Friday, April 8, 2011

RIP, Kermit...

Geeks of a certain age will remember Kermit – a Columbia University project that became one of the first standard ways to communicate between computers.  Every bulletin board system in the '80s and early '90s supported Kermit.  If your modem software supported Kermit (as virtually all such software did), you'd be able to communicate (and transfer files) with any bulletin board.

Back in the pre-Internet days, I implemented Kermit several times – in Z80 assembly language, 8086 assembly language, and the last time in Turbo Pascal.  Just thinking about Kermit brings back all sorts of memories of the days when personal computers were just getting started.

Columbia University announced yesterday that the Kermit project is finally being terminated, after more than 30 years.  RIP, Kermit...

Taste and Smell: There's an App for That!

3D Lightshow...

Amazing stuff, via my mom: lightshow.

Yon Gigapan...

A “gigapan” is a panoramic photo made by stitching together lots of smaller photos – sometimes hundreds or even thousands of them.  Michael Yon is over in Afghanistan right now, and he's tried his hand at a gigapan.  Take a look at the result – and see one place in Afghanistan in incredible detail...

Thank You...

Via my mom: