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NET.2971 - Trends 2012
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15 May 2012 - Plastic Straw Ban Environmentalists have kicked off a campaign called "Straw Wars" to rid London's Soho district of drinking straws. Plastic straws are the viruses of garbage, tiny and lightweight enough to slip through the cracks of the waste-recycling process and into the pelagic ecosystem. Source: John Metcalfe - The Atlantic. 1] Plastic Straw Bans Are the New Plastic Bag Bans 2] Straw Wars - Home 14 May 2012 - Single Window Mode !! After many years of development, GIMP 2.8 is finally released. Among its features: the oft-desired single-window mode. GIMP 2.8 Image Software Adds Single-Window Mode 14 May 2012 - Facebook clones After five years pursuing the social-local-mobile dream, we need a fresh paradigm for technology startups. The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future 06 May 2012 - Nuke-free (update May 12, 2012) Japan was running without nuclear power for the first time in 42 years Saturday, as the final commercial reactor in operation was shut down for routine maintenance. No reactors shut for regular scheduled checks have gone back online since the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power station in March 2011, and efforts to gain public support for restarting them have made little headway. Source: The Japan Times. 1] Japan nuke-free for first time since '70 2] Media Power, And Media Lies About Power 06 May 2012 - Your Facebook ID please In an attempt to combat fake IDs, some nightclub bouncers are now asking for Facebook identification, rather than rely on ID cards. Source: Charlie Osborne - ZDNet. 1] Nightclub security uses Facebook for identification 2] Bouncers 'checking Facebook on phones' as identification 3] More States Try to Keep Facebook Passwords Away From Bosses 24 Apr 2012 - Asteroid mining (updated April 29, 2012) Presuming Planetary Resources builds a fleet of prospecting space telescopes, locates mineral-bearing space rocks, gets to them and successfully mines them, then what? Can a corporation lay claim to these protoplanetary leftovers, and can they really sell them? Or are they part of our common celestial heritage, priceless pieces of early creation that should be protected? Source: Rebecca Boyle - PopSci. 1] Technological Challenges Aside, Is Asteroid Mining Legal? 2] Who Owns The Asteroids? 22 Apr 2012 - Do-It-Yourself Knitting is an excellent activity - very satisfying, very portable and easy to elevate to an art form. Source: The Huffington Post (Canada). 1] Knitting Is Cool: 20-Somethings Taking Up Knitting, Crochet 2] Colbert unveils do-it-yourself Super PAC starter kit 3] The Appeal of OpenStack's Do-It-Yourself Cloud 4] DIY sperm banking? Some clinics offer at-home kits 5] 25% of do-it-yourselfers cause damage 16 Apr 2012 - The Decentralization of Energy What electricity might mean to us after more of us start producing it at home. Source: Maggie Koerth-Baker - The Atlantic. 1] What We Talk About When We Talk About the Decentralization of Energy 2] WADE - The World Alliance for Decentralized Energy 3] Wikipedia - Distributed generation 15 Apr 2012 - Describing People This document defines a set of terms for describing people. It defines how to describe people's characteristics such as names or addresses and how to relate people to other things, for example to organizations or projects. Source: W3C. 1] Terms for describing people - W3C Working Draft 05 April 2012 2] Government Linked Data (GLD) Working Group 14 Apr 2012 - CISPA CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) has a very broad, almost unlimited definition of the information that can be shared with government agencies and it supersedes all other privacy laws. CISPA is likely to lead to expansion of the government's role in the monitoring of private communications, and shift control of government cybersecurity efforts from civilian agencies to the military. Source: Chloe Albanesius - PC magazine. 1] Facebook Defends CISPA, Denies Plans to Share User Data 2] CISPA’s biggest problem: Trust 3] CISPA Monitoring Bill: Just the Facts 4] Wikipedia - Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act 12 Apr 2012 - Plastic-Eating Fungus A fungus is discoverd that can utilize and break down polyurethane, one of the most common, and pollutant, industrial plastics in use by man. Hopefully the plastic-eating fungus can eat away at the world's waste problems. Source: International Business Times. 