...more recent posts
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.
Jen wonders, jokingly, about the possibility of Iraq having put a virus in the CD ROMs they handed over to the UN. Obviously those disks are going to be put into some serious machines.
That's going into my next terrorist screen play for sure.
Complete list of macintosh key sequences. (Thanks whump)
For the past two days I have been completely disabled with some sort of acid stomach condition. Not sure if this was a direct result of GSI (doubt it) or the result of a longer running dietary imbalance. Either way it hurts like hell. Feeling better this morning, and keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully the worst is over.
Jeff should return today from his Philly visit, and I'd like to be able to do some more hanging out. Still tentatively scheduling the Lupa lunch for Tuesday if people are interested.
Understanding the Microprocessor, an introduction by one of the best tech writers on the web. Great great article. In depth yet accessible, and given the complexity of the subject that is saying quite a bit. If you want to really understand your computer, this is where to start.
Our friend Jeff arrives from Montana today, providing us with yet another sorely needed opportunity to live it up. For his sake, of course. We're selfless like that.
Prototype 1.6 megapixel digital camera that is 2 mm thick! Insane. Get this to market.
Hopefully posting should be getting back to something like normal around here. If only I could remember what normal is.
Check out Earth as Art, featuring images of earth from the Landsat-7 satellite, selected for their artisitc qualities.
I don't have a link, but I was interested to read in the paper that baseball statistics (sabrematrician) guru Bill James has been hired by the Boston Red Sox. Among other duties he will consult on all trades.
I started buying Bill James' yearly Baseball Abstract when I was a kid growing up in Massachusetts. What little mathematical facility I have is due in large part to my fascination with his elaborate and rather arcane formula for quantitizing player performance. Great great stuff. And the idea that he will be helping the utterly hapless BoSox is icing on the cake. I'd like to see it work, but I'm not sure even Bill the great can turn baseball in that town around.