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iON | Norway Spiral



Payday

Bob Dobbs’ private session 220, 11 December 2009. Dr Carolyn Dean and Bob Dobbs ask iON about the Norway Spiral anomaly.

The Sun

A MYSTERIOUS giant spiral of light that dominated the sky over Norway this morning has stunned experts—who believe the space spectacle is an entirely new astral phenomenon.

9 December 2009— Thousands of awe-struck Norwegians bombarded the Meteorological Institute to ask what the incredible light — that could be seen in the pre-dawn sky for hundreds of miles — could possibly be.

The phenomenon has been dubbed ‘Star-Gate’ — as the world’s top scientists and the military lined up to admit they were baffled.

Theories ranging from a misfired Russian missile, meteor fireball, never-before-seen type of northern light, ‘black hole’ and even alien activity were all proposed.

Witnesses across Norway, who first glimpsed the space show at 8.45am, all described seeing a spinning ‘Catherine wheel-style’ spiral of white light, centred around a bright moon-like star.

A blue “streaming tail” appeared to anchor the spiral to earth, before the light "exploded" into a rotating ring of white fire.

The spiral spectacle — which lasted for two minutes — was seen by vast swathes of the Scandinavian country’s almost five million population, with sightings as far north as Finnmark to Trondelag in the south.

Chief Scientist Erik Tandberg, at the Norwegian Space Center, was amazed by the appearance of the spiral. He agreed with many other experts that the spiral pattern could have been caused by a missile from Russia – something the Russian military have strongly denied.

MIT Smart Sand Clones Solid Objects



National Public Radio
Robert Krulwich

The video above is movie technology, something dreamed up by a screenwriter who imagined it while sitting at a cafe somewhere, far from facts, engineers and common sense—Except it isn’t! To my astonishment, there’s a lab at MIT working on smart cubes, and to my double-astonishment, they look very much like the cubes in the movie, and triple-astonishing, what MIT’s Daniela Rus and Kyle Gilpin plan to do with their cubes is queerer and more fantastic than the movie version. Plus, they’ve already started.



You fill a bag with these little intelligent grains, and then you drop in ... oh, it could be anything—a hammer, a doll house version of a chair—and then you shake. That’s all you do ... shake.

What happens is the sand gets bumped around, and eventually the little grains get wedged up against the hammer inside. The hammer is now covered, on all sides, by sand. Here’s the beauty part: Each grain of sand that’s touching the hammer maps its little border, and when all the grains communicate, together they create a perfect silhouette of a hammer.



And then (I should say “AND THEN!” because this is so surprising) ... Kyle Gilpin thinks he can get his bits of sand to send messages to the rest of the sand in the bag—loose sand, not near the hammer. The message is: “Copy this!” And the new grains will create a perfect copy of the hammer!

So now we’ve got two hammers in blocks of sand sitting in the bag, the original and the copy, and then (no, let me say AND THEN! ... ), a command is given to “Let go!” And all of the grains that aren’t being hammers fall away, leaving two distinct hammers inside in a pile of loose sand. You can then open the bag, reach in and pull out the original hammer and a perfect, sand-built copy.

Or if you like, you can put in a little hammer, and have the smart sand give you a bigger one. When you are done with the hammer, you can drop it back in the bag and give it the ”Disassociate“ command, and it will go back to sand.

The Making of ‘Man of Steel’

PRISM



The Washington Post

US government whistleblowers have leaked details of the secret US National Security Agency (NSA) program called PRISM—after the prisms used to split light, which is used to carry information on fiber-optic cables. The program grants the government access to the servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple (more companies will be added in the future) and can collect e-mail, video and voice chat, photos, videos, stored data, video conferencing, social networking details, anything stored on the cloud—pretty much any information online.

The companies named are responding to requests for comment by flat-out denying awareness or involvement.

The top-secret program is authorized by federal judges working under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Members of Congress are defending the propgram and using Orwellian double-speak to redefine spying on Americans as protecting America.

A slide briefing analysts at the National Security Agency about the program touts its effectiveness and features the logos of the companies involved.



In the video above, reporter Barton Gellman talks about the source who revealed this top-secret information and how he believes his whistleblowing was worth whatever consequences are ahead.

