Screen to shell

T-Mobile's home page says that their HTC Magic device is customizable "from screen to shell".

I thought they meant the command shell, but now I think they just meant the color of the case.

Galileo's telescope

Google's home page is pointing out that today is the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's public demonstration of his telescope. This reminds me that last summer, at Reginald Foster's Latin class, I memorized the beginning of Galileo's book about his telescope, called Siderius Nuncius, the Starry Messenger.

Magna equidem in hac exigua tractatione singulis de natura speculantibus inspicienda contemplandaque propono. Magna, inquam, tum ob rei ipsius praestantiam, tum ob inauditam per aevum novitatem, tum etiam propter Organum, cuius beneficio eadem sensui nostro obviam sese fecerunt.

Great things indeed in this slim treatise and worthy of inspection and contemplation for all observers of nature do I set out. Great things, I say, not only because of the excellence of the matter itself, not only because of the previously unheard-of novelty, but also because of the Instrument by whose grace these things have made themselves apparent to our senses.

Magnum sane est, supra numerosam inerrantium Stellarum multitudinem, quae naturali facultate in hunc usque diem conspici potuerunt, alias innumeras superaddere oculisque palam exponere, antehac conspectas nunquam, et quae veteres ac notas plusquam supra decuplam multiplicitatem superent.

It is clearly a great thing, on top of the great multitude of fixed Stars, which could be seen with our natural abilities up to this point, to add and expose plainly to view innumerably many others, never before seen, and which are more than ten times as numerous as the old and previously known stars.

Pulcherrimum atque visu iucundissimum est lunare corpus, per sex denas fere terrestres semidiametros a nobis remotum, tam ex propinquo intueri, ac si per duas tantum easdem dimensiones distaret; adeo ut eiusdem Lunae diameter vicibus quasi terdenis, superficies vero noningentis, solidum autem corpus vicibus proxime viginti septem millibus, maius appareat, quam dum libera tantum oculorum acie spectatur: ex quo deinde sensata certitudine quispiam intelligat, Lunam superficie leni et perpolita nequaquam esse indutam, sed aspera et inaequali; ac, veluti ipsiusmet Telluris facies, ingentibus tumoribus, profundis lacunis atque anfractibus undiquaque confertam existere.

It is extraordinarily beautiful and pleasant to the eye to see the body of the Moon, which is almost 60 times the radius of the Earth distant from us, up so close as though it were only twice the Earth's radius from us; so that the diameter of the Moon appears about thirty times larger, the surface nine hundred times larger, and the volume of the Moon twenty-seven thousand times larger as when it is seen with the power of the naked eye: whereby anyone will then understand with the certainty of the senses that the Moon is by no means covered with a smooth and polished surface, but rather a harsh and uneven surface, and that like the face of the Earth itself it is thick with enormous hills, deep chasms, and everywhere full of intricate curves.

I didn't memorize any further than that, but I'll keep going:

Altercationes insuper de Galaxia, seu de Lacteo circulo, substulisse, eiusque essentiam sensui, nedum intellectui, manifestasse, parvi momenti existimandum minime videtur; insuperque substantiam Stellarum, quas Nebulosas hucusque Astronomorum quilibet appellavit, digito demonstrare, longeque aliam esse quam creditum hactenus est, iocundum erit atque perpulcrum.

Moreover to do away with the debates about the Galaxy, or Milky Way, and to reveal its essense to the senses, and even to the mind, hardly seems like it should be considered a small thing: and to show with a finger that the substance of the Stars which one of the Astronomers has so far called Nebulous is far different from what has thus far been believed, will be pleasant and thoroughly beautiful.

Verum, quod omnem admirationem longe superat, quodve admonitos faciendos cunctos Astronomos atque Philosophos nos apprime impulit, illud est, quod scilicet quatuor Erraticas Stellas, nemini eorum qui ante nos cognitas aut observatas, adinvenimus, quae circa Stellam quandam insignem e numero cognitarum, instar Veneris atque Mercurii circa Solem, suas habent periodos, eamque modo praeeunt, modo subsequuntur, nunquam extra certos limites ab illa digredientes. Quae omnia ope Perspicilli a me excogitati, divina prius illuminante gratia, paucis abhinc diebus, reperta atque observata fuerunt.

The truth which far exceeds all wonder and which first motivated us to inform all Astronomers and Philosophers, is this: that we have found four Wandering Stars, known or seen by no one before us, and which (like Venus or Mercury around the Sun) have their own periods around a certain famous and well-known Star, and first go before it, then follow behind it, never exceeding certain limits away from it. All these things were discovered and observed a few days ago with the help of a Glass invented by me (with divine grace first illumining).

