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Climate change: would Cli-Fi help?
This novel by Jim Laughter (2011) is mostly forgettable, but at least it may be a start for a new genre.
They say that Americans spend almost three hours per day watching TV, which seems to be the world record. That means that a large fraction of their time while awake is spent into a fictional universe which has little to do with reality (that includes most of what is referred to as "news"). That may be the reason why Americans are the least concerned in the world about the threat of climate change. Apparently, fiction easily trumps reality, at least as long as the hurricane doesn't flood your house or the forest fire vaporizes it.
Apart from extreme cases, indeed, fighting fiction with reality is a hopeless task. Scientists know (or should know) this very well. For decades, they have been trying to convince the public that climate change is a serious problem and they have been doing that by writing incomprehensible papers that nobody even tries to read. No wonder that they had no success facing the fossil fuel lobby, which, instead, as been spinning one fancy tale after another; from the "hide the decline" conspiracy, to the "you forgot to take into account water vapor" accusation. Unless the public is hit hard by the consequence of climate change, they will always prefer a fancy tale to hard facts. And, even then, when reality strikes in the form of the various climate related disasters, they have other priorities rather than worrying about reducing their carbon footprint.
So, it seems that in the clash of fantasy and reality, reality usually succumbs, at least in the short run. Then, can we fight fiction with fiction? Could we transform climate change in a tale? Can we spur action on the basis of a tale? In principle, it should not be impossible: people act on the basis of their worldview and this worldview is normally largely based on narrative; just think about the current predominant vision, the one that says that liberism and the free market will solve all problems. Is it based on hard facts? Not at all, it is pure fiction.
So, a number of attempts at a new literary genre that goes under the name of "Climate Fiction", or "cli-fi" may explore the concept that dramatizing climate change could make it understandable to normal people. Does it work? Well, so far the attempts seen in this field have been less than memorable. One example comes to mind; "the day after tomorrow" of which it was said that "This movie is to climate science as Frankenstein is to heart transplant surgery." In terms of Cli-Fi novels, we seem to be gearing up for something interesting but, so far, the list of recent ones is very short and not especially impressive.
A cli-fi novel that I read recently is "Polar City Red", by Jim Laughter, published in 2009 by Deadly Niche Press. As a novel, it is, ahem.... let's say that it is not among the best novels I can think of. It starts from a reasonable - although not very original - premise; the idea that governments secretly created "polar colored cities" (of which the one of the title is the "Red" one) where a small number of people were to take refuge to escape the disaster created by global warming. But the development of the story is all based on cardboard characters and on a plot which goes nowhere and which has holes as big as a Siberian methane crater. If we really want to find something nice about this novel, let's say that if it is to be a start of a new genre, it is not really worse than the pulp fiction of the 1930s, which gave rise to what was later called "science fiction." After all, you have to start from somewhere!
Labels: cli-fi, climate change, climate fiction., global warming
UFO: a knowledge problem
For those of us who have lived the whole cycle of the UFO phenomenon, I highly recommend "The UFO phenomenon" a book by John Greer, "The Archdruid". The book is also summarized in a post of his.
Greer is a lucid thinker, an excellent analyst, and his knowledge is truly encyclopedic. The result is a book that, as it could have been expected (and as he himself describes) "managed the not inconsiderable feat of offending both sides of the UFO controversy. It did so by the simple expedient of setting aside the folk mythology that's been heaped up with equal enthusiasm by true believers in extraterrestrial visitation and true believers in today's fashionable pseudoskeptical debunkery."
It is not often that a book can change one's worldview, but this one did that for me on several points. Greer is completely right in noting that the UFO phenomenon - as others - have given rise to a wave of "pseudoskeptical debunkery." The concept is that often scientifically minded people have gone too far in their criticism of anything that appears to be outside what we consider the realms of science.
One of the problems considered by Greer is disinformation, that is the willful distortion and misrepresentation of the data. It is something that plays an important role every time we move away from phenomena which can be comfortably reproduced in a laboratory. But scientists have usually no training and no experience in recognizing disinformation and dealing with it. They just tend to ignore it, and are easy victims of its effects. On this point, the discussion in Greer's book is excellent and brings overwhelming support to his conclusion that the UFO phenomenon is mainly the result of disinformation created by the US military.
Another point raised by Greer is how the debate on UFOs has been framed using different views on how to obtain knowledge (if you like, it is an epistemological problem). Believers in the extraterrestrial origins of UFO have been using rhetorical methods, debunkers have been using the scientific method. Greer correctly notes that there is an abyss of difference in the two methods. Science tries to verify a theory by falsifying it and just one experiment that goes against the theory will destroy it. Rhetoric attempts to buttress a theory by piling up positive results and neglecting negative ones. When we get to debating UFOs, debunkers are at a definite disadvantage as they have to prove that all sightings are illusions, or hoaxes, or known flying objects. It can't work.
So, if someone says that he has seen strange lights in the sky, it is silly to feel that a scientist's duty is to automatically dismiss that by saying that it was just the planet Venus or something like that. That doesn't mean that we have to cede to the tsunami of pseudoscience diffusing all over the infosphere, but science will lose credibility if it continues operating in the "automatic debunking mode". (See, for instance, this post by Paula). And if science loses credibility, it will become more and more difficult to demolish even clearly flawed claims, for instance about low temperature nuclear fusion.
The epistemological problems that Greer raises is profound and important. Suppose that there existed alien intelligences, and that it were possible to contact them, would the scientific method be suitable to study them? Hardly so, at least beyond a trivial level. Even studying the behavior of our own species - which we know to exist - turns out to be extremely difficult and easily affected by disinformation campaigns, as it has happened to "The Limits to Growth" study in 1972 and is happening now for climate science.
Modern science was born to study the motion of planets and to solve all kinds of mechanical problems. But, in time, we have been discovering how complex the universe is. Think just about this: we have good models telling us how human activity is changing the climate. But we have no good models telling us how to convince humankind that it is crucial to stop doing the things that create climate change. Clearly, we are missing something and something very important, which the scientific method can hardly deal with. The story of the UFO phenomenon is a reminder that we need - as always - to go beyond the old paradigms.
A previous post of mine on the UFO phenomenon.
h/t Corvide
Labels: climate change, E-cat, epistemology, extraterrestrial origin, science, the limits to work, UFO
"Peak UFO": the decline of a cultural cycle
Peak UFO: Results of a query for "unidentified flying objects" in the JSTOR database, a collection of scientific journals. The number of articles mentioning the "UFO" concept is an indication of the scientific interest in the field. It peaked in the late 1960s and declined afterward.
When I came to age, in the early 1970s, the concept of UFO, unidentified flying object, was well entrenched in the worldview of the time. A worldview that included science fiction, space exploration, and UFOs together; a triad of different facets of the same idea: that space was the "new frontier" as President Kennedy said in 1960s, or the "final frontier" as it was repeated at the start of every episode of the first series of "Star Trek".
Time has passed, and the frontier has turned out to be too difficult to reach. After the moment of enthusiasm of the post-war years, space exploration turned out to be too expensive for a society which started to be burdened by the growing costs of mineral depletion and of pollution. With the final frontier becoming more and more remote, science fiction abandoned the genre of space conquest, moving toward epic fantasy and pseudo-medieval settings. And UFOs seemed to recede below the threshold of consciousness of the media.
But did UFOs really disappear? This summer, following a suggestion by "Corvide", I went back to this arm of the space triad of the 1960 and I read
two books. One is "The UFO Phenomenon: Fact, Fantasy and Disinformation" by John Michael Greer (AKA, the Archdruid), the other "UFOs for the 21st century mind", by Richard M. Dolan.
Both are recent books which attempt to evaluate the whole UFO cycle from its beginnings, that we may take as the late 1940s (even though the phenomenon is much older). Of the two, Greer's book is by far the better. Greer is skeptical about UFOs intended as manifestations of extraterrestrial entities, but the most fascinating part of his study is not so much about that. It is the part dedicated to how the UFO story was the origin and the test bed of the disinformation techniques which were then extensively used over and over, in particular by the US intelligence. Greer's book deserves a complete discussion which I'll try to tackle in a future post. Here, instead, I'll give space to Dolan's book which is also fascinating, but for completely different reasons.
About "UFOs for the 21st century mind" let me say that if there ever was an example of the concept of "beating around the bush" this is it. The book goes on for almost 500 pages (472 to be exact) of case after case of people claiming the strangest things seen in the sky or on the ground, but never the author feels the need to define what we are talking about. What does Mr. Dolan think UFOs are? To find some kind of an answer, we must go to chapter 10, where we find, buried in the mass of the book, a mere 29 pages of discussion on this fundamental question. And a very unsatisfactory discussion it is: we are told of the Hollywood-style features of the "Grays" and of weird speculations such as the fact that these creatures might be working on a long term breeding program for the creation of human-alien hybrids (p. 379).
The fascination with Dolan's book lies all there: in this startling contrast between a large number of claims that there is "something" up there and the extreme poverty of the interpretations of what this "something" could be. It doesn't help that Mr. Dolan thinks that we are victims of a conspiracy which has the government hiding the truth from us; the book has a distinct feeling of being badly outdated. Reading it feels like reading a science fiction story of the 1950s, with its space heroes yielding blaster guns against the alien invaders. Is it possible that in more than half century of discussing UFOs we haven't progressed even just a bit, with the "Grays" of today replacing the "little green men" of the 1950s? But that seems to be where we stand.
Not that it is a fault of Dolan, nor of other UFO researchers. The problem may simply be impossible to deal with, even worse than that of the P vs. NP in mathematics. Let me explain: it is perfectly possible that there exist other civilizations, somewhere, and that these civilizations could be technologically much more advanced than ours. I also have no objections to the concept that these civilizations could be neighboring us in ways that we cannot understand at present and being in contact with us occasionally, or even frequently.
Once this is stated, however, how do we proceed? So far, the most complex thing we know is the human brain and human brains have at least a fighting chance to study other, similar, brains. But what about something more complex (and perhaps much more complex)? We have at least one example of a high-tech civilization coming in contact with a low tech one. It was in the years during and after World War II, when the Melanesian islanders observed the arrival of the US army (and earlier on, of the Japanese army). The islanders were not stupid, but they totally misunderstood the meaning of what they were seeing. The result was the phenomenon that we know today as "Cargo Cult".
Then, consider what could happen if the difference in complexity and technological level were much higher. Imagine yourself as a honeybee: would you be able to understand that your hive was built by human beings for their purposes? Would you be able to even perceive the existence of human beings? You see what the problem is. So far, the study of entities more intelligent and more powerful than us has been reserved to the field we call "theology" which starts from assumption not exactly compatible with the scientific method as we know it nowadays.
This is the big problem with UFOs, probably an unsolvable one. Listing thousands (or even tens of thousands) of cases of "mysterious things flying above" (or landing from said above) is not useful. We are just accumulating a sort of "bestiary" of aliens, a compendium of the kind popular during the Middle Ages. But we are not progressing in the biology or the ecology of aliens. We don't even know if what we are seeing is real, although deformed by our limited capabilities of perception and understanding, or is an illusion, vanitas vanitatum, like the dragons and the sea serpents of medieval bestiaries.
In the end, it seems that the UFO phenomenon was the result of the culture of the times when it was born. A result of the optimism of the post-war years and of the diffusion of the concept of space as the new (or final) frontier. Once that concept started to vanish from our cultural horizon, the same destiny befell on the UFO phenomenon.
Is it over, then? Are we really alone and we have just been dreaming of more powerful entities visiting us (and, perhaps, benevolent and merciful entities?). The absence of evidence is no evidence of absence, especially if we don't know what exactly should the "evidence" be. So, there may well be, out there, higher patterns that we can't understand but that we may dimly perceive. It has been said that now we see darkly, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. And, who knows? The only unsurprising thing about the future is that it is always full of surprises.
Labels: abduction, aliens, disinformation, peak oil, propaganda, UFO
Italy: overshooting the bear
A poster in favor of the bear named Daniza, under threat of capture or suppression in Italy. It says "Leave alone Daniza and her cubs, otherwise I'll never come back to Trentino" (Trentino is the Northern region of Italy where the story is unfolding). Killing and destroying everything which is not under direct human control is the origin of the disaster called "overshoot". As long as people will not realize that there are limits to the human appropriation of resources on this planet, nothing will change.
If you like to show your support for Daniza and her cubs put your "like" on the Facebook page titled "Io sto con Daniza" (I am with Daniza)
The recent story of the bear called "Daniza" is typical of many stories of this kind. A few days ago, someone went looking for mushrooms in the woods of the Trentino region in Italy and stumbled onto this female bear and her two cubs. He wasn't smart enough to leave the place at the fastest possible speed, as he himself reported later. The alarmed bear decided to teach him a little lesson which, fortunately, left him almost unscathed, rather than consigning him to the records of the Darwin awards. Mother Daniza, apparently, limited herself to chasing the intruder away rather than using all her force against him, as she could have decided to do.
The result: cries of "shoot the bear!". Immediately after the incident, local politicians and local newspapers all seemed to agree on the need of killing Daniza. After a considerable reaction against this idea on the Web, the local government limited the proposed action to capturing the bear; which would probably condemn to death her two cubs. As I am writing, they are still trying to capture Daniza but, so far, she has managed to remain free with her cubs.
Despite the number of people expressing themselves in favor of Daniza and her two cubs, there remains the fact of this immediate and commonplace reaction: wilderness is a problem, wild animals are dangerous. Let's eliminate them and everything will be fine. Which is, after all, the way we tend to try to solve most problems: shoot or bomb the source of the trouble until (hopefully) the problem will disappear.
This attitude is widespread and it is, after all, the main reason for the phenomenon we call overshoot. Recognizing no limits to their action, humans want to appropriate every possible resource of the planetary ecosystem. Whatever opposes this action is ruthlessly eliminated. They don't realize that they are dependent on the ecosystem, rather than the reverse. So, the over-appropriation of the natural resources depletes them to the point that they can't reform fast enough to replace the losses. The result has a name: collapse. Killing Daniza the bear and her cub won't cause the world's economy to collapse, but it is an indication of an attitude which is leading us exactly there.
Here is a telling graph by xkcd showing how little wilderness has remained in the world. And we keep destroying it.
Labels: bear, daniza, darwin award, Italy, overshoot, wilderness
Italy: the story of the donkey and the economist
Italy's "Energy Efficiency" plotted as a ratio of the GDP (constant dollars) to the energy consumption (data from the World Bank)
There is an old story in Italy (but also in other Mediterranean regions) that tells of a man who tried to train his donkey to work without food. So, he gradually reduced the beast's daily ration of hay. Later on, the man reported that, unfortunately, the donkey had died just when it had learned to go without any food at all.
The man of the story must have been an economist. He was trying to optimize the system and he had defined the "efficiency" of the donkey as the ratio of the work performed divided by the amount of hay consumed. He had found that reducing the amount of hay improved efficiency and, with impeccable logic, had brought the idea to its natural conclusion.
Something similar seems to be taking place with the economy of whole countries. Economists define as "efficiency" the ratio of the GDP produced per unit of energy consumed. Noting that this ratio has been increasing for many Western economies during the past decades, they conclude that economies are becoming more and more efficient. They even speak of "decoupling", noting that the GDP can keep increasing while the energy consumption remains constant - or decreases. This is supposed to be a wonderful thing.
Unfortunately, the problems with this optimistic interpretation appear stark clear with the case of Italy. Notice, in the graph above, how this "efficiency" shot up just when the Italian economy started to collapse, with a decline in GDP, loss of more than 25% of the Italian industrial production, massive increase in unemployment and all the related disasters. (See here, and here for reports about the post-peak Italian economy)
The increase in efficiency shown by the graph is a pure illusion. The Italian economy is not becoming more efficient but, simply, contracting. Industries are closing down and people become unemployed. As a consequence, less energy is consumed in manufacturing and for transportation. At the same time, other elements of the economic system, say, rents or property taxes, remain relatively unaffected; government spending, for instance, tends to go up. Hence, the GDP doesn't decrease as fast as energy consumption and the ratio of the two increases (*). Obviously, that's nothing to be happy about.
Concepts such as "efficiency" and "decoupling" seem to be based on highly aggregated parameters; too much to provide a useful interpretation of what's happening in a country's economy. That doesn't mean that the economy cannot get more efficient with time, just as a donkey may learn to work even with a reduced hay reaction. But, without energy, and especially without cheap and abundant energy, an economy simply starves and, eventually, it suffers the fate of the donkey of the story.
(*) The increase in the GDP/energy consumption ratio can be simulated by a dynamic model and it can be shown that it is just an effect of the time lag in the process of transformation of natural resources into capital. But that will take another post to explain.
Labels: collapse, economy, efficiency, gdp, Italy
Steam trains will never replace horses
Don't you have this feeling that it is becoming more and more queer to keep repeating the same old, stale sentence, "Renewable energy will never be able to replace fossil fuels"?
From The Telegraph
Global solar dominance in sight as science trumps fossil fuels
Solar power will slowly squeeze the revenues of petro-rentier regimes in Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. They will have to find a new business model, or fade into decline
There are already 19 regional markets around the world in which PV solar panels can match or undercut local electricity prices without subsidy Photo: Reuters
Solar power has won the global argument. Photovoltaic energy is already so cheap that it competes with oil, diesel and liquefied natural gas in much of Asia without subsidies.
Roughly 29pc of electricity capacity added in America last year came from solar, rising to 100pc even in Massachusetts and Vermont. "More solar has been installed in the US in the past 18 months than in 30 years," says the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). California's subsidy pot is drying up but new solar has hardly missed a beat.
The technology is improving so fast - helped by the US military - that it has achieved a virtous circle. Michael Parker and Flora Chang, at Sanford Bernstein, say we entering a new order of "global energy deflation" that must ineluctably erode the viability of oil, gas and the fossil fuel nexus over time. In the 1980s solar development was stopped in its tracks by the slump in oil prices. By now it has surely crossed the threshold irreversibly.
The ratchet effect of energy deflation may be imperceptible at first since solar makes up just 0.17pc of the world's $5 trillion energy market, or 3pc of its electricity. The trend does not preclude cyclical oil booms along the way. Nor does it obviate the need for shale fracking as a stop-gap, for national security reasons or in Britain's case to curb a shocking current account deficit of 5.4pc of GDP.
