...more recent posts
This is incredibly cool. The BBC is reporting on a project to construct (by 2010) a virtual plant. Modeled after Arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of cabbage, this computer simulation would contain a complete description of all genes, as well as the proteins involved, and their expression at any point in time. A sort of "wiring diagram" of a living plant. Dr. Chory of the Salk Institute said
"We'd love, for instance, to see a four-dimensional view of a plant that covers all the details from when the seed germinates to when the next generation seeds fall off the mother plant. And we'd like to be able to stop the process at any phase in the plant's life-cycle and see which proteins are expressed and how they interact."If a simulation of a plant behaves exactly like a plant, is it one? In any case, cyberspace definitely needs a little greening.
Barbelith reprinted this funny open letter to Dr. Laura.
Brig (no, I don't really know her, but I'll call her Brig as if I did...) has a poll on her page today about webloggers and gender. Pretty even score so far (boys just slightly in the lead.)
Rasterweb has a funny page of insults for computer geeks. A little repetitive, but some gems. I liked: "He's not the fastest router on the network." His call for other quips is my big chance to interact: must...think...of something...funny...
Today's photo is of the Hindenburg burning over Lakehurst, NJ on May 6, 1937. No reason except it is kind of a cool picture. As usual, this is stolen from the BBC which is running an article on a new German Zeppelin being made for large cargo lifting needs. (Not too interesting, but I liked the picture.)
I finally found a table which explains those cryptic Mac error messages.
I've been wasting time lately in the FoRK Archive. Smart (insider-ish) discussions on what is happening in the high tech world. Like many cool things, I found this through Hack the Planet which is also full of smart (insider-ish) discussions on ...
Photoshop 6.0 hits beta. If you work with images, you probably work with Photoshop. Adobe is calling this a major upgrade (but of course they would.) Apple Insider has the preview scoop.
From Barbelith comes this gem: "I'm sorry, but Jeffrey Zeldman rocks so hard and fast he could vibrate himself through a mountain." Here's the Zeldman piece in question, which Tom calls, "a call to arms, a Manifesto for the true digerati - the people that like to play and create and communicate, rather than the people who consider a "good internet idea" to be selling sportswear (however ineffectively)...."
What about the idea that keeping a weblog (especially if you work in front of a computer all day, and take small random breaks from your work to do a little blogging) is a way for information workers to maintain a sense of self in an otherwise depersonalizing situation (i.e., the long hours many spend doing mundane information processing tasks for their corporate benefactors.) Maybe the small amount of time lost to these personal pursuits is O.K. in the end as it allows workers to always maintain a little loop of their own personality in the background. The weblog is an excuse to see and comment on things that are important to you personally, and you can do this pretty much continuously (espcially, like I said, if you work in front of a computer all day.) I know Alex has commented that this sort of personal project can really make working for someone else bearable (or even just acceptable.) And while people have always done this (like reading on the job when things are slow, or writing a personal letter) the concept of micropublishing your thoughts for others, and the pressure to keep updating your blog, makes the weblog sort of time wasting much more valuable for maintaining a sense of self that is separate from your job. I'll have to work on this idea a little.