Jim Gray of Microsoft Research has an interesting paper on the economic viability of distributed computing.

Some quotes:

“Put the computation near the data. The recurrent theme of this analysis is that “On Demand” computing is only economical for very CPU-intensive (100,000 instructions per byte or a CPU-day per gigabyte of network traffic) applications.”

“If telecom prices drop faster than Moore’s law … [snip] … it could completely alter the arguments here. But there is no obvious sign of that occurring.”

I’m certainly feeling nostalgic with all the retro talk lately about early experiences with computing technology.

Given the reflective talk, it’s not surprising to see a mention of some of my favorite computing magazines like
Softside,
Antic and of course Creative Computing

In fact, I still have a few issues of Creative Computing and Softside from the late 70’s early 80’s. Perhaps when I post my “Newly Digital” experiences, I’ll include pictures of these zines.

Feeling old? Check out some “cool” Gadgets from 1983.

It’s interesting to note how long it took many of these to catch on en mass and then to apply that logic to some products that we are just starting to see in the consumer markets. (e.g. PVRs, WiFi and even Blogging in the relm of social acceptance)

Just in case you have too much free-time while driving, it might be nice to get in a quick game and a movie or two, with this.

“PSX will offer a DVD recorder, a 120GB hard drive, a TV tuner, an Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 port and a Memory Stick slot.” (via CNet)

Add in a TiVi-like service and I’m sold!

Some good quotes from Kevin Werbach article on CNet titled, “Anticipating a post-Web, post-PC world”

“If you want to know where you are, you don’t study a map to determine where you’re going. You trace back the steps from where you’ve been. Over the past several years, “where we’ve been” in the technology world has changed. While we were all focused on the dot-com bubble and the subsequent bust, “yesterday” shifted. It used to be the PC revolution and client-server computing in the enterprise; now it’s the Web.”

What’s next? Cop cars that run on powdered sugar?

From an
article in the NY Times: “He will then start the vehicle on regular
diesel, and after a few minutes, when the vegetable oil becomes more viscous
in the heater, a manual switch will direct it to the diesel engine. From
there, the only detectable difference will be the faint odor of French
fries, and a noticeable lack of diesel stench.” (Thanks for the link John)

Interesting article in eWeek about IT business
analyst:

“…an IT business analyst acts as a liaison between non-IT
employees who have a business problem to solve and the IT department, which
is charged with finding the solution.”

Of course this is a self-serving comment from me, but I certainly agree that
this is a key position in the enterprise.

(Thanks Ted for sending me the link [where’s your blog ;-])

In a follow-up to my post about the Evolution of interfaces I found this article in ExtremeTech (via BoingBoing) about a vertical keyboard that helps prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI):

“… the vertical placement of the keyboard allows the user to type while keeping the forearms in a neutral position (with the thumbs up). With a standard flat keyboard, in order to type the hands are rotated so that the palms are parallel with the floor (this is called a “pronated” position). In the pronated position, the bones in the forearm twist with the wrist and scissor. This scissoring of the bones causes extra pressure to be forced upon the Carpal Tunnel.”

Perfect or those times when you need to send in your laptop for repair or need to recover data from you laptop hard drive. (via 0xDECAFBAD)