The Economics Of Engagement Rings

Norman Chan/Shutterstock

The Strange (and Formerly Sexist) Economics of Engagement Rings -- The Atlantic

Diamonds are forever, but the meaning of the diamond engagement ring has changed dramatically in the last century. Today's symbol of love was once something more like virginity insurance.

Why do men buy diamond rings for our fiancées? There's the emotional story. We enjoy making grand gestures of commitment to the people we love. Behind that, there's the marketing story. DeBeers' historic ad campaign, crafted by the real-life mad men at N.W. Ayers, convinced generations of lovers that diamond bands were synonymous with eternal devotion. But behind that, there is economic story that is just as important and fascinating.

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My Comment: Gone down this road .... and yes .... never again.

'Advanced' Dinosaurs On Other Planets?

New scientific research raises the possibility that advanced versions of T. rex and other dinosaurs -- monstrous creatures with the intelligence and cunning of humans -- may be the life forms that evolved on other planets in the universe. (Credit: © DX / Fotolia)

Could 'Advanced' Dinosaurs Rule Other Planets? -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2012) — New scientific research raises the possibility that advanced versions of T. rex and other dinosaurs -- monstrous creatures with the intelligence and cunning of humans -- may be the life forms that evolved on other planets in the universe. "We would be better off not meeting them," concludes the study, which appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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My Comment: Intelligence dinosaurs?

Alcohol Sharpens The Mind

Men who drank the equivalent of two pints of beer answered 40 per cent more test questions correctly. Photo: REUTERS

Alcohol Sharpens The Mind, Research finds -- The Telegraph

Men who drink two pints of beer before tackling brain teasers perform better than those who attempt the riddles sober, scientists have found.

In findings that will be toasted by pub quiz aficionados, researchers found drinkers got more test questions right and were quicker in delivering the right answers.

It is thought alcohol hinders analytical thinking and allows 'creative' thoughts that might otherwise by stifled to take root, allowing test subjects to come up with more imaginative solutions.

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My Comment:I am an easy drunk .... 2 pints usually put me in a sleepy mood.

U.S. Sues Apple Over 'Price Fixing' E-Book Deal With Five Major Publishers

Ebooks To Be Cheaper As U.S. Sues Apple Over 'Price Fixing' Deal With Five Major Publishers -- Daily Mail

* Justice Department to sue Apple
* Separate deal with publishers
* Could end 'price fixing' for ebooks
* Ebook prices risen up to 50% in last two years

America's Justice Department could sue Apple as early as Wednesday over alleged electronic book price fixing.

The DoJ will settle with several publishers as early as this week, two people familiar with the matter said.

The case could have major knock-on effects for pricing on electronic books online and on devices such as Amazon's Kindle.

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My Comment: Some Publishers are already settling with the Justice Department, and some are predicting that the DoJ will lose their case.

Death Of The Paperback

Photo: The rise of e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle has seen paperback sales decline

Death Of The Paperback In E-Reader Revolution: Sales Drop By 25% In A Year -- Daily Mail

From the Da Vinci Code to Harry Potter, the paperback has been a literary staple for decades.

It was almost 80 years ago when the likes of Penguin Books made quality fiction available for mass market consumption at affordable prices.

But now, with sales down by nearly 25 per cent year-on-year, some senior industry experts are heralding the ‘death of the paperback’.

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My Comment: And I expect this trend to continue.

Can Another Titanic Disaster Happen Today?

The bow of Titanic photographed in June 2004, by the ROV Hercules during an expedition returning to the shipwreck of the Titanic. CREDIT: NOAA / Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island

Could the Titanic Disaster Happen Today? -- Live Science

A century ago on Sunday, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank to a watery grave, killing 1,514 passengers. The disaster conjures images of luxury and hubris, cowardice and heroism, as well as one haunting question: Could it happen again?

In many ways, it already has, according to maritime experts. The Northern Maritime Research shipwreck database, for example, lists more than 470,000 shipwrecks in North America in the 20th century alone.

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My Comment: 470,000 shipwrecks in North America in the 20th century alone .... wow.

A Challenge To Facebook's News Feed

Image: Wavii automatically creates status updates about its user's interests

Wavii Poses A Challenge To Facebook's News Feed -- BBC

A new personalised news stream service has been launched by some of technology's most respected developers.

Wavii searches the net - including tweets, news stories and blogs - to offer a customised feed.

It is offered via the web or as a smartphone app, and was created by engineers who had previously worked for Amazon and Microsoft.

It is likely to compete with Facebook's news feed, prompting speculation that it could become a takeover target.

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Quantum Walkers Have Now Been Created

Quantum computing will revolutionise the speed and performance of computers. Credit: Macquarie University

Quantum Walk Towards New Supercomputers -- Cosmos

LONDON: Quantum walkers, which are single sub-atomic quantum particles that can be made to travel on a two-dimensional grid, have been created in a new step towards quantum walker-based quantum computing.

Imagine trying to isolate a single sub-atomic quantum particle that you can't see, with no mass and no charge, that will readily pop in and out of existence, and then make it travel through a virtual dot-to-dot grid obeying a strict set of rules.

