Technology
gregladen | February 16, 2008Does that change your opinion about Macs, or about Limbaugh? (Or neither)
This is what Limbaugh was recently quoted as saying:
Mr. Jobs, please help me. I know we don't agree on anything. You love Al Gore -- and by the way, I've got no problem with him now, but can you put me to somebody that can get this going, because I know it's gotta work for most people. What am I doing wrong? [My producer] said, "You don't understand it. Jobs has you tagged. He's making sure your computers don't work. If you put out this appeal to Steve Jobs and ask him to help, his reply is going to be, 'Mr. Limbaugh…
revere | February 16, 2008A lot of things that seem on first glance to be "news" are really just reprints or slight edits of press releases written to tout a commercial product. This is also true of "Newsletters" that charge money for inside news.
Datamonitor is a company that claims to be "the world's leading provider of online data, analytic and forecasting platforms for key vertical sectors. We help 5,000 of the world's largest companies profit from better, more timely decisions" (Datamonitor website). Some of the stuff they give away, since I see it and I don't subscribe to anything they sell. But based on its…
sciencetolife | February 15, 2008What some are calling "Wiihab" is fast becoming a craze in rehabilitation centers across the country.
Wiihab is the use of Nintendo's Wii video game system as a physical therapy tool for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. The gaming system is said to provide patients with improved endurance, strength, coordination and entertainment all at the same time.
Wii games (especially sports games like baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis) appear to be useful in physical therapy because they require body movements similar to traditional therapy…
gregladen | February 14, 2008Beta. So, don't download this unless you want to play. Details here.
Here's the skinny:
Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security including support for Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager.
Improved ease of use through: easier add-on discovery and installation, improved download manager search and progress indication in the status bar, resumable downloading, full page zoom, and better integration with Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.
Richer…
clock | February 14, 2008We have already covered, in quite some detail the problems of passing gas in space. Not so much a problem inside a spaceship, but potentially a problem on a space walk, especially if the said activity, if particularly powerful, produces a rip in the scafander. The air leaves and it's all over for you. Perhaps those beans tasted too well last night, eh?
The holes in the hulls of spaceships and in space-suits are incompatible with human life.
Then, there is the perennial question about sex in space. Did they or didn't they? Officially, nothing ever happened. Unofficially, sure it did.…
purepedantry | February 14, 2008You have got to see this video.
Sakaue-Sawano et al. may have created the coolest molecular biology video I have ever seen. They developed a system of reporters to watch the cells transition between the different stages of the cell cycle.
This is cool, but it is going to take a bit of explaining to understand why.
Background
All cells go through a cycle of steps in order to replicate their DNA and divide into two new cells. This cycle is called the cell cycle, and it is characterized by the presence of certain tightly coordinated proteins during each particular stage. I am referring to…
pontiff | February 12, 2008Some days it seems the universe is trying to tell you something. The last few days, this has apparently been something to do with clothing:
Self cleaning clothes. I really need these as I am in a constant battle with mustard.
Via Three-Toed Sloth, A Call for Professional Attire on dressing in academia. Recently my dog ate the elbows out of a new sweater, so I now have a sweater with patched elbows, the ultimate in professorial attire, I suppose. Sadly the article doesn't take the argument to its conclusion and require that not just profs wear fancy clothes, but that students also be…
gregladen | February 11, 2008Who doesn't? Well, for one, all the people who have sipped the Kool-Ade of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office is adware.
Or at least, this is the arugment made by OpenOffice.orgNinja, and by the way, something I've been saying for years.
Is Microsoft Office adware? Wikipedia defines adware as "any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used."
Ninja then goes on to demonstrate that this is true.
It goes beyond that, to the level of malware, in that malware…
gregladen | February 10, 2008Secret information available only on, well, major news outlets, seems to indicate that Microsoft has backed off a recent attempt at a hostile takeover of Yahoo.
Many outlets are echoing a subscribers-only report in the Wall Street Journal that Yahoo's board has decided to reject Microsoft's takeover offer. The NYTimes offers the only other independent reporting so far confirming this claim. The report says that Yahoo will formally reject the offer in a letter on Monday, since they believe it "massively undervalues" the company. Microsoft offered $31 per share, a 62% premium on the stock…
sporte | February 10, 2008A few weeks ago I attended a education conference at Pacific Science Center entitled, "A Conversation that Can Change the World."
It was interesting. Everyone was pretty enthusiastic at the meeting and there was a lot of positive energy.
