Google flip flops on net neutrality

When Google was solely a website with multivaried content, they were clear advocates of net neutrality. Now that they're an ISP, their contract has very restrictive terms that ban you from using your home internet from doing all sorts of things.

Daisy was sung by a computer in 1961

I had no idea that having HAL in 2001 sing Daisy was a reference to an actual computer, programmed to sing the exact same song.  In 1961.

Twitter maps

Some pretty awesome maps of twitter usage, including whether people are likely to be tourists or not, which smartphone OS they're using (Blackberry is still popular in Indonesia and Malaysia), and what language. http://www.mapbox.com/blog/visualizing-3-billion-tweets/

Google Glass will lead to terrorists taking command of your starship

I just made this photo. It's commentary, so the images are fair use. Also, it explains to me why I've always felt creeped out by Google Glass. It's because I think people will get addicted to it and then force me to use it. And I don't have a robot friend (or Ashley Judd) to help fight them off.

Atomic animation

IBM made their logo out of atoms when they first invented the scanning probe microscope. Now they've made a movie with atoms as pixels. That's some cool progress.

Linus Torvalds on ideology

This quote from a longer interview is about software design, but I believe it applies to Everything.

Any time you have "one overriding idea", and push your idea as a superior ideology, you're going to be wrong. Microkernels had one such ideology, there have been others. It's all BS. The fact is, reality is complicated, and not amenable to the "one large idea" model of problem solving. The only way that problems get solved in real life is with a lot of hard work on getting the details right. Not by some over-arching ideology that somehow magically makes things work.

Microsoft killed Britannica

With all the old media mourning the death of Encyclopedia Britannica, (because it reminds newspapers that they're going to die soon as well), it's worth noting that Wikipedia didn't kill the encyclopedia.  Microsoft did.

The encyclopedia wasn't something people read, it's something they bought so their children could be educated and do better, and "technology supplanted its role as a purchasable ‘edge’ for over-anxious parents. They bought junior a new PC instead of a Britannica.”  Encarta killed Britannica.

SOPA - Congress wants to break the internet

Not only is Congress planning on passing a law that would give the government the power to shut down any website they don't like without a trial, the members of Congress voting on the law clearly don't understand what they're voting on.

SOPA is a bill that would give the government to shut down any website that is suspected of piracy.  Without a hearing, without a trial.  Gone.

Copyright is already weighted unfairly towards corporations.  But this goes way too far, giving them the power to silence people they don't like, whether actually guilty of lawbreaking or not.

I'm glad my Senator, Ron Wyden, is opposing this bill.  I hope yours is too.  You can write them or call them to tell them to oppose it.

Temporarily free from the cell phone shackle

I forgot my phone at home today.  It's kind of great.  I actually watch where I'm walking and enjoy the view instead of trying to catch up on email.  I have to look at clocks to know what time it is and instead of killing boredom with a quick game at any dull moment, I took opportunities to try to think deeply.

I should probably have a phone sabbath every once in a while.  Like once a month.  Once a week seems crazy.

Are Facebook birthday greetings really that good?

I disagree with Virginia Heffernan's column yesterday about birthday messages on Facebook. She thinks it's nice that people are reminded to send you birthday greetings by our corporate overlords. I'm unimpressed.

Now, I'm not going to argue, as her straw man does, that what matters is that you should remember a birthday with a note on paper. Or the power of your Bhagavad Gita remembering mind. I'm supportive of using new technology to augment our mental capacity. Plato's character complaining about how kids these days can't remember epic poetry can suck it.

But for me, people posting "Happy Birthday!!!!!" on my Facebook wall just shows me that they logged on to Facebook. When 50 people don't communicate with me on Facebook or any other way (email, phone, in person) 364 days of the year, then suddenly appear to be glad that I'm alive, it reveals the shallowness of a Facebook "friend". If you post that you saw a punctuation error you thought I'd appreciate, or just send me a link to a cool video, that shows more knowledge of me as a person, and indicates more friendship than letting Facebook remind you to tell me HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It's not about whether you remember my birthday or not, with or without mechanical aids. It's about whether you remember who I am. (And I'm ok if you have some sort of notes that assist you in that, too.)

I don't mind when people shower me with hollow affection. But I find deeper interactions more meaningful.

