Actually Cambridge University calls the seminar The Silent Aircraft Initiative. Even if you're not an Aerospace engineer you may learn some useful aspects of mechanical design. This seminar has been added to my engineering seminar search engine.
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Last night I went to a neighborhood party, but forgot to shut my laptop down. Cyrus, our black tabby cat decided he wanted to understand what Web 2.0 and company wide chat via my Fortune 100 firm's Yammer network was all about. Anyhow, Cyrus settled down on my keyboard and invoked some commands … and even took a screenshot via SnagIt (like a dummy … I did not save the screenshot). Four times Cyrus asked (via my profile) … "what are you working on?" Ultimately he received a few responses.  The first response was "writing some reports for root cause investigations"! Thus, if you want to get true value out of company-wide chat … use your cat! Here are two screenshots of our Yammer network responding to Cyrus masquerading as me, and of course, a photo of Cyrus! Click to expand any image to full size.

You need to understand that my cat loves the warmth of my computer, and enjoys walking and sleeping on my laptop … thus his clandestine entries by stepping on various keys!

Although I posted the silent animated tutorial earlier this week, I decided many of you would like to have access to a narrated version … thus:

• Google Metadata Narrated Tutorial
  (hi-res indexed version … may take a moment to load)

This tutorial reviews how Google indexes common software formats: Adobe pdf, Excel xls, HTML, and Powerpoint ppt. You should link to my earlier post to access the full experiment including sample files and other resources. I've provided below a screenshot of the first slide: (click to expand)
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Why not both?! Earlier today, I decided I wanted to take the big step of getting my own domains. After some quick research via my blog host (Typepad) to insure ultimate compatibility, I chose GoDaddy.Com. Some questions:

• Did I choose GoDaddy because of their photos of Danica Patrick?
• Did I choose GoDaddy because of their racy Super Bowl commercials?

I would like to think "not"! After all, I am a happily married man of over 25 years. In my case integration with Typepad and value drove the decision. My total cost for one year's registration for NorthstarNerd.Com and NorthstarNerd.Org and web site hosting (two months) was only $24.14 … such a deal. Thus I invite you to visit (a work in progress)

• NorthstarNerd.Org
  (or)
• NorthstarNerd.Com

Google Search Bots are wonderful things … they help me find great new content (at least to me) with minimal effort. A few days ago I scored and found some great new engineering courses from Georgia Tech on the subject of digital music synthesis. These courses plus a Rose Hulman class I already knew about on using LabView for Musical Signal Processing made me decide I needed to add a new section to the Engineering Learning Wiki. The new wikispace is Music in Engineering! Here are direct links to the newest content:

• Music Synthesis: Theory and Design – Georgia Tech
• Music Synthesis: Electronics – Georgia Tech
• Musical Signal Processing with LabView – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

If you've never used the Engineering Learning Wiki, link on over … perhaps you can even add some content. No account is required, and you will not find a single advertisement.

Finally, link back to a post from over two years ago named Animusic. This computer generated music and animations will "wow" even the most jaded nerd.