This week, Congress voted to repeal internet privacy regulations established by the Obama administration. The outrage was swift and severe. And rightfully so; it's difficult to see how this benefits the average citizen at all. It also seems pretty clear that the ISPs were lining the campaign chests of Republican representatives to make it happen. What they've done is make it … [Read more...]
Control OWI Robotic Arm From Scratch
I was looking for a good project for my kids to play with robotics where they could use their preferred way of coding, Scratch. If you're not familiar with Scratch, it's a visual coding environment designed for kids. For instance, will turn the sprite toward the top of the screen and move it 10 steps. You can actually create pretty sophisticated software using these … [Read more...]
Creepy, Facebook… Creepy.
I was recently brought into a client engagement where EpiServer was brought into scope because the client had a license to it and they were looking to add CMS capabilities to the work we were doing. I didn't know a whole lot about the product, so I hit the website to do some research. I also tried, unsuccessfully, to locate anyone with EpiServer expertise in our company. Then, … [Read more...]
I Am The Best Girl Scout In The World
My wife sent me a text: "The cookie orders are due tomorrow and we haven't sold any!" Normally, I take the order form to the office and drum up some sales there, but this year I had been traveling quite a bit. So, in a hail mary move, I sent an email to the office distribution list and hit up Facebook for orders. We ended up selling the most in the troop. As a result, I had to … [Read more...]
Magic Just Means You’re Not Seeing The Source Code
Warning: This post gets pretty detailed and bit-twiddly. So, if your eyes glaze over at the site of code, you may want to read my post about good things going on in comics, instead. Spoiler Alert: My Kids Are Nerds There used to be a place called Magiquest at the local mall here in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. It was, basically, a LARP for kids - think Harry Potter meets … [Read more...]
(Not So) Weekly Wordle: H.R.3547
The text of the Omnibus Spending Bill in a cloud: … [Read more...]
Universe… You Got A Lotta Splainin’ To Do.
I recently read an interesting article over on NPR's site, called Why We Need A Science Capable Of Explaining Itself. It was an interesting read in which the author, Marcelo Gleiser, makes the assertion that big science (cosmology) and religion can exist side-by-side as long as science admits that it can't explain everything. However, I would argue that the author makes the … [Read more...]
Trayvon Verdict: WTF is wrong with America
I don't usually stray into politics on this blog, but the issue at hand is too important... I feel compelled to make a statement. There is a cancer working its way into the vitals of our great nation. It is a particularly virulent strain of fear that has caused our cultural antibodies to kick into high gear. A fear that permeates the air here, from the living rooms of middle … [Read more...]
Augmented: Human + Machine = Humaner
In retrospect, it seems overly optimistic to have thought that technology would make us anything other than more of what we already were. Sure... In the early days of the internet it was easy to believe that this magical new technology would usher in an era of heightened enlightenment, riding in on a wave of ones and zeroes. In fact, the early indications were that some new … [Read more...]
Cat & Mouse: Innovation In Entertainment
Change is happening. You can’t avoid it. The economy is fluctuating, there is an ongoing battle to reconfigure the regulatory landscape, and the marketplace keeps shifting as new players get into the game and established players enter new markets. However, the most profound changes we are seeing are being driven by technology – the digital platform is opening up new channels, … [Read more...]