On the Edge of ChaosWhere interesting things happen...(Untitled)- May 31, 2003 The Dark Side of Technology Brazilian swarm-muggers. Brazilian crooks are using stolen cellphones to coordinate the actions of underage crooks and create dead-end double-blinds that can't be traced by the cops. The crooks recruit a roper and hand him a parcel of stolen mobiles; then the roper recruits a gang of children and distributes the phones to them. The crook finds a target -- a tourist in a hotel -- and calls his roper, who deploys the children to swarm the tourist and rip him off, and..http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/31.html#a119 (Untitled)- May 27, 2003 Computer Language Family Tree Interesting chart of the Geneaology of computer languges, but it's incomplete. I've been programming in (various versions of) RPG for the last 15 years. RPG was one of the first computer programming languages developed, way back about 1956. It is a non-academic language, invented by IBM (originally to help in the production of reports) and maybe that's why the language gets less respect than BASIC. Thousands of companies depend on programs..http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/27.html#a118 (Untitled)- May 23, 2003 TANSTAAFL Do you listen to MP3s Do you listen to MP3s Then you might care to listen to what Lockergnomie Matt Neimeyer has to say: "If I buy a DVD and it is destroyed, I can't take my receipt back to the brick-and-mortar and expect a replacement. Why should the digital age be any different Especially when there are SO many ways to create backups. If you have homeowner's or renter's insurance and you maintain a good inventory, you can usually get reimbursed for replacement of that property by...http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/23.html#a116 (Untitled)- May 20, 2003 Google Alert! This is a wonderful idea and service. GoogleAlert is a service that automates the process of doing repetitive Google searches. After creating a free GoogleAlert account, the new user is prompted to create google searches. Once saved these searches will be run every day and the results sent to the user in the form of an email. This is a fabulous idea! If you want to keep track of something, this a very good automated way to do it. Better yet, the search results can be generated as..http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/20.html#a114 (Untitled)- May 17, 2003 The Matrix Reloaded "Anyone who sees the movie for what it really is will love it. The Matrix: Reloaded is not primarily about love, religion, ethics or violence (although these are supporting themes), but rather -- wait for it! -- software! It's about programming and code. It's about software design and hacking. And it's about the unintended consequences of self-replicating software. It's about the challenges of perfecting a total-immersion world-simulation environment for people who...http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/17.html#a109 (Untitled)- May 16, 2003 Gemstar eBook I haven't mentioned it before, but I really love my Gemstar eBook! This is the second electronic book reader I have owned, the first being the original Rocket eBook. I replaced my Rocket eBook because the latest version of the Gemstar eBook is lighter, faster and uses memory cards allowing for up to 128 MB of memory. Of course I immediately bought a 128 MB smart media card for my eBook! Whenever I buy a book now, I first look for a Gemstar eBook electronic...http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/16.html#a108 (Untitled)- May 16, 2003 The Bug How interesting could a novel about a coder trying to track down a bug be Judging from this excerpt and this interview with Ellen Ullman the book The Bug: A Novel can be quite a compelling story indeed. I've read previous novels about Silicon Valley and programmers, but this one seems to be really well written with a story that draws you in - whether or not you're a programmer (which is quite an accomplishment on its own). The story is something of a psychological thriller about a...http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/16.html#a107 (Untitled)- May 16, 2003 Happiness Is A Used PC Another topic that keeps coming up over the past two years or so is whether or not the upgrade cycle for PCs has been "stretched". It used to be that most people would replace a computer every three years or so. Now, people seem to be hanging onto old machines much longer. There are a few reasons for this. Most important, of course, is that (for the most part) applications that require more power just aren't that big a deal any more. Most people use their PCs for...http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/16.html#a106 (Untitled)- May 15, 2003 ALIEN LEGION: FORCE NOMAD by Chuck Dixon, Larry Stroman and Carl Potts Draw a picture, tell a story. Comic books have always been looked down upon as a form of literary expression. But the rise of the graphic novel has repudiated the idea that good stories can only be told in words. Alien Legion: Force Nomad won't win the Pulitzer Prize for literature, but its combination of words and pictures makes for an interesting story told in an entertaining way.http://radio.weblogs.com/0108093/2003/05/15.html#a103 |