Google’s slogan used to be “Don’t be evil.”, but whether by accident or design Google’s new privacy policy — really a “you have no privacy” policy — is evil. Giving Google information had been acceptable, because they did not aggregate all of the bits of knowledge we entrusted them with into a single profile. On …
Category Archives: Geek
OMFG! Want!
More importantly, I want to work with/for/near Bret Victor. After I spent a few posts bagging on Sierra as an inadequate mechanism for improving the spend and quality of code, here comes this guy with an amazing demo of the kinds of tools that could revolutionize software development. Check the video for all the hotness: …
Electronics fun for the Whole Family
I’ve been struggling with how to help our 11-year old develop her attention to detail and critical thinking skills. I spent some time trying to interest her in programming, but it didn’t take. Anyway, I think I’m too close to that topic, and I don’t know that I’m the best person to teach programming to …
Sierra, again.
OK, there are other things I meant to post, but I ran across the latest update on the Sierra language Kickstarter, and I really need to comment. First the update: Update #1: Sierra to Objective C Posted 5 days ago I have decided that the project will first translate into Objective C rather than having …
Sierra programming language
I ran across the Sierra Programming Language yesterday on Kickstarter. First, I thought it was odd seeing an open source programming language looking for funding. Most of these projects seemed to move forwards pet projects for some programmer or another. The inventor makes some pretty bold claims (5x-6x faster programming). Then looking at it, a …
Microsoft: too greedy to get out of their own way.
So I just started up my Xbox 360 for the first time in 6 months to try out the new Metro UI and media features. First stop, the Netflix app. After downloading the app and starting it up, I get told I need an Xbox Live Gold account to use Netflix. Now I have a …
Continue reading “Microsoft: too greedy to get out of their own way.”
Handmade Cables
Tonight I find myself putting together good old DB-9 connectors, and I realized that it’s been a long time since I have had need (or even seen) these connectors. They were once pretty ubiquitous, first on my Atari 2600 joysticks, and then as RS-232 cable connections. These cables are actually for connecting stepper motors to …
Best product of CES 2011
The annual Consumer Electronics Show is over. Sadly it was not the latest and greatest technological innovation that caught my eye amongst all of the product announcements. It was an April Fool’s Joke. Specifically, it was yet another joke product from the minds of the screaming monkeys at thinkgeek.com. Every year for April Fool’s day …
Byte Review of the Original Macintosh
Since byte.com is being revived soon, and in spite of the fact that the new incarnation sounds lame, I’ve had a good time going back and revisiting some of the publications of the day. You can find archives of Creative Computing here and here, as well as Compute! located here. But the initial review of …
Christmas Day 2010
Now that the orgy of torn wrapping paper and discarded cardboard is over. The gifts I gave seem to have been mostly duds. Kim doesn’t like the sheets for the bed, and the girls don’t seem interested in building any of their projects. I had planned on spending the afternoon busily assembling the minor DIY …