Koding - Online Development and Social Coding

http://koding.com/

Stumbled across this koding.com site today.  Koding is an online development environment with social coding aspects.  Included with your free account is a personal web server Linux VM, with root SSH access.  Pretty nifty idea.  Programming languages naively supported are Python, Java, Perl, Node.js, Ruby, C, C++, PHP, and Go.  With root access, you could probably get anything else you want running as well.

"Koding is a developer community and cloud development environment where developers come together and code in the browser – with a real development server to run their code. Developers can work, collaborate, write and run apps without jumping through hoops and spending unnecessary money."

10 Best Graphics Video Games of 2013

Far Cry 3

I came across this review of the Top 10 Best Graphics in Video Games 2013 [1080p HD] - YouTube and found it informative (nearly 1 million views).

Honorable Mention: The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (but requires mods installed) - available on Steam
# 10: Tomb Raider (the reboot) - available on Steam / Origin
#  9: Sleeping Dogs ("fulfills the I want GTA 5 now syndrome") - available on Steam / Origin
#  8: Hitman: Absolution - available on Steam / Origin
#  7: Max Payne 3 - available on Steam
#  6: Battlefield 3 - available on Origin
#  5: Far Cry 3 - available on Steam / Origin
#  4: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - available on Steam / Origin
#  3: BioShock Infinite - available on Steam
#  2: Metro: Last Light - available on Steam / Origin
#  1: Crysis 3 - available on Origin

---

Another similar list of TOP 10 Best Graphics Games 2013  HD - YouTube (over 1 million views)

10 : Uncharted 3
9 : Sleeping Dogs
8 : Killzone 3
7 : ArmA
6 : Metro 2033
5 : Far Cry 3
4 : Battlefield 3
3 : The Witcher 2
2 : Skyrim & END MOD
1 : CRYSIS SERIES

Contre Jour

Contre Jour

Contre Jour - http://www.contrejour.ie/

Chillingo has made a fun little physics puzzle game, you can play online for free.  You will need an updated browser that supports HTML5, such as Firefox or IE10 to play.  For a few bucks you can also buy it on the Apple/Android/Windows store and play on your phone/tablet.  The game physics are similar to World of Goo.

"Blurring the lines between interactive art and games, Contre Jour showcases a beautiful but haunting world shaped by the interplay of light and darkness. Utilizing intuitive touch controls and set against a poignant orchestrated score, you’ll guide a mysterious creature (named Petit) through organic and machined levels by manipulating the very environment itself. Pull, swipe, and tap gadgets such as tendrils, air geysers, and pulleys to complete clever puzzles."

• Intuitive touch controls let you interact with the environment in delightful and surprising ways.
• Sixty levels of mind-bending puzzles to explore and play.
• An emotional musical score by famed composer David Ari Leon adds a level of sophistication and heart to the game.
• Directly inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's legendary story, The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince).

For a bit of fun trivial, Contre-jour (French for "against daylight") is a "photographic technique in which the camera is pointing directly toward a source of light, which produces backlighting of the subject and creates silhouettes and emphasizes lines and shapes."

Contre-jour photography

Celsius to Fahrenheit

Move along people, there's nothing to see here.

Just needed a convenient table for working with some home automation temperature sensors.

Common	°C	°F
100 C (Boiling)	100	212
60 C (Hot Drink)	60	140
40 C (Hot Bath)	40	~ 100
Body	32	98.6
30 C (Beach)	30	85
Perfection	22.22	72
20 C (Room)	20	~ 70
10 C (Chilly)	10	50
4 C (Refrigerator)	4	~ 40
0 C (Freezing)	0	32
-10 C (Bitter Cold)	-10	~ 15
-20 C (Freezer / 0 F)	-20	~ 0
-40 C = -40 F	-40	-40

Conversion Formulas:

 °C  x  9/5 [1.8] + 32 = °F

(°F  -  32)  x  5/9 [~.56 or / 1.8] = °C

 °C  x  1.8 + 32 = °F

(°F  -  32)  / 1.8 = °C

Cheap Estimation Conversion:

 °C  x  2 + 30 = °F

(°F  -  30)  /  2 = °C

Quick table, adding 5 to the Celsius = adding 9 to the Fahrenheit
0=32, 5=41, 10=50, 15=59, 20=68, 25=77, 30=86, 35=95, 40=104

Other easy ones to remember:
28 C = ~ 82 F
16 C = ~ 61 F
04 C = ~ 40 F

From xkcd, just remember actual reference points, not conversions:
40 C = Really hot
37 C = I'm not sick
30 C = Warm
20 C = Nice
10 C = Cool
0 C = Cold

xkcd Converting to Metric - http://xkcd.com/526/

For scientists, to convert from Celsius to Kelvin (based on absolute zero):
°C + 273.15 = K
K - 273.15 = °C
Note: Kelvin temperature scale does not use the degree (°) symbol.

For temperature intervals rather than specific temperatures,
1 K = 1 °C = ⁹⁄₅ °F

Chuck Norris vs Jean-Claude Van Damme in Epic Splits

Well, Chuck Norris, once again, shows us how it's really done, in this epic parody.

In case you missed the awesome video of Jean-Claude Van Damme really doing splits

between two moving Volvo trucks.

Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Free

Adobe Photoshop CS2

Per Gizmodo, "Adobe is giving us all a late Christmas present. You can grab yourself a free, legitimate copy of Photoshop and the rest of the Creative Suite 2, right now, direct from Adobe. No catch. (other than you have to create a free Adobe account)."

