Entries Tagged 'Technology' ↓

Today in space news: SPACE.com — NASA’s Mission to Service Hubble in 2008 Will Cost $900 Million

To me this begs the question: Why risk humans (and the fragile shuttle) to repair the ailing satellite, when for probably the same amount ($900 million) they could just launch one or more new Hubble-class satellites? The big thing about Hubble is that it is serviceable, but what if it wasn’t? Wouldn’t that make it cheaper?

It just seems to me that it would be smarter, faster, and cheaper to take that money and launch a couple of new replacements.

But this is NASA we’re talking about. Logic doesn’t seem to have a place in their planning when it comes to topics like the shuttle, the ISS, or the Hubble. *sigh*

I saw this the other day and groaned: 20 Smart Companies to Start Now

Its basically a wish list from a bunch of venture capitalists of companies they would like to fund (read: would like to see started so they can get a big chunk of it so that when it gets taken over they get a ton of money). The list ranges from the interesting to the insane, as most lists like this would. But one thing I noticed where a couple of entries that read more like a Nigerian Scam.

A few VC’s were offering a small amount of money, but wanting to see a “proof of concept” site with customers. That strikes me as odd because if a startup were able to get to that point, why would they need the VC cash? Having customers is a huge step, at that point you’re probably already bringing in some money. And I can understand that the VC’s don’t want to throw cash at just anyone, but bringing a site/product to life usually doesn’t happen for free for the developers.

Part of me knows that they are doing this to try and prevent a bubble-type-situation where money is flowing like crazy to anyone who can string together enough words to form a sentence. But another part of me thinks that these requests are going too far in the other direction. Especially since some of the requests are derivative products (as opposed to completely new ideas).

I saw on Slashdot that someone has already beat the Netflix prize requirements! That didn’t take too terribly long. I guess offering up the right prize (a cool million) can really get things going. But seriously, I think it was just opening up the contest to the world at large that is the thing that made this work. I’m hoping more companies will do similar things. Congrats to all!

Now I wonder how much better people are going to keep on going…

A few weeks ago I went and got a MacBook. I’m really digging it, it feels so much faster than the MacMini. Plus I’m loving the widescreen on the MacBook, I’ve been wanting a widescreen monitor for a while, but have never had the opportunity to get one.

In case anyone out there is wondering about the pro’s and con’s of getting an ICBM (Intel Chip Based Mac), I thought I would toss out my thoughts on the topic:

• Speed- It is sooooo much faster than the old PPC machines. Don’t get me wrong, the PPC machines are fast, but the duo core aspect of the MacBook makes everything that much faster.
• Ease of Upgrade- I bought 2GB of RAM and dropped it in the machine after I got it all set up. That has made all the difference in the world. The Mini only had 512MB, and I think that really holds it back. Being able to get 2GB for less than $200 was a no brainer, and the performance is phenomenal.
• Heat - The MacBook gets hot. Real hot in some spots. The Mini is one of the best combinations of speed and coolness that I have ever seen. Most of the time I don’t have the MacBook on my lap, but I’m still concerned about heat.
• Compatibility - The Intel based machines are supposed to support the old PPC binaries, and for the most part I have found this to be good. However, I did find two glaring problems right off the bat: Eclipse and NeoOffice. Both of these programs would not start up. It turns out that Universal Binaries are right around the corner for both. I thought it was odd though that both apps (which are Java based) wouldn’t run. It turns out there is some JNI in the background and that’s where the problems were. Once the Universal builds are released (I think Eclipse is already out with its 3.2 release) that should solve those problems. Also, I’ve found that PyGame isn’t 100% functional on the MacBook, but I’m thinking I might have done something to cause that. (More on that later)
• Form Factor - Both the Mini and the MacBook are just slick looking machines. Thin, compact, yet packed with power. Its great! I recently took the MacBook on a trip and it was a breeze to bust it out and knock out some code. The built in Wi-Fi is great, though sometimes I wish I could get a little more detail out of it (Windows machines have a really good interface for its WiFi stuff, its great for users who want more advanced information).

Overall I’ve got to say the MacBook just rocks.

One thing that has bugged me about Camino is that (at least compared to Firefox) there was no way to change your default search engine from Google. Or so I thought…

It turns out if you do a search for SearchURLList.plist it will bring up the config file that allows you to enter in new engines. Just follow the format, and be sure to change the “PreferredSearchEngine” value to your preferred engine. Now I can hit Ask.com straight from the search box!

Recently I have discover Jeff Jonas’ blog. Jeff is a really interesting person and if you are interested in Social Network Analysis or Data Mining, then his page should be on your reading list.

His idea for a simple and anonymous watch list checking is one of those forehead-slapping, “why didn’t I think of that” ideas that I just love to read about. Basically the idea is that if sensitive fields in a database (name, birthdate, etc.) are encrypted in a one-way hash, then the database can be distributed without fear of a massive invasion of privacy (because all of the data in it is encrypted). If you need to check to see if someone is in this database, you simply apply the same one-way hash to their information, and then see if the hashed data is in the database. If it is, then it gets reported back to the original database holder who then is responsible for keeping the data.

