Is Facebook Killing Our Souls? →
Facebook is the perfect cocktail: a medium that focuses much of our attention on ourselves, while appearing to focus our attention on relationship with others. It is a mirror masquerading as a window.
70 Ton California Relief Map →
If you've got 200+ yards to display it on and a way to move 70 tons, one of the world's largest maps, a scale model of California unveiled in 1924, could probably be yours.
Five Wonderful Things of Today
- Mailing a package to Peru.
- Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, and Ocean's 11 for $10.
- A dozen eggs for free from Target.
- Driving through Apple's campus by complete accident.
- M&Ms.
How a Trading Algorithm Went Awry →
The "Flash Crash" report is out today. Nobody gets any blame, and no recommendations are made to prevent future "spiraling selloffs".
See also: The Associated Press
How U.S. Consumers Are Using Digital Content →
According to NPD's report, as the industry grows consumers are beginning to access a broader array of content and services, and they are doing so from more devices. Although 75 percent of U.S. consumers (age 13 and older) did not connect or download content in the previous three months, 15 percent connected and downloaded content via PC or Mac computer; 6 percent connected with a video-game player; 4 percent connected via smartphone; and 2 percent connected via a Blu-ray Disc (BD) or digital video player.If this NPD survey is to be believed, only 15% of US consumers have downloaded "music, video, gam[es] and other forms of entertainment" (ebooks, apps, etc). 15% of consumers have contributed somewhere around $2 billion dollars to Apple's bottom line in the iTunes store in the last year (including app store). They downloaded more music than physical discs were sold. They download around 9.3 million songs per day! And let's not even talk about ebooks (mainly 'cause Amazon doesn't release numbers). Either their numbers are wrong, or those of us who are connected spend way too much money on digital entertainment.
P90
Search Google for "P90" and the first five results are either for a (really nice) gun or the P90X fitness program. They make up the entire first page of Bing's results. Neither are the Nikon camera.
The chances for life on this planet are 100 percent. I have almost no doubt about it.
— Steven Vogt, a UC professor of astronomy and astrophysics, who should be fired for his lack of knowledge about certainty.
Insurers to Pull the Plug on Child-Only Health Plans →
Yea! Everybody has insurance now, right?
Company Meeting
Headed into Microsoft's annual company meeting tomorrow with complementary blue fleeces for the Windows Live team. Yea, swag! Yea, days off!