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With the birth of his daughter, Jay-Z needs to update his list of 99 problems. His new list doesn’t include his old problems of “Foes that wanna make sure my casket’s closed” and getting pulled over for “doin’ fifty-five in the fifty-four.” His list now includes new kinds of problems, such as:
Diaper blowouts Shirt with spitup on it Snot Two hours of sleep Discussions about the merits of Pampers versus Huggies Forgetting to shower Looks like a rash, but could be eczema, or worse Opening bottles that have curdled into cheese Doctor says baby in lower/higher percentile for weight Baby putting everything in mouth Baby hasn’t pooped in five days Ear infections Cradle cap Unconsolable wailing An absence of reason Playing hide and seek for hours Wearing princess tiara at tea parties Watching Cinderella repeatedly Applying sunscreen to baby on 60 degree . . . → Read More: Jay-Z’s new list of 99 problems
This month’s Wired magazine hypes the coming of the self-driving car (Let the Robot Drive, Feb 2012). The cover honks the advantages: No traffic jams. No crashes. Unlimited texting.
First of all, the idea that there will be no crashes or traffic jams with software-enabled navigation ignores the fact that all software has bugs. Systems and networks go down, passwords expire, connections to the database are lost, geese may soil the camera, ice may cause miscalculations – I’ll stop there. In short, there will be bugs and jams and accidents (unless this will be a system that is unlike every single other piece of software ever devised).
Still, the idea of self-driven cars does seem overdue. Even the flying car seems late in arriving, come to think of it. But once the gee-whiz moment wore off about self-driving cars, I thought of a side effect of this innovation that . . . → Read More: The self-driving car: what will robotic vehicles do to jobs?
If you haven’t heard of grey goo yet, let me introduce you. A “Grey Goo” scenario is an end of the world scenario where some biochemical concoction disassembles all carbon-based matter, leaving all living things in an anti-climatic pile of dirt (no meteor or mushroom clouds, just a goo). Sounds crazy of course, until you consider that synthetic materials, diseases, and bad things will be created in the future that we currently cannot comprehend. The goo, as advertised in tales of fear, like Bill Joy’s “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us,” warns of worst-case-scenarios.
The “best” tale of a grey goo-like happening is Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, where the chemical is called Ice-nine. A good science fiction ploy, Ice-nine is a seed crystal that on contact with water, causes all H20 to instantly freeze at abnormal temperatures. It can instantly freeze oceans, and of course, rivers . . . → Read More: Bird Flu and Science Fiction
The SOPA bill quickly became the favorite whipping boy of nearly all netizens, in perhaps the rarest moment of solidarity between left and right experienced in recent years. The collective ire found a common scapegoat in the form of censorship of the internet.
What this SOPA Blackout has also shown is the power of Google, Reddit, and Wikipedia in broadcasting issues and fighting heavily lobbied legislation. Moreover, sites like Google and Wikipedia have proven that they can act as change agents on behalf of people – a power seemingly divested from Congressmen and Senators over the years. Since this morning, three Senators have already leapt from the mast of the SOAP ship as the conflagration of the bill continues in the press.
Does the Internet now represent voters in a more effective way than actual elected leaders? Rather than write a letter or call a representative, . . . → Read More: The Internet Rises Up: Don’t Mess With Lolcats
 One of the remaining mysteries in science related to the big questions about “how did we get here” is: By what process did a single-cell organism change into a multicellular structure?
Today, the University of Minnesota reported that a simple lab test can answer that question. In a primordial broth of yeast cells, with lab equipment no more extravagant than their two hands, the researchers shook their yeasty container once a day, according to Wired News. Within two months, the single-celled yeast had clumped and formed multicellular structures ‘displaying all the tendencies associated with “higher” forms of life: a division of labor between specialized cells, juvenile and adult life stages, and multicellular offspring.’
Looking forward to more on this topic.
Image: Go Gophers!
 For anyone interested in the financial meltdown of 2008, which spawned both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements, may I suggest reading Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America by Matt Taibbi. The two parties with their separate protests should realize that their anger needs to be directed at both government and banks, not just one or the other. This is a story of how greed spirals into disaster. Decisions are made behind closed doors that the average person cannot change but only suffer the outcome. The characters assigned such great responsibility in New York and D.C. often do not have the “greater good” in their vocabulary.
Griftopia is a great read, with perhaps a bit too much ad . . . → Read More: Short-term profits over people, infrastructure for sale: Reading Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
Another four-star review of Accelerating Returns has been posted on Smashwords.
“Despite a few chinks (more perception on my part than Anthony’s fault), this story satisfies. Clever plot, good pace and characters that avoid "cardboard" so you can identify with them. The bioethical scenario rings true and the sense of ‘this could really happen’ makes this book worth reading.”
Kindle Edition: $2.99 | Paperback: $13.99
A new review of Accelerating Returns has been posted on Smashwords.
“Peter Anthony certainly did his research before writing this one. The result is a solid techno-thriller, with vibrant characters and well-layered intrigue throughout. The philosophy and machinations of the underground activist group known as "Blockers" is fascinating, and one of the novel’s strongest selling points. A good book, worth the read.”
Kindle Edition: $2.99 | Paperback: $13.99
Is everyone an engineer now? Or a “senior” account/software/systems/sales + manager/consultant/specialist/analyst? While the amount of available jobs shrinks, job titles continue to grow in word count. Gone are the days when a salesman was a salesman. Now it’s a critical accounts marketing manager who pitches products to customers. The title engineer comes in the most flavors, with many of these engineering roles requiring little or no math. A solid understanding of fractions and exponents (for calculating powers of 2) suffices as enough to be blessed with the title engineer. Could there be a industrial psychologist driving this, lengthening job titles under the aegis of a theory of empowerment?
Why not? For example, the following exchange may be heard soon in a school hallway near you:
“What do you do?”
“I’m a nuclear hydrological engineer.”
“Goodness. What do you do exactly?”
“Atom removal. I transfer matter using water.”
“Wow, what . . . → Read More: Living in the Age of Job Title Hyperbole
 The vague title of this episode can have various meanings. At the outset, the lesson Jimmy McNulty teaches to his sons is a police tactic called “front-and-follow.” In a supermarket, he has his boys tail Stringer Bell, which is cute…until McNulty loses sight of them. McNulty’s worry doesn’t sell me when he can’t find the kids. As a parent who has lost his kids while tracking one of the city’s top gangsters, he would probably be at his wits end. So…
Lesson 1: Don’t use your kids in police investigations.
Lesson 2: What a cool lesson to learn as a kid .
The Wire . . . → Read More: The Wire: Lessons
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