Watch this: You ain't gonna believe it. Even if you've seen it before.

-

A Stunt Cyclist’s Tour de Fence

NYTimes reports here that Danny MacAskill, a stunt bicyclist can divide his life into two parts --  before his YouTube video came out and after it came out.

Remember, I told you so:  You still can't quite believe it.
This video was filmed over the period of a several months in and around Edinburgh by Dave Sowerby, a videographer who has earned my admiration for his work and deserves great credit for the level of quality he has achieved.

'Romeo And Juliet': Just As You Misremembered It

-

'Romeo And Juliet':
Just As You Misremembered It

Tell the truth - You really did sleep thru English class, didn't you.

Here's NPR's  review of this charming recreation of the greatest love story of all time.  The entire script was written from several people's somewhat off-the-mark memories of the details.  It's a hoot!

Enjoy!

-

Happy New Year 2010!

-

This just arrived in an email from a good friend of mine -- who is a devout Muslim.

So much for stereotypes.

Have a wonderful year everybody!
-

Are you afriad of flying? That's irrational

-

Jerry Lee Lewis should be quite proud.  The New York Post's headline, after the December 25th attempt to blow an airliner out of the sky, was "Great Balls of Fire"!

NPR reports that, "... risk experts say that Americans are simply reacting — by not overreacting — in a way that reflects the circumstances.

"The response makes absolute sense given the evidence, the nature of this weekend's events, and this risk in general," says David Ropeik, a risk communication consultant...."

NPR further reports that passengers are citing inconvenience as their predominant concern.

The most dangerous part of any flight was, is and will remain, the car trips to and from the airports. 

Have a nice flight.

-

Save your electronic toys with rice -- Yes! Rice

-

This item over on LifeHacker tells about saving a mobile phone after a 30 minute soak in a puddle during a rainstorm.

In addition to being delicious & nutricious, rice is so versatile.
-

Exponentials R Us

-

In an article on xconomy.com, Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, tells us that Exponentials R Us.

He wrote, "Forty years ago, in 1969, Neil Armstrong left footprints on the surface of the moon. It was an extraordinary accomplishment." 

He goes on to point out that, the same year - 1969, the very first message was sent over Arpanet - predecessor to the internet.

Continuing his discussion of Exponentials R Us, he lists several phenomenal advances in computer science - that have led directly to major changes in the way we live out lives.  Then he suggests some areas to watch over the next decade or so.
-

A book review: The Zombie Survival Guide

-

The Zombie Survival Guide

Jake Halpern teaches writing at Yale University.


Here he tells us, via NPR, about "Beware, Zombies: This 'Guide' Will Save Humankind". You can hear the interview here.

-

Carlos Kleiber conducting the Bavarian State Orchestra in Johann Strauss II "Unter Donner und Blitz"

-

I love the way the late Carlos Kleiber conducts an orchestra.  I believe he provides an excellent example of how to manage people.  Here he is clearly in charge of the performance -- but not by 'commanding' the band.  He does it by leading them and giving them the space for each of them to exercise his or her own creativity.

Did you notice his left hand when he rests it on the bar behind him?  It clearly shows how relaxed he is.  He further demonstrates his confidence in the musicians' abilities by sometimes not even waving his baton -- during the playing.  And his smile shows how much fun he is having all while the the band is making beautiful music.  He is extraordinary!

We are very fortunate that such technologies as YouTube allow us to travel back in time to see such a genius in action.

-

-

Watch the water droplet bounce -- Yes!  Bounce -- on top of the water.

Ain't science cool!
-

Avoid getting worms by taking Cocaine? I don't think so.

-

As if I needed another reason not to use cocaine, now from PopSci, via BoingBoing, we learn here that more than two thirds of the cocaine distributed in the United States is laced with a veterinary deworming drug!  The drug, levamisole, was removed from the U.S. market (for Human use) in 2000.  However, although levamisole is still available to deworm your pets, I don't recommend substituting cocaine as a dewormer.  But, I'm not a Veterinarian.
-

How Mr. Splashy Pants got his name

-

How Mr. Splashy Pants got his name

Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, tells, on TED, the real-life story of how a humpback whale became a Web star. The real lesson of Mister Splashy Pants is how to do something serious and important while having fun doing it.  Meme-makers and marketers (that includes you & me) in the Facebook age should take note.
-

ASU BioDesign Institute making BioFuel more competitive - by creating self-destucting microbes!

