Archives

Scan Lines

CanoScan N1240UThis is a detail from the very first scan from my brand new Canon CanoScan N1240U, now sitting cutely in my home office. Though it’s not the speediest scanner (as mentioned in this PC World roundup of current models) it’s ideal for my tiny apartment; first it’s remarkably thin and second it keeps things dead simple by using just a single USB cable for both power and data. That’s real progress.

Continue Reading …

+

Lens Crafters

Though its promise is greater than its reality, the movie rating and recommendation engine MovieLens is at least a lot of fun. Users rate a slew of movies (I was able to quickly rate about sixty-five) and MovieLens returns a list of recommended current features and recent video and DVD releases. It’s a project from the University of Minnesota, but it’s practically begging for a deal with Amazon or Citysearch.

Continue Reading …

+

Current Events

Sherron WatkinsSherron Watkins’s testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today was thrilling to listen to, and I admire her bravery. This Enron thing gets more and more interesting with each day. I hope Lay, Fastow, Skilling et. al. get their due. In other news, did you hear there’s another Olympic scandal, and if you didn’t are you really surprised? If there’s anyone out there that believes the Olympics are anything more than a circus of graft, exploitation and marketing, let me sell you some shares in ENRNQ.

Continue Reading …

+

Common Sense

Noted legal braniac Lawrence Lessig has a great idea and it’s called Creative Commons. As reported at SFGate.com, “Creative Commons will make available flexible, customizable intellectual-property licenses that artists, writers, programmers and others can obtain free of charge to legally define what constitutes acceptable uses of their work.”

Continue Reading …

+