Rethinking Everything with LG at Maker Faire New York

From Makezine:

One particular exhibit that really caught my eye this year was LG. Nestled between the many large white “event tents” that house most exhibitors was the LG Rethink Everything booth. Their entire area was built and decorated with repurposed pallets — from the structure itself, to the tables and all of the plant holders. Not only was it visually refreshing, I picked up a couple of ideas that I may have to implement the next time I see a stack of pallets going to waste.

Once you stepped inside, you could clearly see that LG gets the maker mentality. Sure, they want to show off their products, but they didn’t just haul in their appliances and talk about how great they are. They literally ripped parts from them and let makers build things with these parts. You could create characters to race on washing machine motors, and make little decorative light and sound boards with LG displays. People were learning to solder and having fun. To top it all off, they had a cool little printer so you could take a picture of your racing creation and take a print with you, like an old Polaroid.

Great job LG, You rocked this year. We can’t wait to see you next year, and we know we’re not the only ones.

racing hand made monsters on a repurposed LG motor

 

http://makezine.com/2014/09/29/rethinking-everything-with-lg-at-maker-faire-new-york/

Free Software for Making

From Makezine:

In today’s post, we share software applications and suites for every maker and maker-to-be. Some of these products are simple to use, while others are far more advanced. For applications that are less intuitive, be sure to seek out tutorials, by both developers and user communities.
Remember to protect your computer. It’s always a good idea to have up-to-date virus software. If downloading from an unknown source, consider typing the application into a search engine to check if other users have raised red flags.

---

3D DESIGN

123D by Autodesk isn’t one software app – it’s eight. (Six of them are pictured, above.) Create 3D models for printing, prepare files for laser cutting or CNC routing, transform your digital camera into a 3D scanner, or make a wild creature (with 123D Creature app for iPad, right). You can even export files from Tinkercad into Minecraft!

Good for: Beginners designing for the physical world (3D printing, laser cutting, CNC cutting, circuit boards)
Most similar to: CAD programs
Works on: varies by app, Windows, Mac OSX and iOS, online

SketchUp is great for building 3D objects, but also entire environments. You may accidentally “pull” the wrong surfaces at first, but watch a few tutorials and you’ll be mocking up your dream makerspace in no time, with furnishings found in SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse, the world’s biggest repository of free 3D models. Like many software programs, memorizing a few keyboard shortcuts will save lots of time.

Good for: Beginners through professionals, as SketchUp has a Pro paid version
Most similar to: CAD programs
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX

Easel is a software environment designed to be as easy to use as Powerpoint. It has two panels: on the left you design, and in the right you can preview what your final design might look once produced.

Good for: Beginners designing for production at a remote fabricator
Most similar to: Drawing programs
Works on: Online

---

2D DESIGN

Inkscape is a free, open-source application with a great tagline: draw freely. Inkscape can be used for illustrating, and is especially useful when you need vector graphics, such as for laser cutting or scaling drawings without the loss of resolution. If you haven’t used Illustrator before, start with the tutorials. You’ll be drawing in no time.

Good for: Drawing, creating vector graphics for laser cutters and plotters
Most similar to: Adobe Illustrator
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux

GIMP has an odd name (it stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program”), but many find it indispensable when it comes to photo retouching and image manipulation. It’s not the most intuitive or pretty of software programs, but it’s powerful. Even if you don’t use all of its extensive functionality, Gimp comes in handy for opening and converting files you couldn’t open (ps, psd, tiff) into more friendly files (bmp, gif, jpeg, pdf, png). If you haven’t used Photoshop before, the tutorials will help you make sense of it all.

Good for: Transforming photographs
Most similar to: Adobe Photoshop
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux

---

PROGRAMMING

Scratch & Scratch Jr. may look like they’re just for kids, but we’ve seen plenty of adults delight in this visual programming language. Instead of using text-based commands, Scratch uses blocks than users can drag and snap together. With Scratch, use either the online editor or download for offline use. Create on screen games, animations, and interactive stories, or even connect to the physical world with the addition of a MaKey MaKey or Pico Board. The Scratch community is millions strong and supports a rich supply of help resources.