-

Developments like this will help the United States stop borrowing money from China and shipping that money to the Middle East to buy oil from OPEC countries.


"An Arizona State University research team has developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing lower-cost, renewable biofuels."

 The results were published here in an online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

-

NSF Scientists Discover Erupting Volcano 4.000 feet Undersea

-

The National Science Foundation tells here about eruptions from the West Mata Volcano.  There are videos with sound here and here.

-

Pilot Jessica Cox on Inside Edition

-

AVweb reports, "Jessica Cox, of Tucson, Ariz., was born without arms, but she hasn't let that define her role in life, and last week she scored a first when she earned her Sport Pilot certificate using only her feet to manipulate the controls of an Ercoupe. "I highly encourage people with disabilities to consider flying," Cox said. "It helps reverse the stereotype that people with disabilities are powerless into the belief that they are powerful and capable of setting high goals and achieving them." Cox, who is 25, won an Able Flight scholarship and trained with instructor Parrish Traweek in his Ercoupe 415C. "What is most incredible about Able Flight is the relentless faith and support not only from the board but also from the other pilots who have succeeded in the program," Cox said. "Thank you, Able Flight, for helping me make history as the first licensed pilot to fly with only her feet!" Since the Ercoupe design has no rudder pedals, no special modifications were required for Cox to fly it.

The rudder and aileron systems are linked, and both are controlled with a single control yoke. The yoke also controls nosewheel steering on the ground. Cox also drives a car and types on a computer using her feet. She works as a motivational speaker and is writing a book about her life."

-

FEMA & FCC moving toward Emergency Notification System

-

Gateway Interface for Wireless Carriers

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Federal Telemedicine News reports that FEMA and FCC have adopted design specifications to develop a gateway interface so that wireless carriers can provide customers with timely and accurate emergency alerts and warnings via cell phones and other mobile devices.

-

-

Ride on a U2 spy plane

I believe comments from me are not herein required.

-

The birth of an elephant

-

This sounds like the beginning of a joke: 
So this elephant gave birth....

But, it's not a joke.  It is real. 
The elephant did give birth.

amazing video .. elephant being born ---
VERY GRAPHIC !!--- (but real)

-

(This year) Chanukah begins at Sundown today

-

Chanukah is the only holiday dedicated to religious freedom.
This year I'm celebrating with Neil Diamond's cover of The Chaukah Song.

-

Capitalism at work - making money in clean energy

-

Physorg.com has an item saying, "The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday."

"Wind turbines off the coast of Spain. The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday."

I figger WWF is either the World Wrestling Federation or the World Wildlife Fund, but I'm no expert in these matters.   ;-)

Nonetheless, there are big profits being made and to be made in clean energy.
-

World's First Robot vs. Human Pro Wrestling Match Ends in KO

-
Gizmodo reports on a very interesting pro wrestling match - It must be seen to be believed.  And, as with the rest of pro wrestling, you still don't have to believe it.  But, it's fun.

ロボットvsプロレスラー

-

-

The National Science Foundation is discussing how the United States currently leads the World in computer science, and why computer science is not taught at the K-12 school level - and how other Nations are requiring computer science in K-12, and pulling ahead of the U.S.  Then they discuss the the National Security danger that creates and reasons why we need to get back into the game and how to do that. 

-

Ever get pulled aside for secondary screening at an airport? Ever wonder why?

-

According to Wandering Aramean, TSA has "accidently" released their Screening Management Standard Operating Procedure.  Cryptome has a copy of it here.  Wired.com has the story here.

-

The Largest Machine in the World

-

C|Net Interview:
Inside CERN
with an LHC scientist

"The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is one of the most ambitious experiments of all time and following a year of shutdown, it's finally started to do its business again. So we thought we'd have a chat to someone directly involved in the experiments to get a sense of what it's like to work in geek heaven.

"Paul Jackson is a particle physicist from SLAC and Stanford University, based at CERN. He's working on the Atlas experiment, looking for the Higgs boson--the so-called "God particle." Read on to find out whether he's about to kill us, what would happen to you if you stood in front of the LHC beam and what CERN's favorite snacks are. (Also see our definitive guide to the collider, CERN and the Higgs boson.)"


