The Thousand Dot Net by Aliotsy Andrianarivo

August 27, 2008 12:24 PM

Hey, if you want to save the world by making biodegradable plastic forks from corn, go right ahead.

But I'd appreciate it if the fork didn't warp out of shape when I try to eat the delicious kibbeh my wife made for my lunch.

By the way— I love my wife and her delicious kibbeh.

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August 20, 2008 8:39 AM

It seems I need to make an addition to my last entry.

Usain Bolt is not the next Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson, or Carl Lewis. He's in a league of his own.

I'm almost mad at him now for showboating in the 100m. He could have set a mark in that event as untouchable as Johnson's in the 200m.

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August 18, 2008 12:10 PM

Watching the first few days of the Beijing Olympics, I couldn't help but muse at how ho-hum breaking a swimming world record seems. Not to downplay the incredible talent of the athletes, but it seems that the limits of human physical achievement in the pool are yet to be established, what with the frequency of new world records since the advent of Speedo's LZR Racer speedsuits. In this Olympics alone, there have been 25 world records set (and some subsequently broken), and all but two Olympic records have been broken.

That, coupled with Usain Bolt's stunning 9.69 in the men's 100m, got me thinking about another world record: Michael Johnson's unbelievable 200m sprint at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Johnson himself says he's ready to see Bolt break his record, which is surprising given how untouchable Johnson's mark seems. I remember seeing a chart about a decade ago that illustrated how dominant Johnson's record is, and seeing how I couldn't track it down with Google, I've recreated it here (if anyone can find the original chart, circa 1998 or so, I'd love to give credit to the original creator).

This chart shows the twenty twenty-one fastest 200m marks of all time. Each row represents a hundredth of a second. Eyeballing the chart would suggest that the cutting edge of human achievement in the 200m is anything sub-19.7. A 19.59 at Beijing would be phenomenal. Then you scroll down—way down—and you hit Johnson's 19.32. Usain Bolt has his work cut out for him.

This data is taken from the IAAF's website (note: the all-time page didn't include two 2008 runs by Usain Bolt; I've added them to the chart). I'm not sure what the "A" stands for—altitude, maybe?

Some other interesting notes from the chart:

• The previous world record of 19.72, set by Italy's Pietro Mennea, held for 17 years (Johnson broke it at the 1996 Olympic Trials), and was seriously challenged only four times during that period.
• Frank Fredericks ran a 19.68 to claim silver behind Johnson at the 1996 Olympics. They would be the only men to run the 200m faster than Mennea for 10 years, until Xavier Carter and Tyson Gay ran 19.63 and 19.68 respectively in a 2006 race.
• Gay holds four of the twenty fastest marks—the same number as Johnson— including the second-fastest of all time. Unfortunately, Gay failed to qualify for the 200m at Beijing.

Update: So that's what it's like to be linked by Jason Kottke. Thank you and thanks for visiting everyone. Sorry about the comment verification—been having a beastly time with comment spam lately, though that seems to have died down, so I'll temporarily allow commenting again.

And for the record, I'm pretty sure "A" stands for "Altitude," since the IAAF site doesn't list wind-aided times, such as the 9.68 Tyson Gay posted a few weeks back in the 100.

Update 2: Needed to make an update.

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May 8, 2008 11:05 AM

Are you a Christian? Do you make things? Then you should read Matthew Griffin's series on Web Design Worldview, (found via the always thoughtful and wonderfully outspoken Andy Rutledge). Even if you don't make websites, it's a good introduction to applying worldview to your field. I couldn't find an overview page for the series, so here are permalinks to each of the four parts he's published so far (there will be six in total, published every Wednesday).

• Web Design Worldview, Part 1
• Web Design Worldview, Part 2
• Web Design Worldview, Part 3
• Web Design Worldview, Part 4

Speaking of websites: we've launched our official wedding website. May write up a case study if I find time, but I just wanted to note for posterity that it got featured on CSS Mania, the first time a site I've built has been featured in one of the major* CSS galleries. Coolio, and thanks, CSS Mania.

*What defines "major" these days in CSS galleries, anyways? I have no idea. There's like a jillion of them these days, but CSS Mania still seems fairly important.

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March 10, 2008 9:03 AM

I went to OfficeMax Friday night, and found out that Tyler Durden works for the mailing label company.

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February 10, 2008 11:10 PM

She said yes.

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January 15, 2008 11:16 AM

...and man, the new Macbook Air is ridiculously thin and light. I'd be afraid of breaking the thing. The last...

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December 20, 2007 11:15 AM

Ever have one of those days? By 8AM today, I had: Woken up at 5AM, feeling refreshed and ready to...

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November 28, 2007 10:48 AM

Found this quiz via Jason Kottke: How many HTML Elements Can You Name in Five Minutes? I got 47 out...

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November 19, 2007 6:54 PM

This is why I like listening to NPR: in a promo for an upcoming episode of Marketplace that covers government...

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October 31, 2007 10:19 AM

Some of you may have already picked up on this, but for those that haven't: I've updated my portfolio to...

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October 19, 2007 12:45 PM

I can't think of a vignette to lead in to my wrap up for Day 2, so I'll just dive...

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