2010 in review: The year for the Mac | Computers | Macworld

2010 in review: The year for the Mac | Computers | Macworld:

The Joy of Stats - Gapminder.org

The Joy of Stats - Gapminder.org: Hans Rosling says there’s nothing boring about stats, and then goes on to prove it. Only with statistics can we make sense of the world and harness the data deluge to serve us rather than drown in its confusion.
A one-hour long documentary produced by Wingspan Productions and broadcast by BBC, 2010.

Five secrets of Open and Save dialog boxes | Business Center | Working Mac | Macworld

Five secrets of Open and Save dialog boxes | Business Center | Working Mac | Macworld:

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas - NYTimes.com

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas - NYTimes.com: PARSONS, Kan. — An unlikely pilgrimage is under way to Dwayne’s Photo, a small family business that has through luck and persistence become the last processor in the world of Kodachrome, the first successful color film and still the most beloved.



That celebrated 75-year run from mainstream to niche photography is scheduled to come to an end on Thursday when the last processing machine is shut down here to be sold for scrap.

Gold passes $1,400 an ounce

Gold passes $1,400 an ounce: Gold prices surged above $1,400 an ounce Tuesday as a weaker dollar pushed investors into the safe haven of precious metals.

Shocker: Obama to give America back to Indians

Shocker: Obama to give America back to Indians:

Congratulations, 2010, for fitting in one more completely insane made-up right-wing scandal: Barack Obama is going to give Manhattan back to the Indians! Also the U.N. will help, because grrrr, the U.N.!

Netflix said to be planning 2011 international push

Netflix said to be planning 2011 international push: Movie rental giant could be well on its way to offering its streaming service overseas next year, according to two recent reports.

Roseburg IHOP closes doors

Roseburg IHOP closes doors:

Restaurant goers will have one less place to eat, now that the IHOP in Roseburg is closed. Sunday was the last day the business was open after 10 years of operating, and it will be closed indefinitely.

This Modern World

This Modern World:

Algorithms Take Control of Wall Street

Algorithms Take Control of Wall Street: Artificial intelligence is here. In fact, it's all around us. But it's nothing like we expected.



These sudden drops are now routine, and it’s often impossible to determine what caused them. But most observers pin the blame on the legions of powerful, superfast trading algorithms—simple instructions that interact to create a market that is incomprehensible to the human mind and impossible to predict.



For better or worse, the computers are now in control.



Bradley was among the first traders to explore the power of algorithms in the late ’90s, creating approaches to investing that favored brains over access. It took him nearly three years to build his stock-scoring program. First he created a neural network, painstakingly training it to emulate his thinking—to recognize the combination of factors that his instincts and experience told him were indicative of a significant move in a stock’s price.



But Bradley didn’t just want to build a machine that would think the same way he did. He wanted his algorithmically derived system to look at stocks in a fundamentally different—and smarter—way than humans ever could. So in 2000, Bradley assembled a team of engineers to determine which characteristics were most predictive of a stock’s performance. They identified a number of variables—traditional measurements like earnings growth as well as more technical factors. Altogether, Bradley came up with seven key factors, including the judgment of his neural network, that he thought might be useful in predicting a portfolio’s performance.



Delaware senator Ted Kaufman sounded an even louder alarm in September, taking to the Senate floor to declare, “Whenever there is a lot of money surging into a risky area, where change in the market is dramatic, where there is no transparency and therefore no effective regulation, we have a prescription for disaster.”

Mac 911: Migrating to a new Mac

Mac 911: Migrating to a new Mac: A Macworld readers what to cleanly transfer his data from an old Mac to a new one. Senior editor Christopher Breen has a few tips on migrating data

Installing Snow Leopard: What you need to know

Installing Snow Leopard: What you need to know: Got a copy of Snow Leopard as a holiday gift? Macworld's Dan Frakes as some tips on what to expect when you install the new operating system.

Why, no, -- no, I didn't get a copy of Snow Leopard as a holiday gift. Even though it's the only thing I really wanted. As I repeatedly told anyone who would listen.

The top 12 Civil War books ever written

The top 12 Civil War books ever written: If, like me, you received a necktie with reindeer on it from Santa instead of a good Civil War book under the Christmas tree, then you might try selecting one for yourself from my own list of the top 12 Civil War books, which I offer here in the spirit of the season and, even more appropriately, as the 150th anniversary of the war is about to begin. Perhaps your own observance of the sesquicentennial could include reading one of these books a month over the next year. If so, I can promise you'll be edified by every one of them, even if they do not end up on your own personal list of favorite Civil War books. And something more: there'll be no exam next December.

