The Sky Has Limits

Coherence

While enjoying my new Wired magazine subscription (Thanks, Sis!), I found an amusing graph regarding some major TV shows and how intelligible their plot was over the seasons.  I found it so entertaining, I hastily re-created the chart here

I know Aaron has seen them all--and I'm sure he will giggle--but I would challenge you all to make your own graphs of the stuff you've seen.  For instance, what would Heroes or Veronica Mars (which I will be watching soon!) look like?  Dare I ask for Diana (or anyone) to make a graph for the Star Trek iterations?  Send them to me, and I'll update this post.  Here is my own contribution:

Cybercrime: 2008

In one of the most fascinating reads of the year, I discovered that using technology to do bad things is still very alive and kicking, and not just up on Wall Street.  I knew about the Dark Market FBI sting (kudos to the FBI!) but some of the others listed are just surreal.  Have a look for yourself.

In other news

While I'm sure just about everyone has heard the big news, I found a couple of interesting tidbits at Wired.com today.

The Good:  FCC OKs use of white spaces to deliver broadband

When I heard Google was pushing for this, I knew that they had an angle, but I also knew that they could have done it differently.  They could have gone through means of locking down everything in favor of their business model, but instead chose to support a more open alternative (arguably, in favor of their business model).  Of course, the current people taking advantage of this are complaining, but I think that is par for the course.

The Bad-Ass:  40-MPG, 450-horsepower hydrogen Scorpion unveiled

It delivers hydrogen technology in a completely different way, but connects to existing I.C.E. technology in a form of hybrid.  I think hybrids are the future, not because they have slightly better fuel economy, but because they encourage new technology and reduce dependency on a single (heavily imported) fuel.  Seeing this kind of thing in sports cars, a new class of vehicle--the "eco-exotic", promotes it's use in economy-class vehicles, as well.  Plus, that is a sexy-looking machine.

The Ugly:  AT&T tries out bandwidth caps

The other shoe has finally dropped.  While many could write Comcast's venture in this as part of its disgusting customer service track record, another player means that this is not just a segregated issue or a bad business plan.  It was bound to happen.  In the same way that 10 failed music artists drives up the cost of a CD from the successful one, I use far more bandwidth than the others in my apartment complex, and we all pay the same price for it.  I just wonder how long before Cox starts charging me more.

 

"Pot--this is Kettle. He's black."

I just caught a whiff of the Google/Yahoo search cooperation at Wired.com in an article about how Microsoft's lobbying may be causing Google a lot of trouble.

It is insanely ironic to me that the largest software company in the world, whom is considered the standard for computer system software, is crying "monopoly!" to someone else.  Not to mention that the more successful lobbyist is the one regularly criticized for it's work, rather than the one that's lauded for it.

Silver Lining

Amidst the growing cloud over my head about where the world (and the U.S. in particular) is going, I happened upon a Wired article regarding some future green technologies.  There were a few really brilliant items of note:

Skyscraper greenhouse farming

Luminescent gravel

Spherical photovoltaic solar cells

It's kinda nice to see some brilliant minds pointed in the right direction.