Physicist Steven Cowley is certain that nuclear fusion is the only truly sustainable solution to the fuel crisis. In ths video, he explains why fusion will work — and details the projects that he and many others have devoted their lives to, working against the clock to create a new source of energy.

btw: Happy New Year everybody!

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When will we achieve nuclear fusion at an acceptable price point?

“Philip Zeyliger comes to Cloudera from Google, where he worked on scalable storage for user-facing applications. Before that, he worked in finance, at D.E. Shaw. Philip holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard University.”

Sounds pretty impressive, no? Checkout the space the other guys got. Oy vey!

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When a Harvard Math degree barely cuts it

Case in point: I drive a Mercedes (previously a Porsche), and while they were both bought and paid for with cash, I’ve never used them to try to impress anybody. Truth is, they’re just awesome cars ’cause they’re both examples of great engineering, they’re fun, and they just work! At the same time, I walk around in flip flops every chance I get, so you’d never know I owned them once I was 10 ft. away from the car!

When I have something to say, it’s usually on some IT-related topic; matter of fact, I can spend hours with anybody talking about computers, etc.

Point is: I learned a long time ago to not make assumptions based on first impressions. The best experiences I’ve had with others is when I’m pleasantly surprised with their background or depth of knowledge on a given topic – no matter what it is.

Do you love your job? What can you talk about all day?

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Getting past first impressions

With 34 year old Vivek Kundra in place now as Pres. Obama’s CIO, isn’t life grand? – for him and us!

* UPDATE 3/17/09: White House CIO On Leave Amid Scandal At D.C. Technology Office – Acting CSO, technology consultant for D.C. technology office also are arrested on charges of theft and corruption.

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Under new government CIO, M$’s days are really numbered now

Today I’m just gonna add on to that discussion with a quick reference to Facebook, where users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people.

After 13K+ saves to Delicious.com – the granddaddy of web2.0 sites IMO – I can honestly say the whole movement is a load of crap for the little guy, and just works out for advertisers and the few that do make it big – which I honestly do admire.

All of these services feed off of hype. A hype cycle is a way of describing the various stages of public response to certain digital technologies.

There are five phases in a hype cycle:

1. Technology Trigger. This is when the technology is first ballyhooed by the media. It could happen at the moment of breakthrough or via an orchestrated product launch.
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations. There is a widespread explosion of publicity that leads to giddiness and overexpectations.
3. Trough of Disillusionment. The technology doesn’t live up to expectations and amid the disappointment, it falls out of favor.
4. Slope of Enlightenment. This is the period during which the true worth, and best use, of the technology is explored.
5. Plateau of Productivity. The technology finds its form. Its benefits are widely recognized. It becomes more reliable and finds an audience — maybe huge; maybe small.

The trick is figuring out whether all your time being spent in front of the computer monitor – like I’m doing right now typing this – is worth what you’re getting out of it. Sure, I can speak exotic languages nobody else I (personally) know can, but big deal – it sure ain’t paying the bills!

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Hype cycles cause e-fatigue

So it’s oddly funny to hear this dude predict that “normal people” will use twitter in five years – in his dreams maybe. Nothing will get me to text message every little nook and cranny of my life on a little handheld device all day.

Text Messages? Sounds expensive.

How much will Twitter cost me?

Twitter says they charge you nothing, but how much it costs to use Twitter with text messaging is another story – that depends on your text messaging plan. They just say, “Standard text messaging rates (such as international text messaging fees) do apply. Consult your service provider to ensure that your text plan covers your Twitter usage.” Geez, this guy must work for AT&T or something!

Well there you go, why would I want to run up my phone bill just for that, when I can do the same thing in a blog for free?

Of course, the advertisers love it, and that’s where the revenue stream will be coming from as usual, but that’s got nothing to do with me – especially since I don’t see ads anyway!

Now, if tomorrow’s technology mind-melds my thoughts to the ‘net via osmosis, then he may have something there, but until then, I’ve already wore out one set of fingers on Mattel’s Classic Football back in 7th grade and then Atari, so I’ll pass on text-messaging all day – Twitter or not.

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My parrot never tweeted, why would I?

‘Our goal is to be one of the most mobile communities in America, and this is a significant step in that direction,’ said Nicholson.

The system to provide an added level of monitoring and protection for its force is part of a broadband mesh network comprised of more than 490 wireless nodes and gateways connected to 120 miles of fiber backbone that will provide coverage for approximately 30 square miles of the city.

The network will provide field communications for city services including police, fire and emergency, parks and recreation, public works and energy, but will also be used to provide free wireless internet access for all residents of the city. “The testing of this network showed that it was robust enough to handle not only municipal traffic, but also citizens’ traffic. So the Ponca City Board of Commissioners voted to allow the extra internet access to be given to the citizens of Ponca City for free.” said Mayor Homer Nicholson.

The second phase of the project will expand the network and wireless coverage to more than 430 square miles surrounding the city with an estimated annual cost savings of over $1 million for city residents, who can discontinue their existing internet service. [src]

That’s an incredible press release. Hopefully this’ll happen all across the country sooner rather than later. That way, among other benefits, corrupt police officers will be recorded in the act. Bad that they even do it, but good that they’ll hopefully get convicted from this technology!

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Are You In One Of The Most Mobile Communities In America?

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Google Archive Releases Millions Of LIFE Photos

Put another way: the same transfer would take 13.9 minutes with the current protocol or 9.3 hours with old-school USB 1.0!

Now that’s progress!

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This Ain’t Your Granddad’s USB!