April 30, 1916: Information Theory, Who's Your Daddy?: "It's Claude Shannon's birthday. He's the guy who figured out that the binary nature of Boolean logic is analogous to the ones and zeros used by digital circuits, and thus became the father of modern info theory. Plus, he was an interesting dude in other respects.
"
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Masked Superheroes Patrol Cincinnati Streets: "A group of self-styled crime-fighters, the 'Allegiance of Heroes,' is patrolling the mean streets of Cincinnati. Carrying handcuffs, pepper spray and stun guns, the avengers are part of a global network that organizes teams through the online Word Superhero Registry.
"
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Zillow app for Apple iPhone could prove addictive to real-estate voyeurs: "It's hard to get too worked up about iPhone applications now that jillions are available, but..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Apple continues assembling chip dream team; Koduri reportedly leaves ATI for Apple: "Apple is building up some serious hardware talent..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
SAGE 3.4.1 - Open source advanced mathematics software. (Free): "SAGE: Open Source Mathematics Software... Creating a viable free open source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab.
General and Advanced Pure and Applied Mathematics
Use SAGE for studying a huge range of mathematics, including algebra, calculus, elementary to very advanced number theory, cryptography, numerical computation, commutative algebra, group theory, combinatorics, graph theory, and exact linear algebra."
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Questions, Not Answers, Make Science the Ultimate Adventure: "But science is the journey. Science is about immersing ourselves in piercing uncertainty while struggling with the deepest of mysteries. It is the ultimate adventure. Against staggering odds, a species that has walked upright for only a few million years is trying to unravel puzzles that are billions of years in the making. How did the universe begin? How was life initiated? How did consciousness emerge? Einstein captured it best when he wrote, 'the years of anxious searching in the dark for a truth that one feels but cannot express.' That's what science is about."
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Fastest Camera Ever Built Uses Lasers: "Scientists build the fastest camera ever, which uses laser light to achieve shutter speeds of 440 trillionths of a second to catch images of super-fast motion.
"
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
City discusses ways to fill vacant downtown properties: "About 15 percent of Roseburgs downtown property sits vacant. Some would provide a good home for housing units. Some would best be suited for businesses."
News Review - News - http://www.nrtoday.com
Why can't we concentrate?: "Twitter and e-mail aren't making us stupider, but they are making us more distracted. A new book explains why learning to focus is the key to living better."
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=/
45 Million Year Old Beer: "The Fossil Fuels Brewing Company of Northern California will use a strain of yeast grown from spores preserved in amber for forty-five million years. During his research, Dr. Cano, periodically working with Mr. Lambert, isolated a few yeast strains that resembled modern Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In other words, they are similar to the yeast we use every day for brewing and baking, except the "
Zeta Woof - http://grdurand.com/blogger/
Your brain really is forgetting... a LOT: "I'm currently reading Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life by Dr. Sandra Aamodt and Dr. Sam Wang. The enormity of the title notwithstanding, I'm enjoying the book, and ran across this rather amazing quotation:
There is good evidence that we 'erase' and 'rewrite' our memories every time we call them, suggesting that if it were ever possible to erase specific content, playing it back first might be an essential component.
This is a staggering statement. Consider the implications: when you recall a memory, you are capable of - and prone to - rewriting that memory in some form. I find this particularly fascinating in terms of teaching in a spiral method, something I continue to find effective and even critical in highly technical topics."
O'Reilly Radar - http://radar.oreilly.com/
Mac mini big on media-center capabilities: "‘Mac mini–crazed,’ Julio Ojeda-Zapata (twincities.com) ‘couldn’t be happier’ with the ‘interesting uses’ he has found for the new Mac mini. ‘Because it is so inexpensive,’ Ojeda-Zapata found it a ‘compelling option’ as a ‘mainstream Mac.’ But the diminutive Mac mini ‘blew my mind’ when he paired it with a 52-inch LCD. That’s when he realized why so many ‘Mac types have embraced the Mac Mini as the ultimate media center.’"
Apple Hot News - http://www.apple.com/hotnews/
Two New Devices from Apple: Category Defining 'Media Pad' and 'iPhone Lite'?: "Apple and Verizon partnership rumors seem to have taken on a life of their own with multiple reports that the companies are planning to work together as early as 2010. Businessweek provides the most intriguing report yet with claims that Apple could..."
