Human-generated random data...

Human-generated random data...  This is, so far as I can tell, a completely useless (and almost certainly not random!) idea.  Also, it appears to be broken.  But their “About” page is one of the best I've seen in a long time :)

The Apple way...

The Apple way...  The Apple Watch had a challenge.  Unlike any of Apple's previous products, a watch is perceived by many to be a fashion accessory or even a piece of jewelry.  That means that some customers will want the rich look of gold – preferably, a nice 18K gold as is traditional for watchmakers going back hundreds of years.  Probably any other manufacturer would simply have said “OK, make a gold model.”  Apple noted, however, that traditional 18K gold has two problems.  First, it's expensive, especially when gold is going for $1,200+ an ounce.  Second, it's relatively soft – though 18K gold is much harder than 24K gold, it's still soft enough that it's easily scratched.

So Apple developed a new kind of 18K gold (see this explanation) that uses less gold and is more durable.  Very clever, that.  Also a great example of what can happen at the conjunction of visionary product development, scale, (almost) unlimited funding, and total vertical integration...

Quote of the day...

Quote of the day...  This one is from a New York Times article (I read them so that you don't have to :) about the things the must be done to make online education attractive as an alternative to traditional (and very expensive) universities.  The article focuses on credentialing, specifically on alternatives to the traditional college degree that's embodied in a diploma.  As my long-time readers (all four of you) will know, I'm not happy with the existing diploma system, as the possession of a diploma from an American university really tells you very little about what that person actually knows, or can do.  So this quote really caught my eye:

The standard diploma has roughly the same amount of information that prisoners of war are required to divulge under the Geneva Conventions. 

Ha!  Yes, that's absolutely true.  The fact that a candidate programmer has a degree from (say) Carnegie-Mellon University tells a prospective employer almost nothing at all about that candidate's suitability for the job.  Some of the alternative credentialing ideas mentioned in the article (Mozilla's Open Badges, in particular) are attempting to address that problem.  Traditional universities have a conflict with these alternative credentialing ideas, though – to the extent that they succeed, they will (a) provide less expensive alternatives to the university, and (b) expose the mediocrity of the education those expensive universities are delivering. 

Meanwhile, the best credentials I know of currently are open source project contributions...

European tree of the year...

European tree of the year...  This oak tree in Orissaare, Estonia, was just voted the 2015 “Tree of the Year” in a contest amongst 14 European countries.

I've traveled extensively in Estonia in the period from just after their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 through 2004.  The map that guided my explorations had numerous interesting botanical specimens marked on it, and after seeing the beauty of a few of them I started making it a point to visit them.  This tree in Orissaare was one of those marked on that map, and I visited it twice – once in about 1995, then again in 2002, on one of my last visits to Estonia.

This particular tree is located on the eastern side of Saaremaa, the biggest Estonian island in the Baltic Sea, on the western border of the country.  If you view the map at left on Google Maps, you'll be able to see exactly where it's located by zooming out.

The first time I visited this tree was before the economic boom in Saaremaa, and the town's infrastructure was still in pretty bad shape.  I bought my lunch in a small grocery store, and sat beneath the tree to have myself a little picnic.  A couple of people walked by, but nobody stopped to talk.  The second time I visited, Orissaare (and the rest of the island) was far more prosperous, with lots of fresh paint, repaired structures, and even a bit of pavement here and there.  On that visit, I couldn't have my picnic under the tree, as there were all sorts of people playing several different games (though not football!) right around the tree.  I sat on the edge of the field to eat my picnic lunch, which that time came from a small, new restaurant serving allegedly local cuisine.  I'm not entirely sure what it was, but it had fish, potatoes, and a lot of dill in it – and was quite tasty!

It was fun to see a tree I know in the news :)