Data and Metadata:
Can search engines get much smarter than they are today? Tim Bray says that it would be hard, ..."so instead, let’s reinforce them with externally-supplied metadata."
Worth a read.
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July 31, 2003
Pho So
The best Vietnamese resturant in Dorchester: Fields Corner at Adams Street and Dot. Ave.
Stifling Creativity:
Thomas Keane writes in the Herald about the music industry and new models of distribution. His take is that the industry stifles creativity and we'd be better off if artists dealt directly with individuals, each with their own set of preferences.
Interface breakthrough:
The Audiopad, a device for controlling electronic music, uses an interface like the one used in the movie Minority Report. Watch the video of the pad in use, then go back and watch it again. Impressive.
I could see something like this being adapted for browsing through large databases, or for real time monitoring of complex systems. Or who knows what else. It just looks like fun to use. (link from Wired.)
Genetic fingerprint:
A new method of extracting DNA from fingerprints has been developed by Canadian researchers. The new method promises to be twice as cheap as existing DNA collection methods, and much less intrusive.
40 hrs on a refill:
NEC is anticipating offering a fuel cell battery for laptops that will run for up to 40 hours - within two years.
Fuel cells are different then lithium-ion batteries in that they don't need to be recharged, but do require a "refill of fuel, such as hydrogen gas or liquid methane in order to keep operating."
And as one commenter to the article writes: "[T]hat's going to go over reeeaaaaallll well with the airline security folks."
Diverse living:
There’s an interesting essay by David Brooks in this month’s Atlantic, on cultural, racial, economic and religious diversity and human nature. He notes that for all the talk, there's remarkably little real diversity in the world. “Many of us live in absurdly unlikely groupings, because we have organized our lives that way,” he writes. "We are finding places where we are comfortable and where we feel we can flourish.”
He suggests changing the approach.
It’s probably better to think about diverse lives, not diverse institutions. Human beings, if they are to live well, will have to move through a series of institutions and environments, which may be individually homogeneous but, taken together, will offer diverse experience.
There’s no link yet. When one is available (usually around the middle of the month), I’ll post it. In the meantime, buy the magazine: there's lots more good stuff this month. (A diversity of opinion, you might say.)
July 30, 2003
Lies, damn lies and statistics:
The BBC offers a guide to understanding stastics. Maybe they'll also offer a guide to understanding slanted and inept coverage. Wouldn't hurt.
The Cathedral:
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Washington Street in the South End. Earlier in the day the new Archbishop was installed in a ceremony here.
Eight track future:
Salon has an article on accessing today's data, tomorrow. (a free day-pass is required to view the article) The problem is that no one is archiving today's soon-to-be-obsolete software, cutting us off from the data it produces.
For Grady Booch, the nightmare goes something like this: Deep in the future, a team of archaeologists stumble onto a rare cache of 20th century art, a major assortment of works thought lost to the ravages of time.
The only problem, of course, is that they don't know it. All the images are recorded in an obsolete digital format, JPEG, and nobody knows how to unscramble the data. As a result, the hard disk containing said artwork spends its days not in a museum but as a coffee coaster in some college professor's crowded office.
The Ministry of web design:
From the North Korean official web site, here's an opportunity to own the patent to a "toothedwheel auto-gearbox adapted load without step." There are also fashion tips and photos of the Kims.
Two wheeled pursuit:
The NYPD is using the Segway on a trial basis. (I saw one officer riding his in Central Park Sunday, by Strawberry Fields.) One crime they will be on the lookout for are civilian Segway riders. The scooter is outlawed for use on New York streets.
Paramount:
The front of the old Paramount theater on Washington Street.
Name ranking:
This is cool. Look up your name to see where it ranks among the pack. Not surprisingly, the most common names are James and Mary Smith. For babies, they're Jacob and Emily. (My own first and last names came in second and fifteen hundred and eleventh, respectively.)
Report warns of Summer hijackings:
A memo sent to airport security managers last week warned of possible five man teams of hijackers that would try to take control of an aircraft just after takeoff or prior to landing.