Stromae | Papaoutai



Papa ou t’ai, Daddy where are you?

Thanks, Jean-Pierre Comeau.

Are YouTubers Revolutionizing Entertainment



PBS Off Book

With a new generation of viewers increasingly turning to YouTube instead of broadcast TV, a new industry is being built around personalities who have dissolved the barriers between on-screen talent and the audience, and who employ visual aesthetics that make the viewer feel as if they are a part of the creator's life. Truly, we are in a new era of entertainment, one being led by millions of young people who are equally happy to watch video on their laptop as they are on their TV.

Rob Whitworth & JT Singh | This is Shanghai



In 1980 Shanghai had no skyscrapers. It now has at least 4,000—more than twice as many as New York.

My Newest EDC Light: EagleTac D25A Mini

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write a post about a flashlight. I paid lip service to my Photon X-Light Micro and FourSevens Preon P1 flashlights in a previous post, but I didn't really say much about them. So, before I get to the EagleTac D25A Mini, I'll give a quick flashlight backstory.

The Photon X-Light Micro was the best thing I acquired in 2011. It still resides on my keychain, with the original battery alive and kicking. I use it almost every day; it's just great to have on my keychain. I have the high-tech looking clear version, which has a glow in the dark button. Max output is 4.5 lumens according to Photon, which is sufficient for my intended use cases: finding keyholes; navigating hallways at night; and reading menus in dark restaurants.


I tend to use the Photon's simple click-on, click-off mode. The click button, however, can also be manipulated to provide a variable output level and to select different beacon and SOS modes - pretty impressive for a nine dollar light. The Photon is very well made, too. The plastic case, the split ring and the keychain clip are all very tough, and they appear to be designed to withstand the daily abuse of keychain carry. I now have one of these lights on every one of my keychains.


Next up, the FourSevens flashlight. I purchased the Preon P1 for use as my daily pocket-carry light, and it works just great for that purpose. According to FourSevens, it is only 2.95 inches long and only 0.6 inches in diameter. It's pretty small, and it really disappears in the pocket.


The Preon is powered by a single AAA battery, and it has a max output of 70 lumens. It has a standard twisty head UI that can be used to select low (1.8 lumens), medium (8.5 lumens), and high (70 lumens) output modes. Flashlight geeks will appreciate that the Preon uses a Cree XP-G2 LED; and, yes, many people care about such specs. The UI can also be manipulated to access the "special" strobe, beacon, and SOS modes (which I only use when I want to be annoying or when I'm demonstrating the features to someone).

I Can See The Cree!
I love the easy-to-use twisty UI and the basic design of the Preon. My only gripe: the finish is too silky smooth, which makes it difficult to twist on and off with one hand. I wish it had some texture or knurling at the head.

The Preon P1 And Its Power Source
End of backstory. So what's up with the EagleTac D25A Mini? To be honest, I simply wanted to buy another flashlight. No big deal. I initially looked at other AAA lights, but soon decided on a AA light. I also considered the following AA lights before deciding to acquire the EagleTac: Maratac; Lumapower LM31; FourSevens Mini MA; and EagleTac D25A Clicky. I was about to order the titanium clicky version of the D25A, but then common sense and frugality took over.


The D25A is very small and compact. The EagleTac website tells me that the D25A is 3.1 inches long with a head diameter of only 0.69 inches. It's not that much larger than my Preon, and it also fits nicely into my pocket. I feel that the AA size of the D25A is a perfect compromise between utility and EDC capability.

D25A Mini (Top), Preon P1 (Bottom)
The flashlight has a solid and tough pocket clip that I'll never use for its intended purpose (mine is black versus the silver colored clip shown on the EagleTac website; what's up with that?). The D25A also came with a belt holster (that I'll never use) and a lanyard with clip (that I'll never use). The end of the D25A has a slot to accommodate the lanyard clip; this allows tailstanding when the lanyard is attached.

