Links
Kindle Fire HD 8.9: how the new Kindle tablet compares with the competition
Kindle Fire HD 8.9: how the new Kindle tablet compares with the competition
Amazon increased the power and range of its Kindle offerings and achieved impressively-low pricing across the board. Again.
I’m 100% certain someone I know will get one of the newly-announced devices, maybe even before the holidays, and I can’t wait to have a look.
Further Reading
Brevity
MG Siegler posted yesterday about his desire to write with more concision. His point is a good one: writing concisely suggests, when you think about it, a far better grasp of a topic than does the need to write 1,000 words about it.
It’s a lesson I learned from a couple of professors in law school (while others tried to teach almost the opposite):
Get in, make your point, and get out.
Being Real Builds Trust
Steph Hay, writing at A List Apart:
Your mom may not be your target user, but she is a real person who’ll call you on your bullshit.
This is great advice.
Peeling Back the Hidden Pages of History With Hyperspectral Photography
Peeling Back the Hidden Pages of History With Hyperspectral Photography
John R. Quain, writing at American Photo:
When the hyperspectral eye was turned on an early draft of the Declaration of Independence written in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, researchers could see that Jefferson had originally written the word “subjects” on one line, which he then scratched out and replaced with the more politically correct “citizens,” exemplifying the egalitarian sensibility of one of the Enlightenment’s greatest minds.
Okay, that is the most fascinating tech I will see this month. Read the whole article. It’s, well, fascinating.
NoWait protects restaurants from the wrath of restless customers
NoWait protects restaurants from the wrath of restless customers
Rebecca Grant, writing at VentureBeat:
Restaurants can use this iPad app to keep track of available tables and alert customers with a text message when their table is ready.
This sounds like technology with the potential to go far beyond restaurant use cases.
Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82
Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82
Neil Armstrong on Chuck Yeager’s breaking the sound barrier, quoted by his own biographer:
All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in history that had brought me along one generation late. I had missed all the great times and adventures in flight.
Hardly, Mr. Armstrong, hardly.
Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ Hits Evolution Deniers
Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ Hits Evolution Deniers
Bill Nye, as quoted in an article by Kevin Dolak at ABC News:
And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future.
Watch the full clip of Mr. Nye’s thoughts on creationism on YouTube.
Securing the legacy of the world's greatest geek
Securing the legacy of the world’s greatest geek
New Scientist's Jacob Aron interviewed Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal fame, whose latest endeavor is the financing and creation of a museum dedicate to Nikola Tesla’s work.
A random piece of trivia that caught my eye:
He actually built an earthquake machine in his laboratory in New York City, and when he turned it on they had to smash it with a sledgehammer to keep it from taking the whole block down. Not a useful invention, but kind of cool.
Contribute to the project here.
Cloud startup aims to make “dumb” cell phones smart
Cloud startup aims to make “dumb” cell phones smart
Sean Gallagher reports at Ars Technica on biNu, a company developing an asynchronous, server-side smartphone emulator in Java. The system’s low-bandwidth, high-security nature makes it a perfect fit for countries where the next iPhone is out of reach.
Read Gallagher’s article for the details. This is far more exciting to me than the next iPhone. Networked mobile computing technology is still in its infancy when it comes to worldwide availability and adoption. Clever technology like biNu’s may help change that.
Microsoft's Election 2012 hub on Xbox Live heralds the interactive TV future
Microsoft’s Election 2012 hub on Xbox Live heralds the interactive TV future
Samit Sarkar, reporting at The Verge:
The interactive element of the hub is a live polling system. It will gather impressions from Xbox Live users as they watch live broadcasts of the three scheduled presidential debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
It’s not exactly the cross-examination inspired debate format pushed for by Will McAvoy in The Newsroom, but I think it’s a forward-thinking use of the platform.
[Longread] Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster
[Longread] Scamworld: ‘Get rich quick’ schemes mutate into an online monster
This article by Joseph L. Flatley at The Verge is a feat of modern reporting and storytelling. Do yourself a favor and watch the associated documentary, too.
