mobrec

So
Another study shows that people come up with more creative solutions to problems by using simple paper and pencil than they do by using a computer. Fundamentally, the difference seems to be between a constrained environment (the computer) and an unconstrained one (pencil and paper).

This mirrors my own experience in computer programming and other areas. When I first started programming over twenty years ago, I felt I came up with a much better solution by sketching out the overall flow of the app and the different sub-routines and modules on paper first. Now it seems the first instinct of most developers is to reach for google and copy and paste some code rather than think through the problem themselves and come up with an approach.

Technorati Tags: cognition, creativity, ideas, technology

So
From Counterintuitive physics may help everyone drive home quicker

If you're trying to drive to a destination as quickly as possible, you might think that knowing the traffic conditions would help you choose the quickest route for yourself. Traffic reports and new GPS technologies that provide traffic data are based on this assumption – but scientists have found that knowing this information may do more harm than good.

A recent study has investigated just how much time is lost due to individuals opting for strategies that maximize their own personal utility rather than the social optimum, which often aren’t the same. Physicists Hyejin Youn and Hawoong Jeong from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, Korea, and computer scientist Michael Gastner from the Santa Fe Institute and the University of New Mexico in the US, call this lost time “the price of anarchy” (POA) that society must pay for the lack of individual coordination.

This would appear to be another demonstration that acting for a greater good rather than for individual gain actually benefits the individual as well. Check out Robert Axelrod's excellent book The Evolution of Cooperation for more on this topic.

So
Trying to keep these forays into politics to a minimum but this is one that really struck me last night watching McCain and Obama debate:

Someone needs to sit John McCain down and explain to him that no matter what he does, he can't 'win' the Vietnam War by fighting in Iraq/Iran. It just isn't going to happen.

Technorati Tags: dubious, mccain, opinion, politics

So
My recent sniglet creations:

Solutionating: Combination of solution and hallucinating. What vendors and software designers do when they convince themselves that their product (solution) does something that it absolutely does not.

Annausysis: Combination of analysis and nausea. That feeling you get during your analysis that tells you just how screwed up something is. Frequently accompanies solutionating.

Technorati Tags: fun, humor, ideas, language, sniglet

So
Finally had a chance to try out the Genius function in iTunes. In a word: unimpressed.

Here is Apple's breathless description of Genius Sidebar:

While you reacquaint yourself with the music you already own, let Genius introduce you to new music you’ll love. As you select songs in your library, the Genius sidebar displays songs from the iTunes Store that go great with it. The Genius sidebar won’t recommend songs already in your library, and you can preview and buy recommended songs directly from the sidebar.

In my experience, not quite. Granted my rather eclectic set of music in iTunes gives a wide berth to what passes for American pop music, it is not like it is all way-out exotic stuff. Genius seems to think so. For I would say better than half of the music tracks that I clicked on, Genius came back with 'I got nothin', but here is the tired old crap that everyone else is listening to...' displaying the top selling tracks and albums in the iTunes store. Great, not interested in being homogenized like the rest of the herd.

It also frequently falls into the trap that Amazon recommendations does, that of assuming that you are a moron. For example, if you buy a CD by, say, David Bowie, Amazon proceeds to recommend every single CD that David Bowie has ever made, whether the style of it is even close to the original CD. It's as if Amazon (and Apple) are saying: 'You found that first CD, but your probably not smart enough to find all the other stuff by the same artist by using our search function, so here they are for you, nitwit'. Not helpful at all.

The Genius Playlist function does a slightly better job than the sidebar, but I still get plenty of “Genius is unavailable for the song “.

I suppose it can only get better as more and more info gets fed into Apple's hungry servers over time. We shall see...

Technorati Tags: apple, genius, itunes, music

So
Over two years ago, I posted about the idea of marrying an accelerometer and the iPod to be able to shuffle iPod tunes and otherwise control it. I guess Apple thought it was such a good idea that they stole it and implemented it in the new iPods announced today.

So where is my money, Apple? :)

Technorati Tags: apple, ideas, ingenuity, innovation, ipod

So
Haven't been posting much lately because things have been crazy-busy on all fronts. Plus, I have been trying to resist the temptation to blog about all of the political insanity and the ridiculous press coverage (or lack thereof). Leave it to Jon Stewart to knock this out of the park once again. It 'tis a thing of beauty to expose the Republican perfidy and hypocrisy in their own words and actions. Behold:

Technorati Tags: blogging, fun, humor, politics

So
I has been an interesting week for some much needed innovation in the web browsing space. First up was the introduction of Ubiquity from Mozilla Labs. This is a very interesting idea and surprisingly functional considering it is a .1 release. Sort of reminds me of QuickSliver on OSX, except targeted for Firefox.

Today comes word of Google's Chrome browser that among other things, gives each tab its own process so that an errant tab can't take the entire browser down (I'm looking at you gratuitous, Flash-encrusted sites).

I hold out more hope for these that the Titanicly overhyped and ultimately underwhelming Flock collection of plugins browser from a few years ago.

Technorati Tags: browser, chrome, firefox, flock, google, innovation, mozilla, ubiquity

So
There is a great (and free!) Aperture Plugin that allows you to add or update the GPS data in your digital images called Maperture.

Technorati Tags: aperture, apple, google, googlemaps, photography, software

So
This Wired headline The Lagoons of Titan: Oily Liquid Confirmed on Saturn Moon made my twisted mind think of two possible immediate reactions:

1) Republicans push for a mission to Titan to begin drilling and extraction

2) Some late night infomercial claiming that they could even get a Titan-esque'oily liquid' stain out of clothing

Technorati Tags: dubious, fun, humor