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."