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Rest in Peace, Arthur C. Clarke
The science and science fiction communities went into mourning this week upon hearing of the death of Arthur C. Clarke, 90, from complications associated with post-polio syndrome. Clarke was well-known for having written "2001: A Space Odyssey." He was also the first to posit communications satellites, back in 1945 - decades before any were created. To this day, geosynchronous orbits are referred to as Clarke orbits.
A prolific author, he has published as many as three books in one year. He continued working until nearly the end. Not long before his death, he had reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel, co-written with Frederik Pohl. Up for publication later this year, it is appropriately titled "The Last Theorem." Those wanting to catch up on Clarke's other works may want to check out "Childhood's End," "The City and the Stars," "The Nine Billion Names of God," "Rendezvous with Rama," "Imperial Earth" and "The Songs of Distant Earth."
Just as Asimov was famous for his Three Laws of Robotics, Clarke was known for three laws of predictions. Of these, the most famous is the third: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." He also stated that "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." He will be missed by millions all over the world.
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Google Maps Goes Wiki
Have you ever looked at a map in Google Maps and seen something so wrong you wish you could edit it? Now you can. In fact, if you have a Google account and have recently used Google Maps for places in the U.S., Australia or New Zealand, you may already have noticed a new edit link at the bottom of the information window for each map item. You can use that link to make edits.
This can be useful for keeping map information up to date. For example, if you know of a business that has closed, moved, or changed hands, you can edit that listing. While you could do that before for personal maps with Google MyMaps, now your edits will be visible to everyone.
There do seem to be certain controls in place. For instance, one user saw a note on the editing page that said moving a marker more than 200 meters will cause a delay to changes made. And not all locations can be edited. It will be interesting to see how this develops, and how Google handles the potential for abuse of this new feature.
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A Good Side to Subliminal Advertising?
It's the classic cliche from the Apple commercials: Mac users are
more laid-back and creative, while PC users have more of a corporate
mentality. That story may tell more about branding than the users,
but there may also be some truth to it. Recent research conducted
by professors at Duke University and the University of Waterloo,
Canada, suggests that being exposed to these brands may cause the
attitudes associated with them to "rub off" on the person.
The researchers experimented with two logos, both well-known and respected by consumers: Apple's and IBM's. Each of these brands are associated with distinct "personalities," with Apple's creativity and nonconformity serving as a contrast to IBM's reliability. In the experiment, 341 university students participated in what they thought was a visual acuity test, during which they were exposed to either the Apple or IBM logo so quickly that they couldn't register having seen it. Afterward, each student completed a task that tested their creativity; they were told to come up with as many uses for a brick as they could imagine aside from building a wall.
Students exposed to the Apple logo came up with significantly more unusual uses for the brick than the students who were flashed with the IBM logo. Additionally, independent judges rated the Apple-exposed students' suggested uses as more creative. This experiment may have practical implications for advertising, and perhaps even for helping consumers in their performance on the job. As an example, Grinne Fitzsimons, one of the researchers, noted that "If you know you need to perform well on some task, say something athletic, you may want to surround yourself with images and brand logos that represent success in athletics."
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