The Business of Science, & the fallout in the Economist’s eyes [Article]

A recent article in the Economist, titled “Trouble at the lab” attempted to paint scientific research as being abysmally poor at identifying & correcting errors.  Reminded me of that saying “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others”.  Bob Frankston explains why:

The larger issue is understanding motivation as market processes and not confusing “Science” as a business (or bodies of knowledge) with “science” as an operational methodology that doesn’t seek the singular truth any more than evolution is directed towards a goal.

Read more here for some thought-provoking discussion on this subject.

The Internet of Things vs Access Framing – Bob Frankston [Article]

Bob advocates ambient connectivity:

If we want to see the weather on our wrist device we can’t just have it connect. Instead it must relay through another connected device and the providers are trying to set rules for how you can share a connection.

The Pre-History of MS Excel – in a video

I am a heavy user of MS Excel, & definitely a fan [it’s the glue that holds most companies together, & when poorly designed models fail, a global recession follows]. This video of the very first incarnation of the spreadsheet, called VisiCalc is a great primer if you’re interested. “VisiCalc: The First Electronic Spreadsheet” on YouTube