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X-log
 Saturday, February 9, 2002
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Ever since I read this issue of Wired I have been very excited about the possiblities that exist for the developing connection between man and machine. I like to call this the human-machine interface. I recently finished Hans Moravec's Robot and have a better understanding of a possible outcome of the work on the human-machine interface. I am now reading Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines which seems to be another possible path of the future.
Regardless of the specific path, there are some general areas that must converge in order for there to be a complete human-machine interface. These areas are biotechnology (genetics and neurology), nanotechnology, robotics, quantum computing, and software development. All of these areas sound right but software development. Software development must keep pace with these other areas in order to provide the glue that connects it all and makes human transcendence possible. In any case, I feel myself being rapidly pulled into the nexus of this convergence. Focusing on the convergence of these areas seems like it could be a life time of work which I am ready to give. I am even considering going back to school to get a cross disciplinary degree in computer science and medicine. I figure I have about ten years before the convergence begins. This is ten years to position myself on the front of this wave. |
 | 11:32:15 PM 
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My former employer is in charge of this database. Two weeks ago the team got hit by the internal security squad at Comcast. Instead of fixing the problem, they had everyone on the project sign papers saying that they did not and would not exploit the resources they had available to them. This is a huge black-eye for them.
Comcast Exposes Thousands of Customers' Data [Geeknews] 5:57:40 PM
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There are a lot of people blogging today. I just updated my blog and I am currently 26 on weblogs.com. It is amazing. 5:50:31 PM
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It is hard to aggregate software, repackage it, and try to sell it directly to the same companies that the OEMs are also selling to. Selling a bundle of software that is pre-integrated doesn't work either. The idea behind systems integration is that it is specific to the business that is implementing the software. It is kind of hard to anticipate what the business is going to need before you get there and understand the business requirements. If they think the people that are buying the software understand the business requirements before they buy the software, they are sorely mistaken.
Jamcracker reworks its software strategy. The company, which will also announce new funding next week, will begin selling its Platform software directly to businesses--a big shift from its software-as-a-service design. [CNET News.com] 5:48:52 PM
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Would you pay PayPal to own a piece of their company? I'm not sure. It is a nice service and all, but when real banks and brokerages figure out how to do this in a way that eliminates any risk on their part PayPal will be put out of business or bought. However, PayPal could go corporate like Ebay has and teach banks and brokerages how to do this the right way.
PayPal moves to put IPO back on track. The online payment company attempts to relaunch its initial public offering, filing updated regulatory documents that provide details about a patent suit filed against it. [CNET News.com] 5:41:46 PM
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I lost my main server to Xlogs.net on Thursday. A head in my master drive gave up. Fortunately, all of my data was on my slave drive, which is still intact. I'm rebuilding the server right now. One thing I noticed is that the new hard drive I bought is four times the size of my original master drive at 40GB. The server is less than a year old. My slave drive is 20GB and runs at 7200 RPM. The new master drive is 40GB and runs at 7200 RPM. I bought the 40GB drive for the same price I bought the 20GB drive seven months ago. That is quite amazing. 5:34:19 PM
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I saw "Colateral Damage" this afternoon. This has to be one of Schwarzenegger's last movies. He is really starting to show his age. Some of the scenes were obviously blue screened in a studio. He probably wanted to do his own stunts but is just getting too old to handle the rough stuff any more. The movie itself was a typical Schwarzenegger movie with very little plot, a lot of emotion, and he gets the bad guys in the end. It is worth a matinee just becase it is always better to watch Schwarzenegger on the big screen, but it is not a full price screening.
In my opinion, Schwarzenegger is the last great American action hero. I have not seen any rise to replace him in the past few years, or even come close. What is America coming to when our kids don't have big screen action heros to look up to? 5:30:06 PM
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Last Thursday was my last day at my former employer, Accenture LLP, formerly Andersen Consulting. Management consulting is better left to the MBA-types rather than us geeks. I think I might consult for a while on my own taking on projects that internal software teams don't have the time, resources, or engergy for. If there was one thing I learned at Accenture is that there is a lot of work out there, you just have to know where to find it. I think this year is the year of change. 5:18:44 PM
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© Copyright 2003 Dann Sheridan 
Last update: 7/1/03; 7:36:35 AM.
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