We are collecting information about hardware interfaces of modern and obsolete hardware, including pinouts of ports, expansion slots, and other connectors of computers and different digital devices. This information is essential for everyone who wants to analyze insights of modern computer hardware, explore ways it s works, design devices with computer connection.

Our handbook includes more than 1000 documents :

* Pinouts of computer hardware components, internal connectors, buses and input/output ports i.e. PC Serial port pinout, PCI Bus .
* Pinouts and brief information about some common computer hardware interfaces such a RS232 interface, USB, ATA/IDE .
* Pinouts of audio/video connectors i.e. S-Video connector or VGA connector pinout
* Pinouts of cellular phones, consumer audio/video hardware and over devices i.e. Nokia Pop port pinout
* Schemes of computer peripherals and other devices cables and converters i.e. USB to RS232 serial converter schematic
* Layout and numbering scheme of common and device-specific connectors

All documents are free and available online in english and russian languages.

Ever need pin-outs for some wacky device? Unsure how to wire your particular flavor of "serial"? Wanna crunk together your own ipod dock? These russians got the right idea. As w/ all products of the sirius cybernetics corporation, "share and enjoy".

--timball

Handbook of hardware pinouts, cables schemes and connectors layouts @ pinouts.ru

Amsterdam apartments and cosy houseboats. We directly confirm reservations
and respond to your questions (by email) within a few hours. We've made also
a selection of Charming and Luxury Hotels in Amsterdam.

This is a neat sight. At some point I'm gonna go visit .nl and http://www.houseboathotel.nl is a way for me to rent a boat instead of a hotel. They don't have just boats, but rent looks reasonable and it's definitely a unique way to travel.

--timball

Speciality of Amsterdam - Houseboats - Amsterdam Apartments

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan names names in a caustic passage from a forthcoming memoir that accuses President Bush, Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney of being "involved" in his giving the press false information about the CIA leak case.

McClellan’s publisher released three paragraphs from the book “WHAT HAPPENED: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong With Washington.”

[skipping to the juicy bits]

“I had unknowingly passed along false information,” McClellan wrote.

“And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

Fmr aide McCellan feels like he got a raw deal. With his new publisher and these firebombs I'm sure he'll get a different deal. Book comes out April 21st.

--timball

McClellan points finger at Bush, Rove - Mike Allen and Michael Calderone - Politico.com

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) plans to resign his seat by year's end, a senior Republican official told Politico.

The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job. He had regained a post in leadership after he resigned following racially insensitive remarks at a birthday party for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).

Something doesn't smell right. Sen Lott (R-MS) was *ultra* unhappy when he got ousted from the senate leadership and took him four years to get back to where he was in 2002. Not just that but he *JUST* got re-elected in '06. There's some idle speculation about he fact that if he retires *this* year he can start lobbying the senate members in one year instead of two, but that's no reason to leave the senate early. Especially after 34 years of service.

Anyways Gov Barbour (R) gets to appoint someone to fill out the seat till '08 and then there's a runoff for a seat that ends on 2012.

UPDATE: From an old new yorker article I read in a dentist's office:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/05/12/030512fa_fact_lemann?currentPage=4

I asked Rove if it was true that he had engineered the demise of Trent Lott, of Mississippi, as Senate Majority Leader, and Lott’s replacement by the more Bush-friendly Bill Frist, of Tennessee—it would be hard to find anyone in Washington who believed he hadn’t. (In 1990, Lott publicly criticized President George H. W. Bush for raising taxes, and the Bushes have long memories.) “No,” Rove said, flatly. Then he mentioned, in what I thought was a less than entirely sombre tone, that on the day the Lott affair reached its dramatic peak, when Lott was scheduled to appear on Black Entertainment Television to defend himself, Rove had got a call from his friend Bill Frist: “Monday morning, Frist calls me and says, ‘You know, on Friday we’re supposed to take our boys and go hunting in South Texas together—you think we ought to go?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, let me think about it. Can I call you tomorrow?’ And the next day”—after Lott’s performance on BET, which came across as abjectly liberal, and failed to save him—“I call Frist and say, ‘I don’t think it’s going to be good for you or for me to be seen in South Texas, hunting with our boys.’ I think the world of Bill, but I don’t take credit.” That certainly settles that!