Two down, one to go:
As the noose tightens on Saddam, a tape he released is helping us to make the case on the death of his sons to skeptical Iraqis. And on Iraqis and the hunt for Hussein, Tom Friedman raises the question: "Why are we offering them $55 million in rewards for finding Saddam and his sons? They should be paying us!"
July 29, 2003
Byemusic.com
Here's more on the Buymusic debacle. It seems, according to one musician, that they're stealing from the artists whose music they're selling.
Blog power:
John Dvorak's latest column seems designed entirely to produce blog links. I'll bite. He discusses the effect that blogs are or are not having in the political arena.
But he also makes a good point about John Conyers who he notes, wants to put file sharers in jail, while supporting alternative sentencing for violent criminals.
New York Minute:
I've posted some new black and white photos, taken this weekend in New York. It was very hot in the city.
Mementos:
Dan Kennedy, acknowledging - sort of - that what Jules Crittenden did in saving souvenirs of his time reporting in Iraq was not illegal, nonetheless lets us know where he stands on the issue with his characterization of the former 'embed' as "gung-ho" and the reliability of the report exonerating him as "At least that's what [it] says."
As a media critic, he should realize that this is the kind of thing that people hate about the media. Not the taking of souvenirs that is, but the indirect sniping that insinuates something without saying it directly.
Lost opportunity:
More on the online music services: Sonia Arrison argues that the music industry is still just putting off the inevitable. The article contains links, including several to download services that try to protect the identity of users from RIAA lawsuits.
Finding Bin Laden:
This week's New Yorker has an article by Jane Mayer on the hunt for Bin Laden. Is Pakistan helping as much as it could? Did the CIA blow it? Is Bin Laden even a factor any more, now that Al Qaeda has been so decentralized? Has the war in Iraq distracted us from capturing him?
The one thing she doesn't consider is that maybe the status quo is the best possible scenario for the US. If we could produce his body, should we. Maybe he's dead, but maybe he's alive and ineffective. Either way, better a mystery than a martyr.
July 28, 2003
Loaded:
A look at the BuyMusic terms of use illustrates why lawyers make lousy retailers. Imagine having to read and agree to something like this every time (see#7) you walked into a record store.
And here's why iTunes for the PC just has to show up to walk away with the online music business.
UPDATE: Apple's Director for Marketing for Applications and Services shows that the company gets it, with this quote:"The way to go after illegal file sharing services is to compete with them..."
Splat!
I suspected that this Bambi paint-ball thing was a fake. When the story came out I checked with Snopes, which was also doubtful, but couldn't definitively say it was a hoax. Now they have.
Exterior Shot:
Tom's Diner, at Broadway and 112th is kind of like the Bull and Finch Pub of New York.
July 27, 2003
Theory and reality:
Daniel Dennett suggests malpractice insurance for postmodernists in this article on the difference between, say, geometry and literary criticism (link from Photocourier via Instapundit)
Looking ahead:
This very small wi-fi card for pocket PCs (Palm version expected in the Fall) is the kind of thing that will boost the proliferation of wi-fi hotspots. Whether free, pay or private, I think there will be a dramatic increase in available networks very soon.
As I'm typing this in Bryant Park, there are more than three networks broadcasting: the free Bryant Park network; Verizon, (both of which are available to me, the former because it's free and the latter which comes with my home DSL service); and any number of private, closed networks. It would seem that as more and more services become available, coverage coordination and interference might become issues.
July 25, 2003
DSL, wireless and more.
Here's more on Verizon's push into new technology markets, from Business Week.
In an unprecedented move, Verizon is blanketing Manhattan with more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots that will let any broadband subscriber near a Verizon telephone booth use a laptop to wirelessly tap the Net for the latest news, sports scores, or weather report. If the rollout goes well, Verizon will duplicate this wireless grid in other major cities.
As a Verizon DSL user, I have been pleased with their service, reliability, customer support and pricing. For a utility, this is unprecedented.
Pucker up:
A buck fifty for a cup of homemade lemonade isn't a bad deal on Salem Street in the North End.
Out there:
William Shatner, wearing a tux and smoking a butt, does a dramatic reading of Elton John's Rocketman from 1978. (link via Lileks)
Son of Napster
This is brilliant. It would completely destroy the music industry, but then again, who would care.
