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Author Archives: Alexander Szewczak
More than half a billion users access Facebook only using mobile devices
Are mobile devices a hugely important platform for the digital ecosphere? Absolutely. TechCrunch.com notes that more than 500 million users access Facebook solely from mobile devices: That’s up from 456 million in the previous quarter, and it’s an increase of … Continue reading
New Horizons space probe reaches Pluto
NASA’s space craft is closing in on Pluto and is beginning to take its first pictures: New Horizons is aiming its Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) telescope at Pluto to help navigate the final 135 million miles (220 kilometers) of its … Continue reading
Amazon launches a free Kindle textbook creator
Amazon has launched Kindle Textbook Creator (beta), making it easy for anyone to create electronic textbooks from PDF files and publish them with interactive ebook features. This could be very disruptive for the textbook industry, if enough academics decide to … Continue reading
SpaceX comes close, but doesn’t quite accomplish soft landing of booster rocket
SpaceX successfully navigated its Falcon 9 booster rocket back to a floating platform Saturday, but the landing was too hard to count as a success. However, “it bodes well for the future” says Elon Musk. The rocket “ran out of hydraulic fluid … Continue reading
Posted in Innovation, Space & Astronomy
Tagged booster rocket, Elon Musk, Falcon 9, SpaceX, SpaceX Dragon capsule
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SpaceX plans a reusable booster landing test …
… on Saturday. If all goes well, the SpaceX booster will land on a sea-based autonomous landing platform built from deep sea drilling rig components!
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Housekeeping
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First robot to fly as a paying passenger on an airline
“Athena”, flying from Germany to Los Angeles.
Posted in Automation, Innovation
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Handwriting vs. Typing: The Pen is Still Mightier Than the Keyboard
As keyboard typing (or scrawling on a tablet with a clunky stylus) takes over, evidence suggests that learning with old fashioned handwriting provides important cognitive benefits. Typing, in contrast, distracts your brain with the mechanical task of replicating content — making it … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Information Technology
Tagged electronic learning, handwriting, keyboard
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Compensation of Top College Presidents
The Chronicle of Higher Education has released facts and figures on 2012 executive compensation at private colleges. In 2012, 36 private college presidents earned more than $1 million, with the highest being paid more than $7 million. I was curious what might … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged college presidents, compensation packages, Higher Education, private colleges
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NASA’s Pluto-Bound Spacecraft Has Awakened For the Final Leg of Its Journey
NASA has confirmed that New Horizons, the space probe headed for a close approach to Pluto has emerged from hibernation and is communicating with mission control. The probe has traveled 3 billion miles from Earth and is scheduled to approach … Continue reading
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