How I am related to Genghis Kha

How I am related to Genghis Khan - World - Times Online : the fascinating proof from genetics that an accountant in Florida is a descendent of Mongols.

This is less interesting than it sounds. I too, am almost certainly descended from Ghengis Khan and Mohammed and just about any major figure in history who had lots of children.

http://editor.slate.com/default.aspx/id/2138060/

The accountant can show that he's (probably) a direct male descendent, which is kindda neat, but not very relevant genetically. You are just as much descended from your mother as from your father, so it could easily be the case that your mother is a direct descendent of Ghengis Khan's daughters. Due to a quirk in the Y-chromosome, it's possible to prove the male descendency but not the female.

Test-driving a Kia

My wife and I are not car people. We just want reliable transportation from one place to another, and our 1999 Ford Windstar easily meets our needs. Or at least it has until its engine light developed an expensive habit of illuminating itself to the tune of thousands of dollars of repairs in the past year. Still, the car is just fine, and at only 57,000 miles we're happy to continue driving for many more years.

But when does a used car become more hassle to repair than it's worth? That’s what's bothering me, and so recently we've started looking around. We're okay with a used mini-van, and Consumer Reports says the 2003 Sienna is the best. But even the pre-owned ones are over $20K -- sometimes over $30K -- not that much cheaper than the brand new ones!

But what if we could get a brand new one that was just as good? That's what Consumer Reports thinks about the Kia, and today we went to Lee Johnson Kia in Kirkland to give it a test drive. Our conclusion: it's nice, very nice--certainly better than our Windstar on just about every dimension. It's quieter, with more power, better turning radius, better breaking. More interior room, etc. etc.

They are apparently trying hard to convince people of their reliability, so they throw in a 100K 10-year "limited powertrain warranty" and a 5-year basic and anti-perforation warranty plus roadside assistance. I've looked through the fine print and I don't see any obvious catches. It looks like you really don't need to worry.

So what do you think? Anybody have experience with the Kia? Which is better, the Kia or a used Sienna?

Get rid of pesky teenagers

Our hearing gets worse as we get older, especially our sensitivity to high-pitched sounds. UK entrepreneur Harry Stapleton turned that problem into a product, called Mosquito, that emits an annoying sound that only teenagers can hear. The rest of us can't hear a thing, so if you have a problem with pesky teenagers hanging out near you, just turn on the mosquito and watch them all run away.

You can buy it online for about $1000.

Brain UI isn't as cool as you think

My buddy Paul pointed me to this week's NYTimes article about how Honda Says Brain Waves Control Robot . Somebody at their car labs has a demo of a person controlling a robot through brain waves.

One of our employees is really into this stuff -- calls it BUI (Brain UI). Ray Kuzweill takes it for granted that this will be a reality by the Singularity, which is all set for 2045, although the brainwave stuff happens sooner, like in 10 or 20 years.

I'm not convinced this is terribly interesting. Maybe it's nice to not have to physically interact with a computer, but you still have to think. Brainwaves are an unstructured mess until you focus them into a unified thought. But that's exactly what language is. Our vocal cords, hands, eyes -- they're extensions of our brain's thought-focusing machinery. I bet you'd find that in most situations it's easier to simply do what you do right now: use speech or hand gestures.

Donald Knuth - Stanford Computer Scientist

A nice feature about one of the heroes of computer science, Donald Knuth, in this month's Stanford Magazine. When I was an undergrad, a friend introduced me to him as "the god of computers", but it wasn't until later that I realized how influential he was. He wrote Tex and Metafont, two early typesetting apps that got me interested in fonts.

Two important facts about him that explain everything: he's from Wisconsin and he's a devout Lutheran. The article adds some more facts, like that he (still) writes several computer programs each week. I wonder what kind of computer he uses?

The Marriage of Bill and Hillary

Clintons Balance Married and Public Lives - New York Times:

Since the start of 2005, the Clintons have been together about 14 days a month on average, according to aides who reviewed the couple's schedules. Sometimes it is a full day of relaxing at home in Chappaqua; sometimes it is meeting up late at night. At their busiest, they saw each other on a single day, Valentine's Day, in February 2005 � a month when each was traveling a great deal. Last August, they saw each other at some point on 24 out of 31 days. Out of the last 73 weekends, they spent 51 together. The aides declined to provide the Clintons' private schedule.

sprague channel: Live on the PiXPO Network

I just created a new video channel, Richard Sprague's Kids, on a new site called PiXPO.

It's like YouTube, only it streams directly from my PC. That means no mess with uploading to a central server, although my PC must be turned on for you to view content.