But the technology momentum goes only one way. "Eventually solar will become so large that there will be consequences everywhere," they said. This remarkable overthrow of everthing we take for granted in world energy politics may occur within "the better part of a decade".
If the hypothesis is broadly correct, solar will slowly squeeze the revenues of petro-rentier regimes in Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, among others. Many already need oil prices near $100 a barrel to cover their welfare budgets and military spending. They will have to find a new business model, or fade into decline.
Continue reading on "The Telegraph"
Labels: energy, fossil fuels, photovoltaics, renewable energy
Peak mileage and the diminishing returns of technology
This graph, from "economonitor," is very interesting because it contains so much relevant information. (However, note one detail: the title of the graph, "Miles Driven" is somewhat misleading; it should be "mileage", as the text of the post clearly says.) The relation of mileage to hourly wages is a parameter worth examining because it tells us a lot about the "systemic" efficiency of road transportation. What kind of efficiency can we actually afford?
Now, the graph shows a clear "peak mileage" which occurred around the year 2000, when Americas could afford the highest mileage from their cars in history. It was an efficiency peak of the road transportation system. But then, this efficiency diminished. How can we explain that?
The data of the graph depend on three factors 1) the cost of gasoline, 2) the average hourly wage, and 3) the average mileage of cars. Let see first the behavior of oil prices, which determine gasoline prices.
You see how oil prices spiked twice during the past 50 years, with the first and the second (ongoing) oil shocks. Amazingly, after the start of the first oil crisis, the mileage per hour worked increased, despite the steep price increases. But the opposite took place with the second oil crisis, mileage per hour worked rapidly decreased. Something must have compensated the price increase during the first crisis, but that is not occurring during the second. Why?
Of the other two parameters involved in the mileage curve, hourly wages play only a minor role. In real terms, wages have remained more or less constant in the US since the early 1970s, as you can see in this graph (source: income inequality)
What changed a lot in this period is the technology of cars. The first oil shock in the 1970s was, indeed, a shock. People reacted by actively seeking for technological solutions which would increase the mileage of their cars. And these solutions were easy to find: simply reducing the size and the weight of the monster gas guzzlers of the 1960s did the job. Look at these data (source):
You see how quickly mileage increased throughout the 1970s - it nearly doubled in less than 10 years! And you can see how quickly people forgot about the oil problem once prices collapsed in the second half of the 1980s. The graph also shows that, with the second oil crisis, mileage restarted to increase, but by far not as fast as in the 1970s. There is a reason: it is difficult to optimize something already optimized. This we call 'diminishing returns of technological progress."
In the end, it looks like the "peak mileage" of the late 1990s is the real one. In the future, the a combination of factors which led to the peak will never return. Oil depletion is destined to make oil less and less affordable, even though market oscillations may hide this phenomenon. Wages are unlikely to grow in real terms after having been static for the past 40 years. And technological miracles are unlikely. Even the Toyota Prius, technological marvel of our times, can only bring us back to where we were 15 years ago in terms of mileage per hour worked. As long as we remain within the paradigm of "road vehicle powered by a combustion engine" we have reached the limit of what we can do.
The result of the reduced overall efficiency of transportation we can see in this last graph (from advisorperspectives). In the US; people are driving less. Perhaps there are behavioral factors involved, but "peak mileage" suggest that they are doing that because they can't afford to drive more.
h/t Giorgio Mastrorocco
Labels: collapse, efficiency, mileage, oil prices, peak oil, road transportation, toyota prius
The decline of science: why scientists are publishing too many papers
We are seeing scientists badly failing in convincing decision makers of the urgent need of doing something against the impending disaster caused by global warming. But that's just a symptom of the decline of scientific research, desperately seeking for funds, but oppressed by bureaucracy and by a general disinterest on the part of the public; to say nothing of the rampant phenomenon of pseudoscience. In this text, I argue that one of the causes of the decline of science is the emphasis in publishing (the "publish or perish" rule). I argue that scientific papers have become a form of currency, suffering all the problems which plague the modern financial markets. Both the financial world and the scientific world have developed "emergent" properties which optimize throughput but not necessarily benefits. In short, we are publishing too much. (image above from this page)
The scientific world seems to be swamped by a true tsunami of papers of all kinds, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. A situation which looks more and more similar to that of the general cacophony of the World Wide Web, swamped by poor quality information drowning the good information (if any). This starts to be a serious problem and some have explicitly asked that scientists should publish a smaller number of papers, but of higher quality (as argued, for instance, by Timo Hannay).
But why do we find ourselves in this situation? What has caused science to become a paper mill? Here, I argue that it is the result of the basic properties of complex systems. These systems generate emergent properties which are often similar in fields which appear very different at first sight. In particular, scientific publishing turns out to be very similar to the world's financial system, with all the associated problems of uncontrolled growth and waste of resources. Let me explain my point.
From the beginning of one's career, scientists are pressured to publish, publish, and publish. That is known as the "Publish or Perish" rule which is implemented by means of the "peer review" process in which colleagues of the authors have the authority of accepting or rejecting the submitted paper, or request modifications. It looks simple, but it is much more complex than this, with several variants on the theme of "peer review", different prestige of scientific journals, different methods of diffusion (e.g. open access or paid subscriptions) and more.
One of the problems with the system is that the peer review system can usually filter out the really bad papers, but can hardly do the same for papers which are simply mediocre. The limitations of peer review have generated the arcane (and ineffectual) methods of post-publication evaluation which sometimes go under the name of "scientometry" or "scientometrics" (not to be confused with Scientology!!).
For a non-scientist, the urge to publish and the methods of publications in science are hard to understand, but the matter will appear perfectly clear if we compare it to something we are all familiar with: ordinary, monetary currency. Let me examine the many parallels in a non-exhaustive list.
1. Currency. The way we intend monetary currency nowadays is something that has no intrinsic value: it is in the form of sheets of paper or bits in computers. But by having these bits or pieces of paper you gain prestige and luxury items, and you climb up in the social ladder. The situation is exactly the same for scientific papers. In themselves, papers may have little or no value, but the more papers a scientist has published, the higher is his/her prestige and the more he/she can climb up the scientific ladder to higher and more prestigious positions. Papers can also bring luxury items in the form of expensive research equipment (microscopes, particle accelerators, scanners, etc.).
1. Emitting currency. Today, central banks are the entities authorized to emit monetary currency, and they have the authority of stamping a validation mark on an otherwise worthless piece of paper which then becomes 'money'. In science, validation of a paper is the privilege of scientific publishers. But who gave to scientific publishers this authority? It is an interesting question, just as impossible to answer as asking who gave the banks the same kind of authority with ordinary currency.
2. Spending your currency. Ordinary currency has no value in itself, but it can be exchanged with all sorts of items in the market. Scientific papers are not so easy to redeem, but can be transformed into ordinary currency by using them as tokens necessary to obtain a salary, career advancements, honorariums, and more.
3. Inflation. Currency is well known to undergo inflation; it loses part of its value with time. Scientific papers are subjected to the same phenomenon. Older papers are less valuable than new ones and in order to maintain your "wealth", as a scientist you must fight inflation. If your papers get old and no new ones are published, then they will be worth nothing.
4. Interest on currency. Ordinary currency can be deposited in banks in order to acquire an interest in the form of more currency. For scientific papers, the same role is played by funding agencies which transform scientific papers into research grants, which scientists will use to produce more papers. It is a classic example of a reinforcing feedback.
5. Assaying. The real value of ordinary currency can be ascertained by procedures which may involve chemical assaying of precious metals. With paper currency, there are ways to determine whether they have been printed by authorized agencies. With scientific papers, their validity is verified by "referees;" scientists who will decide whether the data and the interpretation reported are correct.
6. Counterfeiting. Ordinary currency can be counterfeited in various ways, for instance in the form of worthless metals instead of precious ones, in the form of paper bills printed by unauthorized agencies, and in the form of legitimate - but worthless - currency emitted by the central bank of small and unknown countries. In scientific publishing, counterfeiting is performed by small "predatory" publishers which do not perform the same validity check as the established publishers and may simply publish anything in exchange for a (standard monetary) fee paid by the authors.
7. Bad money replaces the good. This is a well known phenomenon in all economies, with money being debased by reducing the content of precious metals or printing too much of it. In science, we are seeing the same phenomenon with the proliferation of scientific publishers - often shady businesses trying to make a buck from scientists eager to see their paper published but not succeeding with the traditional journals. The result is an inflation of bad papers which tend to swamp the flux of good ones.
8. Ponzi schemes and multi-level marketing. A Ponzi scheme is a pyramidal structure in which the lower layers pay the higher ones for the privilege of being inside. A multi-level marketing scheme is similar, but you pay for the privilege of being able to sell a product. There is no reason why such schemes cannot exist also in science. Some recently started journals have taken up a pyramidal structure which looks suspiciously like a multi-layer marketing scheme. In this case, scientists are drawn into the scheme with the allure of being defined as "editors." As a result, they work for free for the publisher!
As you see, the similarities are so many and so evident that we can say that the paper publishing system in modern science is a form of currency which exists and prospers within the system which has created it. It is so entrenched and so natural that most scientists seem to show little or no interest in its origins. Yet, the peer review system seems to have been unknown a century ago (see, e.g. this note by Michael Nielsen). For instance, only one of the about 300 papers published by Albert Einsten went through peer review. The scientific publication system we know today seems to have become the rule only in the second half of the 20th century. It is impressive that this system emerged all by itself without anyone planning it. It is an "emergent phenomenon", one of the characteristics of complex systems which tend to evolve in such a way to maximize the dissipation of potential energy (see, e.g. Kaila and Annila).
We could say that the world's financial system has evolved in order to maximize the destruction of the Earth's natural resources; favoring their consumption at speeds much larger than the Earth's capability to reform them - obviously not a benefit for humankind. We could argue that the world's scientific publication system has evolved in order to maximize the production of a large number of mediocre and useless paper. Again, this is not a benefit to science. Scientists are publishing too much!
Can these systems be changed? There is much talk on the subject of reforming the world's financial system, just as there is much talk about reforming the world's scientific publication system. In both cases, however, reform seems to be very difficult, if not impossible. In science, the well intentioned effort to open up to the public the results of scientific research by the "Open Access" system seems to have backfired, generating a wave of "predatory publishers" favoring an even faster dissipation of scientific potentials by greatly increasing the number of mediocre or bad papers. The financial system seems to be even more impervious to all kind of changes.
In the end, it seems that most systems of this kind can be reformed only by rebuilding them after they have crashed. That's not surprising: after all, you should know that if you fight thermodynamics, thermodynamics always wins.
Labels: collapse, currency, money, science
Fortunately, we have mr. Renzi!
... capable young leader who is fixing the italian economy....
from business insider
A tale of a powerful empire and of a riotous kingdom
History, it is said, doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. In particular, the times of the Roman Empire are a remarkable source of events rhyming with those of modern times. For instance, the ancient Romans had developed a number of propaganda technologies which were remarkably similar to the ones we use today. The image above (source), from the Trajan column in Rome, may be seen as accusing Rome's enemies of the time, the Dacians, of preparing for war by building a fortress - perhaps breaking a previously agreed pact. So, let me tell a tale of Roman times. I won't tell you what exactly it rhymes with in our times, but I think it will be easy for you to understand.
The Roman Empire had become rich and powerful on the precious metals, gold and silver, that the Romans mined in Spain. (the details are described here, and here). The problem for the Romans was that gold is a mineral resource and mineral resources don't last forever.
With the first century of our era, the production of gold and silver from the Roman mines started declining and the Empire started showing signs of trouble. The Jewish revolt of 66 CE was one of these signs: it almost destroyed the Empire. Eventually, however, the Romans managed to crush the rebellion and, by sacking Jerusalem, they obtained a nice stash of gold to replenish their badly depleted reserves. But the problem remained: the gold sacked in Jerusalem could not last forever. How to get the gold necessary to pay the legions which ensured the Empire's survival?
At this point, the Romans noticed that a small a kingdom on their North-Western border, Dacia, still had producing gold mines. The Dacians had been building up their production and by the start of the 2nd century CE they could dream of using this gold to their advantage; maybe to create a small empire of theirs.
The situation was clear: the Romans needed gold, the Dacians had it. The Roman had a powerful army, the Dacians a much less powerful one. The consequences were obvious: the Romans invaded Dacia during the early years of the 2nd century CE. It was a risky gamble, because the Dacians put up a stiff resistance, but eventually they were defeated and the Romans took control of their gold mines. With the newly found gold, the Romans tried to conquer their rival empire: Parthia, on their Eastern border. They failed miserably at that. If the gold of Spain had yielded a whole empire to the Romans, the gold of Dacia yielded strictly nothing except Dacia itself. And Dacia was the first border province to be abandoned by the empire less than two centuries after having been conquered. Then, the empire which slowly faded away from history as it was condemned to do.
This is the story. Now, as a little exercise in history-rhyming, let's list its main elements.
A powerful empire plagued by excessive military expenses and by declining mineral resources (Rome)
A short lived boost of resources for the empire (the sack of Jerusalem)
A growing regional power, with still productive mineral resources (Dacia)
A large rival empire (Parthia)
A remarkable capability of using propaganda for military purposes (Rome)
Now, try to fit in this scheme the modern equivalents of the ancient ones. As you can see, history really rhymes a lot. It is not surprising: the way humans behave is determined by the way their brain works. And that has not changed much in the past and - from what we are seeing happening around us nowadays - is not changing at all.
But one more thing that history teaches us is how futile some human efforts are. Think again of the desperate attempt of the Romans to conquer Dacia. They succeeded, but they took a tremendous risk: the campaign was enormously expensive and, had they failed, the result could not have been anything but the disintegration of the empire. And, anyway, the gold of Dacia turned out to be insufficient to keep the empire expanding. The Roman Empire, just like our modern economy, could survive only by growing. Once it couldn't grow any longer, it withered and died.
So, conquering Dacia was a reckless gamble, an enormous cost, and a lot of destruction; and all that just postponed the unavoidable. Will the present world situation evolve in the same way? We can't say for sure, but it is certain that history rhymes a lot.
Labels: mineral resources, roman empire, russia, Ukraine
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'The Peanuts Movie' releases cute new trailer
The movie is based on characters created by Charles M. Schulz, who died in 2000.
By Annie Martin
LOS ANGELES, June 16 (UPI) -- The Peanuts Movie released a cute new trailer Tuesday.
The preview sees Charlie Brown (voiced by Noah Schnapp) attempt to prove he's a winner and impress the new girl in town, the Little Red-Haired Girl (Francesa Capaldi).
Fan favorites Lucy (Hadley Belle Miller) and Linus van Pelt (Alexander Garfin), Peppermint Patty (Venus Schultheis), Schroeder (Noah Johnston) and more also appear. The film used archival recordings of late voice actor Bill Melendez for Snoopy and Woodstock.
The 3D animated movie is based on the Charles M. Schulz comic strip, which will celebrate its 65th anniversary in October. Peanuts ran from 1950 to 2000, and inspired several animated films and television specials.
The Peanuts Movie is directed by Steve Martino (Horton Hears a Who!), and opens in theaters Nov. 6. Schulz's son, Craig Schulz, and grandson, Bryan Schulz, co-wrote the film with Cornelius Uliano, and co-produced with Uliano and Paul Feig (Bridesmaids).
Snoopy faces the Red Baron in new 'Peanuts' trailer 'The Peanuts Movie' releases new trailer Upcoming 'Charlie Brown' movie releases first teaser trailer
Charles M. Schulz
Van Pelt
Movies // 7 hours ago
'Fast X' poster suggests 10th film not the end
Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Universal Pictures released the first poster for "Fast X" on Tuesday. The slogan "The end of the road begins" suggests it might not conclude with the 10th film.
Tracy Oliver: Afrochella inspired 'Girls Trip 2' Ghana setting
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- "Girls Trip" screenwriter Tracy Oliver told UPI she was inspired to set the sequel in Ghana after observing festivals like Afrochella.
Movies // 1 day ago
Jaafar Jackson, nephew of Michael Jackson, to play late singer in new film
Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Jaafar Jackson will portray his late uncle, pop star Michael Jackson, in a new biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua.
'Murder Mystery 2' trailer: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston head to Paris
Jan. 30 (UPI) -- "Murder Mystery 2," a comedy mystery film starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, is coming to Netflix.
Sundance movie review: 'Cassandro' celebrates joy, progress in wrestling
Jan. 30 (UPI) -- "Cassandro" is the biopic of Mexican wrestler Saul Armendariz, who created the persona Cassandro and became the first "exotico" wrestler to win matches.
Sundance movie review: 'Talk to Me' cleverly conjures evil spirits
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The horror movie "Talk to Me" has a clever new take on spiritual possession that sends its cast of teen dabblers into dangerous and violent territory.
Movies // 2 days ago
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- "Avatar: The Way of Water" -- a current Best Picture Oscar nominee -- is the No. 1 movie in North America for a seventh weekend, earning an additional $15.7 million in receipts.
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- "Beyond Utopia" follows three different families escaping from North Korea through an underground network of brokers led by a pastor in South Korea. Viewers accompany them via firsthand accounts and footage.
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The AARP bestowed its top award cinematic award -- Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups -- to Tom Cruise's "Top Gun: Maverick."
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- "Rye Lane" portrays a day in the life of two single Londoners who connect over helping each other through their respective breakups.
'Laverne & Shirley' actress Cindy Williams dead at 75
'FBI' crossover with 'International,' 'Most Wanted' coming in April
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Mute Math
Alma. Review by Carl F Gauze.
The Thermals
The Thermals are keeping the vitality of mid '90s-styled indie rock alive and well.
Beggars (Vagrant). Review by Jen Cray.
When Mute Math come to town everyone should drop what they are doing and head for the show, which is exactly what Jen Cray did when this band hit Orlando.
For their second trip to Orlando in just three months time, Portugal the Man took a backseat in billing (to Rock Votolato), and quietly appeared as an opener at the same venue that they had previously sold out on their own. Jen Cray was back for a second helping of these Alaska boys.
Interpol may not be the most exciting live band on the planet, but Jen Cray is hooked on their music deeply enough to keep going back for more.
Lovedrug
Everything Starts Where It Ends (The Militia Group). Review by Jen Cray.
Mute Math are, without a doubt, one of the most talented live bands you will ever see. Heavy hitting drummer Darren King spoke with Jen Cray after the band's pair of awe inspiring dates during Orlando's Anti-Pop Festival.
There's a good reason why Mute Math played two consecutive nights during Orlando's Anti-Pop Festival, at The Social… Because, as Jen Cray soon found out, they are one of the greatest live bands touring the club circuit these days.


