a new kind of science

A Man who would shake up science: In his 1,197-page tome, "A New Kind of Science," Stephen Wolfram (the man behind Mathematica) claims he has discovered underlying principles that affect the development of everything from the human brain to the workings of the universe, requiring a revolutionary rethinking of physics, mathematics, biology and other sciences. He believes he has shown how the most complex processes in nature can arise out of elemental rules, how a wealth of diverse phenomena -- the infinite variety of snowflakes and the patterns on sea shells -- are generated from seemingly trivial origins. {amazon.com entry}

And John Bennett from the University of Colorado testified that Windows could be altered.

Old Personal Computers Never Die; They Just Fade Into Deep Storage: The first step toward understanding that in a pre-Internet world a PC was nothing more than a glorified typewriter was the discovery that I could own such a technological marvel and still be a mess..

In Searching for the Perfect Pitch Harry Shearer discovers that perhaps tone-deaf corporations' anthems and mini-musical productions could be America's only true indigenous art form. {my old post}


Last week, federal regulators released documents showing that Enron, and perhaps other energy companies, helped cause California's recent power crisis by artificially driving up prices. {nytimes}

In Free-Music Software, Technology Is Double-Edged: The sad tale of Kazaa and Sharman Technologies. Turns out people who register domain names through Tokelau, a group of islands north of Western Samoa, (like the distributor of 'Kazaa Lite') are not required to give their names. And Sharman Tech lawyers don't like this. But guess what? Sharman Tech is registered in Vanuatu. That's a group of South Pacific islands, which, she said, offers favorable tax status. Let she who has not sinned throw the first stone?

Global Village Idiocy: Thanks to the Internet and satellite TV, the world is being wired together technologically, but not socially, politically or culturally. At its best, the Internet can educate more people faster than any media tool we've ever had. At its worst, it can make people dumber faster than any media tool we've ever had. And that is dangerous

California Officials Face Unprecedented Budget Gap: The shortfall could well force the state and local governments to slash an array of services, including police protection and mental health, state and local officials say.