QuinCunx

Image via Wikipedia Singularity: Kurzweil on 2045, When Humans, Machines Merge - TIME :  "It's impossible to predict the behavior of these smarter-than-human intelligences with which (with whom?) we might one day share the planet, because if you could, you'd be as smart as they would be.  But there are a lot of theories about it. Maybe we'll merge with them to become super-intelligent cyborgs, using computers to extend our intellectual abilities the same way that cars and planes extend our physical abilities.  Maybe the artificial intelligences will help us treat the effects of old age and prolong our life spans indefinitely. Maybe we'll scan our consciousnesses into computers and live inside them as software, forever, virtually.  Maybe the computers will turn on humanity and annihilate us. The one thing all these theories have in common is the transformation of our species into something that is no longer recognizable as such to humanity circa 2011. Th

Image via Wikipedia "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."                                      - Albert Einstein Related articles Wayne Wang to Helm Albert Einstein Biopic (collider.com) The Great Albert Einstein Stories (treebeard31.wordpress.com) Who Was Albert Einstein? (brainz.org) Dark Energy: Astronomers Inch Toward Solving Space Riddle (time.com) Albert Einstein skull X-ray sold for £24,000 (newslite.tv) The Riddle of Albert Einstein (socyberty.com)

Image via Wikipedia Quotes by George Polya. An George Polya Quote Library | The Gaiam Blog : "The traditional mathematics professor of the popular legend is absentminded. He usually appears in public with a lost umbrella in each hand. He prefers to face the blackboard and to turn his back to the class. He writes a, he says b, he means c; but it should be d. Some of his sayings are handed down from generation to generation. 'In order to solve this differential equation you look at it till a solution occurs to you.' 'This principle is so perfectly general that no particular application of it is possible.' 'Geometry is the science of correct reasoning on incorrect figures.' 'My method to overcome a difficulty is to go round it.' 'What is the difference between method and device? A method is a device which you used twice.' George Polya"

Will Verizon's FiOS Deployment Freeze Ever Thaw? - Many Cities Still Waiting On Next FiOS Deployment Phase | DSLReports.com, ISP Information : "Keep in mind there is limited to no competition in many of these markets, and Verizon over the years has lobbied to pass more than a dozen state level bans that prevent cities from wiring themselves. Verizon knows if a city asks too much in Verizon's opinion (like say, Verizon actually paying property taxes like everybody else) Verizon can pull the plug knowing nobody else will deliver such speeds. That's a pretty potent negotiating position and, as the only major telco with the guts to re-invest this kind of money back into the network, it was earned."

Market Crash 2011: It will hit by Christmas Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch : "Psychology offers us a powerful lesson: Our collective brain is destined to trigger a crash before Christmas 2011. Why? We’re gullible, keep searching for a truth-teller in a world of liars. And they’re so clever, we let them manipulate us into acting against our best interests. In fact, behavioral science tells us that bankers and politicians are lying to us 93% of the time. It’s 13 times more likely Wall Street is telling you a lie than the truth. That’s why they win. Why we lose. Because our brains are preprogrammed to cooperate in their con game. Yes, we believe most of their lies."

Home - This Recording : "Music is a drug. Science has officially demonstrated that music produces the same effects in the brain as powerful euphoric (psychosexual) experiences. The way drugs have an emotional effect on you (why do you think people take drugs?) you are using music as a substance to produce certain emotional effects. That is why you listen to some songs a million times and others once. Individual experiences are subjective."

New Record: Telescope Finds 19 Near-Earth Asteroids in One Night : "The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29, the most asteroids discovered by one telescope on a single night. “This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world’s most powerful telescope for this kind of study,” said Nick Kaiser, head of the Pan-STARRS project. “NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s support of this project illustrates how seriously they are taking the threat from near-Earth asteroids.”"

SUCCESS: Fertilization Cap Put in Place to Help Save Dolphins : "Ocean River Institute and county commissioners in Martin County, Florida are working together to create a cap on the excessive fertilization of lawns. This will help make the dolphins' home a safe environment."

