Barrett Williams
Barrett Williams
Recent Stories
Williams: Give us one card to pay for everything
Most college students hope to see improvements at their school accomplished within their four years, but student government representatives have even shorter time frames to get things done. The short terms for student representatives at Yale is one reason little has so far come of the proposed Bulldog Bucks and Campus Cash programs. The principal roadblock came last spring when Yale’s Office of the General Counsel decided the timing was not appropriate to start a new student accounting system, because the Connecticut Attorney General had been investigating various Connecticut universities for fraudulent deals involving credit card companies, student debt and similar payment setups.
High-stakes Google still tops
With a company this powerful in all aspects of the Internet, connectivity and computing, the political and journalistic spheres must keep close watch over Google’s actions. With so much power in so few hands, the stakes are enormous.
Despite bright future, iPhones still for tools
The future of the iPhone looks fairly bright, but if you own one right now, you are most definitely a tool.
Crayon physics: A procrastinator's dream
Procrastination is every Yalie’s favorite pastime. This week, I discovered what is undoubtedly the best way to procrastinate: Crayon Physics.
Yes, China, we can hear you now
Many Yalies have little reason to look beyond this country’s fine borders in their online travails. Still, even if we don’t really need to, it’s actually quite easy to interact with the international community online.
Wikipedia, laptops leap their way into rural Africa
But what can computers really do for Africa’s less wealthy populations? Even in our own cushy, academic, States-side lives, computers often seem to get in the way of learning — or at least schoolwork — as much as they prove to be a help.
Internet now not just a luxury, but a necessity
Mobile, cellular Internet is usually a luxury. If you bought your laptop in the past year, you may well have a built-in cellular modem.
Phelps lends his two cents on savings, unemployment
The News asked Edmund Phelps about his time at Yale, and how his research relates to current global economic conditions.
‘One Laptop per Child’ plan faces low battery life
I don’t for the slightest moment doubt Negroponte’s intelligence, but the One Laptop per Child project has culminated in a relative disaster.
‘Solid-state’ technology the wave of the future
Having discussed a very abstract concept last week, I think I’ll return to something a good deal more technical. That something is the transition in the consumer-electronics industry toward “solid-state” storage in the place of conventional rotating “platter” and “head” technology. Most people know their hard drives as the first thing to die on their laptops.