--timball

Top official: Lott to resign - Politico.com

Abstract: In this paper, based on a weighted object network, we propose a recommendation algorithm, which is sensitive to the configuration of initial resource distribution. Even under the simplest case with binary resource, the current algorithm has remarkably higher accuracy than the widely applied global ranking method and collaborative filtering. Furthermore, we introduce a free parameter $\beta$ to regulate the initial configuration of resource. The numerical results indicate that decreasing the initial resource located on popular objects can further improve the algorithmic accuracy. More significantly, we argue that a better algorithm should simultaneously have higher accuracy and be more personal. According to a newly proposed measure about the degree of personalization, we demonstrate that a degree-dependent initial configuration can outperform the uniform case for both accuracy and personalization strength.

I "personally recommend" this paper for reading.

--timball

[0711.2506] Effect of initial configuration on network-based recommendation

Gina Elise is on a quest to raise funds for hospitalized vets. She's doing it w/ a calendar. She was at blogworld and she's increadibly hot.

Go pick-up your jaw and buy a calendar.

--timball

Pin Up Calendars for Vets - Benefit Calendar for Veterans Hospitals

What is Bikely?

Put very simply, Bikely helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes.

It can be quite tricky traversing a car dominated city by bicycle, particularly when you need to travel an unknown route to a new destination.

But the chances are, someone has cycled that way before you. Bikely makes it easy for him or her to show you the best way.
Bikely needs you!

Bikely is young and growing fast. But it still needs more people like you to submit your favorite bike paths.

As we collect more and more routes, Bikely can become an incredibly useful resource for the cycling community!

Membership is free, fast and easy. So join now »

Or if motorbikes are more your thing, check out our motorcycle routes on MotoWhere.

User submitted and built bicycle paths and trail/road notes for all your commuting/recreational needs. I'm gonna start posting my routes w/ all the places to eat on the way.

--timball

Bike Trails, Paths & Routes From Over 40 Countries at Bikely.com

We advise clients seeking one-way freighter passage to ALL foreign destinations that they must bear onward travel documents. In addition, we advise all clients to check with consulates and embassies of the countries they will visit for additional information on entry requirements, including necessary period of passport validation for entry into that country. Due to increased security concerns, travelers should expect increased entry requirements and entry scrutiny for the immediate future.

The listings below represent the majority of reliable passenger-carrying freighters departing from North American ports and select foreign departures. The ports are "typical": all itineraries are contingent on cargo. No two sailings are identical and ports of call and length of voyage are never guaranteed. Fares, unless otherwise noted, are in U.S. dollars, per person, double occupancy and are subject to change. Vessels are fully containerized unless otherwise indicated. Rates on many freighters listed are subject to foreign currency fluctuations. For more details on any service, contact the TravLtips Reservation Office, P.O. Box 580188, Flushing, N.Y. 11358. Toll Free (800) 872-8584.
Fax: (718) 224-3247. E-mail: info@travltips.com. We are not responsible for errors, omissions, fare or schedule changes.

This listing is intended to be a guide. Changes occur constantly, so please request a rate sheet for the latest information.
The information in these listings is accurate to the best of our knowledge, but we reserve the right to make corrections.

Please Note: The Euro fluctuates daily against the dollar, and has remained strong recently. Therefore, the exchange rate is unchanged in this issue. Most fares in this listing are based on a conversion of Euro 1.00 = US$1.45. However, euro-based fares are subject to change at any time. The actual US$ fare will be based on the exchange rate at the time the currency is purchased. Any decrease in the fare at time of ticketing from that quoted will be refunded; any increase will be collected.

So here's the deal. You must get all your visas BEFORE you get on these boats or else you'll be spending lots of time on the docks or worse. Food and amenities are limited. Most boats have 6-12 spaces for passengers. (If the boat has more than 12 passengers the boat is a "passenger liner" and requires a doctor.) For all of this hardship you get three meals a day, a boat basically to yourself + the crew for over a month and the occasional "social drinking" activities.

Considering most commercial cruises cost +$10k this sounds like a doable option for those who want to float for a while. I wonder what network is like on these boats.

for a story about a freighter trip from NYC -> NYC via south america check out this NYT article

--timball

Freighter Directory from the specialists in cruise & freighter travel

I NEED THIS BUTTON!

--timball

"Terrorist Buster" Logo — Central Intelligence Agency

A court hearing officer ordered Mr. Scaife to pay his estranged wife $725,000 a month in preliminary temporary support shortly after she filed for divorce early last year. The amount was derived from a standing formula in the law that places temporary support at 40 percent of a husband's income.

GET A PRE-NUP

--timball

Millions up for grabs in Scaife divorce fight