March 2009 Archives

With the popularity of devices such as the iPhone and Kindle, it only makes sense that comic books are making the transition to the digital realm.  Here is a video from Network World that talks about how a software company Aquafadas is helping comic books make the transition:

While I am all for continuing the lifespan of comics (especially those that feature the Dark Knight), I hope that the problem of cropping out sections of the artwork in order to fit the smaller screens can be solved.  Comic books are great pieces of visual escapism, and to limit the artwork would limit the effectiveness of a comic book.  For example, cropping the comic book excerpt below would limit its absurdity:

  

10 years ago today, Switchfoot released its second album New Way to Be Human.  The band's title track was played on the local Christian music radio station WJTL, and my mom liked the song.  She bought the CD, and the rest is history.  Switchfoot is my favorite band, and it is amazing to me that I have been listening to Switchfoot close to half of my life.  I have seen Switchfoot play in multiple concerts, and I saw them play last year at the Bryce Jordan Center.  Switchfoot has always impressed me with their thought provoking lyrics.  The other aspect of Switchfoot's music I like is that I don't immediately fall in love with a CD the first time I listen to it.  Switchfoot's music slowly grows on me, and in that sense, it has always stayed fresh and exciting.  Switchfoot is coming out with a new album this summer, and I can't wait to find out what Jon Foreman and the crew have been working on.       

With a nice week off for spring break, I have been catching up with the news in the information technology world, and I have learned that the United States has its own chief information officer!  President Obama created the new federal position and selected his technology adviser Vivek Kundra during his presidential campaign for the position.  According to an article in the Washington Post, the CIO is "expected to oversee how government agencies purchase and use information technology and will be in charge of all federal technology spending. He also will be responsible for making sure agencies' networks and systems work together and share information while maintaining security and privacy standards."  In addition to the creation of the chief information officer position, Obama is expected to create a chief technology officer who will be responsible for overall technology policy.

As an Information Sciences and Technology major, I think it is pretty awesome and about time that our federal government have a chief information officer.  Our government has enormous amounts of data and needs massive resources in order to make this data meaningful in any way.  Hopefully, the new CIO can prevent government agencies such as the FBI from spending over $170 million in a failed attempt to upgrade their computer database system in order to better track terrorist suspects after 9/11. 

My blogosphere just keeps expanding!  I have been luckily enough to be selected as a SHO TIME mentor for the second straight year, and one of the requirements of being a mentor is maintaining a blog. My blog called My SHCool of Thought chronicles my adventures at Penn State as a honors student.  You can check out my blog by clicking here.  And don't worry, there is plenty of Batman...... 

"Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack." - Dr. Seuss

On this day 105 years ago, Theodor Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  You might have noticed when visiting Google today:

I remember reading Dr. Seuss when I was learning how to read, and chances are good that other children around the world have read Dr. Seuss as well.  Geisel's books have sold over 222 million copies, and 16 of them appear on Publishers Weekly's 100 best-selling children's books of all time.  Reading Dr. Seuss taught me many valuable lessons such as to listen to fish more often and not be so quick to turn down the suggestions of a fox.


However, the most important lesson Dr. Seuss taught me was the importance of having fun while learning.  If you love what you do and have fun while doing it, "will you succeed?  Yes, you will indeed!  (98 percent and 3/4 guaranteed)." 

Recently, Wall Street has done the time warp to 1997, but as Stephen Colbert points out, it's a good thing technology hasn't.