Upon arrival at the airport you will be met by your guide transferred to the hotel. Later, city tour of Dushanbe to visit Hissor Fort, the former capital of Eastern Bukhara province. The site has two madrassas (18th-19th centuries). We also visit local bazaar and museums.
Today we start our journey toward the Pamir over the mountain passes to Kalaikum which is halfway to Khorog.
Drive to Langer. En-route we will stop by Namgut village to see the Kah Kah Fortess, from Khushan period.
Later we visit a small museum of local astronomer and poet Sufi Muboraki Wakhoni.
In the morning, visit local shrine Mazor-I Shoh Qambar-I Oftob (Master of Sun). Afterward we drive along the Pamir River via the Khargoshi pass (4344m) to Murghab.
Murgab is the highest village in Tajikistan. It is located at an altitude of 3600 meters. The town lies at the junction of the Pamir highway (that connects the region with Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan) and the main road linking Tajikistan with China through the Kulma pass.
Today you will be driving through the Mountain pass of Ak-Bital to the picturesque lake of Karakul at an altitude of 3,914 m.
Afternoon hike along the shore of Lake Karakul.
In the morning transfer to Irkeshtam border crossing into China. Where you will be met by our Chinese guide and transfer to Kashgar, the location of the Great Game, is an ancient and popular trading stop on the Silk Road.
Full free day at leisure after big Pamir Adventures.
This day is planned to coincide with the famous Sunday market in Kashgar where everything from carpets, blankets, foods, horses, donkeys, sheep and even camels are for sale. A wonderful assortment of people come from all over the region; the population of the town swells by 100,000! This is truly one of the most incredible bazaars in Asia, and a photographer's paradise. After the market visit Eidgah Mosque, Abakh Hoja Tomb and the old town.
Today we drive to Karakul Lake along the famous Karakorum highway. The scenery along the way is breathtaking. We will be stopping at the Lake where you can enjoy the view of Muztagh-ata Mountains. Optional camel ride or walk around the Lake. Later we continue to Tashkurgan the last Tajik Chinese town between China and Pakistan.
After border formalities, we drive to the world's highest paved border crossing, the Khunjerab pass (4750 m height) between Pakistan and China. On the way, you will view the awesome mountain ranges of the Karakorum and Kunlun mountains. Upon arrival at Sost you will be met by our local Hunza guide and transfer to Passu Village. Welcome dinner at a local family home.
This morning we visit Passu village and later drive Borith Lake where we enjoy the beautiful scenery. After lunch for those of you who are energetic we will hike to the Passu glacier.
In the morning we drive to Gulmit or Hike over Ghulkin glacier to Gulmit.
In the morning we board on boats toward Karimabad. Midway we transfer to cars and drive to Hoper valley.
NAGARVALLEY – which can be seen from Duiker is on the opposite, eastern side of the Hunza River. This is another fertile valley and is predominantly Shia Muslim. This is one of the world's fastest moving glaciers at Hoper.
In the morning, we visit Tashkurgan Fort, dating back from the 14th century. You can enjoy an impressive view of the surrounding fields, mountains, and military complexes from the old walls. Afterwards we continue driving to Kashgar.
All private transfers by 4×4 Jeeps for Pamir Highway, Cars, Van, Busses for Kashgar and Hunza valley depend on the group size except one way public bus from Tashkurgan to Sost..


