Technology
gregladen | December 19, 2007Popular Mechanics (one of those magazines that genteel people refuse to admit they read, but that is actually a blast) has published a thing called "Geek the Vote." According to an email from PM, this is:
...an online guide to all the candidates' stances on issues related to science and technology including energy policy and climate change, gun control, science education and infrastructure investment. The full chart, which can be navigated by candidate or issue, is [provided]
The site is here.
This is apparently in response to (maybe not, but there is evidence to suggest this) the Science…
drorzel | December 19, 2007Why does my new car stereo (with spiffy direct iPod connection) come with a remote control? Just where do they think I'm going to go?
pontiff | December 18, 2007Startup weekend will be coming to my backyard in January (literally in my backyard, Adobe is just down the hill from Villa Sophia.) Startup weekend, you say? What the heck is that?
I'd never heard of it either. Luckily, these are computer scientists, so they have a FAQ:
What is Startup Weekend?
A 54 hour event where a bunch of technologists get together to build a community and company.
What is the weekend like?
The weekend is fun, and intense! It starts Friday at 6pm and finishes up Sunday at midnight, the hours in between are up to the community.
Who is the CEO of the weekend?
No CEO,…
gregladen | December 17, 2007I get email... In this case, virus-like but funny email. Pass it on...
COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I…
gregladen | December 17, 2007NYT: Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft
The growing confrontation between Google and Microsoft promises to be an epic business battle. It is likely to shape the prosperity and progress of both companies, and also inform how consumers and corporations work, shop, communicate and go about their digital lives. Google sees all of this happening on remote servers in faraway data centers, accessible over the Web by an array of wired and wireless devices -- a setup known as cloud computing. Microsoft sees a Web future as well, but one whose center of gravity remains firmly tethered to its…
gregladen | December 17, 2007Wikileaks busts Gitmo propaganda team
The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been caught conducting covert propaganda attacks on the internet. The attacks, exposed this week in a report by the government transparency group Wikileaks, include deleting detainee ID numbers from Wikipedia last month, the systematic posting of unattributed "self praise" comments on news organization web sites in response to negative press, boosting pro-Guantanamo stories on the internet news site Digg and even modifying Fidel Castro's encyclopedia article to describe the Cuban president as "an admitted…
gregladen | December 17, 2007Warning to Mac Users: Security Flaw with .Mac:
"The de facto online connectivity software sold along with many Apple computers, .Mac, has a Web interface through which users can check their 'iDisk' while away from their own computer. However, there is no Log-Out button in this Web interface, so most users just close the browser and walk away... not realizing that their iDisk has been cached by the browser and that anyone who wants to can open up the browser, go back to the link in History, and get into their iDisk completely logged in. From here, files can be downloaded and/or deleted. This…
gregladen | December 17, 2007Warning: This site opens with a video in play mode, and it is a bit noisy. Normally, I would not link to such as site because I think that is obnoxious. But it is an interesting site.
Welcome to the Computer History Museum on YouTube. We're committed to preserving and presenting the history and stories of the Information Age. Here on YouTube we offer videos of the many events and lectures at the museum.
The site is here.
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: science, public policy, politics, federal funding, research, reality-based government, 2008 American presidential elections, ScienceDebate2008
I was disappointed, but not really surprised, when three Republican presidential candidates -- Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo and Sam Brownback (who has since dropped out) -- declared that they do not "believe in" the theory of evolution (in my opinion, the correct phrasing should have been "do you accept the theory of evolution?" rather than using the misleading and incorrect phrase believe in, which implies blind faith rather than scientifically…
sb admin | December 17, 2007 There are many brain fitness software products available these days so when I was offered a copy of Core Learning's program Mind Builder, I agreed to check it out. It offers a series of test questions similar to America's SAT, while Mind Builder Pro is a fuller package that also incorporates IQ, career and aptitude tests intended to be "fun mental exercises." Unlike some similarly-marketed software there were no unproven claims of preventing age-related cognitive decline or improving processing speed. There were vague promises like "get smart, stay smart" and "build brain power" - whatever…
gregladen | December 14, 2007... and so on and so on people argue. But they are both right, it is a snake, and it is a programming language. I want to talk about the programming language now. We'll deal with the snake another time. (and boy, do I have snake stories....)
