Netizen

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Ceres

Watch NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Buzz Dwarf Planet Ceres in the Asteroid Belt

Ceres accounts for 25% of the mass of the asteroid belt, and unlike most of its irregularly shaped neighbors, it is massive enough to be nearly spherical like a moon or planet. ..... Models of the dwarf planet’s interior suggest its mantle may consist of a slurry of water and dirt that contains more fresh water than Earth. .... early images from the Dawn mission showed mysterious bright spots on the surface .... highly reflective patches of surface ice are one possibility. ...... Discovering water on Ceres would have implications for space exploration. Water is a potential source of hydration, breathable air, and rocket fuel, and will therefore prove a precious resource for space wanderers. .... Ceres would make a good extraterrestrial outpost. Its low gravity makes landing and taking off less energy intensive, and resources on the surface could resupply missions—perhaps even trips to the outer solar system.

From 3 Gigawatts To 100

as the Indian government targets a massive expansion in the country’s solar output from some 3 gigawatts today to 100 gigawatts by 2022...... “India can become probably the largest country for solar energy” ..... “India has two times the sunshine of Japan. The cost of construction of the solar park is half of Japan. Twice the sunshine, half the cost, that means four times the efficiency” ..... India is one of the world’s largest carbon polluters; coal dominates the country’s energy mix

SoftBank in tie-up for $20 billion in Indian solar projects

SBG Cleantech will be a harbinger of solar and wind energy. Following the Indian Prime Minister's 100GW solar and 60GW wind target by 2022, the venture will invest in and develop renewable energy plants across India.

The Real Drug Problem

Substance abuse is the symptom. The real problem is the world lags way behind on mental health issues.

If medical care is hard to come by in much of the world — in rural Indiana as well as rural India — mental health care is often impossible to get. In the United States, at least half of major depression goes untreated, and in very poor countries the figure is close to 100 percent.

The war on drugs should be a war on depression.

Monday, June 22, 2015

News Lab By Google

Final Cut Pro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Better video editing tools on YouTube would go a long way.

News Lab

How to Edit Video on YouTube

there are now more than 1 billion smartphones in the world, and YouTube video views surpassed 1 trillion in 2011. Basically, the world has video fever. .... The YouTube editor is rudimentary, even when compared with simple video editing programs like Movie Maker and iMovie. Let's not even talk about how it stacks up to Final Cut Pro — it doesn't. .... The only way to edit the length of your videos is by trimming from the beginning or end. Unlike most video editing programs, YouTube does not let you split and cut parts out from the middle of the video. ...... Also, be aware that the trimming process isn't always smooth. While you're adjusting the slider on the timeline to trim a video, the video constantly reloads on the display. The best way to trim a video is to pre-decide the exact startpoint and endpoint, rather than trying to eyeball it while dragging the trim bar. ..... Thinking About Adding a Soundtrack? Proceed With Caution ...... Another shortcoming is that you can't trim the audio clips at all. If a song is longer than your video, the song will simply end awkwardly at the point where the video ends. ...... The secret to great YouTube videos, if there is one, is to start out with solid footage. As with anything, post-production techniques generally won't yield any miracles.

Being able to tap into what words and phrases people are putting into that Google Search box I would think would be the number one help item. If you can zero in by geography, and by timeframe, that would be a big help. By country, by city, district. What were people searching for today, this past week, and so on. This past year.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

The Innovative Lifestyle Is Not Easy To Put Your Finger On

Can one work in a giant lizard tank while doing acute, innovative work that serves the world outside the glass? Every family leader wants to build a generous homestead, but imaginative life is more often at home in walkups, in the messy parts of town.

A Bizarre Blog Post By Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz does not have a hometown advantage with me. But once in a while I will drop by his blog to see what he has been up to recently, like I just did. And I think I just read the most bizarre blog post ever at his blog. What has venture capitalism come to?

There was a phase in my childhood when I used to fantasize about having curly hair. I thought it was just so cool. One of my post Spring Break jokes at college was to rib my white friends, "You getting there! You getting there!" It took me the longest time to see any kind of racial connotation between chicken and watermelons and the black identity. I still don't see the connection. I just so happen to be a huge fan of watermelons. If you grew up in the south of Nepal like I did where summers are hot enough for a siesta culture, you would also take watermelons at face value. They are a treat. They are better than any summer drink I ever had. Talking of siestas, Brad Feld has a most delightful blog post on that.

For the first time I am thinking those who think the VC firm A16Z has raised too much money might be right. They are now investing in bizarre territory. And here's some historical context.

The watermelon is no mango, the king of all fruits, but it sits right up there in the royal court. That has always been my opinion, and I am not changing it. Anything wrong you hear about watermelons has been planted in your brain by the fast buck fast food industry.

Also, how about this for a contemporary context? And to think, I have put out as many blog posts about The Tramp, as I have about Hillary!