D25A Mini (Left), Preon P1 (Right)
The EagleTac D25A is compatible with AA sized batteries, including standard alkaline batteries, long life disposable lithium batteries, rechargeable NiMh batteries, and high voltage lithium ion batteries (which may result in blinding sunlight output and molten aluminum, which equals awesome). I'm using a regular AA cell at the moment, and it works just fine. I've read that better performance can be had with a Sanyo Eneloop battery, and I will give that a shot next. The housing is not much larger than the AA battery itself, as shown here:


Now, I supposedly ordered the latest and greatest version of the D25A, i.e., the one with the Cree XP-G2 R5 LED. According to the marketing department of EagleTac, this emitter generates 179 lumens on high, 47 lumens on medium, and 5 lumens on low. I am not an LED expert, nor do I care to become one. I only know these facts: this flashlight generates plenty of light for my EDC needs; the low mode is great for skulking around the house at night; and the color of the light is more of a natural and warm hue (in contrast to the Preon P1, which seems to be "cool white" in comparison).

Cree XP-G2 R5 LED
The light uses the same type of twisty UI as the Preon P1, so it was easy for me to learn how to use it. The D25A Mini also has some "hidden" modes for strobe, beacon, and SOS. I guess these modes could be useful in certain urban emergency scenarios (flagging down the car valet at the five-star hotel, signaling for help when your mountain bike tire goes flat on the golf cart path, indicating that you've raised the bid on that rare bottle of wine, etc.). Speaking of the twisty interface, EagleTac was kind enough to provide ample knurling on the body and head of the flashlight. The knurling, combined with the protruding pocket clip, makes it very easy to operate the twisty UI with one hand. For this reason, I'll be carrying the D25A Mini more often than the Preon P1.

Grip It & Twist It
So that's about it for the EagleTac D25A Mini. If and when I NEED another flashlight, I'll keep the EagleTac brand in mind.

iON | The Lost Symbol

Payday

Bob Dobbs’ private session 220, 11 December 2009. Dr Carolyn Dean and Bob Dobbs question iON regarding Dan Brown’s book The Lost Symbol.



Jacksons vs AEG Trial




Paris Jackson Hospitalized After Suicide Attempt

Falkor Pet Drone



Falkor Systems

“Pet Drone Pas de Deux” is a collaborative dance piece that gives people the ability to imagine what the world might be like when we all have a flying robot pet—in this case, one that tracks, follows, and films you.

In the future, humanity will develop strong relationships with their robots, relationships that could expand towards feelings beyond just collaborative friendship, approaching even love. The Falkor “Pet Drone Pas de Deux” piece asks, “When we love our robots, will it matter if they are human or not?” The conceptual demonstration uses open source computer vision technology and a common off-the-shelf toy UAV platform to fly and autonomously interact with its partner.

Sonte | Transparent to Opaque Window Film

Sonte an affordable DYI window film that connects wirelessly to a smartphone app to instantly turn any section of glass from clear to solid at the press of a button. You can even use your window as a projection screen.



Porsche Design Tower Miami



gizmag

Tenants at the ultra-luxury Porsche Design Tower Miami will be able to drive their cars onto a robotic glass elevator, ride up to their floor, and park next to their unit—without ever leaving their car.

While riding in your luxury car to your luxury apartment, you can use the 45 to 90-second ride to take in the panoramic ocean views and watch the in-elevator TV.

Units range from 4,200 to 17,000 square feet and cost between $4.5 million and $25 million. Over 50 percent of apartments are already under contract.


Cohen Van Balen | 75 WATT



Cohen Van Balen

“A labourer over the course of an 8-hour day can sustain an average output of about 75 watts” ~Marks’ Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers

Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen designed a product to be made in China. The object’s only function is to choreograph a dance performed by the laborers manufacturing it.

Internet Archive | Free Universal Access To All Knowledge



Deepspeed media

Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and his colleagues Robert Miller, director of books, and Alexis Rossi, director of web collections are on a mission to create universal access to all knowledge. The Internet Archive’s staff have built the world’s largest online library, offering 10 petabytes of archived websites, books, movies, music, and television broadcasts.

William Betts | CCTV Paintings



The Creators Project

William Betts uses CCTV stills, traffic cams, and photographs as the sources for his paintings which look like low-res, pixelated digital images. The paintings even include details like the time and date stamp you get on CCTV footage in a nod to a world in which we're constantly being captured by watchful, mechanical eyes.
 

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