the tweney review

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 30th through July 1st:

• How to See 93 Million Miles: Plan a Trip to a Total Solar Eclipse - Amazing piece on eclipses, with tips on how to see one yourself. Author claims that an eclipse gives you a sense of “depth perception” stretching over 93 million miles
• Quantum computing breakthrough arises from unknown molecule - strange molecule with an electron “spread across both ends”
• IBM Research | Donald S. Bethune - coinventor, with Sumio Ijima, of carbon nanotubes
• Electronics with carbon nanotubes - physicsworld.com - short summary of the significance of nanotubes to electronics
• one hundred push ups - 6-week program to pump! you! up!
• National Association of Science Writers - A useful association to join, other science writers have told me.
• No, Mr Kelly, I’m afraid the internet is not as clever as a single (human) brain | Technology | guardian.co.uk - To compare a synapse to a hyperlink ‘feels like lese majeste.’

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 26th through June 27th:

• The Many (Geeky) Faces of Bill Gates, a Capsule Biography - In reality, Gates is a smooth operator who, despite his uncombed hair, baby face and disheveled appearance, knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way, making it through several critical (and tricky) career transitions.
• CJR: Five Inconvenient Truths… - Shortcomings of environmental journalism in the age of global warming
• So Long, Bill Gates, and Thanks for the Monopoly - My argument: The computer industry needed a monopoly, and Microsoft provided one.
• The Fight to End Aging Gains Legitimacy, Funding - Nice piece by Alexis Madrigal on the growing credibility of Aubrey de Grey
• By Open Sourcing Symbian, Nokia Kicks Off the Mobile Age -

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 21st through June 25th:

• Harnessing the untapped power of breast motion. - By Adrienne So - Slate Magazine - “As I rode public transportation to the office, my messenger bag slung uncomfortably across my chest, I thought, ‘Why not put the girls to work?’”
• Five Reasons Android Might Deliver Where iPhone Won t - Webmonkey - interesting speculation on thhe future of open-source phones
• Lore Sjöberg’s Alt Text: Earth to Aliens — We’re a Bunch of Dorks - Re Voyager: “I love that we sent an LP. It’s so delightfully retro! I expect alien life forms to discover it and say, ‘Clearly, this is the work of a truly groovy civilization.’”
• Nokia Buys Symbian Takes the Mobile OS Open - Webmonkey - It’s the dawning of the age of mobile apps, as I see it: Android, Symbian, iPhone OS — developers now have 3 choices
• Office Worker Luxuriates in His Wood-Paneled Cubicle | Gadget Lab from Wired.com - Excessively swank
• Top 10 Drinking Achievements Before You Die - Any of these would be a good start to a weekend

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 18th through June 20th:

• A List Apart: Articles: Put Your Content in My Pocket - Tips for formatting web pages for iPhone display
• Gallery: Mechanical Marvels Hide in Plain Sight - Preview of the Mechanicrawl happening in SF July 12
• *relativity by Drzach & Suchy - Artist’s “shadow casting panels” technique displays different shadows depending on the angle of incident light: Marilyn Monroe one way, Marilyn Manson the other
• State Cell Phone Driving Laws - Holding a cellphone and driving is banned in 5 states: CA (starting 7/1/2008), CN, NJ, NY, and WA, plus DC and the Virgin Islands
• How to nap - Boston.com - everything you ever wanted to know about how, when, and why to take a nap
• George F. Colony: Bill Gates’ Legacy: Constructive Monopolism - Just what the PC industry needed…

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 13th through June 17th:

• The Mundaneum Museum Honors the First Concept of the World Wide Web - NYTimes.com - “this will be the radiated library and the televised book” - a quote from Otlet about his system. BTW, “Mundaneum” is a great alternate name for the WWW
• The Library in the New Age - The New York Review of Books - A more nuanced and bibliophilic reading than Carr’s of the effect of Google (and earlier information tech, like books) on how we think
• Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Nicholas Carr finds that Google is creating artificial intelligence — our own brains’
• Why women quit technology careers - Why? Because there’s too much machismo among geeks. Seriously
• Meteorites are rich in the building blocks of life, claims new research - Amino acids found in meteorites, and analysis of their carbon content shows the acids could only have formed in space.
• Developers at WWDC Looking Forward to iPhone 3G Platform | Gadget Lab from Wired.com -
• WWDC Keynote: Steve Jobs Announces a $200, 3G iPhone | Gadget Lab from Wired.com - Wired.com’s coverage of the keynote. I was the guy who did all the typing.
• War Photog Blends Video, Stills for New Combat Views | Danger Room from Wired.com - Awesome gadget: little video camera sits on top of photographer’s lens, so you can watch from his point of view as he shoots stills in warzones

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 10th through June 12th:

• Cover Story - When Mom and Dad Share It All - Adventures in Equal Parenting - Lisa Belkin - NYTimes.com - “Adventures” is putting it optimistically. This stuff is hard to pull off
• Things younger than Republican Presidential candidate (oh, and did I forget to mention war hero?) John McCain - The margarita. The nacho. The automatic transmission. The LP record. All of these things are *younger* than John McCain.
• Featured Article - Professor designs plasma-propelled flying saucer - “Roy’s design is partially hollow and continuously curved, like an electromagnetic flying bundt pan.”
• New iPhone Pricing Model Is a Step Backward for Consumers - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog - Despite the new-era hype, Mr. Moffett wrote, ?the philosophy of the new iPhone is ?business as usual.??
• BBC, Wired & Twitter on the African Savannah | Mara Triangle - Wired.com’s story — by Emily Meehan, and which I edited — resulted in a big jump in the number of people following Kimojino on Twitter
• NASA - Solar Probe Plus - NASA has started planning a solar probe that could approach within 7 solar radii of the Sun itself. Freakin’ hot! Launch could happen as early as 2015.

