Monthly Archives: November 2010

TED

Ideas Worth Spreading “TED” is an acronym for “Technology, Entertainment, Design.” [From the TED website - http//www.ted.com/ ]: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with [...]

2021-07-20T10:04:51-05:00WORDS|

slum tourism

Stopping By to See Poverty “Megacities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Sao Paolo and Mexico City have become almost unspeakably congested leviathans. They may be seen as ‘colorful’ by those engaging what writer Kennedy Odede [see quotation below] calls ‘Slumdog tourism.’ They may also be exciting for those working within the confines of ‘glamour zones’ [...]

2021-07-20T10:04:51-05:00WORDS|

range anxiety

Fear of No Outlets “The [electric] carmakers are eager to make their first customers happy, so they are bending over backwards to help with the charging infrastructure and to allay ‘range anxiety’ — the fear of running out of electricity and getting stranded, because all-electric cars cannot go as far as conventional ones. (This is [...]

2011-01-14T01:09:17-06:00WORDS|

kumbaya

Common Ground Ridiculed  “ ‘Come By Here,’ a song deeply rooted in black Christianity’s vision of a God who intercedes to deliver both solace and justice, by the 1960s became the pallid pop-folk sing-along ‘Kumbaya.’ And ‘Kumbaya,’ in turn, has lately been transformed into snarky shorthand for ridiculing a certain kind of idealism, a quest [...]

2021-07-20T10:04:51-05:00WORDS|

transdifferentiation

Transforming Cells " … [S]cientists found over the past two years that they could do what they call ‘transdifferentiation.’ They are now taking cells, like nerve cells, and turning them into other types of cells, like muscle cells.    In theory, of course, it should be possible. All cells in the body have the same genes [...]

2011-01-14T01:12:29-06:00WORDS|

rare-earth minerals

Hi-Tech Elements    There is currently an increased focus on “so-called rare-earth minerals — elements that have wide commercial and military application … .             China … controls some 95 percent of the world’s supply [of rare-earth minerals.]  … The elements known as rare earths number 17 in all and range from cerium and dysprosium to thulium and yttrium.  [...]

2021-07-20T10:04:51-05:00WORDS|

channel checks

Snooping Techniques  ”Big Lots alleges … [a small Tampa, Fla., research firm, Retail Intelligence Group] pried information out of store managers, in effect stealing trade secrets and aiding and abetting employees’ breach of fiduciary duty. It has asked the court for an injunction to immediately stop what it calls “wrongfully induced” snooping. …    Just [...]

2011-01-14T01:15:41-06:00WORDS|

cybertherapy

Virtual Close Encounters With Yourself   “For more than a decade, a handful of therapists have been using virtual environments to help people to work through phobias, like a fear of heights or of public spaces. But now advances in artificial intelligence and computer modeling are allowing them to take on a wider array of complex [...]

2011-01-14T01:17:06-06:00WORDS|

greenwashing

Discolored Labeling “According to a study due out Tuesday [26Oct10], more than 95% of consumer products examined committed at least one offense of ‘greenwashing,’ a term used to describe unproven environmental claims, according to TerraChoice, a North American environmental-marketing company that issued the report.”  See article at: WSJ 26Oct10: “Misleading Claims on ‘Green’ Labeling”

2011-01-14T01:20:25-06:00WORDS|

cord-cutting

Slicing Cable and Satellite “TV subscribers are ditching their cable companies at an ever faster rate in the past few months, and many of them aren’t signing up with a satellite or phone competitor instead.        Their willingness to simply go without pay television could be a sign that Internet TV services such as Netflix and [...]

2011-01-14T01:21:55-06:00WORDS|
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