newspeak

Why Cloud APIs Don’t Matter – InformationWeek.

Quote:

APIs do not matter, abstractions do.

Put another way, the API is simply the way to “talk” to software that implements a specific functional part of a cloud service or business. To make this functionality easier to use, faster to develop, and more robust, the software implements its functionality in terms of a logical abstraction.

Why should anyone care?

….

It is the design of the abstractions (the logical function of the cloud services) and not the APIs that result in desirable properties such as scale, resilience, and secure self-service. For instance, in most clouds it is not possible to specify on which specific machine a virtual machine (VM) should be launched. The abstraction says that a VM will exist sometime after the run command is issued (or an error will be reported), but no indication of where the VM is residing will be provided.

 

“And whether you see today’s Fast Company article as indication of a “pivot” or not, I think it’s a mistake to cheer this moment as Udacity’s admission of failure and as an indication that it intends to move away from university disruption. The startup is, after all, still in partnership with Georgia Tech and AT&T to offer a computer science Master’s Degree. The startup is still working with San Jose State University. And most importantly, Thrun himself is still the name most associated with the MOOCification of higher ed.”

Why We Shouldn’t Celebrate Udacity’s “Pivot”.

Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun, Godfather Of Free Online Education, Changes Course | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.

The False Promise of Classroom Technology – Businessweek.

What I’ve argued relates to resource constraints and to the evident fact (to me) that tablets, along with adequate teaching, which I liken to the old notion from Mao’s China of the Barefoot Doctor: A sufficient number of “good enough” teachers to help other students master the course skills. But I don’t believe that tablets and MOOCs are a panacea. Rather, they offer what Tim Berners-Lee wished for the Internet, when he created it, that it would be a medium, not a replacement for politics, and that what mattered, and matters still, is the human not the technology.

Exclusive: ‘Jaw-dropping’ breakthrough hailed as landmark in fight against hereditary diseases as Crispr technique heralds genetic revolution – Science – News – The Independent.

Brazil is using the law to push innovation, but here’s how it can do more – The Next Web.

It’s easy to ignore history but it’s a mistake to do so. Past economic and political conditions affect present circumstances, unto the fourth generation, at least, or so it seems from this bracing study on polygamy.

These results pose challenges to existing theories of polygamy. The distribution of polygamy in Africa does not fit an explanation rooted in the gender division of labour. I find no evidence that educating women in the present reduces polygamy. Further, I find that history matters. Pre-colonial inequality, the slave trade, and colonial education all predict polygamy rates in the present. I find limited evidence that African marriage markets have responded to economic growth and fluctuations. The largest elasticities that I find are in response to changes in child health. This is consistent with theories that see polygamy as a strategy for men to increase fertility, making wives and surviving births per wife substitutes.

via African polygamy: Past and present | vox.

The Staple Theory at 50: Who’s your grand daddy? Watkins, Innis and W.A. Mackintosh | rabble.ca.

It’s a pretty interesting read and in conjunction with Stross’ recent _Neptune’s Brood_ (which owes a fair amount to Krugman and is really an experiment on the role of time in economic valuation and which also ties into NZ economists’ efforts toward a dual monetary system), clarifies much of the economic topography both of Canada and Australia, where natural resources have persisted in shaping the nations.

Why, exactly, did a reasonable kind of place like Toronto elect its current mayor?—you have to conclude that it doesn’t matter anymore. Why we did it is the least of our problems. The only point worth making at this juncture is that Rob Ford turned out to be a staggeringly bad choice.

via Toronto’s Rob Ford Problem : The New Yorker.

Our Nation’s Businesses Suffer From Canadian Disease | Diane Francis.

I find myself agreeing with much of the argument presented, though I would look to the formation of provincial monopolies (or otherwise dominant corporations) closely tied to politicians and parties. The end result is pretty much the same: smug profit machines operating within provincial boundaries and relying perforce on the US as a market for raw goods, resources. And I can’t help seeing that the efforts by the Tories have only worsened the situation.