The Speculist has a good weekend
By Brian | July 6, 2009
My friend Ilya turned me on to a blog called The Speculist, which I glance at periodically. Most of the time, it’s mildly interesting but nothing to blog home about. But this past weekend, it ran four stories that really caught my eye, so I figure I’ll force them upon share them with you.
Not so much interesting (or even practical), just really cool. The robots not only lure the creatures and “digest” them, but they use the energy from the digestion process to power the robot for capturing more pests:
2) Stephen Hawking on Evolution
Stephen Hawking believes we’ve developed the ability to evolve as a species based on more than just genetics:
But we are now entering a new phase, of what Hawking calls “self designed evolution,” in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA. “At first,” he continues “these changes will be confined to the repair of genetic defects, like cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy. These are controlled by single genes, and so are fairly easy to identify, and correct. Other qualities, such as intelligence, are probably controlled by a large number of genes. It will be much more difficult to find them, and work out the relations between them. Nevertheless, I am sure that during the next century, people will discover how to modify both intelligence, and instincts like aggression.”
Anyone want to tell Dr. Hawking he’s wrong? And remember, if this makes you angry, Dr. Hawking can rewire your brain to help with that…
3) The Declaration of Singularity
Just a little something to make Jeff Porten’s head spin off…
4) Coffee May Reverse Alzheimer’s
The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.
Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water. The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day – about 500 milligrams of caffeine.
When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia. Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.
In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.
(emphasis is mine)
Now how’s that for great news? Next up – the Starbucks Center for Memory Enhancement.
Categories: The Future is Now | 3 Comments »
Summing up the Fourth…
By Brian | July 5, 2009
I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July.
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 3 Comments »
Apple: We didn’t know there would be sun…
By Brian | July 3, 2009
It seems the new iPhone 3GS is not a big fan of direct, prolonged sunlight:
Apple says in a support article that “if the interior temperature of the device exceeds normal operating temperatures, you may experience the following as it attempts to regulate its temperature: the device stops charging, display dims, and/or weak cellular signal”.
In its message, Apple says that the iPhone has a safety feature which warns users that the device is becoming too hot. As well as leaving the handset in a car, it says that the phone may overheat when left in direct sunlight for prolonged periods, when GPS tracking is used in a car on a hot day or when its iPod function is used in direct sunlight.
If the warning appears, Apple says that users of the iPhone should turn the device off and allow it to cool before using it.
Oops.
It’s one thing for a phone to have trouble in a car on a summer day, but if you’re going to tout your device as a GPS replacement, then it better be able to sit on the dashboard for hours at a time.
Users on forums are also claiming problems outside of cars – phones too hot to put to their ears, phones that get hot when they use the video capture feature, etc., etc.
This reminds me of the first round of iPods, who’s screen would scratch if you looked at it funny. Apple spent the first few months claiming it was a “user issue,” but was eventually pressured into replacing damaged iPods and, ultimately, fixed the problem in a future version of the product. Look for iPhones with cooling technology in the near future…
Categories: Tech Talk | 13 Comments »
America to Americans: You are not as confident as you think you are
By Brian | June 30, 2009
From the top story on today’s Yahoo Finance page:
Investors are adding consumer confidence to their growing list of things to worry about.
Stocks reversed early gains Tuesday and moved lower after a private research group said consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in June. The Dow Jones industrials fell 105 points in late morning trading.
After months of economic data showing that the recession was not getting worse, investors are hungry for signs that the economy is actually growing. Investors have grown nervous that the economy’s rebound won’t be as robust as hoped.
So, basically, here’s the conversation we’ve been having with ourselves:
Investors (last few months): We’re finally starting to feel better about the economy. We’re going to buy some stocks.
Investors (day before yesterday): Still feeling better. Keep buying stocks…
Private Research Group (yesterday): We know you thought you were feeling better, but you’re not. You’re feeling worse.
Investors (this morning): Holy crap! This news has made me feel worse. Sell the stocks! Sell!! Sell!!!