MacRumors - http://www.macrumors.com
Apple debuts ‘Get a Mac’ Web ad: ‘Easy as 1-23’ (with video): "Apple has debuted a new 'Get a Mac' Web ad, 'Easy as 1-23' in which 'PC' explains how easy..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Apple building YouTube support into Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard’s QuickTime X player: "Apple will further its endorsement of YouTube and open video standards..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Amazon buys Lexcycle, maker of free Stanza e-book app for Apple iPhone and iPod touch: "Seeking to strengthen its presence on the iPhone and iPod Touch, Amazon has acquired..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Technologizer: 8 reasons why your next PC should be a Mac: "Lots of extremely rational reasons exist to choose a Mac running OS X over a Windows PC..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
9 must-have apps for Apple’s iPhone: "Apple may have sold 1 billion apps through the App Store, but there are only 9 that are must-haves..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
McEnroe says he'd like to help Federer (AP): "John McEnroe coaching Roger Federer? You CANNOT be serious! While McEnroe would like to give the 13-time Grand Slam champion some pointers on how to snap out of his winless season, the mild-mannered Federer isn't quite taking him up on the offer. McEnroe told a French weekly that he'd like to help the Swiss star get on track after Federer lost in the semifinals of the Miami Masters."
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
Ore. lawmakers endorse cell phone ban: "
If the measure wins final approval, Oregon will join its neighboring states of Washington and California in restricting the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. The proposed new law does not apply to drivers using a cell phone equipped with a handsfree device.
"KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
'Distracted' trucker hits barrier, semi burns: "
During the follow up investigation, the driver, who was cited for careless driving, changed his story and admitted that his distraction and not a tire blowout caused the crash. The truck and front half of the semi-trailer, along with its load, was destroyed.
"KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
April 28, 1926: Waving Hello to a New Subatomic Theory: "In an amazingly productive year, nuclear physicist Erwin Schrödinger coins the term, wave mechanics. The cat is out of the bag.
"
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Scott Brown on Sherlock Holmes, Obsessed Nerds, and Fan Fiction: "Long before Lostpedia and in-character Mad Men tweets; long before Kirk made out with Spock in a turbolift, courtesy of some devotee's overheated imagination; long before the words slash and drabble came to signify genres of, ahem, literature, there was Sherlock Holmes. "
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Google Earth 5.0.11729.1014 - View & control dynamic satellite imagery of the world. (Free): "Google Earth gives you a wealth of imagery and geographic information. Explore destinations like Maui and Paris, or browse content from Wikipedia, National Geographic, and more.
"
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
DropCopy 1.5.3 - Share files and folders between OS X machines. (Free): "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Mac media center: Configuring Front Row: "Christopher Breen’s effort to turn a Mac mini into a media center continues, as he hooks up the computer to his AV system and configures the built-in media applications."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Underworlds action RPG released for iPhone, iPod touch: "Underworlds looks and plays like classic computer action RPGs of yore, like Diablo, Ultima and Wizardry."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Roseburg taking 'Main Street Approach': "
Local business owners and members of the community came together for the past two days to learn how to revitalize downtown Roseburg.
"KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
I'm so boring I've started drinking!: "It doesn't make me fascinating, but it does alleviate the tedium.
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=/
Neil Gaiman Writes a Final 'Love Letter to Batman': "As the final curtain falls on the Caped Crusader, the acclaimed author talks about superheroic storytelling, comic book movies and burying a legend.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Lab Breakthrough Brings Instant-On Computers Closer: "Scientists have found a way to add ferroelectric capability to silicon, the first step towards creating a transistor that would make instant-on computers a reality.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Which sci-fi TV pilots will live and which will die? We take a look: "
It's been a long hard winter, but spring is finally here bringing with it budding flowers, warm weather and the national pastime of trying to figure out which television pilots might be picked up by the networks next month.
The television networks will announce their fall 2009 television schedules soon, and we'll then have an entire summer to stew about it, hoping another Lost or Heroes will invade our homes.
Among the potential new series are plenty of sci-fi and fantasy possibilities. While 71 pilots are being developed, only a few will make it onto the fall schedule. After the jump, our list of the hopefuls, and how they stack up. (This is part one of a two-part article covering pilots from ABC, CBS and NBC. Part two on Fox and the CW's pilots will run tomorrow.)
"Sci Fi Wire - http://scifiwire.com/
Why Snow Leopard Should Be (Almost) Free: "Specific improvements promised for Snow Leopard include support for up to 16 TB of RAM; improved multi-core support for applications; a next-generation version of QuickTime; out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange in Mail, iCal, and Address Book; and support for OpenCL, which is designed to expose the computing power of modern graphics processing units. Other Snow Leopard promises have included a smaller memory and disk footprint, a faster installation time, and a tweak to Stacks to allow subfolders.
"
TidBITS - http://www.tidbits.com/
iLovePhotos 1.0 (1809) - Organize photos with facial detection. (Free): "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
New Wave icon J.G. Ballard dead at 78: "
On Sunday April 19, 2009, after a protracted and courageous battle with prostate cancer, James Graham Ballard succumbed to his disease at the age of 78. His most recent publication at the time of his passing was his autobiography, Miracles of Life (2008), the book in which he first revealed his terminal condition.
