Computers
An interesting article on how hardware is cheaper than software in some situations.
In 2009, Linux will ship on more PC’s than Windows. Well, at least that’s what the rumor is. Information Week looks at what it all means.
The Linux Foundation saw those successful I’m a Mac commercials, and Jerry Seinfeld playing with Bill Gates, and they wanted in. So they’re having a video contest that will try and showcase “just what Linux means to those who use it, and hopefully inspires many to try it.” Gizmodo thinks it’ll be one big mess.
Stupidity
Okay, so you’re driving… drunk. You’re boyfriend is in the seat beside. You end up rear ending someone, and your boyfriend dies. What do you do if you live in the United States? Why, you sue the driver of the vehicle you rear ended, of course.
Writing
Have you ever met someone famous, someone you admire (or not)? This article is geared towards meeting an author, but it applies across theboard.
The book industry is doing what everyone else is doing right now… floundering. The article was originally from Salon.com, but I found it at Agent in the Middle. It’s depressing, but really, the book industry has been in trouble for a long time.
Marry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, and any others I may have missed.
I hope the season bring all the joy it is meant to.
This wish was delayed because I managed to stay off the computer for the last 2 days. I had severe withdrawal, but I’m better now. (editid to add: except for work)
No weekly links this week, things have been busy and hectic, as they have been for just about everyone this season.
I’m actually off of work for the next two weeks. The kids have no school, and I’m still the primiary caregiver, so I stay home with them. The timing work-wise sucks, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Majel Barret-Roddenberry, know for being the voice on almost all of Star Treks computers, Nurse Chapel in the original series, and Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation, died of luekemia.
Some people may not know that she was also producer of Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda.
Misc
Everyone suffers from Someday Syndrome at some point in their lives, often catching it repeatedly. For me, most recently, I’d been saying that I really should give running a try without doing anything about it.
Did you ever want to build your own 22″ binoculars?
One of the best TV shows ever is available on DVD. I wish I knew about this earlier! There’s still time before Christmas… anybody? Anybody?
Writing
“To write fully believable, near future science fiction today, you almost need to be voracious antisocial polymath, deeply conversant in half a dozen technical fields, as well as familiar with ongoing social, economic, and environmental change.”
Blog
The first thing you’ll notice about (WordPress) 2.7 is its new interface. From the top down, we’ve listened to your feedback and thought deeply about the design and the result is a WordPress that’s just plain faster. Nearly every task you do on your blog will take fewer clicks and be faster in 2.7 than it did in a previous version. It’s time for me to do an upgrade.
Computers
Modern PCs can execute billions of instructions per second, but today’s web applications can access only a small fraction of this computational power. If web developers could use all of this power, just imagine the rich, dynamic experiences they could create. At Google we’re always trying to make the web a better platform. That’s why we’re working on Native Client, a technology that aims to give web developers access to the full power of the client’s CPU while maintaining the browser neutrality, OS portability and safety that people expect from web applications. Today, we’re sharing our technology with the research and security communities in the hopes that they will help us make this technology more useful and more secure.
Anybody for a quick trip down memory lane?
Computers
Although the Linux file system is one of the most important pieces of an operating system, we generally put little thought into them these days. Put bits in, pull bits out. It usually works well enough for desktop systems – until the power fails – but even that is usually pretty painless these days.
Writing
Tor has an article on swearing in Genre fiction.
JA Konrath has an article on a writers discipline. Not an easy task for writers. There are so many failures for so few successes, and not many ways to truly measure the impact of your efforts. This means that success or failure is largely arbitrary, based on your personal goals, And those goals can change. This can result in lesser efforts, which almost always yield lesser results.
Misc
Robbie Cooper’s film stills capture children’s faces as they play violent videogames and form the basis of an art project that could also help us understand the effects of spending time in a virtual world. Sam Leith reports.
no matter what industry you’re in, your duty as a manager is to motivate your employees and provide them with the tools they need to get the job done. Here are five timeless management laws that have stood the test of time.
Science (Fiction)
Gizomodo has an article on the size of the Space Station: We are so used to the International Space Station that we don’t give its massive scale a second thought. I, for one, took it for granted until a newly-released NASA photograph reminded me that this thing is huge.
Speaking of the International Space Station, apparently they now have equipment in place to convert urine into drinking water. Here’s a video showing the developmental testing of the product.
Misc
You know how some people just seem to have too much time on their hands?
These are some of the coolest t-shirts I’ve seen in awhile.
Already a lot of fun to drive and environmentally efficient, the popular MINI Cooper will soon gain even more favor with environmentally conscious drivers as the electric-powered MINI E debuted at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
There’s been this thing called ‘Rick Rolling‘, where Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give you Up” is overlayed on exiting videos and stuff like that. Well, looks like Rick Astley did his own Rick Rolling, and I found it absolutely hilarious.
Writing
Writing fiction, whether short or long, can be a very trying experience indeed. So many writers of fiction have different processes for achieving their writing goals that it’s hard to sift through what works and what doesn’t.
In 1980, science fiction writer and editor Ben Bova told a group of women writers, “Neither as writers nor as readers have you raised the level of science fiction a notch. Women have written a lot of books about dragons and unicorns, but damned few about future worlds in which adult problems are addressed.” It’s no wonder that female science fiction authors have disguised their gender in order to have their work taken seriously. We have a list of women who used male and androgynous pseudonyms to compete in the male-dominated field of speculative fiction.
