Eclectic Views

    
Heh. Actually COBOL is still very much alive, and I wouldn't be
surprised to hear that ALGOL is as well.
  

    
The language item  is the best!
  

    

I was surprised to find that a book about RPG-II is still available
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471521965.html
  

    
Whoa. Some time in the early 1980s one of my then colleagues left our
employer to go work for a company that used RPG, and even in those days
the language was considered to be pretty obscure / obsolete.
  

    

   Where Have All The Cellphones Gone?

Long time passing, ... A British firm reports it has developed a bio-
degradable cover for mobile phones with an embedded seed, so it can be
planted to produce a sunflower.  This gives new meaning to the phrase "ear
to the ground", though I suppose the user is expected to remove the phone
before planting.
  

    

   The New RFID?

A company called Demodulation Inc. says it has a technology for forming
"microwires" out of amorphous alloys (like glass a solid but not a crystal,
and made from metal). They say it "could provide security tags at half the
cost of" today's Sensormatic and other tags used by retailers; and that the
nearly invisible wires can be scanned from up to 20 feet away. Besides
advanced applications for the units as chemical and temperature sensors, the
company negotiated with Crane who makes the paper used in US currency to
"embed snippets of wire in the blank bills it ships to the Treasury", though
the deal fell through.
  

    

   Groucho Would Love It

A virtual community that prides itself on keeping (and throwing) people out
might possibly expand from its present base of 130,000 to allow more "like-
minded individuals who share the same circle of friends, interests and
schedule".  aSmallWorld.net does not even let existing members qualify to
invite others in until they have passed a test of "12 to 15 variables" which
are of course secret. Another reason the place is so small may be lack of
compelling value: it says it offers "trusted and select information" such as
"nightclub or restaurant recommendations from other members".  Gosh.  The
place also coyly intimates it includes a number of celebrity members, for
example (are you sitting down?) Ivanka Trump, Naomi Campbell, and Quentin
Tarantino, whose purpose seems to be tripwires for expulsion since "those
who abuse the system by trying to network with celebrity members can quickly
find themselves out of the club".  The wee VC is in the news today because
the Weinstein boys from Miramax just made a "significant" but naturally
secret investment in it; perhaps because they couldn't get in any other way.
You know the Well is even smaller, and I hear it's available for purchase...
  

    
Very interesting!  I didn't believe such a place existed, so I did some
googling and found several more articles about "gated online communities."

There's a place called "Out or In" with "the strictest membership criteria
of any Gated Community Site on the Internet."

    * Minimum Age for any Applicant is 25 years.
    * Applicants need to be based in a major city.
    * Male applicants need to be members of at least one private “Members
Only” Club.
    * Applicants need proof to have attended a reknown prestigious
university or boarding school.
    * Applicants need to have a strong network of social contacts on the
highest level.
    * Please fill in your email address below and we will forward you the
application link.
  

    

Oh well, they do want me. I'm heartbroken, of course.
  

    
I'm glad that people who would want to be a member of such a community are
choosing to stay behind such gates, as the ghastliness of what lies within
can only be guessed at. (I also note that coherent written English does not
seem to be a requirement.)
  

    
> <33>

Snob appeal.  That's pretty twisted, and I doubt there's enough people who
would both meet their minimum qualifications and be interested enough to
bother with checking it out, much less spending significant time there.

Heck, show me a community full of bright, witty people who actually put some
effort into the words they contribute to it, and I'll pay for the privilege
of hanging out there.  Oh, wait, I already do!  ;-)
  

    
Funny thing -- I guess it's funny -- is that I run into people who bleive
that the reputation of The WELL is based on elaborate screening of
applicants and weeding through the unworthy.  It turns out that saying what
you think (and holding your tongue from time to time based on what you think
and feel, of course, as in any human group) under your real name in the
company of relatively smart articulate people turns out to be an excellent
and permeable gate for a community, over all.  

We can still have naive happy tourists and outlandish nomads stop by, and
sometimes move in with us here.  The exclusive places don't get that. 

(As a staffer I of course urge more interesting people to drop 
in and give it a go, since a good subset of the people around here are 
welcoming and interested in new points of view and new personal stories) 
There are surprises, some pleasant and come disturbing, but there is 
a long term overall stability that can eventually feel more like home than
the place where you grew up.
  

    
> and holding your tongue from time to time based on what you think
>  and feel, of course, as in any human group

And this happens where again?
  

    
although my brain has just realised what the outorin.org people are trying
to do - they're trying to build high-value advertising space, so they can
sell the eyeballs of people who, by their profile, may well have more money
than sense at premium prices.

Possibly a good business model, but the sample size will be small and the
number of clients smaller.
  

    
I was tempted to say we separate the wheat from the chaff and keep only the
chaff, but I shall nobly restrain myself.
  

    

> reputation of The WELL is based on elaborate screening of
> applicants and weeding through the unworthy.

The former is a stretch, but I think some feel one of their roles here is
the later.
  

    
Heh!  It takes time to build up cred, no doubt. And no doubt we have our
"dog soldiers" as I believe one of the plains indian tribes called the
ones who take it upon themselves to "bark" at outsiders.   

That's how we came to have hosts, who have some sense of the mission 
of bringing people into the fold of a conversaton when possible, so that 
that natural tendency towards attacking the strangers when they enter a 
village is mitigated!  Some are naturally outgoing and welcoming, and
that's something the group has reason to treasure and support.

That and understanding intellectually that unlike in a real town, people 
are never born here, and we all have to register at some point.    
  

    

   Quote Of The Day

From Nick Denton, founder of the Gawker Media blog empire that includes
Wonkette, Gizmodo, Gridskipper, and Sploid:

"The barrier to entry in Internet media is low;
 the barrier to success is high."
  

    

   Most Laughably Absurd Quote of the Day

On Microsoft's newly aggressive WGA software, recently installed as a
"critical update", that checks for unauthorized copies of Windows:

Michala Alexander, head of anti-piracy for Microsoft in the UK, said
"Customers have been crying out for a tool which could tell them if they
have been duped".
  

    

   Happy Birthday, WWW

From the BBC at  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/technology/5242252.stm

Many users know that Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the web at the CERN
physics laboratory near Geneva.  But few know the details of the world wide
web's growth - not least because the definitive history of how that happened
has yet to be written.

One key date is 6 August 1991 - the day on which links to the fledgling
computer code for the www were put on the alt.hypertext discussion group so
others could download it and play with it.

 On that day the web went world wide.
  

    

   New/Old Cell Phone Debuts

A company called Sparkfun Electronics has announced a two-pound, $500 cell
phone with a rotary dial. Resembling a desk set of the 1960's, the red Port-
O-Rotary "is powered by a large battery that requires the removal of two
screws to recharge". A black version is available for the economy-minded at
$400. It is reported to work with the user's SIM card and "most GSM
networks" including T-Mobile and Cingular. The product should appeal to
consumers who want a rotary-dial, two-pound $500 cell phone that's hard to
recharge.
  

    
Build it and they will come.
  

    
Just checked the date, and it's not April 1st. Are you sure this isn't
a spoof?
  

    
> Are you sure this isn't a spoof?

Judge for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/technology/24phone.html?ref=technology

http://www.sparkfun.com
  

    
There must be some market for it. Maybe it will show up in some
retro-chic photo spread, and become all the rage.