Category Archives: General

Tired, old computer cliches that just won’t die

Reading an article today from Frank X. Shaw about the D11 conference I came across this:

Today, Sheryl Sandberg made a similar point when she noted that she had a computer in her pocket with more power than the computer that brought Apollo to the moon. And of course it was a phone.

Can’t someone come up with a comparison that doesn’t include the computer that brought Apollo to the moon? The last time someone landed on the moon was 1972. A lot of computers since then have been more powerful, even handheld ones. It’s a tired, old cliche.

Tweeting live events vs. journaling

Tweeting live events seems like shouting into a breeze. People are listening but nobody hears you. But with a tool like Timehop it becomes a bit like journaling.

But why do I need those tools? Why not take notes during the event and journal it properly? Because there is something to the immediacy of tweeting and feeling like you’re talking to an audience. Note taking plus journaling just isn’t quite the same.

Anti-Muslim sentiment in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings

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In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings and the identification by at least one of the brothers that he was Muslim I'm not surprised to read this today in the Washington Post.

I knew trouble would start brewing when the media latched on to the Chetchen/Muslim angle. The discussion of the younger Tsaraev and his behaviors (smoking pot, partying) don't match with any sort of what I would consider religious behavior, especially Muslim behavior. It's a sad state of affairs that American Muslims have to say anything about this situation let alone apologize or distance themselves from it.

I hope that thinking, rational people will realize this has nothing to do with Islam. For those who aren't rational keep your racist, anti-Muslim crap to yourselves. Americans are Americans, Muslim or otherwise. We all share the same right to peace.

jkratz

April 8, 2013

I wish I would have stopped to take video of the clouds around the Sears/Willis Tower this morning when I came into work. Rain was moving out this morning over the lake and the clouds were very low. On the south face of the Tower the air was completely clear. On the north face clouds were blowing like crazy streaming northwards making an eerily similar appearance to the peak of Mt. Everest when it has ice crystals blowing off the peak due to the jet stream. Cool stuff.

RIP Roger Ebert

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A Chicago legend, Roger Ebert, died today. It was a shock to me because just two days ago he wrote about all of his plans for the future. A recurrence of cancer took him but it seemed that on Tuesday things were under control. I never particularly cared for his movie reviews, as great as they were. I found that I usually disagreed with them. I loved his other writing, especially since thyroid cancer took his ability to speak. That seemed to bring out his eloquence and allowed him to write about considerably more than movies. He will be missed.