Real Time View

A persistent top ten most popular post has been one of the earliest posts to this blog, “It’s a sign!” so it’s about time the topic is revisited in light of just how fruitful fulfilling the needs of a niche has become.       There are so many times when we simply remark on how it’s just a sign of the times. Perhaps not as dismissive as the comment “Whatever!” but all the same, it’s a short-hand, somewhat equally dismissive way to reflect on how it’s just not our fault. We aren’t to blame. We aren’t involved. The snow that fell here in Boulder this weekend and pictured above was a reminder that seasons manifest themselves rather predictably. If there is snow on the ground then yes, it’s winter. The fact that we aren’t enjoying nearly as many snow days as we once did, well, yes, that too is a sign of the times. Readers of this blog will have scarcely missed that the most widely read post of all times was that of November 6, 2007, It's a sign! The post drew attention ...

    So many cloudy discussions out there, and it seems we each mean something different when we say clouds. On the other hand, I have to say I always smile a tad when I read of clouds and think of the popular song by Plain White T’s. It goes like this: “ My head is stuck in the clouds She begs me to come down Says ‘Boy quit foolin' around’ I told her ‘I love the view from up here The warm sun and wind in my ear We'll watch the world from above As it turns to the rhythm of love’” The Wikipedia provides a comprehensive definition, and tells you that the term “clouds” is used liberally, to mean so many things – here is what it says: “ Outside of the information technology and software industry, the term ‘cloud’ can be found to reference a wide range of services, some of which fall under the category of cloud computing, while others do not. The cloud is often used to refer to a product or service that is discovered, accessed and paid for over the Internet...

Working with computers almost all my life, I am fully aware of the importance of numbers and codes. But today’s computers, even NonStop, are so much faster and so much smarter – how much longer will it be before I no longer need to provide a number? When I finally sat down in front of television this week, I spent the short time that I had channel surfing. Of course, this can be extremely distracting to those seated nearby, watching a show, but I have little patience for commercials and after being on the road over the holiday period I had exhausted the Tivo. However, as I surfed, I came across the show, NUMB3RS, and the episode opened with an introduction that caught my attention. “We all use math every day; to tell time, handle money. We also use math to analyze crime; reveal patterns, predict behavior,” came the program’s voice-over. The punch line? “Using numbers we can solve the biggest mysteries we know!” A little over the top, perhaps, but coming at a time when televisio...