Take Note Academy is set to return to London this summer for a daylong event at East London design space Second Home Saturday, 15th September.
Billed as London's first music conference for young people, Take Note Academy, in partnership with Resident Advisor, "aims to educate, inspire and connect the next generation, bringing together those who will shape the future of the music industry," according to a press release. This year's event will feature a day full of talks, master classes, one-on-one mentoring and a live performance with an as yet unnamed artist.
Confirmed daytime discussions include events with artists and producers/DJs like BBC Radio 1's B.Traits, Ben Pearce and HAAi as well as industry reps like Pedro Vila, tour manager with Drumcode; Dominic Flannigan, A&R manager at LuckyMe/Warp; Vidhi Gandhi, A&R manager at Ninja Tune; artist manager Steven Braines; and more.
The master classes, which will focus on DJing, production and broadcasting, will feature Cassy, Matador, Kasra and others.
For more information on and tickets to Take Note Academy London, visit the Resident Advisor event page.
Check out a DJ master class with Andrea Oliva from Point Blank at IMS Ibiza 2018.
Photo taken from Take Note Academy London Facebook page.


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HuffPost's Polling Team Is Now All Female
A speedy rearrangement after Blumenthal's departure.
By Corinne Grinapol
The staffing changes the Huffington Post has made to its HuffPost pollster department in the wake of senior editor Mark Blumenthal's departure to SurveyMonkey gives the publication one of the few all-female polling departments in the field.
Natalie Jackson, who is also the team PhD, has been named senior polling editor and will be responsible for the 2016 polling model, drawing on her experience as the creator of HuffPost's 2014 model. She was previously the senior data scientist.
When asked about how an all-female team could affect how polling is done, Jackson told FishbowlDC, "There's no effect on the nature of the polls themselves. It's about the balance in the field–and especially in the analysis side of things. Diversity is always key in any field, and this field happens to be very male-dominated, so I'm proud to be one of the few all-female teams."
Ariel Edwards-Levy has been upped to director of polling and will be in charge of the HuffPost/YouGov survey. She will also continue in her role as staff reporter. "Only Ariel could manage that and also report in her spare time," D.C. bureau chief Ryan Grim wrote in a note to staff announcing the promotions.
Janie Velencia retains the title of associate polling editor but now has an expanded role with more reporting duties.
The search is also on for a polling fellow to round out the team.
http://adweek.it/1W5y7WJ