Good for: Learning to program, making simple games, enhancing the MaKey MaKey
Works on: Online, Windows, Mac OSX, Linux (Scratch), iPad (Scratch Jr.)

Arduino IDE (integrated development environment) is an accessible, open source programming language that tells your Arduino (or clone) microcontroller how to sense, think, and act. New users are often surprised at the number of example sketches out there, including dozens that come with the software under file>examples. Although there are extensive resources, tutorials, and books by the likes of Arduino and Make:, users often start learning by looking at complete sketches and playing with variables.

Good for: Programming Arduino microcontrollers
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux

If you’re a bit more advanced, Processing is a versatile language, and Makers working in sound or video speak highly Pure Data, a visual programming application.
Want more? EdSurge created a comprehensive list of programming applications, along with learning resources, here.

---

WEB & APP DESIGN

Most folks know about WordPress for authoring websites, but educators and beginning makers are often delighted to discover Mozilla Foundation’s Webmaker tools. These tools are a great way to learn how to create the web and app resources you use everyday like web pages, interactive videos, and mobile apps. The in-browser tool X-Ray Goggles may tickle your web newbies’ funny bones!

Good for: Taking control of the web
Works on: Online

MIT App Inventor lets makers do just that: design their own apps. This cloud-based application also has a phone emulator, allowing makers to create apps even without the hardware.

Good for: Apps, from games to citizen science
Works on: Online

---

VIDEO

If you have a computer, you probably already have Windows’ Movie Maker or Mac OSX’s iMovie. But sometimes you may need a little something more.
Can’t open that file? VLC Player is a lifesaver when it comes to playing unusual file formats. It has basic edit functions as well.

Good for: Opening media files
Works on: Nearly everything! Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Ubuntu, Android, iOS…

Or perhaps you want to do something a bit different. Stop motion animation is all the rage, and HUE by iCreate to Educate is one of the leading applications for use in education. That said, HUE Animation isn’t free, so if you’re looking for free, Jelly Cam includes the essential functions, like onion skin, file importing, and the ability to add sound.

Good for: Creating stop motion animations for fun and/or education
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX

---

AUDIO

Audacity is many makers’ go-to for free audio software. Check out Audacity’s Wiki for tips, and check out Make’s project ideas Auditory Illusions and Found Sound.

Good for: Recording and editing sound, podcasts, music, and foley
Most similar to: Pro Tools
Works on: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux

---

EVERYTHING ELSE

If your software technology needs aren’t listed above, check resources like Download by CNET and the Free Software Foundation, along with blogs like EdSurge, Free Tech for Teachers, Free Technology for Teachers, and eLearning Industry. There are many, many free applications out there. Use caution, then enjoy the free bounty!

---

DISCOUNTS

If you plan on purchasing software, don’t forget to check for educational discounts! Established software companies like Autodesk and Adobe offer significant discounts to educational organizations – all the way up to 100%.

http://makezine.com/2014/09/26/finding-starter-projects-free-software-for-making/

The Problem In One Picture: Monetary Stimulus In an Unreformed Economic System

From Jesse's Cafe:

Trickle down stimulus doesn't work to activate aggregate demand and encourage real economic growth because the largely unreformed economic system continues to divert the bulk of the stimulus and growth to the top.

Whatever is put in to this great economic machine, whether it be labor, materials, or monetary stimulus, the best and the most of what comes out is skimmed to the top. This is not a bug or fault, it is a 'feature.'

This is like sending aid to a Third World nation, where the warlords take the aid for themselves, and allow only a very small portion of it to reach the people. They take the stimulus and leave the debts.

