Empty Inbox

My to-do do list and my “Follow Up” folders aren’t empty, but going into the July 4 weekend, it’s nice to see an empty in box. GMail’s strategy or replacing the “delete” button with “archive” means I felt more comfortable moving things out of my in box.  I also like that GMail uses tags, not…

Making the Switch to GMail

Our wonderful IT folks have set up a push-the-button-and-it-just-works conversion from MS Outlook to GMail. My only real concern is that this gives me yet another GMail account where I might lose something… is there a way to cross-link GMail accounts? Time to Google for an answer. Update:  As part of the transfer process, I…

What Do These Thingies Mean?

Perhaps on a different browser there is mouseover text, but on my iPad, I have no idea what these do. A helpful label would be, you know, helpful. Ars Technica Mystery Meat Icons. Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for us, we have to choose wheth…'Most Transparent’ White House…

USDA’s MyPlate – Home page

I have mostly a good first impression of the website touting MyPlate, the USDA’s replacement for the food pyramid. It wasn’t entirely clear that the items on the plate were clickable — probably because the graphic treatment of the plate resembles a button, and my brain said to me, “Oh, that’s a plate, how cute”…

WordPress duplicate images driving me crazy

I’m using the Atahualpa Theme with WPTouch Pro. When I view pages with my iPad, I get a strange double image. Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for us, we have to choose wheth…'Most Transparent’ White House In History Keeps Majority Of Trump’s Remarks SecretMicrosoft Publishes Garbled AI Article…

Writing Text, Writing Code, Writing Connections

Julie Meloni put together this panel. When she invited me to submit a paper, I had already committed to another panel, so I offered to chair. I started with the joke about how the computer programmer died in the shower. (He read the instructions: “Wash, rinse, repeat.”  I also invoked Cory Doctorow’s urgent plea, in…

iPad vs. Netbook for a 1:1 | EdReach

Here’s an interesting reflection — are iPads worth the extra cost, when compared to netbooks? EdReach says no. (More on that later.) At Seton Hill, students get a very nice MacBook (and they trade up after two years), as well as an iPad. It’s been great being at a university that is so supportive of…

Gmail Motion BETA

One of the better April 1 gags I’ve seen in a while. Love the “lick a stamp and place it down” gesture. Gmail Motion BETA. Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for us, we have to choose wheth…Spring 2025 Final Grades Submitted!'Most Transparent’ White House In History Keeps Majority Of…

Doctorow’s take on HarperCollins self-destruct ebooks

What if each ebook came with a black box with wires and a red LED.. Or maybe a computer voice intoning a countdown… HarperCollins has informed libraries that henceforth, ebooks will be sold on the condition that they can only be circulated 26 times before they self-destruct. HarperCollins argues that this reflects the usage characteristics…

Why Twitter’s Quick Bar on iPhone Doesn’t Work

Twitter started out, years ago, as a social service for a common techno-clique who all attended the South by Southwest music conference, so trending topics made sense. But since then, it’s expanded and fragmented into a mass medium made up of non-overlapping micro-communities. Everybody uses Twitter differently, but almost everybody consciously or unconsciously cultivates their…