Known for using the Blackberry and social networking on the Internet to his political advantage, will newly elected US President Barack Obama return the favor by improving America’s Internet infrastructure?
By: Vanessa Uy
Despite attempts at objectivity, most of us still find it hard not to fall in love with the newly elected US President Barack Obama, especially his political platform. But basing on his “restoring science to its rightful place” portion of his inaugural speech, does the newly elected president be able to fulfil his promise of improving America’s Internet infrastructure which according to some telecommunications experts is on average 15 years out of date. Even President Obama’s Internet address points out that the US is ranked 15th in global broadband adoption.
According to save the internet.com, broadband technology in the US is not only in some parts 15 years behind, but also even in highly urbanized areas, broadband Internet infrastructure is largely underutilized – even untapped – when it comes to its educational related use. Given the on-going global economic downturn, should information technology firms reevaluate their goals for 2009? Especially when most of the world’s commercial activity is now under Internet hegemony.
Calling US President Barack Obama as the first “Internet President” would be an understatement if you knew the true extent of his knowledge of the utility of the on-line medium when it comes to the US political campaign landscape. Not only that, he is also the first US president to have his official portrait taken with a digital camera, it is safe to say that President Obama is also the first US president to have fully embraced the “digital revolution”. Given President Obama’s affinity and savvy of the Internet, is there anything he has to gain from it in its improvement.
President Obama’s “Blackberry dependence” would be less of a headache to the US Secret Service personnel assigned to him if the Internet infrastructure is improved to the point that on-line security safeguards can be added with the ease comparable to that of mathematical geniuses envision very large prime numbers. Plus an improved American Internet system could create its own contribution in stimulating the ailing global economy since these days our worldwide commerce is largely Internet-based. Not only that, education – on a global scale - could benefit as well when new ideas can easily be spread around the world. Like reexamining the way we approach in the treatment of some cancers and related medical research. The Internet is now an indispensable part of the global economy. If America starts to improve theirs, very soon, our global economic downturn will not last as long as predicted by naysayers.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, December 12, 2008
Breast-Enlarging Cellurar / Mobile Phone Ring-Tone
A Japanese scientist / part-time rock musician has created the mobile phone ring-tone that makes women’s breasts grow bigger. Revenge of the phone-hogging airheads?
By: Vanessa Uy
It surely sounds – if you pardon the pun – like a hoax, but a Japanese scientist whose main hobby is playing rock music really did invent a cellurar phone / mobile phone ring-tone that makes the breasts of women of childbearing age apparently grow bigger. It works on the principle of sending subliminal messages to the listener’s brain. The ring-tone subliminally presents the sound of a crying baby to the brains of anyone who hears it. Preliminary result of the study had shown that within 10 days, women of reproductive age listening to the prototype ring-tone on a regular basis up to 20 times a day manifested breast enlargement. On average 2 to 3 centimeters or more than an inch increase of the bust size was noted.
Dubbed the “Rock Melon”, the novel ring-tone had recently received extensive scientific scrutiny and peer-review studies due to the “inexplicable” result of breast enlargement. Even though the physiological effects of the “breast-enlarging” ring-tone might seem strange, other scientists studying the trials theorize that the ring-tone might be subliminally sending messages to the brain that caused it to send signals to the women listening to it to alter their hormonal balance. Thus the resulting increase in bust size.
Scientists in Japan are now searching / creating mobile phone or cellular phone ring-tones that stimulate hair growth in balding men, increase a person’s friendliness, increase memory and intelligence, even ones that deter shop-lifting in malls. Even though the Rock Melon ring-tone’s effects might only be “cosmetic”, it might also allow a side-benefit of making women more child-friendly by asserting their maternal instincts. Which could be very useful for professional nannies and part-time babysitters.
By: Vanessa Uy
It surely sounds – if you pardon the pun – like a hoax, but a Japanese scientist whose main hobby is playing rock music really did invent a cellurar phone / mobile phone ring-tone that makes the breasts of women of childbearing age apparently grow bigger. It works on the principle of sending subliminal messages to the listener’s brain. The ring-tone subliminally presents the sound of a crying baby to the brains of anyone who hears it. Preliminary result of the study had shown that within 10 days, women of reproductive age listening to the prototype ring-tone on a regular basis up to 20 times a day manifested breast enlargement. On average 2 to 3 centimeters or more than an inch increase of the bust size was noted.