We got to see Theresa Britschgi from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute make Jack Faris, President of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, get dressed up in a biohazard protection suit.
We heard from Dennis Schatz about the Pacfic Science Center's outreach programs.
We had our required moment of technical failure when Ran Hinrichs,…
gregladen | February 9, 2008With maverick flair and a strategist's disdain for accepted wisdom, Jaime Lerner re-invented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way he managed to revolutionize bus transit, awaken green consciousness in a populace accustomed to litter and blight, and change the way city planners and bureaucrats world-wide conceive what's possible within the tangled structure of the metropolitan landscape.
gregladen | February 8, 2008Despite a love and fascination for Rome dating to his days as an architecture student, David Macaulay found the path to his book Rome Antics took some unusual (and frustrating) turns. Through failed pop-up designs, scribbled out title possibilities, surreal sketchbook pages (think "Piranesi meets Escher"), and rambling story lines, MacAulay details each step of his winding journey towards completion of his illustrated homage to the city.
gregladen | February 8, 2008Guitarist and singer Raul Midon performs "All the Answers" in a world premiere at TED2007. "This is a song I wrote about the meaning of technology," he says, and he asks his listeners: What will we do with all this information we have at our fingertips? He follows with the sprightly "Tembererana."
pontiff | February 8, 2008As a native Californian, my sworn enemy is the state of Texas. Thus it gives me great pleasure to see that the state of Washington is tied with Texas in venture capital funding. Soon, Seattle, will rule the world! Okay, maybe not. But I love Oren Etzioni's comment on comparing Silicon Valley to Seattle:
Mr. Etzioni says Seattle has at least one advantage over its storied counterpart in California. "People aren't distracted by too much sunshine," he said. "They sit in their offices or garages and get creative."
pontiff | February 7, 2008Via John Cook's Venture blog, introducing Alaska Airlines new clippy, "Jenn".
My discussion:
You Asked: Where are you?
Jenn: Right now, it appears I live with you...but don't worry, I won't overstay my welcome! How can I help you?
You Asked: Are you human?
Jenn: I am a virtual assistant, here to help you navigate our Web site.
You Asked: Are you smart?
Jenn: I know quite a bit about traveling with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. What can I help you with?
You Asked: do planes fly by flapping their wings
Jenn: I would love to help you, but I am not sure I understand your question. Could you…
gregladen | February 7, 2008An ambiguous report from Dubai suggests that a total of five undersea cables have been cut.
A total of five cables being operated by two submarine cable operators have been damaged with a fault in each.
[source]
I have not seen any other information on this.
sciencetolife | February 6, 2008
Scientists are using T-Ray technology in a new way-to help uncover murals that have been hidden under layers of plaster or paint in old buildings.
T-Rays (which are pulses of terahertz radiation that were previously used in space shuttle devices) have now been applied to this new technology by a team of researchers that includes scientists at the University of Michigan and the Louvre Museum.
Their findings are published in a paper entitled "Terahertz imaging for non-destructive evaluation of mural paintings," in the February 2008 edition of Optics Communications.
"Terahertz is a…
clock | February 5, 2008There were already two Science Foo Camps (in summers of 2006 and 2007) and two Science Blogging Conferences (in winters of 2007 and 2008).
But the hunger for such meetings is far from satiated. So, if you have time and money and can travel, you can choose to attend the SciBarCamp on March 15-16, 2008, where Eva is one of the organizers and Larry will be there.
Or you can go to the International Science Media Fair in Trieste on April 16-20, 2008. I'll be there, on two panels, one about Open Access, another on Science Blogging.
Or, a little later, you can attend the World Science Festival…
gregladen | February 5, 2008 Robin Chase rose to fame by founding Zipcar, the world's biggest car-sharing business, but that was one of her smaller ideas. In this presentation she travels much farther, contemplating road-pricing schemes that will shake up our driving habits and a no-fee mesh network as sprawling as the United States Interstate highway system. But how could you build a free wireless system that vast and pervasive? Chase finds the answer in a few short lines from The Graduate. And it has nothing to do with plastic.
drorzel | February 5, 2008I'm going to be giving a bunch of presentations in the coming year, mostly using PowerPoint on my Tablet PC. One of the awkward things about using it in class is that I have to keep walking back across the room to change slides (I prefer physically pointing at the screen to waving a laser pointer around). Thus, I am considering buying a presentation remote-- one of those wireless clicker things that lets you move back and forth without being at the computer.
This being the Internet, I'm sure people have Opinions about this. So, what sort of presentation remote should I buy?
Terms, conditions…