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A specially upgraded Russian Akula class submarine has been caught trying to record the acoustic signature made by the Vanguard submarines that carry Trident nuclear missiles, according to senior Navy officers. Russian subs stalk Trident in echo of Cold War – Telegraph. If it is true – as many believe – that the political elite in Washington have been engaged in a love affair with Google since Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House, then it is also true that the US president is now beginning to notice some wrinkles and warts on his beloved. Although the faltering economic recovery has taken centre stage in Washington ahead of November’s midterm elections, Google this week appeared to have created some fresh problems for the administration. The news that Google had struck a deal withVerizon, the US telecoms group, over how the companies [ continue reading Washington’s passion for Google cools ] On June 4, 2010 Michael Dell stated that he was considering taking Dell Inc. private “but would not comment when asked what would make him think about the possibility more seriously,” reported Reuters. Well, today we likely know the reasoning for that off-the-wall statement. The SEC charged Dell and senior executives with disclosure and accounting fraud yesterday and the story behind it is one hell of a bombshell! via The Dell Tale Starts to Unravel and it’s a Bombshell – Patently Apple. There are a lot of “how the mighty have fallen” stories [ continue reading Dell bombshell that won’t run long (that I missed) ] Julian Glover (Comment, 3 August) is correct that the scale of government cuts being discussed is without parallel. We are not talking of the salami-slicing of the Thatcher/Major period. The rhetoric indicates the government is withdrawing from a range of publicly provided services in the hope that someone else will step into the void. In the place of cogent economic argument, we simply have the continued recitation that the deficit of £155bn is unsustainable and so the public sector must [ continue reading Letters: Filling the void after public sector cuts ] 4 August 2010
 |  | category: empires flux, the new 'priest class', the state we're in  | comments are closed 
The default position in much of the larger charity sector seems to veer between falsely claiming it has always and forever championed local unpaid community action, or a visceral resentment that there in no longer any money to be had as preferred arm’s length contractors of the state. As we all now know, that particular gravy train has left the station and won’t be coming back anytime soon. I’ve been surprised by how many smaller groups have been saying good riddance in the face of the demise of their larger peers. And this is precisely because there is [ continue reading Big Society: principled protest or vested interest?: ] Apple Study: 8 easy steps to beat Microsoft (and Google) View more presentations from Ouriel Ohayon.
Apple is a company that desperately needs to grow up and wipe the smile off its face, and roll its sleeves up and start to appreciate that they’re no longer the upstart, the underdog, the Crazy One in the Richard Dreyfus ad. They are The Man, the Boss, the one who, from now on, everyone is going to be taking shots at and shits on. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE »» Scripting News Apple’s brewing shitstorm: .) In mid-May, Atlanta hosted a TEDx event dedicated to education. One of the talks, given by Michael Levine, executive director for The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, discussed how to get members of the media-soaked younger generation of America to use the 53 hours they spend interacting with the digital world more productively. (In case you were unaware, it was work done by Joan Ganz Cooney that led to the development of Sesame Street.) The show taught several generations of kids basic reading and math skills. Today, American children rank 15th internationally in reading proficiency. While [ continue reading Where’s ‘Sesame Street’ for the Digital Generation? ] Yesterday Apple overtook Microsoft as the world’s most valuable technology company. According