Archive for June, 2009
Why Be Multi-Lingual?
Having more than one conversational language at your disposal makes a ton of sense. You can think from a different paradigm, you can see the world from a different point of view, you can connect with a whole new people, learn from a completely different culture…
In case the advantages aren’t obvious — why be bi-lingual? — here’s a quick video clip to explain it to even the thickest among us.
iPhone 3.0 Firmware Update
Posted by will in ideas, technology on June 29th, 2009
Holy cow — the new iPhone 3.0 OS is so advanced I can now delete multiple pictures! But wait, there’s more: I can delete multiple pictures mounted from my desktop, too! Back in the old 2.x days it would RESET THE IPHONE when trying to delete two or more pictures at once.
On top of that, the photos show up in chronological order! How snazzy can you get?
There’s a Pulitzer, or Emmy, or Nobel, in there somewhere.
All kidding aside, it’s a nice new feature set.
- You can also search all your content (drag left from the home-home screen, or hit your home button just one more time, to open the Search interface).
- There’s a voice-memo application now, too.
- And with iPhone OS 3.0 you can now see how long your phone conversations have been. Plus, you know more than just who called, but which phone number they called from (instead of just ‘Diode’ it says ‘Diode / mobile’). Sweet!
- Double-tap just about any text and you get a little select-o-rama interface. Drag the ends where you want them, then tab ‘copy’ and now you can paste it anywhere text is allowed. Nice!
What If The Feds Ran Health Care…?
We elect representatives to lead us through trying times, right? To make policy decisions based on mountains more information than we ordinary folks have, yes? Why not have them run everything? Wouldn’t they be better at it than us uninformed simpletons?
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we had only one organization responsible for all important decisions? Let’s have the feds determine how to educate our kids — oh that’s right, they already do. We could have the feds tell us how to handle our elder care and set up restrictions on who can access the estate and how — oh, wait, they already do. Well the feds should certainly step up and tell us how to manage our own health care and diet and exercise… um, they do.
But that’s only part-way, isn’t it?
Why leave any field open for insights and input and collaboration and production from all quarters, when instead we can restrict the decisions and activitiy to just one exclusive team? Let’s have the feds do it all. We’ll all sit back in our lawn chairs, caching stimulus checks while prices go through the roof, which our kids and grandkids will have to deal with later. Nobody will produce anything, but everyone will feel good while it lasts. It’s a great plan, and is NOT a short term fix at all; this is a well-considered approach with an eye on the future, having nothing to do with buying votes. Nothing at all.
Land of the convenient, home of the comfortable.
A Revolution in Decision-Making
Subtitle: Information-based decision in one image
Throughout history, in any conflict, the victor is usually the one with the superior information, right? Flint, bronze, steel. Mechanized infantry beats dragoons, and knowledge of germs beats bloodletting.
It’s always been about the information. The more up-to-date your information is, the better your decisions can be. (This is where the Business Intelligence industry focuses all its attention — you’ve got the data, now pull out the patterns so you can see what’s going on, enabling you to make more effective decisions based on information, instead of basing decisions upon wishes, gut feelings or dreams.)
Better Explained . com
Posted by will in ideas, science, technology on June 13th, 2009
I just discovered BetterExplained.com, the brainchild of Kalid Azad. It’s great! Kalid writes clear, thorough explanations of all kinds of ideas from simple stuff to complicated stuff. Math, computers, marketing, communication and more.
Go have a look!
Suzanna Gratia-Hupp: What the Second Amendment is REALLY For
The most important part of this video — to most of us at large, that is; her world was forever changed by the events she recounts in the first part — is in her closing remarks to the legislators about the 2nd amendment. Still, the entire presentation is significant:
15 Beautiful Microscopic Images from Inside the Human Body
Go get the kids! This is some great discussion material with the munchkins…
What’s a taste bud look like? What is it inside your ear that enables you to hear? Show me a six-day-old embryo. What does a blood clot look like up close? Looking for a great reason to brush your teeth thoroughly?
The folks over at Environmental Graffiti have a wonderful collection of close-ups of… well, your innards and mine.
Images include blood cells, healthy and cancerous lungs, intestines of course, and several sensory organs.
Check out 15 Beautiful Microscopic Images from Inside the Human Body.