Monday, February 23, 2004

Climate Wars

"Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world."

"Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival rather than religion, ideology or national honour."

"Access to water becomes a major battleground."

It's a real dystopia! It sounds pretty much a la Nostradamus and I suspect that the reason for this report is the fact that the Pentagon has to justify its enormous budget.

Link
Source: Guardian
See also:
Key findings of the Pentagon

The Retro Future
What did they promise us? Leisure 24/7, living underwater, flying cars, Moon odysseys, rocket mail, perpetual sunlight, vinyl pleasures, sex in space...Where are they now?
Link

Sunday, February 22, 2004

Nano companies map

Where are the nanotechnology companies situated? America is the leading country and the nanotechnological Mecca is California - 89 companies. In Europe Germany has strong positions with its industrial and chemical advance. Asia has to catch the leader and Europe.

Link
Source: Nanovip.com
See also:
Nanotechnology - Wikipedia

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

The Future of Outsourcing

"The growth of white-collar jobs in developing nations is essential to global peace and prosperity."

"Moving to India is not a luxury. It is a necessity"

"UPS's new supply-chain arm lets companies outsource everything from cell-phone repairs to customer call centers."

"In the upcoming years, expect India to continue its move up the food chain and take on some of the more complex outsourced tasks while more back-office jobs move to rock-bottom wage countries such as Vietnam and Uruguay."

"Moving manufacturing offshore, long a strategy of large multinational companies, is being adopted by more smaller businesses. But there are some key differences."

"Globalization is good at increasing the productive capacity of the world, but to make sure there are enough jobs for everybody, you need demand to keep pace with that increase in supply."

"Change is the only constant."

"What comes after services? Creativity."

Link
Source: Wired
See also:
Wikipedia - outsourcing
Models of Offshore Outsourcing
The Dark Side of the Outsourcing Revolution
The Hidden Costs of IT Outsourcing
How outsourcing will save the world
Moving to India is a necessity
The Rise Of India
Our Own Damned Fault
Surprise Package
UPS' latest breakthrough technology
Brains For Sale
Outsourcing To India Vs. China
How Offshore Producers Are Helping Small Firms
Outsourcing Your Work Is Harder Than It Seems

Sunday, February 15, 2004

Saturday, February 14, 2004

New Google Zeitgeist

Popular Queries: mars, nasa, iraq, howard dean, mad cow, spirit rover, ipod, south beach diet, michael jackson, chinese new year.

Link
See also:
Yahoo Buzz

Thursday, February 12, 2004

O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference

It's a conference time...in San Diego...What is the state of the Emerging Technologies and Digital Democracy?

Link
See also:
SuperNova 2004

Monday, February 09, 2004

A NEW KIND OF SCIENCE

Stephen Wolfram's book A NEW KIND OF SCIENCE is now available online.

"The online version of the book is intended to supplement the printed book with features that can be achieved only online: visual and textual browsing, navigation through the book's nearly 15,000 index entries, and full-text searching. Each page of the original book has been enhanced with links to related technical notes, downloadable programs, and other elements.

"Wolfram uses his approach to tackle a remarkable array of fundamental problems in science, from the origins of apparent randomness in physical systems, to the development of complexity in biology, the ultimate scope and limitations of mathematics, the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, the interplay between free will and determinism, and the character of intelligence in the universe."

Link
See also:
Reflections on Stephen Wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science' by Ray Kurzweil
God, Stephen Wolfram, and Everything Else
The Man Who Cracked The Code to Everything
Stephen Wolfram
A New Kind of Science
Cellular automata