July 24, 2003
Throwaway email addresses:
Mailinator, a new web email servce, advertises itself as "super-instant, always-ready, any-email-you-want email."
So, the next time someone suspicious asks for your email... make up a mailinator address on the spot and give them that. Then come here and see what they sent. Its that easy. Its that fast. Its like flicking a booger -- at spam.
Deppressing:
The ads for those, "ask you doctor about..." depression medications might as well be saying this.
You're in luck:
A sign outside a strip mall south of the city.
Europa
Bruce Sterling takes a look at the challenges facing Europe as a federation, such as centralization, demographic trends, and security.
"Europe is lightly armed". ... "It's one thing to talk softly and carry a big stick, but it's another to talk endlessly and have no stick at all."
But they do have a cool web page.
It's a short article from Wired, and worth a look.
Feelings
Antonio Damasio was on NPR yesterday. The show is available online. Damasio is the author of a few of the best books for non-scientists on cognition and brain science: Descartes' Error, The Feeling of what Happens, and Looking for Spinoza.
July 23, 2003
She turned me into a newt!
I haven't read the whole thing yet, but this press release on a Berkeley study on the psychology of political conservatism (link via an angry AngryClam) reminds me of the Monty Python skit that set out the criteria for being a witch.
BEDEVERE: ... So, logically...,
VILLAGER #1: If... she.. weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood.
BEDEVERE: And therefore--?
VILLAGER #1: A witch!
CROWD: A witch! A witch! A witch! ...
Or a conservative, according to the Berkeley study.
Here's the whole paper. It's a 7mb PDF file, though. I'm disappointedto see Frank Sulloway associated with this type of "science". Not surprised, but disappointed.
Broadband choices:
The Funky Drummer
Group hanging on Mass Ave, over the turnpike.
Do as I say:
Yesterday the Globe, in the finale of it's exhaustive study of how tickets are issued by police, summarized it's findings: Discretion invites bias and statistical analysis proves the point, and - as they preached in the article - concentrate on the offense and not the person for the best results.
So does the Globe, in using discretion in deciding which stories it plays on its front page invite bias? In crime reporting, do they concentrate on the offense rather than the person or circumstances in how they weigh importance? Would the numbers bear out that they do this fairly with regard to sex, race and age?
Go to the archives and search for "carjack" and "chase." How many front page stories on a carjacking where there has been no other crime has the Globe presented? It looks like there were two, involving the same incident. And if you're guessing that the coverage would be demographically representitive of carjacking crimes in general, you'd be wrong.
Most carjackings occur in poorer neighborhoods and involve young male perpatrotors and working class victims. So does the fact that the Globe has only featured one carjacking recently on it's front page, which invloved a middle aged white woman from an affuent town indicate a bias? Are the other carjackings not important. Would the statistics of Globe coverage of carjackings show a clear economic, racial, sexual and age bias? You bet they would.
The police power to stop and cite motorists is not the same thing as the Globe's power to feature a story. But, the simplistic conclusive reasoning that drives the Globe's position that certain statistical results mean certain things is equally ridiculous for both examples.
The research involved in the article cost money and dammed if the Globe wasn’t going to get something out of it. They use the typical approach for agenda driven news: gather statistics and present them selectively (who said 88% of statistics are misleading) and then illustrate them with anecdotes that reinforce the thesis of the article. Where anomalies can't be ignored (Black officers citing black motorists more often) find a single reasoning that will mitigate or explain it and shop the rolodex for a quote to illustrate it. The end result is an illusion of certainty.
Context is vital to how police behave. State Police, and local police traffic officers - whose statistical results prompt the Globe to describe them as more "professional," - choose the context in which they work by setting up speed traps. For local patrolling police, the context chooses them and it determines the results of the stop.
I think most people get this. A middle aged nurse is less likely to get a ticket. A young kid with an attitude and a blasting stereo is more likely. Demographics reflect behavior and behavior is reflected in how tickets are given out. Where cops have more varied workloads and generalized responsibilities this effect is amplified and where they don’t it tends to even out. Are the writers not sufficiently experienced or nuanced in their thinking to see this?
