The disappearance of an Internet domain
A reminder of the ephemeral nature of digital content and online presence.
Ivy on Walls
Ivy is “well-known” for damaging walls.
It is very common for ivy to grow on historic walls and there is much speculation about the damage it may or may not be causing. […] This report describes research commissioned by English Heritage (now Historic England) […] undertaken by the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.
Conclusion:
Roots damage stone, mortars, pointing: Depends on whether there are pre-existing defects in the wall – ivy can exploit defects not create them
Ivy is an effective microclimate buffer, reducing extremes of temperature and relative humidity. It also buffers against damaging frosts and filters airborne particulates.
Urchin Software Corp. – The unlikely origin story of Google Analytics
And maybe, if nothing else, I guess it suggests that despite the soup du jour — huge seed/A rounds, massive valuations, binary outcomes— you can sometimes do alright by just taking less money and more time.
And a few gems:
Rob didn’t seem very impressed. He immediately dismissed the Urchin 2.0 interface as (and I quote) “too blue blue blue blue blue,” which I had to admit was true.
47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft just fired up thrusters it hasn't used in decades
Currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1 is about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away. The probe operates beyond the heliosphere — the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyond Pluto’s orbit — where its instruments directly sample interstellar space.
Earlier this year, engineers spotted an issue when the fuel tube inside one of Voyager’s thrusters became clogged. If the thrusters are clogged, they can’t generate as much force to keep the spacecraft steady. Voyager’s thrusters keep the spacecraft oriented in a way that it can communicate with Earth.
I wonder how long the spacecrafts we launch these days would fare.
“Wait for the shock”!
Source: kottke.org/24/09/the…
How to clean a stroller rain cover that got cloudy
If your transparent stroller rain cover becomes cloudy or opaque, don’t just buy a new one yet.
The trick is to grab some kind of oil and wipe it off on the entire cover with a cloth. Baby oil, pomade work well, as long as they are oily.
How to change the front-wheel bearings of a Yoyo stroller?
If the front wheels don’t spin as well as they used to, or if they become easily stuck, the issue is likely with the wheel ball bearings.
Yoyo sells spare wheel kits for 45 €. However, you may not need four new wheels. In the end, it’s as easy to just change the wheel bearings as replacing the entire wheel.
Some people mention needing a grinder, a saw, pliers… No, you just need a hammer and two screwdrivers.
- Unscrew both sides of the wheel with two T30 screwdrivers.
- One screw will likely become loose. The hollow one (the axle) will likely be stuck (as people complained). The axle got solidary with the bearings.
- Screw back the male side back again, and with a hammer, hit on it. !yoyo-1.jpg This should push the axle out. It may break the bearing entirely but you were planning to remove it anyway.
- There are two bearings per wheel. Remove the existing damaged bearings.
- Replace the bearing with the proper replacement. !yoyo-2.jpg The bearing reference is 6900ZZ, and you can find it, for instance on Amazon.
Optimizing Your App’s Performance
Making the iPhone camera accessible for the blind
VoiceOver will then use face detection to tell you how many people are in the frame. It will also say if a face is small, and where in the frame a face or faces are located incase you want to try and better center them. When you move, it will tell you the new framing, so you can figure out if you’re getting closer to the shot you want.
Updates - how do you make something great even better, I don’t know. But these geniuses obviously know. Can I add one more start? The new interface is more intuitive. Also like the latest addition of tags. Integration with iBooks, WiFi sharing, Facebook sharing. Magnifying glass? Oh my! (They even fixed the silly black screen bug) — An anonymous reviewer of Genius Scan on the AppStore who keeps updating his review with every new update. Thanks!
About
Over the last 3 years, I developed and iteratively improved Genius Scan for iPhone and several other apps (Genius Fax, Jotana, ShoeBox). I’m fortunate that some of them have been quite successful with Genius Scan likely to hit 10MM downloads this summer. While doing so, I learned a lot about iOS development and how to run a successful bootstrapped business through the iOS community. Here is my small contribution to the community (call it returning the favor) Useful information comes in different flavors but primarily helpful pointers and actual content. Hopefully, this will be a place for both.