Future proof your future

Snagged from 43folders and totally worth the read:

If we embrace the fact that no one can or should ever care about the health of our passions as much as we do, the practical decisions that help ensure Our Good Thing stays alive can become as “simple” as a handful of proven patterns—work hard, stay awake, fail well, hang with smart people, shed bullshit, say “maybe,” focus on action, and always always commit yourself to a bracing daily mixture of all the courage, honesty, and information you need to do something awesome—discover whatever it’ll take to keep your nose on the side of the ocean where the fresh air lives. This is huge.

The internet is making us stupid

The Internet is making us stupid (well, maybe). I think there’s no better case that illustrates this than a recent lawsuit against Google, in which the plaintiff charges that:

Google Maps led her to a four-lane boulevard without sidewalks that was “not reasonably safe for pedestrians,” according to the lawsuit filed by the Northridge, Calif., resident.

The plaintiff then proceeded down the street and claims she was subsequently hit by a vehicle. And that, obviously, is Google’s fault.

Is the human race now so dependent on augmented reality that we can’t think on our own? The last time I looked down a street without adequate walking paths, I made my own decisions. This is called “risk management” by those the know. Before such fancy terms came along, it was just common sense: Should I avoid the dangerous looking forest, or walk into it?

Then again, maybe it just means people in the United States will sue their own mother for a few minutes of fame.

Google dumps Windows

Snagged from the TUAW news feed:

We first heard rumors of this policy change a couple of months ago, but now it’s made the papers: the Financial Times is reporting that Google is phasing out the use of Windows internally, as employees are migrated to either Linux or Mac OS X on machine turnovers or new hires. The policy change was precipitated in large part by the security breach attributed to Chinese hackers; Google’s IT leaders apparently feel that Microsoft’s OS represents too great a risk across the enterprise to leave it in place.

Personally, I stay as technology-agnostic as I can, at least in the professional arena. If a Windows-based solution is the right choice for a company, that’s what I recommend — and, there are many situations (more than most) where it is the right choice. But, on a purely personal level, my inner child does a little jig of joy when it hears that someone else is getting fed up with poor software. Seeing Google add their voice to the many companies pushing-back against Vista is a good thing.

$24M and 10 years later cell radiation still fuzzy?

Can cell phones cause brain cancer? It’s been the focus of discussions, arguments, studies and bloggers for decades now. So when do we really find out?

Thankfully, there’s the Interphone study, launched 10 years ago and studying 10,000 participants spread across 13 different countries. Those concerned with The Answer have been waiting for the results with increased anticipation. And, here it is, summed up by Dr. Elisabeth Cardis, leader of the Interphone study:

Until stronger conclusions can be drawn one way or another, it may be reasonable to reduce one’s exposure [to cellular radiation]. It can’t hurt. — Dr. Elisabeth Cardis

“It can’t hurt?” So, it turns out that the long awaited report, published in the Internal Journal of Epidemiology on May 17, according to Time Magazine’s May 31 issue, “is by far the most comprehensive look at the issue to date and was meant to provide a possible conclusion to the debate.” Unfortunately, the real facts of the matter: 10 years isn’t that long to study something as subtly insidious as cancer poisoning from a radiation source such as cell phones. Even so, the study does give us interesting new data to ponder, discuss and argue over while another 10 or 20 year study is pulled together:

1. The study did not find any obvious connection between cell phone use and cancer, but it did find some seemingly conflicting data that muddies the discussion even further.
2. Of the study’s subjects, the 10% that used their cell phones most often did exhibit a 40% higher risk of developing some form of brain cancer, as compared to those who don’t use cell phones.
3. On the other hand, participants in the study that used their cell phones infrequently demonstrated a lower likelihood of developing brain cancer over people who use corded phones exclusively.

Unfortunately, even some of the data the defined the study is already out of date. 15 years ago (when the study was originally designed), using a cell phone for 30 minutes a day was considered “heavy” use. By today’s standards, 30 minutes a day might be considered moderate, particularly as people are starting to forego land-lines in favor of simply having a cell phone.

