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anonymous

Back in style: An ancient shoe from 3500 BC looks like moccasins worn in the 1950s - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/...post.cfm

technology longnow

shared by anonymous on 09 Jun 10 - Cached
  • While Ötzi wore the oldest known leather shoes prior to this discovery (his were grassy socks held together with straps of bear and deer leather), 7,420-year-old sandals made from plant material were previously found in the Arnold Research Cave in Missouri. The newly discovered lace-up moccasin is thought to narrowly pre-date the first known slip-on shoe, which is 4,680 radiocarbon years old.
  • Talk about vintage footwear—an international team of archeologists has discovered the world's oldest leather shoe.
  • anonymous on 09 Jun 10
     
    By Katie Moisse at Scientific American on June 9, 2010.
anonymous

Cyber Command: We Don't Wanna Defend the Internet (We Just Might Have To) - 0 views

www.wired.com/...rnet-but-we-just-might-have-to

geopolitics technology

shared by anonymous on 08 Jul 10 - Cached
  • Members of the military’s new Cyber Command insist that they’ve got no interest in taking over civilian Internet security – or even in becoming the Pentagon’s primary information protectors. But the push to intertwine military and civilian network defenses is gaining momentum, nevertheless. At a gathering this week of top cybersecurity officials and defense contractors, the Pentagon’s number two floated the idea that the Defense Department might start a protective program for civilian networks, based on a deeply controversial effort to keep hackers out of the government’s pipes.
  • Privacy rights organizations and military insiders also wonder whether CYBERCOM is just another way to extend the NSA’s reach. After all, both organizations are headquartered at Ft. Meade. And both are headed by Gen. Keith Alexander. The CYBERCOM official swears that won’t happen. “It’s not NSA taking over military cyber,” he said. “And it’s not military cyber taking over NSA.”
  • anonymous on 08 Jul 10
     
    By Noah Shactman at Danger Room (Wired.com) on May 28, 2010. Thanks to http://alexkessinger.posterous.com/cyber-command-we-dont-wanna-defend-the-intern-2
anonymous

Bank of America Building: A New Green Standard? - 0 views

www.time.com/...0,8816,1994554,00.html

layscience sustainability technology

shared by anonymous on 08 Jun 10 - Cached
  • The tower's air circulation system is equipped with sensors to detect what are known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and a rapidly evaporating substance like Purell is full of them.
  • That drooping feeling you get midway through a meeting in a crowded conference room may not be caused by boredom, but by too little oxygen circulating in an overpopulated space.
  • Do celebrity tenants and a shiny LEED label really mean as much as they seem, or will an exercise in enormity like the BOA building wind up being more of a feel-good project than a do-good one?
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Even if every LEED point is justly earned, however, the question isn't how the building performs the day you take the shrink wrap off, it's how it does 5 or 10 or 100 years down the line.
  • anonymous on 08 Jun 10
     
    A fascinating look at the newest BOA building in Manhattan. By Jeffrey Kluger at Time on June 6, 2010.
anonymous

The New Rules: America's Demographic Edge in 'Post-American' World - 0 views

www.worldpoliticsreview.com/...ic-edge-in-post-american-world

geopolitics demographics

shared by anonymous on 12 Jul 10 - Cached
  • To the amazement of many from my generation, who grew up in real fear of "Soylent Green"-type scenarios of over-population, our primary demographic challenge going forward is to maintain a decent worker-to-retiree ratio as national populations age at an unprecedented speed
  • As Joel Kotkin argues in his recent book, "The Next Hundred Million," America "should emerge by mid-century as the most affluent, culturally rich, and successful nation in human history" as we increase in size to 400 million citizens by 2050.
  • Kotkin sees America's heartland as our most profound demographic asset going forward, noting that this vast and agriculturally rich "flyover country" can easily absorb another 100 million citizens and still leave us, in demographic terms, six times less dense than Germany.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Still think China is going to rule this century, weighed down by that unprecedented demographic burden?
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 12 Jul 10
       
      This, alongside the lack of economic flexibility and largely useless land areas, is why I don't see China as a global competitor to the U.S., though I remain open to other arguments.
  • So ask yourself, where do you really think the "clash of civilizations" will unfold in our rapidly modernizing world? Among the most religious societies, or between the more religious and least religious ones? I'm betting on the latter, especially as new bio-technologies proliferate, pitting the "this is my lifers" against the "go forth and multipliers."
  • Most observers of American society lament our alleged over-indulgence in individualism: political scientist Robert Putnam's "bowling alone" metaphor. Kotkin's heartland-focused vision of America's future stands apart from that conventional wisdom by emphasizing our society's capacity for regeneration and reinvention.
  • anonymous on 12 Jul 10
     
