I decided to freshen up my blog design, and (geek alert) switch to a serif type font, which the teacher at my one and only User Interface class said was easier to read than the sans serif default face here on Typepad. I hope you like it. It's the first design change on this blog since I moved to Typepad 15 years ago.

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 Industry — Is There a Privacy Risk in Google Flu Trends? — How Google's Ear Hears — PlayStation 3 Processor Speeds Financial-Risk Calculation — Researcher: Self-driving cars could save U.S. auto industry — Computing From Weather to Warcraft — Study reminds us why we're always fixing our parents' PCs — Gulf War illness is real, report finds — All Hail the Apple Maggot! — Regenerating a Mammoth for $10 Million — MontyPython's Channel.