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The Sure-Fire Way to Create Your Competitive Advantage
September 13, 2006 6 min read
All businesses that outperform their competitors have two key characteristics in common: a highly energized workforce, plus hordes of delighted customers that keep coming back again and again--two very nice things to have. But as everyone knows, the reason so few businesses enjoy a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace is precisely because these two elements are so difficult to achieve.
And if it's really as difficult as all that, shouldn't the few businesses that manage to pull it off be absolutely exhausted by the effort? If you take a close look (as I have) at those rare businesses that consistently achieve both objectives--flashpoint businesses, as I refer to them--what you invariably see is just the opposite. Employees at all levels seem perpetually fired up, as if every day they're engaged in some kind of fun group activity. Is there some big secret about "energized workers" and "delighted customers" that these flashpoint businesses understand and everyone else seems to have somehow missed?
There most certainly is. And it has to do with what most people consider the basic difference between "work" and "play." The first step to creating a powerful competitive advantage is to understand the specific elements that make play so much more satisfying than work.
Play Element #1: Challenge
Achieving better bowling scores would be so much easier if the bowling pins were closer together. On the other hand, who would pay to bowl at an alley where anyone could knock down all the pins every time with ease? Knocking all the pins down over and over again would quickly begin to feel like the kind of repetitive, pointless activity most bowlers experience at their jobs--and precisely what they're trying to get away from when they go bowling. To be truly fun, an activity has to be a real challenge--that's key.
In most workplaces, there's no single, well-defined "mission" that takes precedence over everything else. Instead, there are all kinds of tasks and objectives and deadlines that often make workers feel they're being pulled in a dozen directions at once. For many, the only real challenge on the job is resisting the temptation to quit.
Contrast this with flashpoint businesses, where the one, crystal-clear, overriding mission is to draw business away from competitors by attempting to delight every customer every time. In these businesses, the reason it looks like workers are having fun is because in many ways, their work feels like a game with a single, challenging, shared objective.
Your Task: Challenge everyone in your business to think of "outperforming the competition through superior customer care" as the primary objective that overrides all other tasks at all times.
Play Element #2: Rules
Every play activity has it own elaborate set of rules. In a new game, even before play begins, all the rules are carefully spelled out to the players. These rules add to the challenge and keep the game fair for all.
In a work setting, the rules of the game are often vague and unclear. They may even seem to shift and change from time to time, based on the different situations that arise. Employees often feel reluctant to take the initiative, unsure if doing so will later earn them praise (for "thinking outside the box") or rebukes (for "breaking the rules"). They tend to adopt a play-it-safe approach.
By comparison, most flashpoint businesses spell out their values and their priorities--the rules--over and over again. "Your goal is to delight the customer but not by doing anything that harms the organization in any way." "We want to pull business away from our competitors but never in an unlawful or underhanded way."
Your Task: Ensure that your employees understand how the game is to be played--for instance, how you'll be giving them opportunities to come up with their own ideas for enhancing the customer experience. Be sure to clarify what constitutes a "foul" or a violation of the rules.
Play Element #3: Scoring
In play activities of every kind, there exists some sort of scoring mechanism that lets the players know immediately how well they're doing. This immediacy is critical. How popular would bowling be if the pins were back in the dark and players never found out how well they played until their scores arrived in the mail weeks later?
This is what it feels like for most workers on the job: They don't find out how well they're doing until the "quarterly reports" come out or until their annual performance evaluation meeting.
But things are different in flashpoint businesses. There, spontaneous positive feedback from happy customers becomes the number-one scoring mechanism. At the same time, it also serves as the number-one employee motivator, the basis for endless internal celebration and recognition.
Your Task: Harvest immediate positive customer feedback by every means at your disposal--especially informal face-to-face conversation--and direct as much of this feedback as possible back to your workers.
Play Element #4: Satisfaction
Before the game even begins, bowlers know they won't succeed in knocking down every pin every time. Players in every kind of game know they'll never achieve a perfect score every time--but this does nothing to diminish their attempts to do so. And when their score tells them their performance has moved closer to the unachievable goal, their feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is profound. There's shouting and high-fiving and every kind of exuberant victory dance imaginable.
Flashpoint businesses also know they won't succeed in delighting every customer every time. But when the feedback indicates they've moved closer to that unattainable objective, the same kind of cheering and celebration erupts. It's something that's almost never experienced in the majority of workplaces, and it's something that's almost routine in flashpoint businesses. They've once gain beat the opposing team, and once again the dance of victory unites all of them in their shared accomplishment--and in their shared determination to play the game again and strive together to win another round.
Your Task: Create a culture of celebration that maximizes your employees' sense of accomplishment with every rave review from delighted customers. This is the motivational fuel that quickly gains the most powerful competitive edge in any business--and helps sustain it over the long term.
A powerful and proven process for gaining a competitive advantage is outlined in customer-focus consultant Paul Levesque's book, Customer Service From The Inside Out Made Easy (Entrepreneur Press). Read an excerpt at www.customerfocusbreakthroughs.com.
Making Loyal Customers Out of Self-Made Millionaires
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Hello!!! And welcome back, I had a little break from Vlogging and Blogging, because on January 14th my little sister Laura gave birth to the newest member of our family. Little Nicholas Contreras has stolen all of our hearts, and his older sister Sophia has decided he's a keeper lol. I enjoyed my break from Blogging and Vlogging but at the same time really missed speaking to all of you, so on to My Meals Monday.
Today I started off with Oatmeal, I make this on the stove using plain oats, I added in almond milk, raisins, and dried figs, and then a chopped banana. I also had my usual coffee and water.
For lunch I had an egg salad sandwich, at the start of January I decided to give up meat, I am doing really well with that choice and so far don't really miss it, and have quite enjoyed finding new recipes to try, including this sandwich, its so basic yet I had never actually made one, it was very good lol.
For dinner we had eggplant lasagna, this is from whole foods, rather than noodles they used slices of eggplant it was so good.
That is everything I had to eat today, what did you eat today? What are your thoughts on being Vegetarian?


