Category Archives: Technology and Society

Technology and Society

I Have A Dream

31 Comments

I have a dream that when I type into a text box in Firefox, the characters won’t stop appearing on the screen while I’m typing, and then magically appear a few seconds later. I have a dream that when I move the mouse pointer to a different place and left click, it will actually move the cursor there when I do so, and not half a minute later. I have a dream that when I scroll down, the screen will actually move in real time, and not just the mouse pointer, and that it won’t then jump down tens of seconds later. I have a dream that when I click on a different tab, it will actually change to that tab, and not just sit there on the same window for thousands of milliseconds.

I’ve heard of Firefox problems in Linux, but the problems that I’ve heard seem to do with loading web pages, not the basic mechanics of using the program. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be?

[Update a few minutes later]

My system monitor is telling me that Firefox is using about half the CPU. Is there any way to figure out exactly which tab, if any, is causing the problem?

Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Congratulations LaserMotive

9 Comments

It looks like they just won almost a million dollars in the power beaming contest.

I sure hope that the administration will request a lot more money for Centennial Challenges, and Congress grant it. Tomorrow’s award of the NGLLC prizes at the Rayburn Building would be a good opportunity to make the point that, dollar for dollar, they put to shame anything else that NASA is doing, Constellation most of all.