This compelling 7-minute video suggests our search for life elsewhere in the universe should focus on microbes instead of on civilizations. Modern technological civilization on our own planet is a brief moment in time, a mere millenium. Meanwhile life has existed here on Earth for most of the planet's existance (3 out of the 4 billion years since our planet first formed). [European Space Agency/NASA via The Speculist]
11:06:40 AM
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Word Processing on iWork 08: The Bear has made the transition to the clean Blank Page of Apple's "Pages" word processor. It's purity and simplicity is enchanting, and yet it's a talented container for all other media, including spreadsheet tables, drawings, bitmap images, movies and audio. "Pages feels right." [Various and Sundry via MyAppleMenu]
8:31:25 AM
Friday, August 24, 2007
Is Everyone Buying A Mac?: Steve Borsch thinks so, and writes about what he's seeing, including this telling bit from his daughter: "My 18 year old daughter works at a local Apple Store and we talk often about how busy the place is all the time... She's indicated that this back-to-school season is 'awesome' with sales." Especially worth reading the comments (following the story) from switchers who agree their new Macs make their work more productive, fun and hassle-free. [Connect the Dots via MyAppleMenu]
12:10:10 PM
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Portable power from trash: There are reportedly 90 sites throughout the US where garbage is burned to produce heat and electricity. The heat is used to dry burnable biomass, and the process burns relatively cleanly (meeting California's emissions standards.) Now a "portable" system produced by AgriPower can be moved to the source of the biomass, and will burn anything from nuts to old tires. [CNET News.com]
5:10:24 PM
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Aluminum Alloy Extracts Hydrogen From Water On Demand: While cleaning some lab equipment, a Purdue University engineer inadvertently stumbles upon a new method for producing hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need, when you need it. It's possible the technique could be used to replace gasoline in cars. [What's Next In Science & Technology]
7:41:05 AM
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
How Apple TV Changes the Economics Of TV: Not only will niche content change the economics of television, but long before that happens many viewers will drop their cable TV service and instead use Apple TV to buy their TV shows and movies a la carte from iTunes -- all for less than the cost of their monthly cable bill. [Micropersuasion via MyAppleMenu]
7:52:09 AM
Apple TV Surprises and Impressions: Yes, Apple TV works just fine with your normal old 480i "squarish" non-widescreen television, which is what many people have -- provided it has component (vs. composite) input jacks. An update at end of the article will help you figure out the difference. [Rogue Amoeba via Micropersuasion]
7:39:57 AM
Monday, March 26, 2007
Apple of Our Eye - Macs Save Money: According to this viewpoint, there's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple Inc. in the last few weeks. People have been saying the strangest things about Apple and Macintosh computers; everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more. They're saying odd stuff, like Macs are good for business; Macs can save money; and that Apple's stock -- at $90 a share -- is a bargain.
As a long-time Mac user, The Bear was convinced many years ago of the benefits of Macintosh computers -- especially regarding price. You see, my time is valuable. Therefore when I pay a bit more for a Mac (and mind you it's never been a lot more), the time I save in wasted days not spent in useless troubleshooting has always been a huge benefit. Macs just work, period. My current laptop has been in service for over six years, and it just works.
And as for Apple's stock price, well, as an Apple shareholder I can tell you the increase in share price over the past several years has more than paid for all the Apple toys I care to buy. [Wired News]
7:00:19 AM