According to Adobe, the reason is, "Adobe has disabled the activation server for CS2 products, including Acrobat 7, because of a technical issue. These products were released more than seven years ago, do not run on many modern operating systems, and are no longer supported.  The serial numbers are provided ... to maintain current use of these products."

What is available to freely download:

• Creative Suite 2 for Windows and Mac
• Acrobat 3D 1.0 for Windows
• Acrobat Standard 7.0 for Windows
• Acrobat Pro 7.0 for Windows
• After Effects for Windows and Mac
• Audition 3.0 for Windows
• GoLive CS2 for Windows and Mac
• Illustrator CS2 for Windows and Mac
• InCopy CS2 for Windows and Mac
• InDesign CS2 for Windows and Mac
• Photoshop CS2 for Windows and Mac (1045 1412 5685 1654 6343 1431)
• Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 for Windows

CS2 System Requirements:

• Mac OS X v.10.2.8–v.10.3.8. PowerPC® G4 or G5 processor
• Microsoft® Windows® 2000/Windows XP. Intel® Pentium® III or 4 processor

How To Add a Print Button to Blogger

Have you noticed that blogger.com doesn't have a convenient "print" button option?  Luckily PrinterFriendly.com is setup to conveniently add a print button to your blog or any website.

How to place a Print button in your blog:

1. Visit PrinterFriendly.com
2. Select "Blogger" from the "Choose Site Type" section.
3. Choose the look of your button from the "Choose Button" section.
4. You can leave the defaults in the "Features" section alone.
5. If you are logged into blogger.com, you can click the "Install Widget" button, and it will auto add to your layout.  If you are not, you will be presented with some JavaScript that you will need to add to a JavaScript widget in your layout.
6. You can place the widget pretty much anywhere in your blog's layout and it will still end up down in your post's button bar.
7. Save the layout and enjoy your new print button.
8. Note that the print button will only appear when you are viewing a "single" post.  If you are viewing "all posts" the button will not appear.

Choose site type and button type

Print button in button bar

Temple Square Lights

A popular tourist attraction, this time of year, in Utah is the Historic Temple Square lights.  Our family has a tradition of riding the FrontRunner commuter rail to downtown Salt Lake City.  Although ridding the train doubles the length of the trip, it is our kids favorite part of the trip.

Water Fountain (with Google "Auto Awesome" photo effect)

Water Steps	Christmas Lights (with Google "Auto Awesome" photo effect)
Salt Lake Temple	Christus

UTA FrontRunner

Note: If you are curious, the Google "Auto Awesome" photo effects are auto added to certain photos (haven't yet determined how it determines which photos qualify) when you upload them through Google Photo.  If you  have an Android phone with "Auto Backup" turned on, your photos will be automatically uploaded to Google Photo for you.

Bitcoin Node in Space

Bitcoin may be heading to space soon.  In a recent article titled Core Developer to Launch Bitcoin Node in Space, there are discussions about launching Bitcoin nodes into space.  The benefits of these Bitcoin satellite nodes would be expanding the reaches of Bitcoin to remote areas that may only have satellite access, and helping prevent against attacks like the Sybil Attack.

Unclaimed Property

Ever have an old bank account that you forgot about?  Apparently I did.  Some time after an account goes dormant, it is declared abandoned and is turned over to the state.  Fortunately, the state provides a way for you to claim your "abandoned property".

First, start by going to the State of Utah Unclaimed Property Division website and do a search on your self to see if you have any listed abandoned property.  If you are feeling kind, you can also run a search on your friends and family.  It was a kind family member who notified me of my missing property.

State of Utah Unclaimed Property Division - http://www.mine.utah.gov/

"Each year, millions of dollars in bank accounts, stock certificates, checks, insurance checks, bonds and dividends are turned over to the State of Utah because the owners cannot be located. Some of this money could belong to you!
It may take only a couple minutes of your time to see if you or a family member is listed. It's easy, it's free and it's yours."

If you find property tied to your name, you claim it by filling out and submitting a form.  The claiming process involves filling out and printing a form, having a Notary sign it, and finally submitting the form to the state.

A sample of the form I completed

Fusion-io Ranked a Best Place to Work

We (Fusion-io) made it on the news last night, as one of the fastest growing companies in the US! Go us. :-)

I walk by this pictured green "engineering" wall daily. Feeling a bit nostalgic.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27969354

Utah company named 4th fastest growing company in U.S. | ksl.com - http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27969354

"A Utah-based tech company was recently named the fourth-fastest growing company in America. Many people may not be familiar with Fusion-io, but they deliver the data faster on all most computers."

Also, through anonymous reviews on Glassdoor.com, Fusion-io has been ranked one of the top mid-sized companies to work for in 2014. Fusion-io announced our ranking this morning in a press release.

Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=27969354#T36T486AV4pdOww1.99"

A Utah-based tech company was recently named the fourth-fastest growing company in America. Many people may not be familiar with Fusion-io, but they deliver the data faster on all most computers.
Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=27969354#T36T486AV4pdOww1.99dd

Amazon Prime Air - Delivery by Drones

Drones may soon (within 5 years) be delivering packages directly to your home.  This may look like science fiction, but it is real.  As soon as Amazon can get FAA rules and regulations in place, Amazon Prime Air could be making deliveries as early as 2015.

"Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled a new plan by Amazon to deliver packages to customer’s homes within 30 minutes using drones. The plan was announced on the CBS show 60 minutes." (Forbes)