Year 2006

The Archimedes Palimpsest

Back in March I mentioned Google Techtalks (now split into multiple series, engEDU, authors@google etc.). Well, back then I watched a video about how a team was using technology to restore an Archimedes Palimsest, an old parchment with some of the great mathematician’s writings that had been overwritten several times throughout the previous two millenia. […]

Routebuddy

Commendable Idea. Bad Implementation. Last week the first, Mac-only vector-based GPS application was released to the public; Routebuddy. The Carbon/OpenGL application fits in with OS X’s look and feel although it failed to impress me with its bog-standard aqua interface and mediocre icons/layout (see Usability). The developers advertise its support for TeleAtlas vector maps, one […]

Cloning Biometrics.

It's not just Big Brother you should be worried about. It's those that create the security features (and holes) of the digital era. Some problems of the up and coming ePassports. Biometric chip-containing passports started being issued on the 1st of August 2006 in Hellas.

¡Felicitaciones Amigos!

The Spanish region of Extramadura, follows along the steps of many other European authorities (Paris, München among others) and switches to Linux and Open Document formats, saving many millions of Euros, promoting freedom both economic and practical terms. Compare and contrast with the blissfully ignorant Hellenic authorities that keep spending taxpayers' money on overpriced, buggy Windows software.

Inflaming the Middle East

The Israeli-Palæstinian conflict is now more than sixty years old. It’s clear to all, but the most extreme nationalists (of both involved nations) or naïve idealists (globally) that the only viable solution, at least for the coming decades, would be a two-state division of what is currently Israel and its occupied territories. That is the […]

Powermac G5 Reliability Study

from Macintouch. Ouch, Apple, that hurts. 'Premium prices, low quality'? I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. For the moment that is...

A Tennis Thriller.

Forget the boring, mediocre, football World Cup final later tonight. A thriller is taking place at Wimbledon where two of — what seems to be — the dominant male players of the next 5-10 years are competing again, just a month after Roland Garros in France. I’m referring to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer who […]

The Monroe Doctrine.

In 1823, the United States issued what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. The Doctrine is interesting (and important) for two reasons: first, it is the first post-establishment diplomatic expression of independence and a loud demand for acknowledgement of U.S. (increasing) power and, second, it is disguised under a thin veil of moral […]