Everybody says Google is going to build a web-based operating system, but Amazon seems to be doing it too, with their Amazon Web Services line of products. For example, there's Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), which implements a very simple store-a-file/get-a-file service. Amazon says it's fast and designed for 99.99% availability, with data centers in two … [Read more...] about Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)
The Coming Racial War
Sort of: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Get ready for a segregated ''Survivor.'' Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups. The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show. Host Jeff Probst says the idea ''actually came from the criticism that … [Read more...] about The Coming Racial War
I Knew Abdur When…
About 8 or 9 years ago, I started working on a Ph.D. in computer science. I already had the Bachelor's and Master's degrees in computer science, so this seemed like the next logical step. At the time, I was working as a software developer for the research arm of the Illinois Institute of Technology and they offered me a pretty good deal to get my Ph.D. with the IIT Computer … [Read more...] about I Knew Abdur When…
John Mark Karr
Okay, I'll get in the game with my prediction: John Mark Karr didn't kill JonBenet Ramsey. (I've been right about things like this before, but didn't say anything in advance so who'd believe me, right? This time, right or wrong, I'm on record.) He allegedly says her death was an accident, which is obviously not true: The forensic evidence shows a deliberate, brutal murder. … [Read more...] about John Mark Karr
Drug in the Workplace, Part 1
Pete Guither asks us to help put together a challenge to a page at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) called Drugs in the Workplace—What an employer needs to know. I'll start with the third sentence, which includes this: "77 percent of illicit drug users in the United States are employed." Since the employment rate in the general … [Read more...] about Drug in the Workplace, Part 1