I came across this interesting item last week, which describes how a person’s world view was changed by way of technology. It got me thinking about how wedded many of us are to doing things the way we have always done them, or how others have always done them, or, in some cases, not doing something at all because to …
Can’t Do A Thing About It
Living as I do within 100 miles or so of Yellowstone National Park, its geological instability is very present to me. Loosely speaking, the volcano upon which Yellowstone sits erupts—on average—every 640,000 years. The last such megaexplosion was…just about 640,000 years ago. Statistically, we can expect another such megaexplosion any time now. Geologically speaking, “any time now” covers a lot …
Crossing Boundaries
Have you ever been in a situation where—despite all your best efforts—some circumstance completely beyond your control crept into your carefully constructed reality, changing things for the worse, or even just forcing you to take some action that hadn’t anticipated? I got to thinking about this as a general phenomenon this morning upon seeing this item that shows that half …
Did You Say What You Meant?
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 …
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 …