Twitter highlights: April 10-16, 2011

Backbone.js is a model-view-controller JavaScript library in just 4KB (via Boris Smus ) SparkFun intros IOIO, which allows Android phones to control DIY electronics. (Engadget) Everyone in Google Doodle for Charlie Chaplin’s birthday are part of Doodle team, and like many of Chaplin’s films, it was filmed in the Niles District of Fremont, California. More …

Choice words from Bob Taylor

Back in May, Bob Taylor spoke with Guy Raz at the Computer History Museum about his days at ARPA, funding visionary projects such as Douglas Engelbart at SRI and the ARPAnet, and founding the Computer Systems Laboratory at PARC. Here are some of my favorite quotes of Bob Taylor from that conversation: Computers were abominable …

A follow-up on Microsoft’s campus

Almost three years ago, I blogged about Microsoft’s plans for a new West Campus. They finished last year, and I was impressed when I visited it a couple of weeks ago. The Commons has a nice urban contemporary vibe to it, and it feels energetic. Other companies should definitely take note. I noticed one amusing …

A few thoughts about Apple’s iPad

One day after the iPad was introduced, reactions in the tech world have been mixed, so I watched Apple’s announcement to see for myself. There are quite a few features the iPad lacks: multitasking, a camera, Adobe Flash support, HDMI video output, USB ports, an SD slot, and so on. But remember that at first, …

Memory price drops

As I was cleaning out my papers, I came across some old receipts for various tech gadgets. While I’m used to high-tech stuff getting cheaper and cheaper, I still find it stunning how quickly prices have fallen for certain items: Item Purchase date Purchase price Current price Annual depreciation rate Annual overall inflation rate (CPI) …

Comparing MacBooks

I am seriously considering getting a Mac, because I want to do something that Macs can do and PCs can’t: write iPhone apps. I’ve narrowed the possibilities down to two models: the 13″ MacBook or the 15″ MacBook Pro. The 15″ is 22% heavier (4.5 vs 5.5 lbs) but it also has 27% more pixels …