May 2009
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Bush calls Clinton 'his brother' at Toronto forum →
uhm…yeah…
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Robots forming human-like societies: electronic... →
cyberpunk:
Within fifty generations of this electronic evolution, co-operative societies of robots had formed — helping each other to find food and avoid poison. Even more amazing is the emergence of cheats and martyrs. Transistorized traitors emerged which wrongly identified poison zone as food, luring their trusting brethren to their doom before scooting off to silently charge in a food...
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“A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey.”
– Sufi saying (via theoriginaljoefisher)
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Time-Lapse Videos of Massive Change on Earth |... →
(via americansatori)
Watch Dubai grow! Watch the Aral Sea shrink into a small, salty puddle! Watch the Amazon get deforested. All the *hits*.
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Non Lethal 'Dazer Laser' Debuts at Parade →
The beam, when shined in the face of a perceived aggressor, temporarily blinds them, impairs his or her balance, and gives them motion sickness that lasts for several hours, making it difficult for them to move, according to company publications. It can control people even with their eyes closed.
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The Future of Artificial Intelligence -... →
Artificial intelligence is already used to automate and replace some human functions with computer-driven machines. These machines can see and hear, respond to questions, learn, draw inferences and solve problems. But for the Singulatarians, A.I. refers to machines that will be both self-aware and superhuman in their intelligence, and capable of designing better computers and robots faster than...
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Climate change could kill 500,000 a year by 2030 →
The new report, The Human Impact of Climate Change published by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organisation led by former secretary general of the United Nations Kofi Annan, concludes that climate change kills an estimated 300,000 people per year, equivalent to the number of deaths caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Ninety per cent of them are in the developing world.
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85% of the World's Oyster Reefs Are Gone (and the... →
buffleheadcabin:
According to a new study by the Nature Conservancy, 85% of oyster reefs have been lost worldwide. That’s right: Only 15% of the world’s oyster reefs remain. In most individual bays around the world, the rate of decline is even worse, exceeding 90%, and in many cases — particularly in North America, Europe and Australia — oysters are “functionally extinct.”
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Obama Says New Cyber Czar Won’t Spy on the Net →
“Our pursuit of cybersecurity will not include — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or internet traffic,” he said. “We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the internet as it should be, open and free.”
It will be a good thing to keep that...
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Global crisis 'hits human rights' →
The global economic crisis is exacerbating human rights abuses, Amnesty International has warned.
In its annual report, the group said the downturn had distracted attention from abuses and created new problems.
The 400-page report, compiled in 157 countries, said that human rights were being relegated to the back seat in pursuit of global economic recovery.
You can consider it a time-bomb.
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San Francisco's Top 10 sex scandals →
How could you go wrong with cases named the “Ding Dong Daddy” and the “Cable Car Nymph” ???
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Who Are the Shadow Warriors? Countries Are Getting... →
Sudan: The two F-16s caught the trucks deep in the northern desert. Within minutes, the column of vehicles was a string of shattered wrecks burning fiercely in the January sun. Surveillance drones spotted a few vehicles that had survived the storm of bombs and cannon shells, and the fighter-bombers returned to finish the job.
Syria: Four Blackhawk helicopters skimmed across the Iraqi border,...
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Giant Blob Found Deep Beneath Nevada | LiveScience →
Hidden beneath the U.S. West’s Great Basin, scientists have spied a giant blob of rocky material dripping like honey.
While studying the area, John West of Arizona State University (ASU) and his colleagues found evidence of a large cylindrical blob of cold material far below the surface of central Nevada. Comparison of the results with CAT scans of the inside of Earth taken by ASU’s...
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China Takes Bulldozers to Ancient Islamic City →
theoriginaljoefisher:
Classy.
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UK Camera grid to log all license plates →
The BBC has learned a national network of cameras monitoring Britain’s roads will be in place within months.
Police forces across England, Wales and Scotland will soon be able to share the information on one central computer.
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U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber... →
May 27 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. economy will enter “hyperinflation” approaching the levels in Zimbabwe because the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to raise interest rates, investor Marc Faber said.
“I am 100 percent sure that the U.S. will go into hyperinflation,” Faber said. “The problem with government debt growing so much is that when the time will come and the Fed should increase...
