THE DANGERS OF LOCAL WARMING

Beware men.  Blogging is dangerous.  Enjoy.

Yossi Vardi fights local warming...

The skill of self confidence

If you think I am a cocky obnoxious SOB, it is not.  I am scare and unsure.  I use the affirmation "I am awesome" to keep myself positive and to spread that positiveness to other people.  I love this talk and it hits all the major points.  Keep at it.

William's Safire's Rules for writing good

I just found out about these and they are hilarious. As you know from reading this blog, I don't proofread it too much before posting.  I enjoy blogging and I don't have much time, so the decision becomes between polishing it and reducing publishing or just living with it.  I am also slightly dyslexic so I can read the same error many times and not notice it.  I hope it doesn't distract too much from your enjoyment.

Taken from: http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/research/groups/protein/pert/safire.rules.html

William Safire's Rules for Writers:

• Remember to never split an infinitive.
• The passive voice should never be used.
• Do not put statements in the negative form.
• Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
• Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
• If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
• A writer must not shift your point of view.
• And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
• Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
• Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
• Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
• If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
• Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
• Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
• Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
• Always pick on the correct idiom.
• The adverb always follows the verb.
• Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

Focus Forward Films

I just found GE's http://www.focusforwardfilms.com/#films.

As described on the website:

"GE FOCUS FORWARD films highlight exceptional people and world-changing ideas that have impacted the course of human development, now and then, or with great potential to significantly affect how we live in the next generation."

This is another project which promotes new ideas.  My favorite quote (which is also my email signoff)- "Knowledge is Power, share it and it will multiply".

So there are 30 movies and here are some quick thoughts on the few I have watched.

The Contenders:

This details the game created to solve a problem biologists couldn't solve.  Online collaborative gamers solved it in three weeks!

You don't know Jack:




"Jack Andraka, a high school sophomore, has developed a revolutionary new test for pancreatic cancer. The future of science is in the hands of our youth."  This young kid gives me hope for the future.  Directed by Morgan Spurlock, from "Supersize Me", I assume- and I dig his stuff.

Solar Roadways:


I love this idea, especially for less traveled roadways.  I had an idea bouncing around my head about place frames over roadways and growing ivy (or something similar) to capture carbon and for its cooling effect, but never fully developed it.  I live this alternative.

I'll post more when I get a chance if I see more interesting stuff.  As always, thanks for reading.

Mars One: a new idea to reach Mars without government

Now here is an intriguing idea: an all commercial plan to colonize Mars.  And funded as reality show!

I love it.  I will definitely be track this!

NASA Johnson Style

NASA interns and Astronauts having some fun:

Economy Face Off: Ron Paul vs. Paul Krugman

So on April 30th while Paul Krugman was guest hosting Bloomberg TV Ron Paul was brought on for a live debate. My quick take is neither side had time to back up the assumption presented- how was the prosperity and growth right after WWII achieved in America. I agree with Ron Paul's assertion that the depressions debt was .... and the federal government slashed spending and debt.  But I believed that before the debate so I feel the debate was a tie.  (one note: Krugman actually saying we are in a depression!)

According to the NON-scientific bloomberg TV twitter poll most people disagree and call Ron Paul the winner.  https://twitter.com/#!/trish_regan/status/197496770253701120

According to http://azizonomics.com/2012/05/04/paul-vs-paul-round-2/ (another blog I enjoy):

The real debate occurred the last decade: (picture below taken directly from link above)

(I actually posted Krugman's quote on Facebook and a friend researched it claiming it is taken out of context and it is a joke.  I don't get it.)

[also taken from the above link]

Ron Paul's response on FT:

Control of the world’s economy has been placed in the hands of a banking cartel, which holds great danger for all of us. True prosperity requires sound money, increased productivity, and increased savings and investment. The world is awash in US dollars, and a currency crisis involving the world’s reserve currency would be an unprecedented catastrophe. No amount of monetary expansion can solve our current financial problems, but it can make those problems much worse.


And Krugman:
 
Would a rise in inflation to 3 percent or even 4 percent be a terrible thing? On the contrary, it would almost surely help the economy.


How so? For one thing, large parts of the private sector continue to be crippled by the overhang of debt accumulated during the bubble years; this debt burden is arguably the main thing holding private spending back and perpetuating the slump. Modest inflation would, however, reduce that overhang — by eroding the real value of that debt — and help promote the private-sector recovery we need. Meanwhile, other parts of the private sector (like much of corporate America) are sitting on large hoards of cash; the prospect of moderate inflation would make letting the cash just sit there less attractive, acting as a spur to investment — again, helping to promote overall recover.

I have heard a few economist who already claim that our debt is too big to ever be repaid.
 

This has succeed because the dollar is the reserve currency accepted through most of the world.  This is talk about this eventually ending.  There seems to be this idea that we can continue deficit spending eternally, but I believe that we cannot. So it is not there I am against the intentions of our government- it is this belief that something is "too big to fail".  We must also consider the results of these programs.  We have created and upheld a system with single point failures for decades now.  The biggest danger is the longer we ignore the harsh realities and continue to "kick the can down the road" (due to complexities to great for any one person to understand or solve- which leads to endless debates) the worst the problem gets. [I will once again recommend everyone check out "The watchman's rattle" which details how other societies reacted to complex long term problems.]