WASHINGTON — The United States is running out of a rare gas that is crucial for detecting smuggled nuclear weapons materials because one arm of the Energy Department was selling the gas six times as fast as another arm could accumulate it, and the two sides failed to communicate for years, according to a new Congressional audit.
The gas, helium-3, is a byproduct of the nuclear weapons program, but as the number of nuclear weapons has declined, so has the supply of the gas. Yet, as the supply was shrinking, the government was investing more than $200 million to develop detection technology that required helium-3.
New York Times
How important this news can be?
The fact that they talk about NOT BEING ABLE to detect nuclear weapons will justify some leak of it?
Some wanted leak?
Some false flag nuclear attack?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Home, sweet home
If the economy was not manipulated by speculators we would have peace and there would be a balance among nations.
The value of a currency should not be a certain amount of gold, but the value of the job or the commodities for that amount.
If a computer was worth 1000 $ in US and the same equivalent in Yuan or Euros or Rubles, if a carpenter in US was paid the same amount as in Russia or in China, everybody would live and WORK in his country.
There would still be a lot of exchanges, but based on the need and not on the value of the currency.
This morning I read that in Poland they are building a new freeway Berlin- Warsaw and who is building it?
Chineses...
The Polish go to work to England and Germany, Germans go to Norway, English are unemployed and so on...
Isn´t that ridicolous?
Wouldn´t it be better if the Americans produced in US, Polish in Poland and so on?
The value of a currency should not be a certain amount of gold, but the value of the job or the commodities for that amount.
If a computer was worth 1000 $ in US and the same equivalent in Yuan or Euros or Rubles, if a carpenter in US was paid the same amount as in Russia or in China, everybody would live and WORK in his country.
There would still be a lot of exchanges, but based on the need and not on the value of the currency.
This morning I read that in Poland they are building a new freeway Berlin- Warsaw and who is building it?
Chineses...
The Polish go to work to England and Germany, Germans go to Norway, English are unemployed and so on...
Isn´t that ridicolous?
Wouldn´t it be better if the Americans produced in US, Polish in Poland and so on?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Where technology meets relevant content
Since the Autumn of 200 I have an e-books Website.
It is one of my hobbies.
As books lover I always had this dream of being kind of a publisher and the electronic format gave me a good chance.
Electronic books and magazines have a big advantage compared to the traditional ones, they have a very low cost, especially when it comes to colour pictures and they can display video and sound.
The electronic media in my opinion was the best for magazines.
But at that time it had a big problem: to read any book or magazine you needed to be in front of your computer.
I am very happy to say that finally we have come to what I have always dreamed for : a tablet to store and display your ebooks and e magazines.
And I am also very happy to see that
Ringier , a Swiss company, has launched an application for for tablets with internationally relevant content and a highly intuitive User-Navigation system.
This is great news if you happen to own a tablet, since it can be used as iPad application.
This appazine will do all what I could dream an electronic book or magazine would do: highly inter-active design , first-class articles, audio, photos and videos, inter-active elements will include panoramic photography, 3D digital animation, creative morphing, rubbing, X-Ray lens and much much more.
The content will include globally relevant topics (see pictures below) which will excite and challenge top-tier audiences. It will be the first to be published simultaneously in English, German and Chinese.
Sharing propelled by ebuzzing
Where does cancer come from?
Certainly one of the most "wanted" answer is "where does cancer come from?"
How to fulfill it?
In the end of 2006 in the Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis they introduced a new machines capable of reading DNA a thousand times as quickly as the previous machines, and (not unimportant) at far less cost. It could be used to sequence cancer tissues, scouring their DNA for mutations.
Whit it it was possible to identify tens of thousands of mutations.
These new findings have led to new approaches to treating cancer.
Cancer develops when cells accumulate genetic mistakes that allow them to grow and divide faster than healthy cells.
Identifying the mutations that underlie this transformation can help predict a patient’s prognosis and identify which drugs are most likely to work for that patient.
New drugs for cancer treatment could be found.
