MetaFilter posts tagged with computing and technology

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Protocols of the Elders of Awesome — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:41:17 -0800

Sufficiently advanced quantum computer is indistinguishable from magic

crave it

Pretty_Generic — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 14:16:53 -0800

What the Dormouse Said

gleenyc — Sat, 07 May 2005 13:40:51 -0800

California Dreaming: A True Story of Computers, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll (Reg. req'd) Engineers can be so cute. In the early 1960's, Myron Stolaroff, an employee of the tape recorder manufacturer Ampex, decided to prove the value of consuming LSD. So he set up the International Foundation for Advanced Study and went about his project in classic methodical fashion.

But John Markoff, a senior writer for The New York Times who covers technology, makes a convincing case that for the swarming ubergeeks assembling in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960's, approaching drugs as they might any other potentially helpful tool or device - from a soldering iron to a computer chip - was only natural. The goals were broad in the 60's: the world would be remade, the natural order of things reconfigured, human potential amplified to infinity. Anything that could help was to be cherished, studied and improved.

Judging by the record presented in What the Dormouse Said, it is indisputable that many of the engineers and programmers who contributed to the birth of personal computing were fans of LSD, draft resisters, commune sympathizers and, to put it bluntly, long-haired hippie freaks.

Someone to watch over me

adamgreenfield — Fri, 24 Sep 2004 06:23:33 -0800

Once the stuff of academic and corporate experimentation, ubiquitous computation (or "ubicomp") is gearing up for its commercial debut in the very near future. Along the lines of ostensibly "nanotechnological" pants, the reality of ubicomp as made manifest in consumer products may fall somewhat short of the prognostications: buying a personal communicator designed to work seamlessly within a ubicomp context is not the same thing as living in and with a truly pervasive network.

But already there are signs that the ubiquitous visions beloved by the corporate players and enshrined in their hype are coming into being. So which do you think it'll be? Guardian angel or inescapable, panoptical prison? Neither? Maybe both? I have a sinking feeling we're going to find out, one way or another.

Saying goodbye to a mentor

dejah420 — Wed, 05 Mar 2003 20:45:36 -0800

Dr. Anita Borg is the Founder of the Institute for Women and Technology (www.iwt.org). Her work to change the world for women has received international recognition. Throughout her career, Dr. Borg has worked to encourage women to pursue careers in computing. Also, she's a heck of a nice lady. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in April 2000, and recently her condition has worsened. {more inside}

stuporJIX — Fri, 15 Feb 2002 04:43:59 -0800

www.computerhistory.org is the virtual incarnation of computer historian and collector Michael Williams' phat-ass computer museum. My favourite, BTW, is the timeline, searchable by year or topic. What technological milestones occured in the year of your birth?

otherchaz — Thu, 06 Sep 2001 16:11:46 -0800

Party Like It's 999,999,999 "The UNIX epoch dates from January 1st, 1970. Every UNIX system in the world worth its salt keeps track of time by counting every single second since the midnight just before that auspicious date. And soon, they're all going to hit a billion"

How will you celebrate the Gigasecond, September 9 at 01:46:39 UTC ?

harmful — Wed, 07 Mar 2001 14:18:18 -0800

The last computer you'll ever own. With the entertainment industry pushing electronics manufacturers towards closed, proprietary hardware, how soon will we be limited to strictly "renting" media, serives, etc.?

dabitch — Thu, 17 Aug 2000 18:37:27 -0800

I was reading cryptonomicom last night ..and awoke this morning to read this online.. Deja vu, Datahaven! I'm glad they found good use for that antiaircraft deck.

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 01 Aug 2000 22:42:19 -0800

When did Claudia Schiffer become an expert in computers? And why would I care what she thinks should be installed on one? (Light and casual: jokes. That's the way, now.)

Steven Den Beste — Sun, 09 Apr 2000 21:52:11 -0800

What's old is new again. This sounds suspiciously like "core", which is what computers used when I was in college.