Saturday, September 18, 2004
Sharing capstone research
I've implemented two more ways for us to share research on your capstones:
1. BLOGSPOT
I have added links to each of your blogs at the upper left of my blog, to make it a bit easier to keep track of and comment on each other's entries.
(I did this by modifying the template; if you know some HTML, CSS, and/or JavaScript, hacking your Blogspot page is not that hard.)
2. DELICIOUS
I have pruned all the non-capstone subscriptions from my 1000_people account and added everyone in class who has a del.icio.us account. Now you can see everyone's feeds simultaneously at:
http://del.icio.us/inbox/1000_people
Note to Darryl, Charlie, Matt Gove-Dupont, and Miro: please post something on del.icio.us so I can subscribe to your feeds.
Be sure to sign up for an appointment if you haven't already.
See you Monday at 10 in DPC 115!
jon
1. BLOGSPOT
I have added links to each of your blogs at the upper left of my blog, to make it a bit easier to keep track of and comment on each other's entries.
(I did this by modifying the template; if you know some HTML, CSS, and/or JavaScript, hacking your Blogspot page is not that hard.)
2. DELICIOUS
I have pruned all the non-capstone subscriptions from my 1000_people account and added everyone in class who has a del.icio.us account. Now you can see everyone's feeds simultaneously at:
http://del.icio.us/inbox/1000_people
Note to Darryl, Charlie, Matt Gove-Dupont, and Miro: please post something on del.icio.us so I can subscribe to your feeds.
Be sure to sign up for an appointment if you haven't already.
See you Monday at 10 in DPC 115!
jon
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
New Orleans in the drink
Six months ago I heard a story on NPR about how a force-4 hurricane could flood New Orleans. The destruction of local wetlands removed past barriers to flooding; rather than respond in an environmentally conscientious way, the Army Corps of Engineers merely built dikes surrounding the city. Now, if and when a hurricane hits, those dikes will simply hold the water inside the city limits.
According to the original story, the government's engineer proposed building a hundred-foot high cement wall around the Latin Quarter--a sort of urban lifeboat for anyone who made it inside before the door closed. But since that New Orleans' worst-case scenario could happen within a matter of days, I suppose it's too late for the cement lifeboat fallback plan.
Noah, where are you when we need you?
According to the original story, the government's engineer proposed building a hundred-foot high cement wall around the Latin Quarter--a sort of urban lifeboat for anyone who made it inside before the door closed. But since that New Orleans' worst-case scenario could happen within a matter of days, I suppose it's too late for the cement lifeboat fallback plan.
Noah, where are you when we need you?
One Million Footnotes
Seeing Red
Another team of scientists has jumped on the Genetic Determinism Bandwagon with the release of a study claiming women see more shades of red than men, thanks to the "red" gene being on the X chromosome. (Women have two of those, remember?)
No wonder we guys have trouble picking out lipstick...
No wonder we guys have trouble picking out lipstick...
The Affection Economy
Two recent stories, one in MIT's Technology Review and the other in BBC News, focused on ways to to market your idea by exploiting people's feelings for each other. There's a clear logic to marketing easy Internet access for the elderly to their younger relatives, or nicotine patches to friends of chain smokers, or wireless mood rings that say "I'm thinking of you." But I also find capitalizing on affection to make a buck rather repulsive.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Automatic icons organize files
Researchers propose an evolving icon system for remembering and finding digital files on your computer. A public release is still years away, but since research shows that the mind responds faster to images than to texts, this innovation could make retrieving old files more body-intuitive.
