Freyburg

E-books gain traction on smartphones

Warren — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:27:58 +0000

Despite the perennial cries of “people don’t want to read books on their phones,” that’s precisely what’s happening according to an article in the New York Times. Everyone has their smartphone with them at all times, making it easy to read on the go and tote a library of titles in your pocket. I’ve read at least 3 or 4 books on my iPhone, and plan to keep doing so until Apple comes out with something better, like their mythical tablet device.

Japan’s homeless and cyber-homeless

Warren — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:28:54 +0000

I was recently in Japan, and did indeed see plenty of homeless people, most notably attending a rally put on in Ueno park by Christian missionaries and sleeping in the early morning on the stairs at Shinjuku station. I never went into an internet cafe, but if I had I imagine I would have run into the cyber-homeless detailed in this report.

Fast Company slams gene research

Warren — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:07:25 +0000

Fast Company has come out with a well-written but flawed story about how little genetic research has done to improve our health. Which would be fine and dandy, were it true or if the writer of the article, David Freedman, had the slightest bit of foresight. Freedman delineates how many promises were made once the human genome was decoded, and how far we’ve come in the 10 years since that event. And to be fair, there hasn’t been a huge leap in progress…yet. But biotech is roughly at the place computing was in 1980. Today we carry around the equivalent of a Cray supercomputer in our pocket, use cameras that recognize faces, shoot HD video onto tiny cards and network with people around the world. We have made some progress, with recent gene therapy breakthroughs ending color blindness in monkeys and restoring immune systems. We’re on the bottom end of a big curve with genetics and biotech, and I think ten years from now people will look back at this article and scoff, if they even remember it all.

Preparing for a global future

Warren — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:39:46 +0000

Ian Goldin, one of the many smart people to speak at the always excellent TED conference, lays down the challenges facing us in the next 30 years. The takeaway? The coming decades are full of amazing technologies, but if we don’t find new ways to co-operate, we’re all screwed.

My first article for H+ magazine!

Warren — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:44:36 +0000

I’ve always been interested in the coming convergence of genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotech, and one of the best places to read about the latest developments in those fields is H+ Magazine, published by R.U. Sirius of Mondo 2000 fame. I’m pleased to announce that the first of my articles for H+ about a personal supercomputing company in Calgary has now gone live on their website. A couple more articles are still to come, and I encourage everyone who has an interest in where science is taking us in the next few decades to check out H+.

The Quantum Tamers – weird science and weirder IT

Warren — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:16:34 +0000

Just having a lazy Sunday in Osaka, and came across this cool trailer for a documentary premiering October 20th on TVO. “The Quantum Tamers” is all about the amazing and oftern mind-benindg tech we may be able to harness once we gain a measure of control over the quantum world. What’s coming up? Well, quantum computing, where a computer figures out every possible answer to a question at once and spits out the solution, and quantum teleportation, which is purest madness.

Rachel Maddow on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

Warren — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:07:35 +0000

While I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Rachel Maddow (I don’t mind her, I just don’t like being lectured at even if I happen to agree with the lecturer currently wagging the finger), I have to agree with most of what she says about Obama’s “ehh?” Nobel Peace Prize. See below:

O’Reilly vs. Dawkins: Fight!

Warren — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:19:43 +0000

Noted scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins took on noted jackass and demagogue Bill O’Reilly on the matter of evolution and intelligent design recently on O’Reilly’s show. In the process Dawkins told O’Reilly to stop shouting, and for his part O’Reilly told Dawkins that science “hasn’t advanced the human moral condition.” Funny, the lack of public crucifixes and blaming disease on demons would have me thinking otherwise, but watch for yourself.

Radio Free Skaro #161 – Second Hand News

Warren — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:03:30 +0000

Rumours, rumours and more rumours were grist for the RFS mill this week, as the Three Who Rule speculated on a new, possibly leaked list of Season 5/1/31 writers (and confirmed one or two writers and directors along the way), watching Phil (friend of the show) Ford’s reactions to watching Dreamland (very meta) and DVD speculation run amok. All this and a Fiona Cumming Miniscope.Rumours, rumours and more rumours were grist for the RFS mill this week, as the Three Who Rule speculated on a new, possibly leaked list of Season 5/1/31 writers (and confirmed one or two writers and directors along the way), watching Phil (friend of the show) Ford’s reactions to watching Dreamland (very meta) and DVD speculation run amok. All this and a Fiona Cumming Miniscope.

Fifty years of the Globe and Mail in China

Warren — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:55:36 +0000

Since I’ll be in Beijing at the end of October, this report from the Globe and Mail about the massive changes that have swept over China in the last 50 years is pretty interesting.