7 posts tagged “technology”
Are you familiar with Dean Kamen? No? Well, perhaps you should be. He is an inventor, whose inventions have typically been in the area of robotics (he invented the Segway, the Luke robotic arm, and the F.I.R.S.T. robotics competition), but he has really created something that has the potential to alter life on this planet. He has created something called the Slingshot which is capable of filtering 97% of the Earth’s undrinkable water.
I must state that this device isn’t new, but rather something that he has been developing for 10 years and he has had working prototypes in Honduras in 2006.
The crux of the invention is the "vapor compression distiller" which sits between the tank of dirty liquid and the tank of clean drinking water. This device operates at low power and boils, distills, and vaporizes liquid water from the dirty mix, leaving behind impurities in the water. The device requires little maintenance.
The device produces 250 gallons a day, enough to support 100 people.
Slingshot Can Clean 97% of Earth's Undrinkable Water
Of course there is a catch right? Well, there is at this point and it is the one you are most likely to suspect: cost. Currently the device costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, but keep in mind that this is without any sort of mass production plan. Kamen states that he would like to get the cost down to around $2000 per device, and he is actively seeking humanitarian groups and individuals to become involved in bringing this device to those in need.
Why is this important? Currently, there are roughly 900 million people who don’t have access to clean drinking water. In terms of intellectual coherency, the idea passes muster. Water’s just as essential to life as food, which makes an appearance in Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As of now, the World Health Organization estimates that inadequate water is responsible for nearly one-tenth of the world’s disease burden, and that six percent of all deaths could be prevented by universal access to safe drinking water and better sanitation. According to the UN, 2.8 billion people won’t have enough water to meet their basic needs by 2025.
Recently, I posted some information about how companies use High Frequency Trading techniques as a way to reap profits by acting as a middleman of sorts. They are able to get between orders being placed in nanoseconds, affecting the price that you and I and mutual funds pay. Through the wonders of croneyism in our society amongst those in power, there are no laws against this practice. Here is a review:
HFT computers can detect large buy orders for a stock, the kind of buy orders mutual funds make, even when the funds try to disguise them. The HTF system can then purchase that stock before the mutual fund’s order is executed. The fund ends up paying more per share, and the HTF traders pocket the difference.
This isn’t illegal; it’s akin to cutting into a long line at the supermarket. And it’s just as infuriating. "It just ticks off mutual fund managers who feel their stock moves against them every time they show up," says Al Berkeley, chairman of Pipeline Trading Systems, a trading service designed to help institutions and brokers outsmart HFT systems that try to detect their orders.
How much does all of this cost mutual funds in higher stock prices, or lower prices when they sell? It’s not clear, but one study by the Tabb Group estimates that high-frequency traders made about $21 billion in profits last year — much of that at the expense of mutual funds.
Wall Street’s High-Tech War on Investors
As unfair as that sounds, there is an even more blatant abuse of the financial system called flash orders. Flash orders are essentially the very quick display of trading orders to a select few group of insiders. In an effort for small, upstart exchanges to compete with established ones like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq, they offer these flash orders to large customers in the hope that they big customers will split the fees with the small exchange. A primer:
Smaller exchanges have to pass along big orders to the big exchanges if it looks like they can’t fill them. To avoid this loss, they "flash" these orders to big customers for less than half a second. The hope is that big players will help fill the order, splitting the fees with the small exchange.
But this also gives the insider an advance look at a trading price you and I never see. Mind you, it’s a half-second advantage; you and I couldn’t do anything with it anyway. But those with HFT systems can.
Wall Street’s High-Tech War on Investors
What’s more, is that the HFT systems are so fast and powerful that they can
search the market every few milliseconds and have the ability to sense the
supply and demand for a given stock. They can then use this information to
purchase the stock with a limited supply and sell it for a quick profit. Here
is how it works in graphical form:
When it came out, and the SEC offered lip service to the issue, all of the
exchanges said that they would stop providing them soon. I would advise people
not to hold their breath. There is a lot of money and lobbying in this sector,
and money trumps reason in our country in almost all instances.
Where the hell do I begin?
