This is for you build it yourself PC types. Wondering why you bothered putting a floppy drive in that last PC you built up, then remembered Norton (Ghost, Virus checker, SystemWorks, whatever) or some other utility that still requires the use of the floppy drive? Check out this puppy and kill many birds with one stone. It’s a handy multi-format removable media memory card reader PLUS floppy that all fits into the floppy bay. I’m going to do a little digging on the quality of the drivers and if it seems good, score one for me.

In this case both literally and figuratively. You may have heard of carbon nano-tubes. Scientists have been talking about them for at least a decade and it has been speculated that if we could derive a way to manufacture them reliably they could become one of the strongest known manufacturing materials, and could enable us to develop a host of ‘jetson era’ tech, including my personal favorite, the space elevator.

Scientists at NEC revealed today that they have in fact invented a method for manufacturing them reliably. What’s interesting about this, which I didn’t know until today, is that this technology is also applicable to extending moore’s law. I still don’t know much about how they plan to overcome the ‘electrons jumping the gate’ problem, but this all sounds pretty damn promising. I still hold out hope that I’ll make it out into space in my lifetime, even if I am accompanied by a bossy little robo-assistant (see previous days postings for context on that one).

One other challenge remains in terms of the space elevator though, we have to figure out how to get the nanotubes to grow in long strands suitable for weaving cables. Stay tuned

It’s really rather impressive. Want to vote for him in the upcoming election? Read this and perhaps you’ll reconsider. Tell your friends - get out and fricking vote. The apathy of the american people led to this guy getting in, we desperately need to make sure he doesn’t get back in.

So if you’ve downed a few beers with me over the last couple of years you’ve probably found yourself engaged in a conversation about how computers are changing the way we think in dramatic ways that aren’t generally recognized. I often bring this up in meetings when I’m trying to convince skeptical instructors that there is a reason to bring new technologies to bear in the process of teaching students. The way explain this to them runs something like this: think about the invention of the calculator, and how the general population can no longer perform anything but the most basic math in their heads. Now think about how computers displaced typewriters as the way we produce text, and how the general population can no longer really spell. In both cases the machine has removed the need for us to know how to do those things anymore. We don’t need to know how to spell, we just get the computer to fix it.

The same thing is happening with the internet. The bulk of the world’s knowledge is at your fingertips. It’s no longer neccesary to commit the various facts you find important to memory, all you have to do is ask the computer. Who hit the game winning single in the 85 world series? Off to google I go. What the heck is 1066 all about again? Oh, google knows. What the hell does Loquacious mean? dict.org has the answer.

So, it’s a useful exercise to think about these things and it does often help me convince instructors that there are larger societal trends at work that they should try and glom onto. But I’m mentioning this today because there’s an interesting article in the guardian that extends this and imagines what the world might look like in 30 years or so given these sorts of changes that are taking place. The disturbing thing is, it’s really pretty damned scary. I mean yeah, this jetsons future is cool and all on some levels, but I’m still scared as shit that the predictions that started emerging in the 60’s about how the machines will eventually supercede us are really destined to come true. Sobering and scary stuff. The worst thing is this article leads me to conclude it could actually happen in my lifetime.

Damn Moore’s law! Yeah, I’m getting killer framerates in quake now, but if the fucking machine is going to be bossing me around in 15-20 years, I want out!

So check this out. KBToys lost a lawsuit and is giving 30% off to buyers in store from Oct 8-14. That’s 30% off on anything you choose to buy. Like, say, an Xbox, for around $120 after the 30%. Or some games for a videogame system. Or presents for your friend’s or your own kids. Or whatever. I’m either going to buy another xbox so I can really go to town modding the one I have, or another playstation 2 with the better DVD drive in it.

Voice over ip as a workable proposition is here. Check out Skype. Better sound quality than anything I’ve used to date, drop-dead easy to use, and for the time being anyway, free. PC only now but linux and mac clients are on the way, as are connections to the regular landline telephone network and a host of other features. There’s a great article at the register that gives a good overview of the tool. I’m tempus67, give me a call, evenings only

Check out this puppy. It sells for around $100 - if it drops to about $50-60 I will definitely pick one up, it would be very handy to have a little ‘grab a picture at the drop of a hat’ camera to carry around. I used to try carrying my trusty canon a40 with me, but it’s just too bulky despite its relatively small size. this thing on the other hand could go right on my keychain.

In a world of problems. Sorry on the long time between updates. Work has absolutely exploded, leaving me surly, unhappy, and not much interested in talking frankly about things. I keep trying to remind myself that from the seeds of adversity spring opportunity. That was definitely true roughly 5 years ago when things started to go south at Gannet; I keep hoping that will turn out to be true here at Bowdoin, and there are little hints that there might be some possibilities, but for now I need to keep quiet about them. So. I’ll still try and get back into a groove with posting but bear with me through this stuff.