Cute Pussy ~ Adorable Animal in Slow Motion!

Thanks to Cynical-C for spotting this cute slo-mo kitty...

R.I.P. Ken Olsen ~ DEC's Founding Father...

Sad to hear MIT alumnus Ken Olsen has passed away. Student of Jay Forrester, co-founder of mini-computer giant Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Olsen dominated an entire generation of computing -- and then lost the future, letting his company whither into a subsidiary of an acquisition of a shadow of bygone greatness. Sad on so many levels.

Army of Women ~ Conquering Congo's Core Ills...

Jeffrey Gettleman writes in the NYTimes that Fighting Congo’s Ills With Education and an Army of Women is possible and transformative...

"For years, diplomats, aid workers, academics and government officials here have been vexed almost to the point of paralysis about how to attack this country’s staggering problem of sexual violence, in which hundreds of thousands of women have been raped, many quite sadistically, by the various armed groups who haunt the hills of eastern Congo. Sending in more troops has compounded the problem. United Nations peacekeepers have failed to stop it. Would reforming the Congolese military work? Building up the Congolese state? Pushing harder to regulate so-called conflict minerals to starve the rebels of an income? For Eve Ensler [...] the answer was simple. “You build an army of women,” she said. “And when you have enough women in power, they take over the government and they make different decisions [...] they’ll put an end to this rape problem fast.” Over the weekend, Ms. Ensler took the first step toward building this army: the opening of a base here in Bukavu called City of Joy. [...] It is a gutsy concept, to invest this heavily in a small group of mostly illiterate women -- about 180 leadership recruits per year -- in the hope that they will catalyze social change. But Ms. Ensler has faced long odds before, encouraging rape victims in Afghanistan, Bosnia and other war zones to speak out and become leaders. “This could be a turning point"

Such leadership development and transformation is absolutely essential and heroic.

Pothole City ~ First-World Goes Third-Rate...

In the NYTimes, Corey Kilgannon is On Patrol for the Casualties of Potholes...

"With melting snow, road salt and snowplows teaming up to assault the roadways since late December, many street surfaces are crumbling and becoming pockmarked with potholes. As fast as the city fills them, new ones open up -- little roadside craters that can cause untold damage to vehicles. And if those vehicles happen to be in the East Bronx, their drivers may encounter Mr. Cruz, a tow truck driver who patrols that territory. “New York is Pothole City right now,” Mr. Cruz said. “Everyone is driving through an obstacle course. These streets will take your car away in a heartbeat.”

Third world infrastructure. Should not be this way...

Building Hearts ~ Towards Regenerative Medicine

Carolyn Johnson writes in the Globe about Seeing local scientists at heart of regenerative medicine on the National Geographic Explorer show How to Build a Beating Heart...

"The cast includes a slate of local scientists with ambitious goals: to help people who have lost ears, limbs, or even need a new heart. In Dr. Joseph Vacanti’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, a mouse skitters around its cage with a half-size human ear growing on its back. Dr. Harald Ott, a surgeon at Mass. General, washes away cells from a human heart, leaving a cellular structure on which to construct a new one. At MIT, physicist Leon Bellan tries to build delicate blood vessels, drawing inspiration from cotton candy. Mixed with the science are the stories of people who could use a dose of regenerative medicine, and one who has already benefited from it: soldiers who have lost limbs; a 33-year-old woman who faces the sobering fear she will die waiting for a new heart; a young man who received a replacement bladder built out of his own cells. [...] Even as science advances, the truth is that many of the patients featured on the show may never reap the benefits of regenerative medicine. But that doesn’t diminish the exhilaration of watching the first steps toward the building of a beating human heart."

Very exciting work indeed!

Powers of Ten ~ Zoom Visualization of Cosmos

Thanks to NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day for reminding me of Powers of Ten, a classic educational visualization!

Youth Media ~ Kids & Teens Grab E-Readers...

Julie Bosman writes in the NYTimes that E-Readers Catch Younger Eyes and Go in Backpacks...

"Something extraordinary happened after Eliana Litos received an e-reader for a Hanukkah gift in December. “Some weeks I completely forgot about TV,” said Eliana, 11. “I went two weeks with only watching one show, or no shows at all. I was just reading every day.” Ever since the holidays, publishers have noticed that some unusual titles have spiked in e-book sales. The “Chronicles of Narnia” series. “Hush, Hush.” The “Dork Diaries” series. At HarperCollins, for example, e-books made up 25 percent of all young-adult sales in January, up from about 6 percent a year before -- a boom in sales that quickly got the attention of publishers there. [...] now that e-readers are cheaper and more plentiful, they have gone mass market, reaching consumers across age and demographic groups, and enticing some members of the younger generation to pick them up for the first time. “The kids have taken over the e-readers,” said Rita Threadgill of Harrison, N.Y., whose 11-year-old daughter requested a Kindle for Christmas. In 2010 young-adult e-books made up about 6 percent of the total digital sales for titles published by St. Martin’s Press, but so far in 2011, the number is up to 20 percent, a spokeswoman for the publisher said."

Modern media for today's youth. Word.