But of course it is for his science fiction and his brilliantly unclassifiable, surrealistically mimetic and prophetic contemporary fiction that Ballard was best known, and will continue to be honored (despite US publishers shamefully neglecting to offer him American editions recently).
"Sci Fi Wire - http://scifiwire.com/
U.S. military extensively using iPod touch: "The U.S. military is making extensive use of the iPod touch in the field for tasks like translation, sharing data, and ballistics calculation."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Safina takes over No. 1 women's ranking (AP): "Dinara Safina officially took over the top ranking on the WTA Tour on Monday, making her and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis. Safina, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title but twice reached a major final, is the 19th woman to top the rankings since they were introduced in 1975."
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
External Link: Oracle to Buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 Billion: "In a surprise move, database developer Oracle has agreed to acquire hardware maker Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion"
TidBITS - http://www.tidbits.com/
Remembering J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009: "The visionary writer has passed away at age 78. This entry from 'The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors' takes us on a tour of his best and bravest work.
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=/
U.S. military enlists iPod Touch for battlefield: "Apple's rugged device is proving a valuable tool for soldiers in Baghdad, who use iPods for a variety of tasks, such as translating messages, communicating with other troops, and gathering intelligence."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
How to hide your tracks at work: "We all know that you play when you should be working. But at least we're here to help you hide what you shouldn't be doing."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
Leonard Cohen's perfect offering: "The great songwriter is old now. But as closing time approaches, his poetic fire burns brighter than ever.
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=/
Arts & Letters Daily (16 Apr 2009): "Refrigeration changed our attitude toward food by removing the site of production from the sight of consumers. Thus did our idea of 'freshness' emerge... more
"
Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate - http://aldaily.com/
Oh, so now Twitter is making us immoral: "University of Southern California scientists suggest that Twitter updates may be too fast for the brain's moral compass to process and will therefore harm young people."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
Algorithms everywhere: Can IBM automate decisions?: "IBM is laying out a vision in which managers and executives rely on hard, cold facts to make decisions, nudging out gut instinct."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
Notes on Conceptual Fiction by Ted Gioia: "Did sci-fi writers from the 1940s and 1950s anticipate the future of serious literature better than the so-called 'serious writers' or, for that matter, the highbrow critics?"
Brian Azzarello's '100 Bullets' Runs Out of Ammo: "As his decade-long run of postmodern comic book noir comes to an end, the award-winning writer talks conspiracies, badass characters and stillborn videogame adaptations. Wired.com interview by Scott Thill.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Nanotech Makes Wood Planes Fly Again: "A new process for pulling cellulose from wood sends airplanes back to the future.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
LogTen Pro 4.7.6 - Logbook solution for pilots. (Demo): "
What was your latest departure time out of JFK last month? How much time did you log on flight number 317 last week? When was the last time you performed the landing in KASE? Is your flight time in the last 28 days within the approved limits? How many days until your next flight review? Medical? LogTen Pro has the answers.
Features:
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Seven big tech mergers and acquisitions to watch for in 2009; Apple buys Adobe; Microsoft buys Palm: "In this economy, cash is king. Since in the end of 2008, big tech companies have been stuffing cash..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Get Twitter in Adium: "Mac users: if you use both Twitter and Adium, check out this third-party plug-in for Adium, which lets you send and receive tweets all from within the chat client."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
Pirates Beware: Next-Gen Snipers Could Get Guided Bullets, Super Scopes: "American snipers are already center-of-the-bullseye accurate -- just look at the three shots that ended the Somali pirate standoff in the Indian Ocean. But tomorrow's sharpshooters may be deadlier still, if a slew of Pentagon research projects pan out.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
April 13, 1953: Bond Starts Shaking Things Up, Stirring
"
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Steven Levy on the Promise and Perils of Divorcing Your Cable Company: "Enter Boxee, an open source application that, according to CEO Avner Ronen, strives to be the Firefox of video. The global browser funnels all that Internet content, as well as media you've downloaded, to your television."
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
The site where sugar daddies find their sweet babies: "Seekingarrangement.com is a site that tries to bring together sugar daddies and so-called sugar babies, those younger souls who need a little cash and are prepared to offer companionship in return."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
The Running Man, Revisited § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM: "Over time, the survival of the swift-footed shaped the anatomy of modern humans."
Paper Tigers: Books: The New Yorker: "These days, we seem to be drifting toward the world that media reformers have dreamed about for half a century, where the press is made up entirely of small players. If we get there, we may find ourselves missing the dinosaurs who once roamed the earth."
50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice - ChronicleReview.com: "The Elements of Style does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students' grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it."
