Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Saving the Planet With Plan B 2.0

Saving the Planet With Plan B 2.0The British government last month sponsored the publication of a comprehensive study on "dangerous climate change" -- available in book form or as a free download -- that provides the scientific backing for the conclusion that fossil-fuel emissions must be cut back "with resolve and urgency now."

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Project Blowed | News

Project Blowed | News My peers and I try many means to hold on to these times. The more fervent of us call it "true" hip-hop, while those of us with any real sense of the relativity of human experience can't part our lips to do so.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Stanford on iTunes

Stanford on iTunes Very cool free iTunes educational content, including Jobs legendary commencement speech from 2005.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Wired News:

Wired News:: "Satellite radio is a pretty good technology that's attracting a respectable audience primarily through excellent programming. But let's be clear -- satellite doesn't hold a candle to podcasting, and not even Howard Stern can change that."

Tivo To Go Unleashed!

Tivo To Go Unleashed!

Jon Udell: Gmail lockdown in sector 4

Jon Udell: Gmail lockdown in sector 4: "By the time Rob reminded me that I'd screwed up, there were a lot of messages to download. And I had a pretty good idea what would happen when I tried. Sure enough, about a tenth of the way through the process, I triggered the dreaded lockdown in sector 4. As those who have been there know, the message you receive (on your primary email account) reads in part:

Our system has detected abnormal usage of your Gmail account. As a result,
we have temporarily disabled access to this account.

It will take between one minute and 24 hours for you to regain access,
depending on the behavior our system detected.



As infuriating as this is, I know where they're coming from. When I helped design an online book service we wrestled with the same issue: how do you distinguish acceptable interactive use from unacceptable robotic use? There's no good solution. You measure quantity, you measure rate, you look at patterns, and you draw the line somewhere, but it's arbitrary.


In my case, access was restored in about two hours. I've throttled back my archiver, and it looks like a slow scan will do the job, but before I proceed I thought I'd pose two questions. First, if somebody out there has already worked out the lockdown algorithm, can you share the parameters?"

It's Time to Cure Health Care

It's Time to Cure Health Care: "It's Time to Cure Health Care Nearly everyone agrees that all Americans need medical insurance. It's time for Washington to make it happen
The U.S. is the only major industrial nation that doesn't have universal health-care coverage. But thanks to the Maryland State legislature, General Motors (GM
), and President George W. Bush's desire to restore luster to his domestic agenda, a national debate about how America pays for medical care is about to sweep Washington and state capitals. I say let loose the dogs of health-care reform.
"