Dubbed the “Rock Melon”, the novel ring-tone had recently received extensive scientific scrutiny and peer-review studies due to the “inexplicable” result of breast enlargement. Even though the physiological effects of the “breast-enlarging” ring-tone might seem strange, other scientists studying the trials theorize that the ring-tone might be subliminally sending messages to the brain that caused it to send signals to the women listening to it to alter their hormonal balance. Thus the resulting increase in bust size.
Scientists in Japan are now searching / creating mobile phone or cellular phone ring-tones that stimulate hair growth in balding men, increase a person’s friendliness, increase memory and intelligence, even ones that deter shop-lifting in malls. Even though the Rock Melon ring-tone’s effects might only be “cosmetic”, it might also allow a side-benefit of making women more child-friendly by asserting their maternal instincts. Which could be very useful for professional nannies and part-time babysitters.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Blood Mobile Phones, Bloodier Cellular Phones
First, there was blood or conflict diamonds, now the vital innards of our mobile or cell phones are now being made by raw materials fueling the on-going conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethical cell / mobiles wanted?
By: Vanessa Uy
After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Government / Bush Administration finally acknowledges the dangers of conflict / blood diamonds after their “intelligence annalists” found out that these “diamonds” played a vital part in funding al-Qaeda’s terror operations around the world. Weird being that a few years hence when only black Africans are suffering, the Republican Party-ruled US legislature don’t even give a damn about conflict diamonds.
Fast-forward to 2008, and the slave mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo have ignominiously became the cheapest supplier of vital minerals necessary for the manufacture of very cheap Chinese-made mobile phones / cellular phones. Since the world market demands the cheapness factor when it comes to the latest in mobile phone / cellular phone technology, social and ethical concerns with regards to manufacture and labor tend to fall by the wayside.
Coltan, a combination or aggregate of two mineral ores: columbite and tantalite. Columbite – the black mineral consisting essentially of iron and columbium / niobium. The other one is tantalite, a valuable source of the metal tantalum. These two transition metals are very useful as battery and ultra-miniaturized capacitor components in the latest model cellular and mobile phones. Given that tantalum capacitors are also used in the Hi Fi industry, the corporate world’s tacit support for the on-going armed conflict in Africa – especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo – is surely despicable. Especially when majority of “hapless consumers” are tricked into underwriting their callous disregard for human lives.
Dismantling the “economic system” that made the trade in “blood mobile phones” possible is not easy. Congolese rebel leader / freedom fighter and ethnic Tutsi Laurent N’Kunda has earned himself a legion of loyal followers that would gladly give up their lives in support of his cause. Even his official Website – especially those that can be seen internationally – portray him as if he’s an African R&B heartthrob. Though Laurent N'Kunda was very instrumental in providing safe-havens for Tutsi's fleeing from the Rwandan genocide back in April of 1994, the incidence of rape by his troops and slavery in the coltan mines certainly makes his brand of "nation building" open to much criticism. This is truly a case where one man’s terrorist is another one’s freedom fighter. Probably only an arrest and subsequent trial in The Hague could dissuade his supporters and bring him to justice, as opposed to a US government underwritten assassination operation, which could raise Laurent N’Kunda to martyrdom status.
But we the consumers can do our part too by buying only cellular phones / mobile phones that are ethically produced by socially responsible corporations, instead of choosing the latest and cheapest ones with a history of unethical business practice. Even though these “ethical phones” will be far from cheap, at least we are doing our fellow brethren a world of good. Just remember and be mindful of that “Instant Karma” that John Lennon used to warn us about.
By: Vanessa Uy
After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Government / Bush Administration finally acknowledges the dangers of conflict / blood diamonds after their “intelligence annalists” found out that these “diamonds” played a vital part in funding al-Qaeda’s terror operations around the world. Weird being that a few years hence when only black Africans are suffering, the Republican Party-ruled US legislature don’t even give a damn about conflict diamonds.