Hey Joel, Will hardship suspensions go away in January 2019?
Record retention doesn't need to be a mystery, and the filing system doesn't need to become a tomb.
If a participant, auditor, or DOL agent requested plan information, could you find it quickly? The key is twofold: keep the things you need and store them so you can find them easily. Of course, these are only general guidelines.
For questions about your specific case, contact your plan advisor to discuss best practices for keeping records.


Sri Lanka cannot and should not become another Singapore, nonetheless it can learn profitably from Singapore. First and foremost Singapore spelt out very clearly [in their] ethos… the need to entrench the idea of upholding the integrity in the Public Service.
[Singapore] has seen countless government campaigns… Many of these posters were designed by anonymous commercial artists who worked inside government departments, and later on, advertising agencies.
Google Keep: I use this to keep notes and reminders on my smartphone. I like that these notes can be synced with other devices when logged in with the same Google account.
deathis.sg: An interactive online documentary that uses a combination of videos, photos and text to get people thinking about death in a less taboo way.
Camcard (iOS/Android): This app helps me organise my name cards by reading and converting them into digital format. It links them to my phone contacts, and sorts them into pre-determined categories or by alphabet. Now I can collect as many name cards as I need or want, paper free!
Spotify: Spotify can customise music genres to fit my current emotions. It helps to refresh my music playlist and mental state, and keeps me up to date with top hits too (although I don't always agree with the ratings).


I'll cover almost all the basic commands required to perform operations and queries on a keyspace or database in Cassandra.
Here you'll learn all the basic commands and queries written in the Cassandra NoSQL database, these basic commands are extremely useful to learn more advanced concepts.
By the end of this course you'll have a good sense of knowledge about Cassandra CQL and NoSQL databases in general. You'll be familiar with all the basic commands and basic queries and you can start learning more advanced concepts in NoSQL databases.
Consider this course as a stepping stone or the first step for you in learning the concept of Big Data.
I hope that you'll enjoy this basic course and learn from it.


