Pausing for the Week (3)

(image credit)

This week is my pause from blogging here, in order to focus more on my other work: Theory of Algorithms and The Core Algorithm.

What do you pause for, and how often do you do so?

Pausing for the Week (2)

(image credit)

This week is my pause from blogging here, in order to focus more on my other work: Theory of Algorithms and The Core Algorithm.

What do you pause for, and how often do you do so?

Pausing for the Week (1)

(image credit)

This week is my pause from blogging here, in order to focus more on my other work: Theory of Algorithms and The Core Algorithm.  

What do you pause for, and how often do you do so? 

Endless Possibilities of Drones

Businesses can't wait for drone rules to be issued by the FAA. They really can't. Estimates on business drone usage are in the tens of thousands, and they're overwhelming the FAA, which is still trying to come up with rules for flying them. Megan Hughes has more on the unregulated drone boom.

On the one hand, we can imagine a free-for-all in the air, such as drones interfering with helicopters and causing crashes.  On the other hand, we can imagine their endless use in business (rf. Amazon deliveries), entertainment (e.g., panoramic videos), and surveillance (e.g., espionage, military).  As an aspiring filmmaker, for instance, I play with low-angle and high-angle shots and with panning that adds punch to a scene.

I'd love to have one of these puppies.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

States, Sounds and Fire by Glass

From Fairbanks to Fargo, Houston to Honolulu, Glass Explorers across the country have been doing amazing things. Join us on a quick tour of some of our Explorers' favorite places across the US.

I've been to 35 of the 50 states, but I'd love to cover them all again and complete the journey throughout the US.  Perhaps have a medium, such as photos and videos only with my Samsung Galaxy Note II and posts on both the traditional and up-and-coming social media, like Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat.

Meet Young Guru. He's a Glass Explorer, acclaimed DJ, producer and audio engineer who has helped shape the sound of music legends including Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. Join him as he explores the Los Angeles soundscape on the hunt for inspiration to create a new track.

So Glass isn't just about sights, but also about sounds.  Young Guru is a geek and consummate explorer.

Meet Patrick Jackson. He's a Google Glass Explorer, developer and firefighter from Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Patrick is building Glassware that he hopes could one day help firefighters everywhere by providing hands-free access to the information they need, when they need it. Join him as he tests his Glassware in the field.

I love this.  This is Patrick Jackson: firefighter, developer, and fearless explorer.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

Comcast-Time Warner in Blockbuster Deal

Comcast has always had better technology than Time-Warner Cable, better UI, faster internet speed, better TV-everywhere product. Will regulators allow them to buy everything? John Malone (TWC) was pushing the consolidation narrative, but must now concede to Brian Roberts (Comcast). This new entity will now have bargaining power with programmers (i.e., content providers).

 

TV wasn’t a top priority for Apple, but it is now apparently. Still there is a long lead time before they can roll out this “hockey puck” (Apple TV). Now Comcast can do everything. Apple was trying to debundle TV, like it did with music through iTunes. But that’s no longer going to work.

   

#1 and #2 hooking up, and it raises the flag with regulators. Difficult process, not a done deal. It will probably get done, but it’ll rake Comcast through the coals. People will have a better TV experience. Big players like this can inhibit innovation. Apple doesn’t have content. Steve Jobs thought Comcast stuff sucked. Comcast (Brian Roberts) owns NBC, Disney (Bob Iger) owns ABC. Comcast-TWC is a (very) important wrinkle in the mix. No breakup fee in this deal. It blocks out Charter. 

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

Poetic Justice in Reading `Mean Tweets

`Mean Tweets has easily become one of the popular segments on Jimmy Kimmel Live.  All of the videos have gone viral with well over one million views.  These tweets are so mean-spirited, anyone of us could end up slinking to the bed and staying under the sheets forever.  Alternatively anyone of us could respond in hateful kind and spew venom right back to where it came from.  

So why are these `Mean Tweets so hilarious at the same time?  Because they're ludicrous, they're nonsense, they're so in left field that we just end up shaking our head and chuckling out loud.  The way some of these celebrities recite them is also funny.  

Still they're not entirely funny, either.  These videos humanize the insular world of Twitter, not just by putting a face to the targets of such hatred, but also by bringing them wholly in person.  We are then privy to how they react to it all.  Some are definitely hurt and befuddled by these mean tweets.  

These videos serves to inoculate us all from rampant meanness in social media.  I don't think people in general are necessarily more despicable than ever before.  Rather, it's about ubiquitous channels or forums that people, who are despicable to begin with, can enter online, then stew and spew.  Clearly there is a place in the world for all kinds of people, including their kind, and the rest have to build up thicker skin.

Not just inoculation, but also diffusion.  `Mean Tweets absorb the blow, in way a T'ai Chi master will connect with an opponent, roll back to deflect the force, channel it to his root on the ground, and ultimately empty it of its negativity.     

There is poetic justice in that, I kept thinking.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD