dennis' blog

I'm not crazy about the way user identities are tracked and connected across different sites these days. This is becoming more and more prevalent.

Actually, that's not quite right. I like the concept, I love being able to log in once (e.g. using my Google ID) and have many sites remember my preferences, history, etc.

The problem is the execution of this concept. In many cases, it's done in very non-transparent ways. It has happened to me more than once now that I posted a comment on a blog or news site, and it just "magically" conjured up a seemingly random avatar and attached it to the post. Now, like many people, I have various avatars and identities. For example, I have one for professional sites related to my job and programming in general, and I have another for (video) gaming, which I use on gaming blogs and sites. It's frustrating and slightly embarrassing when my gaming avatar suddenly shows up on a professional site, without any kind of warning or verification.

Some sites handle identities quite well. On those that do so, my user id and avatar show up on each page so I can see and edit it and sometimes even shows up right next to text I am editing, before I post it. Unfortunately, these sites are still not the norm, to the point that I am sometimes loath to post because I don't know what will happen if I do.

The last space shuttle flight has just landed and I'm pretty bummed.

The Apollo program was run on the computing power of what is now a cheap calculator and hardware MacGuyver rigged up with some wire and a coconut, yet 40 years later, we've gone no further. This is the equivalent of Columbus stopping when he reached England, instead of continuing to America.

I want the future back that I was promised as a kid! Don't make liars of the Jetsons! Damn it, where's my jet pack?!?

I don't mean to take anything away from what we have achieved, in many ways the future has come true. Most people have large flat panel TVs now and I'm typing this on a PC with a 26" LCD monitor. Personal computers are ubiquitous and many fit in your hand and are embedded in many things we use on a daily basis.

Satellites, space-based telescopes like the Hubble, the ISS, the LHC, and too many other marvelous technological marvels to mention, have improved our understanding of science and the universe.

For the past 25 years I have worn an insulin pump the size of a pager that delivers insulin to me 24 hours a day, allowing me to keep my blood sugar closely controlled. For the past 2 years I have been using a continuous glucose meter (CGM), which has a sensor the size of a pinhead and a wireless transmitter the size of a quarter that records my glucose level every 5 minutes 24 hours a day. These are fantastic inventions that have made my life immeasurably easier and healthier than any human who developed diabetes before the 1970s and I'm immensely grateful for these tools.

Yet, I'm still bummed about the space thing. This is the thing that got me excited about science and technology and the future. As a kid, I read every Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov book I could get my hands on. I watched Star Trek and Star Wars. The moon landing happened when I was 2, so clearly we were destined to make it much further in my lifetime. I hope that's still true.