At http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/whats-energy-extraction-and-earthquakes

What's Up With Drilling and Earthquakes?

—By Kate Sheppard

| Tue Jul. 24, 2012 1:44 PM PDT

There has been increasing concern about the potential role of fracking in earthquakes. The worries prompted the the US Geological Survey to look into it, and scientists found that the increase in earthquakes is likely man-made, but probably caused more by wastewater disposal than fracking itself. Now, a fabulous new piece from EnergyWire looks a little more deeply at the wastewater connection.

Reporter Mike Soraghan visited Oklahoma, where state officials are taking their time investigating the connection between the industrial processes and a magnitude-5.6 quake that damaged homes and highways along the Wilzetta Fault last... ( more at http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/whats-energy-extraction-and-earthquakes )

What is a digital book?

At http://blog.pauldorset.com/2011/03/reading-books-on-iphone-what-is-digital.html

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Reading books on an iPhone - What is a digital book?

We live in a digital world. Or do we? This week I have been amazed at how many people don't understand just exactly what a digital book is. So, I thought I'd spend a little time to discuss the topic.

Back in the good old days (yesterday), the only way to get a book was by going to the bookstore and buying a physical copy. You treasured this copy and if the book was a good one it eventually became all dog-eared and well read. Then computers happened and some people decided it would be a good idea to start scanning some of the books so that you could take a look on your computer at actually what was inside them. It was sort of like going to the bookstore, except you could do it from your own home. Amazing.

Talking of which, amazing became Amazon and a new era was born. Amazon decided people didn't need to be going to actual bookstores anymore. The digital revolution was beginning. You see, in parallel to Amazon opening its doors, other people were starting to publish digitally scanned copies of books online for people to read on their computers. It wasn't a big market, but it was a market nonetheless.

And then it happened. Amazon released the Kindle - the world of book reading was about to change forever! The next year or so saw a mad rush for publishers and authors to convert all their books to a format that could be read on the Kindle. Indie authors sprung up all over the Internet. Suddenly book publishing wasn't just for the big companies. If you could get enough of a following from your fans, you too could sell a bestselling book.




But wait, the story isn't over here. Most people think that's it but actually there's a very important part of the understanding missing. You see, having a book available for the Kindle doesn't mean you actually need a Kindle to read the book! And this is why I am writing this blog post, to help others understand exactly what options are available to read a digital... ( more at http://blog.pauldorset.com/2011/03/reading-books-on-iphone-what-is-digital.html )

At http://www.oddee.com/item_98275.aspx

 

20 Great Geeky Wedding Invitations

Published on 8/2/2012 under Misc - by Jill Harness - 71,201 views
TAGS: geeky, weddings, romantic, save the dates, wedding invitations, funny, nerdy

Zombie Killers

Reddit user TheLocoYoko thinks his wedding invitations might be the most bad ass ever. I can't help but agree.

(Link)

Ewoks Bearing Rings

Melissa and Carl used Ewoks holding wedding rings on their invitations. (Link)

Star Wars Poster

Rob and Ginny's Star Wars save-the-dates by San Smith. (Link)

( more at http://www.oddee.com/item_98275.aspx )

At http://blog.zoesaadia.com/bathing-twice-a-day/

Bathing twice a day

26 June 2012

In Mesoamerica of 16th century the dilemma was simple.

Was it better to bath once a day or once a month?

The state policy of reorganized by the Spanish authorities Tenochtitlan stated that once a month was more than enough. Any more frequent visits to temazcalli – Mesoamerican traditional steam bath – was illegal and open to a government punishment of "one hundred lashes and to be bound for two hours on the marketplace". Not a pleasant experience. But then to go about stinking, sweat-covered and lice-ridden was not a much better option. Mesoamerica was not a happy place in the post-Columbian times.

 
However, only a century earlier, in pre-contact Mexico, the things were quite different. All over Mexican Valley and its surroundings, Highlands and Lowlands alike, no settlement, however small, would exist without more than a few traditional bath-houses. How could they? After all, those bath-houses combined pleasure with health. A happy combination.

The word temazcalli means just that – temaz-bath, calli-house. The old goddess Temazcalteci, the grandmother of the baths, was watching over the medicine practice in general, worshipped by healers, surgeons and midwives. With steam baths being the integral part of a healing process, the goddess's image would adore many respectable bath-houses.

Mesoamericans of all ages and sexes would enter the small, mushroom-like construction, squeezing in through a low doorway into the dark world of heat and humidity, shaking off the worries of the day, exchanging the agitation of the gushing outside life for a chance to sprawl and relax, to have a good conversation or simply to connect with one's inner self.

