Friday, December 31, 2010

Whither Goest Ubiquity in SM?

I'm about halfway through Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants", a fascinating book in which he discusses his concept of what he calls the "Technium". Click here for a page on his website with links to numerous reviews of the book.



The point I'm at in the book he's discussing the concepts of risk management and how best to approach new technologies, as well as the potential for both good and bad inherent in them. The thing that struck me the hardest, though, is the recognition that some of the effects of a technology aren't apparent until they approach ubiquity, that is until a certain critical mass of people or entities are using them.



So . . . in that regard I find myself wondering what social media is going to look like when everyone is using smartphones and some of the, say, location-based services are both easier to use and more powerful in terms of bringing people together. Anyone have any ideas on what the future may hold? What will it mean to restaurants and others who depend on a fickle public when everyone joins the conversation?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Rocketdyne Continues to Advance on J-2X Engine

If the ill-conceived decision to depend on Russian launch capability for at least two years, which was part of George W. Bush's plan for our Space Program, results in the loss of talent still working at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, it will be at the very least a setback that may take a decade to recover from.



I'm in favor of the commercialization of space and American (actually human) launch capabilities, but it isn't imminent, even if we use aggressive estimates of existing companies vying for leadership. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne needs to become more competitive, but that doesn't require throwing them to the wolves. It would be a sad loss for not just our country, but everyone who believes we have a role to play outside the confines of this planet.

Amplify’d from pr-usa.net

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Completes Assembly of Fuel Turbopump on NASA's J-2X Rocket Engine

The J-2X fuel turbopump assembly follows the successful assembly of the oxidizer turbopump, which delivers high-pressure liquid oxygen to the main injector.  The engine, whose first hot-fire tests are planned for  early 2011 at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, has the characteristics to power the upper-stage of a heavy-lift launch vehicle.

"Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne continues to demonstrate readiness and the capability to support NASA as the nation embarks upon the next era of human spaceflight," said Jim Maser, president, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.


John Vilja, vice president and program manager for the J-2X engine, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, said the J-2X is a significant and long overdue development in upper-stage propulsion.  "The J-2X will prove vital in continuing U.S. space exploration, advancing engineering skills, creating opportunities for missions beyond low-Earth orbit, and even providing opportunities for adaptation to alternate fuels in space," Vilja said.

Read more at pr-usa.net
 

Monday, December 27, 2010

The Beauty of Diagrams: Vitruvian Man & Others I Can't View

Facebook and other frustrations. How many times do you see comments friends of yours have made on threads that were initiated by someone who isn't a friend of yours . . . and you wanted to comment as well, but couldn't? It happens to me quite frequently, but I usually just let it go and content myself with gratitude for not being as interested in instant gratification as, say, my seven year old.



However, this morning I became aware of what looks like a fascinating six-part series that was apparently broadcast on BBC4 just recently, the synopses of which are available on the BBC's website, but which also are listed as unavailable in my area.



The series includes episodes on Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, Copernicus and the heliocentric universe, Newton's prism, Florence Nightingale's depiction of the real cause of battle deaths, The discovery and depiction of DNA, and the story behind the plaque carried on the space vehicle Pioneer.



As a long-time fan of Edward Tufte's and the general notion of "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" I was hoping to watch the series. Alas, not only can't I comment directly on my friend's comments; I can't even watch any of the series.



So . . . Jack Vinson - thanks for your inadvertently making aware of the series; curses on you Facebook for not allowing me to make a side comment because the originator isn't a friend of mine; Damn you BBC for allowing me to read your promos about the series, download the damn iPlayer, but not allowing me to view the episodes.



If anybody out there in cyberland knows how I can remedy this situation without waiting a year before the BBC deigns to replay the series, I would be most appreciative. Thanks.


Friday, December 24, 2010

Happy Holidays from a Quantum Gestalt Humanist

Well, it being that time of year again, I just want to take a moment to wish everyone I know (or whoever happens upon this post) the best. Over the years it's morphed considerably. What was once Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year has become Happy Holidays. There's also Mele Kalikimaka, which is one of my all-time favorites and, as of the last few years, I've taken to wishing friends and family a Happy Chriskwanzukkah.





Recently, however, I came across a new one in the Urban Dictionary, and thought I'd like to share it. So . . . from this former Jew, currently atheist (but who likes the term in the title as well, especially for friends who refuse to believe I'm an atheist), kinda Buddhist, who was raised in a Christian country and is intimately familiar with the holiday now only loosely associated with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (including that Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men nonsense):



Happy Chrismahannukwanzadan




Friday, December 17, 2010

Usage of the word "collaboration" through the eyes of Google Labs' Ngram Viewer (thx @Renee_Hopkins)

Interesting. Based on a tweet from @Renee_Hopkins regarding the frequency of use of "disruptive innovation", I visited the site and put in the word "collaboration". It looks like from about 1870 on there's a fairly even slope, save for the period around WWII (which, I both assumed and pretty much confirmed by checking some titles, had to do with the scrutiny of European collaboration with the Nazis - though there were some other studies as well). Also, it looks like it peaks in 2000 and is currently waning somewhat precipitously.


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Henry Porter on wikileaks

Ah . . . I find the last sentence in this quote simultaneously damning and illustrative of a too-large percentage of our so-called leaders. I'm amazed we put up with their shit! Why are so many so gullible and easily led astray; choosing courses of action that are demonstrably against their own best interests?

Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk
I have lost count of the politicians and opinion formers of an authoritarian bent warning of the dreadful damage done by the WikiLeaks dump of diplomatic cables, and in the very next breath dismissing the content as frivolous tittle-tattle. To seek simultaneous advantage from opposing arguments is not a new gambit, but to be wrong in both is quite an achievement.
Read more at www.guardian.co.uk
 

A Few Choice (mine) Quotes From Bucky

Just thought Sunday morning would be a good time to pass along a few of the numerous quotes attributed to R. Buckminster Fuller I found particularly thought-provoking or enlightening.

Amplify’d from en.wikiquote.org

Buckminster Fuller

Richard Buckminster Fuller (12 July 18951 July 1983) was an American philosopher, architect, and inventor, known to many of his friends and fans as "Bucky" Fuller.


  • God, to me, it seems

    is a verb,

    not a noun,

    proper or improper.


    • No More Secondhand God (1963)




  • The opposite of nature is impossible



  • We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.

    • Barlow, Elizabeth (March 30, 1970). "The New York Magazine Environmental Teach-In". New York Magazine, p. 30.[1]




  • Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.

    • Interview (30 April 1978)



Read more at en.wikiquote.org
 

Saturday, December 11, 2010

I Have To What?

My 7 year old: Daddy. I have a boyfriend.



Me: What's his name.



7YO: Tyler.



Me: Have you kissed him?



7YO: No! I'm going to marry him.



Me: If you marry him you're going to have to kiss him.



Wife: But not until you're 18.



7YO: Yay!

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

I Am Julian Assange

Excellent read by James Moore on why what Wikileaks has done is important to our freedom and progress as a people.