I like to give everything a “link” / “longread” category and one other that describes the content. This one covers a topic I won’t likely post about often, so I’m filing it under “journalism” because, again, it’s just that good.
What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day
What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day
Kevin Purdy, formerly of Lifehacker fame, shares the morning strategies of several people in this Fast Company article. I have never liked the empty proclamations of Tony Robbins and his ilk, but the rest of the article is interesting.
Longread: Brand as Context in Interaction Design
Longread: Brand as Context in Interaction Design
Ben Fullerton of Method, writing in UX Magazine on the interplay between user experience design and brand messaging:
For designers, the development of a compelling brand helps to round out the design, creating a before and after. It builds a background narrative and meaning that empowers people to respond to design in more complex ways.
What are some things I'd be shocked to learn about the outside world?
What are some things I’d be shocked to learn about the outside world?
Susan Wu, on Quora:
All products inherit the values of their creators and have a sort of corresponding ‘morality.’ When you create an algorithm, it’s optimizing for something — it might be that you think “saving time” is a value worth optimizing for. Or it could be that what you’re trying to optimize for is quantity (quantity of access, of distribution), which can often come at the cost of quality and depth of interaction. Or like most of us who are successful Americans, we automatically assume that our stance on individual rights and belief in the individualistic survival of the fittest / the elite will rise are “ideal” or “optimal.”. Another example is our cultural bias towards the “cult of the celebrity.”. And we tend to measure success by economic output.
This is geared toward inhabitants of the Silicon Valley “island” on which so many people become detached from reality, but much of it applies generally to life in a first-world country, as well.
Why Every Community Should Have Its Own Geek Awards
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Second Annual Philly Geek Awards. It was an amazing experience, but far better recaps than anything I can do are already available (like here and here, so I’ll keep this to around 500 words.
Warning: May contain italics and optimism.
There were over two FIVE(! …sorry Eric!) hundred people there, representing geekdom of all types. There were scientists, foodies, comic book artists, filmmakers, comedians, web designers, indie game and app developers, and many more. The sheer diversity of geekery going on Philadelphia is amazing. But the gathering, and the award ceremony in particular, have become much more than the sum of their parts.
Last year, the first annual Philly Geek Awards proved to the City and its geeks that the Age of Geek is here to stay in Philadelphia. Geek may be the new cool when it comes to pop culture, but there is no shortage of 100% pure geek street-cred in Philly. It’s not a fashion trend (although Philly geeks clean up very well, myself included). It’s also not a boys’ club (Spoiler alert: Ms. Hightower won 2012 Geek of the Year!).
The first ceremony cemented the presence and importance of this city’s geek community.
It was refreshing.
This year, the second annual Geek Awards proved that Philly’s geeks are not satisfied merely to be recognized. They are building, connecting, and developing communities, online and off, all over Philadelphia and at an unprecedented pace. This time, it was more than refreshing:
It was inspiring.
That’s because what I saw, and what I could feel in the air, was a sense not only of like-mindedness when it comes to community and innovation, but an even stronger sense that we can, and should, work together for a better city.
I realize that by the end of that last sentence, I started to sound like a politician. Maybe that’s okay: with any luck, some of the Geek Awards attendees, or their friends, or their spouses, or their children, will become a politician, or work for one. If anyone can overcome the absurdity of politics, it’s a Philly geek.
Then there are the companies, the publications, the government partnerships, the music records, the software, and more that will come from the massive, wonderful brains of Philly’s geeks.
Enough about the future. What about today?
Every city needs such a perfect way to unite, reward, and inspire its geeks. Only recently has Philly’s true geekery started to find its way into government (a beat covered masterfully by Technically Philly). There are undoubtedly geeks across America making rage faces at their city’s website or longing to meet other geeks. Geek Awards are the answer.
The Philly Geek Awards are about what Philly’s geeks, of all types, are doing today to improve their communities, their city, and their world. It’s about people, coming together and making stuff, at art collectives, coworking spaces, and universities all over Philly, right now.
There’s nothing more inspiring than that.