Lingophone Regions ~ Dominant Languages in Given Geographies...

Anglophone Commonwealth countries... French speaking... Portugese speaking... Hispanophonic region...

XXX Tech ~ Yes, Teledildonics, Dildroids, Blowbots, and "Worse"...

Moralistic religionists pronounce certain voluntary consensual acts by and/or between adults "immoral". And, worse yet, these mullahs-priests-rabbis-shamans-witchdoctors have influenced the organs of the state to denounce such acts as "illegal". But the fact remains that free choice and consent by sentient adults should remain absolutely inviolate -- i.e. in line with both the moral intent and written word of the Constitution of the US (despite both Demogogue and Republicrat misinterpretations). And yet, in the face of this moral muddle, we have even bigger challenges ahead! As multiple pundits have speculated (including yours truly) and as the London Times has just pontificated in an article entitled Humans to have robot lovers by 2050, we must come to terms with robot relationships, not just cyborgs, but myborgs and xxxyborgs and more. Very disconcerting;-)

ABLE Technologies ~ Accelerating Wheelchair Innovations...

The MIT Enterprise Forum Global event on ABLE Technologies spotlighted a promising technology-business category, ABLE or Achieving Better Life Experiences for people with injury, disability, and aging challenges. A hugely compelling subset of this arena is Wheelchair Innovation. That's why I'm very pleased to have attended the design review of my friend Amos Winter's MIT class, SP.784 Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (WDDC), this past Thursday afternoon. A half-dozen student teams gave a progress report on their design and organizing efforts to an audience of advisors and mentors, including rockstar engineer-inventors Bill Warner (MIT alumnus co-founder of Avid, Wildfire, and Move with Freedom) and Ralf Hotchkiss (Founder of Whirlwind Wheelchair). Coincidently, in today's NYTimes, Su-Hyun Lee tells the inspiring story of MIT alumnus Lee Sang-Mook in an article entitled From a Wheelchair, a Scientist Pries Open South Korean Minds. We need to not only invent better technologies, but also come to broadly appreciate the tremendous talent resident in the so-called handicapped! This is certainly true in rich countries, but perhaps even more important in developing countries, precisely the focus of Amos's MIT class!

Bikeable Boston?

Per our prior discussions of bike-shares in Cambridge & Paris and creating a greener SF and Cycle-Friendly Cities, it's quite timely that today's Boston Globe OpEd's on Dreams of a Bikeable Boston. There's a helluva lot of work to do to make this even remotely delightful. But organizations like Hub on Wheels are pushing for this vision...

From Alexandria to Alexandretta ~ the Vital Levant

I've been thinking a lot about the region from Alexandria in Egypt through Alexandretta in Turkey (today's İskenderun) and extensions east to Mesopotamia in Iraq -- a geographic realm we might think of as the vital, greater Levant. I'm quite excited by the Just Jerusalem winner HUMMUS and their ideas for a network of vibrant, connected cities in the region. The whole area has fantastic historical, aesthetic, cultural, and natural assets which should help it become one of the most attractive and wealthy places on our planet. This could and should embrace archeo-tourism to see Palmyra or Petra, or eco-tourism to see the corals of Aqaba or the Wadi Rum, or shopping visits to the bazaars of Beirut or souks of Damascus, or revitalizing wellness-trips to the muds of the Dead Sea or snows of Mount Hermon. And more. I'm especially excited by the prospect of emergent Innovation Institutions in the region -- technology universities (TUs), prosperity parks, special economic zones, entrepreneurial clusters, and beyond. My Syrian-American MIT alumnus friend Bob Ayan is involved in just such an effort in Amman, Jordan. With the support of the Kingdom and generous philanthropists, he's helping build the business park to complement one of Jordan's top IT educational institutions. Fantastically exciting!

txteagle ~ Empowering Mobile Microentrepreneurs

MIT alumnus academic entrepreneur Nathan Eagle has a new venture named txteagle.com (born of his time in Kenya building EPROM) which enables simple text-based tasks to be completed via text message by ordinary people around the globe.

The Nerd Heard ;-)

Priceless quotes from nerd central! The Tech today has an Overheard at MIT column. MIT Admissions blog includes Professor Quotes and points to other quote archives. Some samples...