And then there are the enablers, the professional class. They must support any regime for it to last. The Fed knows. Most academics know. Big media knows. Politicians know. It takes a pliant mind to ignore it, and a devious mind to rationalize it away. On one hand their brilliance justifies their rewards and positions.

But on the other hand, when something goes wrong, they don't know nothin' 'bout nothin', and had nothing to do with any of it. There are lots of fabulously paid CEO's of the public trust, who in reality do nothing and know nothing, except on paydays when they know they are worth a lot.

These latest ubermench are members of the 'winning class.' And those others, those losers, are obviously lazy, and stupid, and not favoured by the god of fortune.

Why should they do anything about it, even for the sake of their own conscience? Am I my brother's keeper? And the bribes are very good, very Darwinian. And the positions very piously taken, with pride.

Why consider the parable of the talents, when we would be as gods? We will write our own bible, our own parables. And we will believe them.

So they are sitting back and waiting for the little people to do something about it first, to take all the risks, again. Whether in war or peace, their cleverness and birthright prevails. Only the little people suffer and bleed. We are as wolves, and they are as sheep. And justice is ours, to do with as we will.

Winning.

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.

Source: The most important chart about the American economy you'll see this year

 

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/the-problem-in-one-picture-monetary.html

“For the Son of Man will come like the lightning, which flashes with a great light from one end of the sky to the other. But first he must suffer and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, and drinking, marrying and being given away in marriage, up to the very moment that Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came, and swept them all away."  
Luke 17:24-27

7 Cornerstones of Making with Kids

I'd like to run a program along this line down the road.

From Makezine:

Toronto-based MakerKids is one of the world’s only makerspaces specifically designed for kids, and many people have asked us to share our recipe. We think of it as a brunch — there are many ways to make it delicious. Take the pieces of our recipe that work for you and make it your own. We’re also available to help with this — we envision a future where there are MakerKids chapters all over the world.

The MakerKids Recipe

1. Dedicated Space

2. Real Tools: We have the same real tools that any adult makerspace would have.

3. Process Over Product: Value experiential learning. We celebrate the fact that they’re making, not just what they make. The point is not to take home some shiny object that they’ve made. We emphasize that it’s okay to fail — it’s just an opportunity to learn.

A major part of making is researching how to accomplish goals. Instead of telling kids step-by-step instructions, we encourage them to figure out how to do it themselves, ask other kids, or research it online. We frequently answer the question “How do I do this?” with “Google will tell you!”

4. Interest-Driven: We try to let kids’ creative interests define projects as much as possible.

Recently, a group of kids were very interested in vehicles, so they designed and built a hovercraft. They learned a lot of skills as they went along: 3D printing (for the lift turbine), motors, Arduino programming, and more. When it failed to get off the ground on the first try, they got right to work reinventing the skirt to reduce weight and optimizing the turbine airflow.
Every activity we do, no matter how short, we incorporate something creative, something open-ended. Let them make it their own!

5. Kids Teaching: We encourage kids to share their knowledge with each other and with their teachers.

6. Exhibition: Each program has a presentation to the parents, which kids get really excited about. It helps them to organize their thoughts, knowing that at the end of their project, they’ll have to explain it to someone else. Having a deadline also helps them focus and move forward.

7. Community: We connect to the Toronto community and the global maker community through events like Maker Faire, local community festivals, school fun fairs, participation in online discussions, and interfacing with folks from other maker companies.
 http://makezine.com/magazine/make-40/makerkids/

FBI Blasts Apple, Google Phone Encryption: It "Allows People To Be Beyond The Law""

From Zero Hedge:

FBI director James Comey, who used to be the head prosecutor in NYC the most corrupt office in the system, had come out swinging at Apple and Google for developing forms of smartphone encryption so secure that law enforcement officials cannot easily gain access to information stored on the devices – even when they have valid search warrants. Of course, Mr Comey can only see the abuse of power of government as necessary and not the severe damage that has been done to the entire industry because of the abuse of the NSA and others. He said he could not understand why companies would “market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.” Perhaps he should not work for government and then he might get it.
Largely because of the abuse of government, which is by itself beyond the law that he cannot grasp, this is not a question of only criminals. This is a matter of personal privacy that a government if FREE – has not right to violate. This is not all about him. This is what those in government cannot see. There is a real world out here with a right to LIBERTY, FREEDOM FOR ALL, and the right to PRIVACY...

