Archive for the ‘science’ Category

Western Style Philanthropy

Michele Fugiel poses some great questions about the private quality of "western" style philanthropy.

Why do we separate how money is injected to non-profits and profits from a role that quite often elsewhere is closely associated with the priorities of the government?

Foundation resources are money that would otherwise be added to federal and state treasuries, money otherwise taxed and used for public benefit. For this reason alone, the public should know more about how foundations are managed. (mitpress looks into "deep diversity")

Is there room for change? Big ups to Pierre and Pam Omidyar for "unleashing human potential" (among the other most generous 49 philanthropists) and Jeff Skoll for initiating Social Edge.

Could an Amazon share algorithms with a Pandora? An Amazon branched with a Pandora couldn’t happen because Amazon is Amazon, however to think that there couldn’t be an Panazon is ridiculous. How can market data be shared to promote social entrepreneurialism?

Knowing how the art business revolves one could go out on another limb and wonder why types of "museums" are the beginning and end recipients of "arts benefaction"… who’s in the middle you ask? Thousands if not millions of well-trained artists who do not know that they are artists…..

When given a theoretical $100 billion and asked how hea€™d spend it, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales offers the profound a€" and controversial a€" idea of distributing funds widely and letting people decide what they need on their own, even if ita€™s another Jack Daniels. via

Forecasting the Future?

Many scenarios dictate how people could act or may think, and people use these data sets to forecast the future.

Forecasting is the process of estimation in unknown situations. An art or a science?

Have you ever tried to predict the weather (wisdom of clouds theory)?
Presently there is a lot research circling around how shopping, search and publishing are going to play out under the producer driven present economy.
Some approach forecasting from the standpoint that all things are random and as a result we can’t predict randomness, so forecasting is not possible. Or like Disney, the future is a thing of the past, so why try to imitate the real future?
With most efforts leading towards understanding where earthquakes and tsunamis will hit next, it looks like manerisms rule in the meantime..

He who speaks about the future lies, even when he tells the truth. via

Oxygen Solar

Solar power, which some hold out as a promising form of alternative energy, may have just become a lot more practical.

A researcher at MIT has developed a catalyst that he says can generate oxygen from a glass of water by splitting water molecules. His colleagues say that one simple step could lead to an efficient a€" and cheap a€" method of storing energy from the sun. consumeraffairs

Scientists Solve 30-year-old Aurora Borealis Mystery

"Our data show clearly and for the first time that magnetic reconnection is the trigger," said Angelopoulos, who reports the research in the July 24 online issue of the journal Science. "Reconnection results in a slingshot acceleration of waves and plasma along magnetic field lines, lighting up the aurora underneath even before the near-Earth space has had a chance to respond. We are providing the evidence that this is happening." sciencedaily

Leopard Vs. Crocodile

Photos from the telegraph

Xiamen Bay Photoelectric Industrial City Launched

The launch ceremony of the China Xiamen Bay Photoelectric Industrial City has been held in Zhangzhou, Fujian province. The project is initiated and sponsored by China Technology Development Group Corporation and China Solar Energy Holdings Limited.

More than 100 officers, experts, and entrepreneurs from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA were present at the ceremony.

The industrial city will cover an area of 600 Chinese acres, including factory sites, an administrative area, a science and technology park, and solar energy application demonstration area. CTDC will introduce 60 production lines for SnO2 conductive glass substrates and five lines of amorphous silicon thin-film arrays. Green building designers will be invited for the planning of the whole plant. It is hoped that it will be a renewable energy industrial park with zero emissions.

China Technology Development Corporation is a listed company in NASDAQ. In January 2007, China Merchants Group became the single major shareholder of CTDC, helping CTDC carry out a strategic transformation. CTDC says it is committed to become China’s largest and most innovative photovoltaic manufacturer of amorphous silicon thin film and a leading provider of renewable energy application solutions. chinascr

Allen Spinal Cord Atlas Unveiled

via brainwaves.corante

Web Collaboration

mediatedcultures

Baseball and Philosophy Part 2

Back to baseball and philosophy part II. With quite a lot of approaches to competing in the diamond game, from the runner’s game, to the pitching and defense game, mechanics and such, I’ve decided that the team is the formula.

Some might say like the Devil Rays that there is no strategy to America’s ‘perfect game’ apart to solely winning Wall Street or like Earl Weaver ((mp3)) says : it’s none of your business!

Aligning the stoics with the extremes of baseball seems to be easy for some. And again for others, who speculate on even if there is just philosophy to start off with, with the hardball versus softball debate. Where are the women?

Or that saying "all philosophies are taken" can also be seen as being quite selfish. Sharing is the name of the game, so how come I haven’t revealed any of my personal philosophies? I can’t, I won’t, I will, but not yet.

The rules of the game rule and the "hunches, guesswork, grittiness, gutsiness, the lore of the lunch-pail work ethic" paled against the traditionalists rests where I would start a few fore none philosophy. Next let’s attend the experience and environment conference.

To wonder about the base stealing factor or to focus on those clutch situational players…….?

….Enough of the whoopla, here is John Rawls’ end point philosophy from a letter that was found by the author of the article with the least amount of resistance:

"[Finally], there is the factor of time, the use of which is a central part of any game. Baseball shares with tennis the idea that time never runs out, as it does in basketball and football and soccer. This means that there is always time for the losing side to make a comeback."

words by Phelton Skypes

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