Verizon to be investigated

U.S. Must Take Space Storm Threat Seriously, Experts Warn - Yahoo! News : "A severe solar storm has the potential to take down telecommunications and power grids, and the country needs to work on being better prepared, said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Lubchenco is also the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. 'This is not a matter of if, it's simply a matter of when and how big,' Lubchenco said of the potential for a dangerous solar flare. 'We have every reason to expect we're going to be seeing more space weather in the coming years, and it behooves us to be smart and be prepared.'"

Cell phone exposure increases brain cell activity - CNN.com : "'The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices, within the limits established by the FCC, do not pose a public health risk or cause any adverse health effects,' said a statement from John Walls, the group's vice president for public affairs. 'In May 2010, the Interphone project, coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which was the largest study of cell phone use and brain tumors ever undertaken and included substantial numbers of subjects using cell phones for ten years or longer, found that 'overall, no increase in risk was observed with the use of mobile phones.' '"

BBC News - New Zealand earthquake: Depth and location key : "But whereas last year's quake caused much less damage and no deaths, the natural disaster that struck the city on 22 February looks set to go down in the record books as one of the most catastrophic in New Zealand's history. The critical difference on this occasion is that the ground broke almost directly under the country's second city, and at shallow depth."

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Quotes by George Polya. An George Polya Quote Library | The Gaiam Blog : "Mathematics is the cheapest science. Unlike physics or chemistry, it does not require any expensive equipment. All one needs for mathematics is a pencil and paper. George Polya"

Evgeny Morozov: The Net Delusion Open Society Foundations

IBM's Watson Dominates Humanity's Best in Jeopardy : "In the second day of Jeopardy‘s three day “Man vs. Machine” special, Watson wiped the floor with Ken Jennings (a 74-time champion) and Brad Rutter (a 20-time champion). Ken Jennings ended day two with $4,800 and Brad Rutter ended with $10,400, while Watson took home $35,734 in prize winnings. Out of 30 answers, Watson was first to buzz in on 25 of them, getting all but one of them right."

Image via Wikipedia Quotes by George Polya. An George Polya Quote Library | The Gaiam Blog : "Mathematics consists of proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way. George Polya"

Image via Wikipedia Science is nothing but developed perception, interpreted intent,  common sense rounded out and minutely articulated.   -   George Santayana Related articles Kenneth Cole, Habitat and George Santayana (broadstuff.com) what is science? (moritherapy.org)

Image via Wikipedia AOL buying Huffington Post for $315M - Yahoo! News : "Perhaps just as important as picking up a news site and ranks as one of the top 10 current events and global news sites, AOL will be adding Huffington Post co-founder and media star Arianna Huffington to its management team as part of the deal." Related articles AOL Buys The Huffington Post For $315 Million (justjared.buzznet.com)

A Graying Population Spells Business Opportunity - NYTimes.com : "The age-empathy suit comes from the M.I.T. AgeLab, where researchers designed Agnes to help product designers and marketers better understand older adults and create innovative products for them. Many industries have traditionally shied away from openly marketing to people 65 and older, viewing them as an unfashionable demographic group that might doom their product with young and hip spenders. But now that Americans are living longer and more actively, a number of companies are recognizing the staying power of the mature market."

Image by Witer via Flickr Verizon’s iPhone Doesn’t Drop Calls - NYTimes.com : "It’s here. After almost four years of speculation, the iPhone will finally come to Verizon’s network on Feb. 10." And to answer everyone’s question, the Verizon iPhone is nearly the same as AT&T ’s iPhone 4 — but it doesn’t drop calls. For several million Americans, that makes it the holy grail. Related articles AT&T hits back at Verizon over iPhone 4, saves marriage (news.cnet.com) Verizon iPhone: The reviews are in (tech.fortune.cnn.com) Verizon's iPhone Gets the Thumbs Up (newser.com) "AT&T's poor "Answer" to Verizon's iPhone commercial" and related posts (winandmac.com) Verizon's new iPhone 4 ad stabs AT&T in the ear (news.cnet.com) "Wireless Hotspot Functionality Definitely Coming to AT&T iPhone 4" and related posts (mobilewhack.com) "Pre-Orders for Verizon iPhone Experience Same Errors as AT&T Launch