PASADENA, Calif. — Millions of fans know Christina El Moussa from the HGTV hit "Flip or Flop."
After a much-reported divorce from her "Flip" co-host, Tarek El Moussa, she's back — as Christina Anstead — on a new HGTV series, "Christina on the Coast" (May 23, 9 p.m. EDT/PDT).
It follows her Southern California design business and her personal life after the marital split, including how she got the new last name: marrying Ant Anstead, who hosts the British car show "Wheeler Dealers."
Anstead, 35, pulled off a surprise wedding in December at the couple's home in Newport Beach, California.
Christina and Tarek El Moussa, who have a son and daughter, were the popular married stars of HGTV's "Flip or Flop" and their split in late 2016 drew much attention. They continue to host the series, which is going into its eighth season.
Anstead spoke about the life changes Tuesday at the Television Critics Association.
"As you guys know, it's been a challenging couple of years for me," she said. "I'm currently helping Season 8 of 'Flip or Flop' … but when the divorce was going on, and everything was happening, I didn't know where my career was going to be."
"I'm really excited to do something on my own," she said she told HGTV. "I've been known for design, so I think it would be awesome to be able to do a show where I just help people who want to design their homes. What's really great about the new show is it also focuses on my personal life, getting engaged and getting married, which is really exciting."
Anstead said she's always been adventurous in pursuing her career dreams, saying she had no background in real estate or design before diving in and learning about them.
"All my life I've been a risk taker and a go-getter. I'm one of those people that, if you want to try something just do it," she said. "If anyone here wanted to flip a house, you should try it. It's so rewarding."
Her ex, Tarek, is producing his own pilot for a potential new HGTV series on house-flipping.


An 1870 robbery led to the haunting of this place. Manuel Sato was cooking breakfast at his campsite when he was fatally knifed in a sneak attack. The robber recently had also robbed a bank, and when soldiers came to search for the loot, they found Sato's spirit leading a string of ghostly pack mules.
We have caught the craziest footage we have ever caught anywhere.


In the early days of the human race there was a man name NaoH who had a cow name Kaoh and his wife turn to a pillar of salt because she refuses to obey simple instruction necessary to balance their marital equation. Mrs. Chlorine die young because of her high infinity for water which led to formation of hydroxide compound that Mr. Naoh could not handle because he was overwhelm.
If you can, state the chemical formula in this story.


My Two Week Trial with the Nokia Lumia 925!
So, a couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail offering me the chance to try out the Nokia Lumia 925. I have to admit that I was pretty excited, as well as surprised. Who'd have thought a Fashion & Beauty blogger would be sent a phone?! Well, my excitement was curtailed a bit when I discovered it was only for two weeks. How am I supposed to get to grips with a new phone within two weeks?


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Trump Rings In The Era Of 'Total Political Correctness'
Canaan Dog - The Breed Mentioned In The Bible And Quran
Two MP's Must Be Censured For Antisemitic Covid Vaccine Smears, NDP Leader Told
First-Ever Memorial Held In Silwan For Jew Slain In 1939 Arab Riots
Steven Schipper, Innovative Artistic Director, Invigorates Brampton Theatre
Contemplating Imaginary Palestine
Gila Martow Touts Experience In Thornhill Nomination Contest
Ben Goldstein Receives 2nd Annual Ari Fuld Award
Charlie Angus and Leah Gazan promoted false allegation Israel refused to inoculate Palestinians
Shlomo Madmoni was murdered in 1939 on his way to save a Torah scroll.
Continuing the lessons learned about nurturing artists and audiences to fulfill an organization's potential.
Life, Precarious, But Tenacious! And Glorious!
Much remains to be done, but humans will find a way to do the necessary to preserve life where we can.
Where Is The Arab/Muslim-Israeli Normalisation Project Heading? Part 1
With Arab/Muslim-Israeli relations newly redeemed through treaties and agreements, what follows?
Pollard And The Great Jewish Divide
Israelis celebrated the Pollards' arrival. In contrast, American Jews bristled both at the news and the happiness with which Israelis greeted them.
Palestinianism is a project of national and cultural identity theft, determined to rob Jews of their history, religious essence and rights.
The Most Consequential Jew Of 2020: Jared Kushner
The presidential adviser/son-in-law was demonized as the Modern Orthodox face of white supremacism and all Trump failures, but his accomplishments should long be remembered.
A Letter From Contemporary Jewish Germany
First of a series from The Global Jewish Pen Pal Program
A Tribute To Dr. Martin Brotman: Mensch And Tsadik
The author reflects on sixty-seven years of friendship spanning the world with his childhood friend.
Israel's Television Domination Leaves Arab Nations Fighting For Cultural Control
There's another war in the Middle East, and it's where soft power matters
By Aboud Dandachi
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Shtisel is among the now many Israeli shows that made Israel the kings of television culture in the Middle East
In 2010, I was at the family home in Syria, while trying to watch the opening game of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I say "trying", as all through the match the signal from the Qatari owned Al-Jazeera satellite channel that was broadcasting the event kept getting interfered with. Instead of watching South Africa and Mexico, all we got were black screens and pixellated images. It turned out that someone in Jordan was intentionally aiming signals into space to mess up the broadcast.
Such are political rivalries in the Middle East among Arab countries. Al-Jazeera owned the rights to broadcast the tournament to the Arab world, therefore the Jordanians were making sure to muck things up for the channel as much as possible. All throughout the World Cup, Al-Jazeera had to change the frequency of their broadcasts to allow its viewers to watch the games. After all, a subscription to watch the tournament was quite expensive.
I remembered this incident when I read a report by MEMRI, on how the prominent Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich was bemoaning how Israeli TV shows had become so prominent internationally.
"Israel has important shows on Netflix. This is soft power. We are talking about a scientific power, an economic power, a cultural power."
Soft power. It most definitely matters a lot in the Middle East. While the Arab world has dozens of different dialects, every Arab alive knows the Egyptian dialect, thanks to the predominance of Egyptian TV shows and movies up until the early 90s, when Syrian TV shows started to become more prominent, with their sophisticated storylines and values that were more in line with those of the Gulf States. Today, the Israeli TV show Fauda is the most popular show in the region (much to the chagrin of Israel's detractors).
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Fauda. Shtisel. When Heroes Fly. Hostages, adapted into the hit TV show Homeland. While Israeli TV shows and movies gain prominence and win international awards, the Arab World's response has been… to engage in the biggest act of digital piracy in history, courtesy of the political rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
beIN Sports is a sister channel to Al-Jazeera. It owns the regional broadcast rights to such prestigious sporting events as the FIFA World Cup, the British and Italian soccer leagues, Formula One racing, and the UEFA Champions League. Basically, if you are a sports fan in the Middle East, a subscription to beIN is a must. Qatari soft power in every meaning of the word.
A state of affairs intolerable to Saudi Arabia, Qatar's political rival. In 2018, beIN was banned from selling subscriptions in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's most lucrative market for home entertainment.
Instead, a service called beoutQ appeared for sale in Saudi Arabia. Basically, all it does is broadcast in almost real-time the very same broadcasts of beIN, with their own logo superimposed (the name as well seems to be a dig at Qatar).
After the Qatari beIN television channel was banned in Saudi Arabia, the beoutQ channel was created, which was pretty much beIN in disguise | Photo: Screenshot
Recently, the World Trade Organization ruled that beoutQ was "operated by individuals or entities subject to the criminal jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia," and that since for years the Saudi authorities had failed to take action against the channel, it was Saudi Arabia that was in breach of international intellectual property rights. Despite repeated attempts, beIN has not been able to convince any law firm in Saudi Arabia to take on its case in the kingdom.
Soft power. So intolerable is the thought of Saudi citizens watching the world's most prestigious sporting events on a Qatari channel, that the kingdom is prepared to suffer the wrath of the WTO to mess things up for the Qataris.
Up until the 1980s, Chaim Topol was Israel's only internationally known actor. How far the Israeli entertainment industry has come since then. Israeli actors such as Gal Gadot, Lior Raz and Natalie Portman are now as familiar to viewers in the Arab world as the legendary Egyptian diva Um Kalthoum was to Israelis back in the 60s.
It is ironic that, as ties between Israel and the Gulf states have warmed to an unprecedented degree, those between the major Arab camps resemble something more like the Arab-Israeli conflict of the old days. As a beIN source told The Hollywood Reporter, when trying to get other regionally organizations on board to confront beoutQ's blatant piracy, "It's like the Arab-Israeli conflict. If you start the conversation with [beoutQ] then the meeting is over."
Soft power. In the long run, it means a heck of a lot in the region.
Aboud Dandachi is a former Syrian refugee who arrived in Canada in 2017 through the Canadian Refugee Resettlement Program. He has been published, interviewed and cited on Syrian issues in numerous outlets, including the BBC, NPR and the Israeli and Turkish press. He has been published on Tablet Magazine and the CJN.
Follow him on Twitter at @abouddandachi
Tags: beINbeoutQIsrael TVlatestQatarSaudi ArabiaShtiseltelevision
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Today is debut of a root veggie in my blog in the form of curry. You know what, this veggie has weird name in English i.e chinese potato. But in local language of Udupi, we call it as Sambrani gadde. This veggie being my favorite one since childhood, is too close to my heart. What I love the most is it's distinctive aroma. As you cook this tuber over the stove top, pleasant smell wafts out and your house smells so awesomely good. Trust me, I stayed in the kitchen feeling the aroma, inhaling it until the curry is done. Sambrani gadde curry is a yummy, aromatic affair for me.
When my mother used to cook this curry, the process of peeling the skin off from the veggie was bit tedious. Like, we had to wrap all the tubers in a thick cloth and hit against floor so that the skin peels off. It used to be halfway. Then we had to peel it off completely using our hands. So putting together the sambrani gadde for cooking itself was so elaborate. But now I have found an easier alternative. I pressure cook thoroughly rinsed chinese potato for 3 whistles. Then peeling the skin off is lot easier.
When I saw some fresh chinese potato (koorka) in a Super market, I immediately thought of posting a curry recipe here. Because fresh ones seems to be photogenic than wrinkled ones. Sambrani gadde curry is very similar to any other coconut curry in this space, but what makes it distinct is the veggie itself. This uniquely flavored curry tastes way too delicious with hot steamed rice and today I ended up eating a second serving.
Red chillies (Byadagi)- 2 or 3 nos.
Soak tamarind in some water for about 10-15 minutes and extract it's juice discarding residue.
Pressure cook pigeon pea lentils (toor dal) with some water till they turn soft. I cooked for 3 whistles and in simmer 5 minutes.
Rinse the sambrani gadde(chinese potatoes) under enough water and wash thouroughly. Pressure cook it for 3 whistles and switch off.
When the pressure subsides, peel the skin off from these chinese potatoes.
If sambrani gadde is too big in size, cut each one in to two or three pieces. Cook these pieces in a vessel adding some water.
Next add tamarind juice, salt to the veggie and let it cook.
Include jaggery and turmeric powder as well. Continue cooking till the veggie is soft to bite.
Meanwhile in a heavy bottom pan add oil, both lentils, fenugreek, cumin seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. In medium flame, roast them with constant stirring. When the lentils turn little brown, switch off and transfer to a plate.
Take all the roasted ingredients along with coconut and grind to fine puree. Add required water to grind. Pour this puree to the cooked veggie.
Add cooked pigeon pea lentils also to the veggie. Adjust consistency by adding water as needed. Bring it to boil. Adjust salt if needed.
Very flavorful sambrani gadde curry is ready to serve with steamed rice.
I prepared fresh ground masala for the curry. If you are in a hurry, you can skip step 6 and use 3-4 tsp curry powder to grind with coconut.
Adjust red chillies depending on your spice requirements.
The veggie may take little more or less time depending on the quality.