Appstravaganza: Apps for your new iOS device

Appstravaganza: Apps for your new iOS device: Was a new iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch waiting for you under the tree this holiday season? Congratulations -- now it's time to load up your iOS device with apps. Fortunately, our app experts are here to recommend groups of apps aimed at every interest and occasion.

Cosmologists Discover How Black Holes Can Leak - Technology Review

Cosmologists Discover How Black Holes Can Leak  - Technology Review: That has important implications inside a black hole, they say. Although there would be no route out of a black hole in the 4D brane, Frolov and Mukohyama say it ought to be possible for information to leak out through this shortcut into higher dimensional space and then back to ours. They call this breach in higher dimensional space a brane hole.

Arts & Letters Daily (25 Dec 2010)

Arts & Letters Daily (25 Dec 2010):

George Washington disapproved of it, and so did Benjamin Franklin. The Tea Party wasn't such a good idea the first time around... more

People, we're in deep trouble - Fox News - Salon.com

People, we're in deep trouble - Fox News - Salon.com: In it, Orwell describes the corrosive effect of politicized mass media. In Spain, he wrote, "I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed ... I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various 'party lines.' "

Mac Gems: Dropbox 1.0.10

Mac Gems: Dropbox 1.0.10: Dropbox is an amazingly useful combination of a Web service and a Mac OS X program that work together to make your data accessible from anywhere and to keep it synchronized between your computers.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Architect of the most remarkable comeback in modern business history

Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Architect of the most remarkable comeback in modern business history: When Steve Jobs walked on to the stage...

Michael Moorcock, Epic Science Fiction Master and Hard Rocker

Michael Moorcock, Epic Science Fiction Master and Hard Rocker: Hawkwind wasn't the only band Moorcock wrote lyrics for, though. He was also a fan of New York's Blue Öyster Cult, a fact that should surprise no one. The Cult were sort of the Steely Dan of early '70s hard rock/metal-a bunch of sardonic East Coasters with talent equal to their intellect and a sharp lyrical wit, who dissected the society and pop culture around them while crunching out anthemic, pummeling rock songs like "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," "Godzilla" and "Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll."

2010 moments of pure crazy

2010 moments of pure crazy:

Left Out - Francis Fukuyama - The American Interest Magazine

Left Out - Francis Fukuyama - The American Interest Magazine: This is not, however, what this issue of The American Interest means by plutocracy. We mean not just rule by the rich, but rule by and for the rich. We mean, in other words, a state of affairs in which the rich influence government in such a way as to protect and expand their own wealth and influence, often at the expense of others. As the introductory essay to this issue shows, this influence may be exercised in four basic ways: lobbying to shift regulatory costs and other burdens away from corporations and onto the public at large; lobbying to affect the tax code so that the wealthy pay less; lobbying to allow the fullest possible use of corporate money in political campaigns; and, above all, lobbying to enable lobbying to go on with the fewest restrictions. Of these, the second has perhaps the deepest historical legacy.

Scandalous as it may sound to the ears of Republicans schooled in Reaganomics, one critical measure of the health of a modern democracy is its ability to legitimately extract taxes from its own elites. The most dysfunctional societies in the developing world are those whose elites succeed either in legally exempting themselves from taxation, or in taking advantage of lax enforcement to evade them, thereby shifting the burden of public expenditure onto the rest of society.

These data point clearly to the stagnation of working class incomes in the United States: Real incomes for male workers peaked sometime back in the 1970s and have not recovered since.1

The financial crisis of 2008–09 has only deepened the mystery. The crisis laid bare some unpleasant facts about American capitalism. The banking industry lobbied heavily in the 1990s to further free itself from regulation, a trend that began in earnest with the Depository Institutions and Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. This resulted in, among other things, the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which enabled the emergence of large “universal” banks and a non-transparent market in derivatives. Before the bust in the U.S. housing market, the rapidly expanding financial sector took home some 40 percent of all corporate profits, and yet it was responsible for an implosion that not only wiped out the banks themselves but imposed huge costs on innocent bystanders both in the United States and abroad. It also cost U.S. taxpayers an enormous sum in bailouts.

Indeed, the U.S. financial sector is now concentrated in fewer hands than it was before the crisis.

Hmmm..... It's intended purpose all along?

