Posts from — February 2003

Sharp's mini-laptop.

The Gadgeteer review of the Linux-based Sharp C700 PDA, which with its 640×480 screen that swivels around to reveal a tiny keyboard, looks a little like a mini-laptop. It'd be nice to see a Pocket PC like this, especially since the C700 is only sold in Japan, only available in the US through Dynamism.com.
Read

[Gizmodo]

this is cool, I'd love to have one….

Learning to Design Web Pages with Style. A review of Eric Meyer's new CSS book. [Linux Journal]

and to think that i was just saying that I need a new css book.

Taking Our Lives Online.

People with Personal Websites

“According to a December 2002 survey of 501 adults in the US, conducted by the University of Maryland and Rockbridge Associates, 21% of US consumers have their own personal website, or have a family member with his/her own site. Additionally, 13% say they own or a family member owns a domain name or web address for a hobby or personal interest….

The study determined that 77% of US adults connect to the internet through a regular phone line while 20% are making high-speed connections. Of the broadband subscribers, 12% use a cable modem and 8% are using digital subscriber line (DSL). This is also the recently-publicized study which revealed that US employees with net access at both home and work spend an average of 5.9 hours per week at home online for work purposes and an average of 3.7 hours per week online at work for personal interests.” [eMarketer Daily]

That's a pretty small sample, but if the statistics hold up when scaled, it would show that people are truly creating their own content, rather than just sitting back and letting the internet become a one-way (corporate) medium. And 77% of them are publishing via a dial-up connection, so they don't need broadband to do it. I have to think that blogs will only increase those numbers, as will photoblogging for families.

Of course, they may also be getting domain names in order to maintain a stable email address. Will Cox pointed me to a notice that Comcast will maintain AT&T Broadband email accounts through 2004 because so many customers complained about having to change their address yet again. I'm glad they're listening, a nice change in this industry.

[The Shifted Librarian]

tracking, tracking, tracking, oops….

king of stonehenge. The King of Stonehenge found in a 4,000-year-old grave near Stonehenge may have been from Switzerland and involved in its construction. It is the richest Bronze Age burial found in Britain “off the scale”. …it is fascinating to think that someone from abroad ‰?? probably modern day Switzerland ‰?? could well have played an important part in the construction of Britain‰??s most famous archaeological site.‰?ÿ [MetaFilter]

wow, this looks nifty, the cultural curiousity surrounding things like stonehenge is quite interesting to see, and when information comes out that informs it, we can watch the waves of acceptance and dismissal.

Scientists of Very Small Draw Disciplines Together. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, electronics and brain research are converging into a field of science vital to the nation's security. By Barnaby J. Feder. [New York Times: Technology]

oh my, how much do you need, here, we'll just cancel the writing program, ot education, oh, liberal arts has lots of money, take your pick, one of your labs only constitutes the cost of hiring 3 or 4 professors, sustaining it is less sure, and you will get grants, sure, and then you will leave, more or less ignoring the investment made to get a whole new investment. .

Watch What You Say.

src="http://blogs.salon.com/0001381/Images/pmarch.jpg">If language isn't just the expression of thought, but the raw symbols with which we perform cognitive operations, then we have to allow that freedom of speech is a fundamental prerequisite to our freedom to hold and exchange ideas. No matter what brilliant scheme you've conjured up to save the world from itself, it'll die along with you if you aren't allowed to share it.

Watch What You Don't Say

Never thought I'd see this headline: Schools risk funding if they bar prayers.

It's exactly what you'd expect. The Bush administration is Gung-Ho on the idea of students praying in school because…well, we're not sure why.

Schools that don't allow students to pray outside the classroom or teachers to hold religious meetings among themselves could face the loss of federal money, the Education Department said Friday.

This is the first time that schools actually have to prove compliance with Federal guidelines permitting student-initiated religious activity in state-funded schools. Here's one of the geniuses responsible:

“Public schools should not be hostile to the religious rights of their students and their families,” Education Secretary Rod Paige said. “At the same time, school officials may not compel students to participate in prayer or other activities.”

No, the officials can't compel participation. Subtle peer pressure, on the other hand, will work wonders.

[The Raven]

gack, this has to stop, separate church and state. no! no prayers in schools unless done on the students own time, not the educational time.

Ramsey's World. Ramsey Clark has drafted an Articles of Impeachment… [A Small Victory]

it isn't quite the set of things i would put into articles of impeachment, but….

parking spots. You take a toy car, and hold it in such a way so that it looks like it's a real car parked between other real cars, or driving in traffic with real cars. Then you take a picture of it. That's the sublimely simple concept of Parking Spots. [MetaFilter]

this is classic, classic fun.

More On Impeachment. I've just sent out the following message via email to people I know. It is a followup on my previous post.I have not been one of those who have called for the impeachment of Bush. While I consider him to be the worst President in American history and I consider him to have seized power through an unconstitutional coup, I have not reached the point where I thought there would be good grounds for possible impeachment proceedings. [Interesting Times]

willful endangerment of troops and citizens then lying about it… sounds impeachable to me. i'm no expert, but this guy makes a good case.

Scott McNealy: Toward Saner Computing.

You all know that Scott McNealy is chairman, president, and CEO of Sun Microsystems. So when he decides to write an article, it's worth reading it.

sun+java+grid=good computing