1] Plastic-Eating Fungus May Chow Down On World's Waste Problems 2] Biodegradation of Polyester Polyurethane by Endophytic Fungi 12 Apr 2012 - Locking stolen phones The wireless industry and law enforcement are getting ready to shut down criminals by shutting down stolen devices. The Federal Communications Commission wants to make sure smart phone theft is a crime that doesn't pay. Over the next six months, the nation's largest carriers will launch programs that prevent stolen devices from being reactivated. The database will have a unique identification number of every cell phone, making it easy to immediately deactivate. Source: MSNBC. FCC announces plan to lock stolen phones 09 Apr 2012 - Social Media Bubble Facebook's $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, a photo sharing app that costs zero dollars to use and has no source of revenue, sure feels like a social networking tech bubble. Source: Rebecca Greenfield - The Atlantic Wire. It's Time to Accept the Existence of a Social Media Bubble 07 Apr 2012 - OpenStreetMap (OSM) (update April 9, 2012) OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. The maps are created using data from portable SAT NAV devices, aerial photography, other free sources or simply from local knowledge. Source: Wikipedia. 1] Wikipedia - OpenStreetMap 2] OpenStreetMap - Home 3] Wikipedia Ditches Google Maps 4] Foursquare Ditching Google Maps for OpenStreetMap Movement 5] Apple Nixes Google Maps in iPhoto for iOS 6] OpenStreetMap posing surprise threat to Google Maps 06 Apr 2012 - Solar energy expansion Renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are extremely competitive because there is no fuel cost to factor in. However, a slashing of feed-in tariffs threatens to become a pan-European trend which some have interpreted as a backlash from utility companies against the threat posed by renewable energy sources. Source: James Holloway - Ars Technica. German solar juggernaut rolls on despite tariff cuts 06 Apr 2012 - Future Orientation Index Countries that focus on the future tend to have a higher per capita GDP. A focus on the future supports economic success. Source: Casey Johnston - Ars Technica. Google Trends reveals clues about the mentality of richer nations 06 Apr 2012 - Privly - Private Sharing A new tool under development by Oregon State computer scientists could radically alter the way that communications work on the web. Privly is a sort of manifesto-in-code, a working argument for a more private, less permanent Internet. Source: Alexis Madrigal - The Atlantic. 1] A Privacy Manifesto in Code: What If Your Emails Never Went to Gmail and Twitter Couldn't See Your Tweets? 2] Priv.ly - Home 06 Apr 2012 - Robot nanny Robot nannies could diminish child care worries for parents of young children. Equipped with alarms and monitoring capabilities to guard children from harm, a robot nanny would let parents leave youngsters at home without a babysitter. Source: PhysOrg. Children perceive humanoid robot as emotional, moral being 02 Apr 2012 - Pink Slime (revisited) Republicans in the House of Representatives passed what was surely the most fraudulent budget in American history - Compare it to Pink Slime. Source: Paul Krugman - The New York Times. 1] Pink Slime Economics 2] Bieber, Berry Slimed at Kids Choice Awards 3] Slime Doesn't Pay: Ground Beef Processor Files for Bankruptcy 30 Mar 2012 - Tricorder A tricorder is a multifunction handheld device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data. Three primary variants of the tricorder are issued in Star Trek's Starfleet: the standard tricorder, the medical tricorder, and the engineering tricorder. Source: Wikipedia. 1] Wikipedia - Tricorder 2] Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize 3] Cognitive researcher designs and builds a real-world modular working tricorder 29 Mar 2012 - Research in Big Data The federal government is beginning a major research initiative in big data computing. The National Science Foundation wants to develop new techniques and technologies for data management, data analysis and machine learning. Source: Steve Lohr - The New York Times. New U.S. Research Will Aim at Flood of Digital Data 23 Mar 2012 - Banning Antibiotics A federal magistrate judge on Thursday ordered the Obama administration to alert drug makers that the government may soon ban the common agricultural use of popular antibiotics in animals because the practice may encourage the proliferation of dangerous infections and imperil public health. The order has the effect of restarting a process that the FDA began 35 years ago in hopes of preventing penicillin and tetracycline, two of the nation’s most popular antibiotics, from losing their effectiveness in humans because of their widespread use in animal feed to promote growth in livestock like chickens, pigs and cattle. Source: Gardiner Harris - The New york Times. F.D.A. Is Ordered to Restrict Antibiotics’ Use in Livestock 23 Mar 2012 - Chia Chia, or Salvia hispanica L, is a member of the mint family from Mexico and South America. The flowering plant can sprout in a matter of days, but chia's appeal is in the nutritional punch of its tiny seeds. Source: By Lauren Everitt - BBC News. 1] The chia craze 2] Wikipedia - Salvia hispanica 23 Mar 2012 - Creepy Google A new Google patent could enable the search giant to base advertising on background noise during phone conversations, although the scope of the patent is much broader. Source: Loek Essers - IDG-News. 1] Google Patents Technology to Serve Ads Based on Background Noise 2] Google knows too much about you 3] Even Googlers Are Losing Faith in Google 22 Mar 2012 - Etch A Sketch Etch A Sketch is a registered trademark for a mechanical drawing toy manufactured by the Ohio Art Company. 