Interesting post Interesting post today on the Google AI Blog on Using Global Localization to Improve Navigation. Google is attempting to solve one of the thorniest problems with outdoor navigation, namely the unreliability and inaccuracy of the GPS and orientation sensors on mobile devices. As they say, 



When Medium came on the scene, I created an account and fiddled with it, but I was never really comfortable with the downside of jumping on that platform. I worried what their eventual end-goal would be, how they would make money, and what would become of my content … would I, for example, ever be able to pull comments and discussions out of the platform if I wanted to leave?

I ran across an article on Geekwire (Microsoft HoloLens brings 300-year-old 3D model to life and offers new view of French landmark) about using Hololens and photogrammetry to create an augmented reality experience of the combined historic 3D relief map and real site of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. The videos Microsoft create are worth watching; really inspiring work!

I’ve set Overwatch aside for a while, and have been revisting old games I never finished (or hadn’t even started). Sadly, I’ve found the experience less than satisfying, as I summarized on Mastodon this morning: ⊕Don’t even get me started on some of the more purely narrative games, like Dear Esther and Gone Home.

A friend, Andy Phelps, posted a few brief thoughts on eSports and Universities over on Medium. I replied there, but I’d like to preserve that reply, so I’m posting it here, too. ⊕Both Andy’s article, and my article-turned-response, where triggered by a story the Chronicle of Higher Education ran about University of Akron discontinuing a bunch of academic programs but investing a ton of money into new facilities for eSports at the same time.

I finally got around to digging out one of my Android dev phones (a Pixel), recharging it, updating it (a non-trivial endeavor, it’s been off for months!) and installing the AR-capable via WebXR version of Chrome Canary. I was pleased when Google announced it last month, and the demos don’t disappoint: everything seems to work just as you’d expect. It’s every bit as cool as all of us hoped it would be! Congrats to the team!

Fiona McEvoy summarized some interesting viewpoints and issues related to permission, copyright, and AR augmentations in the real world, in a Slate article titled “What Are Your Augmented Reality Property Rights?”. ⊕A friend forwarded this to me a few weeks back, but I was on vacation and am only now returning to it.

You might have heard of blockchain technology ⊕Just kidding. I can’t imagine anyone reading this hasn’t heard of blockchain. Just in case, here’s one layman’s introduction that Forbes Magazing published.

And the CPU bug revelations continue to be found: a fourth variation of the Meltdown-Spectre security flaws has been reveal, and is referred to as speculative store bypass.

Ah, the third rail of the academy: space.

I ran across an ambitiously titled article in the Atlantic, “The Scientific Paper Is Obsolete (Here’s what’s next)”. The title felt a bit like click-bait, but as an academic, that kind of bold pronouncement is hard to resist.

Back on April 24, I challenged myself to blog at least once per day. I kept to it for 3 weeks, but in the end the time investment got to be too much. A few of my friends and colleagues asked how it’s possible to do this; they’d tried and failed (like I had in the past) to blog regularly. Some said they couldn’t find the time, others said they couldn’t find something to write about every day.

⊕And by “ran across” I mean a friend sent it to me. I hadn’t heard of HODINKEE, but it describes itself as “a robust online magazine featuring in-depth reviews, critiques, and reports on watches of a particularly high quality.” I have an affection for mechanical watches, so I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed this before. I ran across an article in Hodinkee featuing an interview with Jony Ive on Apple, watches and design.