There's more going on with these numbers than this Globe story focuses on. To pretend otherwise is dishonest journalism. It's one thing to present the statistical results, which are provocative in themselves, but to spin them with such a righteous certainty incites suspicion and may cause the public to lose confidence in the Globe's ability to reason through an issue.
Get even happier!
Another set of re-released, re-mastered, better sounding than the last re-mastered re-issue, with more extra tracks than the previous versions of Elvis Costello albums will be available soon.
Following on the heels of the Rykodisk re-issues, Rhino is re-re-issuing Get Happy, Trust and Punch the Clock. (from BlogCritics and Billboard) Of course, I'll probably re-re-buy them.
Right brain computers:
David Vaskevitch, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft, in this wired article, reminds me why I bought a Mac: "Not everybody uses a word processor or a spreadsheet or even email - but everybody takes snapshots."
His point is that as memory gets cheap and common, home computers will become less like analytical assistants and more like an extension of our own memory.
July 22, 2003
Whew.
I was out the door at 3:30 this morning and have been busy since. So I haven’t had time to make any entries. Now I don’t have the energy.
July 21, 2003
Children of the corn:
Stephen King goes gonzo in this
"fictional essay" on the state of serious literature, which he calls “Jim Beam for the brain." Be sure to read the footnotes. (via Gawker)
(...and speaking of Gawker, here's a profile of Elizabeth Spiers, the site's writer. (via Cosmo Macero))
BBC in Crisis:
Jeff Jarvis has organized a series of links to articles focusing on the BBC scandal. And he adds his own two cents as well.
And Andrew Sullivan, as expected, is on the case. Here. And here.
UPDATE: And there's the BBC Bias blog (via Instapundit.)
Public access:
If you use a public access computer, in a library, or a pay station, keep in mind the possibility of username and password theft. A user of a computer in a Kinko’s in New York found out the hard way. (via GeekPress)
Ho Chi Min?
The KeySpan LNG tank next to Dorchester Bay is decorated with the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. 
It was painted in the sixties by Corita Kent, a nun who also designed the LOVE stamp.
Some say that she snuck in a likeness of Ho Chi Minh as a statement about the Vietnam war (look on the left edge of the blue stripe, there's an outline of a profile with a long thin beard.) Ironically, today Dorchester has a large and vibrant Vietnamese community comprised of those who immigrated to the US after the war, not many of whom are likely to be fans of Minh.
Album Art:
Via BlogCritics, in the age of downloads, a look at the "album" as a work of art.
UPDATE: Speaking of albums, The Knockoff Project has moved to a new site with a sponsor.
Countdown:
This is a clever approach to DVD rentals. Evil, but clever. For five to seven dollars, you will be able to buy a DVD that will chemically degrade within 48 hours after opening the package. The idea is that the studios will be able to take a chunk out of the rental market.
Disposable media has lots of implications for changes in consumer attitudes. Mostly people focus on a physical object when they plunk down their money. If that object degrades to something unusable, will consumers accept it’s value?
Maybe the studios want to shift the focus from the physical disk to the digital content. But that also has implications for how people think when they fork over their money. Most people don’t like the idea of licensing digital content. If they’re paying for something, they’ll tend to feel they own it. I don't think that's something that studios want to encourage either.
July 20, 2003
Out, dammed spot:
The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is performing MacBeth this season on the Boston Common. Tonight was the second performance and it went very well, with a good crowd and beautiful weather.
July 17, 2003
Voice over wireless:
In Fortune, David Kilpatrick writes about wi-fi and the cell providers, and how pricing models will shake out.
And the Exploit Boston site is soliciting information on free wi-fi hotspots in the area.
By the Bridge:
Simco's hot dog stand in Mattapan Square.
Baghdad poll:
Here's an interesting poll (PDF, sorry) about how people in Baghdad feel about the US and the deposing of Hussien. Link via Dan Kennedy, who adds his take:
What this shows is that even if you believe we blundered into Iraq under false pretenses (and if you believe that, you would be correct), there is still more than a decent chance of salvaging this -- if we get about the business of restoring the country's shattered infrastructure and continue to turn power over to Iraqis.
Give it a look.
Only a matter of time:
Hubmobs (via Adam Gaffin.) More on the