-

The Old Chicken & Egg Question -- On a Cosmic Scale!

-

Which came first, the Quasar or the Galaxy?

Quid pro quo? Quasar HE0450 seems to be pulling in gas from a nearby galaxy then blasting out matter to create new stars.

Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

-

Need a good Sunscreen? Wrap yourself in a coral reef!

-

"Coral Reefs Act Like Sunscreen

Protector. A coral skeleton irradiated with ultraviolet radiation, fluorescing yellow.

Credit: R. Reef et al., PLoS ONE 4 (11) (November 2009)

"By Charles Choi
ScienceNOW Daily News
30 November 2009
"Living on a coral reef is a bit like living in a tanning bed. As the sun's rays shine through the water and reflect off the reef, they strike corals, their symbiotic photosynthetic algae, and other inhabitants from above and below. So what keeps these creatures from being fried? A new study suggests that coral acts as a sunscreen, absorbing UV light and limiting the harm it inflicts on the reef's denizens."

-

Migrating Lakes? Yeah, You Read That Right -- Migrating Lakes!

-

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reports evidence that Methane lakes on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, appear to migrate!
-

"Wave of Discovery: Harnessing the Ocean's Power" -- Science Nation

-

From National Science Foundation comes

"Wave of Discovery: Harnessing the Ocean's Power" -- Science Nation

-

Comfortable Dog or Stupid Bird?

-

You make the call.

-

Itay Talgam teaches how to manage people, and he teaches it differently than anyone else!

-
Itay Talgam, a protege of leonard Bernstein, following a decade of Conducting, transformed himself into a consultant to some of the largest corporations in business.  He teaches how to manage people.

Here he explains to the TED Conference what he does & how he does it.

-

The most retarded leopard seal pup in the world?

-

Off the coast of Antarctica,
a female leopard seal "adopted",
and attempted to feed,
the National Geographic photographer
who had come to Antarctica to photograph her!

Paul Nicklen describes his most amazing experience as a National Geographic photographer - coming face-to-face with one of Antarctica's most vicious predators.

-

Spanish gov't to guarantee legal right to broadband

-

Beginning in 2011, Spanish government to guarantee legal right to broadband

 Anywhere in the Country!

-

quantum physics is one thing, but a quantum sense of humor.....

-

This made me laugh... and think....
And that's a good thing.

-

Well, this is big news! But, it won't help cook the meals or clean the house.

-

The Beeb reports that, while the drug Flibanserin failed as an anti-depressant, it does have an interesting side-effect.  It's like a Viagra for the female libido.
-

United Nations Censors Reception for Book

-

The United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demanded removal of a poster advertising the book Access Controlled about freedom of speech on the internet.

The sound quality of these videos is sub-par, but they were shot live in the real world.

     "If we cannot discuss topics about Internet 
     censorship and surveillance policy at a forum
     about Internet governance then what is the 
     point of something like the IGF," said Ron 
     Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the
     University of Toronto's Munk Centre for
     International Studies and one of Open Net
     Initiative (ONI)'s principal investigators.

More video available here (sorry, no embed):
http://www.youtube.com/user/fikratube#p/a/u/0/axMpYddEomc

      "Deibert, one of the organizers of the reception,
        said he will file a complaint against the
        censorship of the event and send it to the
       United Nations Human Rights Commission."


Computer World has the story here:


"An anti-censorship group holding an event Sunday at the United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demanded removal of a poster that mentioned Internet firewalls in China."

-

Thanks For Being an Honest and Responsible Citizen

-

You're standing on the balcony overlooking your back yard at home.  You notice a black garbage bag over there in the corner of your garden.  You investigate and find that it contains a shotgun & some ammunition.  You take all of this to the nearest police station and turn it in.


Here is how the police thanked former soldier Paul Clarke, age 27, for 'doing his duty' as a good citizen.

-

Beyond Security Theater

-

It has been said that  the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between firefly and firefight.  (apologies to Mark Twain)

Bruce Schneier is an internationally recognized expert on security matters.  In his essay Beyond Security Theater, he discusses the very real differences between security and security theater.



