Open Library Project

Open library, a non-profit Internet Archive, is now up and running in beta, which can be found at: http://openlibrary.org/

Basically, they are trying to scan (every) books (with permission) and have it open to the public. It's a great project to get and store books into a digital domain for preservation.

The content is wiki-editable, so if there is content that is wrong or missing, like the format, length, table of contents, etc.. this can be fixed.  Currently they have over 13.5 million books, making a large digital library the size of 13.5 peta-bytes!!!

I did a "scanned books only" search on Mark Twain and found his auto-biography. The images are real nice and I like the animated page turning.

 

What is also nice, is that they did a OCR scan, which means that we can also do a search on the book. I decided to do a search for "Elmira".

The highlight text of my search word can be found through out the book with yellow tabs as short cuts to the other pages.

Take a look at the site, what do you think of it?

Google Health

Out of curiosity I checked out Google Heath. You can enter information into your profile from basics such as height & wight to more detail information about your personal health being. An example would be your conditions, medications, allergies, etc..

One nice feature is the automatic updates of your records (if you belong to one of the following)

Google Health also offers heath services (ex: "Heart Attack Risk Calculator"), Medical Contact (you doctor information), and Find a doctor based on speciality.

Google Health gives the user a better handle on their health if they choose to have their information stored in a single location. It's a nice feature, I probably won't need to use it until I become older and close to retirement.

Checking out WorldWide Telescope

So Microsoft Research finally has released WorldWide Telescope (beta) to the public.

Ok, lets see what the hype has been about. The first thing I checked out was my astrological sign, the Taurus (Collections > Constellations > Taurus) and zoomed in on the left horn of the bull to Tien Kuan:

Next, I checked out the planet Neptune (Collections > Solar System > Neptune)

Then I checked out some Hubble Space Craft images. (Collections > Hubble Images > Composite Image of Galaxy Cluster MS 0735

You can also take guided tours where some guy with a PH.D will walk you through, such as the Milky Way's Black Hole.

You can download it at:

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/experienceIt/ExperienceIt.aspx?exp=true

The requirements will require a decent computer:

• PC with Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster, recommended
• 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM; 2 GB RAM recommended
• 3D accelerated card with 128 megabytes (MB) RAM; discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM recommended for higher performance
• 1 GB of available hard disk space; 10 GB recommended for off-line features and higher performance browsing
• XGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution monitor
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing and scrolling device
• Microsoft® XP SP2 (minimum), Windows® Vista® (recommended)
• Microsoft® DirectX® version 9.0c or later and .NET Framework 2.0 or later
• Required for some features; Internet connection at 56 Kbps or higher through either an Internet service provider (ISP) or a network. Internet access might require a separate fee to an ISP; local or long-distance telephone charges might also apply

Need to post something....hmmm how about MeatWater?

“High Efficiency Survival Beverages” as Dirty Hot Dog, “an authentic taste of the Big Apple you can sip through a straw!”

From: http://dinnerinabottle.com/ with other drink options such as:

Beef Jerky, Beef Stroganof, Cheese Burger, Chicken Teriyaki, Fish'n Chips, Hungarian Gulash, Italian Sausage, Peking Duck, Tandorri Chicken, Texas BBQ, Wiener Schnitzel, etc...

 

This might be a joke, but this is nothing new.

http://www.jonessoda.com/ back in 2004 made the "Turkey and Gravy" soda that people could buy as a joke gift for the holidays.

 

Well, hoped I grossed you out, especially the vegans and vegetarians.