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Zombie Survival Maps

How safe are you when the zombies come for your brain? Photo: Google Maps/Doejo

Zombie Survival Maps Show Danger Zones, Armories and Food Sources for Entire U.S. -- Gadget Lab

The Walking Dead teaches us that well-stocked pantries and armories are paramount to the survival of the human race after a zombie infestation. Canned food and ammunition: You can never have enough of these key essentials.

Enter the Map of the Dead from Doejo, which overlays zombie danger zones and potential supply locations on a Google Map of your local haunts. Red areas denote population centers where zombies might graze, while dark gray zones cover parks and wilderness areas, which are most likely to be walker-free. Supply locations are annotated with helpful descriptions — liquor stores, hospitals, gun shops, military bases and cemeteries are just some of the locations highlighted.

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Why No Devastating Tsunami After Today's Sumatra Earthquake

Why Earthquake Off Sumatra Did Not Trigger A Devastating Tsunami -- The Guardian

Main shock was magnitude 8.6 but horizontal seafloor movement meant warning buoys only measured small waves.

The earthquake off the coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia began with a sudden shift in a strike-slip fault, a line of weakness in the sea floor where two huge bodies of rock can slide past one another.

Unlike the earthquake that triggered the devastating 2004 tsunami in the region, the sea floor moved sideways instead of vertically, meaning it displaced less water and did not send giant waves around the Indian Ocean.

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My Comment: There region was lucky this time.

Yachting Enters The Space Age

(Click on Image to Enlarge)
The superyacht is 42.5 meters in length, 16 metres in width and weighs 52 tons

Shipping Enters The Space Age: The $15m Superyacht That Took Five Years To Build -- Daily Mail

* The Adastra's range is 4,000 miles, enough to go from the UK to New York in a single trip without refueling
* The 42m yacht has a maximum speed of 22.5 knots

Described as ‘one of the world's most amazing super yachts’, the $15 million, 42-metre luxury trimaran yacht Adastra certainly turned a few heads at its launching ceremony yesterday in China.

Commissioned by Hong Kong clients Anto and Elaine Marden, it is the result of five years of planning and construction.

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My Comment: WOW!!!! But $15 million is steep. Still .... WOW!!!

30% Of All Web Traffic Is Porn

Xvideos: The world's biggest porn site receives billions of hits a month

Is The Whole World Looking At Porn? Biggest Site Gets Over FOUR BILLION Hits A Month -- Daily Mail

* 30% of all web traffic is porn, according to a report

‘The internet is for porn,’ is the title of a song on hit musical Avenue Q.

And it turns out the lyricists had touched on a home truth, because researchers have discovered that a staggering 30 per cent of all internet traffic is pornography.

The biggest porn site on the web - Xvideos - receives 4.4billion page views and 350million unique visits per month, according to a report on the ExtremeTech website.

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My Comment: Only 30% .... I thought that it was higher.

Creating A Quantum Computer

IBM's 2-D Superconducting Qubit Mounted on a Chip IBM Research via Flickr

How It Would Work: Creating a Quantum Computer -- Popular Science

A working, large-scale quantum computer is still a decade away, but researchers are currently turning a critical corner from theory to building the first small quantum systems.

Silicon semiconductors have taken us a dazzling distance along the computing road. But even if they continue unabated to get faster and more powerful (and it’s growing more difficult to make that happen) there’s a limit to what classical computing can do.

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My Comment: A Quantum computer is still a long way-off .... but we are getting there.

Most Convincing 'Robot Woman' Ever

Living Doll? 'Geminoid F' Is Most Convincing 'Robot Woman' Ever - She Has 65 Facial Expressions, Talks And Even Sings -- Daily Mail

It may only be a matter of months before boy bands and teen actresses are replaced by robots - after a talking, singing fem-bot with 65 facial expressions wowed crowds in China.

Geminoid F can produce smiles and even enigmatic, quizzical expressions, using mechanical actuators underneath her rubber 'skin'.

Her creator says his goal is to create a robot that can fool people into believing it's a human being.

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My Comment: Yup .... they are getting better every year.

US Unaffected By Global Warming

US Ecosystems Basically Unaffected By Global Warming, Studies Show -- The Register

Streams fail to dry up as expected at test sites.

Scientists monitoring water flow in streams at test sites across the USA have found, unexpectedly, that the global warming seen in the late 20th century had basically no effect on most of the ecosystems they studied.

The world in general is thought to have warmed up by approximately half a degree C from 1980 to the year 2000, and while the past decade has seen no further increase, most full-time professional climate scientists expect warming to resume in the near future. However there has been much disagreement as to just what effects this could have.

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My Comment: I can guarantee you that this story will have (almost zero play) in the US main stream media.

Making Whiskey In Space

Photo: The unmatured whisky was mixed with charred oak on board the space station to see how low gravity affected the maturation process

Where No Dram Has Gone Before: Whisky Company Matures New Malt In Zero-G On The Space Station -- Daily Mail

* Whisky mixed with charcoal to see how zero-gravity affects flavours
* Mix will remain on Space Station for two years

The astronauts on the International Space Station are used to rocket fuel - but even so, a delivery of a container of rough, unmatured whisky must have come as a surprise.