Fast-forward to 2008, and the slave mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo have ignominiously became the cheapest supplier of vital minerals necessary for the manufacture of very cheap Chinese-made mobile phones / cellular phones. Since the world market demands the cheapness factor when it comes to the latest in mobile phone / cellular phone technology, social and ethical concerns with regards to manufacture and labor tend to fall by the wayside.
Coltan, a combination or aggregate of two mineral ores: columbite and tantalite. Columbite – the black mineral consisting essentially of iron and columbium / niobium. The other one is tantalite, a valuable source of the metal tantalum. These two transition metals are very useful as battery and ultra-miniaturized capacitor components in the latest model cellular and mobile phones. Given that tantalum capacitors are also used in the Hi Fi industry, the corporate world’s tacit support for the on-going armed conflict in Africa – especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo – is surely despicable. Especially when majority of “hapless consumers” are tricked into underwriting their callous disregard for human lives.
Dismantling the “economic system” that made the trade in “blood mobile phones” possible is not easy. Congolese rebel leader / freedom fighter and ethnic Tutsi Laurent N’Kunda has earned himself a legion of loyal followers that would gladly give up their lives in support of his cause. Even his official Website – especially those that can be seen internationally – portray him as if he’s an African R&B heartthrob. Though Laurent N'Kunda was very instrumental in providing safe-havens for Tutsi's fleeing from the Rwandan genocide back in April of 1994, the incidence of rape by his troops and slavery in the coltan mines certainly makes his brand of "nation building" open to much criticism. This is truly a case where one man’s terrorist is another one’s freedom fighter. Probably only an arrest and subsequent trial in The Hague could dissuade his supporters and bring him to justice, as opposed to a US government underwritten assassination operation, which could raise Laurent N’Kunda to martyrdom status.
But we the consumers can do our part too by buying only cellular phones / mobile phones that are ethically produced by socially responsible corporations, instead of choosing the latest and cheapest ones with a history of unethical business practice. Even though these “ethical phones” will be far from cheap, at least we are doing our fellow brethren a world of good. Just remember and be mindful of that “Instant Karma” that John Lennon used to warn us about.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Child-Safe Search Engines: Too Orwellian?
The threat of cyber-bullying, malicious sites and on-line paedophilia are real, but are child-safe search engines overprotecting our kids to the extent that they can hardly do anything interesting on-line anymore?
By: Vanessa Uy
The threats are out there all right, but don’t you find some – if not most of them - child-safe / kid-friendly search engines too Big Brother-y Orwellian for comfort? I do agree that no kids should be allowed access to websites deemed too inappropriate for their age group like hardcore pornography. But as of late, I do find some child-safe / kid-friendly search engine site blockers too overly zealous of their intended functions.
I first experienced this first hand after volunteering in a personal computer refurbishing charity group. Some PC s have child-safe site-blockers that don’t even allow blogs to pass through – even public safety / health related sites concerning allergy awareness. Less aggressive ones blocks blogs with Google adsense features, while some I just find their site blocking “antics” so idiosyncratically amusing.
A case in point is this bunch of donated PC from a US “grain belt” district equipped with a “supposedly” child-safe search engine blocker that deny searches to sites with the words “naked” and “breasts” in them. To the extent that cooking recipe websites titled “Amazing Chicken Breast Recipes” are blocked or denied access. So does astronomy / astrophysics sites with “Black Hole” / “Naked Singularity” subjects in them. Is modern astrophysics too taboo for practicing Creationists and Intelligent Design practitioners? A bypass feature / search block disable proviso is fortunately included in those bunch of donated PC s that drew my curiosity. Unfortunately you have to type a 64-digit long access code to disable it plus other things tantamount to breaking into / hacking into a 1995-era NORAD / US Space Command firewall.
Sadly, the said computers remain unused, set aside for an intensive “root canal” for it to be useful for everyday use. I hope that creators of these “Orwellian” supposedly child-safe search engines should try to make their products easy to bypass. After all, it’s bad enough for a recently donated PC to be compared to the Republican VP pick Gov. Sarah Palin. Will any of us ever fall in love with a PC equipped with an Orwellian / NAZI-book-burner search engine? I just hope that overzealous child-safe search engine blockers will never be installed in laptops intended for use in the global One Laptop Per Child Program. It would be tantamount to censorship and against the US First Amendment / free speech laws.
