Summary of this week:

The Chinese government clamps down on Internet usage by Olympic reporters
Kids are still learning how to read despite the Internet
OpenOffice is less than a month away
Someone is finally suing Google on privacy issues
del.icio.us has a new look
My wife and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Pigeon Forge, TN (see posts on TravelBlog.org)

This week: July 28-August 3, 2008

Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday

Monday July 28, 2008

I don't know that I agree with everything here, but this post has some things that cause me to think. It centers on Christine Peterson's talk at the Open Source Conference last week. One point is about electronic voting systems. People who understand software - I am one of them - warned and complained about the problems in that software. We, however, didn't put up any open source alternatives. Shame on us (I agree with that). Questions: Should we have done something? Should we do something? Answers: I am not sure and probably yes.

Stowe Boyd writes about yet another person lamenting how all this social media stuff is preventing kids from learning how to read. I agree with Stowe on this - the kids are still learning how to read. I had the privilege of working with a 22-year-old college student last summer. I had him creating short training videos. One day I sent him off to find a video editing package. He back an hour later. He had: found three software packages, downloaded trial versions of each, decided which one met all our requirements, and wrote a bill of materials for me. And some people continue to lament how stupid these kids are. I guess that Stowe and I are similar in age (50 +or- 5). I am often embarrassed by people my age who still don't know what a blog is. In my experience, "kids" who are plugged into social media can accomplish far more in much less time than "mature adults" who ONLY read textbooks. Kids will read the long, linear books when those books provide useful information. Don't blame the lack of book reading on the readers - blame it on the writers and publishers.

My acquaintance Johanna Rothman asks a good question in her blog? Why hire junior contractors? They are not around long enough to pay for the learning curve they must have. So, why hire them? (1) It looks like you are doing something. (2) It doesn’t cost much money. Of course it is a waste of money, but often (1) is what people are after, mere appearance (see, for example, Congress, U.S.).

The people who distribute Ubuntu Linux intend to have their products running on the little Atom-powered netbooks and such. That sounds wise and it good news to those people (like me) who are considering moving to the smaller machines.

I like this story for several reasons. First, it is about how small newspapers are learning to be mobile and send "the paper" to your cell phone. Second, the company involved - Verve Wireless - is based in Encinitas, California. Years ago, I lived next to the town of Encinitas. Encinitas is a TOWN, not a neighborhood, or development or whatever real estate people call these things. It is a real small town in southern California. I am delighted to see someone do a high-tech company in a small town.

Now we have a new expression to denote how something has gone simply stupid: nuked the fridge. This comes from this year's Indiana Jones movie. If you have seen it, you know what I am talking about. If you haven't seen it, I won't describe it and ruin part of the movie.

NBC will put a lot of Olympic video online in August. That scares systems administrators everywhere, as the load may kill their networks. Oh well, people like to watch sports at work.

Here is another post about the silliness that is the bottled water industry. Not that I am knocking the people who said, "Hey, we can make money if we trick people into buying water in little plastic bottles at prices that are higher than gasoline." They are just tryin to make a living. The problem is with the consumers. Let's stop the waste of resources and the carnage on the environment.

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Tuesday July 29, 2008

The 30th is the 25th anniversary of my marriage. We are on a short trip this week. Today was a travel day, so I didn't view anything on the net. The place we are staying has a good Internet connection, so I will be back at it tomorrow.

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Wednesday July 30, 2008

Today was my 25th wedding anniversary.

The day was full of events, so I didn't have time to view much of the Internet.

I am writing about the travels over in TravelBlog.org's web site. See my posts there.

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Thursday July 31, 2008

Dell enters the really small desktop computer market with their Studio Hybrid model. They are offering more optional features than Apple does with their Mac Mini. The Mac Mini hasn't been updated in a while and is looking stale in comparison. But, is it so hard to put a ruler or some other object of known size in the photograph so I can tell how small the device is?

Google's Knol has been up only a week, but already it is being taken over by people with other agendas. Wikipedia has so many people editing that such rubbish is kept out.

OpenOffice 3.0 comes out in September. This post is a good review of the new features based on beta usage. For me - and for all those millions who have bought Apple computers recently - the big news is that OpenOffice will not need X11 installed to run.

This type of user support is so bad I wonder if it is true. The MSI Wind small computer is coming, but at a higher price than was advertised (seems the batteries went up in cost higher than anticipated). MSI repsonded by cancelling the orders of everyone who loved the idea of the product so much that they ordered it early.

This isn't a surprise - the Chinese government has reversed itself and announced that reporters covering the Olympic games will not be able to access web sites that the Chinese government doesn't like. All the press organizations are disappointed, but none have stood on their principles and left China to boycott in protest. I guess principles only go so far in journalism.