Videos: Do Electric Sheep Dream of Dancing Fractals? | Underwire | Wired.com

Videos: Do Electric Sheep Dream of Dancing Fractals? | Underwire | Wired.com: Electric Sheep is a collaborative abstract artwork founded by Scott Draves. It's run by thousands of people all over the world, and can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep," the Electric Sheep comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep." The result is a collective "android dream," an homage to Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Anyone watching one of these computers may vote for their favorite animations using the keyboard. The more popular sheep live longer and reproduce according to a genetic algorithm with mutation and cross-over. Hence the flock evolves to please its global audience. You can also design your own sheep and submit them to the gene pool.

Ten Dumbest Things Celebs Said in 2010 - FoxNews.com

Ten Dumbest Things Celebs Said in 2010 - FoxNews.com:

Rare lunar eclipse expected tonight

Rare lunar eclipse expected tonight: A full lunar eclipse is expected tonight--the first to occur on the winter solstice since 1638. The Earth's shadow will completely cover the moon for about 72 minutes.

Skywatchers expect the eclipse to occur over a three-and-a-half hour period, starting at 10:33 p.m. PT today and ending 2:01 a.m. PT tomorrow.

Cold Plasma Kills Bacteria Better Than Antibiotics : Discovery News

Cold Plasma Kills Bacteria Better Than Antibiotics : Discovery News: Cold plasmas are able to kill bacteria by damaging microbial DNA and surface structures without being harmful to human tissues.

Rare Cosmic Event to Transpire Tuesday Morning | Dr. Kaku's Universe | Big Think

Rare Cosmic Event to Transpire Tuesday Morning | Dr. Kaku's Universe | Big Think: This particular eclipse will coincide with the December winter solstice, the longest night of the year. A total lunar eclipse on a winter solstice is a very rare event: the last one took place over 450 years ago. It might be a good idea to try and brave the cold for the viewing, even if it's for 10-15 minutes every hour or so until it's complete, because you won't be able to enjoy it again until around 2401.

Chicken 2.1b3 - VNC viewer for accessing your Mac over a network.. (Free)

Chicken 2.1b3 - VNC viewer for accessing your Mac over a network.. (Free): Chicken is a VNC viewer, which means that it allows you to use a computer over a network as if you're sitting in front of it. Chicken is based on Chicken of the VNC, but contains a number of bug fixes and some additional features. As with Chicken of the VNC, Chicken features a full-screen mode, saving passwords in Keychain, mouse-button emulation for one-button mice, and many more options.

Total lunar eclipse visible Monday night - latimes.com

Total lunar eclipse visible Monday night - latimes.com: A total eclipse of the moon will be visible throughout North and Central America from 11:41 p.m. PST Monday until 12:53 a.m. Tuesday, the first such eclipse in almost three years.

The next lunar eclipse is June 15, 2011, but North America will be facing the wrong way.

That's my birthday, BTW.

Why the "lazy jobless" myth persists

Why the "lazy jobless" myth persists: During the recent fight over extending unemployment benefits, conservatives trotted out the shibboleth that says the program fosters sloth. Sen. Judd Gregg, for instance, said added unemployment benefits mean people are "encouraged not to go look for work." Columnist Pat Buchanan said expanding these benefits means "more people will hold off going back looking for a job." And Fox News' Charles Payne applauded the effort to deny future unemployment checks because he said it would compel layabouts "to get off the sofa."

The idea is that unemployment has nothing to do with structural economic forces or rigged public policies and everything to do with individual motivation. Yes, we're asked to believe that the 15 million jobless Americans are all George Costanzas -- parasitic loafers occasionally pretending to seek work as latex salesmen, but really just aiming to decompress on a refrigerator-equipped recliner during a lifelong Summer of George.

Why, then, is the myth so resonant that polls now show more than a third of America opposes extending unemployment benefits? Part of it is the sheer ignorance that naturally festers in a country of cable-TV junkies.

First, there's what psychologists call the Just-World Fallacy -- the tendency to believe the world is inherently fair. This delusion is embedded in our pervasive up-by-the-bootstraps, everyone-can-be-a-millionaire catechism.

In a nation that typically dehumanizes the destitute Other with epithets like "welfare queen" and "white trash," our self-centered culture leads the slightly less destitute to ascribe their own relative success exclusively to superhuman greatness.