    "To the amazement of many from my generation, who grew up in real fear of "Soylent Green"-type scenarios of over-population, our primary demographic challenge going forward is to maintain a decent worker-to-retiree ratio as national populations age at an unprecedented speed." By Thomas P.M. Barnett in World Politics Review on July 12, 2010
anonymous

Slow Aeronautics - 0 views

hilobrow.com/...slow-aeronautics

technology

shared by anonymous on 09 Jul 10 - Cached
  • With the wingspan of a jetliner, the bauplan of a dragonfly, and flying at a maximum speed of less than eighty miles an hour (and with an average speed of about 35 mph), Solar Impulse circled its home field in Payerne, reaching an altitude of more than 28,000 feet while drinking in solar rays and storing the energy in its batteries for a flight that would last through the night.
  • anonymous on 09 Jul 10
     
    "With the wingspan of a jetliner, the bauplan of a dragonfly, and flying at a maximum speed of less than eighty miles an hour (and with an average speed of about 35 mph), Solar Impulse circled its home field in Payerne, reaching an altitude of more than 28,000 feet while drinking in solar rays and storing the energy in its batteries for a flight that would last through the night." By Matthew Battles at HiLobrow on July 8, 2010.
anonymous

The Geopolitics of the iPhone - 0 views

www.foreignpolicy.com/...the_geopolitics_of_the_iphone

technology geopolitics

shared by anonymous on 09 Jul 10 - Cached
  • Five ways Apple's new gadget and its cousins are transforming global politics.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 09 Jul 10
       
      I'm fascinated by supply chains. Things that we consume - and for granted - can have long, convoluted, socially detrimental effects. Most of our exposure to supply chains relates to pollution and broad-based environmental concerns. When we dig deeper, though, there are powerful connections all over the place.
  • After oil and water, coltan might soon be among the world's most contested resources.
  • Foxconn finally agreed to raise wages 30 percent amid rising criticism over the deaths, but the iPhone maker is only a small part of a larger trend affecting the Chinese labor market.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Cellular service companies make most of their money by hawking contracts, not handsets -- which is why upgrading your phone's hardware every two years can be so easy and cheap.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 09 Jul 10
       
      Reminds me of our family conversation about July 4th fireworks. You know you're in a liberal family when you wonder about how the money could be better used. But it's not as though life is so reducible. There isn't a fireworks-to-healthcare conversion kit and there are *plenty* of ways that we average citizens could better spend our money.
  • Although it hasn't revolutionized higher education yet, iTunes U holds great promise for remote student learning, especially in regions where access to quality education is limited.
  • Normally, military innovation drives advances in the private market. Take GPS satellite navigation, for instance, or the microwave oven. In the case of smartphones, though, the tables have turned.
  • anonymous on 09 Jul 10
     
    "Five ways Apple's new gadget and its cousins are transforming global politics." By Brian Fung at Foreign Policy on June 28, 2010.
anonymous

Iran, Russia: A Possible Kremlin Shift and Frayed Iranian Nerves - 0 views

www.stratfor.com/...hift_and_frayed_iranian_nerves

geopolitics

shared by anonymous on 28 May 10 - Cached
  • Shifts in the Kremlin’s view of the country’s economic situation prompted the most recent policy review. Russia is determined to modernize — and not just rhetorically. But this will require Western technology — something the West is wary of.
anonymous

Egregious Citations Issued to BP - 0 views

flowingdata.com/...regious-citations-issued-to-bp

visualizations technology energy

shared by anonymous on 07 Jun 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 07 Jun 10
     