Since in the patient you have both the tumor genome and the normal genome, you can get many answers by comparing the two.
How to fulfill it?
In the end of 2006 in the Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis they introduced a new machines capable of reading DNA a thousand times as quickly as the previous machines, and (not unimportant) at far less cost. It could be used to sequence cancer tissues, scouring their DNA for mutations.
Whit it it was possible to identify tens of thousands of mutations.
These new findings have led to new approaches to treating cancer.
Cancer develops when cells accumulate genetic mistakes that allow them to grow and divide faster than healthy cells.
Identifying the mutations that underlie this transformation can help predict a patient’s prognosis and identify which drugs are most likely to work for that patient.
New drugs for cancer treatment could be found.
Since in the patient you have both the tumor genome and the normal genome, you can get many answers by comparing the two.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
The new electric smart grid: end to end like the Internet
The future for stabilizing the electricity grid is in Smart transformers.
It will revamp aging power grids into something more like the Internet—a network that might direct energy not just from centralized power stations to consumers but from any source to any destination, by whatever route makes the most sense.
The new transformer will make it easier for the grid to cope with things it was never designed for, like charging large numbers of electric vehicles and tapping surplus electricity from residential solar panels.
Smart meters in homes and offices can help by providing fine-grained information about the flow of electricity, but precise control over that flow is needed too.
Not only would this stabilize the grid, but it would better balance supply and demand, reducing spikes so that fewer power plants would be needed to guarantee the electricity supply.
It will revamp aging power grids into something more like the Internet—a network that might direct energy not just from centralized power stations to consumers but from any source to any destination, by whatever route makes the most sense.
The new transformer will make it easier for the grid to cope with things it was never designed for, like charging large numbers of electric vehicles and tapping surplus electricity from residential solar panels.
Smart meters in homes and offices can help by providing fine-grained information about the flow of electricity, but precise control over that flow is needed too.
Not only would this stabilize the grid, but it would better balance supply and demand, reducing spikes so that fewer power plants would be needed to guarantee the electricity supply.
Monday, May 09, 2011
The whole Web will get "social"
Why not sharing your favorite restaurant with the whole Internet instead just with your friends?
This is the idea at the base of the online services more attuned to what you
really want of Bret Taylor.
Newspaper sites could use their knowledge of what’s previously captured your attention online to display articles you are interested in.
“Fundamentally, the Web would be better if it were more oriented around people,” says
Taylor, who is Facebook’s chief technology officer.
To bring this idea to fruition, he is creating a kind of social index of the most frequently visited chunks of the Web.
Many sites have tried to personalize what they offer by remembering your past behavior and showing information they presume will be relevant to you.
But the social index could be much more powerful because it also mines your friends’ interests and collects information from multiple sites.
As a result, the index can give websites a sense of what is likely to interest you
even if you’ve never been there before.
This is the idea at the base of the online services more attuned to what you
really want of Bret Taylor.
Newspaper sites could use their knowledge of what’s previously captured your attention online to display articles you are interested in.
“Fundamentally, the Web would be better if it were more oriented around people,” says
Taylor, who is Facebook’s chief technology officer.
To bring this idea to fruition, he is creating a kind of social index of the most frequently visited chunks of the Web.
Many sites have tried to personalize what they offer by remembering your past behavior and showing information they presume will be relevant to you.
But the social index could be much more powerful because it also mines your friends’ interests and collects information from multiple sites.
As a result, the index can give websites a sense of what is likely to interest you
even if you’ve never been there before.
When how to store is more important than how to produce
Producing alternative clean energy is without any doubt the future of humanity, but how to store the produced energy is far more important.
Lithium ion (li-ion) batteries are currently the technology of choice for today’s hybrid and electrical vehicles.
There are, however, a number of limitations to the technology, such as the length of the battery’s life.
There is a lithium battery where the anode and cathode are separated by a (proprietary) thin layer. It’s coated on, and it looks as if it’s solid, but it can bend and flex.
This technology was first used in credit cards in Europe and Asia.
