Kurt Stephens

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Scarlet - Ruby slideshow tool

Kurt on Mon, 2010-03-08 02:35.

There’s a bunch of minimalistic technical slide tools out there.

I’m using Scarlet, so far I like it — simple Textile markup and it uses Pygments for code syntax coloring. I’m using ERB to generate the textile markup, which allows me to generate some slides programatically.

Scarlet – http://github.com/jcxplorer/scarlet
Pygments – http://pygments.org/


Nokia N900: a huge (initial) disappointment, not a smart phone, it's a computer

Kurt on Thu, 2010-02-11 13:23.

UPDATE:

I ended up returning the N900. I thought I would give it a try as just a super-portable computer, but the media player would skip and often stop when using A2DP headphones. I hope some of these issues get resolved — I will certainly reconsider this device in the future, if it could replace a phone.


The Baltimores - Plastico del Mundo

Kurt on Tue, 2010-02-09 23:09.

Album released on iTunes. I hate iTunes, but now people can get this album.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/plastico-del-mundo/id351081422

More Baltimores stuff to be released soon.

Thanks, Dave!


Ruby: Fixnum#gcd accepted into MRI

Kurt on Mon, 2010-02-08 18:52.

Ruby rational.rb clean-up and the Fixnum#gcd primitive was refactored into a new MRI extension. Fixnum#gcd is now defined during require ‘rational’.

http://svn.ruby-lang.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/branches/ruby_1_8/ChangeLog?...

http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/show/2561

See http://kurtstephens.com/node/34 .


Reggie Watts - I Just Want To

Kurt on Mon, 2010-02-08 03:23.

Almanzo 100

Kurt on Sun, 2010-01-31 15:12.

http://almanzo100.blogspot.com/

  • Who: Any able bodied bicycle rider who can willing accept the challenge to ride 100 miles of gravel
  • What: 100 mile, self-supported gravel road bicycle race(ride)
  • When: Saturday May 15th
  • Where: Start/Finish will be located at Bicycle Sports (1400 5th Place NW, Rochester, MN 55901)
  • Why: Because

Can’t wait! 100 miles of bike-meets-gravel goodness.
Gotta remember to bring a bandanna this time.


New documentation for TM (Tredmill) Allocator

Kurt on Sun, 2010-01-24 21:19.

I’m planning a new release of TM v.04, originally outlined here: http://kurtstephens.com/research/tredmill

New documentation is located at:

http://kurtstephens.com/pub/tredmill/current/doc/html/index.html

Code to follow shortly.

The Rape of Europa

Kurt on Wed, 2010-01-20 01:19.

Just finished watching one of the most gut-wrenching documentaries I’ve ever seen:

http://www.rapeofeuropa.com/

It’s the story of how the world’s greatest art and cultural objects were systematically and haphazardly stolen and hidden from the victims of World War II and destroyed by greed, viciousness and sheer ignorance, and how men and women dedicated their lives to returning and restoring them to the public.

A sweeping survey of the highs and lows of human activity — the incongruity of the beauty of high-art and the horror of war.


Naming of Spirit and Opportunity

Kurt on Mon, 2010-01-04 00:57.

An inspired essay by a young student named the “Spirit” and “Opportunity” Mars Rovers.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover#Naming_of_Spirit_and...

Naming of Spirit and Opportunity

The Spirit and Opportunity rovers were named through a student essay competition. The winning entry was by Sofi Collis, a third-grade Russian-American student from Arizona.

I used to live in an orphanage. It was dark and cold and lonely. At night, I looked up at the sparkly sky and felt better. I dreamed I could fly there. In America, I can make all my dreams come true. Thank you for the ‘Spirit’ and the ‘Opportunity.’

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