Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beautya beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.
Edge Foundation, Inc., was established in 1988 as an outgrowth of a group known as The Reality Club. Its informal membership includes of some of the most interesting minds in the world. The mandate of Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society. Edge Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit private operating foundation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
This is an interesting observation suggesting tying IE to the OS was a fatal mistake, or at the very least, one that will cost them them with regards to playing nimbly in an OS-less world. Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.techcrunch.com%2F2008%2F09%2F01%2Fmeet-chrome-googles-windows-killer
“In 2007 we’ll witness the increasing dominance of open Internet standards. As web access via mobile phones grows, these standards will sweep aside the proprietary protocols promoted by individual companies striving for technical monopoly. Today’s desktop software will be overtaken by Internet-based services that enable users to choose the document formats, search tools and editing capability that best suit their needs.”
For Apple, he outlined, the end game isn't commercial success. "Apple's goal isn't to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products," he explained. "We trust as a consequence of that, people will like them, and as another consequence we'll make some money. But we're really clear about what our goals are." This focus, he continued, has driven Apple to produce only a small number of high quality products. "We try not to bring out another product that's just different," he said. "'Different' and 'new' is relatively easy. Doing something that's genuinely better is very hard."
At a Bamboo meeting I met a man who felt there was a difference between "infrastructure" and "supplies" and who felt strongly that that difference was signficant. Alas, in the dance of a workshop where we move from table to table I didn't get the chance to pursue the distinction so I have to make it up, again, out of whole cloth. So, let me rephrase the question, What is computing infrastructure in humanities research and how is it different from supplies?