I was in Berkeley last night to see Sam Harris talk about his new book, The Moral Landscape. Harris makes a convincing case for how science, so broadly defined that I think rationality really serves as a more appropriate phrase, can allow us to determine right from wrong, or when one of those clear positions is not available, the ethically most optimal behavior.

RockMelt is a new web browser based on Chromium (by Google) and tightly integrated with the social web, particularly Facebook. This 2.5 minute video gives a short overview.

Free knowledge is the foundation of all Wikimedia projects: anyone is free to use, modify and redistribute the content for any purpose. But copyright and free licenses are very confusing for new users, especially when they want to contribute pictures and other media files. A new illustrated licensing tutorial will now guide new users through the basics of copyright and free licenses to make their first steps easier.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans has proposed discontinuing the city's use of its security camera network. The cameras began to be installed in 2003, as a response to the city's high crime rate. However, despite the expenditure of several million dollars, a recent report by the city's inspector general said that only 41 out of the 211 installed cameras were actually working.

Cigars are a very expensive and artful hobby. And I say hobby and not vice because, at least for me, its a once in a while thing. But you really enjoy them once you appreciate the care of making them and the craft of storing them appropriately. Here are some simple tips on how to select and store a cigar.

Unless you don't mind getting dirty looks and getting called a "pervert" or "cochon", it's not a good idea to read a book entitled The Sex Bible in public areas. The large graphic sexual content on the front and back covers are surprisingly not well appreciated by random Montrealers.

This is a favorite topic of mine. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like all the other rubyists out there get to work on fresh code bases that are well tested using all the latest tools. Well, sadly, that's not my situation.

In 1998 I moved to Minneapolis with what fit in my mom's backseat and trunk. It wasn't a whole lot of stuff, but it was enough for me to live off of. Fast forward to 2010 and I have a home, a wife, baby girl and two cats. Not to mention a house full of stuff.

For those of you still using Windows XP or any earlier version of Windows, you need to manually defragment your hard drive. Windows Vista and later versions do it automatically, unless you disable the option to auto-defragment on a set schedule. Defragmenting your hard drive will make a noticeable difference in your computer's speed.

Happy Software Freedom day! In celebration of it, I'll list the top 5 free software programs I use. GNU Emacs Very powerful text editor. I do most of my tasks in it, specially using and developing Identica-mode. I recommend it a lot for other tasks other than programming in any language, like organizing your todos and schedule in org-mode.

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