The new MasterCard is the first major card in the United States to offer single-use security coding powered by Solicore’s thin, flexible battery.
Current chemical batteries have a number of limitations, including their short lifespan and the limited range of temperatures and pressures at which they can function.
Not so for betavoltaic batteries. Like photovoltaic cells, betavoltaic batteries absorb radiation, but instead of sunlight, the radiation comes from a physical source that emits electrons.
City Labs focused on tritium as a radiation source, as tritium—one of the most benign radioisotopes—is already used to power the phosphorescent glow in the watches used by divers and in exit signs (the signs are not battery powered).
Lithium ion (li-ion) batteries are currently the technology of choice for today’s hybrid and electrical vehicles.
There are, however, a number of limitations to the technology, such as the length of the battery’s life.
There is a lithium battery where the anode and cathode are separated by a (proprietary) thin layer. It’s coated on, and it looks as if it’s solid, but it can bend and flex.
This technology was first used in credit cards in Europe and Asia.
The new MasterCard is the first major card in the United States to offer single-use security coding powered by Solicore’s thin, flexible battery.
Current chemical batteries have a number of limitations, including their short lifespan and the limited range of temperatures and pressures at which they can function.
Not so for betavoltaic batteries. Like photovoltaic cells, betavoltaic batteries absorb radiation, but instead of sunlight, the radiation comes from a physical source that emits electrons.
City Labs focused on tritium as a radiation source, as tritium—one of the most benign radioisotopes—is already used to power the phosphorescent glow in the watches used by divers and in exit signs (the signs are not battery powered).
The Georgia Guidestones
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature."
-Georgia Guidestones-
1)I wouldn´t worry too much about it, I bet there is already someone who knows how to do.
May be some natural, ecologic way: birds flu or something similar...
2) We should just let nature do its business.
3) It won´t be difficult with 500 millions (a little bit more than US population)
4) Point one will solve this too.
5) Fair laws and just courts, of course fair and just to...
6)How many nations do you need for 500 millions?
7) Kill the guilty ones and period
8) Be a slave and shut up.
9) In Sparta, in the old days they knew how to prize truth and beauty...
10) This could be the only point I would agree.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature."
-Georgia Guidestones-
1)I wouldn´t worry too much about it, I bet there is already someone who knows how to do.
May be some natural, ecologic way: birds flu or something similar...
2) We should just let nature do its business.
3) It won´t be difficult with 500 millions (a little bit more than US population)
4) Point one will solve this too.
5) Fair laws and just courts, of course fair and just to...
6)How many nations do you need for 500 millions?
7) Kill the guilty ones and period
8) Be a slave and shut up.
9) In Sparta, in the old days they knew how to prize truth and beauty...
10) This could be the only point I would agree.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Peak oil?
"Once oil peaks, growth is over. "
I think that it is exactly the opposite.
Finding cheap energy blocked progress.
Without oil we would be much more ahead.
We would have found better ways to produce energy.
One century is lost.
And more than anything which growth is over?
The millions tools we import from China that last once or twice and then we have to throw them away?
The millions washing machines, vacuum cleaners and so on...that last a few times and then you have to throw them away because "it is not worth to repair".
The million clothes we have to throw away because "not fashionable" as the big couturiers say...
If that growth is over I am happy, it is a great day for humanity.
Who doesn’t understand now will understand in the future.
I forgot all the "Mc Mansions" built with plastic and cheaply done.
We will begin to build again houses that last centuries and are tornado proof...
Peak oil? Welcome, it took long, but finally the moment of truth has come.
I think that it is exactly the opposite.
Finding cheap energy blocked progress.
Without oil we would be much more ahead.
We would have found better ways to produce energy.
One century is lost.
And more than anything which growth is over?
The millions tools we import from China that last once or twice and then we have to throw them away?
The millions washing machines, vacuum cleaners and so on...that last a few times and then you have to throw them away because "it is not worth to repair".
The million clothes we have to throw away because "not fashionable" as the big couturiers say...
If that growth is over I am happy, it is a great day for humanity.