So what’s our take-away? Probably that the Interphone study is too dated and flawed. When you hear the mobile phone industry trumpeting it’s positive findings, or when you hear consumer advocates talking about it’s negative discoveries, keep in mind: They’re both quoting from the same study, a study which seems to equally support either position.

We need a new study. Unfortunately, that means we’ll be waiting another 15 or 20 years before “significant” evidence has a chance to answer this question once and for all.

8 web sites you need to stop building

The Oatmeal just gets it.

Stay at home

One of the funniest blogs I’ve ever run across, about parenting, staying at home, and life. Enjoy!

iPhone class action

Isn’t anyone going to start up a class action suit against AT&T and Apple? Both companies promised iPhone tethering support, spurring greatly increased sales of the iPhone 3Gs, only to yank the promise of tethering in the U.S. even though AT&T offers tethering with other devices. Promises for the past year have been broken, leaving a lot of iPhone users miffed at Apple and just plain angry at AT&T for worse and worse service. And it didn’t help when Steve Jobs rubbed it in, delivering the news that the Wi-Fi iPad will not support iPhone tethering.

I know all the arguments for tolerance: AT&T’s network was slammed with unexpected adoption levels; they are trying to roll out more coverage; they are upgrading their networks. But that doesn’t change the fact that when I bought my iPhone 3Gs, I cancelled my data card and plan and have been waiting for over a year listening to promises of “real soon now.” In the meantime, I’m inconvenienced on every business trip. Dishonesty is at the heart of the matter: AT&T needs to deliver on their promise, or tell us what’s really going on.

So, for the record: If a class action suit gets off the ground, I’m in.

No date

Is it just me or do you get frustrated when online posts (such as this one) don’t provide a publishing date? It’s really annoying. Come on folks, take a tip from the press: Always provide a publishing date and author (unless your entire blog is just you, then an author’s probably not necessary).

Sublime

An absolutely sublime post from the Tao of Mac on everything from crazy iPad hype to an in-depth stream of consciousness on the escalating war against Flash and what HTML5 means. Beautiful site redesign too, although I suspect Rui actually did it quite a while ago and I’m just getting around to noticing now.

Just my own two cents regarding the Ars Technica article appealing to our commercial senses: While Ars may feel the pinch as more people start to block ads, the fact of the matter is — it’s a sign of tolerance levels in the audience. As more ads are blocked, the industry starts to realize that people don’t like current advertising practices. Find a new way to do it, or suffer the consequences.

The new freemium

TUAW published a great article on GDC 2010: Ngmoco’s Neil Young on how freemium will change the App Store world. If you’re interested in the evolution of Apple’s “App Store” and, in a wider sense, the marketing that’s driving one of it’s largest publishers check out the article. It’s an interesting accounting of how mobile applications are evolving into free downloads with premium paid features.

iPhone guidance

If you don’t want to shell out the $10 per month fee for the AT&T iPhone Navigator application, I can’t blame you. That’s a lot to pay for directions, especially when you can pick up a Garmin for under $100. There is an alternative, though: A new version of CoPilot Live enhances and fixes a lot of issues in the previous versions. According to the company, the app now includes improved guidance at complex intersections, Facebook status updates, free local search, and the latest maps of North America. More than 15,000 miles of roads have been added, 73 completely updated counties and hundreds of map improvements submitted by the CoPilot Live User Community.

According to TUAW you can buy the CoPilot application for a $2.99 per month subscription, or opt for a $19.99 per year payment. That’s a heck of a lot more attractive than AT&T’s plan (which would run about $120 per year). You can give the application a try for free, too, as it comes with a 30 day trial period when you first download it. TUAW does point out, thought, that after using CoPilot for a couple of years, you could have bought the higher rated TomTom or Navigon apps, both of which seem to have more features and fewer problems than CoPilot. Check out some of the reviews on the Apple store before buying: CoPilot has it’s pros and cons.

Yes, that is ironic

“We used to hustle on over the border for health care… And I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now?” — Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, admitting that her family used to go to Canada for medical treatment when she was a child; Canada has a single payer system, which Palin opposes. (Time, March 22, 2010).