By: Vanessa Uy
The threats are out there all right, but don’t you find some – if not most of them - child-safe / kid-friendly search engines too Big Brother-y Orwellian for comfort? I do agree that no kids should be allowed access to websites deemed too inappropriate for their age group like hardcore pornography. But as of late, I do find some child-safe / kid-friendly search engine site blockers too overly zealous of their intended functions.
I first experienced this first hand after volunteering in a personal computer refurbishing charity group. Some PC s have child-safe site-blockers that don’t even allow blogs to pass through – even public safety / health related sites concerning allergy awareness. Less aggressive ones blocks blogs with Google adsense features, while some I just find their site blocking “antics” so idiosyncratically amusing.
A case in point is this bunch of donated PC from a US “grain belt” district equipped with a “supposedly” child-safe search engine blocker that deny searches to sites with the words “naked” and “breasts” in them. To the extent that cooking recipe websites titled “Amazing Chicken Breast Recipes” are blocked or denied access. So does astronomy / astrophysics sites with “Black Hole” / “Naked Singularity” subjects in them. Is modern astrophysics too taboo for practicing Creationists and Intelligent Design practitioners? A bypass feature / search block disable proviso is fortunately included in those bunch of donated PC s that drew my curiosity. Unfortunately you have to type a 64-digit long access code to disable it plus other things tantamount to breaking into / hacking into a 1995-era NORAD / US Space Command firewall.
Sadly, the said computers remain unused, set aside for an intensive “root canal” for it to be useful for everyday use. I hope that creators of these “Orwellian” supposedly child-safe search engines should try to make their products easy to bypass. After all, it’s bad enough for a recently donated PC to be compared to the Republican VP pick Gov. Sarah Palin. Will any of us ever fall in love with a PC equipped with an Orwellian / NAZI-book-burner search engine? I just hope that overzealous child-safe search engine blockers will never be installed in laptops intended for use in the global One Laptop Per Child Program. It would be tantamount to censorship and against the US First Amendment / free speech laws.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Refurbishing Old Computers versus One Laptop Per Child
Given that a 10 year old or so PC can be refurbished to be Internet ready for less than a hundred US dollars, is this a more cost-effective way to promote computer literacy to the world’s poor than the current one laptop per child program?
By: Ringo Bones
If the sight of seeing the plastic housings of old computers washing up on the remote beaches of some Pacific island, or the sight of poor people with no protective gear whatsoever breaking old PC s to extract the valuable metals breaks your heart. Then you should be reminding your local powers-that-be that there’s a much better way to deal with e-waste than just dumping them in some nondescript landfill to be scavenged under unsafe conditions.
There are a number of charitable organizations around the world who are busy refurbishing old computers to be used by their poorer brethren in the developing world. Some of them – like Caritas – even give computer literacy lessons to their refurbished PC recipients. Given that refurbished old computers are much cheaper than the laptops used in the current one laptop per child program, why aren’t they implemented more often?
The problem lies in the licensing of the operating system to be used in this refurbished PC s. Commercial operating systems software being installed in this refurbished PC s often costs 40 times as much as the “hardware” – i.e. the refurbished PC – that they are put into. While those in the laptops used in the one laptop per child are donated by IT conglomerates.
Older PC s can be power-hungry compared to newer laptops, that’s why they are only donated to regions with a reliable electrical grid. Also, refurbished older PC s can be prone to crashing because their decade old micro-processing systems are just on the edge if not already incapable of handling the contemporary Internet browsing capable operating systems.
But the laptops used in the one laptop per child had already spawned their own set of problems. Due to bureaucratic procrastination, the one laptop per child could be superseded by Internet access-capable mobile phones ones these phones come down in price. These Internet-capable mobile phones are way more energy efficient than laptops. If the one laptop per child program implementation won’t speed up, a time will come sooner – rather than later – that they’ll be calling their program “One Internet-Capable Mobile / Cell Phone Per Child”.
