Category Archives: Uncategorized

Microsoft Buys the Brains of Boys Everywhere

Posted on September 30, 2014 by jlredford

So Microsoft just bought Mojang, the studio that produces Minecraft, for $2.5B. That sounds like a ridiculous amount for a video game, particularly one that looks so crude, unless you happen to know some boys. For my 10-year-old son and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Paying for Bad News: Funding the Keeling Curve

Posted on September 8, 2014 by jlredford

Here’s one of the most frightening charts in all of science: CO2 has risen by a quarter just in my lifetime, and we all know the consequences. The chart comes from a remarkably sustained effort by Charles David Keeling: and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Phineas and Ferb Go To MIT

Posted on August 31, 2014 by jlredford

Because of course they would.   This is what they built over summer vacation: It’s a 130-foot-long roller coaster!   Students at the East Campus dorm built it for a freshman introduction activity.   The above is one end, and here’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Fun Economy Displaces the Stuff Economy

Posted on August 22, 2014 by jlredford

The other day I took my 9-year-old son to gymnastics class.  The gym is in an industrial neighborhood of Waltham, Massachusetts, which was pretty much the original industrial town of America.   The Industrial Revolution in the US started here when … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Solectria – Achieving Goals By Lowering Them

Posted on July 28, 2014 by jlredford

A few days ago some good news finally came to a guy who has been trying to save the world for a very long time.   James Worden is the founder of the Massachusetts company Solectria Renewables, and it just got  … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Steps in Japan and Antarctica

Posted on June 13, 2014 by jlredford

I happen to be in Japan on business, and the office I’m visiting is on the pleasant Sumida River where it empties into Tokyo Bay It’s right next to the Takeshiba Passenger Terminal, which takes people on sea trips to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The One Useful X-Power Is the Main One We Have: Telepathy

Posted on May 28, 2014 by jlredford

So I saw the new movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past” this last weekend, and was struck by how odd and useless most of their superpowers are. They look great, but what would you do with them? The ability to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Glass Empire Strikes Back

Posted on April 12, 2014 by jlredford

Google Glass has gotten enormous grief in the last few months.  Places are banning it, and people have gotten into fights over it.  Even the tech journalist David Pogue finds it creepy: You no longer know if you’re being filmed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

“The Wind Rises”, As Did Japan

Posted on March 30, 2014 by jlredford

So why would Hayao Miyazaki, one of Japan’s greatest directors, chose to make his final movie about an obscure aircraft designer?  He has said that “The Wind Rises” will be his last, and he’s already 73.   None of his other … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“The Martian”: Really Mundane SF

Posted on March 13, 2014 by jlredford

A few years ago Geoff Ryman, the renowned author of “Was” and “The Unconquered Country”, got sick of the tropes of science fiction.   Faster-than-light interstellar travel, aliens, and alternate realities were cheap devices that encouraged boring and lazy writing.   While … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment