Open Courseware: Democratizing Education

For the last few weeks I’ve been looking for a topic for my 500th online post in machimon.wordpress.com.  I think I’ve found a subject of sufficient gravity and scope:  Education.  While some see education as a profit- making enterprise, others see knowledge as  the common heritage of humanity, and as such, the monetization of knowledge [...]

Razor Wire

Razor Wire Barbed wire is made by twisting short, pointed segments of wire around a longer, coiled length of wire. Razor wire is made by die cutting pointed razors in an endless chain around a longer, coiled length of wire. . Barbed wire pierces and tugs at the skin. It holds you like a fly [...]

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Facing the Ultimate Frontier

America needs a new advocate for space, one with the charisma, gravitas, and demeanor of Carl Sagan.  That advocate is Dr Neil deGrasse Tysson.  We both grew up in the Bronx: he went to the Bronx HS of Science, I went to De Witt Clinton down the block.  The smarter kids went to Science.  My [...]

Flying Robot Seabee Corps Builds Tower!

This is impressive!  Flying robots assemble a tower reminiscent of Gaudi.  Questions in my mind were how they continued to stack and keep the sides straight (in plumb).  There are orange lights in the ceiling, which seem to take care of alignment.  Clearly a prototype, once the wrinkles are ironed out it should become an [...]

Cerf: Is Internet Access a Human Right?

Internet Access Is Not a Human Right By VINTON G. CERF, Published: January 4, 2012 FROM the streets of Tunis to Tahrir Square and beyond, protests around the world last year were built on the Internet and the many devices that interact with it. Though the demonstrations thrived because thousands of people turned out to participate, [...]

30 Reasons to Surrender

This is a growth industry that must be preserved.  Aside from our balance of payments we are educating tomorrow’s governments on how to maintain a firm hand in maintaining order.   All talk radio shows should be recorded to identify those who are foolish enough to express an opinion on anything and the calls should [...]

Big Brother Re-Kits CIQ for 2nd Decade of the Century

A free market in a new industry quickly learns the avenues of exploitation.  There may be a general notion of what is right and wrong but unless an activity is explicitly prohibited it can be difficult (if not impossible) to legislate against in advance of its exploitation for profit.  See how unseen root kits provide [...]

Telomeres, More on These Fascinating Caps on Our Chromosomes

Privacy Rights in Europe Examined

On Its Own, Europe Backs Web Privacy Fights By SUZANNE DALEY, Published: August 9, 2011  MADRID — All 90 people wanted information deleted from the Web.  Among them was a victim of domestic violence who discovered that her address could easily be found through Google. Another, well into middle age now, thought it was unfair that a [...]

When Data Disappears

http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2011-06-18-sorcerer-software-stockup.htm The picture above is a fair representation of my setup years ago.  Note the high tech mass storage device to the right.  That there is a Sony Superscope C202lp varispeed cassette recorder with sliders to adjust the level in three frequency bands.   I didn’t have one of those. I had a Radio Shack cassette [...]