs when alarmed, but she purrs like a motorboat when petted and enjoys chomping on her brother's tail.
It is an open question as to which one will be the most trouble.
Both kittens have their first shots, de-worm-ings, and de-flea-ings; they are using the litter box regularly and in already disturbing volume (probably a consequence of the six square meals a day they require). When not locked in furious combat or spelunking in search of ever more unlikely crevices to hide in, they sleep on each other's heads in a fuzzy little pile.
I promise not to let this site become a catblog.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Out and About
Saturday, May 3. 2008
Not great photos this time; the light was flat due to an overcast sky. Beautiful place, though - oldest cypress swamp in Florida, with trees over 500 years old in places. The swamp was bone dry this day as the beginning of May is the end of the dry season.
Comments (0)
Categories:
Exploits
Wednesday, April 23. 2008
An instant classic from the Busch Gardens log flume, with Jay Wilson and myself. This one was just too funny to leave behind.
Comments (0)
Friday, March 28. 2008
Of all the 500 series modular scopes made by Tektronix, the 547 is one of the most desirable due to its 50 MHz bandwidth and innovative dual timebases. When released, this machine was way-hot high tech, crammed with a mix of vacuum tubes and discrete semiconductors, and worth as much as a new car. I got mine through a friend who found it at a church rummage sale and paid $10 for it, complete with cart, some extra modules, and manuals for everything. Any problems? Well sure - the thing's been in service for 40 years, knocked about by at least two private companies (judging by the calibration stickers) and its original owner, the United States Navy. A short list:
- The dust filter that covered the fan was missing, because the bolts that kept the bezel on were sheared off - though the bezel came with the scope in the drawer of the cart, at least.
- The original power inlet was cracked, and missing its ground pin, which is more than a little dangerous.
- The fuse holder was chewed up and unable to retain the fuse and cap, which was missing entirely.
Continue reading »
Comments (0)
