Code Bubbles is a software project at Brown that aims–in the spirit of Squeak for Smalltalk–to engage development at a code-fragment level. Intensely interesting project.

Although the total mass of our microbes is just a few pounds, the tiny size of their cells means that we each carry about 100 trillion microbes–outnumbering our own cells by more than ten to one.

Karl Zimmer is one of the best science journalists writing today.

Do alien life forms exist in a Californian lake? Could there be a shadow biosphere? One scientist is trying to find out

to not show photographer information –>

The discovery of so-called weird organisms (on Earth) would be a feather in the cap for folks who expect a universe rife with life. Also delightful to think that our own planet remains so mysterious.

universe

1589, “the whole world, cosmos,” from O.Fr. univers (12c.), from L. universum “the universe,” noun use of neut. of adj. universus “all together,” lit. “turned into one,” from unus “one” (see one) + versus, pp. of vertere “to turn” (see versus). Properly a loan-translation of Gk. to holon “the universe,” noun use of neut. of adj. holos “whole” (see safe (adj.)).

Halp! Our language is naked!

-J-server
 -J-Xverify:none
 -J-d64
 -J-Xss2m
 -J-Xms256m
 -J-Xmx512m
 -J-XX:PermSize=32m
 -J-XX:MaxPermSize=512m
 -J-Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true
 -J-Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
 -J-Dsun.java2d.d3d=false
 -J-Dawt.nativeDoubleBuffering=true
 -J-XX:+UseAdaptiveSizePolicy
 -J-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
 -J-XX:+AggressiveOpts
 -J-XX:+AggressiveHeap

Was chugging along at nearly 100% CPU utilization. This seems to have resolved most performance issues. Thanks a ton, StackOverflow

For a long time now I have been addicted to using C-r (control-r) to do a reverse search in the terminal. If you haven’t done this, do it, it’s a huge time saver. Just hit C-r and start typing something unique from the command you are trying to recall.

The takeaway is to add “stty stop undef” to your .bashrc file if you’re using Ubuntu or OSX–then you can scroll through your matches using Ctrl+R/Ctrl+S.
Massive time-saver.

NetBeans Sunburst Color Theme

The Sunburst theme for Netbeans and the excellent Anynomous Pro mono-spaced font have cut down eyestrain, confusion, and existential angst in my day-to-day coding work.

Fasting every other day may be a way to live longer as well as lose weight.

It may also lower the risk of conditions such as heart disease and cancer, as well as ease symptoms of chronic ailments.

A good roundup of a some of the available information.

This Heineken pouring robot from Middlesex University was strutting its stuff at the Kinetica Gallery in London recently, driving around a table and pouring beer (a very little bit of beer) on demand

(STFC) – Scientists working on the Cassini space mission have found negatively charged water ions in the ice plume of Enceladus. Their findings, based on analysis from data taken in plume fly-throughs in 2008 and reported in the journal Icarus, provide evidence for the presence of liquid water, which suggests the ingredients for life inside the icy moon. The Cassini plasma spectrometer, used to gather this data, also found other species of negatively charged ions including hydrocarbons.

Would not be surprised–especially in light of the methane plumes on Mars–to find our celestial back yard just teeming with life.