How about the mess I am dealing with atm? Like an idiot, I decided to install Windows 7 on a hard drive that I had prepared in my computer. I cleared out a 320 GB drive so that I could mess around with the OS since I like it so much on my netbook. That was a huge mistake. Windows 7 installed fine, and it performed its updates. When I restarted the computer, I noticed that it didn't give me the option to boot into Vista. I thought this was strange (and I was subconsciously having a heart attack already), but I didn't get too excited. This is software after all. I monkeyed around for a half hour or so, and powered down my machine. This is where the suckitude comes in.
When I powered it up, I noticed that my computer didn't beep or display any splash screens. It didn't give me the option to boot into Vista, it just booted into Windows 7. I was pretty pissed at this point because all of my mission critical stuff is still on my Vista hard drives (they are in a RAID 0). I know, I know. My fault, right? So I dug around for an hour or so on the net and I came across the solution. I would have to boot my PC with the Vista install disc and choose repair and I would be good to go. Whew! Right?
Wrong! At this point, I realized that my boot order was HD first and everything else was disabled to speed boot up. I couldn't get into the BIOS at all. Want to know what else? I couldn't get into Windows 7 either. My computer would just hang. My monitors would remain black and flash like they were in sleep mode. Occasionally I would hear the Windows Vista/Windows 7 log in sound, but my PC would never get to it. What a frustrating ordeal! I went through some normal troubleshooting procedures such as checking all connections, removing all unnecessary devices, unplugging hard drives, etc. Nothing seemed to work.
Long story short, I spent the better part of today screwing with this thing. I was able to get it to boot back into 7, but that is it. This is far from what I wanted. And just so I could have some tunes while I cried myself to sleep tonight, I installed the Zune software and tried to sign in. Of course that failed. Then I remembered that my account already had 3 PC's on it. So I disabled my Netbook from it and tried again. It still failed. Of course it failed. I am currently unaware if it is a problem with my Zune software/service or if it is a Live ID thing because I am unable to sign into messenger as well. I can't log in through the site because both IE and Firefox say that it uses an invalid certificate. I know there is a workaround for that, but I have had my fill of f*cking with software for the day.
I was going to post about the personal stuff, but I am seriously not in the mood atm. I will probably update this post either later tomorrow or late tonight.
Sorry for not posting the last couple days...I have been completely swamped! For whatever reason, I have had the worst luck with my technology lately. I need to do a boatload of data process models for Pine Valley Furniture and wouldn't you know it? Visio fails on me! No big deal right? A re-install should fix it.
NOPE. I get the always-fun Error 2203. I try to uninstall/reinstall the installer and no luck. Fine, I will try iLab and Citrix. NOPE. Same error. Long story short...I mucked around for a few hours trying to fix it to no avail. I began drawing and diagramming 80 data process models by hand!
WAIT! It gets better! How am I going to deliver these? I try to scan them to email them. NOPE. Scanner shows nothing but blank pages. The EFF!? I try to copy them, but the printer spits out blank pages! What do I do!? I end up (this is a TEMPORARY fix) taking pictures of each one with my digital camera and uploading them. Worst day of work in a long time...
President-elect Barack Obama has made history and will have the chance to go along that path further in future years. If we look at technology especially, we see the so-far probably most tech-savvy president being confronted with a country that is in dire need of changes that affect technology infrastructure, research and innovation in many ways to catch up with other countries. Silicon Valley has been complaining for years that government has neglected a technology-focused promotion of education, but besides with, what can the IT industry expect from the new president? Let's examine the five key aspects of Obama's stance on technology.
1. Net neutrality
The goal of net neutrality is to set rules and put laws in place to force service providers and telcos to allow all applications, services and devices access networks to perform on equal terms. Contrary to McCain who wanted to let the private sector sort this out, Obama promised to enforce net neutrality through federal legislation. Obama believes the federal government needs to stand behind it in order to prevent manipulation by carriers and service providers that in the end stalls innovation. Obama mentions this belief his tech paper that "a key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history."
2. Broadband penetration
When it comes to broadband penetration and speed, the U.S. country lags behind most parts of the world. In terms of speed, a CWA study puts the U.S. at position 15 on a worldwide scale, far behind the leaders Japan, South Korea and Finland. Various organizations attempted to get Congress to come up with an improved telecommunications policy with virtually no success at all. Obama promised to expand the Universal Service Fund in order to re-build the nation's broadband infrastructure. If that promise will be kept we are looking at one of the most significant infrastructure improvements of our time, but it is necessary to provide people in the U.S. with broadband access they need in the future.