Schneier recommends that we replace existing security theater with real security measures.  Security is harder work, and requires more steadfastness, than security theater -- BUT, the major difference is that while security theater makes some people feel more secure, real security actually makes all of us more secure.
-

A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

-

A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

                                     No entry. A scanning electron
                                       microscope image of the gold film,
                                           which didn't let much light
                                                   through its holes.
                                                Credit: J. Braun et al 

By Karen Fox
ScienceNOW Daily News
13 November 2009
The way light moves, with its fixed speed and its ability to act like either a wave or a particle, often leads to some of the most curious paradoxes of physics. A new one has just been found: Make holes in a film of gold so thin that it's already semitransparent, and less light gets through.
-

MAtrix Ping Pong

-

-

Linus Torvalds & Jim Zemlin dicuss the Linux Operating System

-

A half hour video chat

Japan Linux Symposium Keynote:
Linus Torvalds & Jim Zemlin

Tuesday, 27 October 2009 17:30 Linux.com

In his brief introduction, Zemlin highlighted some key numbers that are a part of the Linux ecosystem.

2,700,000. Number of lines of code added to kernel in the last year according to the recently updated "Who Writes Linux" paper from the Linux Foundation. 

 

10,923. Numer of lines of code added to the Linux kernel every day. 

 

5,547. Number of lines deleted every day.

 

1. There's only one Linus Torvalds, founder of Linux.

After his introduction, Zemlin sat down with Torvalds, who discussed the huge growth of Linux, how it came to be, and where it's going. 
-

-
From Gizmodo

EyeWriter Allows Man To Paint
Despite Paralysis

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.




Before disease took his ability to move, Tony Quan was an amazing graffiti artist. Now he is completely paralyzed, save for his eyes, and still an amazing artist. Seeing how he works left me with tear-streaked cheeks.

-

First computer to sing - Daisy Bell --- Even Before the HAL9000

 -

Why Did the Dying, Evil HAL Computer Sing "Daisy" in 2001 a Space Odyssey?

 Remember that terrifying death-of-HAL scene from Stanley Kubrick's classic '2001: A Space Odyssey,' in which the evil computer drones its " childhood" lyrics to Daisy Bell?  

It turns out that 'Daisy Bell' was a nod to the IBM 7094, which, a team at Bell Labs programmed the first computer to sing in 1962. The popular tune from the late 19th century was chosen as part of a demonstration of speech synthesis which was previewed by Arthur C. Clarke, who also co-wrote the screenplay, paid a visit to a friend at Bell Labs where he was was treated to a performance by the IBM 7094, and later, inspired by what he'd seen, reproduced it in the dramatic death scene of HAL 9000.
-

Announcing The Launch of 301 Works - A Short URL Archive

-

November 11, 2009

Announcing The Launch of 301 Works

Big news for little URLs today, as the Internet Archive announced that they will be taking the lead on 301works.org, an effort designed to add permanence and reliability to the operation of URL shorteners.

From the release:
The Internet Archive and founding companies announce today the launch of 301Works.org, a service to archive shortened Universal Resource Locators (URLs).  This will enable redirect services to incorporate these shortened URLs when a member company ceases business activities. 

The use of shortened URLs has grown dramatically due to the popularity of Twitter and similar micro-streaming services where posts are limited to a small number of characters.  Millions of shortened URLs are generated for users every day by a wide variety of companies.

But when a URL shortening service shuts down, the shortened URLs people put in their blogs, tweets, emails and web sites break.  Unless users have kept a record of each shortened URL and where it was supposed to redirect to, it’s not possible to fix them.
-

Microsoft Makes the Web a More Dangerous Place

-

Hotmail requires tracking cookies for logout

And where do you think you're going?

By Chris Williams

12th November 2009 15:19 GMT

"Hotmail users are now unable to log out of their account if the browser they are using does not accept third party cookies.

"The move by Microsoft raises security concerns, particularly as PCs on corporate networks and in cybercafes and libraries are often set to reject cookies."

This NOT a matter of "What were they thinking?"  It IS a matter of "What!  Were they thinking?"

-

Google says. and Tells How, the Web Can Go Faster

-

Use compression to make the web faster

Monday, November 09, 2009

Every day, more than 99 human years are wasted because of uncompressed content. Although support for compression is a standard feature of all modern browsers, there are still many cases in which users of these browsers do not receive compressed content. This wastes bandwidth and slows down users' interactions with web pages.
-

Clingstone: House on a Rock at Rhode Island

-

Clingstone, an unusual and such a vintage, 103-year-old mansion in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, survives through the love and hard work of family and friends. 

