Not Last!

Good news everybody, computer science is not the least attractive academic discipline. Chemistry is last, CS is second to last.

From Crooked Timber:

Netbook Revolution

The NYT Bits blog (much better than the regular, typically inaccurate NYT tech coverage) claims that soon, "netbook" laptops will be given out free with the purchase of your internet connection.

The rise of netbooks, a type of cheap, ultra-compact laptop, has helped spur Acer’s growth. Acer and its fellow Taiwanese PC manufacturer, Asustek Computer, have led the netbook market, while slower-to-act rivals waited to figure out if the products would enjoy wide interest.

In its fourth quarter, Intel reported a 50 percent surge in the sales of its Atom products, which go into netbooks, hitting $300 million in revenue.

The strength of the Atom chips, which tend to generate fewer profits than some of Intel’s other laptop chips, was enough to lower the average selling price of Intel’s chips overall.

The PC makers tried the light, compact laptop idea before with so-called ultra-mobile PCs. But it took better broadband connections, more online services and much cheaper PCs to really make the idea take off. Now the PC market may never be the same.

Broadband providers around the globe are expected to start giving away netbooks in exchange for commitments to wireless network services, Mr. Richard said.

Dell and similar companies are afraid to sell netbooks because they aren't as profitable. Hmm, where have I heard of that phenomenon before?

Books

An interesting but meandering article about books and digital books. A part I liked:

In A.D. 1000, the Grand Vizier of Persia, an avid reader, faced a peculiar logistical challenge when he traveled. Unwilling to leave behind his precious collection of 117,000 books, as historian Alberto Manguel tells us, he hit upon a unique strategy for transporting them: four hundred camels trained to walk in an alphabetically-ordered caravan behind him on his journey.

Monitor Scarcity

Funny NYT story about someone's multiple monitor epiphany.

In the short time I worked with Aaron Iba (now at AppJet) he was the most extreme advocate of multiple monitors I have ever met. He would complain despite the Google standard of two 24-inch monitors.

"One day, we will look back upon the impoverished era of 2005, and think, those poor suckers only had 24-inch monitors? How did they live?"

In some sort of poorly-planned office move, someone left their monitors around to be Aaron-poached and he eagerly dove into configuring his super-non-standard window system. I can't remember, but I think it ended up the graphics card couldn't handle four monitors.

Even today Aaron is forced to suffer through a merely-three-monitor existence. The horror... the horror.

Seriously though, if you're a programmer using only one monitor, you can get an extra 22" flat screen monitor for under $200. Do it!

Name Your Favorite Scientist

44% of Americans cannot name a scientist. The top guesses among those who try to name a scientist are Bill Gates and Al Gore.

What is a spellmeleon?

This is a spellmeleon. More or less.

That's all!

New FCC Head

The new head of the FCC used to be a venture capitalist. Probably a good sign!

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Genachowski, 46 years old, is a former Harvard Law School classmate of Mr. Obama. He previously worked at the FCC during the Clinton administration. More recently, he co-founded LaunchBox Digital, a Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm. He worked at Barry Diller's IAC/InterActive Corp. in various executive positions for eight years after leaving the FCC.

During the campaign, Mr. Genachowski served as the top technology adviser to Mr. Obama, putting together a detailed technology and innovation plan that expressed support for open Internet or "net neutrality" protections; media-ownership rules that encourage more diversity; and expansion of affordable broadband access across the country.