Filter Pass!  After a looong day of coding.  If some C++ creeps into this post, you'll know the reason why...

The rumors that I am considering switching to Eclipse for blogging are == 0

Heliocentrism vs Geocentrism.  Any questions? 

NASA: Solar System: 2016 Preview.  Juno arrives at Jupiter.  OSiREX takes flight.  Dawn sees Ceres up close.  And Cassini commences its grand finale.  Awesome! 

For you to use and for me to remember: ezgif.com.  A great tool for manipulating animated GIFs... 

TechCrunch explains: Why Bitcoin matters.  A good survey, including the difference between the currency, which may not matter in the long run, and the blockchain, which might be vastly important, but which couldn't have bootstrapped without the currency...  

Cool!  BMW think the future of car UI is gesture control.  "BMW has just given us a brief teaser ahead of CES next week...  Called AirTouch, it uses sensors embedded in the dash near the car's main information display that pick up three-dimensional hand movements, allowing the driver to interact with the infotainment system as if it were a touchscreen."  Excellent! 

Reminds me of Blade Runner, a game-changing science fiction classic.  Indeed. 

News item: Mozilla drops its single-signon tech.  Perhaps it is telling that my first reaction was, "what single-signon tech?"  And I'm a frequent Firefox user. 

So ... this was not the answer, but *someone* has to solve the single-signon problem.  The worst thing about the web is remembering or recovering passwords individually on a site-by-site basis.

Meanwhile: We've had thirteen years of Safari.  Wow, cannot believe it has been so long.  I totally remember how weird it was when Steve Jobs announced it; Apple making a browser?  Why?  Of course they were playing a long game, we can see that now.  Internet Explorer, the then-default browser on Macs, was not going to get them where they wanted to go. 

This is pretty great: Young girl is delighted with her new 3D-printed prosthetic arm.  "The arm was a gift from Team Unlimbited and e-NABLE volunteer Stephen Davies who designed, built, and delivered the arm for Isabella."  So interesting that many of the applications for 3D-printing are medical.  And I just use my printer for making Minions :) 

Slashdot: In praise of the solo programmer.  While it may have been more true in the past, solo programmers are *still* responsible for most great software.  In particular, the design is often the work of one person, even if the implementation is shared by a team. 

Lust!  The Tesla Watch, an elegant steampunk device with two vacuum tubes.  "Everybody will want to ask you what time it is so they can see your watch. Just remember to follow the answer with, "... 1875."  Heh. 

No:  Is wealth in equality just a matter of probability?  "Is extreme wealth inequality in the U.S. something that government can or should address? The answer depends on how it arises. If everybody has a shot at the top, maybe it's not so bad. If the wealthiest are exploiting some kind of advantage, the system may need fixing."  The possibility that wealth comes from personal talent and effort is not considered...  This is the dumbest article you'll read all day, and a strong contender for dumbest of the week. 

News item: Amazon stops selling the Fire phone.  When it was announced, I thought it was going to be huge, based on having the Firefly visual search technology built in.  But ... no. 

I had one for a while, and while it was a fun toy, it was never a contender to be my daily axe.  And the Firefly tech was only useful for barcodes and OCR, not true visual search.

Perhaps next up for me: The Blackberry Priv.  I'm not a Blackberry person but I like the idea of an Android phone with a portrait keyboard.  I still miss my Palm Pre :) 

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