to the New York Times, Apple shares are now worth $227.1 billion versus a measly $226.3 billion for Microsoft, You may think Apple is winning because Apple’s products are better. (That’s true, but read on.) You may even think Apple is winning because Apple’s marketing is so great. (See “Apple Marketing’s Top 10 Dumb Mistakes” to disabuse yourself of THAT notion.) Top 10 Dumb Reasons Apple Beat Microsoft ] A decade ago most of us were using AltaVista or something similar for search. No one was really complaining very much about the huge amount of spam and other noise that cluttered the results because we didn’t know there was a better way. Then Google came along with Page Rank, and had a profound effect on the quality of Internet search. Suddenly (and it really was that sudden), we couldn’t imagine going back to AltaVista and searching pages of results for the thing that Google gave us immediately. For a good history of search, get John Battelle’s [ continue reading Social Today Feels Like Search A Decade Ago: Lots Of Noise And Lots Of Spam ] 4 March 2010
| | category: Gallery of the bleedin' obvious, Nerds, advice, empires flux, iPhone, maps & mapping, the state we're in | comments are closed The funeral of a soldier who died in an explosion in Afghanistan will be held in Sheffield later. Cpl Lia m Riley of 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, was killed in the blast near Malgir on 01 February. Sheffield funeral for ‘legend’ soldier ] It’s always hard to know what to make of Richard Branson. From his reported $3bn investments to fight climate change to his offer of cash prizes for removing atmospheric carbon, the man certainly talks a good talk when it comes to green initiatives. And then the waters get muddied by his plans for space tourism and underwater planes for the super rich. So where do all these plans fit with his well-documented belief that peak oil is coming, and it’s going to be a major challenge to the world economy? Branson’s Virgin group has already voiced its concerns over [ continue reading Peak Oil in 5 Years: Virgin Boss Branson’s Warning ] 9 February 2010
| | category: empires flux, one world, prognosticators, the state we're in | comments are closed
If you haven’t had a chance to read “Make” magazine yet, please do. It’s likely the coolest magazine on the planet right now. The current issue, 21, dives into the rapidly evolving world of desktop manufacturing (additive and subtractive 3D fabs). What should be apparent to anyone reading it, is that desktop manufacturing is on the cusp of becoming as mainstream, inexpensive, and easy to use as personal computers (with similar effect). What this means in the mid to long term is that manufacturing will quickly become more about manipulation of information (designs, controls, etc.) than materials. The actual [ continue reading DARKNET ECONOMIES ] 7 February 2010
| | category: Global Guerillas, Nerds, empires flux, prognosticators | comments are closed
Make your own David Cameron poster. 4 February 2010
| | category: empires flux, scofflaws, tolerated crime and hypocrites, the new 'priest class', the state we're in | comments are closed This week, for the first time, the number of female GPs outnumber male GPs in Scotland. Since 1970, an ever-greater proportion of wives are higher paid, and more educated, than their husbands. That’s according to this new report by Pew Research. The New York Times covers it here. This is a positive trend for some obvious reasons. One reason women made less than their husbands in the past was that professional opportunities for women were limited by sexism. This is a sign that that situation’s getting better. Also, financial independence makes it easier for any marriage partner, male [ continue reading Wives Are Making More Money ] 29 January 2010
| | category: Gallery of the bleedin' obvious, empires flux, the state we're in, women | comments are closed Scots Americans were rejoicing last night as news circulated that the US government was planning to lift a 21-year ban on Scottish haggis. Just one problem… it may not happen. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> BBC News – US not ready to lift ban on Scottish haggis: .)
