when do we get to kill XSD, again?
Month: November 2006
The Price is Right
One of the most bizarre aspects of the organ shortage is that it is illegal to pay for cadaveric organs for use in transplants but it is legal to pay for cadavers.
Online mind mapping
So that led me to think a little deeper on why in the first place I did not firstly find more options and secondly something more ready for large scale use. Let me try to explain why
- Mind mapping is a very nascent concept without any widespread acceptance as a better tool for several activities that we do. There also seems to be no agreement on the fact that it would be tool for productivity improvements.
- Point #1 could either be seen as a opportunity or as a hurdle. Looking at the scenario it appears that people look at it as more of a hurdle than any opportunity
- Lack of standardization in creating and saving maps. If a company comes up with this offering but I cant move a map created there into another website or product the acceptance of this will be limited
i wanted this in 2002. still nothing. if mindmanager had a better web story, i might upgrade, even.
Cornelia Boesch
it is funny how you have this mental model that long-lost friends are somehow spinning their wheels when they are in fact doing their own stuff, often with considerable success.
Gifts
sarah gave me these:
- economist subscription
- beer fest tickets
- all of tufte’s work
- frakkin toasters tshirt
Intangible Heritage
how do you preserve whole cultures?
Learning Gestures
Spent the last couple of weeks observing an elderly relative first purchase then use a digital camera for the first time. What stood out? The touch screen on the Sony T50. Why? Human motor skills depreciate over time and the soft keys are larger and less fiddly than anything than can be squeezed on the physical form factor. But the bonus? The speed at which a (relative) novice learnt and understood gesture based interaction – sliding her finger left and right, to navigate photos.
i hate (most) gadgets. now there seems to be one built around usability. interesting
The Problem with Programming
Science is different in this respect: when a new tool, technique, or theory wins out, people see that as progress. In software, contributions by competitors and predecessors are not widely acknowledged, appreciated, or even understood.
Not my job
the avoidance syndrome in large organizations, visualized.
Cell Pump
The main part of the pump is made from a flexible polymer sphere 5mm in diameter. Teflon capillary tubes measuring 400 microns in diameter are inserted into opposite sides of this sphere. A cell-friendly protein coating is then added to the sphere followed by a sheet of pulsing cultured heart cells. After just 1 hour the cells are firmly attached and begin driving the pump.
reverse cyborgization?
Gregor J. Rothfuss 