Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Change Blogger Header To Show An Image

Here's a quick guide on how to change the blogger header to show an image instead of the usual Title text.

  1. Go to your template and locate the part for the header :

  2. Now change the part of the template shown above to the following lines :

    Note: Fill out the information for the URL of your blog and also the image location. You can either upload it to your own webspace or create a post in blogger and upload your image file, then save it as a draft. "View Html" should give away the file location.

  3. Try to preview it first before saving the changes.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Free Directory Assistance : 1-800-FREE-411

1-800-FREE-411

The service offers free phone directory assistance, and while you wait for the query, a recorded ad is played. Their site also has a directory search page, so that you can search for numbers while on the Internet.

Great altenative, ad-based (I cannot take away the idea that this was Google-inspired.)

Site link: http://www.free411.com/index.htm

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Sidelights : Notable materials from Project Gutenberg

I was just looking for some reading materials, and happened to remember the Project Gutenberg site. Spent a few minutes and ended up downloading the following :

  1. The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by Leonardo da Vinci
    (size : 1.36 MB)
  2. Relativity : the Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein {size : 201 KB (unzipped)}
  3. Art of War by Sun Tzu {size: 331 KB (no compression)}
  4. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle {size : 7.01 MB (mp3 file)}
  5. Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney {size: 5.95 MB (Zip)}

Files noted above are not in .pdf (the one about Sherlock Holmes is an Audio book), so if you're looking for books that are in a different format that fits to whatever reader you may have, try another site Manybooks.net , which has the same collection as that of Project Gutenberg but has converted the eBooks to different file formats (pdf , iPod notes, etc.)

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Scaled Composites : Pioneering the Future of Travel

Scaled Composites , "an aerospace and specialty composites development company located in Mojave, California" is pushing forward the boundaries of commercial aviation, led by Burt Rutan (described by many as an "aeronautical legend" for his radical yet efficient designs). Two are most notable for making news this year.

Around the World in 67 hours with the Global Flyer.

The Global Flyer is a single-pilot craft made entirely of composite material which makes it strong yet light, and is powered by a single turbo fan engine. This aircraft was able to circumnavigate the world without stopping or refuelling , leaving Kansas (Salina) and landing on the same spot after 67 hours on March 3, 2005. The plane was piloted by Steve Fossett, who has over the years played with world records for both distance and time using hot-air balloons, gliders, etc.(also awarded the Gold Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 2002 ).

To the borders of space : SpaceShipOne, the first private manned (and funded) spacecraft to exceed an altitude of 328,000 feet (it was able to accomplish this twice over a period of 14 days which also proves one of the main points of the craft : reusability), won the Ansari-X prize, which equates to 10 million dollars plus prestige and honor (of course). The craft was piloted by Brian Binnie.

Commentary : Commercial "Space Flight" is just around the corner, as there is funding already for a technology that has been proven and tested. The concern for cost? This business endeavor may just be a window for a whole new future of "sub-orbital" adventures, not only for travel but for other areas of commerce, and the figures may just add up for more people to come forward and take a second look at what Scaled Composites has accomplished and what it means to the common people.