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Green-glowing monkeys have green-glowing babies →
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japanese researchers have genetically engineered monkeys whose hair roots, skin and blood glow green under a special light, and who have passed on their traits to their offspring, the first time this has been achieved in a primate.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are next.
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California Doesn't Need to Borrow Billions from... →
Only three of 50 states are now solvent, meaning they have the revenues to meet their state budgets; and one of them is North Dakota. It is an unlikely candidate for the distinction. It is a sparsely populated state of fewer than 700,000 people, largely located in isolated farming communities afflicted with cold weather. Yet since 2000, the state’s GNP has grown 56%, personal income has...
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Israel considers controversial law →
The Israeli parliament has passed a preliminary reading of a bill that would mandate the imprisonment of anyone who calls for the end of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, according to the Jerusalem Post newspaper.
The bill has to still pass three votes and a committee review before taking effect as a legislation.
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Fairy Tales' Unknown Origins →
“It has been said so often that the folk invented and disseminated fairy tales that this assumption has become an unquestioned proposition,” Bottigheimer writes in the introduction to her most recent book, Fairy Tales: A New History (State University of New York Press, 2009). “It may therefore surprise readers that folk invention and transmission of fairy tales has no basis in...
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Magnets in ant antennae work as internal GPS -... →
Miniscule magnets found in ant antennae could help to explain why these insects seem to always know where they are going, according to researchers who suspect the magnets are a key component of a sophisticated, nature-made GPS system.
The system, in fact, appears to be mostly built out of dirt.
“The incorporation of minerals probably starts as soon as ants start getting in touch with...
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Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear →
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.
Interfax quoted an unnamed security source as saying a stand-off triggered by Pyongyang’s nuclear test on Monday could affect the security of Russia’s far eastern regions, which...
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Supreme Court: Suspects can be interrogated... →
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a long-standing ruling that stopped police from initiating questions unless a defendant’s lawyer was present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects.
The Obama administration had asked the court to overturn Michigan v. Jackson, disappointing civil rights and civil liberties groups that expected...
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Top 10 Rush Limbaugh Racist Quotes →
(via azspot)
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Olduvai Theory: Sliding Towards a Post-Industrial... →
azspot:
On the average, world per capita energy-use reached a maximum value (i.e., a peak) in 1977.
The 1977-1995 rate of decline has averaged 0.90% per year.
Per capita energy-use will continue to decline as long as the world population growth rate exceeds the energy growth rate.
If the decline continues (and extinction is avoided), human societies will bottom out at...
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How Computational Thinking is Changing Journalism... →
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“The question now is, how do you then extrapolate it upwards? How do you take...”
– Mind Hacks: Lehrer on Brain Science
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LUXURY IN CHINA: Getting Rich Is Glorious →
A recently released trend report on the predicted 30 year upswing in China’s consumerism. Favorite line: “They splurge to impress. Money is power to them, and power is everything.”
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Global Guerrillas: ENERGY, MOORE'S LAW, AND... →
So, what does this mean? We will likely adapt, but not in the way anticipated. The most likely adaption will come in the form of a substrate shift. A shift in the underlying model of the global economy to one that is much, much more energy efficient….
Instead, it’s a global judo move that flips everything on its back. A core change to our fundamental economic and social model that...
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Fake web traffic can hide secret chat - New... →
THE internet’s underlying technology can be harnessed to let people exchange secret messages, perhaps allowing free speech an outlet in oppressive regimes.
Web, file transfer, email and peer-to-peer networks all use TCP, which ensures that data packets are received securely by making the sender wait until the receiver returns a “got it” message. If no such acknowledgement...
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Occult Symbols in Corporate Logos →
During the 20th century, urban environments got taken over by corporate logos. Studies have reported that an average person is exposed to about a thousand logos a day. Few people however ponder on the symbolic meaning of these marketing tools and their occult origins. This article analyzes the esoteric origin of some well known corporate logos.
Very interesting….
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10 Ways To Make Yourself (And Everyone Around You)... →
buffleheadcabin:
I’m not much for self-help tips, but this seemed very au courant:
(And don’t tell me you don’t want to be miserable. I’m pretty sure you’re already doing at least a few of the things on this list…)
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