Internet == internet

INFO SCIENCE: So Wired News is no longer capitalizing the word internet. Good, it never made sense anyway.



I looked up the word at dictionary.com out of curiosity.

Internet

(Note: capital "I"). The Internet is the largest internet (with a small "i") in the world.



internet

(Note: not capitalised) Any set of networks interconnected with routers.

Now that's just awful. The largest internet is the Internet. All other internets are just internets and not the Internet. Blech, no thanks; I'll take on Wired's editorial policy as my own. (Who has heard anyone refer to a small, local network be referred to as an internet anyway?)



(My own suspicion is that internet wouldn't be capitalized by very many people if Microsoft's Word didn't capitalize it for you without asking.)

Fun With Forums

INFO SCIENCE: Funny quote I ran across on the NYTimes forum. (Sorry, no direct link available.)

Of course I believe in free will. I have no choice!

Delicious Library

INTERFACES: The interface for Delicious Library 3.0 looks awesome. I can't attest to usability, but if it's as usable as it is pretty, I'm sold.

MMO Data

INFO VISUALIZATION: Here's some analysis and a chart of massive multiplayer online games' growth over the last few years.







Not the most legible graph, but it's nice to see the numbers complied by a disinterested third party.



Wonder how much World of Warcraft will shake things up?

Tivo, P2P, and the FCC

INFO SCIENCE: Salon's piece titled "Must-download TV" is a great article about at Tivo, P2P, and the FCC's broadcast flag.

Indeed, the most troubling thing about the FCC's broadcast flag rule is that it seems designed to stamp out the idea that we're free to do what we want with TV. As many critics of media firms have pointed out, there's something deeply unsettling about the fact that TiVo, a firm that completely remade the way we watch TV, needed the government's permission to release a new technology. You don't have to be a techno-libertarian to find this state of affairs troubling. Sure, this time the FCC allowed TiVo to innovate -- but the decision could easily have gone the other way. In the future, what other technologies might the government deem too dangerous to be invented?

"Good morning. You have 457 voice-mail messages."

INFO TECHNOLOGY: Collision Detection has an interesting post about voicemail spam coming to a VOIP mailbox near you.

Consider software from Frederick, Mass.-based Qovia, which seeks out the IP addresses assigned to phones, then sends each a 30-second recording. Its pace -- 1,000 synthetic calls every five seconds -- is a quantum leap from the automated "Demon Box" dialers that telemarketers use now.

Amazon: noRightClick(e)

INFO SCIENCE: Amazon adds this little bit of code to disable your right click context menu when you're using their "look inside the book" feature. Click here to see for yourself.

function noRightClick(e) {

if (document.layers || document.getElementById && !document.all) {

if (e.which == 2 || e.which == 3) {

document.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEDOWN);

return false;

}

} else if (document.all && !document.getElementById) {

if (event.button == 2)

return false;

}

}

function noContextMenu () {

return false;

}

document.onmousedown = noRightClick;

document.oncontextmenu = noContextMenu;

What annoying bastards. In Firefox, just go to Options -> Web Features -> Disable JavaScript to get your right click back for saving images and the like.

Overpriced College Text Books, Meet Bit Torrent

Note: this page is quite popular after all these years.  Suprnova is no longer around, sadly.  Instead, I suggest checking out torrentz or textbooknova.com.

DATA: The book the UW uses to teach Calculus showed up on Suprnova the other day. Here's the link. (Wish we had Bit Torrent around when I was a freshman in college. We had to pay all $140.00 for the god damn tome! Spoiled kids!)

It wasn't my favorite Calculus book though. I liked the text used by the Seattle Community Colleges better: Calculus, Concepts and Contexts. It's by the same author (James Stewart) but to me seemed more approachable. However, it's not as comprehensive for the upper level stuff.

The best Calculus book ever though is "Calculus Made Easy."

And no, it ain't some newfangled dummies book. In fact, it goes all the way back to its first addition edition in 1946^*. It has taught generations how to first understand the concepts of Calculus before moving into the sordid details; something standard text books rarely do.

^* See commentor below.

David Lanham

VISUAL COMMUNICATION: Check out David Lanham's wonderful icon sets and backgrounds (not to mention his artwork and sketches).







I also like this short statement of his on good design. (Source)

As long as it gets the point across that its trying to make, I consider it good. Personally, I am more attracted to clean layouts and subtle color use with certain elements that pop by use of color, shape, etc.

NPR RSS Feeds

DATA: Julia Set points us to NPR's RSS feeds.

All Things Considered



Morning Edition



Day to Day



Tavis Smiley



Motley Fool



Weekend Edition Sunday



Weekend Edition Saturday



Talk of the Nation



Fresh Air

On an unrelated note, this is my 100th entry! wewt! I was devising something special for this post, but it's going to be delayed since I'm not feeling 100% today.