Python is an interpreted computer language, also known as a script language (being a script language and an interpreted language are not necessarily the same thing, but Python is both). I never met a computer language I didn't like and I also never met a computer language that wasn't somehow superior to all other languages according to someone, for…
drorzel | December 14, 2007Here's where things on the Tree of SCIENCE!!! start to get more interesting, and somewhat more obscure:
Yes, that's a small wooden Christmas tree ornament hanging on our full-size Christmas tree. What's this have to do with SCIENCE!!!? Well, obviously, it represents recursion.
recursion, as you know Bob, is an extremely useful technique in computer programming, whereby you define a function in terms of itself. The classic example of this is the factorial function:
n! = 1*2*3*...*(n-1)*(n)
You can write a program to calculate the factorial of a number by defining a function f(n) that has two…
sb admin | December 14, 2007In a parody of Make Magazine projects, Austrian group Monochrom demonstrate how to create a brain computer interface, a.k.a. braicin, using household materials like duct tape, old ice skates, a vintage calculator, and onions in alcohol ("preferably Romanian"). Via Boing Boing TV. Link to extended director's uncut version (shown here).
gregladen | December 13, 20071. w00t (interjection)
expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay"
w00t! I won the contest!
[source]
drorzel | December 13, 20071) I downloaded the demo version of Corel's Grafigo program, which a colleague really likes on his tablet, and earlier this week, I spent a short time playing around with it. A very short time, because there are controls on the top menu bar that simply disappear when you have the tablet in portrait mode-- they're off the screen to the right. These include "Settings" and "Help," making the program significantly less useful. I won't be buying that.
2) A few days ago, I tried to buy a bunch of new music at iTunes. After successfully adding two or three albums to the shopping cart, it suddenly…
grrlscientist | December 12, 2007tags: science, public policy, politics, federal funding, research, reality-based government, 2008 American presidential elections, ScienceDebate2008
I have spoken with quite a few people from CraigsList and other places regarding the logistics and goals for ScienceDebate2008, and have found that there are plenty of misperceptions as to what scientists wish to accomplish. In short; ScienceDebate2008 is not a "science pop-quiz" that demands that the presidential candidates regurgitate a bunch of scientific theories and formulae on television.
Instead, ScienceDebate2008 is focused on…
gregladen | December 11, 2007Proposed legislation that would mandate the use of the Open Document Format (ODF) across the entire Dutch government has infuriated Microsoft. A group promoting open standards sees no threat, however, and has invited Microsoft to join its ranks.
On Wednesday the Dutch parliament will discuss a plan to mandate use of the Open Document Format (ODF) at government agencies. The proposal is part of a wider plan to increase the sustainability of information and innovation, while lowering costs through the reuse of data.
Read the rest here.
neurophilosophy | December 11, 2007
Here's an article about a sophisticated type of advertising which uses hypersonic sound:
New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman's voice right in her ear asking, "Who's there? Who's there?" She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, "It's not your imagination."
Indeed it isn't. It's an ad for "Paranormal State," a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an "audio spotlight" from a rooftop speaker so that the…
neurophilosophy | December 11, 2007Sega is to develop toys controlled by thought, in collaboration with NeuroSky, a Silicon Valley-based start-up company that interfaces biological feedback (such as brain waves) to consumer electronics.
The toys will be based on NeuroSky's ThinkGear, a brain-computer interface (BCI) consisting of a headset which incorporates an EEG. The device is basically the same as the BCIs used to control Second Life avatars and Google Earth, but looks much slicker than either.
BCIs can actually be used for more worthwhile purposes. For example, invasive devices consisting of electrode arrays implanted…