Reagan @ 100 ~ Communicating Great Things...

Peggy Noonan declares in the WSJ about Ronald Reagan at 100...

"He didn't see himself as "the great communicator." It was so famous a moniker that he could do nothing but graciously accept the compliment, but he well understood it was bestowed in part by foes and in part to undercut the seriousness of his philosophy: "It's not what he says, it's how he says it." He answered in his farewell address: "I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things."

This is a notion contemporary leadership might clue in to. Imagine if unequivocal statements were made today to China, Saudi, Israel, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Iran and others with the same moral fervor and righteousness of these immortal words...

"General Secretary Gorbachev... tear down this wall!"

China's Hainan ~ Building the Hawaii of the East

Interesting to read Keith Richburg's Washington Post piece, China’s new ‘Hawaii’ drives growth, worry...

"One year ago, China’s ruling State Council laid out a plan to transform its southernmost province into an international tourism destination, or the "Hawaii of the East," as Hainan Island was dubbed. The result has been a 12-month frenzy of construction -- lavish resorts, seaside villas, spas, and a helicopter landing pad, still being built, for wealthy visitors with no time to waste. And then there are golf courses -- plenty of them. By one local estimate, as many as 300 golf courses are being planned for the tropical island, which is about the size of Belgium. [...] The dizzying pace of construction has forced thousands of indigenous farmers off their land, driven property prices up tenfold and higher, and led many residents to ask how much development is too much. “Hainan is a real-life example of that film ‘Avatar,’" said Liu, who moved here 22 years ago to work in the island province’s forestry ministry. “Except in Avatar, they could organize together to fight back." On Hainan, he said, “I don’t have much hope -- nothing can stop this change." Hainan residents and environmentalists say the rapid development is damaging the island’s ecosystem, and they are concerned mostly about the destruction of the coastal forests, which for centuries have served as a natural bulwark against typhoons, tsunamis, and soil erosion. They are particularly worried about the mangroves of Australian pine and rare indigenous Vatica mangachapoi, which has been a protected resource since the Qing dynasty. [...] Huge tracts of the mangroves have been chopped down to make way for seaside hotels and apartments and the paved highways to connect them. Three thousand villagers, including Chen, have been told that they have to relocate to a town 18 miles away, giving up their homes, their farmland, even the burial grounds of their ancestors."

Why are these people not participating in the upside?

Construction Quadrotors ~ Robo-Assembly...

Jon Ferguson spots Construction with Quadrotors by GRASP Lab...

Moving Lagos ~ Essential African Railway Action

David Smith writes in the Guardian about How Lagos hopes a railway will end daily endurance test and change lives...

"Danladi Verheijen has to attend an important meeting, he doesn't know whether getting there will take 10 minutes or three hours. [He] works in Lagos, one of the world's fastest growing megacities -- and one of the most congested. The simplest journey here can be a trial of will. [...] But Verheijen believes he can do something to break the deadlock. The 34-year-old venture capitalist is leading a group of investors in Lagos's first city railway. He believes the multibillion-dollar project could transform daily life for millions of people in this uniquely challenging metropolis, and potentially expand west from Nigeria to Ghana. [...] "It's cheaper than the alternative, it's faster, it's safer, it's more reliable, it's more environmentally friendly. So it's very exciting." Many railways laid during Africa's colonial era have decayed due to neglect [...] Urban expansion is one of the biggest challenges facing Africa as people migrate from rural areas in search of a better life. With its cities set to triple in size over the next 40 years, overcrowded slums, choked roads and pollution are already big problems. It is hoped that a rail renaissance can be part of the solution. [...] Reflecting a growing trend in Africa, the project's infrastructure is being built by a Chinese contractor. Verheijen said: "They're much more competitive and aggressive about doing business. They're working Saturdays, they're working Sundays, they're working at nights. They come here and have big housing estates for their staff and just seem to work like armies. It's very focused and things go up very quickly."

Invigorating stuff. And one more essential element for tomorrow's vital cities.

Aquafarming ~ Economist Spots Fishy China...

The Economist spotlights UN FAO data about Aquafarming...

"The Food & Agriculture Organisation, a UN agency, reckons that the world produced 145.1m tonnes of fish in 2009. About 38% of this came from aquaculture, or fish farming. The rest consisted of fish caught in the wild, mostly at sea. In 2008 over three-fifths of the world’s farmed fish came from China. India was the second-largest producer, but its output was just over a tenth of China’s."

Also interesting to note Norway and Chile whose production is vastly disproportionate to human population. Seafood firm Marine Harvest is a big player there.

Epic Fan ~ Jambe Davdar's Homage to Star Wars

Thanks to Miss Cellania for spotting epic fan Jambe Davdar whose ultimate unofficial Star Wars commentary-documentary trilogy is now complete. All segments online. Begins here... Watch now before the IP rights stormtroopers weigh in.

Cuba Empresarial ~ Decriminalizing Capitalism...

Victoria Burnett writes in the NYTimes that In a Shift, Cubans Savor Working for Themselves...

