Recent blog entries for mazurek

Brain-computer interfaces. Neuroscientists and engineers are developing technologies that allow the brain to interact directly with computers, from chips that could enable amputees to control prosthetic limbs to devices designed to enhance brain function. How will these new technologies influence daily life?

Why oh why did Apple have to re-skin iTunes? Is it not bad enough to have Aqua, Brushed Metal and that other skin GarageBand uses? Now I have four different looks to Apple applications. And this latest one is terrible.

Not on its own - alone with no other applications open, iTunes 5 looks fine; quite pretty in fact. But on Panther, next to Aqua and Brushed Metal (which sit quite comfortably with each other) the new skin stands out like a sore thumb.

I know its an ageing gripe, but it does strike me as peculiar that Apple run with these different interface styles when so much else of their design has consistency rippling right through. And this new skin is so different to the others.

Unwanted WWW Robots (bots) I recently woke up to the staggering level of abuse occurring on my web site. This is old news to some, but we all wake up at different times. I'm talking, of course, about automated robots and spiders. They come at all hours, they take as much as they can, and they leave me with the (bandwidth) bill. They do so without respecting the Robot Exclusion Standard (robots.txt), now almost 10 years old. Some come to gather email addresses, which are then sold to spammers; some come to steal images or other content, and republish it without my consent; some come to spy on me and sell information to their clients about perceived violations of copyright, trademark, or some nebulous concept of brand identity.

I just want to say hello.Your site is on the very high level and includes a lot of very interesting features and was very useful for me.I wish you a huge succes to the future...