Blog Posts
All my blog posts and articles
Page 83 of 141
(2812 total posts)
February 2009
Liquid water on mars
“NASA’s Phoenix lander may have captured the first images of liquid water on Mars – droplets that apparently splashed onto the spacecraft’s leg during landing, according to some members of the Phoenix team.” (from Newscientist.com)
[GEEKY] Solution to something that has annoyed me
Check out the “article: Getting “Open With” back under control.” Thanks. 
mySociety are doing interesting stuff in the public arena
A british organization (or should I say organisation?) called mySociety has done some really cool publically minded open source projects. Sites like FixMyStreet and WhatDoTheyKnow make so much sense and it would seem to me could **...
Read more →Saving the newspapers. A modest proposal.
You know I am a fan of the Newspapers. I’ve written about it several times, [wondering out loud whether our collective desire to get everything for cheaper and cheaper, eventually for free, wo...
How Corrupt is Our Language in Economic Discourse?
Check out this post How Corrupt is Our Language in Economic Discourse?: > "And as Deirdre McCloskey has put it, when your intellectual range is from M-N you think you are being open minded ...
Read more →Poem: Tortoise by Tim Mason
Tortoise by Tim Mason I set my pace deliberately keeping precious what matters under the hard shell I show the world. Truth is survival counts each step I take assures that. I’m not much on ambition, but how long you folks been around? I put that question to Aesop when he was a betting lad – gave my bookie good odds against his rabbit I left him with a moral and a question “can you hang?” Takes time to comprehend but patience comes with my pace so let me rephrase that how do you follow your dreams? Me, I keep what’s precious under the hard shell I show the world.
Micro volunteering
A very interesting article about volunteering, and applying the wikipedia philosophy to volunteering. Here he sets the scene: > “People have a problem with volunteerism: Now this statement is ...
Read more →Who can I believe about the economy?
The problems in our economy right now are real, I believe. Tons of people have lost jobs, and my investment accounts also prove it. I guess there’s no debate about that. But the question is, what to do about it. My observations: - Politicians on both sides are equally passionate yet totally contrad...
Read more →The Secret in Building 26
Dave writes an enthousiastic review of this book: The Secret in Building 26: > “I just finished reading The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of How America Broke the Final U-boat Enigma Code. What a fascinating read! I’ve written b...
Read more →Send Club Passim some click love
Hey, how about doing me a favor? It will only take you a minute or less. It won’t cost a penny. Help the famous and wonderful Club Passim win a grant from, who else, Virgin America. Spread the karma, it will come back to you! JUST CLICK HERE CLICK HERE JUST CLICK HERE
[GEEKY] Foxmarks now supports Mac … one fewer reason to stay with Firefox
I read in Personal Technology (Wall Street Journal) today that Foxmarks, the handy, free utility that synchronizes my Firefox bookmarks between several computers, now works with Safari as well. Great. I tested it, an...
Read more →Government Data, Apis, and the tipping point
I’ve been discovering the mass of information that is created by the government and is very slowly making its way online. I will be posting my discoveries from time to time. The process of making public information available online seems to go something like this: - Law requires that information be...
Read more →The 7 deadly sins and 10 lessons of a failed startup
Check this post The 7 deadly sins and 10 lessons of a failed startup from Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing: > “Building ...
Read more →[GEEKY] Built my first gem (Ruby Gem that is)
I’ve gotten interested in what is going on in the public sector, in particular in the world of non profits. I’ve learned a lot, met many people and been trying to define a project that would at the same time do something to better the world as be an interesting and fulfilling product challenge (noti...
Read more →Subscribe to Pandora!
I’ve known about Pandora for ages, and the last month or so have been using it again, a lot. It’s quite amazing: constant, free, music. Based on your interests. How does it work? Well just go to Pandora, set up a free account, and indicate, for...
Read more →January 2009
What Life Asks of Us
A column in the NYTimes that offers a very different perspective from what we might think of as the goal of a liberal education: > “Individuals should learn to think for themselves. They should be skeptical of pre-existing arrangements. They should break free from the way they were raised, examine ...
Read more →Going, going, gone…
You’ve heard me bemoan the death of magazines, newspapers, and other valuable things (radio? small software products) that we are killing by demanding and expecting them to become cheaper and cheaper, and eventually free. And after that, “gone”. Here’s an interesting idea: [make newspapers into non-...
Read more →[GEEKY] Where are the east coast Rails / Ruby conferences?
“So yet another way you can help Ruby and Rails Activism is by attending (supporting) a conference. Below you’ll find conferences coming up in the next 6 months. If you think I’ve missed one, or if the information is incorrect, please post a comment.” (from Riding Rails) If you look at the list of conferences and meetings, all looking interesting, there’s nothing anywhere near Boston. Hey, whatup?
Science and Religion
Now there’s a big topic, eh? A magazine that I don’t normally read has a good, in depth, thoughtful article about the debate between Religion and Science (see what I just did?). It comes in the guise of a book review ...
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