Image by thane via Flickr Quotes by George Polya. An George Polya Quote Library | The Gaiam Blog : "Even fairly good students , when they have obtained the solution of the problem and written down neatly the argument, shut their books and look for something else. Doing so, they miss an important and instructive phase of the work. . . . A good teacher should understand and impress on his students the view that no problem whatever is completely exhausted. One of the first and foremost duties of the teacher is not to give his students the impression that mathematical problems have little connection with each other, and no connection at all with anything else. We have a natural opportunity to investigate the connections of a problem when looking back at its solution. George Polya"

HTwins.net - The Scale of the Universe : Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way! Press left or right or drag the scroll bar to zoom in and out. Press down to toggle quality.

FoxNews.com - Egyptians Use Low-Tech Gadgets to Get Around Communications Block : "Satellite Internet services are much more expensive than wired Internet access. But fixed telephone lines, which reportedly remain largely operational, aren't. With the help of an old 28K or 56K modem they can be used to communicate with a dial up Internet service provider outside of Egypt's jurisdiction."

One Per Cent: Government disconnects Egypt from internet : "Protesters against the government had been coordinating their actions on social networking sites, leading the government to block the likes of Twitter and Facebook, but many got around these restrictions by using smartphones or proxy servers. Now, access through any means is almost impossible - Egypt is effectively offline. 'The Egyptian government's actions tonight have essentially wiped their country from the global map,' said James Cowie of Renesys, a internet access monitoring company, in a blog post last night. 'What happens when you disconnect a modern economy and 80,000,000 people from the internet?'"

How Do You Shut Down the Internet in a Whole Country? | Cyber Warfare | Internet in Egypt | Life's Little Mysteries : "Whether or not other governments—for example, the U.S. government—are able to shut down the Internet is 'a regulatory question,' said Clark. 'In a time of crisis, does a government have the powers to compel the ISPs to take such an action? ' In the U.S., the answer is no – not only does President Barack Obama, or any president, not have access to a physical 'switch' that turns off the Internet, he also has no control over ISPs."

Canada still wants to "discipline the use of the Internet" : "Konrad von Finckenstein, head of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), said that he has heard the 'evident concern expressed by Canadians' about metered billing rules. Those rules would allow the dominant DSL provider, Bell Canada, to impose usage-based billing on the small indie ISPs that use parts of its network to offer service."

AT&T announces Atrix 4G launch details: $199 on contract, available March 6 (or earlier), pre-order Feb. 13 | Android Central : "Key Facts * AT&T* begins pre-sales for Motorola ATRIX™ 4G on Feb. 13 * Motorola ATRIX 4G, powered by the Android 2.2 platform, available exclusively for AT&T customers for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement. * Motorola ATRIX 4G is expected to be available from AT&T and select retail channels for customers by March 6 or earlier. * AT&T will offer bundled pricing for the Motorola ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock."

Blogger Buzz: Introducing Blogger Android App : "Have you ever wanted to write up a quick blog post on the go? Now there is an easy way to do this on your Android phone!"

Close-Up Video Casts Doubt on Jerusalem UFO : "Do you like a good UFO mystery? Then try your hand at this one: In the past week, several videos have appeared on the Internet depicting an amazing UFO sequence over the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem."

Ninjerktsu: Carl Sagan and his Fully Armed Spaceship of the Imagination : "My hero Carl Sagan."

Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Spring Is on Its Way - FoxNews.com : "GOBBLER'S KNOB, Penn. -- The world-famous weather-reading groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted spring was on its way Wednesday from his home at Gobbler's Knob, near Punxsutawney, Penn."

Fox Again Hosts Sussman's Confused Climate Analysis Media Matters for America : "Asserting that 'there is no global warming,' Brian Sussman, radio host and author of Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes The Global Warming Scam, claimed on the Fox Business Network that the 'hottest decade in history was the 1930s.' In fact, Sussman's claim is based on outdated data for the United States, not on global temperature data, which shows that 2000-2009 was the warmest decade on record."