Chaos Magnet

A quick hit on Rick Berman

I believe in reading source material, but I just can't bring myself to do it in this case. Not for just one quick comment. SyFy Portal has a discussion of an interview with Rick Berman, from a transcript of a Star Trek Magazine interview courtesy of Sci-Fi Pulse. (Got that?)

Here's the statement, rebutting the idea that the creator of Star Trek: Enterprise hated the original series. "I can openly admit that I did not see all 79 epsides of the original series ... but it was something we respected and did our best to lead up to. But I think that was something that was unsettling for fans."

No ... ya think?!?

Now everyone can add "and 2006 Time's Person Of The Year" to their bio

It may sound a little silly, but that's what Time did for 2006, in choosing it's Person of the Year. The premise is that:

It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

...

And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

A very nice sentiment. But for those of you worried about Time being proved wrong, they go on to say:

Web 2.0 is a massive social experiment, and like any experiment worth trying, it could fail.

They also hedged their journalistic bets, giving us People Who Mattered.

The most popular AJAX frameworks

I'm actually a little bit surprised by the results of the Ajaxian.com 2006 Survey Results showing the most popular Ajax frameworks. I'm not so much surprised by the winners -- Prototype and Script.aculo.us -- but by some omissions, like SAJAX, and some distant finishers, like Google Web Toolkit.

Silence is golden -- but is Christmas music really "torture"?

So apparently with the ever-expanding Christmas season, there is beginning to be an issue with employees who have to listen to the same Christmas CDs over and over again. I can definitely sympathise. They should come to MY house. At least Sarah has hundreds, maybe thousands, of CDs to choose from.
(via open...)

Warp drive, when?

NASA is actually working on warp drive. I'm all tingly.

Custom Google Search Engine

Here's something interesting. I was looking for a quick way to add search functionality to SyFy Portal when I came across the Google Custom Search Engine. You can specify a site or sites to search, including individual web pages -- for which they have the "Google Marker" app -- and you can collaborate with others on a search engine. Very interesting. I think there are community-building advantages here....

Ajax: what to companies want?

Just reading a short piece about Web Builder 2.0 Conference at Caesars Palace when a fact jumped out at me:

Companies are looking for frameworks to help them do Ajax apps, but they're demanding so many capabilities that no single framework (or even small set of frameworks) has emerged. Right now there are at least 40 Ajax frameworks in play.

My question is: what is it that companies want that's so difficult to provide?

http://www.myuniportal.com/myuniportal.jpg

Ajax security issues

There's lots of talk about how Ajax causes a ton of security issues. Turns out, many who are paying attention already knew, that the problem is not with Ajax. Check out WhiteHat Security on Ajax.

Serious creativity

Here's an interesting notion: can you be more creative by being more structured? Check out this essay on Serious Creativity.

OPEC hurt by weak dollar

Here's an interesting little example of how interconnected the world is. Today I read that OPEC appears ready to defend $60 floor on oil prices. Now, as somebody who has a 12 mile drive to the nearest grocery story -- each way -- this really bothers me, because I don't like paying $2.40 a gallon or more, but it's obvious things have been ratcheting up for a while. Prices spike until they're ridiculously high, people complain, and then they come down to where they started -- and gradually work their way up to where they were at the height of the spike, but nobody complains. (Unless you count general grumbling.)

But what I find interesting is this. High oil prices hurt the US economy, which weakens the dollar against other currencies. OK, fine. But most of that oil money OPEC is bringing in comes in as dollars, so as the dollar weakens, OPEC nations have LESS PURCHASING POWER with those dollars.

A bright spot in the discussion, I guess. :)

A word about parenting

Another gem circulating in email:

Whenever your child is out of control, take comfort from the thought
that even God's omnipotence did not extend to His own children, Adam
and Eve.

After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the
first thing he said was "DON'T!"

"Don't what?" Adam replied.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said.

"Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve... we have
forbidden fruit!"

"No Way!"

"Yes way!"

"Do NOT eat the fruit!" said God.

"Why?" asked Adam.

"Because I am your Father and I said so!" God replied, wondering why
He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants.

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and
He was ticked. "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit?" God asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you?" said the Father.

"I don't know," said Eve.

"She started it!" Adam said.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"DID NOT!"

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam
and Eve should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set
and it has never changed.

BUT THERE IS REASSURANCE IN THE STORY! If you have persistently and
lovingly given your children wisdom and they haven't taken it, don't
be too hard on yourself.

If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it should
be a piece of cake for you?