 Henry Wood, the owner, runs the house like a camp where all skilled workers welcome. The Jamestown Boatyard hauls the family’s boats and floating dock and stores them each winter in return for a week’s use of the house in the summer.
-

-

How to sink pirates

Nov 12th 2009
From The Economist print edition

The decline of music piracy holds lessons for other industries

Illustration by Claudio Munoz

YOU open a window on your computer’s screen. You type in the name of a cheesy song from the 1980s. A list of results appears. You double-click on one of them, and within a few seconds the song is playing. This is what it was like to use Napster a decade ago; and it is also how Spotify, another free online-music service, works today. The difference? Napster was an illegal file-sharing service that was shut down by the courts. Spotify, by contrast, is an entirely legal, free service supported by advertising. This shows how much things have changed in the world of online music in the past decade. It also explains why online music piracy may at last be in decline.

-

While Celebrating 40 Years of Sesame Street, A Sad Obituary

-

 From the Archive

Apr 5th 1997
From The Economist

From 1997: Jon Stone, who put laughter into learning, died on March 30th, aged 65

"ANYONE can play on the emotions of children. Jon Stone's gift was to teach them useful things while they were falling about with laughter or gripped by a story. What cunning tricks adults do play on children. But perhaps they are grateful later on. Millions of otherwise deprived children have learnt at least the rudiments of knowledge—how to count and spell—by watching “Sesame Street”, an American television show that Mr Stone helped to create. It doesn't sound much, numbers and letters, but unless you make a start you'll never become a brain surgeon. Many Americans who got to university were happy to acknowledge that they grew up on “Sesame Street”."

-

Oceanographers Develop "Swarms" of Robotic Ocean Explorers

 -

Oceanographers Develop "Swarms" of
Robotic Ocean Explorers

 

 In an effort to plug gaps in knowledge about key ocean processes, the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s division of ocean sciences has awarded nearly $1 million to scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The Scripps marine scientists will develop a new breed of ocean-probing instruments:  Autonomous underwater explorers, or AUEs.

_

Very Exciting Music!

-

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Playing Mambo from " Westside Story " &
Danza Final (Malambo) from " Estancia "



-

A Jewish Mother in Your Cell Phone

-

How nagging text messages can make you healthier and richer.

Newsweek reports that financial institutions (think savings accounts) and health care companies (think both clinical trials & simply taking your medicine when you should) are finding that text messages to mobile phones are very effective ways to get people to do what they should do & what they have self-identified that they want to do.

-

Looking at "Nothing", Astronomers Find Earliet Known Galaxies

-

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D

antimatter detected in lightning

-

Signature of antimatter detected in lightning

Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons,
not just electrons, are in storms on Earth

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected gamma-ray flashes associated with terrestrial storms — and, surprisingly, some of those flashes have contained the  signature of antimatter.

-

This Will be HUGE for Telemedicine & Rural Healthcare

-

November 9, 2009 12:45 PM PST

How your cell phone can diagnose disease

by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore

 

The hardware added to this cell phone costs around $10.

(Credit: Ozcan Research Group/UCLA)

 

"To picture the next-gen microscope, don't picture a microscope at all. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, is adapting cell phones to sample biological images.

"This is no iPhone app. Ozcan, who formed the company Microskia (on the heels of the UC Berkeley team that developed CellScope), has built a prototype whose cell phone camera sensor can detect a slide's contents at a cellular level--reading, for example, an increase in white blood cell count that might indicate a new infection or injury. That information can then be forwarded wirelessly to a lab or hospital."

-

A Voice of Reason From Within the Movie Industry

-

Rutger Hauer to Hollywood: Don't fear tech

The actor who played a murderous artificial life form in "Blade Runner", costarred in "Batman Begins", and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", in essence, tells the movie industry to learn from history instead of continually trying to stop history from happening.

-

Best Wishes Kareem

-

Abdul-Jabbar treated for leukemia

One of the greatest basketball players of all time, and an intensely private person, goes public about his health to educate others.

-

Happy Birthday Sesame Street

-

'Sesame Street' Celebrates 40 Years

To some of us, it hardly seems like 40 years!

