Found this through Hacker News: http://www.elasticspace.com/2013/03/no-to-no-ui I don’t know who Timo Arnall is, but he/she gets it that I am so annoyed by user interfaces that leave me guessing what the f*** is going on with whatever device/app I’m using. My experience with my Android smartphone is well articulated by Arnall – having been a… Continue reading Glad to see a technorati that articulates my complaint about UI
Category: Stuff stumbled onto
I’m a low multitasker
According to the little test application referenced in this article, my scores are the same as a low multitasker. I would have predicted that. Despite my use of technology – I’m aware that I don’t do well juggling many tasks simultaneously. It is one my peeves at the way the current work environments have evolved… Continue reading I’m a low multitasker
Martin Gardner
One of my heroes in my days as a math major in college was Martin Gardner. I was reading his column in Scientific American when I was in high school. I read the column where he introduced John Conway’s cellular automata game of “Life“. I have had a copy of his “Annotated Alice” for years.… Continue reading Martin Gardner
25% wireless-only !
Yup. Here it is. 25% of U.S. households – households, not individuals – have no landline phone. Related story also on NYTimes Technology pages – cellphones used for data processing more than for making phonecalls!
The “Business Model” of doing things…. feh!
Yet another piece at the NYTimes about education and NCLB. (Or, as I’ve heard some teacher-friends call it: NTLS – No Teacher Left Standing). Apparently, a book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education”, by Diane Ravitch, is arguing that the latest fashion in high… Continue reading The “Business Model” of doing things…. feh!
Lose something at Disneyland?
Just for fun… LA Times article about what’s found in the bottom of the fake ponds at Disneyland when they drain them for maintenance. Interesting claim: the water was originally stocked with actual live fish! Of course, now no fish could live in it. Which highlights the next factoid: they didn’t drain the water to… Continue reading Lose something at Disneyland?
Perversely satisfying … sans noses
This brief piece on NY Times can be seen from two points of experience: observing others, and then observing yourself. My self-defeating behavior doesn’t feel self-defeating. I can explain quite to my satisfaction why I’m not getting what I want. But observing others closely, it’s so easy to see their self-defeating patterns. But point them… Continue reading Perversely satisfying … sans noses
Untitled
Got this from my New Scientist eMag. Again, this is consistent with the idea that all “thinking” happens only in our “brain” is very mistaken.
Time to get gardening (redux)
The seeds are ordered. From Johnny’s Seeds, in Maine! I know, shipping seeds from Maine to California. Silly. But it was the first seed place on the internet that had Kabocha squash seeds. Had them last year because my prof found them growing in his garden from the compost he used. Turns out I like… Continue reading Time to get gardening (redux)
Zits wasn’t kidding
Not too long ago there was a Zits comic strip where Jeremy sits in the back of the car while his parents drive in search of a parking space. He finds a parking space using his smartphone – to the consternation of his parents, of course. But now there’s a story (video) on ZDNet that’s… Continue reading Zits wasn’t kidding