computing & internet

My Eulogy For Michael Stern Hart

September 14, 2011

I promised I’d see him through to the end. He wasn’t there any more, but being a pallbearer was my way of keeping that promise. In case I tripped and fell while carrying the substantial coffin, I asked our friend Ben Stone to be on standby. Ben, “Surprisingly, they’re not that heavy. The important part [...]

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Michael Hart Remembered Online – UPDATED

September 8, 2011

This post serves as a roundup of good online articles on and tributes to Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg and close friend, who passed away two days ago. If you come across any that are not here, please link to them in the comments. So much love ad respect out there for Michael; [...]

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Michael Stern Hart, 1947-2011

September 7, 2011

Founder of Project Gutenberg, Michael Hart, passed away unexpectedly at his home in Urbana, Illinois yesterday. The world has lost a true renaissance man, the one who first gave us the gift of electronic books (eBooks). I have lost my oldest friend and confidant in these United States. Read Michael’s obituary, wonderfully written by Greg [...]

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Hack Your Town

September 7, 2011

“If guns are about power, then hacking is about secret knowledge, and knowledge is also power.” – Charlie Stross in The Fear Factory “Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.” – H. Jackson Brown Chicago Trib news app developer leaves Chicago and moves to small town of [...]

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Reverse Boot Camp

August 5, 2011

From Bloomberg: President Barack Obama is proposing expanding tax credits and a “reverse boot camp” to help veterans find jobs and adjust to civilian life as part of an effort to curb veteran unemployment. I hear “Reverse Boot Camp” and this recent Oatmeal graphic is all I see. I’d make a great drill instructor. Tweet

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That Sidebar Thingy

August 1, 2011

On the sidebar here, you will see a section called Recommended Reading, which is really a link to my shared items on Google Reader, updated almost daily with interesting things from all over the internet. Google Reader is quite useful to dog-ear and share articles and as a magazine customized for me. Happy reading.   [...]

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Scientists On Twitter, Treme Bloggers

July 28, 2011

The American Geophysical Union’s blog interviewed a number of physical scientists on why scientists should use Twitter. My response reflects two important requirements I have of science: that it is increasingly inter-disciplinary and shares findings with the public as much as possible. *** OffBeat Magazine: Treme Bloggers – Ray Shea and I were part of [...]

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Free Access To Scientific Literature By Whom?

July 21, 2011

The Journal of the Medical Library Association published a study called “The impact of free access to the scientific literature: a review of recent research” You can read the whole paper at the link provided, thus saving us all from laughing at the irony of a paper on open access locked behind a paywall. The [...]

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This Week In Online Absurdity

July 21, 2011

Never mind that Swartz is a researcher, JSTOR makes it difficult for users to download articles to which they have rightful access and the government (your taxpayer money) pays for much of the research that ends up in journals not made available to you. Culture is anti-rivalrous as the great Nina Paley likes to point [...]

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Your Chance To Help Project Gutenberg Get Books Out

July 9, 2011

Today’s Philanthroper deal hosts Project Gutenberg: $1 shares 36,000 free books with the world. Paper books may not need batteries and you can curl up with one on a rainy day, but this is an attitude of first-world luxury. Paper books can burn, flood and not be replicated for millions of people all over the [...]

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