Tech Meets Cycling

I ride my bicycle to work whenever possible through the scenic District of Columbia, which offers me numerous benefits. It forces me to exercise regularly, cuts down on commuting costs, is a zero emissions method of navigating the city streets (aside from manufacturing processes), and it’s much quicker door-to-door than driving through rush hour traffic....

Bing vs. Google — One Anecdote

My daughter's math class needed to find examples of periodic behavior and estimate a sine curve to fit the data, both manually and by using a TI-83 calculator.  Obvious examples of periodic behavior are average city monthly temperatures and low/high tides.  My daughter wanted something a bit more unusual; her teacher suggested looking at data for live births by month in the U.S....

Wolfram Alpha is intriguing, but will people use it?

The much hyped “computational knowledge engine” Wolfram Alpha launched over the weekend to what can only be described as a mixed reaction.  I played with it for a few hours and came away with two primary thoughts:

1. Wolfram Alpha is something completely new, and that is fascinating.
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Energy Advocates Voice Internet Mobilization Strategies in DC Roundtable

Energy advocates and online mobilization experts gathered at the Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, DC, to talk about successes and challenges in gathering activists both on and offline.

Heather Lauer, director of online strategy for the Pickens Plan, talked about the process of gathering the Plan’s 1.5 million-plus participants and building a social network to connect members....

The Race for E-Reading Intensifies

While Amazon is way ahead of the competition in the race for control over the soon-to-be billion-dollar e-reading industry, the game has just begun, and major players entering the field might make for a much more interesting battle.

Barnes and Noble, whose business has been slipping over the past decade with the increase in publishing costs and the slump in sales,...