Adobe still does not get the iPad

by jbcurio

Wired’s iPad App: Pictures of Text
[Via Daring Fireball]

Joe Clark on the severe shortcomings of Adobe’s “digital viewer technology”, as presented in the Wired magazine iPad app:

There’s no live text, meaning there’s no search. It also means there’s no accessibility on the first computers that are accessible by default if you the developer do no extra work at all. (Follow the spec exactly and your app is accessible right away.) Think of how much effort it takes to blow an opportunity like that.

No copy and paste, either.

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They just do not really get that this is a fundamentally different way of interacting with text and pictures. This is like the first TV shows, which were essentially radio with pictures, or the first movies, which were just filmed plays.

It took some creative people to start understanding that these are totally new media and need to be treated as such. I hope the iPad gets its D. W. Griffith or Desi Arnaz/Karl Freund.

Crazy idea but fun to think about

by Fibonacci Blue

Why Obama Should Put BP Under Temporary Receivership
[Via Daring Fireball]

Robert Reich:

It’s time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped.

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I wonder how Britain would feel about this. Considering that BP’s stock price has dropped from $62.32 on January 22 to about $38 today, perhaps heir shareholders would like some US intervention. Then we can give it back to them afterwards, just like we did with the car companies.

It will never happen and perhaps should not. There has been a meme going around that a part of government regulation might be to prevent companies from committing ‘corporate suicide’. That regulations prevent them from going over the edge as they chase short-term profits. It gives them an out to fight off shareholder lawsuits that might push them to cut corners, and leading to corporate catastrophe.

An interesting thought also.

Steve seems more voluble these days

Videos: Steve Jobs talks about Flash, Google, Gizmodo, AT&T and more
[Via Brainstorm Tech]

All Things D is releasing video clips from Tuesday’s interview one at a time. Here they are.

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs spoke for nearly two hours Tuesday night in an extended interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher — plus a Q&A with the audience. The videos are available at All Things D’s site. We’ve collected all the clips they’ve made available so far, and will add more as they arrive.

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More Steve Jobs than we have seen in a long time, with nice conformation that he is the one behind the emails. I’m sure the analysts are looking at every pause for breath in order to divine what Apple is working on.

New Seminar – You’re not crazy. You are innovative.

[Crossposted at SpreadingScience]

  

I’ve been working on a series of seminars. I hope to announce more of them soon but I have the first one ready.

You’re not crazy. You are innovative. will examine the disruptive innovators in a community. These people are absolutely critical for the introduction of new ideas into an organizations – ideas that could make or break the success of the company.

Yet often these people are seen more for their disruptive activities rather than their innovation. The majority of the community – the people who simply get things done – views disruption negatively because it changes their workflow, making it hard to simply get things done. Doers distrust disruptors.

This seminar will explore how human social networks adapt to change and why the disruptors are so often not listened to. It will demonstrate that the social networks of disruptors and doers look very different and how Web 2.0 tools can be used to identify members in each group.

It will also provide insights into human social networks that can empower disruptors, making it easier for their innovative ideas to traverse a community and have the major impacts that they should.

The next class in Seattle will start soon. I can also provide seminars for groups. If you would like to attend, send us an email.

Crime rates – real numbers not gut reaction

by bradleykurtz

There has been an interesting trend in recent discussions indicating that there is a huge increase in violent crime due to illegal aliens. “Illegal Immigrants Crime Spree in WA.” shout the headlines.

Is this true or only what people want to believe? Well, for those that believe in their gut and not in reality will be disappointed by the data.

Real numbers display no support for an epidemic of crime, in America, in border states or in cities. There does not appear to be any correlation between the violent crime rate trends and the number of illegal immigrants in each state.

The numbers would indicate that anyone who thinks that there have been large increases in violent crime is simply wrong. In fact, there does not appear to have been even small increases in these numbers.

Looking at the United States as a whole, violent crime rates are way down from a decade ago. Then there were 523 violent crimes per 100,000. In 2008 it was 455.

It is very easy to get data that examines this question in greater detail. California, for example, has crime statistics going back farther than I frankly want to spend the time one. But we can examine the numbers from 2008, the most recent full year data is available.

Violent crimes numbers have gone down substantially – about 7.5 % – in California over the last 10 years. The homicide rate per 100,000 people is also lower. In fact, rape, homicide and aggravated assault are all down.

So, there is nothing in the statistics to indicate any increase in violent crime in that state. In fact, there has been a decrease. How about Washington State? There is supposedly an epidemic of crime here, although a story full of anecdotes about crime does not really tell much of a story at all.

Numbers from 2008 also indicate a substantial decrease (PDF) in violent crime in this state. The rate of 331 violent crimes per 100,000 people was the lowest since 1973. Thirty-seven years! There is no crime epidemic in this state. The rates are down almost 40% from their peaks in the 1990s.

The top 5 states by illegal immigrants per capita are California, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and illinois. The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that the violent crime numbers through 2008 are lower for all these states. Arizona had its lowest per capita violent crime rate since 1971 (447 per 100,000), California since 1970 (503 per 100,000) , Illinois since 1973 (525 per 100,000), Texas since 1984 (507 per 100,000) and Nevada since 2005 (724 per 100,000).

Louisiana, which has the lowest per capita levels of illegal immigrants, had a violent crime rate of 656 per 100,000, less than any year since 2004 and much less than the peak year of 1001 per 100,000. Other states with low illegal immigrant numbers have very similar numbers. Generally the highest rates were in the 90s and current rates have been decreasing for most of the last decade.

The states with the highest population of illegal immigrants have all seen their violent crime levels drop, in some cases to the lowest levels in a generation. So, not much of a murder spree happening on the state level that could be coupled with any trend in the populations of illegal immigrants.

There is simply no apparent correlation between a high per capita level of illegal immigrants and violent crime rates.The numbers do not support that contention.

Perhaps certain cities are hotbeds of illegal alien mayhem, as they spread terror in certain areas. Could be but not in a lot of cities you might expect. Well, LA has the lowest murder rates in 40 years. In 2009, 314 people were murdered. In 1992, it was almost 1200.

How about other cities? The FBI puts out nationwide statistics on crimes. LA had a murder rate of 10 per 100,000 in 2008. Phoenix had a rate of 10.5. New York had 6.3. San Diego had 4.3. Seattle had 4.8.

This compares with Philadelphia, which had a rate of 23 murders per 100,000 people. Or Houston, with a rate of 13.1. The city with the highest murder rat in the United States, New Orleans with 64 per 100,000 is also in the state with the lowest population of illegal immigrants.

The states with the highest levels of illegal immigrants have not shown an increase in violence. Not only does Arizona have the lowest violent crime rate in almost 40 years but that rate is lower than the United States average. There are 43 large cities with a greater violent crime rate than Phoenix, including San Francisco.

The numbers currently available do not support that there has been any increasing trend of violence caused by illegal immigrants.

I simply do not see any data that indicates there is a crime spree going on in America, in border states or border cities that can be tied to increasing illegal immigration. Crime rates have been going down, for over a generation in some cases, and the have continued to go down.