It's my favorite universe also

Neil deGrasse Tyson is by far my favorite astrophysicist, so I was excited to find his "The Universe" lecture series.  It's comprised of twelve, thirty minute presentations covering all things wonderful about the cosmos.  Dr. Tyson's down to earth explanations and animated mannerism can pull anyone in, so even if astrophysics isn't your thing, check it out anyway.

Here is a link to the first episode in the series to get you started:
The Universe 1 - Neil deGrasse Tyson - On Being Round

Thirty days without cigarettes

I have to say, a nicotine deprived brain makes for some of the most uncomfortable mind states imaginable.  However, besides the mental pain coaster, it's all good.

2011 IBM Tech Trends Report

For a mountain top view of the what's shaping corporate IT make sure and checkout the 2011 IBM Tech Trends Report. The trends are business analytics, clouds, mobile, and social.  Nothing new really, the usual statistics about business types catching up with the consumer web, but at the end it does throw out an interesting theory:

The upward growth trends in business analytics, mobile computing, cloud and social business suggest the possibility of a strong link between these technology areas — that the adoption of one technology drives the demand for another.

Artistic video game wallpapers

Now that I'm an application developer on a games team now I figured I should pimp my desktop with wallpaper to keep me in the gaming zone.  That's how I found this wonderful collection of works by Mikaël Aguirre.

On a side note.  I learned that in OS X Lion, if you close all your spaces and set the wallpaper settings you want on the first space, spaces generated after that will use the same settings.  So for the ultimate awesome desktop you'll want to:

1. Download all the art to a folder on your Mac
2. Go to "Change Desktop Background..." on your first space (all others should be closed)
3. Drag the folder into the source list and select it
4. Check "Change picture:" and check "Random order"
5. Boom! you're done, open some spaces and enjoy your beautiful desktop art

Getting started

So here's the deal, I've become irritated with social media and am returning to the trusty art of blogging to share my thoughts and interesting finds.

From a web nerd point of view this is really the way things ought to work anyway.  RSS, Atom, linkbacks, meta data, and a dozen other open technologies were conceived so people could connect, follow, and collaborate without a single company or network running the show.  I imagine the inventors behind these tools just shaking their heads in disappointment watching the masses flock to closed systems.

Now I know what you're thinking, "He's writing this on Blogger! Hypocrite!"  Let me defend myself by pointing out some key differences.  1: I own the domain name. 2. All the data is in a standard format.  These things mean I can pack up shop, move elsewhere, or setup my own system quickly and painlessly.  Basically, I'm in control, so it's okay.