66 degrees this morning.
Wired magazine is one of those magazines that I may read one time and wonder why I continue subscribing and the next issue is full of wondrous information that I wonder why this is the only place I read the informaton.
Probably the most memorable article was the one about Twitter, before it became popular. I got some Twitter accounts in my own name (@RobertWherry, @RobrerPaulWherry) as well as some other favorite names before Twitter became popular. The article was generally positive although the author couldn’t really say why he or she was positive about having it restrict a message to 140 Characters. They just said it was a new means of communication and I don’t think even they forecast the social and political impact.
I also read Chris Anderson “The Long Tail” article in Wired and read the book by the same name, the concept that (I hope I get this right) that on the internet, the cost of carrying unlimited selection (niches) approaches zero. (Maybe I need to reread the book). However, it is early in the morning and I really haven’t thought about this concept for a while.
Another Wired article was about the concept of using living cells for computing to speed up computers and storage. Haven’t heard much about this lately, although the other day I did read something similar to this (on Twitter, oddly enough).
Oh the other side, I read about the novel “Snow Crash” in Wired and read the book. Not the normal type of book I read, but I was fascinated by it. I also was amazed that,at the time, a copy of the original book (I got a reprinted paperback) sold for something like $3,000! Just for the heck of it, I checked e-Bay and found a signed, first edition for $750, still more than I would pay for a book! They also had copies for .99.
Anyway, it is one of those magazines that are well worth the time and money, even if I toss some issues and wonder why I continue to subscribe. The next issue will probably have at least one article that makes me think!
The latest one (that I read anyway), has an article on Quantum computers, rather “A” Quantum computer (there is only one and only one chip) built by a company called D-WAVE.
The article states that “if” this actually is a quantum computer (no one knows for sure what one is), and “If” they can figure out how to use it, it will be as big a breakthrough as the computer itself, since it will be so much faster and performs calculations in a completely new way. That is roughly what I took from a quick scan of the article. This is one of those articles I need to read when I can concentrate and dissect exactly what it is trying to say.
Anyway, Wired magazine is one of those magazines that occasionally has a lot of valuable information among the fluff.
I recently read where Twitter officials were agonizing about how to change Twitter, with one expectation being that the 140 character lime would probably be raised, although I haven’t read that anywhere else.
I recently subscribed to “Next Issue”, which has over 100 magazines I can read for around $9 per month. I still haven’t decided if they are abridged copies or not. I am going to compare an actual magazine to it and see if it really is an exact copy of not. It does give me the opportunity to read magazines I normally wouldn’t read, which I enjoy.
The main problem is, I enjoy reading magazines while I take a long whirlpool bath after exercising. A magazine on my iPad or iPhone doesn’t do me a lot of good there! I know I can buy a waterproof case (my granddaughter, Kali, had one from a friend I believe that she even took into the swimming poo), so l’ll need t check that out.
I had planned to write about food, and some interesting books I was referred to, but I guess that is for another day.
That’s it for now, Sunday, August 17, 2014.
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