Alia forte praestantiora, vel a me, vel ab aliis, in dies adinvenientur consimilis Organi beneficio; cuius formam et apparatum, necnon illius excogitandi occasionem, prius breviter commemorabo, deinde habitarum a me observationum historiam recensebo.

Other things perhaps even more important will eventually be discovered, by me or by others, with the aid of such an Instrument; whose form and apparatus, as well as the occasion of its invention, I will first briefly recount, and then I will describe the history of the observations I made with it.

FSF summit on women in free software

This seems like a timely and useful idea: FSF is holding a summit on women in free software.

I guess the venue and timing could be a challenge for some people (it doesn't seem to be colocated with, or right before or after, anything else in particular), but I hope the event is a great success.

Bike touring

Over the weekend I went bike touring in Marin and Sonoma Counties with Mako, Peter, and Emily. I think the ride on Sunday was my longest single-day ride ever; over the weekend I rode more than 200 km.

Mako has posted tracks for Saturday's ride to San Rafael, Saturday's ride to Alpine Lake, and the full day's ride on Sunday (San Rafael to Santa Rosa via Nicasio and Sebastopol).

I originally planned that we would ride the China Camp loop after arriving in San Rafael, but Peter proposed riding to Alpine Lake instead. That was a fine choice (and a lot more climbing).

Pão sem mel

Last month I really enjoyed eating repeatedly at Café Bonobo, a vegan restaurant in Porto Alegre, RS. One of the many tasty items served there (you can find out on Twitter exactly when they're baking it) is a pão sem mel, a strictly vegan version of the traditional pão de mel.

Jake has a picture of the original recipe (if you don't have a Flickr account, try this version). I made it yesterday and it came out really well. Here's a transcription of the recipe:

• 3 xícaras farinha de trigo
• 1 xícara de melado
• 1 xícara de açúcar mascavo
• 2 colheres (sopa) de óleo
• 1 pitada de sal
• 1 xícara de água
• 1 colher (sopa) de fermento químico
• 100 g de nozes ou castanhas (opcional)
• 1 colher (sopa) de canela em pó
• cobertura de chocolate meio amargo (opcional)

Mistura todos os ingredientes secos. Junta o óleo e o mel[ado] e mistura bem. Adiciona água aos poucos, até ficar cremoso. Adiciona os outros ingredientes, menos o chocolate. Coloca em forma untada com óleo e carinho, leva a assar a 200°C até dourar. Quando esfriar, passar o chocolate derretido (em banho Maria). Dura até 7 a 10 dias em recipiente bem fechado.

And here's my translation:

• 3 cups wheat flour
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 100 g walnuts or other nuts (optional)
• 1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
• semisweet chocolate coating (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and molasses and mix well. Add water gradually until creamy. Add remaining ingredients (except chocolate). Place in a well-greased pan. Bake at 200 °C until golden. When cooled, coat with chocolate melted in a double boiler. Lasts up to 7 to 10 days in a well-sealed container.

I think American molasses might be darker and stronger than Brazilian molasses, because my version came out darker in color and a little more molasses-flavored. Americans might want to try to find a lighter molasses or use a bit less than one cup.

Bonobo has some other great desserts too, but I neglected to get the recipes for those.

Omission

Presumably "tomo lipu kiwen suli pi ma tomo Loma"?

ilo utala mute en mije

mi kalama musi e ilo utala mute e mije. ona li kama tan ma tomo Toja tawa ma Italija en ma pi jan Lawinija. ale li wile e ni: mije ni li wile tawa.

pakala mute lon ma en lon telo li kama tawa ona tan wile pi jan sewi mute en ni: jan sewi Juno utala li pilin ike mute li sin e pilin ike.

ona li wile pali e ma tomo li wile pana e jan sewi ona mute tawa ma tomo Lasio la pakala mute lon utala kin li kama tawa ona.

jan pi ma Lasino en mama mute pi ma tomo Apalonja en tomo lipu kiwen pi ma tomo Loma li kama tan ni.

jan sewi musi o toki tawa mi e tan mute. pakala seme pi wawa sewi ona en pilin ike tan seme la meli lawa pi jan sewi li pali e ni: pakala mute kin en ijo mute kin ike li kama tawa jan ni pi nasin pona?

lawa pi jan sewi li ken ala ken jo e pilin ike ni a?

CodeCon

CodeCon 2009 early registration is now open, and the program has been posted. It looks great.