Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Will Finland be number one in the future? -- Comment()
Finland is currently the best country in the world based on the performance of the innovation system. But how to stay on top? This question is tackled in a new report by the Ministry of Education titled Knowledge, innovation and internalization: 'The Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, adopted its new review "Knowledge, Innovation and Internationalisation" on 12 December. The review examines the development challenges facing science and technology policy in the coming years and outlines relevant policy. Special attention is paid to the rapidly internationalising innovation environment and the ensuing pressures for structural and operational change in Finland.'

Hit songs by science? -- Comment()
Computer program 'predicts hit songs': 'Record companies are to test a "juke box jury" computer program that can tell if a song is likely to top the charts. Like the guests on the TV pop show, launched in the 1960s and revived in the 1980s, the software predicts whether a tune is going to be a "hit" or a "miss". The program, called Hit Song Science, correctly forecast the success of jazz songstress Norah Jones months before she topped the US charts and won eight Grammy awards. Record company bosses were so impressed that five major labels have decided to try out HSS for themselves, New Scientist magazine reports.'

-- Comment()
RDF and other monkey wrenches: 'Abstraction extracts such a terrible price in return for the benefits of complexity management it bestows on the chosen few. Abstraction creates a high priest environment in which only a few can ever hope to really understand the "vision" buried in all the abstraction. In the hands of the chosen few, the abstractions are a precision tool wielded to powerful effect. In the hands of the other 94%, the tool is more like a monkey wrench. A tool that can be used for every job but is the *wrong* tool for every job.' [Serious Instructional Technology]