This article shows some of Apple’s incredible innovation in the education market. Duke University will distribute iPods to students along with a special copy of iTunes, where students will be able to get educational materials as well as purchase music.
By the way, after finally purchasing an iPod myself, I found myself disappointed that Apple dropped the price about $100 on their newest iPod. Once again, I paid a premium to get the device early.
I recently saw Matrix Reloaded (yes, I waited until the DVD came out) and almost fell off my seat when watching the scene where the Architect is introduced. Although this reference would probably be considered very unlikely to be recognized by many individuals, I couldn’t help but notice a striking resemblance between The Architect and Dr. Vint Cerf, the individual generally regarded as the “Father of the Internet”. I’ve had the pleasure and honor to meet with Dr. Cerf on a few occasions and I’ve heard him speak several times now at different functions and the similarities are striking. While their appearances are somewhat similar, what really hit me was the similarity in their mannerisms, tone of voice, and general conduct.
Amazing.
So I haven’t actually listened to the director’s commentary on the DVD yet, but I plan on jumping over to that scene and checking to see if anything is said about it in the file. When I googled the subject, I found nothing.
This image, below, is a scene from the movie with the Architect. Inset is a photo of Dr. Cerf. You can judge for yourself.
I’m a big believer in XM, but this story about Cambridge Soundworks producing a portable XM receiver just caused images of the South Park episode “Cartman Gets An Anal Probe” to run through my head. I’m sure it’ll be great when it appears on the market, but I just can’t help thinking about where that satellite antenna will have to be installed :-).
I’ve been porting some code over to Linux and in the process I’ve discovered what slow really is. I tend to work on only one computer system, my PowerBook G4, so I loaded up SuSE 8.2 Linux into Virtual PC. I’m not sure I understood what slow really is until now. It’s painfully slow, compared to running Windows XP on Virtual PC. I suspect that what’s really going on is the lack of optimization for Linux and a really slow gcc compiler. Ah, well — the price one pays for carrying around a single computer.
On another note, I’ve started reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It’s been on my reading list for a long time, but I had never gotten around to it. I picked it up at the urging of a friend who said that the book was “me”. Well, as a motorcyclist (HD Road King), I could definitely relate to much of what Pirsig says is the beauty of motorcycling. One quote I just read really stood out to me:
The number of rational hypotheses that can explain any given phenomenon is infinite.
I’ve been rolling that around in my head for the last few hours since I first read it and it’s just a fascinating statement. I’d love to say something about it, but you know, there’s just nothing to add. Just enjoy it.