3. Wireless spectrum
The existing wireless spectrum usage rules did not promote competition and failed to deliver benefits to end-users. A lack of competition and fair usage rules in the wireless space are key obstacles that hold back new innovation. Obama promised a thorough review of the existing wireless spectrum uses. Additionally, he wants government agencies that control the wireless spectrum to define a "smarter, more efficient and more imaginative use."
4. H-1B visas and offshoring
Job offshoring is a reality of our time, a trend that is driven by cost and globalization factors. Obama promised he would eliminate tax breaks to the companies which ship domestic jobs overseas, a move that could prove to be difficult, especially if offshoring is required in required global expansions of companies. However, Silicon Valley is likely to benefit from Obama's proposal to increase the number of H-1B non-immigrant visas needed to recruit foreign guest workers. The increase in granted H-1B visas could appear in sharp contrast with measures to reduce outsourcing, but it will actually allow tech companies to recruit highly specialized engineers and scientists to increase their competitiveness. Of course, that strategy needs to go in hand with a greater focus on education and enable U.S. companies to find the talent they need on these shores.
5. Privacy
Unfortunately, our privacy legislation appears to be always one step behind when it comes to high tech and online scenarios. Obama proposed increased security for electronic health records to and new measures to restrict the use of personal information stored in electronic databases. Cyber-criminals are also on Obama's agenda: The President-elect promised he would improve the Federal Trade Commission enforcement budget to battle spam and fund the fight against phishing and malware.
So I just spent the last hour writing a 1200 word post about Obama's shifting stance on technology, but I have come to find out that they have edited the information on his site. I am reading the PDF now, and its pretty interesting so far. He hasn't shifted as far as people have reported (which may have changed in the update) but I am not done reading it yet either. I'll post my thoughts if I find anything interesting.
Want to read it yourself?
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/technology/Fact_Sheet_Innovation_and_Technology.pdf
As a geek/nerd/etc. I am concerned about our nations science policy and position. I loathe our public education system, and I fear that if not for the law of averages we would not have any people in the science field altogether. Recently ScienceDebate2008 asked the candidates about their positions on some science related issues facing our country.
"This is the first time we know of that a candidate for president has laid out his science policy before the election at this level of detail," said Shawn Otto, CEO of ScienceDebate2008.
A 38,000-member coalition of scientists, engineers and concerned citizens, ScienceDebate2008 pushed presidential candidates to attend to science -- an area that is vital to America's economy and touches on nearly every important political issue, but is generally neglected during elections.
Though unable to convince Obama and John McCain to engage in a full-blown science debate, ScienceDebate2008 winnowed 3,400 member-submitted questions down to 14 key challenges facing candidates and the country. Some, such as clean energy and stem cell research, are familiar from past elections. Others, such as water security and the systematic politicization of science, are new.
Obama's answers were released on Saturday and balance lofty rhetoric with policy-wonk detail -- not only on energy issues, which are a central part of his platform, but relatively esoteric issues as science education, bioterror and genetic privacy.
"I thought they were very substantive for this point in the campaign, and surprisingly detailed," said Otto.Obama also appears to appreciate the process of science: He promises across-the-board doublings of basic research budgets, and pledges to reverse the ideologically motivated science-skewing that has thrived under the Bush administration.
On the Friday preceding Obama's answers, John McCain announced the vice presidential nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- a global warming skeptic with a poor environmental record and sympathy for public creationism education. According to Otto, McCain has not yet answered.
Below are takeaway quotes from several essential questions. The full version is here.
ScienceDebate2008: What policies will you support to ensure that America remains the world leader in innovation?
Barack Obama: My administration will increase funding for basic research in physical and life sciences, mathematics and engineering at a rate that would double basic research budgets over the next decade.
This sounds great, but it also sounds like every other politician catering to their audience.
SD2008: What is your position on the following measures that have been proposed to address global climate change -- a cap-and-trade system, a carbon tax, increased fuel-economy standards or research?
