August 2011
19 posts
“Every mountain is unclimbable until someone climbs it. So every ship is...”
– Robert Crawley in Downton Abbey (S1, E1)
July 2011
26 posts
The Supreme Court Should Invalidate Software... →
In my view, the solution is straightforward: software shouldn’t be eligible for patent protection. That might sound simplistic, but there are good reasons to think abolition of software patents is the right reform. Software is fundamentally different than other types of inventions. For starters, software is virtually alone in being eligible for both patent and copyright protection. This makes...
Watch“I Was Here” by Beyoncé . Missing my Meme.
When Patents Attack — NPR →
NPR investigates software patents and finds that everyone (but patent trolls) thinks they’re bullshit. Great to see the edgy mainstream media examining this issue.
In early July, the bankrupt tech company Nortel put its 6,000 patents up for auction as part of a liquidation. A bidding war broke out among Silicon Valley powerhouses. Google said it wanted the patents purely to defend...
Carole Jefferson Vinoskey Obituary
(My grandmother)
Carole Jefferson Vinoskey, 67, of Forest passed away Thursday, July 21, 2011. She was the loving wife of Adam V. Vinoskey for 36 years.
Born June 8, 1944 in Lynchburg, she was a daughter of the late Bluford Ramsey Jefferson and Myrtle Simms Jefferson. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by a daughter, Mary Cohick and a sister, Brenda Rogers.
Carole was a...
“The Web has become our global town square where culture bubbles up, revolutions...”
– Aarron Walter, “The Expanding Role of User Experience Design” UX Magazine
Nielsen: Top 10 Application Design Mistakes →
This list, from 2008, is still relevant in 2011. I re-read it periodically.
Mac OS X Lion now available →
Use my affiliate link and I can pay off my student loans faster. :)
1 tag
“We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it...”
– Nietzsche
How Bible Stories Evolved Over The Centuries — NPR →
Jesus appearing to the disciples after the crucifixion and the “let he without sin cast the first stone” story? Yeah, not actually in the earliest Greek manuscripts of the Bible.
Watch“I’m here at Cape Canaveral for a seminal moment in history: when America looked to its highest aspirations and said, ‘Eh, fuck it.’”
/source “Final Countdown” on The Daily Show
/via @fishmark
“We are as gods and have to get good at it.”
– Stewart Brand in “Whole Earth Discipline”
10,000 Year Clock Begins Construction Thanks to... →
“Over the lifetime of this clock, the United States won’t exist,” Bezos tells me. “Whole civilizations will rise and fall. New systems of government will be invented. You can’t imagine the world — no one can — that we’re trying to get this clock to pass through.”
1 tag
Watch“Persona is a concept email client that was designed to change the perception and experience of sending and receiving emails.”
It’s the best re-imagining of email yet. It would make me not hate email.
The Engadget Interview: HP's Stephen DeWitt →
webOS’s new shepherd gave a rockstar interview. webOS still doesn’t have the hardware to shine on, but Stephen DeWitt seems like the right man to make something incredible happen. He was the CEO of the game-changing web server company Cobalt back in the day, the first server I ever purchased, so he has extra brownie points from me.
“Filters should support and enhance your message, not overwhelm it. Judicious use...”
– J. Eisenberg, SVG Essentials
“You are not an explorer because you can draw lines on a map. You are an explorer...”
– Eric Ries
/source: Eric Ries, the Face of the Lean Startup Movement, on How a Once-Insane Idea Went Mainstream
Crusade To Fix Tax Code Gains Steam — NPR →
Deductions disproportionately favor the wealthy and few actually incentivize globally beneficial behavior.
“It seems to be one of the paradoxes of creativity that in order to think...”
– George Kneller
(via Brandon Werner)
Research shows ways to make iPad apps more... →
Smart observations from Nielsen Norman Group on iPad apps.
Complaints About Proposition 13? It Depends on... →
I maintain that California’s proposition system is the #1 reason for its budget problems. Voter-created loopholes like Proposition 13 inhibit the legislature’s ability to adapt to changes in revenue forecasts and that hurts all citizens.
“I don’t know jack shit about French [cuisine], except French fries,...”
– Angel, Master Chef (S2, E5) 