Google turns to Answers.com

I think I first noticed this last week. Google's define link was linked to Answers.com instead of Dictionary.com at home. I was surprised with the change, but then the next day I noticed when I searched Google from work it still went to Dictionary.com. Figuring it was just an experiment I didn't think much of it.

The Answers.com site was interesting. It had content from many sources including my favorite Wikipedia. I made a mental note to come back to it later for more reference.

Later I noticed a pattern that every Google search from home linked to Answers.com while every search from work linked to Dictionary.com. Today my work search finally linked to Answers.com, so maybe this was just an incremental roll out. Check out where your definition links go to from Google and check out Answers.com.

Save the Gizmos!

EFF has created the Endangered Gizmos list which lists technological innovations that are either Extinct, Endangered or Saved.

They depict Hollywood and the record companies as poachers out to drive these innovations to extinction, or at least to neuter them, all for the sake of their bottom line. They use government-backed technology mandates, lawsuits, international treaties, and behind-the-scenes negotiations in seemingly obscure technology standards groups.

I am sure we are all familiar with 1984 and other dark technological futures where the government or big businesses monitor our every move and tell us what we can and cannot do. This is the beginning of that future. Letting the government and big businesses dictate technological innovation instead of letting the market decide just make these entities more powerful while taking our freedoms away.

I urge you to adopt and nurture these endangered gizmos today, before they join their brothers in extinction.

Return of the Chimera

National Geographic is reporting about the controversy overAnimal-Human Hybrids or chimera's. A lot of it sounds like mad science to me. The kind of stuff you expect Dr. Frankenstien to be involved in.

My Mother's Music

This is something I've wanted to do for a long time now. I've posted all my mom's music online! My mom's name is Linda McKeeth, but my kids call her Mamma. My brothers and sisters and I all called my mom's mom Mamma too. I think it comes from growing up in the south.

There are currently 42 songs up for your listening pleasure! They are divided into 3 albums and one "New" section for songs that have not been placed on an album yet.

The three albums:

• Mellow Out
• Pep It Up ! ! !
• Touched by the Spirit

The site was created with Zina, which was really easy to use, but assumes you have more then one artist! Be sure to check back from time to time. There is more content and configuration to be done, but at least the music is up for now.

Enjoy!

What You'll Wish You'd Known

"What You'll Wish You'd Known" was originally a talk for a high school by Paul Graham, but he has adapted it into an essay. Excellent advice for high school students and everyone else.

He starts out saying how the traditional graduation speech is all wrong. He points out that expecting high school students to have their whole life planned out is unrealistic. To tell them to never give up on their dreams puts a lot of stress on them. Instead of trying to have a long term life plan and stick to it, you should work towards figuring out what you enjoy. The point is not to be demoralized - don't give up on your dreams, and keep dreaming. Don't think you have to already have the dream set in stone, keep dreaming a new dream as you get new information.

This is a really big deal for me. When I was 7 I had my life planned out, and I stuck to it until I was 30 years old. I never could interject anything significantly new in there. It was just recently that I realized I could continue to dream while changing and expanding my dream.

All that is just from the first section! Something else that is really cool about it is he occasionally makes analogies to software development.

Another big point I noticed, which is one I have tried to instill in others is to get started right away. Too many people feel that they need to wait until they have a degree before working in their industry.

I recently caught up with a friend who I met and lost track of 10 years ago. We both had recently married. We were both doing odd jobs trying to get by. He was attending school for a degree while I was trying to get into the field I was interested in by doing whatever I could in that area. Fast forward 10 years. I have been working in my desired profession almost 10 years now. He just graduated a year ago and took an entry level position in his field. I am glad I didn't spend my time chasing a degree.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from an education, but don't wait for it to come, start now.

• Teach yourself on your own;
• Subscribe to magazines in that industry;
• Attend professional organization meetings;
• Experiment in your garage;
• Get an internship;

Do whatever you can to get your feet wet. This is especially true in the computer industry since you can do a lot of stuff at home. There are a number of benefits.

• You will have more experience in class - earn better grades.
• Once you graduate you will already have real world experience.
• You will find out if you really like this field - better now then when you have your degree!
• Make networking contacts - this is where your good employment will come from.

Anyway, read the article and if you don't like where you are today, wherever you are, start making a change today.

Tron, version 2.0

I don't know if you were a big Tron fan like me, but if you were then you may be happy to know they are in the really early stages of Tron, version 2.0. Too early to know any serious details about it. Exciting none the less. Even with the disappointment the Star Wars prequals are, I am optimistic to know that Lucas is not involved in this movie.

I am nerdier then Chris

Chris Brandsma published his nerd score and I took it as a challenge. While we are both nerd king gods, I am nerdier then 4% more people then he is. 99% is something to be proud of, 100% would be scary. At least in my opinion.

Since I am linking to a graphic on their site I am curious if my percentage ranking might change as more people take the test. If in the future it shows something besides 99% then we will know.

Everyone is watching

How would you like to work at JESA printing? They have a web cam on their employees so anyone can check up on them.

My Wife, the Blogger

My wife Dawn has started her own blog called Growing, Not Dying. It is currently on Blogspot, but she is going to move it to GrowingNotDying.info in the near future. Go check it out and tell her hi!

Chronicles of Narnia

When I was younger I really enjoyed C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Well, it turns out they are making a series of movies out of them. Starting with the Lion and the Witch and the Wardrobe. There have been a few attempts at making these movies before, and those which I have seen were not too impressive. Turns out Disney and WETA are behind this one. WETA are the fine folks who did the effects in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

One thing I really like about WETA is they go the extra mile in props. They put in the details that only the actors will see because they know that the actors will be in character better when they have good props.

I am expecting it to be really impressive. Too bad they don't have Peter Jackson though. I guess he is busy doing King Kong and after that I hope he does The Hobbit!

The Physics of Santa Claus

Just in case you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, and tried to use the lame excuse that it was physically imposible for Santa Claus to actually deliver all those gifts you might want to take a look at PhysOrg.com's The Physics of Santa Claus. It would appear that Santa makes use of an Ion Shield, as well as some other advanced feats of physics including an additional 7 dimensions.

The good news is Santa Claus is able to deliver all those gifts in one night, the bad news is you will need to be good next year if you want to get one.

Germany extorts royalty payments from Fujitsu-Siemens

CNet is reporting that Fujitsu-Siemens to pay per-machine fee for piracy. Jake thinks they should move to the US. Actually similar fees exist in the US for VCR's, tape recorders, blank tapes and audio CD recorders and blank audio CD's (CD-R's that are marked as Audio CD-R's). When you buy one of those items a small fee is paid to the RIAA/MPAA because you may use it to copy a property they represent. It isn't so much a piracy fee as a copy royalty fee.

When you use something that this fee was paid on to make a personal-use copy then you actually paid a license to do so, and there for you are perfectly legal. During the Napster case it was pointed out that no royalty fee was paid for computers to the RIAA.

When RIO introduced the first portable MP3 player the RIAA tried to extort a royalty fee from them as well. That didn't happen though. It is interesting how they distinguish digital copies from analog copies at a legal level.