I woke up this morning, the first day of my winter holiday, thinking, while still in that quasi-dream-wake state, about the origins of life. This is what you get when going to sleep listening to biology books.
Read MoreSea-Monkeys and the Lies of Marketing Departments
When I was about 11 years old I learned two lessons: Sea-Monkeys were not really aquatic primates and marketing departments lie. The second was a good lesson to learn.
Read MoreThe Googol, Google, 1e100.net, and Richie Rich
In 1976 I learned what a googol was through a clever Richie Rich mystery. 21 years later the founders of a search engine botched the spelling of the word when they registered their new domain name, but I think they might approve of the villain’s words on the comic’s cover - NOTHING CAN STOP THE '“GOOGOL” NOW!
Read MoreApple Watch - living like Richie Rich, the richest kid in the world
Richie Rich comic book covers often showed what the creators imagined what the greatest wealth in the world could buy. In 1976 that included watches that could play music or make telephone calls. 42 years later, in some ways, I am living like the imagined richest kid in the world could.
Read MoreThe Rise of the Manipulation Platforms
The new business models enabled by the Internet is highly effective platforms designed to manipulate us. We offer ourselves up for manipulation every day. Even if you think you are immune, the people around you are also being exposed to these manipulation platforms, and they have a very real vote in your life.
Read MorePotato Vine Flower Under the Microscope
Potato vine flower under the microscope.
Read MoreEncrypted Traffic Dominates
Looking at my network traffic reminds me that almost all North-South traffic is encrypted these days.
Read Moreeero and IPv6
Activating IPv6 on my eero Wi-Fi network.
Read MoreWalk at UC Davis, 2018-10-09
Sometimes a walk across a college campus can be a great productivity enhancer.
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Chimerism: Are You More Than One "Person"?
Look in a mirror. There is a good chance you are looking at more than one “person”. It turns out that human chimeras exist. In fact, there are many different degrees of chimerism, and it is far more common than you might imagine. You may very well be one yourself.
Read MoreStacking Microscope Images for Greater Depth of Field
Photo stacking addresses the challenge of very limited depth of field in microscope photography. This post shows the result of my first experiment using this technique.
Read MoreCiliates - kind of fast and pretty big
Ciliates are protozoans that, despite being single cell critters, are surprisingly fast, large, and complex.
Read MoreCoffee: Lit from Below and Above
Early experiments with microscope lighting - looking at coffee grounds lit from above and above.
Read MoreNew Hobby: Microscopy
Combining an old hobby (photography) with a microscope to create a new hobby (microscopy).
Read MoreA New Side of Cyber Security
Cyber attacks have taken on a new and dangerous dimension. The goal of these attacks is to manipulate people to believe a certain thing, increasingly identify with that belief, and ultimately to take actions based on that belief.
Read MoreWalking on Other Worlds
On July 21, 1969 the first human walked on another world. On December 14, 1972 the last human walked on another world. Will we reach a time when no living human has walked on another world?
Read MoreThe Jungle Book, Again
A second live action version of “The Jungle Book” is coming out just 2 years after the last live action version.
Read MoreStreaming Analytics, Geometric Series, and Intrusion Detection
Streaming analytics for analyzing endpoints and users for intrusive behavior has been around for about a quarter century, probably most heavily promoted by SRI with their extensive publications on their NIDES intrusion detection system. These 1998 notes show how I made SRI's statistics more understandable to me.
Read MoreIs it a "typo" when it is handwritten?
1998 notes on streaming analytics with an obvious handwritten "typo"
Read MoreLacked Candor
Friday evening, 16 March 2018, Attorney General Sessions fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. McCabe was set to retire on Sunday. Jeff Sessions in a statement explained that he fired McCabe in part for "lack of candor - including under oath - on multiple occasions."
Note that Sessions did not say McCabe "lied" but that he "lacked candor".
That reason makes this video of Session's testimony under oath seem extra special.