February 2004 Archives

Recently, I read an interesting article that discussed access to technology issues, systemic to the city of Detroit. You can peep it here Mich Tech News.

After perusing the article, I began to formulate an analysis of my own on the subject of the much discussed Digital Divide.

What I find interesting is that the concept of Moore's Law
is never considered when people disuss the Digital Divide. In fact, most arguments attempt to make a correlation between the cost of technology and the Digital Divide. I assert that Moore's Law debunks that argument. If you're not familiar with Moore's Law, take a look at this article.

The key enabler to Moore's Law is the decreasing cost of transistors,
brought about by vast improvements in silicon wafer manufacturing technology.
Hence, we now have 4GHz CPUs that are manufactured at nearly the
same cost of its early ancestor, the 386 CPU, almost 30yrs ago.

So, if the costs of manufacturing computer chips are dropping at
alarming rates, and subsequent costs of electronic gadgets (ie Blackberry,
cell phones, etc) are also decreasing at alarming rates..

We know that many of our black youth are huge consumers of these gadgets.

Why is it so difficult to get black children/families interested in technology and computing ?

Isn't this also a large contributor to the digital divide ?

Another good Digital Divide article was written by Ejovi Nuwere.

I am a violent NY sportsfan, and the events of recent weeks have brought a huge smile to my face. First, Zeke(I. Thomas) has made some bold moves to make my beloved Knickerbockers competitive again. Hell, because the East is so weak, they could actually grab the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. He brought a couple of native NYers back to a Garden, in the person of Stephon Marbury and Lenny Wilkins. Both of them are from B'klyn. I still believe that we'll need to get a true bigman to replace Pat to have a legititmate shot at an NBA Title.

Perhaps the biggest news of the week was the Bx Bombers acquisition of A-Rod. All I have to say to the Red Sox Nation is "You Blew It." George von Steingrabber is one of the most aggressive owners, and always does what it takes to improve his ballclub. I give him much dap. Despite the uncertainties in our starting rotation, I'm very optimistic about our chances of capturing another World Series Title.

Peep this batting order -
1- K. Lofton
2- D. Jeter
3- A. Rod
4- G. Sheffield
5- J. Giambi
6- B. Williams (DH)
7- Matsui
8- J. Posada
9- Enrique Williams

The possibilities are endless.

Although, I am no gourmet chef, I do enjoy cooking. I suppose it provides an outlet for creativity. Obviously, I also appreciate the idea of people devouring that which I provide. Hopefully, they are not eating, simply to please me.

I equate my kitchen experimentation to Kemistry, I purposely dropped the European spelling to pay homage to my people of Kemet. Science, mathematics, culinary, and many other wonderful creations, were derived from these dark-skinned people.

Anyway, I digress. I enjoy the idea of fabricating something new. I understand baking allows for the same level of discovery; however, I have not delved into this area. Yesterday, I made some delicious chicken soup, which was definitely as much fun to make, as it was to eat. I have to give my pops a huge shout for providing me the recipe. I have tried it with Cornish Hen and whole chicken. Good stuff.
What have you cooked lately ?

Recently, I have been blessed with the opportunity of mentoring a graduating senior from a local high school. What is interesting is that I get to do this during working hours. The school requires that each student complete a senior practicum, prior to graduation. My mentee wishes to become an engineer, so he will shadow me for roughly ten weeks.

Hopefully, after spending 10-weeks with me, he will not change his mind about becoming an engineer. I suspect that I should not hide anything from him and make sure that I curtail the foul language. I will do my best.

I often wonder, how great it would have been to have been exposed to a similar program at my beloved, BTHS. Tech had many cool programs, but I don't recall ever having someone talk about a mentoring opportunity. Heck, who knows what I would have become if I had that sort of experience as a youth.

If you've not served as a mentor, I encourage you to give a try. It really is quite rewarding to make a connection with a young adult.

Perhaps one of the best side attractions of the Super Bowl are the commercials and the half-time show. Thus far the commercials have been pretty tame, but the Janet Jackson stage show was rather interesting.

I always thought that the world stage football game, was designed with the family audience in mind. However, after getting a peep of Janet's left nipple, I knew that CBS was after ratings.

Certainly the first time that I've witnessed that in any sporting event half-time show.

Oh yeah, the game was classic. Wouldn't say it was better than the Giants vs. Bills game tho.