Dylan Tweney

Good advice from Jim Henley: “Start by slavishly imitating poets you admire.” And if you’re writing science fiction, be sure to avoid these overused plots. (both links via BoingBoing)

Intel’s Dothan CPUs (Intel Pentium M processors 735, 745, and 755) use Intel’s new numeric nomenclature and have dropped the clock speed designations from their names. When asked about the new names, Intel vp Anand Chandrasekher said they’re designed to reflect qualities of “goodness” that Intel chi

“Working at Google, an engineer told me recently, is the nearest you can get to having an unlimited amount of computing power at your disposal.” Simson Garfinkle explains the hidden power of Google’s server farm, which reportedly tops 100,000 machines. (free registration required)

This guide to insultingly bad movie physics explains why ricocheting bullets don’t spark, how shattering glass can cut you (even when you’re riding a motorcycle through it at top speed), and why it’s a bad idea to hang around exploding spaceships.

If it weren’t for syncing, most people would never back up anything. It’s only because synchronization is so easy that we wind up with backups of our most important data: our address books and calendars. But syncing doesn’t always back up everything (particularly files you’ve stored on your handheld

You wouldn’t put Wal-Mart tires on your Ferrari, so why are you using substandard software on your high-end PDA? Yet that’s just what many people are doing by using the default e-mail client that comes bundled with their PDA. Corsoft offers a simple and elegant solution with Aileron, a sleek e-mail

Sci-fi humorist Douglas Adams envisioned the ultimate interpreter: the Babel fish, a bright yellow, leechlike creature that, once inserted into your ear, would provide you with instant translations from any tongue. Franklin’s Audio Translator, copublished in SD-card format by MDM, is less unpleasant

True information addicts will never be satisfied with the puny screens on most smart phones. Even at high resolution, a 2-inch display just won’t cut it for reading news, checking stock charts, or powering through an overflowing inbox. If you’re a data maven, PalmOne’s Tungsten W is an attractive op

For all their advantages over film, digital cameras still can’t match 35mm SLRs in one key area: speed. Nearly every digital camera has some degree of shutter lag, the annoying and often excruciating pause after you press the shutter button and before the camera actually snaps the picture. In some c

My Taijiquan teacher, Mark Chen, has written a book: Old Frame Chen Family Taijiquan. It’s a terrific introduction to the principles, techniques, philosophy, and history of Taijiquan (aka Tai Chi Chuan). It is also the best-written martial arts book I’ve ever read. Mark’s approach is very concrete,

Spotted just outside Santa Rosa, a hand-lettered cardboard sign tacked to a telephone pole: Martha Stuart for President!

There’s this guy on my block who is always walking around, grumbling and growling and laughing to himself. He’s tall, his hair is wild, and he walks around with his eyes cast down, mostly, sometimes pulling on a cigarette as he grumbles along. He’s such a permanent fixture of the neighborhood that I