Yep. It's true. And I don't mean that in the good-natured, facetious way those Microsoft Windows 7 ads are using.
I've thought for a few years now that by the next generation, the way in which computers are used will be vastly different. During the last decade, the need for mobile computing has steadily skyrocketed. Not only has it been necessitated by the ever-increasing speed and demands of the business world; it's also become trendy to take your MacBook into a local coffee shop.
And when you're doing stuff on your computer -- business or pleasure -- you need access to whatever it is you're doing. Could be a project for work, a personal budget, or whatever. Not to mention keeping your entire iTunes library on hand to keep you sane while you work on said project.
Inevitably, you'll end up splitting this work (and pleasure) on multiple computers, creating the need to share files across your computers. While flash drives and home networking and such are, for now, making this easier, it's only a stopgap measure: eventually it'd be really nice if you could easily get to your stuff whenever you wanted to from anywhere, right?
Some applications already work this way. Online banking, for instance. And as time passes, more of the information you care about will be out there floating around on the internet, not on your hard drives. Thus, you'll only need your computers to gain access to the internet, which can store all of your data and information, as well as the tools necessary to interact with that data and information. We'll end up with "terminal machines" that are available pretty much anywhere for use by anybody. A side effect will be that the need for large amounts of local storage (i.e., your hard drive) will be significantly reduced or even eliminated.
In college, every student typically has an account provided by the institution that serves some of this function. Imagine if this concept was extended to the general public. That's where I think we're headed.
Now then, back to that outrageous claim in my blog title. Google seems to have embraced the idea that the internet will soon be all you really need to function, so they've created an operating system that supports this philosophy: Google Chrome OS, a Linux-based, open-source OS in which everything runs exclusively inside Google's web browser (which, by the way, is really fast and awesome, and is currently available for download if you're a Windows user).
I think I'll let the guys at Google explain it:
Slated for availability in late 2010, Chrome OS will run on netbooks whose hardware is specifically designed to support it. (One feature: smaller and flash memory-based hard drive. Most data will be stored on the internet, remember.) This WIRED article has a few more details.
If this idea does in fact catch on, I think it'll be pretty gradual. First you'll see people just doing basic tasks like checking e-mail, blogging, etc, on these web-based machines. But before you know it, you'll be using it for everything, including resource-intensive applications.
Only time will tell just how wrong I am.
P.S. I currently have 8 Google Wave invitations. If you want one, e-mail me.
Another one of those hidden gems from the samplers I get with every issue of Paste Magazine. Led by Davy Knowles (who at age 23 is younger than me, making me feel old and unaccomplished...but I guess I still got some time to change that), Back Door Slam is makin' a little noise in the blues-rock genre these days. Have a listen to "Come Home", and maybe you'll see why it turned my head:
(JOSHCAST UNAVAILABLE due to imeem's going under. Check back later.)
Alls I know is that the first 10 seconds make me really want a bass guitar.
Gotta shout out to my brother and his firm's architectural GENIUS.
For the last 17 years, Canstruction has been a gem among gems when it comes to charity projects. Their website describes what the Canstruction project is all about:
"A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction® is a Trademarked design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America and Australia, and cities from around the world will soon be participating. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. It takes 8-12 weeks and thousands of cans of food to create a structure."
Teams can use cans of food and a limited number of other items (of which adhesives are decidedly NOT one) to create these structures. And it not only looks cool: every last can goes to a food charity. A lot cooler than just bringing non-perishable foods in a brown paper bag...that's all I'm capable of doing.
This month, the World Financial Center Winter Garden in lower Manhattan, just like every year, is hosting the Canstruction exhibit in New York City. Every year since my brother moved to New York, his firm (Platt Byard Dovell White Architects) has been crowned for its creativity, after pulling all-nighters to piece the work together can by can. This year was no exception, with a trio of 'shrooms straight out of Super Mario 64 taking the blue ribbon for "Best Structural Ingenuity":
We’re exactly 10.976% into the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, and I’m celebrating by making some predictions which, appropriately, each have about a 10.976% chance of coming to fruition.
Which is slightly higher than Sarah Palin’s approval rating. Boom!
1. Celts, Suns Rule the NBA...For Now.
Let’s review where we’re at, shall we?
The Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns stand atop the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, with 8 wins and only 1 loss (as of 11:00pm today...Phoenix and LA are playing as I type). The New Jersey Nets (0-8) are the Least in the East, and Minnesota and Memphis have pretty much picked up where they left off last year at the bottom of the West, each mustering only 1 win in 9 games.