Obama: The U.S. must get off the sidelines and take long-overdue action here at home to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions. We must also take a leadership role in designing technologies that allow us to enjoy a growing, prosperous economy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Great goals. But did you notice ZERO information about how to achieve this? He is speaking to scientists and engineers. We want real, solid answers. If he doesn't have any, that is fine. This is a complex problem, but he should at least state what he plans to do.
SD2008: What
policies would you support to meet demand for energy while ensuring an
economically and environmentally sustainable future?
Obama: First, I have proposed programs that, taken together, will increase federal investment in the clean energy research, development and deployment to $150 billion over ten years.... Second, it is essential that we create a strong, predictable market for energy innovations with concrete goals that speed introduction of innovative products and provide a strong incentive for private R&D investment in energy technologies.
I like this. I am generally against government spending, but I approve of this. Kudos, sir.
SD2008: What is your view of how science and technology can best be used to ensure national security and where should we put our focus?
Obama: My administration will put basic defense research on a path to double and will assure strong funding for investments in DoD’s applied research programs. We will enhance the connections between defense researchers and their war-fighting counterparts. And, we will strengthen defense research management so that our most innovative minds are working on our most pressing defense problems.
SD2008: What is your position on government regulation and
funding of stem cell research?
Obama: I believe that
the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic
stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to
compete with other nations. As president, I will lift the current
administration’s ban on federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines
created after August 9, 2001 through executive order, and I will ensure that all
research on stem cells is conducted ethically and with rigorous oversight.
SD2008: How do you see science, research and technology contributing to improved health and quality of life?
Obama: These are difficult problems, and science and technology can solve only some of them. The effectiveness of medical care can be improved, and its costs can be reduced, by greater emphasis on best practices, electronic medical records, hospital safety, preventive strategies and improved public health surveillance.
Does improved public health surveillance (while sounding creepy and fascist) mean that it will be a program to tell everyone to put down the f*cking cheeseburger? If not, it should be.
SD2008: Is it acceptable for elected officials to hold back or alter scientific reports if they conflict with their own views, and how will you balance scientific information with politics and personal beliefs in your decision-making?
Obama: I will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best-available, scientifically valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees. More broadly, I am committed to creating a transparent and connected democracy, using cutting-edge technologies to provide a new level of transparency, accountability, and participation for America’s citizens.
Sounds great. The issue (and this is not Obama's, but the scientific communities' rather) is that oftentimes scientific evidence is conflicting. In a strange parallel to politics, the cause is almost always funding. Who pays for the study. It is a sad world when even scientists have no integrity. I expect that out of politicians.
Though it's impossible to know whether Obama will keep his word, the thoroughness of his answers -- the quotes above are just the tip -- is kind of impressive. NOTE: They would be significantly less impressive had the McCain camp answered...at all.
"A lot of the scientists I've spoken to are pleased with the level of substance and detail," said Otto.
If only he hadn't picked that piece of crap for his vice-president. If people posit that the Bush camp is the oil camp, then they have to accept the fact that Biden is in the big media camp. Don't believe me? Check his voting records before you mouth off:
CNet's Declan McCullough reports that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) has an anti-consumer track record when it comes to technology.
In the past the Democratic VP nominee-apparent has stood with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on copyright issues.
From the Cnet report:
[Biden] has spent most of his Senate career allied with the FBI and copyright holders... ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, [his] anti-privacy legislation was actually responsible for the creation of PGP [encryption]...
Biden became a staunch ally of Hollywood and the recording industry in their efforts to expand copyright law. He sponsored a bill in 2002 that would have make it a federal felony to trick certain types of devices into playing unauthorized music or executing unapproved computer programs...
A few months later, Biden signed a letter that urged the Justice Department "to prosecute individuals who intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks." Critics of this approach said that the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, and not taxpayers, should pay for their own lawsuits...
All of which meant that nobody in Washington was surprised when Biden was one of only four U.S. senators invited to a champagne reception in celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA's Jack Valenti, the RIAA, and the Business Software Alliance. (Photos are here.)
McCullough reports that Biden has "steadfastly refused" to answer Cnet's questions on his tech voting record.
GP: It's ironic that Biden has chosen to portray himself as an intellectual property rights champion. He has twice been outed for plagiarizing.
Or here:
Biden's stance on your rights-wait. You have none...
This is a good article and I will fill you in on his stance in an upcoming post.
