nostatic at all...

Another reason to worry about global warming: more and itchier poison ivy. The noxious vine grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, researchers report Monday.

And a CO2-driven vine also produces more of its rash-causing chemical, urushiol, conclude experiments conducted in a forest at Duke University where scientists increased carbon-dioxide levels to those expected in 2050.

Scientists. I used to be one of those...I never grew poison ivy though...only mutated bacteria.

Posted at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just when you think it's safe to buy a new camera...

new toys

We'll have to see what nikon has up its sleeve...

Posted at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apple might actually get the tablet computer right...a whole slew of new patents was found on the USPTO site today. Very cool stuff, and if they build it, it likely will work (somebody has to). Very nice writeup at hrmpf.com. I'm stoked about the mixer...and if only you could do your video and audio editing by gesture. Hmm....maybe it will come sooner rather than later.

so imagine your tablet has this displayed...and you can move the faders and whatnot with finger gestures...then swap to a waveform to move it...then...well...you get the idea...

Posted at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm an analytical kinda guy. Or "cerebral" as my shrink says. I like to figure things out. Solve problems. It was ingrained from an early age, what with being the son of an award-winning school teacher and all. The way I got through life was by solving problems and getting good grades. Now those skills are hindering me in certain ways, so I'm working to sort through that.

But still sometimes I want the data. Even if it is disturbing. Even if it is upsetting. Because I'd rather not be blindsided, professionally or personally. The problem is I'm pretty good and finding and parsing data, but sometimes my interpretation reaches a bit too far. But maybe not. As they say, "more will be revealed."

Posted at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Myself and others have made the argument that today's kids are different...that they are wired in a way that distinguishes them from their predecessors. They are the "digital kids." My son Calvin is a poster child of sorts. Here is a pic from a year ago that JSB uses in some of his talks I think. He's playing two different avatars on Runescape at the same time, one on a Mac, the other on a PC.

Posted at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wikipedia is a great thing. I have contributed to it, and there is even an entry on me (not put up by me...no, really). But it of course has some issues. The most recent biggie involved John Seigenthaler. He is a writer and was accused (anonymously) of being involved in the Kennedy assisination in a Wikipedia article. His op-ed response kind of missed the point, but I can understand his anger. Turns out that the perp was about to be found out, so he confessed and said it was a "prank." Well, the furor, which could have led to a libel suit, instead just drove him to quit his job.

But that is an interesting question...what is the price for a "prank" such as this? If this was Singapore I think caning would likely be the answer. But this isn't Singapore. Wait, this isn't Singapore, right?

Posted at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

http://googlefight.com/

Posted at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being trained as a scientist, I end up having some interesting metaphors rise up from the ooze that is my psyche. For awhile I've been working on a DNA replication metaphor for education in the 21st century, and have fleshed out a metabolic pathway metaphor for sucessful communication in the digital age. But for now, let me briefly talk about using physics to understand digital life. This is in part due to a blurb here

Continue reading "take it in the gut" »

Posted at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, the iPod is a huge sucess. Apple has the highest market share for both hardware and software/content. Now people are talking about PVP (personal video players), and rumors of the next iPod with this capability (ZDnet article). Then they talk about the video equivalent to headphones (another ZDnet article).

This stuff illustrates a fundamental problem with some technology companies, content creators, and nearly ALL journalists. Audio/music isn't video. Period. Yes, video has audio content, but the act of partaking of music is DIFFERENT than partaking of video. Situations are different. Usage is different. Psychology is different. Jobs gets it...he is quoted talking about how people will listen to their favorite song thousands of times over the years, but only watch their favorite movie 6 or 7 times.

Continue reading "think "different"" »

Posted at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So as some of you might know, Napster is back and too legit to quit. They are making news as they try to penetrate the college market through partnerships with the schools. The labels are all for this, as they are desperate to try and stem the Kazaa tide of illegal downloads. The schools must be desperate too, although one could argue that it isn't their problem. The courts don't seem to think so (pdf of court decision and an online article).

Who are the winners and losers here?

Posted at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The latest buzz word to come out of the digital age. Of course everyone hate Micro$oft, but now that SCO has laid claim to a bunch of Linux source code...well, that was just too much for some people. This whole MyDoom.A virus was all about launching a DOS attach on the SCO website. And it worked...shut down today. MyDoom.B is supposed to shut MS down tomorrow.

So this is being termed the acts of "hacktivists." It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Or not. More interesting times...

Posted at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)