T-Rex on dreams.
More here.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
HasturCom Patent of the Week
Introduction
Deep in the bowels of HasturCom's R'lyeh campus, the Elder Things have tiled a twisty passage with myterious signs and sigils. Each tile commemorates one of HasturCom's many original patents. Whenever the terms of my servitude bend my path towards that eldritch citadel, I always take a minute to walk that brazen corridor, and attempt to grok the fullness of one such patent.
A Method For Reducing Latency in Voice Communications Over Data Networks
The beauty of transmitting analog information over digital media is that you don't always need all the information.
There's often a delay--"latency"--between when you speak into your mouthpiece and your interlocutor hears your words in their earpiece. This patent describes one solution to this problem:
First, it is understood that the analog information--your spoken voice--is converted into digital information. This digital information is organized into "frames", and each frame is transmitted across the network to whoever it is you're talking to. At the far end, the frames of digital information are converted back into an analog stream, which that person hears as a reasonable facsimile of your original speech.
If, however, the network detects latency, it reduces this delay by periodically "dropping" a frame. This results in less data for the network to transmit, and thus speeds up the process. The person listening to your speech doesn't notice the missing frames, because the conversion from digital to analog masks the gaps in the stream (which are individually so brief that they fall below the human threshold for detection).
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, somebody needed to patent that? Apparently so.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Dream Catalog
Part n in an occasional series
So I've started having a new kind of dream recently.
Hrm.
I should probably warn you, this is about my dreams. It's not like, you know, they're not safe for work (NSFW) or anything. But still. They're kinda personal. They might be too much information (TMI) for you to handle.
I don't know. I'm just saying. Dreams are weird. Maybe you're weird about dreams.
If you're weird about other people's dreams, you should probably stop reading here.
While you're making up your mind, here's a crow eating peanuts.
Anyway, dreams. I has them.
The Comic Book Store
In this dream, I'm wandering around a comic book store. Probably because I wandered around a lot of comic book stores when I was a callow youth. The employees are usually dream-images of actual people from actual comic book stores I actually wandered around during my waking life, and the titles were usually vaguely familiar approximations of real-world titles. But the comic book stores themselves, while utterly banal, were totally unlike any real-life comic book store that I've ever actually been in.
That's one of the things that fascinates me about dreams. I'm not just re-creating places I've actually been to and dimly remember. Instead, my mind is imagining totally different rooms, wallpapers, carpets, furniture, etc. It's kinda neat.
I'm not sure what the deal is, with the comic book store dream. There's not much of a sense of urgency. I'm just wandering around, looking for... I dunno, a comic book, I guess. I never actually find one, though. Never take one off the shelf, or bring it up to the cash register, or anything like that. Sometimes there are other people in the store with me, but I don't really interact with them. The end.
Wandering Around the City
Sometimes I dream that I'm wandering around the city. Well, wandering around a city, anyway. Like the comic book store, it's a dream-city, not any real city I've ever been to. It's always a different city (a different part of the same city?) each time I have this dream. Also like the comic book store, there's no sense of urgency, and nothing ever really happens.
Flying
Yes, I have the flying dream. Doesn't everybody? Mine often takes the form of first running, then jumping, then making longer and higher jumps, and then finally steering in the air. Pretty fun. Another version is where I'm spreading my arms out and gliding up into the air. Often my legs hang down awkwardly. This kind of flying is hard to sustain, for some reason, but sometimes I can get pretty high up there.
Interpersonal Conflict
Sometimes, I dream a fight with someone--usually a family member. These dreams are very emotionally charged. I usually wake up feeling angry and frustrated. Once when I woke up from one of these, I actually called the person I'd dreamed I was fighting with, just so I could get some closure and go back to sleep. They were very cool and understanding about it. Lately the usual "sparring partner" in this dream has been replaced by somebody else. It's all very weird.
The House
This is the new one. It's happened three times, now. The first time, it was some other guy's house, still under construction. The second time, my family had just moved into a new house. The third, last night, they'd done some remodeling while I was out.
These dreams tend to have a sense of urgency about them. I'm trying to come to terms with the changes, or get organized, or whatever, but the more I get into it, the more complicated and messy things get. At first there'll be a normal amount of furniture in the room, but the more I try to move the furniture around, the more furniture there is. The more I try to clear away clutter, the more clutter there is. The more I try to find my way around, the bigger and mazier the house gets. The point is, I'm trying to do something, and stuff keeps getting in the way. The harder I try, the more stuff there is.
Sometimes there'll be elements from one of the other dreams in this one, too. Like, it'll start out as Wandering Around the City, and then I'll go into The House. Or I'll be in The House, and end up in an Interpersonal Conflict.
Conclusion
This isn't a dream type. This is just the conclusion to this entry.
In conclusion: Dreams are weird.
So I've started having a new kind of dream recently.
Hrm.
I should probably warn you, this is about my dreams. It's not like, you know, they're not safe for work (NSFW) or anything. But still. They're kinda personal. They might be too much information (TMI) for you to handle.
