Someone invited me to Google Plus.

And I accepted because, obviously, I am not wasting enough time in front of the computer currently.

I tried Twitter and Facebook, and they aren't habits with me. People keep asking me to be connected to them on LinkedIn and if I know a name I accept, but I have nothing to add.


Is there a social network for cyber hermits? Maybe that what MySpace has become.

Actually, I think writing a blog where I average about a comment a day is almost the perfect example of a cyber hermit.

Maybe I've found my true calling.

Eli Pariser on "filter bubbles".

Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org gave a non-political talk at the TED conference about the direction of the Internet and the new trap of "filter bubbles". A lot of the major Internet sites like YouTube keep track of your visits, so the recommended videos for you are not the same as the recommended videos for me. Things are being filtered.

The thing is, Facebook and Google are filtering stuff for us as well and Pariser gives examples from his own experience. The Internet, which was hoped to be a Wild West of information where gatekeepers like editorial boards would lose the power to suppress stories instead becomes a place where algorithms keep information away from us based on our previous click history.

It's a short talk, filled with useful information. Matty Boy says check it out, and thanks to my sister-in-law Janelle for bringing it to my attention.

Blogger and Firefox for Mac are friends again.

For about a week, Blogger wasn't working on my Mac using my browser of choice Firefox. I found a workaround of using Safari instead, but many are the ways that Safari sucks.

I thought it might have been a problem on my end, possibly downloading some virus that screwed something up, but no diagnostic I could do solved the problem. Yesterday, everything was back to the way it was and I have no need (or desire) to use Safari again.

Blogger as a package has been ultra reliable for over four years for me, whether I was using Mac or PC, but over the past few months it has had some serious glitches lasting days on end, which I can only hope are finally solved.

I chatted with fellow blogger sfmike, who also has some experience with software development, about what the problem could be. He conjectured that it might be the quality of programming at Google is deteriorating, a loss of institutional memory involved. My guess is that some of the Internet big boys are screwing with each other, possibly intentionally and possibly not.

No one has come forward to give the exact reason for the screw ups yet, but having a huge piece of software being used by thousands of users (and millions of visitors) that is being updated regularly and has to interact with an uncounted number of interfacing browsers on various computer platforms is not possibly unstable. It is very nearly a mathematical certainty that it's unstable. It's a miracle that it has worked this well for this long.

A metaphor for the modern world, Matty Boy?

Yes, Hypothetical Question Asker, something like that.

There's a few hits, a lot of hits... and then there's Maru.

This blog gets about 4,000 hits a week. I'm happy with that.

The Other Blog gets between 14,000 and 18,000 hits a week. I'm startled and ecstatic about that.



Maru's feeder and videographer Mugumogu posted a video of the Internets supahstah one week ago, with Maru doing whatever Maru feels like doing. Washing himself, playing with a toy, getting in a box and filling all possible space, deciding whether being in a box is more fun that playing with a toy.

You know, cat stuff.

121,000 views in a week. And Mugumogu thanks us for all our best wishes.

If you have a blog that is more popular than a cat, you can write your own ticket.

Maru (and the person who feeds and films him) are safe.

I can't even tell you how shallow I feel, but after some geeky mathy thoughts about Richter scales and tsunamis and nuclear reactors, my next thought was "OMG!!! Maru!" After all, this is the only living soul I really know in Japan.

Maru and his videographer Mugumogu are fine, thank Odin, Buddha and the little baby Jesus. It would be a blessing if you can spare a thought and a few bucks for the folks in Japan who aren't.

Maru would thank you, too. Not enough to get out of a bag and let you have it, because all bags belong to Maru, silly human. But still, Maru would thank you in a special Maru type way.

It would probably involve being lazy and/or cautious and/or adorable.

You're welcome.

The speed of the Internet.

Former major league player and manager Chuck Tanner died today. He is best known for managing the Pirates to the World Series championship in 1979. The message on MLB.com is dated 25 minutes ago. A.P. obituaries is not carrying the story yet.

His Wikipedia page has already been updated.

God bless the nerds who work for free.

The Comic Venn Diagram.An Internet meme I don't love as much as I should.

You've seen the allegedly funny Venn diagrams. Other than cats, Lady Gaga, porn and allegedly funny Venn diagrams, I don't know what people use the Internets for. As a mathematician, these should be right up my alley, but most don't quite step up to the mark.

This one, on the other hand, made me smile, so I share it here, part of that whole "viral" concept.

Loving Maru

I love Maru. Honestly, who doesn't? Singing Maru's praises on this little blog feels silly. It's akin to writing "There's this edible bird called chicken. Have you tried it? It's really good."

For that rare person on the Internets who knows about my blog and has never of Maru, Mugumogu, the person with whom Maru lives, has a YouTube channel entirely devoted to this cat. (I am hesitiant to call Mugumogu Maru's owner.) The videos run from about a minute long to six minutes long and consist of Maru doing stuff, mostly playing with cat toys or exploring boxes and bags.

Maru does not do "tricks". Maru exhibits behaviors, behaviors almost universal among cats. Cats love chasing little things. Cats love boxes and bags. The camera goes on, Maru plays with stuff, the camera goes off. End.

I do not know if it is more correct to say Maru is a great comic actor or Mugumogu is a brilliant film editor. Both are certainly true. Maru can be very graceful, like all cats, but sometimes Maru is a spectacular klutz. The funny comes from the fact you aren't sure which will happen next.

It doesn't hurt that he has a very handsome face but is a little chubby, or "fluffy" as his most devoted fans will say. It just makes him seem more accessible. Maru is Japanese for "round", so Mugumogu doesn't have any illusions about who Maru is. The cat was born to star in comedies.

More than this, Maru understands the concept of "close-up" at least as well as Martin Scorsese does. There's a short film that shows Maru with two cat toys, one he can take or leave and one that he wants to keep with all his heart. When the off-screen human reaches for the beloved toy, instead of hissing, Maru narrows his eyes. Only when the hand comes on-screen does Maru bat it away.

Acting is about choices and once you see it, you realize there is no better way to play this scene.

Statistically, I would predict there are about 1.5 people who have heard of this blog but not heard of Maru. Go click on the link. You'll thank me later.

For those who have heard of Maru, you should click on the link as well.

What, you have something better to do with the next five minutes of your life? You are reading my blog, for pity's sake. I think we both know what that means.

Anyone get a mars hoax e-mail?

I used to be an e-mail forwarder, but well... the nineties are over, right? I was wandering around the Internets today and I stumbled on this e-mail story that none of my friends who still forward e-mails sent to me. This is a good thing because I would have a hard time staying polite at something with this level of Rock F*#king Stupidity.

There is an e-mail that says Mars will look as large as the Moon some time in August. Tell your friends, tell your children and grandchildren, tattoo the dog, burn an offering and give it to the gods, big big party and you are all invited.

Of course it isn't true, not even close. The math is easy. The radius of Mars is about twice the radius of the Moon, which means if they were the same distance away from the earth, Mars would look to be four times the surface area because the area is proportional to the square of the radius. If Mars was twice as far away, then the two would look to be the same size.

Mars isn't twice as far away as the moon, it's much, much farther away even at its closest. The Moon is about a quarter million miles away. At its closest, Mars is about 60 million miles away. So even when Mars is really close, the Moon is more than 200 times closer.

If someone sends this to you, you have my permission to call bullshit on it. This e-mail has been sent every August for the past six or seven years and scientists are trying to get the word out. It's not working very well. We have these small weak levees of education trying to hold back an angry and rising sea of stupidity.