The bath-houses were usually built to resemble a shape of a woman's womb, so, after sweating profoundly in the unbearable heat, after scrubbing one's body with bunch of twigs or grass, the bather would emerge back into the world cleansed, at peace and as though... ( more at http://blog.zoesaadia.com/bathing-twice-a-day/ )

At http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/our-web-videos-reveal-more-we-realize-and-perhaps-more-we-want

Our Web Videos Reveal More Than We Realize, and Perhaps More Than We Want

By Jacob Ward Posted 06.29.2012 at 10:04 am

As we upload more and more videos to the Internet—one hour of new video every second to YouTube alone—experts are finding new ways to mine them. A team led by Igor Curcio of Nokia's Research Center, for example, has developed an algorithm that stitches concertgoers' cellphone footage into a single, synchronized multi-angle film. The concept is relatively simple: the audio track serves as a guide to sync up the footage, and the software chooses the best shots. Curcio has no real business model yet—photography is prohibited at most concerts—but giving people the ability to identify and coherently connect common elements in multiple videos is nonetheless a step toward something significant.

For instance, the drones that patrol the U.S.-Mexican border and the security cameras in cities already record more footage than human observers can possibly examine. If an agency could rely on a computer to track individuals, groups and events on its own, agents could use intelligence far more—well, intelligibly.

That new capability will drive the demand for even more raw data. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) agency, overseen by the U.S. director of national intelligence, has launched two projects that may help analysts use civilian video from YouTube, Vimeo and other sources. Investigators at the Finder program are studying ways to locate where and when a video was taken based solely on the image itself. That's hard enough. But researchers at IARPA's Aladdin are working on an even more challenging task: how to search for "specific events of interest." If they succeed, analysts could feed in a name, a simple text description or a few sample videos of what they seek—say, "five people wearing backpacks next to a pickup truck"—and get back any number of clips that match the query.

Beyond categories lies the greater hurdle of finding not just an event or a group of objects but a single object: a missing child, a misplaced purse, a suicide bomber in a... (more at http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/our-web-videos-reveal-more-we-realize-and-perhaps-more-we-want )

At http://mashable.com/2012/07/02/overtime-at-home/

Why You're Probably Working an Extra Two Months This Year

July 2, 2012 by Chris Taylor

Looking forward to that July 4 holiday? Of course you are. But be honest: what are the chances you're going to sneak a look at your work email at some point during the day, just in case?

A new survey from mobile security firm Good Technology confirms what we already knew — that Americans' work-life balance is going from bad to worse. The stats read like a depressingly familiar roll call of what's wrong with our hectic connected existence.

Some 68% of us check work email before 8 a.m., with half of us doing so before our heads leave the pillow. (The average check-in time of the 1,000 randomly-selected respondents: 7:09 a.m.) At the other end of the day, 69% of us can't slip into slumber unless we've checked that old work email one last time.

But perhaps the most eye-popping part of the survey is how much all that extra time adds up to. Simply by answering work-related calls and emails when we've left the office, the average respondent is working an extra seven hours a week. That adds up to 365 hours... ( more at http://mashable.com/2012/07/02/overtime-at-home/ )

The party that didn't go off with a Big Bang

At http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2168178/Stephen-Hawking-held-party-time-travellers--turned-.html

The party that didn't go off with a Big Bang: Stephen Hawking held a party for time-travellers - but no-one turned up...

By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 11:53 GMT, 3 July 2012 | UPDATED: 12:53 GMT, 3 July 2012

It is the ultimate test for time travellers - hold a party for them, but don't post the invites until after the event.

But sadly, when Stephen Hawking tried this, he was left to his own devices - for across all of time and space, his invite to literally anyone who ever will exist landed on deaf ears.

Professor Hawking offered this as 'experimental evidence that time travel is not possible' - although we secretly hope that by publicising the party's existence (held on June 28th 2009), someone in the future might retroactively decide to visit.

Scroll down for video:

Party: Stephen Hawking's attempt to welcome time travellers - perhaps the guests just thought it felt so 2009

A party to remember until the end of time: Stephen Hawking waited and waited, but no-one turned up...

According to Ars Technica, the Brief History of Time author explained: 'I have experimental evidence that time travel is not possible.

'I gave a party for time-travellers, but I didn't send out the invitations until after the party.

'I sat there a long time, but no one came.'

It is a sad, but quite intriguing, image: Professor Hawking in a room by himself, surrounded by canapes and champagne, and expectantly waiting for the door to open or some kind of Doctor Who-style TARDIS to appear in the room thanks to some timey-wimey loophole assistance.

In fact, you can see this poignant vignette for yourself, for the party was filmed and put on YouTube.

You're still welcome to come at any time: Your invite is here

Still, perhaps it was a good thing that no-one came.

For Hawking said that while Einstein's theories alllow for time travel into the past, but that 'it is likely that warping would trigger a bolt of radiation that would destroy the spaceship and maybe the space-time itself'.

SO WHY DID NO-ONE TURN UP?

It is the old... ( more at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2168178/Stephen-Hawking-held-party-time-travellers--turned-.html )

See the party here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=elah3i_WiFI