The topic of an item I found today is interesting in its own right, but it was the shortened title of the material, provided by the editor of a summary newsletter, that caught my eye. “Modern culture began earlier than thought”, reads the headline—not too far removed from the title of the linked-to item, above. My first interpretation of this …
Miscommunication Potential
As is often the case, I find things in my daily perusal of things technical items that can have wider implications. Take this piece from the July 3, 2012 Wall Street Journal, which describes different approaches to using online communications channels, and the problems that result from the disparate styles and choices. I pride myself on my ability to communicate. …
Do I Really Need It?
A few weeks ago, I noted in this post that I’d had some difficulty with a new laptop computer, given by a long-time friend as a gift. I’ve been thinking about the outcome of the repair situation, and decided to use it to address a more-general issue. Since that post, I had two visits by an on-site technician. The gift …
“That’s Ridiculous!”
My reading is eclectic, and I never know when I get started what I’m going to find. A recent item got me thinking about technology and its uses—and potential “misuses”. (The reason for the quotation marks will become apparent in a few sentences.) First a bit of context: ‘Way back when I was an English major, I participated in a …
The Technology Spectrum
I came across two apparently unrelated items today that I managed to relate. The first has to do with what could be a major discovery in the realm of particle physics and its impact on our understanding of the underpinnings of reality: Scientists at CERN have announced that to a greater than 99.9999+ percent level, they have detected the long-sought …
Levying Blame
I was the lucky recipient of a gift laptop last week, sent quite out of the blue by an old (as in long-term) friend. What generosity! I got right to work, checking it out, making sure the delivery manifest matched the options he had purchased for me, learning Windows 7 (I still mostly dwell in the XP realm; hey! It …
The Urge to Merge
I come across all kinds of interesting things in the course of my daily activities. Take this item from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which describes how and why mosquitos aren’t just crushed when they collide with raindrops—which are many times more massive than the troublesome insect. Using high-speed videography, they demonstrated that mosquito’s strong exoskeleton and …
Expectations
Although the guidelines have been available to a subset of interested parties since 2011, it was not until late May 2012 that the broader community became aware of and accepted “…guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon.” Designed to maintain the historical and scientific integrity of these historical sites—such …
Unintended Consequences
It seems that The Machines are much in the news lately. I’ve seen several articles on increasing uses for drones and other UAVs in domestic “security” applications, not to mention the prospects of arming them for bona fide warfare. On a much less violent front, we have this item from the Wall Street Journal, which describes how a seemingly innocuous …
Go With the Flow
A recent report addresses what appears to be a long-observed phenomenon in some circles: That bubbles in stout often sink, rather than rise. No, this is not an effect enhanced by increased consumption of the imbibable under discussion; rather, it is a very real phenomenon, seen even by those who are not inclined to see what is not there. It …