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July 28, 2005
Axioms of Web Architecture
The principles of design that have shaped the web and tools that underly it (again, from Axioms of Web Architecture):
1. Simplicity
2. Modular Design
3. Tolerance
4. Decentralization
5. Test of Independent Invention
6. Principle of Least Power
Tim Berners-Lee, 1998. Principles of Design, http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Principles.html#PLP
Found at http://lesscode.org/2005/07/21/motherhood-and-apple-pie/
Posted by sjc at 1:42 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
Robot Camel Jockeys
Dubai - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has conducted the first successful robot camel jockey race after the country recently tightened a ban on the use of children in the races, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.
With the reins in the left hand and the whip in the right, 10 blue and red jersey-wearing robots passed the 3km trial race at Al Wathba racetrack on Monday in Abu Dhabi, watched by hundreds of cheering fans.
Handlers of the robots drove their four-wheel-drives alongside the camels to control the robots, which performed to expectations.
The 15 kilo robots will cost $2 000. They will be manufactured in an Asian country to begin with. Later the UAE will set up a plant to manufacture them.
Qatar, which recently banned child camel jockeys, is also planning to use robots.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1739793,00.html
Posted by sjc at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2005
Online Style : BBC News
BBC News article style follows a 3 column format - site navigation on the left, focus article in the center, and article tools, etc, on the right. The article itself is characterized by a compact image (203 pixels by 152 in this case) at the upper right with text wrapping to the left (image alignmente right, hspacing 6).
The next image will be smaller and on the left of the column. After that, images may appear on either side.
The BBC style seems a little easier on the eye in this MT format - each article leading off with a bit of eye candy to attract your attention and let you know if you've read this far before. The larger image from the New York Time site seems to block things a bit.
[1] BBC News, Dutch file-sharers win reprieve, Wednesday, 13 July, 2005, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4678893.stm, accessed July 13, 2005.
Posted by sjc at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)
Online Style : The New York Times
This photograph of papaya salad (Papaya salad amid the vegetables at a market in Luang Prabang, Laos. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) typlifies the online style of New York Times article. The image (583 pixels by 250 pixels) is at the left of a two column page. The text of the article flows below the image, and is generally narrower with article white space being occupied by pull quotes, article tools, and aditional photographs which move from the left edge to the right edge, breaking the tendency of too much text to block.
The size of the image is about the limit of what comfortable fits on a page.
[1] Amanda Hesser, To Eat in Laos, the New York Times, Published: July 13, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/dining/13laos.html accessed July 13, 2005.
Posted by sjc at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 9, 2005
Poets on the Peaks
Poets on the Peaks: Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen & Jack Kerouac in the Northern Cascades, text and photographs by John Sutter, Counterpoint press, 2002.
I came across this at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier yesterday, and picked it up for 7 bucks. Both Philip Whalen and the time in the Northern Cascades are foggy spots in my understanding of the beats, and with a rainy weekend it store, this seemed like a good choice for reading.
Posted by sjc at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)
Sword of Doom (1966)
Sword of Doom is a 1965 film staring Tatsuya Nakadai as the samurai Tsukue Ryunosuke. The Japanese title, Daibosatsu touge, referes to the mountain pass somewhere between Kyoto and Edo where an earlier pilgrim had buried a statue of the buddha at the top of the pass, thereby shedding good fortunes to villagers on both sides of the order. In the opening scene, a pilgrim stops to pray for buddha to speed him to the next world, a wish unexpectedly granted by a passing Tsukue.
The film follows the Tsukue, the pilgrims granddaughter, her rescuer, and several others to a final, brutal episode where the samurai is battles scores of attackers. The film stops with the battle still in progress.
The story is based on a novel by Kaizan Nakazato, Daikatsu Touge : dai-ippen kougen itto-ryuu (1935) and serves as the basis for Ichikawa Rouzo's Trilogy - Satan's Sword (Daibosatsu Toge), The Dragon God (Ryujin no Maki), and The Final Chapter (Kanketsu Hen).
Posted by sjc at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)