Video games ARE making us smarter

Good news for Stephen Johnson: video games are in fact making us smarter.

Studies show that IQ scores have been steadily increasing over the last few decades. Part of this increase can be attributed to better schools and nutrition, but even well-educated and well-fed people do better solving puzzles than they did 50 years ago.

One likely reason? Video games. Lots and lots of people spend leisure time solving 3D mazes, intricate puzzles and logic problems, and doing other things that IQ tests challenge you to do.

Not that increases in IQ scores are necessarily good. But video games are changing our brains.

Google Guitar Doodle is neat

I just learned, watching these videos, that you can use your keyboard to play the Google Guitar.

That makes it easier to play real music, like Stand By Me or Hey Jude:

Geographic information density

Some guy analyzed all the GPS coordinates for all the articles in Wikipedia, and figured out what areas have the most cultural density.

Florence, Italy has the most articles in a 1 km radius, while London tops the list for 10 km and 100 km radii.

Fingerprint scanner works from 2m away

An inventor has developed a system that can scan fingerprints from 2 meters away.

It uses 2 digital cameras and polarized light somehow to be able to pick up the ridges on your finger. The prototype takes 4 second per finger, but I'm sure in a year you can wave hello to a door and have it open.

Now, does the software make sure your hand is attached to your body? I doubt it.

Robots Evolve Altruism

Yes, robots can learn to share.

Some scientists set up a robot arena where robots compete for "food". The programs of the robots evolve, mimicking natural evolution. Whichever robots get the most food have the most copies of them made; lather, rinse, repeat. After a few generations, some robots started sharing food with other robots. Ones that are "related" to them, having similar programming.

Exactly as predicted by the theory of evolution. Awesome.

Rube Goldberg world record

Wow. This rube goldberg machine is awesome. Not as majestic as the OK Go one, but far more delicate and complicated. And allegedly they set the world record for most complicated rube goldberg machine.

Lego robot amazement

One guy made a Lego ATM. Including a bill scanner that rejects money put in the wrong way.



Another guy started by making one flexpicker out of Lego:


And then made a whole system featuring 4 of them! Wow!

Programming is kind of like Theatre

As I think about parts of my job that I like and don't like, I realized that working with websites and software has something in common with theater. In both fields, you try something, and it almost certainly won't work the first time. You try again and again, getting better and fixing problems as you go. (Try, fail. Try again, fail better.)

There are huge differences. Computer programs work exactly the same way every time, where theater is slightly different every time. But other details - planning ahead before you really get into the work can save you a ton of time, you can always make it better if you have more time to work - are also similar.

Apple censorship - who do you choose?

Apple's App Store chooses what content to approve and what not to approve. They're a private company, so they have that right. Although their choice to disapprove political satire until they were called on it was questionable.

But now they face further difficulties in deciding what to approve and what to reject. Apple approved an app by a group that tries to turn gay people straight. Then thousands objected. Now the app has been removed. Apple has tried to market itself as the Disney of computers, offering a safe space for families to play with computers, specifically not allowing porn. (Except for Sports Illustrated...) They are trying to be everything to everyone, and had to choose between their Christian market and the gay rights market. I'm glad they chose the latter, but it's the sort of choice you end up making when you approve and disapprove content.

Like the choice of whether to host apps that help drivers avoid police checkpoints. The US Senate called on Apple to remove all such apps, saying they encourage drunk driving. The 3rd party developers who write those apps argue that they discourage drunk driving, but that's what they're going to say in front of senators. I think I should be allowed to take a photo of a police officer, even post it with geotags that show when and where I took it. It seems like someone should be allowed to collate that information to see where police are and aren't, but you can definitely see why criminals would find that information useful. (Although when the app developers are collating information made public by police departments on their websites, I'm a little confused why the police are complaining about the extra dissemination.)

Hacking wi-fi easier than ever

Wireless internet has never been secure. When you go to a website on a wireless connection, your password (for email, facebook, whatever) has theoretically been available for anyone nearby to detect.

But it just got a lot easier. Hackers released software that makes it easy for anyone to spy on internet communication and pick up passwords. Luckily, a password protected wireless connection is secure, and a website that uses encryption is also protected.

But a lot of websites aren't.