By: Ringo Bones
If the sight of seeing the plastic housings of old computers washing up on the remote beaches of some Pacific island, or the sight of poor people with no protective gear whatsoever breaking old PC s to extract the valuable metals breaks your heart. Then you should be reminding your local powers-that-be that there’s a much better way to deal with e-waste than just dumping them in some nondescript landfill to be scavenged under unsafe conditions.
There are a number of charitable organizations around the world who are busy refurbishing old computers to be used by their poorer brethren in the developing world. Some of them – like Caritas – even give computer literacy lessons to their refurbished PC recipients. Given that refurbished old computers are much cheaper than the laptops used in the current one laptop per child program, why aren’t they implemented more often?
The problem lies in the licensing of the operating system to be used in this refurbished PC s. Commercial operating systems software being installed in this refurbished PC s often costs 40 times as much as the “hardware” – i.e. the refurbished PC – that they are put into. While those in the laptops used in the one laptop per child are donated by IT conglomerates.
Older PC s can be power-hungry compared to newer laptops, that’s why they are only donated to regions with a reliable electrical grid. Also, refurbished older PC s can be prone to crashing because their decade old micro-processing systems are just on the edge if not already incapable of handling the contemporary Internet browsing capable operating systems.
But the laptops used in the one laptop per child had already spawned their own set of problems. Due to bureaucratic procrastination, the one laptop per child could be superseded by Internet access-capable mobile phones ones these phones come down in price. These Internet-capable mobile phones are way more energy efficient than laptops. If the one laptop per child program implementation won’t speed up, a time will come sooner – rather than later – that they’ll be calling their program “One Internet-Capable Mobile / Cell Phone Per Child”.
Friday, May 30, 2008
CeBit 2008: Greening of the IT Industry?
Ever since the Internet revolution helped spread the message of saving our environment, concerns were voiced over the rather large carbon footprint generated in keeping the net up and running. Is the time for a solution now neigh?
By: Vanessa Uy
Environmentalists around the world could trace the roots of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in the fledging Internet circa 1995. It is the only place where the scientific validity of the existence and threat of global warming survive, despite the attempts of the GOP lead US congress attempts to cast doubts on the existence of global warming. But the information campaign to reverse the threat of global warming threatens to devolve into hypocrisy when you consider the Internet infrastructure’s overall carbon footprint. Especially when it comes to energy needs.
There had been measures to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint over the years, but none matching the variety provided by this year’s CeBit. From search engine providers use of photovoltaic power generating technologies and hydrogen fuel cells for large-scale power generation to power their mainframe servers. Also using water-cooled microprocessors to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint down to the individual user level. Water-cooled microprocessors really seems a way forward when it comes to reducing a PC ‘s power consumption since –at present – 40% of a contemporary design PC ‘s energy needs is spent on cooling the microprocessor. And since water is a more efficient cooling medium compared to moving air, this could well be a very viable solution. This year’s CeBit offerings are indeed hell-bent on saving our environment.
Fortunately for us denizens of the net, it’s much easier to design and build carbon-neutral electric power plants to power the World Wide Web. As opposed to privately owned cars – which for the foreseeable future at least – seems to be addicted to petroleum. But the Internet’s electricity requirement’s carbon footprint is not the only threat to our environment posed by the rapidly evolving technological infrastructure of our information-based society. Pre loved PC ‘s can also threaten our planet by being a source of plastic and toxic metals pollution. And the environmental pressure group Greenpeace has been very vocal about this over the years. But this too has solutions, companies that manufactures PC ‘s has been providing environmentally friendly recycling schemes over the past few years. Like refurbishing old computers so that they can still be used in poorer neighborhoods, which is really good when you consider the alternative like obsolete computers leaking toxic chemicals to the groundwater supply. Considering what has been achieved so far, computers are looking to be one of the greenest mass-market items ever invented – with a little help of environmental awareness of course.
By: Vanessa Uy
Environmentalists around the world could trace the roots of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in the fledging Internet circa 1995. It is the only place where the scientific validity of the existence and threat of global warming survive, despite the attempts of the GOP lead US congress attempts to cast doubts on the existence of global warming. But the information campaign to reverse the threat of global warming threatens to devolve into hypocrisy when you consider the Internet infrastructure’s overall carbon footprint. Especially when it comes to energy needs.