Review: iStat for iPhone: "iStat displays data about your iPhone. But its true value comes when you pair it with the free iStat Server for the Mac to get remote access to your Mac's statistics."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
AT&T fiber cut disrupts service in Silicon Valley: "An AT&T fiber optic line was cut in the heart of the Valley early Thursday, disrupting phone and broadband service for thousands of customers."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
ProfCast 2.4.1 - Record and publish live presentations. (Shareware): "
ProfCast provides a low cost solution for recording and distributing lectures, special events, and presentations as podcasts. ProfCast offers an integrated workflow that makes creating, recording, and publishing podcasts easy. It's as simple as Launch, Load, and Lecture!
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Note: Do not drench your iPhone in your salty sweat or you might ruin it: "Some iPhone owners are claiming that exercise, while good for you.."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Set up Windows Live Hotmail in Mail: "In the past, you couldn't use Hotmail with the build-in Mail application in OS X (at least without third-party apps/plugins). But recently, POP3 access has become free for all Hotmail accounts, and you can now set up Hotmail in Mail; here's a little guide:
Mac OS X Hints - http://www.macosxhints.com
iPhone Skype may be tip of the iceberg for carriers: "Mobile operators are pondering VoIP's dangers and opportunities as they move toward all-IP networks."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Pilot uninjured in emergency Roseburg landing: "A small plane touched down without its landing gear in place at the Roseburg Regional Airport this afternoon, but the pilot escaped the incident without injury."
News Review - News - http://www.nrtoday.com
Night and Cog: "The Kindly Ones
By Jonathan Littell
Translated by Charlotte Mandell
(Harper, 984 pp., $29.99)
The Kindly Ones has all the trappings of a Very Important Novel. It is a doorstop: 975 pages (plus appendices) in its English translation, heroically accomplished by Charlotte Mandell. Its cover heralds it as an 'international best-seller' (although this cynical American suspects that only in Europe can a book of such bulk and pretension sell nearly a million copies). Its author, Jonathan Littell, has a cool cosmopolitan c.v.: born in America, he wrote the novel in French, his second language, and currently lives in Barcelona. It bears a heavy thematic framework, mainly allusions to the ancient Greeks: 'the kindly ones' are the Eumenides, better known as the Furies. And did I mention that it is narrated by a Nazi?
"
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Tweets Fuel Moldova Street Uprising: "Demonstrators in the Eastern European Republic of Moldova rely on social networking tools like Twitter, LiveJournal and Facebook to keep their street protests going.
Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
Review: Take a bite out of Jane Austen with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: "
Pity the Bennett sisters. Coming of age in the bucolic English village of Meryton, they need to contend not only with the delicate task of finding husbands for themselves, but also with carnivorous 'unmentionables,' i.e. rotting zombies, who have risen from the Earth and now shamble from one quaint outpost of civilization to another in search of living flesh. It is fortunate indeed that their education included time in the far east, where they learned to kick ass.
Elizabeth, the toughest and fairest of them all, can be followed both taking an intense dislike to Mr. Darcy and tossing a lit flame into a gathering of oil-soaked zombies, while muttering dialogue that serves as hybrid between Romero-movie one-liners and feminine sass. 'Let them burn,' she snarls. 'Let them have a taste of eternity.'
"Sci Fi Wire - http://scifiwire.com/
Hotelicopter is real, though simply a travel search engine: "No it's not a Soviet chopper-turned-flying hotel, but Hotelicopter is now a real service with the same namesake that finds you good deals on hotel stays."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
Chevy Chase does Steve Jobs impression on NBC’s Chuck (with video): "Chevy Chase played a Steve Jobs-like character on NBC's 'Chuck' TV show last evening..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Twitter use explodes: "Twitter use continues to grow, fueled by veteran users."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Boxee releases new API, new alpha version for Mac, Apple TV: "Free entertainment hub Boxee keeps on getting better and better. A couple of hours ago..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Skype for iPhone: "Skype's long-awaited iPhone client has its limitations. But if you're willing to accept them, it's a fine tool that extends the iPhone's communication capabilities while adding voice talk features to the iPod touch.
DRM-free iTunes: What it means for you: "Tuesday was Go Day at the iTunes Store, as music at Apple's online store became unshackled from the bonds of digital rights management. Christopher Breen outlines what's changed now that iTunes tracks are DRM-free."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Blockbuster may shut retail stores: "In an SEC filing, the video rental giant says it may permanently close its retail stores, as it faces increasing pressure from services like Netflix."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Classic Apple II games in your browser: "A quick trip through some classic Apple games, how they inspired stuff you're playing now--and how you can play them for free."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com
Why baseball benched Microsoft Silverlight: "Major League Baseball was unhappy with performance of Microsoft and Silverlight and this year will stream video with Adobe Flash Player. CEO for league's tech unit offers insight."
CNET News.com - http://news.cnet.com/
T-Mobile to use Google Android OS for home devices: "T-Mobile is set to launch two new devices -- a home phone and tablet computer -- running on the Google Android platform early next year."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com