With the labor-market news downright frightening, the still-employed are understandably pining for a defense mechanism to cope with persistent layoff anxieties. The myth of the lazy unemployed provides exactly that -- a calming sensation of control.

The trouble, though, is that the whole narrative averts our focus from the job-killing trade, tax-cut and budget policies that are really responsible for destroying the economy. And this narrative, mind you, is not some run-of-the-mill distraction. The myth of the lazy unemployed is what duck-and-cover exercises and backyard nuclear shelters were to a past era -- an alluring palliative that manufactures false comfort in the face of unthinkable disaster.

Facial recognition comes to Facebook photo tags

Facial recognition comes to Facebook photo tags: New technology in Facebook Photos will suggest which of a user's friends may be in a just-uploaded photo, the first time facial recognition technology has been incorporated into Facebook's consumer service.

Want an online date? Tell her she has nice lips

Want an online date? Tell her she has nice lips: A survey by the dating site Badoo.com suggests that the "Holy Grail of flirting" lies in complimenting a girl's lips. Really.

PlayStations power Air Force supercomputer

PlayStations power Air Force supercomputer: PlayStation 3 processors find an unlikely home in the Condor Cluster, a mega-computer built to undertake highly specific military tasks.

Doctors: We have cured man of HIV

Doctors: We have cured man of HIV:

Tweets are flying with news of a major medical breakthrough: Doctors in Germany have strong evidence that they've cured a man of HIV using stem cells.

The best TV shows of 2010 | Slide Show - Salon.com

The best TV shows of 2010 | Slide Show - Salon.com: "30 Rock"
While most comedies these days cater to the misfits and losers of the modern landscape, "30 Rock" demonstrates how easily the vainglorious narcissist, the deluded misanthrope and the self-defeating neurotic alike can transform their so-called personality flaws into gainful employment.

Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data - PCWorld

Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data - PCWorld: I'm not going to lie to you--this is a scary and time-consuming job. Your PC may be unusable for a day or more. You could even lose all of your data.

Navy's Mach 7 gun can kill from 100 miles away

Navy's Mach 7 gun can kill from 100 miles away: The U.S. Navy is testing out a railgun that hits targets with mortal accuracy from some 100 miles away. It doesn't rely on an explosive charge but rather on electromagnetics.

Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Monday | Wired Science | Wired.com

Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Monday | Wired Science | Wired.com: Part of what makes the Geminids so spectacular is that they travel more slowly than meteors from other showers. They can take several seconds to blaze across the sky, and sometimes leave a brief trail of glowing smoke.

The curious pathology of Sherlock Holmes

The curious pathology of Sherlock Holmes: Near the climax of the first episode of the new miniseries "Sherlock," constables from New Scotland Yard are industriously tearing apart the eponymous hero's Baker Street flat. Inspector Lestrade's team has come to believe that the arrogant consulting detective is not only holding out on them in a serial murder case, but is the likeliest suspect himself. Harsh words are exchanged and one officer tosses out an epithet: "Psychopath!" Benedict Cumberbatch, whose lethal glee in the role of Holmes can barely be contained, snaps, "I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research."

Sampras has numerous trophies stolen (AP)

Sampras has numerous trophies stolen (AP): The president of the International Tennis Federation has offered Pete Sampras a replica trophy from his two Davis Cup wins following the theft of much of his tennis memorabilia. Sampras, who won 14 Grand Slam titles, says most of his trophies and other memorabilia were stolen last month from a public storage facility in Los Angeles.

Dec. 9, 1968: The Mother of All Demos

Dec. 9, 1968: The Mother of All Demos: Computer scientist Douglas Engelbart kicks off the personal computer revolution with a product demonstration that is so amazing it inspires a generation of technologists.

California's monarch butterflies in peril (photos)

California's monarch butterflies in peril (photos): Road Trip at Home: Several sanctuaries used to host more than 150,000 butterflies a year. Now the number is as low as 6,000.

Boom! Samsung Sells 1 Million Galaxy Tabs

Boom! Samsung Sells 1 Million Galaxy Tabs: Samsung's 7-inch tablet isn't "dead on arrival" after all. In fact, Samsung has sold over a million of them in less than two months.

Microsoft's voice platform to get a 'brain'

Microsoft's voice platform to get a 'brain': Microsoft's voice team says it's on the cusp of getting its voice platform to understand not just what you're saying, but what you actually mean.