"Eagerly, warily, Cubans are taking up the government’s offer to work for themselves, selling coffee in their front yards, renting out houses, making rattan furniture and hawking everything from bootleg DVDs to Silly Bandz and homemade wine. Hoping to resuscitate Cuba’s crippled economy, President Raúl Castro opened the door to a new, if limited, generation of entrepreneurs last year [...] Streets once devoid of commerce in towns like this and in Havana are gradually coming to life as people hang painted signs and bright awnings outside their houses and mount roadside stalls. An electronics engineer, who for years operated in the shadows, now publishes leaflets that claim he can mend every appliance under the sun. A practitioner of Santería sells beaded necklaces, ground sardines and toasted corn used in ceremonies at the tin-roofed shop in her yard. Ms. Álvarez and her husband, Ivan Barroso, took out a license for the cafe and another to sell meat and fish. Now the couple does a brisk business serving soft white rolls filled with garlicky pork and fresh tuna for 60 cents at a wooden counter in the gateway of their house.[...] “If you have the ability, the dedication to achieve something, you should enjoy it,” said Mr. Barroso, who until November sold fish and pork without a license to a close circle of friends and clients."

How exciting is that! Cuba empresarial!

Gaming as Learning ~ Will Wright on Education

NYTimes DotEarthling Andrew Revkin spots The Man Behind Spore Explores Gaming as Learning...

"We had a chance to talk briefly after his lecture and it was clear he shared my conviction that the explosive spread of mobile phones and Web access in developing countries holds huge promise for making information matter."

Beyond Pharaoh ~ Rebuilding Egyptian Pyramid

Thanks to Dan Grotsky for spotting this.

Egypt's Economic Apartheid ~ De Soto on Rights

Peruvian liberation economist Hernando de Soto opines in the WSJournal about Egypt's Economic Apartheid...

"The key question to be asked is why most Egyptians choose to remain outside the legal economy? The answer is that, as in most developing countries, Egypt's legal institutions fail the majority of the people. Due to burdensome, discriminatory and just plain bad laws, it is impossible for most people to legalize their property and businesses, no matter how well intentioned they might be. [...] Without clear legal title to their assets and real estate, in short, these entrepreneurs own what I have called "dead capital" -- property that cannot be leveraged as collateral for loans, to obtain investment capital, or as security for long-term contractual deals. And so the majority of these Egyptian enterprises remain small and relatively poor. The only thing that can emancipate them is legal reform. [...] Bringing the majority of Egypt's people into an open legal system is what will break Egypt's economic apartheid. Empowering the poor begins with the legal system awarding clear property rights to the $400 billion-plus of assets that we found they had created. This would unlock an amount of capital hundreds of times greater than foreign direct investment and what Egypt receives in foreign aid. Leaders and governments may change and more democracy might come to Egypt. But unless its existing legal institutions are reformed to allow economic growth from the bottom up, the aspirations for a better life that are motivating so many demonstrating in the streets will remain unfulfilled."

Of course, de Soto's point can be generalized to the several billion people planet-wide living under similarly stagnant conditions.

Ciudad Modelo ~ New Honduran Charter City?

Exciting to read David Wessel's piece in the WSJournal, The Quest for a 'Charter City' about the Honduran moves to enable and initiate a new kind of economic empowerment zone...

"For the past couple of years, economist Paul Romer has been hopscotching the globe looking for a country desperate enough to try his audacious notion: Start a new "charter city," an enclave free of old laws and practices [...] Honduras is interested. Two weeks ago, with only one "no," its Congress voted to amend the constitution to allow for a ciudad modelo. [...] To create jobs to lift millions out of poverty, take an uninhabited 1,000 square-kilometer tract (386 square miles), about the size of Hong Kong, preferably government-owned. Write a charter: the all-important rules. Allow anyone to move in or out. Invite foreign investors to build infrastructure for profit. And sign a treaty with a well-governed country, say Norway or Canada, to serve as "guarantor" to assure investors and residents that the charter will be respected, much as the British once did for Hong Kong, and -- with some oversight from the Honduran Congress -- govern the city."

Bold idea! Read more at Charter Cities. And see more from WSJ...

Snow Go ~ Competent Cleaning Tools & Methods

These tools and methods for vanquishing snow are worth emulating...

MIT Media Ventures ~ Wed 10a-12n Spring 2011

MIT Media Ventures ~ Media Lab Entrepreneurship & Digital Innovations Seminar is the flagship Spring semester "Action Lab" course within the Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program. We survey a broad landscape of emerging media technologies interwoven with live- and historic-cases of inter- and entrepreneurship-based on Media Lab ideas, culminating in a term project. The core goal is to gain increased understanding of how emergent media and digital innovations translate into commercial reality and transform society. We survey case examples of both successful and failed businesses and generally grapple with the difficulties of deploying and diffusing products and as a means of exploring a range of business models and opportunities enabled by emerging Media Lab and related innovations. This year we will be especially emphasizing personal health care, financial service innovations, mobile transactions, and social media generally with special focus on social networks, quantified self and society, and "Big Data" analytics. First class Wed morning February 2nd, 2011 in Media Lab E14-633.