1] Wikipedia - Etch A Sketch 2] Ohio Art - Home 21 Mar 2012 - Pink Slime (update March 30, 2012) Lean finely textured beef (LFTB), known as 'Pink Slime', is composed of low-grade trimmings that come from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contamination, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter. It was formerly used only for pet food, but because of the treatment of the trimmings — simmering them in low heat, separating fat and tissue using a centrifuge, and spraying them with ammonia gas to kill germs — the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it's safe to eat. Source: Jim Avila - ABC News. 1] Safeway, SUPERVALU and Food Lion to Stop Selling 'Pink Slime' Beef 2] Tell USDA to STOP Using Pink Slime in School Food! 3] Wikipedia - Boneless lean beef trimmings 4] Wikipedia - Beef mince 5] Wikipedia - Advanced meat recovery 6] 'It's 100 Percent Beef': Company on Defensive as It Closes Plants 21 Mar 2012 - Malware in Memory Researchers have discovered an extremely rare and possibly unique form of "fileless" malware that executes entirely in memory without the need to save any files to the hard drive of a victim's PC. Source: John E Dunn - TechWorld, via NetworkWorld. Researchers find new type of 'fileless' malware 19 Mar 2012 - Your TV is watching you Samsung’s 2012 top-of-the-line plasmas and LED HDTVs offer new features never before available within a television including a built-in, internally wired HD camera, twin microphones, face tracking and speech recognition. This may allow hackers or even Samsung to see and hear you and your family, and collect extremely personal data. Source: Gary Merson - MSNBC. Is your TV watching you? Latest models raise concerns 19 Mar 2012 - Plastic-To-Oil JBI Inc invented a process that converts plastic into oil by rearranging its hydrocarbon chains. It all starts with a machine known as the Plastic-Eating Monster. Thousands of pounds of shredded milk jugs, water bottles and grocery bags tumble into a large tank, where they're melted together and vaporized. 1] Startup Converts Plastic To Oil, And Finds A Niche 2] JBI / Plastic2Oil - Home 18 Mar 2012 - Toxoplasma gondii (Toxo) Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? Source: Kathleen McAuliffe - The Atlantic. 1] How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy 2] Cat Got Your Brain 16 Mar 2012 - Robo-calling Robocall is a term for an automated phone call that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message. 1] Wikipedia - Robocall 2] Regulators hang up on robo-calls 3] My name is Jennifer. I am a Robocaller. 16 Mar 2012 - Google violates EU privacy law (update March 22, 2012) Google's consolidated privacy policy violates European law, European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said Thursday, citing findings by data protection agencies in EU countries. At issue is the consolidation of Google's 70 or so privacy policies across its products down to one. CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés) has already informed Google that it will lead an EU-wide probe into the new policy. Source: Damon Poeter - PCMagazine. 1] European Agencies Say New Google Privacy Policy Violates EU Law 2] EU justice chief: Google is playing privacy 'games' 3] The Case Against Google 16 Mar 2012 - Communicating with neutrinos In a major step for truly wireless communications, scientists have figured out how to send a message with neutrinos. Source: Rebecca Boyle - PopSci. 1] For the First Time, a Message Sent With Neutrinos 2] Researchers send 'wireless' message using neutrinos 14 Mar 2012 - Bankers resigning (update March 18, 2012) Over Source: The New York Times. 1] Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs 2] A Public Exit From Goldman Sachs Hits at a Wounded Wall Street 3] Why Greg Smith Is 'Dead Right' About Goldman Sachs 4] Final Update: 358 Resignations from World Banks, Investment Houses, Money Funds 14 Mar 2012 - The Deadly Hazards of Red Meat (update March 18, 2012) Eating a portion of processed red meat daily can boost a person's risk of dying young by up to 20 percent, said a long-running US study of more than 120,000 people released on Monday. Source: Yahoo! News. 1] Deadly hazards of red meat 2] Red Meat Tied to Increased Mortality Risk 3] Holy Cow! What's Good For You Is Good For Our Planet 4] Butchers beef up French presidential campaign 14 Mar 2012 - Trans fat associated with agression Dietary trans fatty acids (dTFA) are primarily products of hydrogenation, a chemical process that makes (unsaturated) oils solid at room temperature. They are present at high levels in margarines, shortenings, and prepared foods. Adverse health effects of dTFA have already been identified on lipids, metabolic function, insulin resistance, oxidation, inflammation, and cardiac and general health. dTFA may also be associated with greater aggression and irritability. Source: PlosOne. Trans Fat Consumption and Aggression 12 Mar 2012 - Spring Cleaning Ah, spring, the time when warm temperatures return, the outdoors is suddenly full of possibility instead of darkness and coat-huddling misery, and your apartment feels even more claustrophobic and gross than usual. Yes, it's time for spring cleaning. Source: Jen Doll - The Atlantic Wire. 1] The Apartments Most in Need of a Spring Cleaning 2] Spring Cleaning: A Complete Checklist 3] Simple Systems: Clean Your House as You Go (with an added burst) 4] Wikipedia - Spring cleaning 12 Mar 2012 - Computerized patient records Computerized patient records are unlikely to cut health care costs and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often. Source: By Steve Lohr - The new York Times. 1] Digital Records May Not Cut Health Costs, Study Cautions 2] Do Electronic Records Cut Health Costs? 3] NHS may revive 'unworkable' Lorenzo system 11 Mar 2012 - Food from Cans? Campbell’s Soup was just one of many companies to come under attack last year due to reports of higher than average bisphenol A (BPA) amounts found within their soup cans. Exposure to BPA, is a well-documented health issue. BPA, a material used to make the epoxy-resin linings of metal food cans for all sorts of products, has been linked in lab studies to breast and prostate cancer, infertility, early puberty in girls, type-2 diabetes, obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and more. Source: Jennifer Chait - Inhabitat. 1] Breaking News: Campbell’s Soup Pledges to Phase Out BPA Lined Cans 2] Coke, Pepsi make changes to avoid cancer warning 11 Mar 2012 - End of Oil Subsidies (update March 17, 2012) 350.org is starting a petition to end the $4 billion per year in oil subsidies and is announcing an effort to get every congressperson and senator on the record regarding their stance on big oil. Source: Brit Liggett - Inhabitat. 1] 350.org Vows to Take on Big Oil Subsidies in Washington D.C. 2] 350.org - Home 3] Obama’s State of the Union Address Sets Forth a Green Blueprint for America 4] Obama seeks halt to tax subsidies for oil industry 11 Mar 2012 - Skills, not Oil There is a significant negative relationship between the money countries extract from national resources and the knowledge and skills of their high school population. Source: Thomas L. Friedman - The New York Times. 1] Pass the Books. Hold the Oil. 2] Knowledge and skills are infinite – oil is not 3] OECD - Share of rents from national resources in national income and student performance (PDF) 09 Mar 2012 - Information Addiction Are you suffering from information addiction? It’s a growing problem as people spend more and more of their time online — and while online tools are amazing, being addicted to checking them can steal most of your day. Source: Leo Babauta - ZenHabits. 1] A Survival Guide for Beating Information Addiction 2] Wikipedia - Information addiction 08 Mar 2012 - Mycelium as packing material Mushrooms can also make decent packaging material. Mycelium, the hidden 'roots' of the mushroom, can be grown into preset packaging shapes as eco-friendly alternatives to plastic foams. The product is completely biodegradable. Source: Michael Hill - AP, via Yahoo! News. 1] NY company growing mushrooms as packing material 2] Ecovative Design - Home 3] EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging - Home 07 Mar 2012 - SimCity Maxis will finally be creating a new entry in the popular SimCity franchise in 2013, promising new features such as full 3D graphics and internet-connected cities that can affect one another. Source: Kyle Orland - Ars Technica. 1] Maxis announces new SimCity for 2013 2] SimCity - Home 06 Mar 2012 - Cupcake ATM Cupcake lovers in Manhattan will be happy to hear that their sugar cravings can soon be satisfied 24 hours a day with new cupcake ATMs by Sprinkles Cupcakes. Set to be installed around Manhattan by this summer, the ATMs will dispense the irresistible treats all wrapped up in boxes and bags made from recycled materials. Source: Helen Morgan - Inhabitat. 1] New Cupcake ATMs In Manhattan Will Make Sugary Indulgences Hard to Resist 2] Sprinkles Cupcakes - Home 06 Mar 2012 - Reinventing 'Terp' (update March 07, 2012) Japan - The government has recommended that residents in tsunami-prone areas move to higher ground. With that in mind, innovative architects are currently floating ideas for new disaster-proof concepts that foresee coastal communities above land rather further inland. Source: Rob Gilhooly - The Japan Times. 1] Island fortresses floated for Tohoku 2] A year on — no tsunami-hit community has clear plan to move to high ground 05 Mar 2012 - Puttering Doing a little of everything, and accomplishing almost nothing, is pleasurable. Source: Jen Doll - The Atlantic Wire. 1] When Doing Absolutely Nothing Is the Greatest Luxury 2] On the Art of Puttering 3] 100 Days with No Goals 03 Mar 2012 - Big Science The scientific elite uses its’ control over peer reviewed journals to determine what is and what is not mainstream science. Cold Fusion is a prime example of a promising area of research that was essentially shut out of mainstream science by this process. Source: Cold Fusion News. 1] LENR Poses a Challenge and a Problem for Big Science 2] The emergence of LENR and its predictable effect on the economy 01 Mar 2012 - Nuclear energy demise (update March 06, 2012) French nuclear energy giant Areva reported Thursday a record loss for 2011 after taking massive provisions in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima disaster. Source: AFP via Yahoo! News. 1] Fukushima disaster pushes France's Areva to record loss 2] Britain's (and the world's) oldest nuclear power station closes ... but it will take 90 more years and £954m to clear it completely 3] Nuclear math in meltdown 4] Ghost towns of Fukushima - Buildings remain vacant and streets deserted (Photos) 28 Feb 2012 - Anonymous + WikiLeaks The release of the Stratfor emails appears to be the first direct collaboration between Anonymous and WikiLeaks. Source: PhysOrg. 1] Anonymous, WikiLeaks team up 2] Wikileaks Begins Publishing 'Millions' of Stolen Stratfor Emails 26 Feb 2012 - DuckDuckGo Search engine DuckDuckGo’s primary selling point is the comfort that users can feel while searching: your identity remains entirely anonymous. As the service’s privacy policy states, "there is no way to tie your searches together." Source: Francis Bea | Digital Trends, via Yahoo! News. 1] DuckDuckGo: An introduction to the anonymous search engine 2] DuckDuckGo - Home 24 Feb 2012 - MRSA Researchers discover that a drug-resistant bacterium re-infected humans after evolving in pig farms. Source: Maryn McKenna - WIRED. 1] "Pig MRSA" came from humans, evolved via farm drugs 2] Meat Industry Spreads MRSA: Go Vegetarian Now 24 Feb 2012 - Kōji Though centuries old, shio-kōji has recently found its way back onto menus as a healthy alternative to seasoning salt and soy sauce. It is made from fermented rice with a little salt, and is packed with flavor. Kōji or kōji-kin is a type of fungus or mold, it is used in all kinds of foods and beverages. It's as important in Japan as the fungi, bacteria and yeast that give character to cheese, yogurt, wine, beer and bread are in the West. Source: MAKIKO ITOH - The Japan Times. Kōji - Japan's vital hidden ingredient 22 Feb 2012 - GPS Jamming and Spoofing (update March 10, 2012) The evidence of illegal jamming in the UK comes from roadside monitoring carried out by the SENTINEL project which looks at whether satellite navigation systems including GPS can be trusted by their users. Spoofing generates false GPS signals to alter user's perceptions of time and location. With the right technology it can be done without the victim ever knowing and is virtually untraceable. Source: PhysOrg. 1] Study confirms that road users are jamming GPS signals 2] Chronos Technology - SENTINEL 3] Jammer Store - Home 4] Cellphone jamming raises transit users' ire 21 Feb 2012 - Digital cash receipt Customers are starting to want electronic receipts. An estimated 9.6 million trees are cut each year for receipts in the United States. Source: Stephanie Clifford - The New York Times. 1] Shopper Receipts Join Paperless Age 2] Cash Receipts Manager 21 Feb 2012 - Computational Sprinting Computational sprinting is aimed at mobile environments like smartphones, where many interactive applications are characterized by short bursts of computational demand punctuated by long idle periods waiting for user input. Source: PhysOrg. 1] Study explores computing bursts for smartphones 2] University of Pennsylvania - Computational Sprinting (PDF) 21 Feb 2012 - W3C Launches Privacy Interest Group W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) launched a new Privacy Interest Group, whose mission is to improve the support of privacy in Web standards by monitoring ongoing privacy issues that affect the Web. The group may consider issues such as online tracking; location, health and financial data; eGovernment initiatives; and online social networking and identity. Source: W3C. 1] W3C - Privacy Activity 2] W3C - Privacy Interest Group Charter 17 Feb 2012 - Electric Vehicle Tax Washington State legislators just passed a bill that will require owners of electric vehicles to pay a $100 fee when they register their cars each year in order to make up for lost revenue on gas tax. Source: Brit Liggett - Inhabitat. Washington State Legislators Pass $100 Electric Vehicle Tax 17 Feb 2012 - Ingested Nanoparticles Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought. Source: PhysOrg. 1] Ingested nanoparticles could be harmful to health 2] Children May Have Highest Exposure to Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles, Found in Candy and Other Products 3] Government Fails to Assess Potential Dangers of Nanotechnology 4] U.S. experts urge more study of nanotechnology threat 16 Feb 2012 - Bisphenol A (BPA) Latest research, published last week in PLoS ONE, finds that BPA triggers the release of almost double the insulin actually needed to break down food. High insulin levels can desensitize the body to the hormone over time, which in some people may then lead to weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. BPA is a common ingredient in plastics, food-can linings and cash register receipts. Source: Lynne Peeples - The Huffington Post. 1] BPA's Obesity And Diabetes Link Strengthened By New Study 2] Rapid Insulinotropic Action of Low Doses of Bisphenol-A on Mouse and Human Islets of Langerhans: Role of Estrogen Receptor ß 3] BPA spikes 1,200 percent after eating canned soup: study 4] Epson Makes the World’s First BPA-Free Recycled Thermal Receipt Paper 5] Recycling thermal cash register receipts contaminates paper products with BPA 15 Feb 2012 - Paying with cash Paying for coffee with cash? The FBI might be watching you. Source: The Huffington Post. 1] FBI Fliers Reveal Profile Of A Perfect Terrorist (They Pay For Coffee With Cash, Apparently) 2] For shoppers, cash is back in vogue 3] Advantages and Disadvantages of Paying with Cash 14 Feb 2012 - Google Tax France's federation of telecommunications operators called Tuesday for the introduction of a "Google tax" on foreign firms like Google that benefit from French infrastructure. Source: PhysOrg. French telecoms urge 'Google tax' on foreign firms 10 Feb 2012 - Neotame It could be lurking in the foods you eat every single day, including U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic foods, and you would never even know it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared that one of Monsanto's latest creations, a synthetic sweetener chemical known as neotame, does not have to be labeled in food products, including even in organic food products. 1] Neotame the next aspartame? FDA doesn't require labeling of latest chemical sweetener from Monsanto 2] Is Neotame a Neurotoxin Like Aspartame? 07 Feb 2012 - App development The explosion of software applications for smartphones, tablet computers and Facebook has created nearly 500,000 jobs in the United States since 2007. Source: PhysOrg. 'App Economy' is huge US job creator: study 05 Feb 2012 - Pretty Good Memory (PGM) (update Jan 06, 2012) As you get older, worrying about declines in memory is far more damaging to your ability to think than any actual declines in memory ability. Source: Art Markman - The Huffington Post. 1] No More 'Senior Moments' 2] 100-Year-Old Nintendo Playing Grandma: 'I don't feel a day over 80' [VIDEO] 3] Why Cognitive Enhancement Is in Your Future (and Your Past) 4] Wikipedia - Memory improvement (Memory improvement is the act of improving one's memory) 03 Feb 2012 - Smart Meters "There are hundreds of thousands- if not millions- of people suffering in their homes from forced 'smart' meter radiation,” said Joshua Hart, Director of the grassroots organization Stop Smart Meters! Source: Stop Smart Meters! 1] PG&E Begins Removing ‘Smart’ Meters Due to Health Effects 2] Stop Smart Meters! - Home 3] New Electricity Meters Stir Fears 4] Smart meter SSL screw-up exposes punters' TV habits 5] Smart Hacking For Privacy 27 Jan 2012 - Animated GIF The animated GIF has been a mainstay of the Internet since web pages could only have gray backgrounds and Creed was a popular band. Now, the New York Public Library has created an animated GIF maker that lets users convert 19th-century stereographs into animated GIFs. Source: Alexis Madrigal - The Atlantic. 1] The New York Public Library's Animated GIF Maker 2] New Perspectives on Old Perspectives: How an Art Project Helped the NYPL Put Its 3D Stereograph Collection in Your Hands 3] NYPL - Stereogranimator 4] Wikipedia - Animated PNG (ANPG) 27 Jan 2012 - Chocolate Factory Mountain View Chocolate Factory is a nickname for Google. It is used as a comparison of Google Inc. and the fictional Wonka's Chocolate Factory in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The phrase attempts to portray a similarity in the cultures of the two organizations where each utilize a highly devoted workforce which is comprised of very talented, but seemingly strange, individuals. Source: WikiBin. 1] Mountain view chocolate factory 2] US lawmakers question Google over privacy policy 3] Google Chocolate Factory now building routers? 4] Google Chocolate Factory patents Data Center Navy 5] Wikipedia - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 25 Jan 2012 - Private Drones (update Jan 28, 2012) Environmentalism seems to be a perfect use for the new breed of cheap drones, something activists are just now starting to figure out. Last month, Sea Shepherd activists used a drone to track and photograph a Japanese whaling fleet. Drones can do double duty as environmental monitors as well as camera platforms. Source: Adam Martin - The Atlantic Wire. 1] Using Drones to Capture Environmental Violations Makes Perfect Sense 2] Occupy Wall Street Has a Drone: The Occucopter 3] Sea Shepherd says drones find, photograph Japan's whaling fleet 4] You Can Build a Flying Spybot for Less Than $50 25 Jan 2012 - Microplastic Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned. Researchers traced the 'microplastic' back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed. Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1 mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain. Source: Mark Kinver - BBC News. Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores 25 Jan 2012 - PFCs PFCs (Perfluorinated Compounds) widely used in fast-food packaging, waterproof clothing and non-stick frying pans were linked in a study out Tuesday to lower immune response by young children to routine tetanus and diphtheria immunization shots. Source: AFP Relax News, via Yahoo! News. 1] Chemicals linked to lower vaccine response in children 2] PFCs, chemicals in environment, linked to lowered immune response to childhood vaccinations 3] First link between potentially toxic PFCs in office air and in office workers' blood 4] Wikipedia - Perfluorinated compound 22 Jan 2012 - EU data-protection rules for corporations (update Jan 23, 2011) The European Union will propose tough new rules in the coming days on how corporations handle Internet users' personal data, a long-awaited move that could have far-reaching implications for Web giants such as Google Inc and Facebook. Source: Georgina Prodhan and Leila Abboud - Reuters, via Yahoo! News. 1] Europe to issue tough new data-protection rules soon 2] EU's data protection proposals likely to include 24-hour breach notification 22 Jan 2012 - Whaling sunk by commercial reality Supermarkets with international business have stopped carrying whale meat due to pressure from antiwhaling groups and foreign stockholders. Also, the only customers who ever buy whale are old people 'who have some nostalgic longing for it'. Young people never buy it. Source: Philip Brasor, Masako Tsubuku - The Japan Times. 1] Whaling may be sunk by commercial reality 2] Norway whaling decline has authorities concerned 22 Jan 2012 - Made in Japan? A growing body of evidence demonstrates a 'Made in Japan' label can no longer be relied upon. More than irradiation of the environment per se, perhaps trauma over the March 11 nuclear disaster may have served to dash the myth of Japan-made products being safe. Source: Mark Schreiber - The Japan Times. 'Made in Japan' label under assault 22 Jan 2012 - 'Noah' Mini-Ark Japanese earthquake and tsunami spurred innovations to help deal with future disasters. The 'Noah' pod, intended to hold up to four people, can withstand a tsunami's tossing and turning. Source: Nicole Laporte - The New York Times. From One Tragedy, Tools to Fight the Next 20 Jan 2012 - Carbon-heavy investments considered risky Investors ask the Bank of England to ditch carbon-heavy investments. The authors of the letter argue that depending on finite, unsustainable resources for investing while the world moves into renewable technology is untenable and poses a threat to everyone affected by investments in those companies. Source: Brit Liggett - Inhabitat. 1] Investors Ask the Bank of England to Ditch Carbon-Heavy Investments 2] U.K. Asked to Probe 'Unsustainable' Investments 20 Jan 2012 - The Economics of iPublishing (update Jan 23, 2012) Now that Apple's latest media disruption announcement has been marinating for a day, education experts and publishing pundits are starting to ask some curious or (dare we say) suspicious questions. Source: Adam Clark Estes - Atlantic Wire. 1] The Economics of iPublishing 2] Apple's mind-bogglingly greedy and evil license agreement 3] iBooks Author: You Work For Apple Now 4] Enthusiasm for iBooks Author marred by licensing, format issues 5] Amazon: "Primed" to disrupt Apple's textbook plans? 6] How Apple is sabotaging an open standard for digital books 18 Jan 2012 - Hidden fees (update Jan 23, 2011) Ed Miliband has called for an end to Britain's "rip-off consumer culture". The Labour leader urged David Cameron to take a tougher approach to "predatory" companies that exploited customers. Source: The Huffington Post. 1] Ed Miliband Calls For End To 'Rip-Off' Consumer Culture 2] The 22-Year-Old Girl Who Stopped the Verizon and Bank of America Fees 3] BofA Debit Fee Plan Led to 20% Jump in Closed Accounts 4] Hidden fees exposed - Those annoying extras can add up. Here’s how to avoid them. 13 Jan 2012 - NASA confirms research in cold fusion (update Feb 5, 2012) In a recent video, NASA confirms its research in LENR – akin to cold fusion – and states that it works. NASA states that the new type of nuclear reactions "has the demonstrated ability to produce excess amounts of energy, cleanly, without hazardous ionizing radiation, without producing nasty waste". This is precisely what the Italian inventor Andrea Rossi plans to do with his 'E-cat'. Source: Mats Lewan - NyTechnik. 1] TV:NASA confirms research in LENR 2] Successful Cold Fusion/LANR Demonstration at MIT – Again 3] NyTechnik - E-Cat 4] Is NASA's LENR endorsement merely a spin cycle to attempt to clean their hands of past suppression? 5] Wikipedia - Energy Catalyzer (E-Cat) 6] Wikipedia - Cold fusion (LENR) 13 Jan 2012 - Soapy versus SOPA (update Jan 14, 2012) Plug-in 'Soapy' takes users directly to a Web site’s server, bypassing "the DNS-blocking technique favored by oppressive regimes and middle management". Soapy allows users to go to web sites banned under SOPA — making SOPA, if it is passed, moot. Source: Emi Kolawole - The Washington Post. 1] Could Soapy scrub out SOPA? 2] Guess Who Just Jumped on the Anti-SOPA Train 3] Obama administration joins the ranks of SOPA skeptics 4] Wikipedia - SOPA 10 Jan 2012 - Motor shoes A pair of motorised shoes with wheels have been developed by Action Inc to help pedestrians get to their destinations faster. Source: BBC News. 1] Motor shoes with wheels developed for commuting 2] spnKiX - Wearable Mobility 10 Jan 2012 - Low cost living Als je in tijden van crises slechts 1000 euro bruto per maand verdient en je je oude levensstijl niet helemaal vaarwel wilt zeggen, kun je niet anders dan de tering naar de nering zetten. Deze 'low cost living'-trend is bezig de gewoonten van consumenten volledig op zijn kop te zetten. Bron: El País. 1] Low cost living, de nieuwe trend 2] Bezuinigen & Besparen - Home 3] Startkabel - Bezuinigen 10 Jan 2012 - Microsoft Kinect Kinect is going to be a lot more than fun and games. Source: Larry Dignan - ZDNet. 1] Five industries for Microsoft's Kinect for Windows 2] Wikipedia - Kinect 07 Jan 2012 - The National Internet Most countries, including the U.S., will eventually shut down the 'World Wide' Web and instead use the technologies developed by the Internet community to cocoon itself. All you need to do is to look at the Congressional support for onerous Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Eventually, sites that oppose the government in any way will be taken down without any sort of due process. Source: John C. Dvorak - PCMagazine. Here Comes the National Internet 07 Jan 2012 - Consumer Power There's one woman behind the take-down of both the egregious Verizon Wireless and Bank of America fees enacted earlier this year: 22-year-old Meredith Katchpole. Source: Rebecca Greenfield - The Atlantic Wire. 1] The 22-Year-Old Girl Who Stopped the Verizon and Bank of America Fees 2] As consumer power goes viral, company branding quakes 07 Jan 2012 - NASA open source projects The code.NASA web site will serve to surface existing projects, provide a forum for discussing projects and processes, and guide internal and external groups in open development, release, and contribution. 1] code.NASA - Home 2] open.NASA - Projects 07 Jan 2012 - LTE 3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. 1] Wikipedia - 3GPP Long Term Evolution 2] Wikipedia - LTE Advanced 3] 3GPP - LTE Home 04 Jan 2012 - Instagram Instagram is a free photo sharing application that allows users to take photos, apply a filter, and share it on the service or a variety of other social networking services. Instagram, in an homage to both the Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid cameras, confines photos into a square shape. 1] Wikipedia - Instagram 2] Instagram - Home 3] Instagram - Support Center 4] Webstagram - Instagram Web Viewer 5] Flickr - Instagram 04 Jan 2012 - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The new US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be able to start overseeing the mortgage companies, payday lenders, debt collectors and other financial companies often blamed for practices that helped tank the economy. Source: Ben Feller and Jim Kuhnhenn - AP via Yahoo! News. AP sources: Obama bucks GOP, OKs consumer watchdog 01 Jan 2012 - Cesium scanning store Takamatsu imported several LB 200 gamma spectroscopy machines from Germany to equip his new shop, which allows anyone to check items for contamination from the Fukushima nuclear crisis for a fee of ¥980 per 20 minutes. Source: Jun Hongo - The Japan Times. DIY cesium scanning store may be 'new normal' 01 Jan 2012 - Hackerspace Global Grid (HGG) (update) The HGG wants to send their own satellites into orbit, which will be open and free from Internet censorship. The pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the United States is one of the reasons a network like HGG is needed. Source: Chloe Albanesius - PCMagazine. 1] Proposed Hacker Satellite System Would Fight Web Censorship 2] Hackers plot DIY Sputniks for Internet freedom 3] Shackspace - Hackerspace Global Grid 4] Constellation - Home 01 Jan 2012 - Bluetooth Watch The key feature Casio's G-Shock GB-6900 watch is Bluetooth LE connectivity (part of the Bluetooth 4.0 spec), which consumes far less power than other Bluetooth variations, and allows the watch to communicate with your smartphone. Source: Donald Melanson - Engadget. Casio's smartphone-ready G-Shock watch set to hit Japan in March |
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