Now everyone’s a “Maker”
My ship has come in, literally. Here is the SS Ellen: I just discovered Shapeways, an online 3D printing service that lets you build your own (somewhat random) spaceship in one of three colors, and
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Category: News
How and why to #quitFacebook
After logging in to Facebook yesterday and seeing yet another notice about how Facebook is going to swap my data with just about any site they feel like, I realized I don’t want to have to check their extremely complicated privacy settings every week or two to make sure they haven’t changed something I care about.
Besides being an incredible waste of time, it’s futile: they have made a practice of making significantly bad changes you can’t do anything about. Some of these changes can have real consequences down the road, and I just don’t need that. Moreover, it is not clear what real effect the settings have, in practice. So, since I didn’t grow up with Facebook and I’m not going to go through social withdrawal, it’s out.
Continue readingCorn mazes in Google Earth
With Fall coming, it’s time for Corn mazes. There are loads of them to find in Google Earth. Here are a few to get you started, including the Google Earth KML files. In England, they
Continue readingOil may be generated without biological processes
If this is true, it could be revolutionary. Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary For Crude Oil And Natural Gas, Swedish Researchers Find ScienceDaily (2009-09-12) — Researchers in Sweden have managed to prove
Continue readingAdvanced interfaces, “Smart Ecosystems” and performance support systems in the workplace
“A civilization without instrumentalities? Incredible.” –Forbidden Planet
Although it often seems that computers and communication devices have been growing smaller and smaller with no end in sight, for some purposes, they are still far too intrusive and unintuitive. There are many workplace scenarios where data and communication services would be very beneficial as performance support systems, but the constraints and awkwardness of existing computer interfaces would interfere with the task at hand.
Fortunately, researchers have been working steadily for decades to make computers and communication devices nearly vanish by embedding them into our surroundings and networking them so they can sense the environment and interact with us in a manner that would integrate better with our living and working situations.
Early research groups developed scenarios to demonstrate the utility of these systems, which included independence support for the elderly, meeting facilitation, augmented driving and enhanced social interaction.
Continue readingPanda cub diary 2009: Yun Zi
Bai Yun’s fifth cub was born on August 5, 2009 in the San Diego Zoo. Of course, I’ve been diligently shooting over-the-top-cute screen captures from the webcam ever since. Here are some of the best, in order.
Aug. 6: Not much to see – he’s hidden!
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Playing futurologist: small consequences of technological changes
Although some great books [1 and 2] have been written about the huge changes being wrought on society and culture by the digital revolution, it’s just as interesting to speculate about the smaller consequences of the adoption of new technology. Here are some of the ones I’ve noticed, but perhaps you will have your own to add. Please jump in and comment!
Item: Records have given way to CD’s which have given way to digital music streaming and downloads
- The 70 minute CD-length album format has no real reason to exist anymore. There is no longer a reason to group unrelated tracks together in any particular way. We could even go back to the lengthy psychedelic and progressive rock tracks, if anyone wanted to hear them. Tracks can be sold grouped with hundreds of others or individually.
- You can’t really give CD’s as wrapped gifts anymore, at least not to people under 60. Who wants that junk cluttering up their house? Continue reading
Progress in the fight against Hospital Acquired Infections
The problem:
Over the last few years, public attention has been focused increasingly on the problem of nosocomial or hospital acquired infections (HAI’s). Why is there so much concern? A study by the CDC published in the March/April 2007 issue of the journal Public Health Reports, estimated that 1.7 million hospital patients per year ― 4.5 of every 100 admissions ― become infected, causing or contributing to the deaths of nearly 100,000 people per year. (IHI.org) 100,000 people per year is about 1/5 of the total deaths from cancer per year in the US, or about the same as the total stroke or accidental deaths. Or, another way to understand the size of this number, picture the population of South Bend Indiana, dying every year of mostly preventable causes. This is an epidemic.
Continue readingAirplane related Deep vein thrombosis
Quick, what is the the fifth leading cause of death in the United States? Heart problems? Liver failure? Cancer? You probably won’t believe me when I tell you it is flying in airplanes. Deep Vein
Continue readingNew Google Gadget: The Daily Bailout
My first attempt at a Google Gadget is now available, ready to contribute to your information overload and general level of anxiety. When loaded, “The Daily Bailout” widget shows you a random bailout from a list starting with the buyout of Countrywide Mortgages.
Researching this little gadget has been an eye opener because of the sheer size of the numbers involved. For example, did you know that the bailouts so far this year exceed all US bailouts in history combined? Did you know that some of the banks that appeared to be bailing other banks and companies out are actually themselves in serious trouble? This list could become very long before this is over.
In any case, you can add the gadget to your webpage by clicking this link:
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