My boy Stevie Nash is benefiting from a return to the uptempo, Greatest-Show-On-Hardwood style now that the Shaqtus is out of town, dishing out more dimes than a cheap Shreveport casino. (One of the best headlines I’ve ever seen on The Onion, from back in 2008: “Steve Nash Sarcastically Asks Shaq to Slow Down”.) Chris Paul is mad at his 3-6 Hornets, and he’s taking it out on the 3-point stripe, making nearly two-thirds of his three point attempts, and Kevin Martin is second in the league in scoring (30.6 ppg!) for the forgotten Sacramento Kings (who are a surprising 4-4, by the way).
And the biggest surprise in my opinion: LeBron James is nowhere to be found in the top 5 of any major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, steals). BUT his Cavs are 6-3.
Now that you’re all caught up, how about some of those aforementioned bold predictions...
2. LeBron James will not be a New York Knick next year.
If you have watched even three minutes of ESPN in the last six months, you have heard about the free agent class of 2010, when so many big names will be available for signage. Naturally, the richest markets would get the best shot at the best prospects, so it only makes sense that the biggest name in the game would land in the biggest market in professional sports, right?
It makes sense in lots of ways. But do you really think he can win in Madison Square Garden? The Knicks are so far away from being good, it just can’t be that appealing to LBJ. At least not as appealing as some of the other choices out there, including just staying put in Cleveland.
Marc Stein wrote on this topic last weekend, and suggested that landing in Miami with Dwyane Wade could happen. But of course, the name that caught my attention was, you guessed it, my Dallas Mavericks. Stein makes a compelling case: Dirk Nowitzki is probably the best big man LeBron could be paired up with, he’s good friends with J-Kidd, Dallas is at least moderately glamorous and would welcome him in a fraction of a second, and Erick Dampier’s contract would be palatable to the Cavs’ payroll. Plus, he has lots of love for the Cowboys, allegedly even more so than he does for his Yankees.
3. Jason Kidd will climb a few more rungs on the statistical ladder before season’s end.
It’s well-established that Kidd is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game of basketball. Aside from that elusive NBA championship, he’s as accomplished as you can be.
Before season’s end, barring injury, he’s likely to pass Scottie Pippen and Mo Cheeks on the all-time steals list (he already passed Clyde Drexler a few games ago), probably ending up in the neighborhood of 2,350 steals at number 4. (By the way, did you know that Hakeem Olajuwon, A CENTER, is eighth on that list, way ahead of names like Allen Iverson and Isiah Thomas?) He’s also only 66 assists from passing Mark Jackson (10,334 assists) for second on the all-time assists list.
He’s a good one. And those lobs to Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier are looking better each game.
4. John Stockton stole from the rich and gave to the, well, rich.
All this talk about career statistics and all-time lists reminds me...
A few weeks after Johnny was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame this summer (overshadowed by Michael Jordan’s enormous ego), I’m reminded again just how great he was. The stats prove it: he’s at the top of the all-time list for assists and steals. Way at the top.
Check it: 3,265 steals vs. His Airness at number 2, with 2,514 (that’s almost 30% better). 15,806 assists vs. the aforementioned Mark Jackson, who had 10,334, a whopping 53% better.
Pretty amazing stuff. Not like today...damn kids with their single-digit assist games and their long shorts and their loud music...
5. Andre Iguodala is channeling his inner Julius Erving.
Appropriate, since he’s a Philly kid himself.
6. The Oklahoma City Thunder Will Make The Playoffs.
There’s bold prediction number two.
I have no real evidence for this. But they’re right on the lip of the cup in the West, and I like Kevin Durant, because he’s really skinny, and so am I.
But who knows, maybe they catch lightning in a bottle, like Golden State did in 2006-2007? It’s not all THAT far-fetched. They could finish ahead of Houston, Utah, and New Orleans if everything falls right. If even two of those teams don’t make it to the playoffs, OKC could squeeze in there.
7. The Dallas Mavericks Are Frustratingly Inconsistent.
The potential is SO there. They’ve got a killer line-up in Dirk, Shawn Marion, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd. Erick Dampier is playing his best basketball. Dirk is playing at a similar level to his MVP year (Did you see him score 29 points IN ONE QUARTER last week?). Terry is passing and defending better than he ever has in a Mavs uniform. And I love the under-the-radar additions of Kris Humphries and Dallas native Quinton Ross.
Then there’s the bad: they’ve gotten off to sluggish starts offensively in almost every game, and they’re forced to make late comebacks just to get a chance to win. Shawn Marion can’t buy a lay-up (and he’s still got that ugly, ugly shooting style). Drew Gooden looks lost and jacks up a 17-foot leaner every time he touches the ball. (I’d rather have Marcin Gortat right about now...).
But they’re atop the Southwest Division at 5-3 (for now). They’re responsible for the Lakers’ only loss, which they did at Staples Center, in Jack Nicholson’s face. There’s a lot to like, if they’d just get out of their own way. Kind of like the Cowboys.
It comes down to one thing: if you’re really a contender, you’ve got swagger. And the Dallas Mavericks don’t have swagger. They haven’t earned the right.
