Digital Think Tank

The All Free Dictionaries project maintains free online dictionaries in over 43 languages. They are developing a new concept that will unite all the different dictionaries into one universal dictionary. This basically means that one only one SQL query will be necessary for retrieving all the available translations, which is very practical both in terms of table structure and query time. They intend to make this dictionary available for free (GPL).

It is possible for everyone to contribute, and I have added several English-Norwegian translations myself.

A great project!

(via Slashdot)

I have added a feature that displays the most recent blog posts on my website. Sometimes playing around with CSS is a real chore; it took quite a bit of time to position that box correctly. And in the end, it didn’t display right in Opera or IE. Firefox, on the other hand, displayed exactly what I wanted. Some minor issues remain, like resizing the window in IE, but that shall be fixed eventually. I must now leave the computer and do something socially productive - set up my neighbours ADSL connection

An interesting article on how censorship does not work. MSN Spaces is Microsofts blogging service that turns out to contain censorship controls. However, they are far from perfect, and many titles that we, as humans, would deem inappropriate, make it through. Why try to censor blogs in the first place?

On another note, read this article that mentions Microsofts terms of use for this service. They own you….

Everything is going digital! I found this on BoingBoing. Go pop some bubblewrap and get into the holiday spirit!

Imagination Cubed is a very interesting idea. You can collaborate with others by scetching drawings using this tool. It looks really cool, and the different pens and brushes are nicely designed. I have played around with it and the results are pretty good, considering my lack of artistic qualities.

The service is free - anyone can visit their website and start drawing and inviting friends, etc. So this got me thinking, what’s the catch? Enter the Terms of Use agreement. Point 5 basically states that by using the service you agree that all copyrights and intellectual property rights will be assigned to GE. In other words, don’t draw anything on that board that you don’t want to hang on to.

The link to Imagination Cubed from GE’s website says “Share your imagination”. So it’s a give and take operation: GE provides you with the tool, and you give them whatever brilliant ideas you may have.

The same Terms of Use agreement states that GE encourages using Imagination Cubed for your personal, non-commercial use. So this may seem ok. After all, they do tell you not to use the tool to design a revolutionary microprocessor. But say that I want to design a new logo for my personal website - what then?

I am currently reading Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, so I may be overly paranoid, but the fact remains that collaboration along GE’s terms would be very limited if people were aware of what they are agreeing to.

(To see the Terms of Service, go to Imagination Cubed, launch the tool, click on ‘Invite a Friend’, choose ‘By E-mail’ and click on ‘Terms of Use’ in the popup window. The site is done entirely in Flash, so I can’t link to the Terms of Use directly.)

Mark Twain: Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings

This is a collection of writings that were not published during Mark Twain’s lifetime. After his death, the editor of this collection presented the manuscript to Clara Clemens, Twain’s daughter, who objected to its publication because certain parts of it gave a questionable view of her father’s beliefs. She eventually consented, and we are fortunate enough to see a different side of Mark Twain in these writings.

The best piece is the one entitled Letters from the Earth, where Satan is banished to earth for a period of 1000 years in order to see how the Human-Race experiment is coming along, and writes letters describing his experiences. The result is a critique of society, religion and morals, that sheds light on the contradictions between actions and words, and the subtle discrepancy between what we are and what we want to be.

Religion is an element in this volume, so Clara’s objection may be understood; Satan critisizing earth is not exactly how she would want her father to be remembered. However, the intellectual sharpness that is demonstrated in this volume is superb.

Read this book, and enjoy a very clever satire.

Also, check out Mark Twain Quotations for a great collection of Twain’s quotes.

Tom Robins: Still Life with Woodpecker

The back cover of this book proclaims it to be a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. Actually, the love story revolves around the pack, but that is a minor detail.

Robins explains to us the mysteries of the pyramids, complains constantly about the uselessness of his Remington SL3 typewriter, discusses the difference between criminals and outlaws, tells us about the nature of redheads, all while sticking to his Camel cigarettes-agenda. He analyzes the pack thoroughly, so if you’re trying to quit smoking, you should probably wait some time before reading this book.

This is definitely worth reading. I was left with a very good feeling when I finished this book. I just sat there, contemplating life, love, and all the choices we make that seem small, yet have incredible consequences.

This is what the bar looks like at Den Gamle Majors Lab in Oslo.

The first snowmen of the year, made on Nov. 17, 2004, just outside of the Norwegian School of Management. I wish I could give credit to the sculptors, however I don’t remember who they are. Perhaps one of them will stumble across this entry and let me know. Although the chances of that are slim, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

This is an excellent read! It is very cleverly written and actually had me laughing a number of times. Truss wants us to become punctuation vigilantes, correcting our deteriorating language whenever signs such as “Come inside for Book’s” make us wince in pain. The following are just some of the weapons of choice:

big pens
tin of paint with big brush
strong medication for personality disorder

The last item is essential. Try telling a friend that you are reading a book about punctuation and enjoying it immensely. The look you will get will explain everything. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book. It will leave you feeling slightly more nerdy than before, but you will be more watchful of punctuation. This is not to say that reading it has made me use correct punctuation in emails or SMS messages. On the contrary, I still send emails that are written exclusively in lower case letters. I have, however, become more careful in my writing.

The weblog has been added. I am feeling quite good about this accomplishment. Hopefully I will start to use it and update the site more often. I have recieved many requests for a Pictures section, but I am honestly not sure whether I will make one or not. There is only so much of one’s life that should be available in the public domain. So it’s an issue of my privacy, combined with the fact that I really don’t want to go through my pictures and pick out the good ones.

Several papers have been added to the Writings section. In fact, the entire section has been added. The site is slowly growing…

A brand new site with a somewhat new look. This time around I’m using PHP, CSS and XML to make things interesting. The drink database that was my pride and joy shall be put up in due time. It’s a matter of embedding the perl scripts that run in into the new php code and getting it all to work. In the meantime, look around and, if you’re prone to commenting, send suggestions.