Posts Tagged ‘ Politics ’

Wait, is static typing good or bad?

Though I haven’t taken that much time to learn about type systems, I have read up a little bit. I devoured Chris Smith’s essay on What To Know Before Debating Type Systems and briefly tinkered around with a typed lambda calculus before trying to really get into some of the heavier stuff that my program [ READ MORE ]

Getting philosophical about learning and computers

In what has to be one of the most philosophical CS papers I have ever encountered, a team of researchers from Brazil and Luxembourg have presented a fascinating overview of many issues surrounding the area of computer-based learning. In their paper, Redesigning Computer-Based Learning Environments: Evaluation as Communication, they make reference to everything from psychology [ READ MORE ]

Does Losing Weight Make Me Un-Trendy?

  • April 17th, 2008
  • Posted in Uncategorized

Over the past 8 months, I have been trying to eat healthy and be more active. Between rekindling my love for vegetables, subduing my desire for pastry and doing my nightly routine of old-man floor exercises, I’ve lost over 10 kilos. Since getting home, I’m walking to synagogue every morning (someday, I hope to be [ READ MORE ]

A Paper on Self Organization in Wikipedia

  • April 13th, 2008
  • Posted in Uncategorized

I just finished reading a fascinating paper on the topic of self organization in Wikipedia. These Dutch researchers put together a very entertaining read for the 2006 WikiSym workshop on Research in Wikipedia where they analyzed the Dutch Wikipedia, as it was in 2005, looking for signs of self organization. One of the most interesting [ READ MORE ]

More IPv6 Please!

  • January 8th, 2008
  • Posted in Uncategorized

No one needs to tell me I’m an exceptionally geeky individual. Once people find out how excited I get over XML collection formats (like Atom) and universal authentication schemes (like OpenID), it’s pretty obvious that I like neat stuff regardless of how computer-centric it is. In many cases, I find myself most attracted to things [ READ MORE ]

Can we learn from Hyphy?

  • November 8th, 2007
  • Posted in Uncategorized

Once upon a time, the hip-hop community ignored those who weren’t in the right clique. In fact, for a very long time, the rap community at large didn’t do anything to acknowledge the artistic and cultural contributions of the San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, most focused on the more mainstream hip-hop culture in and around [ READ MORE ]

Microsoft and Friends make money on your ignorance

Microsoft and the companies that sell Windows maintenance products make money on your ignorance. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Generally speaking (and for the purposes of this rant), the average computer user most likely fits into one of three categories: Novice users – “Timidius Clickitus” – These are the users who use computers for limited [ READ MORE ]

You, Me and OpenID

  • February 11th, 2007
  • Posted in Uncategorized

It doesn’t take much to get me excited. Even so, I’m quite jazzed over this whole concept of OpenID. Basically it’s a way for websites and services to authenticate your identity in a secure, flexible and decentralized way. Unlike previous attempts at single sign on systems, OpenID is a spec for getting the job done [ READ MORE ]

Dershowitz Deliver Us !

According to multiple – sources, former US President Jimmy Carter has agreed to a public debate with Alan Dershowitz. This event will be streamed live from Brandeis where Carter’s tush-whooping will take place. Here’s to many a “Dersho-wizz-bang” and “Dersho-what-now” as Alan the Annihilator takes Jimbo to school[ READ MORE ]

Conservative Judaism on Wikipedia

Now don’t get me wrong I love Wikipedia. I appreciate the breadth and general freedom of the whole project and the ease with which people can contribute and collaborate. That being said, I am very displeased with the progress of the articles in the Conservative Judaism series. I’ve been tagging and editing things like mad [ READ MORE ]

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Jonathan E. Magen is a passionate developer who loves cooking and writing clean code. Star Trek is cool, too. Also, books. Many things are actually really great and Jonathan likes them as well.

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