Back to the Future day

Shout out to Marty McFly and all they got right about the future

Apple hits the nail on the head for the source of their success

In the recent Apple Keynote I came across a line at 1:32:15 where they hit on the exact source of their success: perfectly tuned control of both hardware and software. Where android and windows are both (and wonderfully so) more open market, Apple has figured out (through many trial and error market testing in its early days) how to control everything but still remain open enough to allow developers to do their work (under close supervision and control, of course). So, perhaps the iPhone is more popular than any one android phone, but what you really need to compare is the overall operating system to operating system where according to netapplications android has about .43% more activity online, so please, apple stop boasting about being the most used phone when we all know you're just appealing to the blind masses that will throw away their current phones your new stuff even if you just paint it a different color and add a megapixel to the camera. 

Windows 10

Img Credit: Microsoft

    After months of beta testing by windows insiders, Windows 10 is just about ready to be released for free to the general populous, tomorrow -- today for some people -- (that is, if you have windows 7/8 now) but unless you're computer savvy or more prudent than most, you might not be getting it for at least a little while. This is because of Microsoft's frustrating (yet ingenious) way of spacing out the installs. Where apple can get away with releasing iOS updates all at once, as it is such a small file, Microsoft was faced with the problem of the sheer size of their operating system weighing down on their servers. That is to say, not everyone can download windows 10 all at once because Microsoft's internet (even though it's hooked up to the backbone fiber-optic cables of the internet) just isn't fast enough. So what was the solution? Well, to space out the downloads, of course! If you're currently running Windows 7 or 8, you may have noticed a new window pane icon in the bottom left of your screen (see example).

Clicking this icon opens a program which allows you to reserve your spot in line for the update so that microsoft can fairly order the downloads on a "first click, first serve" (server, get it?) basis. If you didn't reserve you're download, don't worry, you're not alone, and probably won't have to wait too long. Just be sure to update within a year, or else the update will no longer be free... and who knows? you might decide not to update after my upcoming review of the OS.

But for now, I'll leave you with these links:
Windows blog: http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07/28/windows-10-free-upgrade-available-in-190-countries-today/
Windows official site: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows#
Detailed how to update: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-upgrade

This has been yet another tech talk by yours truly,
Tys

Pluto

No, I'm not talking about the cute Disney character, but instead the equally cute planet... Or dwarf planet... We'll get to that in a second, but first, some funny pictures:

Src: "I fucking love science"

So why all the recent hype about Pluto?
    Why, NASA's "New Horizons" spacecraft, of course. If you haven't already heard from much quicker journalists, the New Horizons Spacecraft just made its closest approach to Pluto, collecting data and pictures which will take months--if not years--to be received and sifted through by NASA's miniature army of scientists and interns:

Mission Success, July 14, 2015 in the Mission Operations Center (MOC) of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Maryland. Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls

    This landmark achievement by NASA has granted us many new insights into the previously unexplored space iceberg.

Pluto and Charon size comparison

    For one, we finally know the previously debated size of Pluto, and it clocks in at roughly 2,370 km (1,473 mi) in diameter. Slightly larger than previously thought, but sadly still classified as a dwarf planet. That brings us to the topic of dwarf planets, what is a dwarf planet exactly?

According to space-facts.com, a dwarf planet:

• Is in orbit around the Sun,
  
• Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,
  
• Has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and
  
• Is not a satellite.

    Since Pluto has not cleared out all the other asteroids and things with it's gravity (possibly due to its lower-than-once-thought mass), and it is quite frankly much too small, it is not a regular planet. But it is not an asteroid either, as it is too massive and maintains a steady orbit, and therefore scientists had to come up with this new class of non-planet planets. Especially once new dwarf planets were discovered besides Pluto, some distinction had to be made and sadly--but completely necessarily--Pluto ended up on the other side of the fence.

    Another discovery on Pluto was a series of geologically active, icy mountains. These mountains appear very young in our very old solar system, and may still be forming today, and so far removed from the sun's (or any other) influence, geologists can only guess as to what is causing these formations to occur. “This may cause us to rethink what powers geological activity on many other icy worlds,” said GGI deputy team leader John Spencer at SwRI.

Pluto's heart-shaped icy mountain region (bottom) | Credit: NASA/APL/SwRI

    We now finally have been able to get up close and personal with Pluto's previously mysterious moons.

Charon | Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

Charon, the largest (and previously known about) moon is especially worthy of note. At 1208 km (751 mi) across, Charon is over half as big as Pluto itself, and is equally--if not more--geologically active than it. There is a distinct lack of craters to be found on Charon, possibly due to an internal geological process (like on earth) whereby fractured crusts are absorbed and replenished in the center of the moon. 

