You should go read this excellent post on Technosociology, which makes two points, one that I’ve written about before and one that I’ve been meaning to write. The first is a rebuke to the free speech fetishists of the internet who regard their ability to shout at someone as an absolute right rather than a …
Category Archive: Technology
Oct 01 2012
The New iOS Maps App Will Kill You
… that is, if you try to use it to navigate your way through the desert. I won’t make a habit of just linking to the stuff I write elsewhere without expanding on it substantially for the Horde’s benefit*, but I’ve been following stories of people who die because they rely on online maps for way …
Aug 09 2012
I’m ready for my close-up
I’m getting a bit peeved at all this new technology. Why, back in the day when I was doing electron microscopy work, I’d spend days slicing up tiny fragments of zebrafish embedded in epon-araldite with an ultramicrotome, and I’d end up with hundreds of itty-bitty copper grids that I’d put in the EM one by …
Jul 28 2012
The cables!
I saw this on @cstross‘s twitter feed and had to laugh. Audiophiles and other bewildered purchasers of high-end electronics can get thoroughly deranged and start throwing ridiculous sums of money at the most trivial components — like cables. How would you like this extra-special X-Box cable? I found one place selling it for $85; the …
Jul 25 2012
Not just Sally Ride
I had never heard of the Women in Space Program before, but apparently, after the Soviets sent Valentina Tereshkova into space, there was actually an effort to train American women as astronauts. The participants of the Women in Space Program experienced tremendous success. “Nineteen women enrolled in WISP, undergoing the same grueling tests administered to …
Jul 23 2012
An insult to jellyfish everywhere
This is supposed to be an artificially synthesized jellyfish. They layered some rat heart muscle cells on a sheet of elastic silicone polymer, and then applied a current to the medium, causing it to contract. And they call that a jellyfish! I ask you, does it have a syncytial nerve net to regulate muscle contractions? …
Jul 14 2012
And everyone gets a robot pony!
Oy, singularitarians. Chris Hallquist has a post up about the brain uploading problem — every time I see this kind of discussion, I cringe at the simple-minded naivete that’s always on display. Here’s all we have to do to upload a brain, for instance: The version of the uploading idea: take a preserved dead brain, …
Jul 09 2012
Yay! New laptop!
My old one was getting flaky and unreliable, but now I have a brand new machine that’s faster and slicker and more powerful, so I can type faster! I’ll start working like mad once it’s done syncing and rearranging everything far, far away from where I’m used to finding it. It may be a little …
Jun 25 2012
Worst lag ever
How can you possibly play video games with 14 minutes worth of lag? There’s some awesome engineering behind landing a rover on Mars.
Apr 13 2012
WORST. INTERNET. ACCESS. EVER.
It’s a fantastic meeting here at #atheistcon, in a beautiful part of the world, with huge crowds (I have seen the theater, and I have seen it filled with people, and I am intimidated), and I can tell this convention is going to be a huge success. But I have to complain about one thing, …
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