Who doesn’t understand now will understand in the future.
I forgot all the "Mc Mansions" built with plastic and cheaply done.
We will begin to build again houses that last centuries and are tornado proof...
Peak oil? Welcome, it took long, but finally the moment of truth has come.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
What is education?
Education is exactly THE OPPOSITE of what we think.
It is NOT making an obedient child, it is making a child who does what he has to do because he understands that that is the right thing to do.
Never you do this way because I say so, because I am your father, because I am your teacher, because I am the one who gives you the job.
Education is making a thinking child, giving him the right to choose, explaining what is wrong 8in your opinion) and letting him to do what is right (in his opinion).
Nothing teaches best than making mistakes.
Education is like a software, if you install the wrong one, well, it is for nothing blaming the computer..
It is NOT making an obedient child, it is making a child who does what he has to do because he understands that that is the right thing to do.
Never you do this way because I say so, because I am your father, because I am your teacher, because I am the one who gives you the job.
Education is making a thinking child, giving him the right to choose, explaining what is wrong 8in your opinion) and letting him to do what is right (in his opinion).
Nothing teaches best than making mistakes.
Education is like a software, if you install the wrong one, well, it is for nothing blaming the computer..
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
What drives us to apparent moral turpitude
"it is this madness (civilization) that drives us to apparent moral turpitude"
No, it is much simpler: it is human nature.
Yes we could go back in the world divided in tribes, but the outcome would be exactly the same: a tribe wanting to prevail the other.
Somebody wanting all the land.
They didn’t have nuclear weapons, but they used sticks and arrows, not only to kill animals, also to kill each other.
I guess the reason is a very simple one: the widespread, unavoidable truth that we will die, and there is nothing after death.
Religion can help, as long as people believe that there is hell if you do not behave.
But the moment you realize that you have an average of 80 years to enjoy this world, then you try to enjoy the most, even if it means you will do it on others expenses.
Since dawn of humanity there were many trying to modify human nature, with wisdom, laws, religions.
But sooner or later it comes out, this exasperated survival instinct, this "right" to happiness, this hope to be better having more, no matter how and what.
No, it is much simpler: it is human nature.
Yes we could go back in the world divided in tribes, but the outcome would be exactly the same: a tribe wanting to prevail the other.
Somebody wanting all the land.
They didn’t have nuclear weapons, but they used sticks and arrows, not only to kill animals, also to kill each other.
I guess the reason is a very simple one: the widespread, unavoidable truth that we will die, and there is nothing after death.
Religion can help, as long as people believe that there is hell if you do not behave.
But the moment you realize that you have an average of 80 years to enjoy this world, then you try to enjoy the most, even if it means you will do it on others expenses.
Since dawn of humanity there were many trying to modify human nature, with wisdom, laws, religions.
But sooner or later it comes out, this exasperated survival instinct, this "right" to happiness, this hope to be better having more, no matter how and what.
Monday, May 02, 2011
How Goldman Sachs created the food crisis
Frederick Kaufman's piece for Foreign Policy examines how the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) is responsible for the increase in food prices.
[T]he boom in new speculative opportunities in global grain, edible oil, and livestock markets has created a vicious cycle. The more the price of food commodities increases, the more money pours into the sector, and the higher prices rise. Indeed, from 2003 to 2008, the volume of index fund speculation increased by 1,900 percent. "What we are experiencing is a demand shock coming from a new category of participant in the commodities futures markets," hedge fund Michael Masters testified before Congress in the midst of the 2008 food crisis.
The result of Wall Street's venture into grain and feed and livestock has been a shock to the global food production and delivery system. Not only does the world's food supply have to contend with constricted supply and increased demand for real grain, but investment bankers have engineered an artificial upward pull on the price of grain futures. The result: Imaginary wheat dominates the price of real wheat, as speculators (traditionally one-fifth of the market) now outnumber bona-fide hedgers four-to-one.