Thank you, Non Sequitur, for consistently being the best comic in newspapers today. (Although Pearls Before Swine has its moments and is a close second...)
So is 15 JoshCasts enough to release a CD? First million, here I come. And that's just with Volume 1...
I heard a snippet of "A Perfect Day to Chase Tornados", by Jim White, on NPR, and was sufficiently intrigued to hit up iTunes and hear all 6+ minutes of it. It's one of the more mysterious songs I've heard in my day, both the lyrics and the texture of the music, and I can't seem to stop listening to it.
Plus, one day before I die, I really do want to chase me some twisters.
It's kinda funny what random things make you realize that the times, they are a-changin'.
Today's the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street", and this CNN article can't help but notice how the show and its characters have evolved:
"Cookie Monster used to become so overwhelmed by his desire for cookies that he'd start seeing cookies that weren't actually there. ... Today, Cookie Monster's diet is much more balanced, as he has adopted the philosophy that cookies are a 'sometimes food'. Cookie coincidentally changed his tune in 2006 amidst reports that childhood obesity had reached epidemic proportions."
I suppose it's all well and good that Cookie Monster and Co. try to set good examples, but the cynic in me can't help but wonder why it takes TV characters to instill "good habits" into that all-too-impressionable under-age-5 demographic. Is it worth sacrificing the essence of the character? He's the COOKIE MONSTER!
Post-rant fact: Did you know that the Cookie Monster made his debut in 1967 -- pre-Sesame Street -- on an IBM training video titled Cookie Monster vs. Coffee Break Machine?
I’ve decided to break my nearly three-week silence. Aren’t you happy? Well, at least act like it...
As you may have surmised from previous posts (see Pegs and Holes and Pascal’s Triangle), I’ve got a thing for the mathematical sciences, and for letting my brain wander. And oh yeah, I’m one of those computer science majors, with a dash of linguist and philosopher thrown into the mix, too. An odd combination, to be sure, but this only means I’m fun to have beers with.
I got to thinking (that's trouble) about how one concept is applicable to all of these realms. Let's go one at a time:
Mathematics
Even if you haven’t studied it ad nauseum like I was forced to in college, you’re probably familiar with something called the inverse property, or an inverse function. You would agree that 5 + 1 = 6, and 6 – 1 = 5. It’s a simple example: adding a number is the opposite, or inverse, of subtracting it. One step further, if you take a number, do something to it (like add one), then do the opposite to it with the same value (like subtract one), you end up with what you started with.
This idea can be generalized to all sorts of stuff. Muliplication/division, square/square root, any combination of these, yada yada yada. It’s actually a pretty powerful concept once you start studying it closely, but this idea can be applied outside of the mathematical realm.
Linguistics
Suppose you’re translating a phrase from one language to another. For instance, how do you say “I am tired of reading this crap” in Italian? Assuming Google Translate is correct (I’ll get back to this later, by the way), that’s “sono stanco di leggere queste stronzate.”
Language translation ideally should satisfy the inverse property. If I translate the above Italian phrase back into English using the “inverse operation” (Sorry, I’m getting all math-y on you again.), then I should get my original phrase back. But this is not necessarily the case: languages are not as clear cut as logic and math. As any high school foreign language teacher would tell you, there’s more than one way to translate phrases into English, and vice-versa.
Software
But what if you do attempt to treat the translation of languages as an “inversable” operation? TranslationParty.com is a nice little web application that attempts to do just this. Using Google Translate to do the gruntwork, it will translate any phrase you wish into Japanese, and then back to English. Trouble is, you’ll likely end up with something different from what you started with. So for grins, it’ll translate it again into Japanese and back into English, and will keep doing this until it gets two of the same English phrases back-to-back and, as the website calls it, reaches equilibrium.
Example: shoving “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” into the translation machine will move back and forth through the language barrier until it reaches this equilibrium, eventually ending up with the English phrase, “The lazy dog jumps to a simple brown fox.” Totally butchered. (For the record, in Japanese, that’s "シンプルな茶色のキツネに怠惰な犬にジャンプします。").
(This write-up on TechCrunch.com has a slightly more hilarious example, but I just couldn’t bring myself to add a Star Wars reference to this article. I’m thinking it’s nerdy enough as it is.)
There's a disconnect here. The laws of logic (and software) don't mesh with the laws of language. If they did, these translations would be seamless and unambiguous. But there's an interpretive side that logic just can't grasp.
Now then, back to that outrageous claim in my blog title. Google seems to have embraced the idea that the internet will soon be all you really need to function, so they've created an operating system that supports this philosophy: Google Chrome OS, a Linux-based, open-source OS in which everything runs exclusively inside Google's web browser (which, by the way, is really fast and awesome, and is currently available for download if you're a Windows user).
