Google’s Python Lessons are Awesome

via Hartley Brody

The lovably geeky Nick Parlante — a Google employee and CS lecturer at Stanford — has written some awesomely succinct tutorials that not only tell you how you can use Python, but also how you should use Python. This makes them a fantastic resource, regardless of whether you’re just starting, or you’ve been working with Python for awhile.

Google's Python class 

Earth at night seen from space

ISS (HD 1080p) ORIGINAL [VIDEO]

Thirty Books Everyone in the Software Business Should Read

Micro ISV Blog.

Don't Return Null

Use a Tail Call.   This is a fascinating read, particularly if you follow the links.

Drone Data

I found this interesting from the article Counting on a Rush to the Cloud from Bits.

(One interesting side note: The cameras on drone aircraft in Afghanistan take such precise pictures that not all the data can quickly travel over the local Internet connections to analysts in the United States. The usual method is to store everything in a local cargo container full of receiving gear, computers and storage, then airlift it home when it’s full, swapping out another container to absorb more info from the drones.)

It reminds me of astronomers returning from a run at an observatory.

iPad Survives Fall from Space

[VIDEO] http://youtu.be/X4xNcF6T7Is

Large Scale Design with Haskell

I'm revisiting the question, why and how is Haskell well-suited for large-scale projects?  Here's one set of answers at Stack Overflow.

Happy New Year!

2012.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Peter, Paul and Mary.  Wow!

In the Early Morning Rain (1966)

Peter, Paul and Mary.  I don't approve of all the lyrics, but this is one of my favorites.

Cloud Computing Trends to Watch in 2012

from Data Center Knowledge.

Haskell Authors

Simon Peyton-Jones and John Hughes interviewed at Channel 9.

The interview looks amateur but it gets more and more interesting as it progresses.  Try to ignore the picture taking extravaganza that goes on in the background at one point.

Amazon Builds World's Fastest Nonexistant Supercomputer

by Carl Metz at Wired.

Comet Lovejoy C/2011 W3

Amazing pictures from the ISS.

Sky and Telescope.

Wikipedia.

Top 10 Data Center Stories

for 2011 from Datacenter Knowledge.

Earth's Rotation Measured!

Actually it's easier to think of this in terms of the wandering of the poles being measured.  Story at Physorg.com.

Happy Winter Solstice!

At 0:30 EST last night  (5:30 UTC).

Thu 2011-12-22 00:30:00 -0500
Thu 2011-12-22 05:30:00 +0000

These times are rounded to the minute, the seconds aren't really zeroes.

Android vs. iPhone

Which looks better?  This article in Business Insider says these 11 screen shots prove that “Android apps are uglier Than iOS apps.”  I looked at them and I just don't see it.  The Android apps don't look worse to me and I generally don't see what the captions of the various images assert.

I do see that the iOS apps look more consistent in some ways.

To me, many of the Android apps look cleaner.  In one example the iOS app has a search box at top (taking up a lot of space) but I know Android has a search button  that works in all apps (that I've experienced and that have search), so you don't need a search box always on screen.

In another case, the iOS app has letter-of-alphabet dividers for a list but I know on Android if you grab such a list and scroll a little tab appears.  That tab has the current letter of the alphabet and you can quickly move it to the letter you're interested in, the list will scroll quickly as you move through the alphabet.

Dawn Approaches Vesta

“Unveiling [a] spectacular alien world.” by Ken Kremer at Universe Today.

Building the Universe Inside a Supercomputer

by Ian O'Neill at Discovery News.

In an arXiv preprint publication submitted on Dec. 8, Juhan Kim and colleagues from the Korea Institute for Advanced Study in Seoul have completed the largest simulation of the universe ever attempted.

The simulation calculates the evolution of 374 billion cold dark matter particles in a box some 10 gigaparsecs across—this represents approximately two thirds the size of the observable Universe. This virtual universe is 8,800 times larger than the previous record holder.