P.S. A Column On Things

By PAUL E. SCHINDLER JR. I am from Portland, Oregon, Beaumont ’66, Benson High ’70, MIT ’74. Some things are impossible to know, but it is impossible to know these things.

Technobriefs

November 24, 2008

by Craig Reynolds

Vista v. Microsoft: how Microsoft managed to shoot itself in the foot by fudging the minimum system requirements: Vista Capable Fiasco 'Destroyed' Microsoft's Credibility, Insider E-Mails Say and Microsoft Co-Prez Warned Colleagues 'Vista Capable' Was Misleading.

Flash v. iPhone: don't hold your breath: Why Apple Will Never Permit Adobe Flash on the iPhone and Flash Coming Soon to RIM, Nokia, and G1; Apple Remains Unconvinced.

Space: we learned earlier this year that Mars has water as permafrost near the poles. Turns out there is also lots of water further south: Red (Planet) Alert: Massive Subsurface Glaciers Discovered on Mars. Talk about a bad day: exploding grease guns and lost baggage: Spacewalker expresses remorse for lost tool bag.

OLPC: the One Laptop Per Child foundation brought back its purchase and donate program: OLPC Resumes 'Give One, Get One' XO Laptop Sale, Amazon Unveils Give One, Get One Laptop Store and One Laptop Per Child Gets a Marketing Push.

Gender: Maybe the Meltdown’s a Guy Thing and The Forces Driving Women Out of Computer Science.

History: last week I mentioned the 40th anniversary of Alan Kay's DynaBook, not realizing that its also been 40 years since Doug Engelbart's historic demo of interaction with a computer (a remote one at that!): Engelbart and the Dawn of Interactive Computing: SRI's Revolutionary 1968 Demo – A 40th Anniversary Celebration. More along those lines: Top 25 days in computing history,

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Aug 26, 2014: replacement link for Top 25 Days In Computing History

 

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and for a nice survey of earlier technology: Slideshow: Victorian Hacking (note slide 15: shades of The Difference Engine).

Technobits: Law Professor Fires Back at Music IndustryIs There a Privacy Risk in Google Flu Trends?How Google's Ear HearsPlayStation 3 Processor Speeds Financial-Risk CalculationResearcher: Self-driving cars could save U.S. auto industryComputing From Weather to WarcraftStudy reminds us why we're always fixing our parents' PCsGulf War illness is real, report findsAll Hail the Apple Maggot!Regenerating a Mammoth for $10 MillionMontyPython's Channel.

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