The kings men also viewed their power as necessary as Comey does today. They could simply enter someone’s home and search all your papers. If you wrote anything derogatory against the king, off you went to prison. This is what inspired the American Revolution and the Fourth Amendment that there had to be a reason to search not just arbitrary desire to want to know and lets see what we can find as the NSA and FBI do today. This is the very essence of LIBERTY. You cannot pretend to be the leader of the free world with people like Comey in government.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-27/fbi-blasts-apple-google-phone-encryption-it-allows-people-be-beyond-law

Thursday Humor: iFold

From Zero Hedge:

We suspect Samsung just won the internet with this...



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-25/thursday-humor-ifold

Nomi Prins: Why Is the US So Interested In the Ukraine and Syria

From Jesse's Cafe:

"Why do we care about the Ukraine? We care about Ukraine because it’s a gateway to oil. It’s a gateway to Eastern Europe. It’s a gateway to control a situation politically, but also for our banking system to get involved from a financial perspective...

Nobody really wants to have a third world war. That’s expensive and deadly, but this fighting over financial and political gain is really continuing to crescendo. It is crescendoing because there is so much money on the table and because the economies involved, ours, China’s, Russia’s, are really all weaker than any government wants to admit on the surface.”

Nomi Prins, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine-Financial Gateways


"War is madness. Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction. In today's world, behind the scenes, there are interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for money and power, and there is the manufacture and sale of arms. And these have engraved on their hearts, 'what does it matter to me?'.”

Francis I, Memorial of the Hundred Thousand at Redipuglia, 13 September 2014
What does it matter to me? Am I my brother's keeper? This is the mark of Cain.

In this interview below Nomi Prins is suggesting that under the guise of humanitarianism and freedom, the Anglo-Americans are pursuing an age old colonialism with a modern financial twist. And that pursuit is manifesting in 'gateways' or friction points where its expansion meets some countervailing force.

The notion of taking and controlling 'gateways' is interesting. These could be seen as the current areas of action in the ongoing currency wars, which are merely exercises in financial power. The geographic importance of the gateways reminds one of strategic points of control based on topography and supply lines in the last century.

Now we have the flow of money and debt to consider as well as the ability to set prices and value.

If a fiat currency becomes like a Ponzi scheme, without growth underpinned by organic economic activity, it must continually expand or endure the risk of collapse. The ability to enforce a valuation becomes paramount.

The reason that the US dollar has become a Ponzi scheme is because of the utterly artificial and unsustainable recovery that has been created. Inequality of opportunity, wealth and justice is the hallmark of aristocracy, oligarchy, and all the empires of the past in which a narrow group of people skew the economic performance of the economy for their own benefit.

The choice has apparently been made to engage the world in financialisation, which has had its way with many of the developing countries, and is now confronting opposition from competing forces in more distant lands where it seeks to expand.

You can see the write up and view the original source of this Nomi Prins interview at USAWatchdog here.





http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/nomi-prins-why-is-us-so-interested-in.html

Two Estimations of Chinese Gold Demand

From Jesse's Cafe:

I found it interesting that these two estimations of Chinese gold demand arrive at similar answers from two different methods and assuming two different start dates.

Before anyone asks, Koos Jansen has addressed the notion of 'round trips' of gold on the Shanghai Exchange in some detail. It is not the same sort of bullion game that is the hall mark of the Comex.

The first chart is from the data wrangler Nick Laird at Sharelynx.

The second chart is from GoldSilver.com.

I don't think anyone knows the exact amount of physical gold that China and the BRICS are absorbing. And how much unencumbered gold remains in many of the Western vaults either.

