The Gary Short

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

I Love TED Talks

I love the TED talks. TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design and is a yearly conference. I just finished listening on my iPod to Bryan Stevenson and his talk about the Criminal Justice System. I listen to a lot of these, and I am really awed and inspired by many.

Recently people have been saying that TED talks dumb down complex issues, and maybe is a bit simplistic. I like the way that I am introduced to important ideas that I would normally not come across.

There has been a great growth in events such as TED all around. This includes the TEDx events, which are independently hosted all over, even in San Diego. TED used to be invitation only, and now it is open to the public, even though it is very expensive at least $7500 with VIP packages up to $125,000.

One of the perks of attending TED is being part of the TED Book Club. Attendees get 2-3 books four times a year. I would love to know what books they are sending out. What the movers and shakers are reading and discussing. If any of you know what books are part of the club, please let me know. I am dying to know!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Hear Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation!

I listened to this on NPR. They have determined what Shakespeare's plays would have sound like in his day. Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation: Speeches and Scenes Performed as Shakespeare Would Have Heard Them

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Fun with Wordle

Wordle at www.wordle.net is a Java Applet that makes a cool image from any copied text. for example, the following was created when I pasted in the Gettysburg Address (by Abraham Lincoln).

It goes through and removes any common words from the language of choice, and then makes the image where each word is sized based on its frequency in the copied text.

Even cooler is that after creating the image you can go in and play with the font, color scheme and the layout. I have a preference for words at horizontal and vertical angles but you can mix it up more than that with words going every which way.

I think that this would be cool to be able to put on a t-shirt or as a poster. It does let you print it out but I have not done so.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Thursday, March 01, 2012

March is Reading Month?

I've tweeted before about Very Short List (VSL), a web site that came up with a lot of very interesting nuggets. They did a recent makeover (with daily guest contributors) that has yet to get my interest like the old format. A new site that I just stumbled across is Brain Pickings. I like their collection of reading lists on their March 1 post. And while we are looking at reading list. This seems to be a good bucket list of Science Fiction and Fantasy books. Let me know where you go to find good things to read.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Kickstarter, Window to Innovation

I love Kickstarter . It is a web site that allows anyone with a project to seek funding to achieve some goal. The Artist (I use this term loosely) creates a small video explaining what they are trying to accomplish, how much they want to earn and line up some cool premiums that backers will receive at various levels of giving.
I have personally been attracted to films and I look forward to contributing enough to one to earn the Associate Producer title in the rolling credits.
If the project hits the money goal on the targeted day, kickstarter gets their cut, the project gets their dough and the backers get their bling.
I like how innovative and democratic it is. I know that there are similar sites out there, but I have not looked at them much. Here is a widget that makes browsing them easier Kickstumbler, I have not played with it much, but I see how it could be handy.
Anyone else have experience in Kickstarter?

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A Modern Scourge

A few years ago I picked up a business magazine and glanced at the high tech wunderkind on the cover. He looked happy and successful. Upon closer inspection, looking at the hand that cradled a portable gadget, I saw that his fingernails had been chewed to the quick.

What, might I ask was the source of his mental anguish? It took only a few minutes to peruse the contents of that magazine, to discover that the culprit was Acronyms! Nearly every page was marred by the presence of sinister acronyms. There was RAM, ROM, DVD, CDMA, GSM, CMOS and more. In our homes we have DVD, HD, CD, LED, LCD and CFL. Even our poor school children are not free from this plague, where EIEIO ominously home of some agricultural mafia organization.

The pervasiveness of acronyms affects us negatively for three reasons. First, it is confusing. When you find on craigslist an ad for a minivan with ABS, you want to know that you will be driving more safely with Anti-lock Braking System, but maybe your vehicle will come with Adult Bovine Serum. A very scary prospect indeed!

Second. I find acronyms to be humiliating. My dear aunt, endowed with large bones, was mortified each time that she flew out of Fresno Air Terminal, because her luggage was tagged with the accusatory letters FAT, for the entire world to see!

Lastly, acronyms are just unfair. The upstanding body of fashion conscious young men, whose only desire is to further the state of footwear, cannot unite in their fine cause, because Junior Executives who Reject Knee Socks would unfairly be branded as JERKS. This is truly unacceptable!

Please consider writing your public officials, and the leaders of our corporations to end this dreadful onslaught. We cannot wait but must act ASAP, before it is too late.

Monday, July 05, 2010

This is the first in my web comic series. Enjoy! I hope to get the kinks worked out over time.

Thanks to Project Gutenberg for the image from some old magazine. In the future I will take better care to remember where I find an image.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

OK, so I am not afflicted by ADD, but I think that I have self diagnosed myself as a scanner, which is defined by Barbara Sher as someone who cannot settle down and do only one thing. I shall talk about how it is a pain, and I still am trying to decide what to do about it.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Okay I think that I will start entering stuff here because it is a good way to keep a diary and slow the passage of time

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Welcome to my site, I hope to say some interesting this here!!