One of the things you learn as you go through this journey is that every age has its advantages. I love myself now much more today than I did when I was 22. Back then I didn’t even get that you could love yourself. I tolerate my limits much better, even though I had limits then as I have them now. I wouldn’t even know how to describe it to a younger person, it’s as if we were different species in some ways. But you’ll never get me to say there aren’t big differences betw being 54 and [ continue reading Learning doesn’t stop at 22 ] 16 January 2010
| | category: empires flux, prognosticators, the state we're in | comments are closed The Observer reports that an estimated $352bn of drug and mafia money was laundered by the major banks at the peak of the credit crunch, while regulators turned a blind eye, since the highly liquid criminal underworld was the only source of the cash necessary to keep the banks’ doors open. As Charlie Stross notes, “A third of a trillion dollars is a lot of money; it’s enough to fund the US military invading another country halfway around the world, or a manned Mars exploration program.” Charlie goes on to mention that now that these narcobucks “aren’t neatly bundled up inside [ continue reading Hundreds of billions in crime money knowingly laundered by banks during credit crunch ] 14 December 2009
| | category: empires flux, scofflaws, tolerated crime and hypocrites, the new 'priest class', the state we're in | comments are closed … and yes it amounts to: more stoicism. Can stoicism be taught, studied yes but instilled? Epictetus in fatigues seems to be everyone’s goal from backwoods survivalists to the USMC. The Afghans seem to be naturally more stoical and resolved to the long game without a philosophy degree. Is it just that soft, western people are having to be taught to ‘put up with stuff’. A radio presenter recently joked about the unlikeliness of a stoic coming from Liverpool, funny line but completely untrue. “The US Navy has also used ideas and techniques from ancient Greek philosophy in its [ continue reading The Pentagon’s new spiritual fitness training programme ]
“Two weeks ago, I wrote here about how the ‘real time web’ is turning all of us into inhuman egotists. How we’re increasingly seeing people at the scenes of major accidents grabbing their cellphones to capture the dramatic events and share them with their friends, rather than calling 911. Last week I went even further with my doom-mongering, suggesting that the trend of adding people’s homes to Foursquare without permission was indicative of a generation that prioritised their own fun over the privacy of their friends.” (CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> TechCrunch NSFW: After Fort Hood, [ continue reading After Fort Hood, another example of how ‘citizen journalists’ can’t handle the truth ] 20 November 2009
| tagged as: tech | | category: empires flux, the state we're in | comments are closed
“ As an online entity, Google is constantly evolving and improving its products. Some updates are silly, but some are far more serious and meant for good. Its update today to Google Earth to expand its Darfur coverage, is the latter. Using data from the U.S. State Departments Humanitarian Information Unit and working with the United States Holocaust Museum Memorial, Google now shows more than 3,300 villages (yes, entire villages) that have been decimated during the genocide. Google notes that while the numbers have been known for some time, actually seeing the decimation in more detail than [ continue reading Google Steps Up Its Darfur Genocide Coverage In Google Earth ]
“ Article by Richard Graham Harry Patch at the Menin Gate, 2007 (Photo Courtesy of SalientPoints) The writer J B Priestley (1894-1984) volunteered for the army in September 1914, joining The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) and, three times wounded, was discharged in March 1919 as a subaltern in The Devonshire Regiment. Of the war he wrote ‘…I believe that in the end it was chiefly won on the ground by a huge crowd of young Britons who never wanted to be soldiers, hooted at all traditions of military glory, but went on and on, when [ continue reading Harry Patch, last of the huge crowd ]
“Who imagined that in 2009, the world’s governments would be declaring a new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy – backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China – is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are [ continue reading Johann Hari: You are being lied to about pirates ]
“‘There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of movement, no freedom of worship, and much of the adult male and female population is conscripted into indefinite national service where they receive a token wage. Dissent is not tolerated. Any criticism or questioning of government policy is ruthlessly punished. Detention, torture and forced labour await anyone who disagrees with the government, anyone who attempts to avoid military service or flee the country without permission, and anyone found practising or suspected of practising faiths the government does not sanction.’” (Via Guardian Unlimited: Comment is free Eritrea: The world’s [ continue reading Eritrea: The world’s biggest prison ]
“Bob Geldof, after a diatribe against world leaders, financiers and regulators, turns on demonstrators, telling a blushing Emily Maitlis of the BBC: Protesters should be protesting against themselves because we all sucked on the tit of free money!“ (Via BBC NEWS | Business | Live: G20 Summit: .)
“ Time Magazine’s published a photo essay on the abandoned, rotting, magnificent buildings in Detroit by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. Detroit and Buenos Aires are probably the two most interesting places on the planet for me right now, because, put together, they answer the question, ‘What do you do when your industry and your economy utterly collapse? What happens when the numbers on the spreadsheets tell you that the bricks in the walls have no value?’ Detroit’s Beautiful, Horrible Decline (via MeFi) Previously: Detroit and the future of America – Boing Boing Rotting [ continue reading Haunting photo-essay on rotting buildings in Detroit ] |
 
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