Mar 132013
 

Today I read in my Google Reader that Google Reader is going away. I use Reader to scan hundreds of articles each day, so I’m pretty annoyed with Google at the moment. It’s my primary source for blog material and in its absence I may be forced to wax at length about my daily commute.

“You could use Twitter.”

Okay, who said that? Because you don’t want to fuck with me right now. Twitter has its uses, but I prefer to get my web content in complete paragraphs. Twitter is fine for a quick scan of the latest, but it’s not a convenient way to keep up with a multitude of websites.

Somebody hold me.

Mar 122013
 

On the heels of news that the latest Samsung phone will feature eye-tracking technology, the Times profiles uMoove, an Israeli startup developing its own eye-tracking software that can be used on a variety of mobile devices. Standardizing this technology would be good news for consumers. As much as I like my iPad and iPhone, I may eventually want to use an Android product or something else that isn’t even on the market yet. A standard eye-tracking interface would allow me to use whatever device I liked without losing any functionality. An open source solution would be even better, but that seems unlikely.

Mar 112013
 

“Why do I feel so crappy?” was the recurring thought in my head last week. I had been tiring easily and fighting chills for a few days, but I didn’t have any of the usual respiratory systems that indicate trouble. I went to see a doctor on Friday and found myself being admitted to the hospital with a bladder infection. I’m fine now, but this may be a prelude to the next chapter of my life. We’ll call it Now The Real Fun Begins: Aging with a Disability. I expect that other health issues will crop up as I advance into middle age. Some of these problems will be mere annoyances, while others may be more serious. Over the last couple decades, I’ve trained myself to be vigilant for certain hazards to my health–mostly of the respiratory variety. That vigilance may require some retooling as I reconcile myself to the fact that my days as a young and rambunctious gimp are receding ever further into the distance.

This isn’t to say that I’ve forsworn any future acts of rambunctiousness. I’ll just need to take my supplements first and perhaps bring along a shawl.

Mar 062013
 

Like a lot of people, I purchased SimCity last night. And like a lot of people, I couldn’t play it much because the game servers buckled under the overwhelming demand. I understand that publishers want to prevent piracy, but requiring a constant Internet connection for what is essentially a single-player game is silly and annoying. I shouldn’t have to worry about about a game’s server load when I want to play. I’m sure companies will get better at prepping for big on-line launches, but right now I’m pining for the days when all that stood between you and the latest game was some fiddling with the config.sys and autoexec.bat files.

I’ll post some thoughts on the game once I actually get to play it.

Mar 052013
 

Researchers have developed a rechargeable brain implant that can wirelessly transmit signals. If they can get this to work with something like Google Glass, I could finally realize my dream of watching, er, educational content in complete privacy. Because it’s important to have dreams.

I still worry about how upgradeable these devices will be. I don’t want to go through the fuss of getting something implanted in my skull only to discover that the next version has a built-in pleasure center stimulator. Perhaps firmware updates will be available.

Mar 042013
 

Steven Brill’s longform piece in Time on the high cost of health care is getting a lot of attention from policy wonks. I know what you’re thinking. Time? Isn’t this the same magazine that runs cover stories on pressing topics like Jesus’ favorite snack foods? Someone in the magazine’s upper echelons must still care about old-fashioned investigative journalism because the piece itself is quite good. It begins by looking at the exorbitant medical bills incurred by people with little or no insurance. In Brill’s quest to understand why people with the least amount of coverage are forced to pay the most outrageous prices for care, he examines the major players in the health care ecosystem: the non-profit hospitals that really aren’t non-profit, the medical device and pharmaceutical companies that can generate huge profit margins by charging whatever they like for their products, and a federal government that is legally prevented from negotiating prices that could make health care far less costly.

None of this is exactly news to those of us in health care policy circles, but the article is excellent at illustrating just how dysfunctional the health care marketplace has become. It also reminds us that the process of reforming our health care system didn’t end with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Mar 012013
 

I can excuse Obama for mixing his geek imagery when he referred to a “Jedi mind meld” at today’s press conference. Nitpicking isn’t a hobby of mine. But he really should have referenced the Ceti eel. It may not enjoy the popularity of the Jedi or Vulcan methods of mind control, but it can still be quite effective. Just make sure that the subject doesn’t have any ready access to phasers.

Feb 272013
 

Wired has an interesting overview of a new initiative to send a manned, no-frills manned mission to Mars in 2018. The crew wouldn’t land on Mars, but instead would fly by the planet and then return to Earth. The entire trip would take approximately 500 days and the crew would face near-constant threats from solar radiation and micro-meteors. Whether the private Inspiration Mars Foundation has the necessary funds to  pull this off is an open question.

The concept may seem daft at first blush, but its simplicity has a certain elegance. Government space agencies aren’t showing much interest in manned spaceflight, so this may be the best chance for me to witness humans venture reasonably close to Mars in my lifetime.