smartalix's New Writeups

functionality (idea)

2009-12-04T16:57:25Z

Main Entry: func·tion·al·i·ty
Pronunciation: \ˌfəŋ(k)-shə-ˈna-lə-tē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural func·tion·al·i·ties
Date: 1871
: the quality or state of being functional; especially : the particular set of functions or capabilities associated with computer software or hardware or an electronic device

Some view functionality as a buzzword, jargon used in place of more precise speech. However, in its proper context, the word is quite functional (pun intended).

In a world of crap tools and products, recognizing that a device must actually do something useful is an important factor. All too often we get caught up in the sizzle, and only recognize at the moment we take a bite that even sh*t sounds like food if you don't pay attention to the smell. Recognizing functionality as a core value forces the mind to focus on what lies beneath the…

Reading the future (essay)

2009-12-02T15:20:43Z

Recently the number of book-related applications in the iPhone App Store has surpassed the number of game apps in sales, sending rumbles throughout the nascent eBook reader marketplace. Will the smart phone unseat the e-reader before it can even begin its reign?

This is an issue with repercussions far beyond the library. The platform used to access the media of tomorrow will almost certainly also become the backbone of the new information marketplace. The convergence of functionality and the synergistic nature of modern media demand that the tool used by the individual have as wide an area of utility as possible.

The current crop of eBook readers are not quite ready for prime time, even as the technology becomes more accessible and widespread. The lack of color and video playback is turning out to be a greater disadvantage than expected, as eBook readers were (and are being presented today) as vertical…

Talking tomorrow (idea)

2009-12-01T15:43:43Z

Recently I posted a short essay on the term "Bunny Suit", and it made me think of other terms we use, and why we have so many unimaginative words for such exciting technology. Terms like "Bunny Suit" and "ballast", which are intuitive and descriptive, are often old terms dating from when people called things names based on their perception of them as they related to items they already knew. Other terms, like "television" and "phonograph" are also older terms, coined to inform as well as label, terms made from root words based on core tech and application.

As far as recent terms go, only "Bluetooth" (both descriptive and poetic) ranks up there with novel vernacular worthy of preserving. Many engineering terms are simply sounded-out acronyms like "vick-sell" (VCSEL - vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) and "row-hass" (RoHS - Reduction of Hazardous Substances). Again a comparison can be drawn to terms created earlier, like the tech acronyms created to be used as terms,…

November 26, 2009 (essay)

2009-11-26T18:22:16Z

I am extremely thankful this Thanksgiving. For my health, for my wife, for my family near and far, for my friends, for the fact I am employed in a difficult economy, for our President, for the hope that I may finally get to buy the house I wanted and have been trying to buy for half a year (it's not me, it's the house), for my publication's new website, for the end to (at least that phase) web-development headaches, for a slightly better and a little more useful content management system, and for the coming end to a difficult year.

Bunny Suit (thing)

2009-10-16T14:53:28Z

A Bunny Suit is what people have come to call cleanroom coveralls with boots and a hood. The term's progeniture is one of those few instances where the electronic industry waxes whimsical. (FWIW I think the term "Bluetooth" is another example.)

Most point to Intel's Bunny Ad in the mid '90's as the source for the name. However, the term was being used by Intel as far back as the 80's, and they were wearing them since they became standard Intel cleanroom attire.

The reason it was called a Bunny Suit by the techs forced to wear them is pretty obvious to anyone who has seen A Christmas Story. The only booted, hooded, costume most of the people knew from their childhood were pajamas, usually representing the cutest of pests, the rabbit. There were other animals represented by bootie pajamas, and maybe if the film version of…

September 18, 2009 (idea)

2009-09-18T14:40:14Z

I guess today is a tough day for everyone.

Economic pressures due to the significant reduction in advertiser support have decimated the ranks of journalism and have left the publishing industry relying on companies, organizations, and individuals to provide the proper information to the editors running today's media vehicles. Too bad when the marketplace decided to kill off print, they should get the internet that they intend to replace it with working first. Sadly, that does not look to be the case.

I bemoan the situation, but in the very near future most, if not all, of the publishing industry will move to an automated content process that will rely even more greatly upon the manufacturers to provide proper information into the RSS feeds that will drive the web-based content everywhere.

The publishing industry would be going through an…