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Archives for June 2003
Is Google Multivac?
Thomas Friedman’s column has an interesting quote by Alan Cohen, a V.P. of Airespace:
“If I can operate Google, I can find anything. And with wireless, it means I will be able to find anything, anywhere, anytime. Which is why I say that Google, combined with Wi-Fi, is a little bit like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees and knows everything. Throughout history, people connected to God without wires. Now, for many questions in the world, you ask Google, and increasingly, you can do it without wires, too.”
The remark actually reminded me of “The Last Question,” an Isaac Asimov short story I read when I was in high school.
In the story, a supercomputer named Multivac spends thousands of years gathering data to determine if entropy can be reversed. Eventually the computer finds the answer and says, “Let there be light.”
The Future Will Be Televised
With iChat AV and my new iSight camera I’ve finally realized my childhood Popular Science induced dream of owning a videophone.
Now If I could only get the hovercraft…
Yet Another Killer App
Gnews2RSS parses a Google News search and converts it to an RSS feed. When you combine this service with newsfeed aggregator software you basically end up with your own customized news portal.
So who needs that news clipping service anymore?
There Ought To Be A Law
I just went to the United States Postal Service Web site to track a package. When I typed http://www.usps.gov into the address bar on my browser I noticed I was immediately redirected to http://www.usps.com.
I really think government agencies should be restricted to using the .gov top-level domain. The Postal Service is not a company and shouldn’t try to project an image to the contrary.
Ev’rything Is Satisfactual
It’s absolutely amazing how much money PAL video copies of Disney’s Song of the South are fetching online these days.
Controversy has surrounded the film ever since it’s release in 1946, when opponents criticized it for allegedly reinforcing stereotypes of blacks. In recent years, the film has become an embarrassment for Disney. The last theatrical release was over 15 years ago and the film has never been released in the States on either VHS or DVD.
In fact, Disney has even used the power of the MPAA in an attempt to have Web sites selling legal copies of the film shut down. It seems that Disney wants the film erased from the historical record.
The Constitution says:
“The Congress shall have power…To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”
Three questions seem to follow:
- Who really thinks that provision was meant to protect the suppression of embarrassing “writings and discoveries” by their own authors?
- How does this type of behavior “promote the progress of science and the useful arts” in any plausible way?
- If an author isn’t willing to exercise the “exclusive right” to distribute their work should they be able to maintain that right?
Rad-ical
Can you believe there was actually a time in America when almost every shoe store had one of these?
Very Sick Indeed
Jack and I went to see Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation on Friday at the newly re-opened Avalon Theatre on Connecticut Avenue, where it’s playing through the 21st of June.
The print was horrible, but the festival was quite enjoyable, nonetheless.
I was somewhat surprised at the number of shorts in this year’s festival that were executed with Macromedia Flash. There was even a series of Flash vignettes produced by Bill Plympton. It was very interesting to see his jagged and oscillating style rendered in a vector format with line-smoothing.
While I have no personal experience to speak of on the matter, it makes sense that independent animators would embrace the technology:
- Automated tweening must seriously cut down on the tedium of the animation process.
- The software is relatively inexpensive and runs on PC hardware.
- The learning curve isn’t too bad (unlike most 3D animation software).
- It’s very easy to make edits at any point in the animation process.
Not a Patzer
My wife and I watched Searching for Bobby Fischer tonight. It’s actually one of her favorite films.
I’ve seen it several times since it was released and I’m always amazed at the extent to which the film romaticizes Bobby Fischer as an individual, in spite of the fact that he’s become a total nutjob.
We were wondering what became of Joshua Waitzkin, the child whom the story was based on. It turns out that he’s hawking books and videos on the net. The bio on his site also left me under the impression that he’s been sucked into some kind of weird eastern-mysticism Tai Chi cult.
Could be worse, I guess.
The Cure for ‘Auto Content’
I just read “The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint,” a wonderful new 24-page pamphlet by Edward Tufte.
Anyone who has ever attended one of Tufte’s courses is already aware of the contempt he holds for the corporate Powerpoint culture. His new pamphlet is a detailed point-by-point attack on the underlying cognitive style, which he claims “routinely disrupts, dominates, and trivializes content.”
As an alternative, Tufte advocates the use of paper handouts, which actually have a much higher information transfer rate.
His argument is very compelling and I would definitely recommend the pamphlet to anyone who would be inclined to frequently use Powerpoint. I actually sent a copy to one of my clients in the continuing education field.
The Eighth Level of Hell
I imagine that there is a level in hell where the damned are forced to sit wedged between an entertainment center and a wall for all of eternity while they arrange home theater cables in a quixotic attempt to get all the features of all the various components working together in a satisafactory manner.
I have a cable box, a tuner/amp, a TiVo, and a combo DVD/VHS player. It’s not too difficult to get them all working together. It is, however, freaking impossible to get them working in a manner such that turning on the TV doesn’t require as many steps as flushing a toilet on a submarine.
What I need is a really good universal remote that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Any suggestions?
Jai Guru Deva, Om
Maybe I’m just behind the curve a bit here, but I just found out that Norah Jones’ father is Ravi Shankar. Is that a trip or what?