Thankfully, the delivery was for an experiment, rather than an impromtu celebration, so the astronauts carried out their duties with their usual sober dedication.

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My Comment: It should produce an interesting smell and taste.

Military ‘Battle Lab’ Relies On Solar Energy

Image via U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen

Military ‘Battle Lab’ Cashes In On Solar Savings -- Earth Techling

No one ever said training for battle was easy, nor energy-efficient. The “Battle Lab” is a U.S. military facility in New Jersey where more than 20,000 soldiers prepare and train for battle. The lab includes shooting ranges, vehicle rollover trainers and other high-tech simulators. But those high-tech tools suck up millions of kilowatts of power.

Now, more than a quarter of the training facility’s power is being provided by renewable energy sources. The Army Corps of Engineers along with the help of contractor P & S Construction helped complete a solar power project onsite at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Photovoltaic solar panels were mounted to the roof of the Battle Lab, covering approximately 71,000 square feet.

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Pentagon Is Speeding Up Its Cyberweapon Research

The Pentagon is creating a next-generation cyberweapon.(Reuters / Rick Wilking)

Pentagon To Fast-Track Cyberweapons Acquisition -- Washington Post

The Pentagon is planning to dramatically speed up the development of new cyberweapons, giving it the ability in some cases to field weapons against specific targets in a matter of days, according to a new Pentagon report to Congress.

The rapid acquisition process is designed to respond to “urgent, mission-critical” needs when the risk to operations and personnel is unacceptable if threats are not addressed quickly, according to the 16-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. Congress required the Pentagon to prepare the report on how it could accelerate acquisition of cyberweapons.

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More News On The Pentagon's Quest For Cyberweapons

U.S. accelerating cyberweapon research -- Washington Post
Pentagon creating new-generation cyberweapon -- RT
DoD: Cyber Weapons May Be Better Than Cyber Espionage Tools -- Nextgov
Cyber warfare rules still being written -- Washington Times
DOD working on guidelines for cyberwar operations -- Stars and Stripes
DoD’s cyber rules of engagement -- DoD Buzz
DARPA Director: Cyber Research Needs Innovation, Talent -- Defpro
U.S. Military Readies Cyber 'Rules of Engagement' -- Information Week
3 factors inhibit DOD cyber infrastructure defense -- Defense Systems

Budget cuts put cybersecurity at risk -- Politico

DARPA Wants Humanoid Robots

DARPA's Robotics Challenge is a contest to design robots for dangerous disaster relief situations from natural or industrial disasters. (Credit: DARPA)

Disaster Zone Robot Competition Announced By Pentagon -- BBC

A competition to develop next-generation robots capable of saving lives in disaster zones has been unveiled by the Pentagon's advanced research laboratory.

Darpa says it wants "adaptable robots with the ability to use human tools - from hand tools to vehicles".

It plans to hold a series of emergency response physical challenges.

A $2m (£1.3m) prize is being offered to the team with the best technology. The competition begins in October.

The agency says it hopes software engineers, video game developers and other experts from fields outside robotics will take part "to increase the diversity of innovative solutions".

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More News On DARPA's Quest For A Humanoid Robot

US military offers millions for the first humanoid robot -- MSNBC
Seeking Robots to Go Where First Responders Can’t -- New York Times
DARPA Wants Humanoid Robots That Can Drive Tractors, Open Doors and Save the Day -- Popular Science
DARPA: Build us robots that drive -- and use power tools -- CNET
DARPA Seeking to Build (Friendly) Terminators -- PC Mag
The U.S military wants YOU, to build a humanoid robot -- Ubergizmo
DARPA Challenge Seeks Robots To Drive Into Disasters -- Information Week
DARPA wants rescue robots, offers $2M prize -- TG Daily
Humanoid Robots DARPA Hopes Will Save Human Lives -- Atlantic Wire
DARPA's Next Grand Challenge - Humanoid Robots -- The Future Of Things
DARPA's next Grand Challenge to focus on humanoid robots -- Endgadget
Pentagon eyes 'human like' handyman robots: But why? -- RT

Tsunami Projections Raises Concerns In Japan

Tsunami Projections Offer Bleak Fate for Many Japanese Towns -- New York Times

KUROSHIO, Japan — The simulations shocked this sleepy community on the tip of Japan’s Shikoku island: a huge undersea quake could bring a tsunami as high as 112 feet here, a government-appointed expert panel said. The waves could arrive in minutes and engulf most of the town, swallowing up even the foothills that the residents had counted on for high ground.

“We’d never make it if such big waves came,” said Hachiro Okumoto, 70, a fisherman who has worked off the Kuroshio coast for half a century. “It would be a wall of water. It would block out the sun.”

Just a year after a tsunami destroyed much of Japan’s northern Pacific coast, an updated hazard map detailing the damage that could be unleashed by another quake of a similar magnitude has been met with alarm across the country.

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My Comment: You cannot live in fear forever. A tsunami may hit today .... or maybe centuries from now.