The Officer in Charge of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) headed by DIG Nimal Chandra Wagista has been transferred to the Katunayake International Airport for having made a hash placing Bar Association President Upul Jayasuriya under surveillance.
Jayasuriya told the "Sunday Island" yesterday that the OIC had been made a scapegoat for carrying out orders from the "top" to monitor his movements after the Bar Association had issued statements critical of the Rajapaksa regime for human rights violations and flouting the law with impunity.
"The OIC has been penalised for following orders from the top to monitor my movements. He has been given a punishment transfer to the Katunayake International Airport," Jayasuriya said.
He alleged the government was using the police to harass those who exposed its wrong-doing with total disregard for democratic norms.
Meanwhile informed sources said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a recent meeting with the IGP N.K. Illangakoon and senior police officers, had asked who was following the Bar Association President on motorcycles. One of the officers had replied that it was the work of the SIS.
The President had then observed that some persons were using "Gota's" name to do wrong things and also referred to two officers as "lunatic" and "thief." The policemen present had remained silent.
Police spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana denied that the OIC has been transferred. "No such transfer has taken place".


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Japan Launches Circular Economy Collaboration with World Economic Forum
Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ) announced the launch of the Partnership on Circular Economy Tuesday, 2 March.
This public-private partnership between MOEJ and Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) will enhance resource circulation in focus areas such as plastics.
The World Economic Forum's Circular Economy initiative will help shape the strategy and approach to this partnership in the months ahead.
The announcement, made at the World Economic Forum's March Japan Circular Economy Roundtable, follows other efforts by the country to control plastic use, manufacturing and waste.
Learn more about the roundtable here.
03 March 2021 - Achieving a circular economy will require transforming policy and business. It will also require a new approach to collaboration.
To that end, the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ) and Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) announced the launch of the Partnership on Circular Economy at this week's Japan Circular Economy Roundtable hosted by the World Economic Forum.
This new partnership will bring leaders in business and government together to accelerate the circular economy in Japan. In this public-private partnership, best practices in Japan will be aggregated and disseminated to broader stakeholders within the supply chain, including consumers domestically and internationally. The partnership is expected to evolve through collaboration with the World Economic Forum's Circular Economy Initiative.
The partnership will prompt dialogue between the public and private sector to identify focus areas, barriers and next actions towards the circular transition. The Forum will help shape the strategy and approach going forward.
Japan's transformation will set a key example for other business and policy leaders. The country is one of the largest generators of plastic packaging waste per capita around the globe, according to the U.N. Environment program.
The Japanese government's newly announced partnership builds on other recent initiatives to address plastics waste, such as a plastic bags charge. This year, the government also released guidance for companies to help accelerate sustainable finance and a Roadmap for Bioplastics Introduction (to promote substitution of fossil-based plastics with sustainable materials), and has drafted a new bill aimed at advancing plastic resource circulation.
"Japan is now accelerating 'Three Transitions' towards: a decarbonized society, a circular economy, and a decentralized society to redesign the socioeconomic system," said Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of the Environment, Japan.
The Roundtable – presented in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Japan – was organized by the World Economic Forum's Circular Economy Initiative. The event, held 2-3 March, featured two days of high-level discussions exploring trends, policies and leading practices to scale circular economy ambitions.
The Roundtable was kicked off by a public livestreamed session that included the following speakers: Shinjirō Koizumi, Minister of the Environment, Japan; Stientje van Veldhoven, Minister of Environment Netherlands; Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum; Naoko Ishii, The University of Tokyo; Masayuki Waga, CEO Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation; Tsutomu Sugimori, Vice Chair Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).
Creating a circular economy for electronics was a key area of focus at the Roundtable. That sector kept economies running during the pandemic, but as World Economic Forum research has shown, it's also the fastest-growing waste stream. Around 54 million metric tonnes of electric waste are generated globally, with countries such as Japan, the US and China among the top five contributors.
To create new ways to manage production and consumption, the event also showcased how countries in the ASEAN region and beyond are leveraging Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. Forum initiative Scale360°, a scalable partnership model helping diverse collaborators drive circular innovation, was one of many solutions discussed.
Speakers also shared how new actions – aided by policy – were speeding the circular transition. "Government leaders are showing how new policies, collaborations and commitments can make a dramatic impact," said Antonia Gawel, Head of Circular Economy & Innovation at the World Economic Forum. "Circularity is critical to achieving net-zero decarbonization and protecting the climate for future generations. Time is of the essence."
About the World Economic Forum's Circular Economy Initiative
The World Economic Forum's Circular Economy Initiative brings together private, public, civil society and expert stakeholders to accelerate the circular transition. In these efforts, this initiative convenes experts and leaders from around the world to advance three key pillars of work-scaling Fourth Industrial Innovation impact, engaging leadership commitment, and transforming material value chains. These efforts can fast-track the shift from the current "take-make-dispose" economy and trigger true systems change.
Find more here.
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The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).
All opinions expressed are those of the author. The World Economic Forum Blog is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around the key topics that shape global, regional and industry agendas.


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