2007-09-22 Jeannie Sudoku · 305 days ago
Upgraded the sudoku. Really rebuilt the hint display engine. Also added a nice ghosting of the hints in the current active cell box. And I think I got the color choices much better for the hints.
:)
— StarDust1
Dr Who, ep Blink · 305 days ago
I watched a very good Dr Who episode called Blink. Surprisingly the Doctor and his companion was hardly in it. Instead the show was about a new character named Sally Sparrow that sofar only appears in that episode. But the actress really gave a riveting performance.
Just out of curiousity, I put together the weird scene where Sally talks to a dvd recording, and it talks back. For any fans of the show, you can see it here:
— StarDust1
Jeannie Sudoku update · 316 days ago
I’ve added some features to the I Dream of Jeannie Sudoku. Now it can search for possible answers. If there is a row, column or box that only one number can fit into, the box will be briefly highlighted.
I’ve tried it. It makes sudoku much less of a headache.
:D
— StarDust1
plasma TVs · 317 days ago
On the non-Art side, I finally got myself a 50 inch plasma big screen for $1299! I’ve learned alot about plasmas in the last week that I would like to share. I learned that the big names like Samsung, and Sony are pushed by electronic retailers to keep prices higher. Higher prices mean more income not just for the manufacturer but for the stores. And it’s hard for the manufacturer to release a cheap version of their big screens at places like Costco. If they did, the electronic stores would get very angry at them because if there is a cheapo version at Costco, with the same brand name on it, people won’t go to the electronic stores.
So the market tends to keep prices high.
On the alternative, a new company like Vizio, that markets mostly to wherehouse stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, is in a better position to mass produce the same quality big screens but cheaper.
And Vizio I’ve read is now the number one seller of big screens. And the quality of the picture is incredible! Now I just have to hope it lasts ten years. It’s an unknown since the company has no long term history yet.
Also, I’ve learned setting up a big screen the first time can be confusing. I didn’t know parallel to the familiar(analog)signal my cable company sends me, is another set of channels on a digital signal. That confused me at first since the Vizio boots up using a DIGITAL tuner. And not the second analog one. Also digital stations are mixed up on the dial. It’s a random ordered mess. And alot of those station and the programs themselves constantly change in signal resolution (480,720 or 1020) and in picture proportions (good old 4:3 or 16:9). Literally every channel can be different, and every show on that channel. It’s a MESS.
But getting a cable box puts everthing in order. It keeps all the ratios right. And all the channels are grouped together in a better order. (mostly)
So if anyone wants to get one, it’s a good time to buy High Definition.
— StarDust1
Why Stardust? · 326 days ago
hmmm… how unusual… a website is going to tell you about itself…
LOL
I was really fortunate to be able to obtain the name stardust1.com. It’s a interesting name. It’s easy to remember too.
I also find a certain apropos poetic quality about it.
A loooooong looooong time ago, before there were any stars in the heavens, the Universe was filled with hydrogen atoms floating around. And some minute proportion of helium. And there was no such thing as Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, Iron, Calcium, or any of the other elements that you and I are made out of.
So where did they come from?
Stars.
When first stars burned, they created the elements of Life. And then they died and EXPLODED! They spread the atoms you and I are made out of into the vastness of space.
And this Stardust eventually cooled, and formed a clump, and become the planet Earth.
So we all originally debri from the first stars of the Universe. From “Stardust”.
Hence, Stardust1.com
— StarDust1