First look at icy, mysterious Titan. A space probe landed successfully on Saturn's giant moon Titan yesterday after a seven-year journey, and immediately began transmitting images of its mysterious surface. A landscape emerged of canyons carved by liquid, a possible shoreline, and ice blocks, parts of a world that scientists believe resembles the early Earth.… Continue reading First look at icy, mysterious Titan
Month: January 2005
'Blink': Hunch Power
'Blink': Hunch Power. “Decisions made very quickly,” Malcolm Gladwell says in his book about first impressions, “can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.” By DAVID BROOKS. [NYT > Books]
Monster Fueled by Caffeine
Monster Fueled by Caffeine. Delicious Monster's cataloging software is a big hit, but the company works out of a coffee house. Not only is it cheap, but the collegiate atmosphere is an inspiration for turning obsessive catalogers into personal lending libraries. Leander Kahney reports from San Francisco. [Wired News]
Planners Ferret Out Urban Risks
Planners Ferret Out Urban Risks. After last month's tsunami, many disaster planners are focusing on weather warning systems. But other dangers lurk in the world's sprawling cities, including flood-prone underground areas and poorly constructed housing. By Stephen Leahy. [Wired News]
A little tiny baby information calamity
A little tiny baby information calamity. I was also glad to see Jamie Lewis blogging about the security breach at George Mason University… The full story is on News.com. Basically, George Mason University confirmed on Monday that the personal information of more than 30,000 students, faculty and staff had been nabbed by online intruders. The… Continue reading A little tiny baby information calamity
Trustworthy Computing Curriculum
Trustworthy Computing Curriculum. One of the things that I worry about related to trustworthy computing is the state of education on TWC topics in computer science programs today. When I go around and talk to professors, I ask them whether their students are taught even simple stuff, like how to avoid buffer overflows and the… Continue reading Trustworthy Computing Curriculum
A pretty decent…
A pretty decent…. A pretty decent account of the dishonesty of President Bush's Social Security 'crisis' fear-mongering from MSNBC. If you're up on the subject, the details may not surprise you. But the source may. [Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall]
Lowell
Lowell, MA. Local vandals try their hand at infrastructure disruption (proto global guerrillas just miles from where I live?). 3 attacks (a saw) since November cut phone lines in area. Verizon posts a $50,000 reward for information. It also makes the case for a fiber upgrade. The older copper wires are more difficult to fix… Continue reading Lowell
Trade deficit by nation
Trade deficit by nation. Deficits we run with major trading partners. Here's the major problem areas (per month!): China. $16.63 billion. Down slightly. Japan. $7.29 billion. Up big. EU. $7.72 billion. Up big. Canada. $7.3 billion. Up big. Mexico. $3.89 billion. Down. [John Robb's Weblog]
WSJ
WSJ. The US trade deficit rose to $60.3 billion in November (is there a link to the elections?). A new record. Despite a sinking dollar, the sale of US goods abroad dropped (down 2.3%). This is terrible news. The relative performance of the US vs. all other nations is on a slippery downward slope. While… Continue reading WSJ