Category: Science and Technology

Hey! Did You See This?

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A Small But Varied Collection of Fun/Interesting Things Found Online

 

Smorgasbord Time

Every so often we take a break from focusing on one thing to share some assorted tidbits that seem worth sharing. Today is such a day. Hope you enjoy these as much as I have. Most are short descriptions of and reflections on interesting articles, along with links to those articles. The last two are simply me thinking out loud. One never knows what will bubble to the top of my (or your) brain; here are a couple for today.

10 Books About Geopolitics

One of my disappointments in high school (boy,

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How About a Happy Story of a Tech Company Doing Right by People?

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Proof Positive That One Can Do Good, Make a Profit, and Serve the Public

 

First, a Reminder of What We Don’t Like

By now, we all know that pretty much everything we do on Facebook and on Google (and its various entities) is tracked and fed into various tools designed to feed us ads more likely to ring a bell with us. In principle, not a terrible thing. It could be helpful to get ads more relevant to our interests.

But there surely is a dark side. We have no transparency and very little say over what is recorded about us,

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How Bad is This Ransomware Thing? Worse Than You Ever Imagined.

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Fortunately, We Finally Have an Administration Who Gets It

 

Who is Doing This?

It appears three groups are doing the dirty deed.

One is plain old-fashioned criminals, out to make a buck whenever and wherever they can. These groups are truly international now, as well as domestic. The sad reality is that this sort of crime in not all that hard to carry out and it is hard to stop or trace (more on that later). Suffice it to say there is an abundance of low-life types getting into this arena.

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A Grab Bag of News and Views

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There is a Lot Going On. Let’s Poke Around a Bit

A Time of Transitions

We are always in a state of transition, but that seems especially true now. A new administration is settled in, the Middle East is heating up yet again. We have come from the worst pandemic record in the world to one of the best. Exiting and possible game changers are popping up in technology. And more. So, here we go.

The Biden Administration Settles In

This is about as good a start-up phrase I have ever seen. The team Biden selected is stellar and they hit the ground running.

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Allow Me to Entertain AND Educate You

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Part of Our Hey! Look at That! Science and Technology Series

Good and Fun Stuff to Know

 There is an old lament that there is nothing good on TV. I still have friends that are proud that they do not have a TV (although many sort of cheat by streaming). There was a time that was true, but it really is no longer accurate. This is something of a golden age of TV. The challenge now is keeping track of all the good stuff out there from so many good outlets.

The same is true for print/electronic media.

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What is Killing Americans?

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Behind the Headlines, Death Stalks Us in the Most Mundane Ways

 

Well, This Sounds Like a Cheerful Blog Post

OK, you are right. Not the most cheerful conversation we have shared here. But bear with me a bit. This is worthy of a few words and a bit of reflection by all of us. I have some bad news to share. But the solutions are more readily in hand than one might hope. If we choose to use them. Read on, friend.

Local Media Tells the Story

Whoever said that variety is the spice of life had it right.

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This is Not Your Father’s Infrastructure

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Biden Refines the Term for the 21st Century – Republicans are “Confused”

 

 So Just What is Infrastructure?

Infrastructure, in the simplest use of the term, refers to the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or a specific enterprise. It is the hardware and structures we need to make everything work, effectively and safely.

It also tends to be something often neglected and overlooked. Infrastructure takes maintenance, updates, replacements, and creation in new elements. Fail to do these things, and your country begins to look like a Third World entity.

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Sleep! A Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

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Yes, It Is!

What is Sleep, Exactly?

Well, as near as I understand the science, we really don’t know, exactly. Sleep, that state of being that consumes about one-third of our lives, is a bit of a mystery. We know it provides a physical and mental recharge of sorts, but exactly how that works is still not clear.

There are people who do not sleep at all and they seem no worse for that fact. There are not many of them, but enough that science can confirm there does exist a biological construct that does not need sleep.

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Water – Essence of Life, Destroyer of Life

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Nothing is So Pervasive, So Important to Life, and So Challenging as Water

A Change of Pace

We have focused on political issues for the last six months. As well we should have. We will continue that path often in the months ahead, for obvious reasons. But this blog was always meant to be about more. We have spent time together reflecting on science, the arts, comedy, and more. Time to do a bit of that now.

We have earned a bit of a break from politics, starting today. Let us reflect a bit on something all around us and in us.

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Pillars for a Better America, Chapter 7

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A Series on Priorities for the Biden Administration

 

Yes, the last week or so has been pretty dramatic. And we still don’t know the long-term, or even the short-term, outcomes. Wait for it – history is unrolling before us, perhaps in some very big ways.

As if that were not enough, the pandemic is on an accelerating rampage. We were warned not to let our standards relax over the holidays or there would be hell to pay on a national level. Too many of us blew it off. Well, here we are.

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