Coding Relic: Non-blocking Programmers.

In which D. Gentry makes the excellent point that high programming productivity is unlikely to result from a single cause, but from a multiplicity. He lauds typing speed and criticizes excessive swearing (dammit).

I am skeptical about "typing speed" but I've come to think that "navigation …

Yesterday, I heard a presentation on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a planned telescope that will take a wide-angle photo of the sky, read the data out, and then move on to the next patch of the sky. This is in marked contrast to the highly planned targeting and relatively …

I used to be on top of  Artificial Intelligence -- I wrote a column for and ultimately went on to be the Editor-in-Chief of AI Expert, the leading trade magazine in the AI field at the time. I've tried to stay, not professionally competent, but familiar with the field. That has …

1. What is Lady Gaga?
2. What is Batman would totally defeat Godzilla?
3. What is boxers, because the boys need to breathe?
4. What is the Butlerian Jihad?
5. What is Team Edward?
6. What is orange you glad I didn't say banana?
7. What is antikythera mechanism? ("Sorry, we were looking for 'Who is Adam …

We have to be very quick to ask if the astonishment we feel at Watson's performance on Jeopardy is a projection. Eliza, the computerized Rogerian psychoanalyst does little more than slightly disguise the question "why do you feel that?" -- a question that people are so delighted to answer that they …

The TV quiz show Jeopardy this week will feature an IBM Computer ("Watson") competing against the two winningest Jeopardy champions. My prediction is that the computer is going to win. I base that on the name of the machine -- not Blue J but "Watson." That's the name of IBM's founder …

Kickstarter is a service that allows you to raise money for projects easily: write up a proposal, come up with a set of bonuses that your funders get (You've watched PBS, you know the drill: "For \$50, you get a lifetime license and a tote bag! For \$100, you get …

Goldilocks: A race-aware Java runtime - Microsoft Research.

This one's been in my backlog to post about for awhile. Not only is it interesting as a concept, I find it also interesting that it's a Java runtime and not based on the CLR. Technical reason or just researcher interest?