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Week of 5/31, redux

Sunday,  06/06/10  12:02 PM

Blogging from Chicago, where it is raining...  and where I am for the day, having flown out overnight on a red-eye for a single two-hour meeting, after having ridden a double metric century yesterday (report to follow), and from where I will return this afternoon.  Whew.  You are tired of reading me report that I had the world's busiest week ever, so I won't say so (but I did), and you are anxious to read my recap of the week in the blogosphere, so here it is!

Big big news: SpaceX Achieves Earth Orbit.  Yee haw! 

And in other space news, Scientists find a 'hint of life' on Saturn's moon Titan.  All right! 

I like this a lot: Bayes Theorem Illustrated.  Previous to reading this article I thought I understood Bayesian Statistics, and I wasn't wrong, but my understanding was incomplete.  This is great.  (Not much math, but lots of details and diagrams...) 

Scott "Dilbert" Adams pounds another nail through the wood: The Adams Theory of Content Value:  "As our ability to search for media content improves, the economic value of that content will approach zero."  In other words it is distribution and access that determines the value of the content, not the content itself.  Hmmm... 

This would be funnier if is was less true: How to Plug the Oil Leak in the Gulf

Classic, in response to Microsoft's recent reorganization of its Entertainment & Devices Group: Ballmer just opened the second envelope

Fred Wilson: I prefer Safari to Content Apps on the iPad.  A great point of view, showing that for users there is an advantage; we already knew there was a compelling advantage for vendors.  I wonder how this will end up, especially with Android's popularity on the increase? 

MG Siegler: Why Google TV may push Apple to build Televisions.  There is an analogy here, they do like to control the entire experience... 

Latest from Eric Raymond, in his ongoing effort to show how Android will defeat iPhone: Steve Jobs' Snow Job.  We have to admit, he did call this; AT&T is offering tethering for the iPhone and has scrapped its "unlimited data" plans. 

Here's Jason Snell's summary of Steve Jobs' D8 Appearance...

Meanwhile, Brad Feld is Loving the HTC EVO.  I liked this: "And – for the payoff – I can make a f**king telephone call on this thing. I can’t remember the last time I looked back after a day and thought 'wow – I didn’t drop a single call today.'” Now the only dropped calls I’ve had are when I’m talking to someone on an iPhone and they drop."  Ouch. 

From New Scientist: Tacit Knowledge: you don't know how much you know.  A rather recursive truth :)  I find the observation that tacit knowledge is relational to be particularly true.  But then, you already knew that... 

This is awesome!  Dolphin uses iPad to communicate with humans.  (I will refrain from wondering whether the target user base for this device has finally been identified :) 

I'm linking this purely for the headline: Magic Nucleus Gives Clues to the Origin of Heavy Metal.  It's actually an article about particle physics, *not* Black Sabbath :) 

This sucks: Blown call costs pitcher perfect game.  I think it sucks, but I don't think they should retroactively fix it.  Perhaps this is an argument for instant replay however... 

And this sucks too: Former UCLA Coach John Wooden dies.  He was 99, and there is nobody I mean nobody who had more respect from his peers and players. 

A great article by Jeff Atwood: The Vast and Endless Sea.  How do you motivate programmers?  The results may surprise you!  "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.  – Antoine de Saint Exupéry

ZooBorn of the week: a [rare] white baby antelope

Wrapping up, want to know the secret words?  "You are so hot"  Works for me :)