The Googleplex BlogAn iconoclastic look at Google, research, the Web, the state of the world, and anything at all that interests Harold Davis.Easy Travel to Mars- March 27, 2006 It can sometimes be problematic finding your way around this turbulent, overcrowded earth. But if you have access to Google, it's now easy to explore Mars. Google Mars provides elevation maps (showing altitude in relief), satellite photos created using a mosaic of visible light images, and views created with a mosaic of infrared photography. As with Google Earth, you can zoom in and out and navigate across the various views. Other features are almost too numerous to list. You can...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000248.shtml How Is a Honda Element Like a Platypus- March 24, 2006 On our way to drop Julian off at school, Julian notices a new billboard that asks the questionWhat does a Honda Element and a platypus have in common Julian is now reading omnivorously, kind of like a platypus, whose food (not reading) diet consists of platypus insect larvae, snails, yabbies, worms, tadpoles and other fauna and shellfish. Platypi also occasionally eat small frogs, small fish and fish eggs. Yes, "platypi" is a valid plural of platypus, along with "platypuses." A...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000247.shtml Private Wikis As Knowledge Management Systems- March 22, 2006 Recently in The Commune and the Scholar I wrote about the conflict between communal information repositories (such as the Wikipedia) and the distinctive voice of lone authority. Several readers have pointed out that Wikis are just as useful-if not more so-in private contexts as they are as general sources like the excellent Wikipedia. Many companies and institutions-from entire enterprises to small workgroups-have replaced complex Knowledge Management Systems with wikis. Wikis can also be used..http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000246.shtml The Commune and the Scholar- March 17, 2006 Everybody who uses the web-whether for fun, research, or profit-knows that much of the best content on the web is supplied by the community. This content is created in myriad ways-but is communal, usually not for profit (other than AdSense revenue!), and usually posted with the barest minimum of structure, verification and oversight. The jeremiads of bloggers rise to the heavens but provide some useful insights. Profiles on MySpace are the kind of superficial self portraits you'd expect of...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000245.shtml As the Manichean Google Worm Turns- March 15, 2006 I have always been a Google agnostic. I don't love Google, and I don't hate Google. I think Google is a company with good and bad, like most companies, institutions, and human beings. My picture of most "companies, institutions, and human beings"-and this is very transparent with my kids-is that an angel sits on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Sometimes the angel wins, and sometimes the devil wins. Google cooperates with the Chinese government to censor Internet...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000244.shtml Power Tends to Corrupt and Google Power Corrupts Abso-Googly- March 14, 2006 Google the term google and you won't find any ads containing "google" (or "Google"). In fact, "google" is one of the few terms you can search for on Google that produces absolutely no ad results. (A total aside: finding search queries that yield no ads could become another form of Google whacking.) As you likely know, the results you see when you do a Google search are divided into "natural" links-the supposedly objective links the search engine comes up with...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000243.shtml Buyer Beware, Indeed!- March 13, 2006 In a recent story, I noted that Craigslist is being sued to comply with the same Federal Fair Housing regulations that apply to newspaper classified ads. According to a recent front page New York Times article, real estate transactions in which buyers have never seen the property have become increasingly common on the Internet, particularly on eBay. It should come as no surprise that a great many of these sales are fraudulent. Any buyer of a house or land who...http://www.braintique.com/research/mt-archives/000242.shtml |