Perhaps what we have here is an over abundance of information, which has crossed the “cause & effect” transom to become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Categories: Money Talk | 3 Comments »
Good news abounds…
By Brian | June 29, 2009
While the global media obsesses over a rash of celebrity deaths, I was pleased to find some good news in my newsfeed this morning.
1) U.S. Seeks New Roles as Troops Prepare Exit From Iraqi Cities
June 29 (Bloomberg) — Iraqi government officials will mark tomorrow
Categories: The Future is Now | Comments Off on Good news abounds…
New York City Sights – The Financial Buildings
By Brian | June 28, 2009
Back in the day, if you wanted to see the buildings that made up Wall Street’s titans, you had to go to, well. . . Wall Street.
Categories: New York, New York | Comments Off on New York City Sights – The Financial Buildings
What do you think of when you see this bird?
By Brian | June 28, 2009
When you see the picture on the right, what do you think of? Recent polling suggests that if you were born in:
…the 1940’s or 1950’s, you think: Woodstock – 3 Days of Peace & Music
…the 1960’s or 1970’s, you think: The Partridge Family – Come on, Get Happy!
…the 1980’s or 1990’s, you think: Twitter for Guitar?
(NOTE: This post inspired by a certain cousin of mine, who shall, at least for now, remain nameless…)
Categories: Primetime TV, Random Acts of Blogging, Words about Music | 2 Comments »
Scaling the Internet for really big news
By Brian | June 26, 2009
According to CNN, when Michael Jackson died, he almost took significant parts of the Internet with him. Sites that experienced slowness or outright downtime included Google News, TMZ, Perez Hilton’s blog, CNN, Twitter, Wikipedia, the LA Times’ site, AOL Instant Messenger, and MJFanClub.net (a Michael Jackson fan site).
The article calls it the biggest mobile event in history:
AOL consumer adviser Regina Lewis . . .told CNN that, although the numbers weren’t in yet, the day should prove an historic milestone for mobile internet traffic. “It could go down as the biggest mobile event in history,” Lewis said. She felt that was down in part to people checking news headlines from work. “People wanted to keep tabs on this story, but if you’re an accountant you’re supposed to be working on your spreadsheet. So they were using their personal cellphones to do so,” she explained.
While the scale of response to Jackson’s death might be unprecedented, the pattern of it was not, Lewis added. “With the advent of social networking, we saw a sequence that we traditionally see around the death of celebrities,” she said. “One, people clamour for the latest news; two, they share it; three, they react; and then the next stage, which we’re seeing alive and well on video sites … are tributes. In the case of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett, (people have) a lot to work with in terms of images and video,” she said.
A similar event that comes to mind (purely from an infromation technology point of view) is September 11, 2001. On that day, cell phones and web sites had huge outages as well, with some web sites reverting to plain text feeds in order to maximize their use of bandwidth to get information disseminated.
What’s different here, is that almost eight years later, the number of mobile devices in the world has dramatically increased, as has the breadth and depth of bandwidth-hogging rich media, like video clips. So, while scaling to handle another 9/11 involved adding more web servers and IP bandwidth, solving this problem is going to be a bit more complex. Network infrastructure folks, responding to Michael Jackson’s death, will have to respond to a wider variety of devices, protocols, and data objects moving around concurrently.
Yet another way Michael Jackson inadvertently changed the world…
Categories: Tech Talk, Words about Music | 1 Comment »
Going…Going…Gone.
By Brian | June 25, 2009
How different the world is today than it was just a couple of days ago…
R.I.P.: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson
Categories: Primetime TV, Words about Music | Comments Off on Going…Going…Gone.
Celebrity Sighting – Chris Matthews
By Brian | June 23, 2009
I don’t often spot celebrities on the streets of Manhattan, usually because I’m too oblivious to notice them as I walk right past them. But today, on my way to New York’s Penn Station, I looked to my left and there was Chris Matthews talking on his cellphone. This is why I finally threw a digital camera in my laptop bag (hat tip: Ilya Burlak).
Anyway, I moved to a respectful difference and then snapped a picture:
Figures he was to my left… (bad political humor)
Categories: New York, New York, News and/or Media | Comments Off on Celebrity Sighting – Chris Matthews