There had been measures to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint over the years, but none matching the variety provided by this year’s CeBit. From search engine providers use of photovoltaic power generating technologies and hydrogen fuel cells for large-scale power generation to power their mainframe servers. Also using water-cooled microprocessors to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint down to the individual user level. Water-cooled microprocessors really seems a way forward when it comes to reducing a PC ‘s power consumption since –at present – 40% of a contemporary design PC ‘s energy needs is spent on cooling the microprocessor. And since water is a more efficient cooling medium compared to moving air, this could well be a very viable solution. This year’s CeBit offerings are indeed hell-bent on saving our environment.
Fortunately for us denizens of the net, it’s much easier to design and build carbon-neutral electric power plants to power the World Wide Web. As opposed to privately owned cars – which for the foreseeable future at least – seems to be addicted to petroleum. But the Internet’s electricity requirement’s carbon footprint is not the only threat to our environment posed by the rapidly evolving technological infrastructure of our information-based society. Pre loved PC ‘s can also threaten our planet by being a source of plastic and toxic metals pollution. And the environmental pressure group Greenpeace has been very vocal about this over the years. But this too has solutions, companies that manufactures PC ‘s has been providing environmentally friendly recycling schemes over the past few years. Like refurbishing old computers so that they can still be used in poorer neighborhoods, which is really good when you consider the alternative like obsolete computers leaking toxic chemicals to the groundwater supply. Considering what has been achieved so far, computers are looking to be one of the greenest mass-market items ever invented – with a little help of environmental awareness of course.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Free Rice Dot Com: Saving the World’s Poor One Grain at a Time?
As the UN’s Top Brass still being busy formulating equitable ways to solve our current food crisis, a humble online vocabulary game has been slowly saving the lives of the world’s starving poor. Is this the model of a brilliant solution?
By: Vanessa Uy
The recent problem of the skyrocketing food prices of our staple foods has increased further the burdens of our impoverished brethren. It even resulted to widespread riots and civil unrest that caused poor nations on the brink of anarchy. As the world’s powers-that-be formulate solutions, an upstart online vocabulary improvement game has been doing its part in feeding the world’s poor.
Colloquially known as “free rice dot com” after the game site’s URL www.freerice.com, this online vocabulary improvement and tutorial game has proven its popularity to school kids across the world. In America, it not only serves as a way of improving one’s SAT scores or other vocabulary tests, but also donates 20 grains of rice to the humanitarian relief organizations currently in operation around the world every time the player gets a correct answer. Talk about being able to help others while helping yourself improve your vocabulary. Now that's what I call philanthropy.
I just hope that free rice dot com will serve as a model for online humanitarian relief sites that also entertain its users, players, and donors. World hunger should not be the intransigent (i-n-t-r-a-n-s-i-g-e-n-t) problem that it needs to be. So, what about that online game about being a UN chemical munitions inspector doing your job while evading enemy fire and shooting back at hostile troops?
By: Vanessa Uy
The recent problem of the skyrocketing food prices of our staple foods has increased further the burdens of our impoverished brethren. It even resulted to widespread riots and civil unrest that caused poor nations on the brink of anarchy. As the world’s powers-that-be formulate solutions, an upstart online vocabulary improvement game has been doing its part in feeding the world’s poor.
Colloquially known as “free rice dot com” after the game site’s URL www.freerice.com, this online vocabulary improvement and tutorial game has proven its popularity to school kids across the world. In America, it not only serves as a way of improving one’s SAT scores or other vocabulary tests, but also donates 20 grains of rice to the humanitarian relief organizations currently in operation around the world every time the player gets a correct answer. Talk about being able to help others while helping yourself improve your vocabulary. Now that's what I call philanthropy.
I just hope that free rice dot com will serve as a model for online humanitarian relief sites that also entertain its users, players, and donors. World hunger should not be the intransigent (i-n-t-r-a-n-s-i-g-e-n-t) problem that it needs to be. So, what about that online game about being a UN chemical munitions inspector doing your job while evading enemy fire and shooting back at hostile troops?
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