• I mean, really, Maxwell’s equations are just like the word no — what part could you possibly not understand? -- Random Student at Student Center
• My point here is not to talk about the fun part of sexual reproduction. -- Prof Sive, Intro to Biology
• I'm going to repeat that question in a form I can answer. -- Prof Solomon, Cell Biology
• If you have lust in your heart to explain the molecular correlates of learning, then kinetics should be your thing. -- Prof Quinn, Neural Plasticity
• Let's look at a reaction you should never do. [Shows picture of TNT.] I am very familiar with this compound. -- Prof Swager, Organic Chemistry
• I firmly believe this value [for the mass of a quark] is correct, because the guy who measured it has his office two doors down from me. -- Prof Roland, Physics
• I have found in my previous experience teaching this course that students tend to forget this minus sign. Please do not do this unless you wish to find minus signs on your exams. -- Prof Sipser, Calculus
• I'm only a chemist because I was a pyromaniac when I was younger. -- Emma Sceats, Chemistry

Now @ Millennium Campus Conference @ MIT ~ 18-20 April 2008

Very exciting to be at the inaugural Millennium Campus Conference at MIT hosted by the Global Poverty Initiative. Genius inventor-engineer Amy Smith is speaking about technology, design & global development. Amy has some great examples of simplicity in design and the highly distributed wisdom often latent among indigenous peoples.

Global Economic Growth Rates & Equality Index

World map showing GDP real growth rates for 2007...Gini coefficient, income distribution by country...

Even Bigger Dog !-)

Amazing "improvement" on the Boston Dynamics Big Dog robot!-)

Abdulrahman Tarbzouni of SETLA & viedu...

I interviewed Abdulrahman Tarbzouni, Saudi Arabian MIT alumnus entrepreneur, on my HighTechFever TV show tonight. We discussed his venture activities, including most recently founding and building viedu, a social networking education web 2.0 site. And we discussed his efforts to encourage new ventures back home, including his founding and leading the Saudi Entrepreneurs & Technology Leadership Association (SETLA). One fun point emerged: he first heard of MIT via the movie Hackers at age 12 and aspired to attend since then! And through hard work and smarts, he did it! I've known Abdul since his freshman year at MIT when we were introduced by the MIT Sloan Undergraduate Management Association (SUMA) and I'm delighted by his enduring commitment to entrepreneurial development in his home country and beyond.

We Cycling!

I just met with MIT alumna Alison Cohen, founder and CEO of the brand new BlooBike bicycle sharing organization. Very exciting the progress she's made in just a few short months with this new venture. Ali reminded me of Robin Chase, another MIT alumna, and her entrepreneurial ventures Zipcar and more recently GoLoco.org. Robin has been rather skeptical of bike-sharing. Until recently, that is, because as Robin writes on her blog, after visiting Paris and seeing Velib, she "eats humble pie" and is now a supporter! In Success of Paris bike-sharing, Robin shares her core experience. Details of the Velib deal and operations is self-evident. Finally Robin speculates Where will bike-sharing work in other cities, etc.

An Engineer's Guide To Cats ;-)

Paul from GeekPress found this delighter via MeFi...

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST)

MIT is collaborating with and helping build the brand new Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) in Abu Dhabi in the new greencity, Masdar.

DIY Scooters!

Envirofuel spotlights Home made solar scooter... EcoGeek spotlights Air-Powered Motorcycle... BBC Photo-of-Day spotlights "Igorot tribesman Robert Duyugan [riding] his wooden scooter in a race as the Filipino town of Banaue celebrates the traditional Imbayah festival. Igorot tribesmen are renowned for their woodcarvings."

Man Caves !-)

CNN iReporter has a hilarious piece on Man Caves, "the space in their home that belongs to them", whether that's bachelor pad or refuge from married bliss, most often featuring tools, booze, games, AV, or some combo thereof.

Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid

EcoGeek published this a while ago... Plus a nice unveiling video... I want one.

Measuring Global Temps

LOL! Truly Useful: Acronyms@MIT!

Wow, I just discovered this priceless site, Acronyms@MIT!

Great White Chomps Seal !-)

Whales are more massive, but Great Whites are just awesome, especially breach-chomping their favorite seal-meal!