November 10, 1969 - first broadcast

Google is Updating its Search Engine

-

Google: Caffeine search is ready to go

Google is beginning to roll-out its new search algorithm first announced last August.  Initially, Caffeine will be in just one data center, but expect it to spread across all of Google's other data centers rather quickly.



While they aren't changing the UI -- so things will continue to look the same -- expect to see quicker responses from your favorite search engine.
_

Using a 2x4 to get Facebook's attention

-

Hundreds of Facebook groups hijacked

Every group on FB has an administrator.  If/when the admin steps down, unless they replace themselves with a new admin, there's an open slot.


An organization called Control Your Info jumped into open slots on 100's of open slots -- in effect hijacking them.

Then  Control Your Info went public -- apparently benevolently.


Sometimes it takes a 2x4 up-aside-the-head to get someone's attention.  I suspect that FB will now change how admin's are administered.
_

People are Impersonating Your Friends and Trying to Steal Your Money

-

How low can online scammers go?

 This new scam pretends to be a Marine in Afghanistan.  The scammer writes, in part, ""When on a routine mission of search and destroy, we stumbled upon a concealed barrel with piles of weapon and ammunition, my men and I agreed that the money be shared, the sum of $900,000.00 (Nine hundred thousand dollars) now happens to be my share.""

If/when you get anything like this, forward it to the Federal Trade Commission [spam@uce.gov] and your state's Attorney General.  In Arizona, the AG's email for this stuff is [communityservices@azag.gov]

-

Vitamin D Can Make Your Home Safer

-

No, not the Vitamin.

Vitamin D is a Silicon Valley start-up that offers software to make your video cam or webcam become a sophisticated security device.

Ina Fried, of CNet News says, "The software, which works on either PCs or Macs, puts a yellow box around any human motion it detects and can be further refined to show only someone coming or going from a particular area--say entering or leaving through a particular door. The software is designed to work with any IP camera or even an inexpensive Web cam."

-

Didn't Anybody Engineer the Large Hadron Collider?

-

Bird drops baguette, halts Collider

The largest engineering project in the World -- and it was brought to a stop by a bird dropping and then nibbling a piece of bread?  Which takes me back to the title of this blog entry:  Didn't Anybody Engineer the Large Hadron Collider?

_

Happy Birthday Firefox!

-

Our favorite Browser was release (in Version 1.0) on November 9, 2004.

-

and Now for Some Good News

-

Why crutches may soon be relics of the past

 

 -

If you are worried about Swine Flu....

-

You ain't seen nothin' yet!


Prepare to get excited about zoonotic and foreign animal diseases, such as Hendra virus & Nipah virus.  They are spread by such animals as bats & horses.


-

Mario Cuomo's Uphill Battle Against Intel

-


New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, in his Anti-Trust case against computer chip-maker Intel, is reminiscent of Sisyphus' struggle with the rock.  The major difference being that this Anti-Trust case will - eventually - come to a conclusion.


CNet News Reports that Intel has continuously reduced prices in the face of competition.  I find it difficult to argue that this harms consumers.


 In that CNet item, several Professors of Anti-Trust law argue, more eloquently than I, that, in pursuing this case, Mr. Cuomo has a difficult job ahead.

-

-

Dave Rosenberg (no relation) over at CNet News reports what he headlines as

"Microsoft's weak cloud privacy position"

"Microsoft released on Thursday a new position paper, "Privacy in the Cloud Computing Era: A Microsoft Perspective," that includes information about the remote storage and processing of personal information."

Dave points out that, instead of establishing and managing a strong standard for your personal privacy information, Microsoft essentially says -- hey, it's all up to you.  It sounds to me like the data privacy equivalent of Microsoft washing its hands of the responsibility.

That somehow reminds me of Pontius Pilate.


-

Canalscape stirs world's interest

-

Phoenix is becoming a 'greener' city, and the World is paying attention.


The Arizona Republic says, "Canalscape is a serious-minded partnership among Arizona State University, Salt River Project, several Valley cities and other organizations dedicated to reintegrating the Valley's canals into the urban environment."

Greenbuild, the world's largest annual conference dedicated to environmentally conscious building design and construction, will be in Phoenix this week.




