...more recent posts
A look at the Chandler Agent Framework.
"I can't tell what's Massive and what's not anymore."
Wired article about the computer tech behind the battle scenes in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies.
Hmmm. So I was having a problem uploading large files through a web browser to PHP HTTP connection. It would work, but be extremely slow. Then I found some mailing list postings about PHP having some sort of problem that causes this. But I couldn't ever find out what the problem was exactly. So I wrote the back end over in Perl, but it's just as slow. Maybe this is a more general problem. I know HTTP wasn't designed for transfering large files (that's what FTP is for,) but I don't understand the specifics of why this is the case. Are there any fast HTTP binary file upload solutions? Is it even possible, or is HTTP by definition not equiped to do well at this?
I was at dinner the other night with Janet and Theo (who is nine.) Theo really wanted to go home, but Janet didn't want to leave to walk her the block and a half from the restaurant. So she took Peter's cellphone, called herself, and then handed her cellphone to Theo and sent her on her way. Janet sat at the table and talked to Theo as she walked herself home. Cool.
Extending the ability of parents to keep an eye (or ear) on their kids seems like such a natural use of technology that it got me thinking. Is the wireless webcam implanted behind your child's eyes only a matter of time? That would be really weird. Obviously a big adjustment to our sense of individuality would follow. Coming of age might be marked by literally getting your parents out of your head. I can imagine the fights over when this time should come. The future version of when is your daughter old enough to date might be something like: when is she old enough to not wirelessly stream her life to Mom or Dad.
"Don't you turn your eyes off on me young lady!"
Note I'm not endorsing this scenario, only saying that it seems unlikely not to come about. In fact, weblogs are like a low bandwidth opt-in version of the mandatory life sharing described above. I know my mother still keeps track of me through this page. And I like that. Having it built in from birth is a different story though. But it might not seem so different in the future.
A 1973 journal about crossing the Darien Gap - a stretch of jungle between Panama and Columbia - on motorcycle. MB Hannah and Alex had to ship their truck at this point when they did it. But evidently it is possible to cross.