Hydra | Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

Hydra, arguably the most mysterious moon is shown in preliminary images with an extremely irregular shape (left), as if it were an asteroid that somehow got caught in Pluto's gravity and made it into orbit, without being rounded off. Estimated at about 43 by 33 km (27 by 20 mi) in size, Charon is likely coated in water ice as well as methane ice, but we'll have to wait for more data to come in to know more.
The other \three moons Nix, Styx, and Kerberos have not been observed as of yet by the craft, so stay tuned for updates on them.

    New Horizon may have just made its closest approach to Pluto, but its fly-by is far from over and the data is far from being complete, so please watch out for more updates as they come along. For now, you can learn more about Pluto, New Horizons, and its mission at NASA's website here:

• Cool Gif that I sadly couldn't post here because of usage rights laws: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/views-of-pluto-through-the-years
• New Horizons main page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
• Some vids for those of you who would rather watch than read:
  
  • https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3RUlLBXMFGq8aFEPS5yONT2
  • http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/videos/index.html
• Meet New Horizons: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/spacecraft/index.html
• Complete image gallery: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/images/index.html

   This event will no-doubt go down in history as a landmark discovery as to the nature and possible origins of the solar system, and shape how we view and explore space for years to come. So, all in all, I believe New Horizons was ten years, three billion miles, and  $700 million well spent... better to be spending tax dollars on intellectual advancement than war, right? Sources (aka plagiarism protection): uhh... NASA... http://space-facts.com/dwarf-planets/

Why British entertainers are so popular

From the charming boy bands to the amazing actors to the creative authors, the British people have captured the hearts and minds of the American people (and quite frankly the globe).
But why?
    Well, for starters: they speak English. It sounds simple, but it helps to have a common language between four of the most powerful countries in the world (The UK, the U.S., Australia, and Canada). It also helps that English is the number one second language in the world... Think about it: nearly every famous, intellectual, or important person in the world speaks (or at least understands some) English. Of course, this doesn't explain why British are more famous than other English-Speaking countries, so on to number two...
    Secondly: the accent. You knew this was coming, but it's true. Americans are fascinated with the British accent (myself included). They're just so inexplicably entertaining.

Mark Zuckerberg's MindBook

    On June 30th, Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans for possible brain-to-brain communication in the future. I thought I should comment because I've believed in this idea for years... Its not as far-fetched as you might think. At it's most basic level, the brain is really just a bunch of electrical impulses. Impulses that can be -- and are -- tracked by machines. Small machines like the Puzzelbox Orbit are the beginnings of mind reading technology, reacting to activity in different parts of the brain. As these devices are constantly improved and fine-tuned, we may soon see headsets that can control the mouse movements on your desktop and perhaps in the distant future, Zuckerberg's (and mine) fantasy of sharing messages (and perhaps even memories) without ever touching a keyboard or speaking aloud.
    This all may seem quite insane to you normal people, but forty years ago people would never have dream't of owning a personal computer, and mark my words: forty years from now, exponentially greater achievements will have been reached, and I may be posting to this blog with the power of my mind.
More on Zuckerberg's Ideas: http://www.livescience.com/51442-zuckerberg-telepathy-explained.html

Thanks for reading!
Your's truly,
Tys

404 pages: the overlooked rulers of the internet

As my first official post, I thought I'd dedicate my custom-built 404 page.
But first, a bit about what a 404 page is:
    Unless you've gotten really lucky or have never been on the internet before this, you've probably been to a 404. Basically, whenever you request a webpage URL which doesn't really exist on the server, the server has to send you somewhere so it sends you to this sad, universal page for lost internet dreams.
    So why the specific number "404"? Well, It was basically what the bunch of nerds at the invention of the internet decided it would be. Not satisfied with that answer? Alright here goes the boring in-depth explanation:
First: "4" refers to a client error... basically the server is telling you that you made the mistake, not it.
Second: The "0" indicates a syntax error... "you spelled it wrong!"
Finally, the "4" was the next available number they had in the category when they thought up this error so that's what it became.
    So... why did I title this post "the overlooked rulers of the internet"?
It's really quite simple: if you take all the possible web pages on a site (hint: infinite), and compare to the ones which actually lead to a legit page, you begin to see how many more 404 pages there are than regular pages, and how they rule most of the internet even though they are rarely visited and often overlooked.
    Next time you're on a website and get bored, just type in some random stuff after the URL (after the slash) and see what happens... If the developers are cool, they'll have a fun 404 page.
Here's some funny examples the first of which inspired my own (click this)

As always, your resident geek,
Tys