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 4th through June 6th:

• New D&D Rolls a 20 for Playability | The Underwire from Wired.com - 4th edition has simplified rules making it much faster to create and play and adventure. If I only had time
• Gates-Ballmer Clash Shaped Microsoft’s Coming Handover - WSJ.com - The personalities behind the scenes
• KidsRunning.Com - Youth Programs - Various running programs for kids. The KidsRunning website also has a ton of info (poorly organized though) on running with kids
• Just Run! - Website-based program to assist schools and other youth organizations in promoting fitness, running, and healthy lifestyle choices.
• Don’t Talk to the Police- Prof. James Duane - Law prof’s advice: Don’t talk to the police. Ever. For any reason. The police chief he brings in as a guest speaker agrees with him, btw.

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from June 2nd through June 3rd:

• Networking Things: How the Internet Is Redefining Environmentalism - Wired.com writer Alexis Madrigal’s recent presentation in Portland Oregon. Very thought provoking statement on how network tech can make things more efficient!
• Five People Who’ll Make You Feel Good About the Future | Wired Science from Wired.com - Blaine Brownell gave a Willy Wonka-esque demostration of sustainable building products: spherical solar cells, flexible solar cells, zero-energy wallboard, luminescent gravel, … air-scrubbing paint and self-cleaning glass.
• Paul Gravett: Article - China Earthquake - Short comics by Coco Wang give an intense, moving, personal look at the aftereffects of the 5/12/08 earthquake in China.
• On Language - Shovelware - On Language - William Safire - NYTimes.com - Safire quotes Wired.com writer Alexis Madrigal, aka “Captain Obvi”
• Why Judy can’t add: gender inequality and the math gap - “performance differences correlated with the status of women” … not just for math, either, but also reading scores

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from May 28th through May 30th:

• 01SJ - Arts event in San Jose June 4-8. Free admission for kids @ the Tech Museum on June 7
• Free MP3 of the Day - Cnet Download.com Music - free music
• librarian.net - Collaborative Information Systems - 30may08 - interesting summary of how to get answers from a group of people. Also contains a great epigram from PJ O’Rourke about the difference between information and knowledge.
• The iPhone patent: Steven P. Jobs, inventor - Engadget - US Patent office releases a 371-page document detailing most of the iPhone’s features
• “The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida - how creative is your city?
• The Alpha Geeks - Op-Ed by David Brooks - NYTimes.com - A wonk explains the difference between a geek and a nerd. Includes the line “Barack Obama has become the Prince Caspian of the iPhone hordes.”
• InfoWorld tech celebrity quiz | InfoWorld | News | 2008-05-26 | By Dan Tynan,Gina Smith - I scored 80. I have clearly spent *way* too much time in this industry.
• www.NYCBikes.com - Looks like a good source for practical bike parts (singlespeed hubs, 3-speed hubs, chains etc)
• Report Criticizes ‘Colorblind’ Adoptions : NPR - from Talk of the Nation. includes a link to the actual report.
• All Events by Date ? World Science Festival 2008 - Five Day Science Festival In New York City Featuring Nobel Laureates Co-Founded by Brian Greene -

These are a few sites I thought were interesting from May 23rd through May 27th:

• De-emphasis on Race in Adoption Is Criticized - NYTimes.com - In a nutshell: “… social workers and state agencies fear litigation and stiff penalties under the law for even discussing race with adopting couples. As a result, families often do not get the counseling they need.”
• Artist Says He Used GPS, DHL to Create ‘Biggest Drawing in the World’ | Gadget Lab from Wired.com - Looks like complete bollocks, however.
• SF-SV Marathon Training - I’m going to train for the San Francisco half marathon on 8/3 and the Silicon Valley full marathon on 10/26. Here’s my training schedule, which starts June 2.
• Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training - Training schedules for various races from 5K to marathon
• Chip Company Unveils Open Source PC Design - Chipmaker VIA is releasing the CAD files for its mini notebook design under a Creative Commons license.
• MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU on Vimeo - Amazing, bizarre animation. Each frame was painted on a public wall somewhere in Buenos Aires
• Technology Review: Where Are They? Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing. - Based on the fact that we’re not finding any signs of spacefaring civilizations in the galaxy, the author argues that most forms of life don’t make it that far. Thus, either we’ve already survived the “great filter” — or we have yet to face it.
• Is mobile Internet really such a good thing? - Joi Ito’s Web - Although all of us are experimenting with advertising … the overwhelming percentage of money spent on mobile devices goes to … a small number of not so innovative products from a small number of providers.