Posts Tagged ‘x57s’

Choke-Proof Food That Tastes Like the Real Thing

January 8, 2018

Choke-Proof Food That Tastes Like the Real Thing
https://www.theAtlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/choke-proof-food/546572/ QT: “The most intriguing product…may be #engay food. Engay is Japanese for swallowing, something that can become…difficult as people age: More Japanese now die…from choking than…traffic accidents.”

QT:{{”
“The most intriguing product, though, may be engay food. Engay is Japanese for “swallowing,” something that can become increasingly difficult as people age: More Japanese now die each year from choking than in traffic accidents.

Instead of settling for, say, a cup of Ensure-brand pudding, throw some cooked salmon in a blender. Then, with a little help from modern chemistry, mold the resulting pink puree back into the shape of a fillet, and add “grill” marks with a propane torch. Presto: salmon that looks like it was plated in a restaurant and almost tastes that way, minus the flaky texture.”
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18 Exponential Changes We Can Expect in the Year Ahead – MIT Technology Review

January 8, 2018

18 exponential changes we can expect in the year ahead
https://www.TechnologyReview.com/s/609868/18-exponential-changes-we-can-expect-in-the-year-ahead/ Might be the year of the #Buddha. Quote: “Buddha’s relevance will be driven by a greater awareness of mindfulness & contemplation in our dopamine economy.”

What Amazon Alexa pays the people building its skills

January 8, 2018

What $AMZN Alexa pays the people building its skills
https://www.CNet.com/news/amazon-alexa-economy-echo-speaker-google-assistant-siri Strange “pseudo-compensation” to encourage app development.
Market-based or at the whims of the central planner?

QT:{{”
“Wilson unexpectedly joined a new Alexa economy, a small but fast-growing network of independent developers, marketing companies and Alexa tools makers. They’re working to bring you voice-activated flash briefings, games and recipes through Amazon’s Echo speaker, Alexa’s primary home. By doing so, they hope to define the 3-year-old Alexa platform and make money from voice computing’s surging popularity.”
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Limits of Amazon..

January 3, 2018

Even Amazon, a Colossus, Has Its Limits, by @mims
https://www.WSJ.com/articles/the-limits-of-amazon-1514808002 Quote: “Imagine the data-collecting power of $FB wedded to the supply-chain empire of $WMT — that’s $AMZN.” But I thought Wal-mart was pretty good at data collection & analytics!

QT:{{”
All of these moves fit into Amazon’s core mission as a data-driven instant- gratification company. Its fanaticism for customer experience is enabled by every technology the company can get its hands on, from data centers to drones. Imagine the data-collecting power of Facebook wedded to the supply-chain empire of Wal-Mart—that’s Amazon. “}}

Estonia, the Digital Republic

January 3, 2018

#Estonia, the Digital Republic
https://www.NewYorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/estonia-the-digital-republic Great description of an advanced nation built on a public rather than private computing infrastructure (X-road). Systems built on a national ID card. Laws & tech explicitly protect personal info even from a casual glance.

QT:{{”
““Let me show you how,” Beljuskina said, and led me into a room filled with medical equipment and a computer in the corner. She logged on with her own I.D. If she were to glance at any patient’s data, she explained, the access would be tagged to her name, and she would get a call inquiring why it was necessary.

“Instead of setting up prisoner transport to trial—fraught with security risks—Estonian courts can teleconference defendants into the courtroom from prison.”


Lift99, which houses thirty-two companies and five freelancers, had industrial windows, with a two-floor open-plan workspace. Both levels also included smaller rooms named for techies who had done business with Estonia. There was a Zennström Room, after Niklas Zennström, the Swedish entrepreneur who co-founded Skype, in Tallinn. There was a Horowitz Room, for the venture capitalist Ben Horowitz,”

“In what may have been the seminal insight of twenty-first-century Estonia, Martens realized that whoever offered the most ubiquitous and secure platform would run the country’s digital future—and that it should be an elected leadership, not profit-seeking Big Tech. …
“Kaevats told me it irked him that so many Westerners saw his country as a tech haven. He thought they were missing the point. “This enthusiasm and optimism around technology is like a value of its own,” he complained. “This gadgetry that I’ve been ranting about? This is not important.” He threw up his hands, scattering ash. “It’s about the mind-set. It’s about the culture. It’s about the human relations—what it enables us to do.””
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A Robot That Has Fun at Telemarketers’ Expense

January 3, 2018

QT:{{”

After being harassed by spam calls, a telephone geek took matters into his own hands and devised a way to keep the person on the other end of the line engaged endlessly…..

“The idea is to keep the telemarketer on the call for as long as possible. The longer the conversation goes on, the more eccentric the robot becomes. In one sequence, the robot tells the telemarketer that a bee landed on his arm, and asks the telemarketer to keep talking as he focuses on the bee.

After seeing that the service worked, Mr. Anderson made it freely available to anyone; it works with landlines (with conference call or three-way calling service) and cellphones. To send telemarketing calls to the robot, add the phone number 214-666-4321 to your address book. Then, the next time you get a call from a telemarketer, patch the number in, merge the calls and put your phone on mute while the robot does the talking.”
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A Robot That Has Fun at #Telemarketers’ Expense
https://www.NYTimes.com/2016/02/25/fashion/a-robot-that-has-fun-at-telemarketers-expense.html Quote: “The idea is to keep them on…as long as possible….The next time you get a call from a telemarketer, patch…in” 214-666-4321 & merge calls

The Serial-Killer Detector | The New Yorker

December 9, 2017

The Serial-Killer Detector
https://www.NewYorker.com/magazine/2017/11/27/the-serial-killer-detector Journalist finds subtle yet predictive crime patterns with the computer. Wonder if #DeepLearning would be helpful here? Probably not // #CrimeMap

Qt:{{‘
A former journalist, equipped with an algorithm and the largest collection of murder records in the country, finds patterns in crime. “}}

How the Ferry Is Changing the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront – NYTimes.com

December 3, 2017

Interesting reading. Noted the: Durst’s, Spitzer’s, Ferries, Red Hook
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/realestate/how-the-ferry-is-changing-the-brooklyn-queens-waterfront.html

What Does Tesla’s Automated Truck Mean for Truckers? | WIRED

December 3, 2017

What Does @Tesla’s Automated #Truck Mean for Truckers?
https://www.Wired.com/story/what-does-teslas-truck-mean-for-truckers/ What does it mean for drivers?! I guess: much safer highways & fewer tailgated & terrorized motorists!

Mapping air pollution with new mobile sensors

December 3, 2017

Mapping #AirPollution with new mobile sensors
https://www.EDF.org/airqualitymaps Quote: “Any business that relies on heavy-duty diesel trucks can pose a health risk to its neighbors.”

QT:{{”
“This is one of several spots that caught our interest: High levels of pollutants in an area that includes homes, and this playground, close to industrial warehouses. Any business that relies on heavy-duty diesel trucks can pose a health risk to its neighbors.”
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