buttons! everywhere! i can't take it anymore!

It has come to my attention via slashdot http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/07/07/25/1338237.shtml that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, hates buttons. This explains the real reason for releasing the iphone. An attempt to enter Apple into a growing cellphone market? No, an attack against buttons. I'm sure that if you checked his wardrobe you'd find an alarming lack of buttoned clothing. No dress shirts, just turtlenecks. Coats? only with zippers and velcro... This is just another case of the genius being a little insane....

I'm sure in the future we'll find out that Bill Gates has a secret hatred for usability.

quality over quantity

It has come to light that, since the 1990's, science and engineering research in the US has plateaued. Apparently, overseas research has been enjoying a rapid increase in publications. However, the silver lining is that citations of US publications has increased such that Americans are more cited than anyone else. This seems to me to be an issue of quantity versus quality. We may have plateaued in terms of quantity (though of course, there is a rise in PhDs granted) but we have steadily increased in quality of publications. Some day, I'll do my part to help that plateau as well.

newish house photos

This post, see the outside of our new house! Also, special shots of the downstairs!

As a special treat, try and spot the cute doggie in all of the outside pictures!

Clone drug wars

I just read on Slashdot that scientists in Korea are going to clone drug sniffing dogs. This is surprising to me because I thought cloning was taboo except for British scientists and poor cancer prone sheep. I also read that a cool mammoth carcass was found in permafrost in Siberia, and scientists want to get its DNA and clone it too! What's with people trying to clone things all of a sudden?! So I'm thinking, you have drug sniffing dog DNA, and you have mammoth DNA, so why not... y'know... drug sniffing mammoth dogs!

Think about it.

party success!

Hey everyone, thanks to all of you who came out to mine and Erin's 4th of July party (on the 7th, of course). It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed seeing so many of of favorite people in one backyard! Special thanks to everyone who brought something for the party (which was basically everyone I think, since Erin and I have no money). It would have been a grumpy party without food and drinks.

Dave, don't worry, your veggie platter was a huge success.

iphone? iwant!

So it's been a couple of days since the release of the iPhone, and it's time for me to separate myself from the pack. I want one. No, I don't think that it isn't worth all the hype, I think it's plenty worth the hype. This thing is the mother of all gadgets. It makes all those normal, prosaic gadgets look like analog devices, or light paper weights. So, with this in mind, I've decided to refer to my current cellphone as an hPhone until I get my hands on an iPhone. Wish me luck.