noose & stuffs

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Dry skies threaten U.S. corn crop as heat wave breaks

Dry skies threaten U.S. corn crop as heat wave breaks:

USA-CROPS-WEATHER-HEAT-WAVE:Dry skies threaten U.S. corn crop as heat wave breaks

Atheism and Critical Thinking

This is a web series by a UK artist and secular humanist (QualiaSoup) discussing critical thinking, science, philosophy and the natural world. He discusses the following: Makers of supernatural claims have an inescapable burden of proof. Explaining the concept, refuting common objections and giving a number of
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DARPA launches Integrated Hypersonics program; targeting full-scale test flight in 2016

DARPA launches Integrated Hypersonics program; targeting full-scale test flight in 2016:

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a new Integrated Hypersonics (IH) program, the purpose of which is to address technical challenges and improve understanding of long-range hypersonic flight through an initial full-scale baseline test of an existing hypersonic test vehicle, followed by a series of sub-scale flight tests, innovative ground-based testing, expanded modeling and simulation, and advanced analytic methods, culminating in a test flight of a full-scale hypersonic X-plane (HX) in 2016.

HX is envisioned as a recoverable next-generation configuration augmented with a rocket-based propulsion capability that will enable and reduce risk for highly maneuverable, long-range hypersonic platforms.

DARPA suggests that hypersonic technologies have the potential to provide the strategic advantage once afforded by stealth technologies—now threatened as other nations’ abilities in stealth and counter-stealth improve—to support a range of varied future national security missions.

Extreme hypersonic flight at Mach 20 (i.e., 20 times the speed of sound)—which would enable DoD to get anywhere in the world in less than one hour—is an area of research where significant scientific advancements have eluded researchers for decades. Due to programs by DARPA, the Army, and the Air Force in recent years, however, more information has been obtained about this challenging subject.

DoD’s hypersonic technology efforts have made significant advancements in our technical understanding of several critical areas including aerodynamics; aerothermal effects; and guidance, navigation and control, but additional unknowns exist.

History is rife with examples of different designs for ‘flying vehicles’ and approaches to the traditional commercial flight we all take for granted today. For an entirely new type of flight—extreme hypersonic—diverse solutions, approaches and perspectives informed by the knowledge gained from DoD’s previous efforts are critical to achieving our goals.

—Acting DARPA Director, Kaigham J. Gabriel

DARPA will host a Proposers’ Day on August 14, 2012, to detail the technical areas for which proposals are sought through an upcoming competitive broad agency announcement.

We do not yet have a complete hypersonic system solution. Programs like Integrated Hypersonics will leverage previous investments in this field and continue to reduce risk, inform development, and advance capabilities.

—Gregory Hulcher, director of Strategic Warfare, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics

The IH program expands hypersonic technology research to include five primary technical areas: thermal protection system and hot structures; aerodynamics; guidance, navigation, and control (GNC); range/instrumentation; and propulsion.

At Mach 20, vehicles flying inside the atmosphere experience intense heat exceeding 3,500 °F (1,0927 °C) as well as extreme pressure on the aeroshell. The thermal protection materials and hot structures technology area aims to advance understanding of high-temperature material characteristics to withstand both high thermal and structural loads. Another goal is to optimize structural designs and manufacturing processes to enable faster production of high-mach aeroshells.

The aerodynamics technology area focuses on future vehicle designs for different missions and addresses the effects of adding vertical and horizontal stabilizers or other control surfaces for enhanced aero-control of the vehicle. Aerodynamics seeks technology solutions to ensure the vehicle effectively manages energy to be able to glide to its destination. Desired technical advances in the GNC technology area include advances in software to enable the vehicle to make real-time, in-flight adjustments to changing parameters, such as high-altitude wind gusts, to stay on an optimal flight trajectory.

The range/instrumentation area seeks advanced technologies to embed data measurement sensors into the structure that can withstand the thermal and structural loads to provide real-time thermal and structural parameters, such as temperature, heat transfer, and how the aeroshell skin recedes due to heat. Embedding instrumentation that can provide real-time air data measurements on the vehicle during flight is also desired. Unlike subsonic aircraft that have external probes measuring air density, temperature and pressure of surrounding air, vehicles traveling Mach 20 can’t take external probe measurements. Vehicle concepts that make use of new collection and measurement assets are also being sought.