Einstein, Dijkstra, and everyone else who ever talked about elegance and simplicity were 100% right. And this idea is simple and elegant. Check out this entry about how the network that connects the facts should be interpreted: Jeff Jonas: Sometimes a Big Picture is Worth a 1,000 False Positives

There’s a report that the president made a comment today about the energy situation that caught my eye (CNN.com - Bush fuels case for alternative power - Feb 20, 2006):

“Our nation is on the threshold of new energy technology that I think will startle the American people,” Bush said.

“We’re on the edge of some amazing breakthroughs — breakthroughs all aimed at enhancing our national security and our economic security and the quality of life of the folks who live here in the United States.”

I hope this means something real, and not just some pipe dream. I wonder if there’s going to be some interesting announcement in the near future. If there is, I wonder what it will be about (solar, nuclear, oil, table top fusion, zero-point energy, etc.)

Hopefully something real and attainable in a decent amount of time.

A few weeks back there was a very interesting article called Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists that basically showed how to do simple data mining using Amazon wishlists as a data source. A lot of people saw this article (I won’t say read for a certain reason) and started talking/blogging about how shocking it was that all of this data just out there for anyone to harvest.

This of course misses a big point of the article, that the source of the data isn’t that important, it more about what you can do with that info. A lot of people missed that point, but hey, that’s ok. (Honestly, anyone who was upset that their wishlists can be viewed by the public at large really shouldn’t be posting that information on the net in the first place, no?)

For me this article was amazing because it showed data mining using simple, readily available tools. No fancy databases, no complicated AI programs, just simple script files and the file system. That’s the real beauty of the article the fact that it can be done by anyone (ok, anyone not running Windows). Simplicity really is the key, ya know?

Hot on the heels of Google Base, it looks like Microsoft is getting ready to release a service to host classified ads. They are of course both chasing Craig’s List which at first glance seems to be copying eBay.

But there is something deeper that is going on here. eBay is an auction site where people can buy and sell other people’s “stuff”. eBay is just a convient place for them to gather. Craig’s List expanded on this idea by allowing people to have on-line “Classified Ads” like you would see in a newspaper, which can be for goods and services (or anything else you can think of). Google and Microsoft now seem to be wanting to take this idea out a few more steps.

What is striking to me about this is that basically a business model is being built around the idea of selling information. Obviously this is something that has been done from the beginning of time, but now this seems to be happening more and more on the internet which in the past has been a bastion for “free” information.

Granted, the information is still free in that people can see it with out paying for it (much like going to a library), but now major companies are willing to get involved because it looks like this has the potential to be big business. On Slashdot today there is an article where they mention that classified ads are expected to reach $13.8 billion dollars by 2007. That’s only 13 months away!

If that number is anywhere close to true, I wonder how sustainable it will be. After all, nothing attracts a crowd like money. The more money that is generated in this sector, the more people there will be trying to get a piece of the action. For example there is a site called Wordtracker that will send you a weekly email with the top 300 search terms (as they have determined from their sources). Armed with a list like that a person could target certain topics to capitalize on the traffic that they would generate.

Buying information to make money selling other information. Doesn’t that just sound strange? But its the way things have worked for a long time, it will just be interesting to see how this turns out.

There’s been a lot of press lately about Web 2.0. All of the hype aside, I think that is a terrible name. In my mind, the web can’t be versioned and by putting a number on it you cause people to set certain expectations.

For me the web is fluid environment that adapts itself constantly to what is going on. To a person “browsing” the web, it shouldn’t matter if your website is built on rails, or if it using .NET or J2EE. Paul Graham has talked about this in several of his essays. The main idea of having your business on the web is that you can change your back end as often as you need to without impacting your customers.

Right now people expect certain things to happen when they “upgrade” a piece of software. They expect new features, better UI’s, etc. etc., and whatever else the PR machines tell us will be great about the new release. A lot of people will get the PR worm stuck in their ear whispering to them “Wait for the next version…”

When that happens people stop moving forward. Look at Internet Explorer. So many people are afraid to move to FireFox or other browsers because they believe that version 7 is just around the corner and it will bring a newer, brighter, sunnier day. But that isn’t guaranteed.

The promise of the web is you don’t need to sit around waiting for the upgrade to be released, instead the upgrade finds you. Suddenly the website you shop at is faster. A bug that used to effect your recommendations is fixed and now you are getting better suggestions.

A system like that can allow something really interesting to happen. Instead of hyping up whatever awesome groundbreaking feature a company has in development (and is scheduled for release any day now), a company can talk about their roll out last week and how it has made life better/easier/simpler/faster for its customers.

And that’s what Web 2.0 is all about, the delivering the results now, not talking about what you are going to do. If you need examples of companies that live this every day, check out Amazon (Mechanical Turk, A9, etc.) and Google (gmail, Google Earth, etc.). Rarely do you see press releases from them talking about what they are going to do, its usually press releases about what they have done.