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Author Archives: jlredford
Why Did Car Companies Cave on CAFE?
Car companies have been complaining about fuel economy standards ever since they began back in the 1970s. All through the 80s, 90s and Zips they’ve managed to block increases in the standards, by spreading Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about their … Continue reading
What Are Movies About?
IMDB has a nice feature whereby users can add keywords and genres to listed shows. They have generously made these databases available here. Can we use this to find out what movies are really about? First off, I tried to … Continue reading
Tech Tourism Around Boston
Boston has been industrialized for 200 years, so there’s plenty to see around the city for the technically-minded traveler, or for the local looking for a family outing. Since it’s hard to decide which are my favorites, I’ll just put … Continue reading
Has Growth Stalled in Spite of Third Industrial Revolution Tech?
Paul Krugman and Business Week have recently referred to a grim new paper – “Is US Economic Growth Over?” by Robert Gordon. He’s an economics professor at Northwestern University, and notes that real growth peaked in the 1960s, and has … Continue reading
Enfolded in the Internet of Things
So I was at a conference the other day where the speakers were constantly using the buzz phrase “The Internet of Things”. This is where pretty much everything will have a processor in it that’s connected to some kind of … Continue reading
Building Good Stuff for the Wrong Reason
Two years ago I was asked to look at the assets of a failed startup. All its equipment and intellectual property were about to be sold for a pittance, so I was supposed to see what could be saved. The … Continue reading
Bigger Is Greener
Here’s a promising trend – all the cool big guys are going green. Google and Adobe are now powering their offices with Blo0m Boxes, a solid oxide fuel cell powered by natural gas that has 40% the CO2 emissions of … Continue reading
Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012, RIP
The opening to “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, 1962: The lightning rod salesman has come to Green Town, Illinois. He is talking to two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade: neighbors, best of friends, closest of rivals, one born light … Continue reading
Amusing Children With Supercomputers
Yesterday I saw the new animated movie “Madagascar 3” at a special preview with my son. It doesn’t open for a week, but the studio, Dreamworks, held a preview for the staff of Red Hat, a Linux software services company … Continue reading
The Machinery Beneath the World
My commute has recently changed, and much for the better. Instead of being stuck on the highway, I get to walk over the pleasant stream of Alewife Brook: And then down a sandy path on the Greenway: Birds have been … Continue reading
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A Niche in the Library of Babel 