The propulsion technology area is developing a single, integrated launch vehicle designed to precisely insert a hypersonic glide vehicle into its desired trajectory, rather than adapting a booster designed for space missions. The propulsion area also addresses integrated rocket propulsion technology onboard vehicles to enable a vehicle to give itself an in-flight rocket boost to extend its glide range.

Mexico City Shoppers Swap Trash for Fresh Food

Mexico City Shoppers Swap Trash for Fresh Food:

Popular monthly barter market reduces waste while supporting local farmers.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from?

With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling Everything Bad Is Good for You and the dazzling erudition of The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air to address an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward.

Beginning with Charles Darwin's first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyper productivity of modern mega-cities and to the instant success of YouTube, Johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, What kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? His answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as Johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines.

Most exhilarating is Johnson's conclusion that with today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. Where Good Ideas Come From is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow's great ideas.

http://www.ted.com People often credit their ideas to individual "Eureka!" moments. But Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different story. His fascinating tour takes us from the "liquid networks" of London's coffee houses to Charles Darwin's long, slow hunch to today's high-velocity web. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

Understanding the Financial Crisis - very well explanation!

California high-speed rail gets green light - The Associated Press

California high-speed rail gets green light - The Associated Press:

The Associated Press

California high-speed rail gets green light
The Associated Press
By JUDY LIN, AP – 1 minute ago SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers gave the green light to start building the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line, a multibillion dollar project that will eventually link Los Angeles and San ...

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

How To Host Images On Blogger Itself

How To Host Images On Blogger Itself:

In today's tutorial I will explain how to upload images on blogger with full bandwidth and with almost all types of image formats such as png,jpg,gif.You can host your pictures,backgrounds,buttons or badgets etc on blogger (on picasa web) for lifetime.The biggerst reason to choose blogger over all image hosting sites is bandwidth,sites like TinyPic,PhotoBucket,Imgur,ImageShack and PhotoBucket have a bandwidth limit i.e. if your uploaded image has exceeded their band width limit then a ridiculous notification will appear instead of your images,So kick all of above and simply choose the blogger.Now lets see how to upload your own image on blogger and get a direct link of that image.

How To Host Images On Blogger Itself?

I am dividing this tutorial in two parts in first part we will see how to upload images to blogger and in second part we will see how to get a direct link of your uploaded images.Let's begin the first part of tutorial.

How To Upload Images To Blogger
How To Get Direct Link Of Your Uploaded Image

Part 1 : How To Upload Images To Blogger

First go to Blogger Dashboard > New Post
Click On small image icon at top toolbar of post editor

Now click on Choose File

Select a image and upload it and click on Add Selected button

Now the image will be added to your post editor

Click On Image To Enlarge

Part 2 : How To Get Direct Link Of Upload Image

In first part of tutorial you have uploaded a image to blogger now lets see how to get direct link of your uploaded images

Click on Edit HTML tab of your post editor.

Click On Image To Enlarge

Your image link will similar to above link which I have highlighted in above image (click on above image to enlarge and watch it properly)

Hope this tutorial helped you to upload an images to blogger :) For more tutorials stay connected with this blog. Thank You.....

Monday, July 2, 2012

Twitter account re-tweets public photos of peoples' debit cards

Twitter account re-tweets public photos of peoples' debit cards:

While over-sharing online typically involves annoying-but-harmless pictures of food on Instagram, it's interesting to consider whether compulsive social media use or sheer thoughtlessness is to blame for the contents of @NeedADebitCard, a Twitter account that aggregates publicly tweeted photos of peoples' debit and ATM cards. While some of the photos are blurry or cropped, many clearly display the full names and account details, and in some cases even addresses, of their owners. Several posts proudly show expired or damaged cards being cut in half, their owners presumably believing, for whatever reason, that to be sufficient in deterring thieves. The absence of the card's three-digit security code, usually located on the back, is also...
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