Recently in FWIW Category
For anyone writing grants this analysis by Rands ought to ring true. It is geared towards the business world, but clearly has relevance to the scientific sphere.
Stephen Quake on disclosure and peer review in scientific publications.
Peer review is the bedrock value of the scientific community and although it certainly is not perfect, it is, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, "the worst system, except for all the others that have been tried."
Brief but interesting history of early computers
On September 9, 1945, U.S. Navy officer Grace Hopper found the first computer “bug”: a moth stuck between the relays on the Harvard Mark II. She noted it on her log as the “first actual case of bug being found.” Though the term “bug” had meant a computer error beforehand, it became a popular term after this incident.
Rands is even more obsessed about his writing instruments than Jane and I.
I would have to say that these sentiments mirror my own when it comes to the appropriateness of laptops in meetings.
