Category Archives: Technology

The Industry That Cried Wolf

030214_compact_disc.gif You’ve got a credibility problem when Business Week — which, to paraphrase “The Insider,” is not exactly a bastion of anti-capitalist sentiment — cries foul over the numbers you use to blame your industry’s poor health on digital piracy. The music business, as embodied by the universally loathed Recording Industry of America, has just that kind of problem, as evidenced in Business Week journalist Jane Black’s scathing examination of their claim that the devastating 7.2% drop in CD sales for the first six months of 2002 can be laid squarely at the feet of, well, you and your damn computer.

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Cross-Platform, Crosstown

Remote DesktopMicrosoft’s Remote Desktop Connection client for Mac OS Xinitially left me unfazed because Timbuktu offers roughly the same thing. That is, it allows me to connect to my Windows XP Professional desktop from home and control the entire machine remotely. But then I realized that it’s a really great cross-platform product from Microsoft, that Microsoft published it for no better reason than it’s really, really nifty, and on top of that, they give it away absolutely free. Which solidifies my contention that the Macintosh Business Unit of Microsoft is one of the coolest software publishers anywhere.

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Cutey Pie

My Little VAIOHaving owned a VAIO PCG-SR7K, I’m a little wary of the durability of Sony’s laptop line. Still, there’s no denying their cool-factor — especially the ones they reserve solely for the Japanese market. The VAIO PCG-U3, for instance, is just about the cutest little laptop I’ve ever seen.

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Computing Hazards

My right hand and elbow are sore, stiff and plagued with a slight burning and occasional shooting pains — a case of computing-related repetitive strain injury. I blame our happy overload of work at Behavior, the poor ergonomics of Mac OS X, and all the personal hours I

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Many Years Later

Did you realize that the compact disc debuted thirty years ago this week? PRI’s Marketplace ran a story on it this past Monday (audio archive available; fast-forward to 20 mins., 45 sec.), in which they interviewed some of the original Sony engineers and marketers who developed the format. There’s been surprisingly little media coverage of this landmark, though it’s admittedly not the stuff of parades or three-day weekends.

Speaking of public radio, music and technological history, NPR’s Morning Edition has a six-part series of reports called “TechnoPop,” looking at the invention of key music technologies. Don’t forget to donate to your local public radio station.

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Talk to Me

021002_ada1852.gifMy Behavior-compatriot Chris Fahey is responsible for Ada1852, a chat bot driven by a singular kind of artificial intelligence. The New York Times wrote: “Like a human museum guide, Ada1852 occasionally departs from the scripted commentary to make oddly personal remarks. During a recent chat session, the virtual character was asked about a site and replied, ‘Perhaps I am slipping into madness.’” It’s a fascinating piece of online art commissioned by Rhizome.org.

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Typist

dollarshort.orgThis is my second Movable Type post in less than a week, but that’s because this product is amazing. Not being much of a CGI monkey, I paid the folks over at Movable Type to install it for me, which they did in less than six hours and for a mere twenty bucks. That’s terrific enough, but the software itself also happens to be remarkably robust — just take a look at these screen shots. It’s really hard to believe they give it away free. (Actually, the authors depend on a donation system.) It’s been a blast tinkering with it, and it’s definitely set me on the path of redesigning Subtraction.com. Soon.

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