    By Nathan Yau at FlowingData on June 6, 2010
anonymous

The Heartbreaking Truth About Flying Cars - 0 views

www.theatlantic.com/...58972

technology layscience

shared by anonymous on 01 Jul 10 - Cached
  • Every principle of engineering leads to one inescapable conclusion about a flying car, or "roadable aircraft": it can ONLY be a lousy example of both. The practical reality is, you can have a crap car, and a crap airplane, for five times the money and ten times the chance of dying from sudden impact. IMHO, this particular pursuit can only be evidence of American greatness IF you think techno-triumphalism without foresight is a great thing. Americans love cars because they associate them with "freedom" in a quasi-religious fashion. But look at the unintended consequences of happy motoring: the astounding wealth squandered on the doomed project of suburbanization, and the paving of the American West. Suppose we were able to build a Blade Runner-esque hover-car that runs on magical cheap biofuel made from lawn clippings? Every alpine meadow, mountain lake, canyon rim, and forest vale would be colonized by fat "extreme suburbanites" who would fly to and from their "green" modular McMansions. Dude: walkable cities connected by mass transit. * P.S. As an avid paraglider pilot, I wince at the "Maverick" para-car. Once you understand that rudderless paragliders have no cross-wind landing capacity, and the wing-loading of that size canopy dictates a landing speed in excess of 30mph, you realize that the roll cage is there for a reason...
  • anonymous on 01 Jul 10
     
    By James Fallows in the Science and Tech section of The Atlantic on July 1, 2010. Thanks to @paleofuture (and then @thebrandi) for the hat tip.
anonymous

Iridium - the satellite phone always rings twice - 0 views

www.wiredreread.com/...ellite-phone-always-rings.html

technology

shared by anonymous on 03 Jun 10 - No Cached
  • anonymous on 03 Jun 10
     
    A great article at Wired Reread.
anonymous

The Problem with Wikipedia - 0 views

xkcd.com/214

technology whimsy

shared by anonymous on 10 Jun 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 10 Jun 10
     
    By XKCD. Completely true.
anonymous

Know Your Meme - 0 views

knowyourmeme.com

internet technology

shared by anonymous on 19 Jul 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 19 Jul 10
     
    Part of the Internet Meme Database. "Documenting Internet phenomena: viral videos, image macros, catchphrases, web celebs and more."
anonymous

The World's First Printed Building - 0 views

www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/...-worlds-first-printed-building

technology

shared by anonymous on 26 Jul 10 - Cached
  • In a small shed on an industrial park near Pisa is a machine that can print buildings. The machine itself looks like a prototype for the automotive industry.
  • Four columns independently support a frame with a single armature on it. Driven by CAD software installed on a dust-covered computer terminal, the armature moves just millimetres above a pile of sand, expressing a magnesium-based solution from hundreds of nozzles on its lower side.
  • Not that Dini shows much respect for his invention. His brother Ricardo is a talented mechanical engineer who also works on the project and proposed some of its defining features – the single armature for example. Today though he is beating recalcitrant parts of it with a hammer. Enrico refers to a pin system for calibrating the height of the frame as ‘this fucking device’. He is exasperated by its limitations. ‘My machine is stupid,’ he fumes. Perhaps there is certain dumbness to the binary logic of its on/off secretions compared to the complexity of the robots he once made for the shoe industry.
  • anonymous on 26 Jul 10
     
    "In a small shed on an industrial park near Pisa is a machine that can print buildings." By Tim Abrahams at Blueprint Magazine on March 8, 2010.
anonymous

Beyond 1-D in Science and Human Spirituality - 0 views

www.npr.org/...ensions-of-science-vs-religion

religion technology science layscience

shared by anonymous on 26 Jul 10 - Cached
  • The extremes of the science and religion debate have had their say. They offer little to us anymore but a tired standard that fails to meet the most important challenge of our moment – the need to create something new.
  • On one side are the religious fundementalists brandishing scripture like bullies and willing to force their particular interpretations of their particular religions into textbooks and courthouses.
  • On the other side are … what? As an atheist myself, finding the right term is difficult but come to rest on strident atheists. 
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The human world we build is established in mind and heart and spirit.  It will come down to what we hold sacred. Yes those words spirit and sacred must be included however you choose to define it.
  • In mathematics orthogonality refers to line elements or vectors which are perpendicular, i.e., forming right angles. To move orthogonally to a line, like the linear spectrum of fundamentalist vs strident atheist, means to move into a new dimension. 
  • anonymous on 26 Jul 10
     
    "If science v. religion has nothing more to offer, we must we must create a new way of thinking about their relationship." By Adam Frank at NPR on July 26, 2010.
anonymous

Kurzweil still doesn't understand the brain - 0 views

scienceblogs.com/...weil_still_doesnt_understa.php

criticalthinking technology futurism

shared by anonymous on 21 Aug 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 21 Aug 10
     
    "Ray Kurzweil has responded to my criticisim of futurist fortune-telling. It really just compounds the problems, though, and gullible people who love Ray will think he's answered me, while skeptical people who see through his hocus-pocus will be unimpressed. It's kind of pointless to reply again, but here goes." (By PZ Meyers at Pharyngula on August 21, 2010)
anonymous