I don't know. I'm just saying. Dreams are weird. Maybe you're weird about dreams.
If you're weird about other people's dreams, you should probably stop reading here.
While you're making up your mind, here's a crow eating peanuts.Anyway, dreams. I has them.
The Comic Book Store
In this dream, I'm wandering around a comic book store. Probably because I wandered around a lot of comic book stores when I was a callow youth. The employees are usually dream-images of actual people from actual comic book stores I actually wandered around during my waking life, and the titles were usually vaguely familiar approximations of real-world titles. But the comic book stores themselves, while utterly banal, were totally unlike any real-life comic book store that I've ever actually been in.
That's one of the things that fascinates me about dreams. I'm not just re-creating places I've actually been to and dimly remember. Instead, my mind is imagining totally different rooms, wallpapers, carpets, furniture, etc. It's kinda neat.
I'm not sure what the deal is, with the comic book store dream. There's not much of a sense of urgency. I'm just wandering around, looking for... I dunno, a comic book, I guess. I never actually find one, though. Never take one off the shelf, or bring it up to the cash register, or anything like that. Sometimes there are other people in the store with me, but I don't really interact with them. The end.
Wandering Around the City
Sometimes I dream that I'm wandering around the city. Well, wandering around a city, anyway. Like the comic book store, it's a dream-city, not any real city I've ever been to. It's always a different city (a different part of the same city?) each time I have this dream. Also like the comic book store, there's no sense of urgency, and nothing ever really happens.
Flying
Yes, I have the flying dream. Doesn't everybody? Mine often takes the form of first running, then jumping, then making longer and higher jumps, and then finally steering in the air. Pretty fun. Another version is where I'm spreading my arms out and gliding up into the air. Often my legs hang down awkwardly. This kind of flying is hard to sustain, for some reason, but sometimes I can get pretty high up there.
Interpersonal Conflict
Sometimes, I dream a fight with someone--usually a family member. These dreams are very emotionally charged. I usually wake up feeling angry and frustrated. Once when I woke up from one of these, I actually called the person I'd dreamed I was fighting with, just so I could get some closure and go back to sleep. They were very cool and understanding about it. Lately the usual "sparring partner" in this dream has been replaced by somebody else. It's all very weird.
The House
This is the new one. It's happened three times, now. The first time, it was some other guy's house, still under construction. The second time, my family had just moved into a new house. The third, last night, they'd done some remodeling while I was out.
These dreams tend to have a sense of urgency about them. I'm trying to come to terms with the changes, or get organized, or whatever, but the more I get into it, the more complicated and messy things get. At first there'll be a normal amount of furniture in the room, but the more I try to move the furniture around, the more furniture there is. The more I try to clear away clutter, the more clutter there is. The more I try to find my way around, the bigger and mazier the house gets. The point is, I'm trying to do something, and stuff keeps getting in the way. The harder I try, the more stuff there is.
Sometimes there'll be elements from one of the other dreams in this one, too. Like, it'll start out as Wandering Around the City, and then I'll go into The House. Or I'll be in The House, and end up in an Interpersonal Conflict.
Conclusion
This isn't a dream type. This is just the conclusion to this entry.
In conclusion: Dreams are weird.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Revchem Plastics
Speaking of robots, I got this shot the other day. Actually, I get a lot of shots from the inside of a moving vehicle, while Mrs. Container drives. One advantage to this approach is that you're constantly getting new subjects. Well, you are if you're like me, and think that the Revchem Plastics truck (or a shipping container) is a proper photography subject. On the other hand, there's a huge disadvantage in that everything goes by pretty quick. This is another reason I like our camerabot so much. Look at that image!Anyway, Revchem Plastics. I had no idea they existed, and I have no idea what they do. Make plastics, apparently. Or buy them, and then re-sell them. Who knows? I tried to visit their website, but apparently it's down. If you have better luck, please let me know.
I especially like all the logos of the industrial chemistry companies they put on the truck: 3M, Hexcel, Silmar... It's like a who's who of all those quiet little companies you never think about that make this modern world go 'round.
Bunnies
It's not all shipping containers, robots, and Lovecraftian docudramas here at Chez Container. Sometimes it's about bunnies.These guys came out onto the lawn just as I was leaving the office for the day. Apparently they live (or at least hang out) in the hedge on the left side of the image. You can see a little bit of the sidewalk on the right. Just out of frame beyond the sidewalk is the parking lot. Mrs. Container had to wait in the car while I took several shots of this scene. They all turned out pretty well. I can't take the credit, though: The camera really did all the work. Robots are awsome.
Hrm.
I guess it kinda is all robots here.
Container Spotting: TTNU9096418
This is a standard 40-foot long shipping container. It was parked on a side street in an industrial zone near Kearny Mesa. Incidentally, it is mounted on a Maersk Sealand chassis. This kind of thing, one shipper's container on another shipper's chassis, is not unusual. There are even companies that just own chasses, and lease them out to shippers.TTNU9096418 is a valid container number.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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