Linxe's eye

Last March, the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata joined the ISS, staying until few days ago. Besides his scientific task, he was doing a list of experiments for the people (selected in a contest), the list includes: 1. Calisthenics: Is it possible to follow an audio-guided workout program in zero gravity? 2. Backflips: On Earth, backflips take a lot of practice and leg strength. How about in zero gravity? 3. Volleying (soccer): Crumple a piece of paper into a ball and try kicking it around. How does the ball behave in zero gravity? Can you volley it? 4. Push-ups: In space, can you do push-ups while facing the ceiling or walls? 5. Cartwheels: In zero gravity, can you rotate yourself continuously like a windmill? 6. Swimming: Try to swim through the air as if you were in water. Can you move forward by swimming? If not, why not? 7. Spin like an ice skater: On Earth, ice skaters can increase their rotation speed by pulling their arms closer in to the body while they spin. Does the same th...

I always admired Mac as computers, cool designs, functionality in the OS, *nix in the core, everything just works. Many years ago I wished to have my own Mac, unfortunately I never had the income to buy one (Mac are even more expensive in the third-world). Twelve months ago I started to use a Mac for my everyday coding/writing work. Before this, I used Linux principally for the same tasks, so the migration was painless. My Mac is a iMac with a nice large screen (I love it!), 2GB RAM, 300 GB HD, Intel Core 2 Duo, very stylish. The exception in the design is the damn mouse, why one button? Many applications require the missing button, forcing to use the Control key, besides the scroll button is failing and failing. When I find a nice and cheap white 3-button mouse I change it. Put the terminal in the bar as access was the first thing I did, I discovered that is a common pattern for coding people like me. I was not impressed with the desktop effects, after being a regular user of Compiz/...