3D Printed Fabrics - The Death Knell Of The Needle And Thread? - 0 views

www.unfinishedman.com/knell-of-the-needle-and-thread

technology

shared by anonymous on 02 Aug 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 02 Aug 10
     
    "Though these "clothes" are obviously hideous, the technology's potential is staggering. What happens when 3D printing allows for (normal) looking clothes to be printed at the click of a button? The implications on the labor markets and foreign production are staggering. Instead of having workers in China stitching together shirts emblazoned with wolves and crying eagles, we can have computers do the work instead, leaving workers more time to create poisonous children's toys and toxic overalls." By Chad at Unfinished Man on July 29, 2010.
anonymous

The Geopolitics of Google Earth - 0 views

www.foreignpolicy.com/...he_geopolitics_of_google_earth

geopolitics technology

shared by anonymous on 18 Aug 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 18 Aug 10
     
    "It's way beyond crop circles, blood-red lakes in Iraq, and half-hidden UFOs. Officials from Greece to New York to Switzerland are using the free satellite images to find tax cheats with undeclared swimming pools and illegal pot plantations. Armchair cartographers are also getting in on the game, uncovering -- and creating -- political minefields." By Benjamin Pauker at Foreign Policy on August 6, 2010.
anonymous

The Cost of Economic Reform in Cuba - 0 views

www.stratfor.com/...0802_cost_economic_reform_cuba

geopolitics

shared by anonymous on 03 Aug 10 - Cached
  • According to the president’s speech, Cuba will drastically reduce state control over the economy to boost efficiency and ease some of the burden on the state. Part of the plan entails restructuring the labor force: Cuban government officials have said they plan to eliminate or shift one million inefficient jobs over the next five years (200,000 per year) to other sectors.
  • With 85 percent of the country’s five-million-strong labor force working for the government, there is certainly room for privatization.
  • Many argue that lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba is a policy long overdue and one that would provide the boon to the Cuban tourism sector to fuel the country’s economic growth with American dollars.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The more interesting question in our mind is whether a political rapprochement between Cuba and the United States would even bring Cuba the economic benefits it seeks. The island’s decades of prosperity during the Cold War were a product of enormous subsidies and technological support from the Soviet Union.
  • Cuba has very few natural geographic economic advantages. There is already stiff competition in the rum and sugar markets, and islands throughout the Caribbean boast similarly beautiful beaches.
  • anonymous on 03 Aug 10
     
    "Change appeared to be in the air in Havana when Cuban President Raul Castro confirmed reports Sunday of a five-year liberalization plan to update the communist country's economic policy." At StratFor on August 3, 2010.
anonymous

The Feeling Of Power (by Isaac Asimov) - 0 views

downlode.org/power.html

technology mathematics fiction scifi

shared by anonymous on 31 Aug 10 - Cached
  • anonymous on 31 Aug 10
     
    "Aub said, "Three plus two makes five, you see, so the twenty- one becomes a fifty-one. Now you let that go for a while and start fresh. You multiply seven and two, that's fourteen, and one and two, that's two. Put them down like this and it adds up to thirty-four. Now if you put the thirty-four under the fifty-one this way and add them, you get three hundred and ninety-one, and that's the answer." There was an instant's silence and then General Weider said, "I don't believe it. He goes through this rigmarole and makes up numbers and multiplies and adds them this way and that, but I don't believe it. It's too complicated to be anything but horn-swoggling." "
anonymous

Designing society for posterity - 0 views

www.antipope.org/...ning_society_for_posterit.html

longnow technology space

shared by anonymous on 05 Aug 10 - Cached
  • We humans are really bad at designing institutions that outlast the life expectancy of a single human being. The average democratically elected administration lasts 3-8 years; public corporations last 30 years; the Leninist project lasted 70 years (and went off the rails after a decade). The Catholic Church, the Japanese monarchy, and a few other institutions have lasted more than a millennium, but they're all almost unrecognizably different.
  • anonymous on 05 Aug 10
     
    "If you can crank yourself up to 1% of light-speed, alpha centauri is more than four and a half centuries away at cruising speed. To put it in perspective, that's the same span of time that separates us from the Conquistadores and the Reformation; it's twice the lifespan of the United States of America." By Charlie Stoss at Charlie's Diary on November 12, 2009.
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