Netflix signs new Disney-ABC deal, shows up doubters

Netflix signs new Disney-ABC deal, shows up doubters: At a time when some in Hollywood are wondering whether Netflix is a threat, Disney hands over TV content to Web's top video rental service. Is Hulu the big loser in this?

Refurbished iPads now up to $100 off

Refurbished iPads now up to $100 off: The 16GB Wi-Fi iPad can be yours for just $429, the lowest price ever. But is it low enough? And should you wait for the upcoming iPad 2 instead?

X Particle Explains Both Dark Matter, Antimatter

X Particle Explains Both Dark Matter, Antimatter: A theoretical particle could solve two big mysteries at the same time: why there is more matter in the universe than antimatter, and what dark matter is made of.

Victorian-era calculator cranks away

Victorian-era calculator cranks away: The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., shows off its functioning Babbage Difference Engine.

Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. : The Inception of Inception

Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. : The Inception of Inception: More than 80 years before Inception, Buster Keaton’s dreamy silent movie mesmerized audiences.

Nobody represents the American people

Nobody represents the American people: The disconnect between the actions of the government and public opinion is the central fact of American politics today. It doesn’t seem to matter whether liberal Democrats or conservative Republicans are in power. Only minor, marginal reforms ever take place. The basic outlines of American economic policy and foreign policy remain the same, even as Congress and the White House change hands. The changes promised by progressive Democrats and Tea Party Republicans are quickly discarded after the elections.

A new low - blogging a joke

"I'm on my way to my new job."

"It may be new to you, but it's actually the world's oldest profession."

"Hee-hee, he just called you a shepherd."

Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever : NPR

Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever : NPR: He's talking about modern science, but these techniques are not new. In India, breath work called pranayama is a regular part of yoga practice. Yoga practitioners have used pranayama, which literally means control of the life force, as a tool for affecting both the mind and body for thousands of years.

Living alone can be dangerous for your health - MarketWatch

Living alone can be dangerous for your health - MarketWatch:

Narcissistic Disorder to Be Eliminated in Diagnostic Manual - NYTimes.com

Narcissistic Disorder to Be Eliminated in Diagnostic Manual - NYTimes.com: Finally, the narcissist, who longs for the approval and admiration of others, is often clueless about how things look from someone else’s perspective. Narcissists are very sensitive to being overlooked or slighted in the smallest fashion, but they often fail to recognize when they are doing it to others.

Secretive X-37B space plane ends 7-month orbit

Secretive X-37B space plane ends 7-month orbit: Resembling a shrunk-down space shuttle, the Air Force's X-37B returns to Earth from its debut test flight, pointing the way toward cheaper, adaptable--and perhaps military--missions.

Today's Gemini Horoscope from Jonathan Cainer

Today's Gemini Horoscope from Jonathan Cainer: Gemini, Saturday, 4 December 2010



Your December Monthly Forecast: I can see how close you are now, to reaching a judgement. Your world looks to me, a little like one of those courtrooms in the movies, just after the prosecution has done an excellent job of summing up. The defence is in tatters. Then suddenly, in through the doors at the back, walks a key witness shouting, 'Stop! You have to hear the truth now.' Suddenly, they take all the key facts and put them in a different order to reveal a dramatic new perspective on the matter in question. A lunar eclipse, just before Christmas, is your chance to learn - and benefit enormously - both materially and psychologically - from new discoveries.

NASA Finds New Life Form

NASA Finds New Life Form: Hours before their special news conference today, the cat is out of the bag: NASA has discovered a completely new life form that doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living in planet Earth. This changes everything.

U.S. Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' XM25 Rifle in Afghanistan - FoxNews.com

U.S. Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' XM25 Rifle in Afghanistan - FoxNews.com:

Apple awarded U.S. patent on no-glasses-required 3D display

Apple awarded U.S. patent on no-glasses-required 3D display: Apple has been awarded a U.S. patent for a display system that would allow multiple viewers...

IBM chips: Let there be light signals | Deep Tech - CNET News

IBM chips: Let there be light signals | Deep Tech - CNET News:

Arts & Letters Daily (01 Dec 2010)

Arts & Letters Daily (01 Dec 2010):

With Amazon, the publishing industry is now beholden to a single, profit-obsessed company. What happens when you sell a book like it's a can of soup?...more

Consciousness used to be the crazy aunt in psychology's attic, up there squeaking the floorboards and troubling our dreams of science... more

By stressing exchange as the key mechanism in the success of our species, Matt Ridley underplays education, law, patents, and science. Bill Gates likes Ridley's message, but... more