Bill Gates uses Android

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16365424/bill-gates-android-phone-switch

Even Bill Gates uses Android nowadays. What about the the current CEO and the other guy Steve Ballmer? (I guess nobody cares about him nowadays).

So i guess Microsoft's phone battle is totally dead. (Oh it has been dead for a while). I wish someone asked Gates is there anything he would do to give it more life. I think the number 1 reason is of course its damn ugly Tiles (Metro) interface. Is that guy still working for Microsoft? Fire him! Fire him!

Now it is interesting that Gates does not use the iPhone instead.... I am sure he does not mind the hefty price tag. I wish the article say more about why he does not use the iPhone. For me: here is why: everything-is-so-damn-anti-intuitive-in-the-damn-Mac-world and more expensive.

Will Windows one day dead too? I don't think so. Unless someone can really make Linux mainstream. Modern Linux things are lot simpler now... but still too hard for many.

Toys R Us leaving us?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-toys-r-us-bankruptcy-20170920-story.html

Oh No, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy.

Remember this commercial? "I don't want to grow up I am a Toys R Us Kid"

But those who have seen this commercial already grew up.... into a world where brick and mortar stores mostly going out of business... lost to Amazon and the big stores like Target and Walmart... It is kinda sad, but waita minute, when was the last time I went to Toys R Us? Too long ago! I got toys from these other places! I contributed to its doom!

Unfortunate reality is.....the survival of the fittest. Who's next to fold? How long are you able to survive Sears and JCPenny...

Hurricanes!

It is routine that we get hurricanes. They are expected to come. But very rare that an entire Florida needs to evacuate and hurricanes are hitting so many places so frequently.

So yes, cars flipped over, roofs pulled off, thousands of people affected... Some will have days or weeks without power! Unimaginable number of money lost. After water recedes, molds will come out causing even more problems..

But the forecast... was it accurate? Sometimes east, sometimes west... was it as big as the forecast?

See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/11/irmas-track-forecast-was-adequate-but-theres-significant-room-for-improvement.

But look, in terms of weather, things change so fast, it is just hard to predict very precisely. Things don't go in exactly straight path you know, especially hurricanes. I hope forecast weather science do get better so people can be better prepared.

Look, you believe the weathermen (scientists) in time like this... at least there really was the hurricanes coming. You believe the astronomers (scientists) when they say eclipse is coming.

Why they say global warming with mountains of evidence you say it is hoax?

Euclid's Elements makeover

The classic geometry book Elements is having a new design:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90282910/a-masterpiece-of-ancient-data-viz-reinvented-as-a-gorgeous-website.

I think that's pretty cool. If you care to look around the math/science section of bookstores.. you see there are MANY pretty books covering the chemistry elements, astronomy and other sciences. Now many of them will end up in the discount bin and well educated people who find them interesting are so few. It is sad American cultures that most people are just interested in sports.

Much of math's more advanced things are super difficult to read, loaded with hard-to-understand notations and endless list of definitions, theorems, etc. Even fewer people can ever understand or have slight interest in those... well, many of the advanced topics aren't about pictures so hard to give them graphical good look. Well Euclid's work has some unique elements of course: pictures... so a graphical makeover will make it more attractive to readers of today.

Elements is such influential scientific work.

The Elements included this fascinating proof: that there are infinitely many prime numbers. (and I can only understand his proof. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid%27s_theorem).

However, even with a graphical makeover, the Elements' original form is probably too hard for most to understand for most... But this is a classic to be appreciated. Everyone should at least heard of it. It is the 2nd all time best seller, only second to the Bible.