The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an eye for resemblance.
— From Aristotle's De Poetica. (via Lapidarium)
Polar bears smash spy cams (via BBC)
I've always wondered how they filmed this stuff...
Top 11 Technologies for the Decade →
The IEEE Spectrum does some great write-ups for this special report, particularly on cloud computing and VOIP, but including social networking, smartphones, rovers and drones. Their article on multicore processors is already out of date, however, after NVidia detailed Denver and AMD detailed Fusion at CES last week.
Follow the main link to take a look at all eleven.
California's High-Speed Rail Project Stirs Concern →
Small towns along the proposed route in the Central Valley are concerned that a high-speed rail line will damage the towns' character. This is a far cry from the late 1800s and early 1900s when towns that were bypassed by the railroad and then the interstate highway system simply disappeared.
Comcast Bill
My Comcast bill this month contains eight pages of "Important Information" about my cable services, four ad slices, a pay-per-view booklet, and a return envelope with an ad on the back. They're obviously overcharging me for Internet if they can afford to mail all this stuff that doesn't affect me and the service I have.
Ubisoft Removes Always-Online DRM →
Ubisoft has eliminated its controversial PC DRM technology that required players to remain connected to the internet in order to play the company's games, enabling consumers to play many 2010 titles offline for the first time.Now maybe I can look into buying Splinter Cell: Conviction.
Console Hacking 2010 (via Joystiq)
Hackers fully crack the PS3's encryption scheme because Sony failed to use a random number in the right place in the encryption algorithm. (Start at 35:47).
A New Year Rolls In →
The Big Picture presents pictures from around the world at the stroke of midnight. Pretty cool.