Well, maybe people are tired of Google and other Internet companies. This story is about a law suit against Google. A family didn't like it when Google's Street View showed a photo of their home. Google claims that "complete privacy doesn't exist." That is an interesting statement. I have written before here that Americans scream at the hint of the government following them, but at least so far don't mind Google, Amazon, etc. following them on the Internet.

Microsoft is working on a new operating system. Midori is the name being tossed about at this time. There are no details out, so rumors are flying. The idea is that this is some type of operating system that runs on the Internet.

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Friday August 1, 2008

del.icio.us or delicious.com has changed to a new look. I use del.icio.us to bookmark the things I view on the Internet. Maybe there is something substantive in this change, but to me it only appears to be cosmetic.

Here is an in depth review of the ASUS eee PC 901. I am lost when it comes to following ASUS' model numbers. This is a good read.

This is a little differnt. BookMooch.com connects people who are willing to give away books. You list the books you are willing to give away. When you give them away, you gain points. You use the points to get books other people are giving away. Maybe this will work.

This story appeared in several places today. MIT researchers believe they have greatly improved solar power. Their approach is different in that they split water into hydrogen and oxygen, use that gas to power fuel cells, and when spent they have water again. The disappointing thing for me is they think practical use is ten years away. I hope they are wrong on that point.

I suppose this is good news for Apple. Their computers appear in 2/3s of number one movies so far in 2008. Someone actually tracks this kind of information.

That is all for today. It is a travel day as my wife and I drive home from our anniversary vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN. We had a good day yesterday. The most interesting part was talking with a couple of people who live here. See my writings on this trip on my TravelBlog.

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Saturday August 2, 2008

The Apple portable computer rumors continue. This report seems to make sense. I wish Apple would do something this week. My music major son needs a new machine.

Toyota has come out with its version of the Segway. They call it a Winglet (stainge name).

Here is a personal jetpack. Well, not really and it costs $100,000. Maybe in a few years.

25 good travel gadgets for future references. Why can't they put thumbnails of all 25 on the first page?

This person has hacked the telematics system in his car. This is a field that is prime for experimenters. The telematics systems in cars (OnStar for one example) are the ultimate in lack of privacy. People don't mind the car companies following them - yet.

Here are a couple of posts on programming. This one has some good tips for naming variables. This one is about commenting style.
I always used long variable names and lots of comments. I could always touch type (what we used to call being able to type). Many of my contemperaries typed their code with two fingers. I believe that above all else was why they didn't code the way I did.

I like looking at photos like this one of severe weather systems. I find the photos far more enjoyable that being there.

Some boys never grow up. We played with stickers when we were little, and...

3-D printing and Replicators - much will happen with these in the next ten years. This post looks at what is happening now.

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Sunday August 3, 2008

The people who follow the really small portable computers (netbooks or ultra-mobile PCs) list what they believe are the five most popular or these. Dell is supposed to release their Dell E in August or September. That release may change things. Then there are the persistent Apple rumors, so who knows what Apple will actually do.

This is a thoughtful review of Google's Knol. Knol is or isn't like Wikipedia. We haven't decided on that question yet. This reviewer doesn't like Knol because of the lack of collaboration. Sometimes it is best to write something by myself, put my name on it, and be done with it. Sometimes it is better to have many other people contribute. I haven't decided when which is better.

Yes, people are watching you on the Internet. This blogger has some good information on how the service providers are watching.

The really small projectors are here. This one is in Australia. I guess there is no hope for us as they will be here soon. Just imagine kids projecting YouTubes on the ceiling of the commercial flights.

This reveiwer compares the Lenovo Thinkpad X200 to earlier models (only six months old). Thank you for putting a ruler on the keyboard so I can tell how big it is. Why doesn't everyone do this?

This post helps introduce Writing Travellers - another travel blog web site. I use TravelBlog.org and have for several years. One of the attractions of Writing Travellers is that you can print a guidebook. I imagine that other travel blog sites will have a similar feature soon. At this time, TravelBlog has much more content. The post writer here sees that as an advantage - the chance to get in on the ground floor.

Jeff Atwood has a programming post from the book "Art and Fear." I read this book while attending a writing class taught by Jerry Weinberg. Writer Jerry Pournelle gives the same advice. I apply the lesson of the blog post to writing. A writer - by definition - is a person who writes, so I write at least six days a week. A programmer programs. A blogger blogs. A reporter reports. A guitar player plays the guitar. And so on. What do you want to be? Do it everyday.

Here is another post on the Department for State Security, I mean the Department of Homeland Security (slipped back into the Cold War) policies for siezing laptop computers at the borders. Have you ever see people strip a vehicle at the California-Mexico border when the dogs sniff drugs or people hidden? The DHS views laptop computer, PDAs, cell phones and the like in a similar manner. EVERYTHING is free game for search and siezure. Until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, live with it. President Obama will not be able to stop this with a declaration. The DHS will explain to him the result and he will agree with their explanation.

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