|
|
 |
Dr. Samuel Says
|
Rants
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 20 December 2007 |
|
Don't know if you've been tracking the Facebook advertising mini-scandal that's been going down the last couple of months, but it is pretty interesting. The online privacy issue has been percolating for more than a decade now, and it's becoming clear that privacy advocates are losing the battle.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
|
Games have long been a hobby of mine, in a slightly removed sort of way. I like playing games -- board games, video games, card games, what have you -- but I'm even more interested in why and how we play games. As you know, I spent some years as a government "consultant" during the Cold War, and am proud to say many of my game theory postulates are now official foreign policy. Maybe "proud" is not the word...
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Bidness
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 13 December 2007 |
|
The following item was forwarded to me by loyal reader and discerning online shopper Carrie S. It illustrates nicely, I think, the power of the Internet in regard to issues of consumer advocacy. Such displays of selfless endeavor are especially relevant during the holiday shopping season. Also, if you happen to need a pen.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Wednesday, 12 December 2007 |
I am honored and humbled to stand before you today in celebrating the life and art of the legendary Joyce DeWitt. Has there ever, in the history of recorded civilization, existed a person who so thoroughly embodies Beauty, Intelligence, Charm and Genius? I think not. My first encounter with Ms. DeWitt, in 1979, was both intellectually stimulating and erotically -- oops, wait a sec. Wrong notes.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
New Toys
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Tuesday, 11 December 2007 |
|
Let us consider the humble wristwatch. Adapted around World War I from the heavier pocket watch, the wristwatch is simple, functional and ubiquitous. Despite many underlying technological changes over the years -- mechanical to quartz to digital -- the basic design and function of the wristwatch has remained pretty much static. We're not going to count the calculator watch, because that idea was just goofy from the get-go.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Weirdness
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Friday, 07 December 2007 |
It's Friday, the holidays are encroaching, and the weather is turning bitter. Why not do what I do, and take this time to contemplate the essential nature of all known physical phenomena? Here's a nice little roundup of the four most compelling theories of everything (ToE). This is a real area of study, by the way, if it can be called that. Undertaken by only the most ambitious of theoretical physicists. Or people smoking delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 07 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Wednesday, 05 December 2007 |
I like to keep a few Internet bookmarks handy for when I get depressed about the state of the world and concerned for the future. (If you're curious, under current global conditions, it’s every 53.4 minutes exactly -- I've been clocking myself.) One of them is the WikiQuote page for The Daily Show. This may be, pixel-for-pixel, the funniest single page on the Internet.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 05 December 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Smart Design
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Friday, 30 November 2007 |
Those of you familiar with the work of Nikola Tesla will find this one interesting. It concerns wireless power transmission, and the recently demonstrated viability thereof. Very exciting. It seems that over the summer a couple of the rowdier MIT guys actually put together a working system that lit a 60-watt bulb from seven feet away. This news has been slightly under-the-radar for a while, so let's take a look.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 30 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
|
Here's a koan for you: Robots are cool, and guitars are cool. But is a robot guitar cool? In my book? Hell to the yeah. The world's first robot guitar, from industry stalwart Gibson, will debut next month in very limited quantities, to a very limited number of retail outlets. Only 10 guitars per store, as a matter of fact, so get in line now. The first-run models will come in "an exclusive Blue Silverburst Les Paul model" before the regular version hits the market next year.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Bidness
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
Well, can't say I didn't see this one coming. The New York Times ran a wee little under-the-radar story today that will prove to be prescient in the coming years, I expect. It concerns laptops, iPhones, wi-fi hotspots, and our collective consumer conviction that we should have wireless connectivity everywhere.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
New Toys
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
Well, can't say I didn't see this one coming. The New York Times ran a wee little under-the-radar story today that will prove to be prescient in the coming years, I expect. It concerns laptops, iPhones, wi-fi hotspots, and our collective consumer conviction that we should have wireless connectivity everywhere.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Tuesday, 13 November 2007 |
I was making my usual rounds in the lab this morning when I stopped to scan the headlines on my NanoRetinal Display PDA (patent pending). One news item in particular got me so excited I spilled a beaker of retroviral plasmids on my faithful guard dog, Copernicus. (It should be interesting to see how that turns out.)
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Rants
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
Government work is a hassle, believe me. Back in the day, I held several official posts in the FBI, CIA, FDA, NSA and once at a local KFC. (That wasn't a government gig, but I was in a bind and, you know, I really like chicken.) I much prefer the private sector, where the salaries are properly inflated, and the perks flow like water from a fountain.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
New Toys
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Friday, 02 November 2007 |
|
Sometimes, it's the little ideas that are the best. Take, for instance, the idea of digital picture frames. These are the gadgets you see at Radio Shack or Sharper Image that rotate your digital photos within a tabletop LCD display -- a perfect gift for your techie geek friend, or even better, a way to impress older relatives with your 21st-century digital savvy. (I personally used this gift to great effect for my grandma's last birthday. Now she thinks I'm a genius. Which, of course, I am.)
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 02 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Arts & Science
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
As you know, I spent several years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early 1990s. My work there remains classified, and I've found out the hard way that the government really does not want me talking about it. But I can say that JPL is a great place to work, and a lot more fun than you might think. For instance, we fielded a formidable co-ed softball team, and would annually spank those jokers from MIT in the Astrophysicist Rec League.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 November 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
| << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
| | Results 76 - 90 of 143 |
|
