Drill baby drill.. uh ho.. float baby float!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10034753-54.html?tag=mncol;txt

So all the debate about offshore oil drilling has come to head, and right on cue we have an alternative.. offshore floating data-centers. Great,.. so now states can fight about who gets revenue from those and fight to death about how far out in the sea they should be. Meanwhile, I will gladly take a commute that involves a yacht over a bus ride on a bridge,.. any day.

Floating point computations will then be literally that. And..

I should go back to work.

can't fill em? lose em

This really tickled me. Apparently an insurance watchdog is reporting a suspicious correlation between rising gas prices and reports of stolen SUV's.

mashups and more with natural language

Someone at work pointed this out and it is definitely amazing: sort of a clearsilver, but for a browser, but not just to search for and run things, but make them talk to each other.


Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Meet Emily!

How far is computer animation from making "Simone" really possible? "Emily" would say, closer than you think!

See this! 

TSA pimping businesses

This is a winner.

The stock markets,.. they are down. Banks are going bust. Consumer confidence and spending is down,.. if only there was a way to make people buy stuff... hmm.. oh yeah, why not make people buy stuff.

In the name of national security, we have already created a color-coded-security-level-indicator, invaded a few countries, wiped out a generation in those lands and ruined the next. Why not use it to boost the economy?

http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/simplifying_laptop_bag_procedures.shtm

a couple of interesting talks

Noam Chomsky was at Google - Boston a few weeks back. It was without doubt one of the most impressive orations -- Dr. Chomsky was at his best with his dry humor and often controversial opinions.

Dr. Chomsky did not present on any particular topic as such. Instead he just had people ask him questions at the outset. Therefore, the entire discourse was characteristically impromptu. Here is a list of questions that were asked,.. just to give you an idea about the range of issues that he addressed:

How have your ideas on universal grammar changed over the years? Are you more or less convinced of the theory now than you were initially?

You are well known for your criticism of our current generation's lack of insight and sense of history. What do you see in the younger generation that you personally find energizing and encouraging? (FF to around 16 mins)

Back after a while

Yeah its been a while.

There was so much to think about that nothing could be thought.

I remember an interview with Joan Didion on her book, The Year of Magical Thinking on NPR's Fresh Air. I never read the book, but it was about life after a member of the family passes away. I forget how I heard it, but it was probably when I was driving back from work. It just stuck with me.. there was a tremendous amount of sadness in her voice although she had probably thought about it on countless moments and even written a whole book about it.

One thing I realized though was how resilient we can be. Life does find a way to live on, but everything just feels more ephemeral.