I have been taking Coursera’s Irrational Behaviour taught by Duke Professor Dan Ariely. The course concentrates on individual decision making and how decision methods depart from traditional rational and economic utility models. There are compelling experimental and neuroscience proofs that a)individuals use different model or methods of decision making depending on circumstances[ the Kahneman and Tversky fast versus slow methods] and b)many, often non-intuitive factors such as…
Logan and Parker are the names of the next generation mobile CPU/GPU chips coming from Nvidia. This party has wondered if Moores Law which see a doubling of CPU chip performance for the same cost roughly every two years can be sustained. This is important because Moores Law which drives electronics but is stretched to the limits given laws of physics which control numbers of…
The DailyBeast has helped create and promote the following Gun Control infographic on a website called ThisIsYourRepOnGuns: Every Senator and member of the House of Representatives is listed. Their own words on gun control are available – and what voting actions and financial support they have taken on the issue. There are ratings of the members by the two largest gun control lobby groups –…
In an article on World oil usage, Dump the Pump, in the NewScientist, page 36, is the source of the following very interesting data: World wide use of oil now averages 90 million barrels per day, Road usage consumes 50% of that total Heat and power usage take the next 18% Non-fuel chemical usage take the next 16% Air travel and shipments takes 8% Sea…
There is a superb free course available from Coursera and the University of Pennsylvania on Health Policy and the Affordable Care Act. Dr Ezekiel Emanuel who is an Onclogist is a great speaker in this free Coursera program and he starts off by providing a clear chart of the fundamental problem facing healthcare in the United Staes. Americans spend nearly 3 times as much as Japan…
Update: Breaking on July 17. 2012 the NYTimes finally recognizes the profound impact Coursera and other free online university offerings are having on undergraduate education. Read it here or follow Takethe5th.com and get the story 3 months earlier and with live experience nuances. This blog has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Coursera University Courses offered by such schools as Stanford, Princeton, University of Michigan…
Google is making its new Nexus Q Media Streamer in the USA. Its a medium sized commitment and it could go wrong because the price is on the high end for media devices despite some of the new features – see a review here. But the significance is not small as noted in the NYTimes and Wired. Just 2 years ago Steve Jobs told President Obama…
Free online university courses have really hit their stride this quarter. Courses from Michigan, MIT, Stanford, University of California at Berkley are available now. Free course material has been available from a variety of sources. Near and dear to this blog and web developer are the w3schools set of tutorials on all key coding in web development – HTML, CSS, DOM, JavaScript, XML etc. And the ability…
Our sister publication, theOpenSourcery.com, did a story on the day the Google buy out of Mototrola was announced. Unlike the markets which punished Google stock with a 3% drop that day, theOpensourcery was much more positive about Google’s buy of giving the following five reasons: 1)Google is going to operate the company as is and not bring Mototrola into the Google fold – this means…
Declaring Google+ the Best Software of 2011 may appear a bit premature. Google Plus/Google+ has provoked a lot reactions on the Net. There has been a lot of positive reviews but also some notable nays. Nonetheless, there are at least 7 very compelling reasons why Google + is the best software introduction of 2011. However, before listing those it would be well to cite some…
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Captain Jack Aubrey and Spymaster Stephen Maturin are the matching pieces in this historical novel. It is remarkable that English literature has two series, Horatio Hornblower and Aubrey + Maturin both set in the same era and of such great quality. Desolation Island tells you why the era of the dawning Enlightenment, European Wars and Industrial Revolution was so tempestuous... and on a prison ship voyage to Australia. Such drama!