Tag Archives: computers

Interesting Links, March 24, 2013

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Here are links I found interesting on March 24, 2013:

  • How Apple invites facile analysis – "Conjecture and misunderstanding can trump actual knowledge when it comes to evaluating a company; the hubbub surrounding Apple is a case study."
  • Hey! You! Get off of Google’s cloud! – "The death of Google Reader should remind all of us how vulnerable 'free' software services can be to market pressures…. Free software served from the cloud can vanish overnight, or its features can be altered … without much warning. The same isn’t ordinarily true of software that you install on your own computer, or services that you purchase."
  • Sarah Palin and the rejection of scientific method – "She is like a member of a religious sect that does not allow medicine yet cannot understand why the patient’s condition continues to deteriorate." I still can't understand why they keep letting media whore morons like her speak in public to represent their party. Are they trying to chase away the few educated supporters they have left?
  • Fines Slashed In Grain Bin Entrapment Deaths – A tragic story of deaths due to repeated and willful OSHA violations.
  • The Cash Register Rings Its Last Sale – How mobile devices in the hands of sales staff and customers are replacing traditional cash registers and check-out counters.
  • The Mayor’s Geek Squad – Big data in New York City.
  • Can Wind Turbines Make You Sick? – Or is it just another example of the nocebo effect?

Interesting Links, December 27, 2012

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Here are links I found interesting on December 27, 2012:

  • We’re Puny, Insignificant, and Doomed – and That’s the Good News – "For all we know, we may be the only living beings in the universe, or at least the only ones with consciousness. How remarkable that on this remote planet, we’ve got the ability to ask questions, to write blog posts, to seek cures for cancer. If all we have is one another, our brief life spans, and the things we’re able to discover and create, then we’ve got the power and responsibility to make our lives meaningful."
  • Why must the nation grieve with God? – "We are told the Lord works in mysterious ways but, for many people, to suggest there might be an intelligent deity who could rationally act in such a fashion and that that deity is worth praying to and thanking for 'calling them home' seems beyond the pale." Why can't more people see this? Who are they worshiping and why?
  • The Linkblog Cancer – "There’s a cancer spreading through the indie tech blogger community: the blockquote + link post." I absolutely detest blogs that rely on this method of generating "content." What they're doing is taking advantage of the hard work of other content creators to generate hits to their own blogs. Shame on them!
  • This Is How Facebook Tried to Make Money Off You – "For better or worse, this will go down as the year that Facebook really put a dollar sign in front of its users."
  • What Turned Jaron Lanier Against the Web? – "Lanier was one of the creators of our current digital reality and now he wants to subvert the 'hive mind,' as the web world’s been called, before it engulfs us all, destroys political discourse, economic stability, the dignity of personhood and leads to 'social catastrophe.'"
  • Enough! – "Between the humiliating and chaotic collapse of Speaker Boehner's already ludicrously extreme Plan B and Wayne La Pierre's deranged proposal to put government agents in schools with guns, the Republican slide into total epistemic closure and political marginalization has now become a free-fall. This party, not to mince words, is unfit for government." Yeah, and?
  • The Room for iPad – "A physical puzzler, wrapped in a mystery game, inside a beautifully tactile 3D world." Also, a welcome break from the word games I've been playing on my iPad.

Mind Boggling

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6

One definition.

Today, while sitting at my desk in an RV parked in the middle of Central Washington State farmland, I watched a live, full-color feed from outer space on my phone of the historic docking of a privately developed commercial spacecraft to the multi-government built International Space Station. Here’s a screen capture from my phone:

Dragon Docks with ISS

I am old enough to remember when the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon. It was 1969 and I was almost 8 years old. (Aw, come on, don’t do the math.) My mother made us stay up to watch it on the family TV — a big TV console that stood on the floor and required you to get up to change the channels because there was no remote control. The picture we saw of that historic moment looked like this:

Apollo 11 First Step

Do I even need to point out that my phone has more computing power than NASA had when it launched Apollo 11?

We’ve come a long, long way.

I call that mind-boggling.

Interesting Links, December 1, 2011

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Here are links I found interesting on December 1, 2011:

  • U.S. Senator Fires Open Letter to Carrier IQ – Al Franken to the rescue! Let's see if he can get some answers.
  • Stanislaw Burzynski’s public record – "…not only do we have the right to question Burzynski’s “miraculous” treatments, but an obligation to question them." I cannot agree more. PLEASE help expose this quack for what he is.
  • Play the Lottery? Don’t Bet On It – "Time magazine has some financial advice for you. The only problem is, if you follow their advice, you are nearly 100% certain to lose money. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think this is the sort of advice Time (or anyone) should be doling out." It's not you, Ted. I agree wholeheartedly.
  • How to disable Carrier IQ on Apple iPhone – Easy to follow instructions for turning off Carrier IQ access on an iPhone. Slight but easy to figure out modifications make it work on iPad, too.
  • Gingrich Gave Push to Clients, Not Just Ideas – "Newt Gingrich is adamant that he is not a lobbyist, but rather a visionary who traffics in ideas, not influence. But in the eight years since he started his health care consultancy, he has made millions of dollars while helping companies promote their services and gain access to state and federal officials." And exactly who is surprised by this?
  • The personal computer is dead – I think Steve Jobs said some of this. But Zittrain goes on to argue that we need to take control of the situation. Sadly, there are too many apathetic sheep in the world to take control of anything these days.
  • The Sovereign Debt Train Wreck – This well-written and easy to understand article paints a dismal picture of the current economic situation.
  • On Girls/Boys Novelty Kits – Kudos to Edmond Scientifics for reading the writing on the wall — and acting on it.
  • Science kits … for girls – It's time to stop gendering our world.
  • NeverWet: Nanotechnology for Your Airplane – This seems almost too good to be true. What EAA is suggesting is covering the aircraft with a coat of this stuff to repel moisture and dirt and prevent the accumulation of ice. Not sure how that would help a desert-based aircraft like mine, but I'm sure there are plenty of other uses for it.
  • Translation From Corporate Jargon Doublespeak to English of Carrier IQ’s ‘Media Alert’ – Translation by John Gruber. I can't wait to see how this all plays out.

Interesting Links, October 25, 2011

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Here are links I found interesting on October 25, 2011: