Category Archives: General

General

Extra-Terrestrial Discovery could happen in…10 years?

Fascinating article by Lee Spiegel for HuffingtonPost.com concerning members of the World Economic Forum (yes, the World Economic Forum) at Davos wondering what the social implications might be if evidence of Extra-Terrestrial is realized within the next decade:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/alien-life-discovery-implications_n_2568280.html

Given the advances we’re in discovering what lies in other solar systems, it appears logical that eventually we will find a solar system, and subsequent planet within that solar system, that is near identical -or close enough- to conditions on Earth to wonder if there is life on said planet.

As with the previous decade in terms of scientific advances, I look forward to see what happens next.

General

News of the not-too-terribly-surprising:

From CNN, Postal Service to end Saturday mail delivery:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/06/news/economy/postal-service-cuts/index.html

They will, it should be noted, continue their package delivery on Saturday.  Package delivery, in this modern computer (Amazon) world, remains a vital way of getting products to people and therefore has a definite future.

Mail, on the other hand, is becoming less and less important as a way of communicating between people and/or paying bills.

It’s fascinating to see how much of an impact computers have had on the general economy.

Record/Music stores?  Pretty much a thing of the past thanks to MP3s.

Bookstores?  Rapidly going the same way thanks to Kindle, Nook, and tablets in general.

Someone much smarter than me (sorry, don’t recall who exactly who) noted in a business column that the future of certain retail stores may be small kiosks.  You go into them, look at the latest models of, say, computers/tablets, then go to the counter and pay for your order.  Your purchased order is sent to your home by the same or next day (package delivery becoming more and more important).

If this is true, the U.S. Post Office -and indeed all package delivery specializing companies- should focus on improving their package delivery.  Regardless of whether the kiosk idea comes true, it seems logical that the business of package delivery will continue to be lucrative in this day and age.

 

General

Football’s Death Spiral

Fascinating article by the always readable Andrew O’Hehir for Salon.com regarding the possibility that Football, the King of Sports in the U.S.A. today, may be in trouble:

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/footballs_death_spiral/

I’m a big fan of the sport of Football but I totally agree with Mr. O’Hehir’s article.  In fact, I’ve even written about this before (you can read about it here).

The fact is that as the sport of Football has became more “professional” over time and athletes had the time and means to build their bodies to their absolute best, the subsequent hits between players became harder and harder.  And while their bodies may be at their peaks, there is simply no way to build one’s head and brain so that it too can take all those jarring hits.

The other scandals Mr. O’Hehir notes are worth mentioning as well, but I think Football’s eventual downfall will come because of the continuing revelations of just how much brain damage the players who participate in the game receive.

As I said before, I happen to love the sport.  But one has to be truly blind and uncaring about others to defend a sport which slowly kills a person’s mental -and physical- abilities.

Books/Literature, Computers/Electronics, General

This and that…

A couple of fascinating articles I ran across, one from Slate.com (not to be confused with Salon.com) and the other from Salon.com (not to be confused with Slate.com).

The first article is by Andrew Leonard and can be found on Salon.com.  It concerns the new 3D printing technology and the fact that it might render any gun control legislation moot:

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/25/will_computers_kill_gun_control/

Absolutely loved the article and, moving past the implications of 3D printing regarding gun control, one begins to wonder about what other things the future of 3D printing might impact as well.  Will there come a time, for example, when 3D printing technology will become so advanced (ie able to make items made of metal) that one might be able, for example, to create a new sink for one’s house?  A hose?  A TV set?  If all we need are the raw materials and a program/schematic to print what we want, what effect will this have on industry?  Like MP3s, will there be websites containing downloadable schematics for just about everything we need?  And, returning to the weapon debate, will we be able to “make” our own rocket launcher?

Or perhaps there will come a time when there will be 3D printer “stores” with really big 3D printers within and one could show up with a schematic for your favorite car and, within the day, they might be able to “print” you all the parts to assemble the car on your own at home.

Again, where does this technology leave industry?  And employment?

The second article can be found on Slate.com and is by Mark O’Connell.  It concerns the writing of one Amanda McKittrick Ros, whom many peers (and, apparently, modern readers as well) consider one of the worst writers ever.  A very amusing article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/01/was_amanda_mckittrick_ros_the_worst_novelist_in_history.html

Reading about Ms. Ros made me think of what is possibly her counterpart in the movie business, the notorious Ed Wood.  I loved this line by Mr. O’Connell which describes the level of “badness” of Ms. Ros’ work:

Ros’ writing is not just bad, in other words; its badness is so potent that it seems to undermine the very idea of literature, to expose the whole endeavor of making art out of language as essentially and irredeemably fraudulent—and, even worse, silly.

Oh my…

General

Who will save the Roman ruins?

Fascinating article from Time magazine regarding the effects of austerity on the preservation of ancient Roman ruins:

http://world.time.com/2013/01/23/entombing-the-tomb-of-the-gladiator-who-will-save-the-roman-ruins/

While it seems obvious that one would want to preserve ancient historical ruins to the best of one’s (or one’s nation’s) ability, the fact of the matter is that preserving ancient historical items requires money and, in these times of austerity and economic slow down, using government funds to preserve ancient ruins becomes a tricky issue.  Particularly if your country, Italy, happens to be filled with ancient -and who knows how many yet to be discovered!- ancient ruins.

Here in South Florida, the closest we have to “ancient” material worth preserving are homes and buildings from the early 20th Century.  Hardly “old” considering the material discussed in Italy.  However, what little we have here does have its charm and specific architectural characteristics.  But most of the buildings deemed “historic” are still in use and most often taken care of by the buildings’ owners.  Over time, many others have been bulldozed away and exist only in old photographs and memories.

So I feel for Italy.  This is a country that is rich in history and marvelous ancient structures. It’s a pity that the reality of modern economic times forces tough decisions regarding the proper care of said items.

General

Even OLDER dashcam footage!

Just the other day I posted a link and embedded video of “dashcam” footage of New York circa 1926 (you can read about it here).  I noted that while the website claimed the video from 1926 might be the oldest dashcam footage ever, I found that doubtful.  I recalled silent films from that era and before that also featured dashcam footage, so while old and unquestionably fascinating, I was reasonably certain the 1926 footage was not the “first” of its kind.

Well, to the website’s credit they have found and posted an even older dashcam footage.  Considerably older.

The footage below is from 1907 Vancouver!  Given the year, the footage presented isn’t from an automobile, rather was made via streetcar.  Still, incredibly fascinating to watch:

For more information on the footage, plus equally fascinating information on the man who filmed it (and died a mere five years later in one of the most famous maritime disasters of all time), click on the following link:

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/08/even-older-dashcam-footage-from-1907/

 

General

World’s Oldest Dashcam Footage?!

1 Comment

Follow this fascinating link to find footage from the archives of the Fire Department of New York which show a car transporting Fire Chief John Kenlon from the Brooklyn Fire Department to a storage warehouse fire on East 123rd Street.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/05/watch-what-might-be-the-worlds-oldest-dashcam-footage-from-1926/

If you’re not interested in reading the entire article, you can see the actual dashcam footage here:

Now, I suspect this is not the earliest “dashcam” type footage out there.  I seem to recall seeing plenty of silent films that featured vehicular adventures and footage from the front seat.  Further, there is an interesting bit of…I wouldn’t quite call it controversy but rather “questions” regarding the exact date this footage was filmed.  The date of the video is listed as April 24, 1926.  But, according to Ian, one clever poster for the article, records indicated that day in NY was actually quite warm.  Perhaps the footage was filmed at an earlier (snowier) date rather than the late spring date given?

Regardless, fascinating stuff and an extended look at what the streets of New York looked like nearly one hundred years ago.  My only wish is that they could slow down and correct the rate the footage is presented.  Things are a little too “sped up”.

General

10 Well Known Brands That Will Disappear in 2013

When I first stumbled upon the “Brands that Will Disappear” kind of lists, I was genuinely shocked to find the giant bookseller Borders on the list.  That list, which appeared a couple of years ago, proved accurate as in 2011 the chain of stores officially ended their run.

What brands are in danger today?  Follow the link to the Daily Finance page and you shall find your answers!

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/12/28/10-well-known-brands-that-will-disappear-in-2013/

General

Canadian Historian Cracks WWII Carrier Pigeon Code…

A little while back came the interesting news that a Brit cleaning out his chimney discovered the remains of a pigeon within.  The pigeon carcass proved extraordinary because on the remains of the pigeon’s leg was found a message holder and, within, a coded message.

The code and pigeon, it was established, were from WWII.  Experts analyzed the code but found it too difficult to crack.  They opined that without the proper code books, many of which changed daily during the war and were subsequently lost to time, there would be no way at all to decode the message.  Ever.

That is, until Gord Young, a Canadian historian, saw the code and in a whopping 17 minutes (according to the article!) cracked it.  What did he find?  Well, the article below tell you it “details the position of German troops based in Normandy”, but does not offer the actual deciphered message.  I suspect the message itself is a little too technical, but still, the article and the story are incredibly fascinating.  The full article can be found here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gord-young_n_2316069.html