Great talk from TEDx at Carnegie-Mellon University: “After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the […]
TEDx: Captcha and Duolingo — massive-scale online collaboration Read More »
Natural News surveyed its readers asking which corporations they believed to be the most evil: Monsanto topped the list, followed by B.P., Halliburton, McDonald’s, Pfizer, Merck, Wal-Mart, and Nestlé. Natural News writer Mike Adams reported on the survey results, chiming in to agree and add his opinion that Monsanto is not only evil but psychotic
The “Monsanto is evil” puzzle Read More »
Very cool ten-minute talk about thorium’s prospects as a large-scale source of energy. Sorenson blogs at Energy from Thorium. And here is a primer on thorium from the World Nuclear Institute. Currently, its seems that China and India lead the world in exploring thorium as an option.
Energy from thorium — Kirk Sorenson at TEDx Read More »
A stunning glimpse of the future of the new media:
Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 2.0 — Sleep Read More »
Count me a huge fan of Rosling’s work: See also his “200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes.”
Hans Rosling’s magic washing machine Read More »
Stata Ventures is Kaizen interviewee Ray Stata’s venture capital vehicle. It recently provided funding to technology startup Lyric Semiconductor. Lyric is developing probability chip technology. Traditional chips use binary “yes/no” switches, but probability chips “can accept inputs and calculate outputs that are between 0 and 1, directly representing probabilities, or levels of certainty.” Commercial applications
Ray Stata, Lyric Semiconductor, and probability chips Read More »
More fun with philosophy math, following up on two earlier posts: Why life is 255 times better now than in 1800 and Why life in America is 40 times better than in 1900. Focusing on innovations in music technology, Russ Roberts notes: “In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable music player. It weighed
Why the nano is 750 times better than the Walkman Read More »
Sadly, the Gateway Arch is showing signs of corroding. The Arch is one of my favorite monuments, standing on the western bank of the Mississippi, symbolizing and inviting one to embark upon the great trek to new territory. St. Louis was part of the Louisiana Purchase; Lewis and Clark geared up for their expedition on
St. Louis’s Gateway Arch Read More »