The Dumbing Of America - washingtonpost.com

Another MLP (mindless link propagation)
The Dumbing Of America - washingtonpost.com

I read the entire article and I think the author is, sadly, right. The international report on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study isn't friendly on the United State either: it's one of the last 1st world country.

The most interesting bit was comparing Canada to the US. In 2003:
-The US average was roughly equal the the 25th percentile of either Quebec or Ontario
-The US 75th was roughly equal to the average of either Quebec or Ontatio.

Meaning that 75% of Quebec Students had better scores than the average US student and that the average Ontarian student was better than 75% of US student...

Asus EEEpc

I just bought a Asus EEEpc, the 8g model. I'm writing this on it, in the bus on the way home. It's a neat little machine. I won't go into hardware details because several websites already covered the thing in detail. There is a very active modding community centered around the eeewiki, that spell out almost anything you would want to know about the hardware. Someone posted a complete description (Pictures included) of how to add lots of hardware to the little PC.

I can note a couple of limitations:

• The keyboard has some “getting used to”, like the small backspace, or the half-size shift key.
• The screen is small. 7 inches. I wish Asus had remove the speakers on te sides to make more room for screen space.

But it also has several features I like:

• The form-factor makes it easy to carry around. It can't fit into a pocket, but it' small enough to be hand-carried.
• The webcam on the 8g edition is a definitive plus.

Other interesting things to note:

• The interface is... interesting, to say the least. I like the idea of a task-based interface, and would love to install this kind of Interface on my parent's computers. But, for myself, I'm too used to a more “traditional” approach of listing applications.
• I can't shake the feeling that I should be careful about writing stuff to the drive. The onboard SSD has a life limited by write cycles, somewhere in the 10000-20000 range. Someone on the EEE user forum pointed out that, even with frequents writes, that would put the onboard SSD in the years ranges.

All things considered: I like it :)

A Worn and Weathered Note

I just finished Morrowind (in preparation for Oblivion). I got both games for cheap (Morrowind used, Oblivion:GOTY new in the bargain bin ) and I wanted to finish Morrowind before starting Oblivion...

The one thing is that I thought was bizarre and original in Morrowind was this "Worn and Weathered Note" I found in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure what it means but I think it's beautiful and I had to share it.

Procrastineering - Project blog for Johnny Chung Lee

This is a very interesting link:

Procrastineering - Project blog for Johnny Chung Lee
Video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU
Second video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ

Basicly what this graduate student did was take a 50$ piece of hardware (The Wiimote) with about 20 to 50$ worth of Radio Shack equipment, and sometime, and made is own multi-touch screen interface.

The wiimote is actually an infrared camera with motion sensors and Bluetooth. To make a multi-touch interface, he simply linked the wiimote to a computer via bluetooth, and using the wiimote's camera tracked an infrared emitter as a mouse.

it's VERY impressive. It's one of those "I wish I tough about that"

Smedley Butler on Interventionism

Smedley Butler on Interventionism

It has been 74 years... and it still rings true today...

Quote of the day (2007-11-28)

Bumper sticker idea: “How many soldiers per gallon does your SUV get?”

My take on the situation: The US soldier are fighting for the wrong reasons, on the wrong front, while the Canadian troops are fighting a war that is not ours...

New NSA-Approved Encryption Standard May Contain Backdoor

New NSA-Approved Encryption Standard May Contain Backdoor

It's neither malice not incompetence, it's both!

This is something I don't get: who, inside the government, wants to spy on people and why?
-It's not the politicians because it would have considerable negative impact if it were to be found out.
-It's probably not the lower guys in the police workers who work on this stuff day after day, because they know how trivial it is to replace the algorithm use with a strong one. (And it would have to be disclosed in court at some point, so it would be of use a couple of time, until either the bad guys found out or the public found out...)
-It has to be a higher up manager thinking it's a "great idea" and that it would "make work lots easier"...

Well, I got news for you: It boils down to the same argument behind Security-trough-obscurity and it's going to buy you a couple of years maximum (or like in this case, very bad publicity)

Anti-Terrorism and the Death of the Chemistry Set

An insightful post on slashdot about fascism and totalitarian regimes:

Anti-Terrorism and the Death of the Chemistry Set

I fear the day when we won't be able to count votes in here... It's a good thing that voting machines are not yet approved around here...

Create Your Own News | D*I*Y Planner

Diyplaner.com : "Create Your Own News "

Insightful and true.

MIT Student Arrested For Wearing 'Tech Art' Shirt At Airport

This Comment from Slashdot tell the truth better than I could ever do:
MIT Student Arrested For Wearing 'Tech Art' Shirt At Airport