-

In wake of attack, military asks: Who cares for the caregivers?

-

For years, we've heard how the military is stretched thin -- with reduced recruitment numbers and multiple recurring deployments.


Now we are learning that the very people put in place to care for these over-streched & over-stressed troops are also over-streched & over-stressed.

So, now the big question:   Who cares for the caregivers?
_

Is History Repeating Itself ... Yet Again?

The opposition takes to the streets again

On the 30th anniversary of the Irani (who changed the word to Iranian?) revolution, The Economist reports on the current unrest in that critically important Middle-Eastern country:



"THIRTY years ago, the world was mesmerised by pictures of 52 blindfolded Americans being taken hostage in their embassy in Tehran by Iranian students. This week’s anniversary provided more gripping scenes, as Iranians used the official celebration of that event to take to the streets once again, this time to protest against their own government and their country’s controversial president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election in June they still hotly dispute."
.

RIP - Russ Ackoff

In praise of the ideas of Russ Ackoff

One of the authors of  “Introduction to Operations Research”, Russ Ackoff, who passed away on October 29th, was one of the most influential management gurus of the 20th century.

His ideas and thoughts on systematic thinking remain, and IMHO, will continue to remain, at the forefront  of management theory & effective practice.
.

Growing More Food & Fiber

Artificial satellites are helping farmers boost crop yields

 

The Economist reports that, "FOR farmers, working out the optimal amount of seed, fertiliser, pesticide and water to scatter on a field can make, or break, the subsequent harvest. Regular laboratory analyses of soil and plant samples from various parts of the field can help—but such expertise is costly, and often unavailable. A new and cheaper method of doing this analysis, though, is now on offer. Precise prescriptions for growing crops can be obtained quickly, and less expensively, by measuring electromagnetic radiation reflected from farmland. The data are collected by orbiting satellites."

 

Telemedicine institute trains doctors, helps patients in remote areas

If you live in rural Arizona, and you need specialized medical care, it is either impossible to find, extremely expensive to get, and/or very time consuming to get to.


That's changing, and that's a good thing.


The University of Arizona College of Medicine’s Arizona Telemedicine Program thru the T-Health Institute is beginning to reach all parts of the state. 


Presently, the only stumbling block is the lack of ubiquitous broadband.  Once that is in place, three positive changes can fall into place:  Telehealth, eLearning and rural economic development.

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Ballet Arizona is Gliding on 'Swan Lake'

Last night, we saw Ballet Arizona's new production of Swan Lake.

It was 'World Class' spectacular!

I believe that covers the subject.  

If you want more details, check out Richard Nilsen's review in the Republic.  He has some terrific profiles of the dancers.  Natalia & Astrit are two of my personal favorites.


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Chocolate rich in flavanols may protect the skin from UV

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has discovered for the first time that dark chocolate rich in flavanols may provide significant protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.

 Gotta love this evidence based health care!   ;-)

Amphibious Car

I so want one of these too!

More evidence that chocolate is a health food

My, what a delicious finding!

J Intern Med. 2009 Sep;266(3):248-57.

Chocolate consumption and mortality following a first acute myocardial infarction: the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program.

 

 CONCLUSIONS: Chocolate consumption was associated with lower cardiac mortality in a dose dependent manner in patients free of diabetes surviving their first AMI.

The Plane of the Future, Fits in Your Garage

I so want one of these!

Today, November 6th is a birthday

Pat Tillman (1976–2004)

A is for anniversary!

‘Sesame Street’ celebrates the big 4-0

 We all remember Cookie Monster, Count von Count (I had forgotten his last name), Big Bird, Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper and everybody.

I even remember some educators being nervous about the "competition"! Well, the early childhood education seems to have helped, and that's a good thing.

Google Dashboard Lists Account Info
to Calm Privacy Critics 

 Google is responding to privacy advocates by providing a 'Dashboard' where you can view & manage your personal info that Google has collected.

Speaking of Sharks....

The Headington Shark Sculpture

 How would you like to come home and see a shark diving headlong into your roof?

Well, if you live at 2 New High Street, Headington, Oxford, England, that's what you see every day!

Conservative Commentator Stephen Colbert's Publicity Stunts

Colbert's many publicity stunts are well known.  

But now he's sliding even farther along that path -- sponsoring the U.S. speedskating team!