Quantum foibles
I once read a science fiction story that used this effect. I love quantum mechanics… hacking with reality.
Alastair Reynolds – Pushing Ice
Although at 460 pages (for the hard cover edition) it can’t be called a small book, it feels much shorter, I haven’t read a book so voraciously in quite some time. In Pushing Ice, Alastair Reynolds weaves an astounding story, brought to life not only by fantastic settings and technology, but specially by the depth of the characters. It reminded me a bit of the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke, with a huge unknown “world” to be explored. While not so dark and “cool” like his Revelation Space novels, the overall effect (in terms of storytelling) is better, more direct.
Although it stands as an individual novel, Reynolds has left all the room in the universe (literally) to spin as many stories as he wants from it, with two immediately possible story lines (I’m not going to spoil them for you…). I hope he does return to this universe – I’m sure we’d all enjoy it. It could also be (in the right hands) great material for a TV show or a movie.
Mind Hacks
I’ve just finished reading a great book, Mind Hacks, by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb. It explores 100 different “hacks” related on how our brain and mind work, and how we can find small flaws that expose the way our biological “hardware” / “software” work smoothly (or not) together.
This book should be read for fun by anyone who wants to know more about the human brain, and professionally by all people working on anything that involves interaction with human beings. It’s a great starting point for better design in general, including interface design. Flaws on things we use everyday could be avoided if the people behind them had read this book.
The only thing I didn’t like is that a lot of the examples in the book depend on visiting certain websites, which have to be typed (perhaps they could have also added TinyURL links?). This book would make a great series of DVDs (or a Discovery Channel series of shows).
Gmail for your domain
What I was waiting for! Google is starting beta tests (what else? 
) on having a gmail system for your own domain. They’ve started by supplying the San José City College with e-mail for all 10,000 students. They’re accepting requests from organizations to participate in this testing. As much as I’ve understood, in this beta test offer gmail acts like a client to your existing system.
Misunderstanding Evolution
Evolution through natural selection is often portrayed as something more complex than it really is, which it’s a pity, as its beauty comes from the simplicity of the whole system. One of the unfortunate side-effects of this perception is the number of people that have been lured into the Intelligent Design “theory“. When watching, for instance, a nature TV show, or even reading what are considered serious science magazines, we often hear or read that “species x evolved defense y, or ability z“. This gives the impression of intent, of design, of something deliberate. Evolution through natural selection has no intent, it’s not deliberate. It’s just the application of very simple rules to increasingly complex systems.
The first thing to understand is the amazing amount of time that natural selection has had to work. Although natural selection can be seen in operation in very small time scales (e.g., bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics), the current state of all systems (ecosystems) is the result of a long period of time. More than three billion years – that’s three thousand million years – more than 3,000,000,000 years. To put it into perspective, that’s 30 million centuries. All this time has given the rules of natural selection time to operate, creating the amazing complexity we know. The main rule is that whoever is the fittest (individually, or by cooperation among members of a species, or even symbiotically between species) will survive to pass the genes that create those abilities to the next generation.
Understanding how DNA works (the coding of the genes), we see how susceptible it is to mutations, through two main processes: changing of the coding itself on reproductive cells, through ionizing radiation or chemical interference (environmental); and through sexual reproduction, with the process of “fusing” two different sets of genes into one. These mutations can either code or change the code of some ability or characteristic. These random changes can be more or less drastic, and have a more or less profound effect on the organism as a whole when pitted against competition and the environment. Changes can also be neutral at the moment of their appearance, but later make a difference when the system changes. This is “all” there is to it. Natural selection can be seen in action in very simple computer models – that create very complex systems from very simple rules and inputs. This simplicity is something that most people, even scientists, have a tough time getting their minds around – but that Darwin so brilliantly discovered a century and half ago.
