Fraser - neil.fraser.name - Neil Fraser's News
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Format Longevity 15 Feb 2013 | 05:00 pm
A 'psh' and a 'pxc' file arrived on my computer from a family who had lost access to their photo album. I quickly determined that these originated from some software called ProShow. Not only is it app...
23andMe 14 Jan 2013 | 05:00 pm
One of the advantages of living in the future is that one can do the things which were previously science fiction. Self-driving cars? Check. Terminator vision? Check. Private space stations? Check. La...
Range Finder 31 Dec 2012 | 05:00 pm
A surplus satellite dish unexpectedly entered my possession. Let's measure distances using the speed of sound. I secured my phone's microphone to the focal point. Next, I pointed the dish at an apartm...
Jacob's Ladder 15 Dec 2012 | 05:00 pm
A friend visiting my apartment for the first time looked around and commented, "I was expecting more 'mad scientist'." While my apartment does occasionally feature cannon balls swinging from the ceili...
Space Simulation 7 Dec 2012 | 05:00 pm
While digging through some old VHS tapes, I stumbled across an interview I did in high school for a television program called "Tech 2000". This was back when "2000" was considered futuristic. The flig...
Volcano Diorama 30 Nov 2012 | 05:00 pm
A friend got hired at Google and threw a party to celebrate. I was asked to bring a diorama of a volcano. Why, I have no idea. I've long since given up trying to understand Americans. But I'm an engin...
Surname Extinction 23 Nov 2012 | 05:00 pm
Parents typically fail to assign UUIDs[?] to their offspring, instead relying on an inadequately sized pool of traditional names. Furthermore, parents are phenomenally poor at creating randomness, res...
Dvorak 7 Nov 2012 | 05:00 pm
Six years ago I resolved to make the switch from QWERTY[?] to Dvorak.[?] A day latter Google called me and it became clear that learning a new keyboard map would have to wait. This week is devoted to ...
Tonsillitis 2 Nov 2012 | 04:00 pm
After cross-referencing my symptoms with Wikipedia, it became abundantly clear that I had Tonsillitis. The recommended course of action was to get a Strep test. That determines whether the Tonsillitis...
Self-driving Engineer 28 Oct 2012 | 04:00 pm
Google's self-driving cars are an increasingly common sight around Mountain View. The spinning LIDAR[?] sensor on the roof makes them quite distinctive. Engineers take the fleet out every morning to t...