[T]he boom in new speculative opportunities in global grain, edible oil, and livestock markets has created a vicious cycle. The more the price of food commodities increases, the more money pours into the sector, and the higher prices rise. Indeed, from 2003 to 2008, the volume of index fund speculation increased by 1,900 percent. "What we are experiencing is a demand shock coming from a new category of participant in the commodities futures markets," hedge fund Michael Masters testified before Congress in the midst of the 2008 food crisis.
The result of Wall Street's venture into grain and feed and livestock has been a shock to the global food production and delivery system. Not only does the world's food supply have to contend with constricted supply and increased demand for real grain, but investment bankers have engineered an artificial upward pull on the price of grain futures. The result: Imaginary wheat dominates the price of real wheat, as speculators (traditionally one-fifth of the market) now outnumber bona-fide hedgers four-to-one.
Osama Bin Laden killed
The United States has killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and recovered his body, according to numerous media reports May 1 citing U.S. officials. U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to make an announcement on the subject. It is not clear precisely how bin Laden was killed or how his body was recovered, but the assertion that he is dead is significant.
Bin Laden had become the symbol of al Qaeda, even though the degree to which he commanded the organization was questionable. The symbolic value of his death is obvious. The United States can claim a great victory. Al Qaeda can proclaim his martyrdom.
Stratford
Bin Laden had become the symbol of al Qaeda, even though the degree to which he commanded the organization was questionable. The symbolic value of his death is obvious. The United States can claim a great victory. Al Qaeda can proclaim his martyrdom.
Stratford
Sunday, May 01, 2011
The Media Center
Since how long are we talking to bring computing to TV?
I think that there is a big and if you want a stupid obstacle.
When you want be a passive spectator, you HAVE to be comfortable.
How many times have I come to this conclusion: I prefer my TV than a big cinema screen, because my couch is MUCH MORE comfortable than a movie theatre, and I can watch TV in my pajamas...and also from my bed...
So, if you want to watch TV, you do not want to have a keyboard on your knees or having to be seated to browse.
You do that much better on your desk, with your computer screen in front of you, comfortably seated.
You will never mix the two, especially now, when monitors are so cheap, you can afford to own more than one.
May be you could have your TV connected to the Internet, you could download directly to your TV and THEN sit comfortably in your couch and ENJOY.
I think that there is a big and if you want a stupid obstacle.
When you want be a passive spectator, you HAVE to be comfortable.
How many times have I come to this conclusion: I prefer my TV than a big cinema screen, because my couch is MUCH MORE comfortable than a movie theatre, and I can watch TV in my pajamas...and also from my bed...
So, if you want to watch TV, you do not want to have a keyboard on your knees or having to be seated to browse.
You do that much better on your desk, with your computer screen in front of you, comfortably seated.
You will never mix the two, especially now, when monitors are so cheap, you can afford to own more than one.
May be you could have your TV connected to the Internet, you could download directly to your TV and THEN sit comfortably in your couch and ENJOY.
Computer power
Software should be used not just to help realize designs you have in mind but to create new ideas.
That is what the new software does, going beyond the simple realization of a project, but giving the tools to realize something of your own.
That is what actual softwares do, they for example go beyond conventional computer- aided design (CAD).
Unlike earlier CAD programs,parametric design programs calculate changes to the entire structure necessitated by, for example, changing the slope of a wall.
Now, architects use these programs to learn instantly how changes in design will affect energy use or building costs.
Some let the software lead the design, making possible previously unbuildable forms.
And the results are complex curved forms such as those that architects designed for
the Beijing National Stadium.
That is what the new software does, going beyond the simple realization of a project, but giving the tools to realize something of your own.
That is what actual softwares do, they for example go beyond conventional computer- aided design (CAD).
Unlike earlier CAD programs,parametric design programs calculate changes to the entire structure necessitated by, for example, changing the slope of a wall.
Now, architects use these programs to learn instantly how changes in design will affect energy use or building costs.
Some let the software lead the design, making possible previously unbuildable forms.
And the results are complex curved forms such as those that architects designed for
the Beijing National Stadium.
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