One has to chuckle at 'analysts' who just ignore what of the more significant trend changes in the international money markets. The BRICS are buying tonnes of gold and adding them to their reserves? Nothing to see here. Just the usual hijinks of the uninformed and unsophisticated.

But no matter how one looks at it, there was a profound change in the metals markets around 2006, and that it is somehow involved with what has been called a 'currency war.' As it has done in the past, the nature of the global reserve currency system is changing.

Gold is flowing from West to East.

 

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/two-estimations-of-china-gold-demand.html

"And then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. ‘Who is this that obscures my plans with words, but without knowledge? Stand fast, and I will question you. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand so much. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set? Who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?'"
Job 38:1-7

Saturday Humor: iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S5

From Zero Hedge:

As untold millions unwrap their shiny new iPhone 6's this weekend, we thought the following would be useful for some context...


Source: The Onion

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-20/saturday-humor-iphone-6-plus-vs-samsung-galaxy-s5

A Broken Economic System In One Picture

From Jesse's Cafe:


http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/a-broken-economic-system-in-one-picture.html

Scottish Independence, and the Growing Divide Between the Privileged Classes and the People

From Jesse's Cafe:

What interested me the most in this article is not so much the information it provides on the campaign by the British establishment against the Scottish vote for independence, or the eager participants from the American members of the Anglo-American power clique as well.

Rather it is for the light that this article sheds on the behavior of the enablers of the Anglo-American establishment in the corporate media and the academy, and how rarified their experience of the daily lives of the people has become. It seems almost to be due to an imbalance of character and a fashionable failure of the national perspective. Understandable for the generation that proclaims, 'greed is good.'

As David Brin has remarked, 'It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.'

I hope that whatever the result the vote turns out well for the people of Scotland. They will certainly have problems to encounter, and hardships as a people to overcome. As will we all.

There is a distance growing between the elite classes in America and England and the great majority of the people. It is palpable in the economic policies in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

I am always surprised by how little those pampered princes and princesses within the Beltway or Westminster seem to understand about their own people. What a caricature the communication and occasional interactions between them has become. Such distance breeds both mistrust and fear. It is becoming a cultural divide. And not just for the leadership itself, but for their vast assemblage of courtiers and sycophants who act as viceroys and interpreters for them.

It does not bode well for the future.

The Guardian

How the media shafted the people of Scotland

Journalists in their gilded circles are woefully out of touch with popular sentiment and shamefully slur any desire for change

By George Monbiot

Tuesday 16 September 2014 15.03 EDT

Perhaps the most arresting fact about the Scottish referendum is this: that there is no newspaper – local, regional or national, English or Scottish – that supports independence except the Sunday Herald. The Scots who will vote yes have been almost without representation in the media.

There is nothing unusual about this. Change in any direction, except further over the brink of market fundamentalism and planetary destruction, requires the defiance of almost the entire battery of salaried opinion. What distinguishes the independence campaign is that it has continued to prosper despite this assault.

In the coverage of the referendum we see most of the pathologies of the corporate media. Here, for instance, you will find the unfounded generalisations with which less enlightened souls are characterised. In the Spectator, Simon Heffer maintains that: “addicted to welfare ... Scots embraced the something for nothing society”, objecting to the poll tax “because many of them felt that paying taxes ought to be the responsibility of someone else”.

Here is the condescension with which the dominant classes have always treated those they regard as inferior: their serfs, the poor, the Irish, Africans, anyone with whom they disagree. “What spoilt, selfish, childlike fools those Scots are ... They simply don’t have a clue how lucky they are,” sneered Melanie Reid in the Times. Here is the chronic inability to distinguish between a cause and a person: the referendum is widely portrayed as a vote about Alex Salmond, who is then monstered beyond recognition (a Telegraph editorial compared him to Robert Mugabe).

The problem with the media is exemplified by Dominic Lawson’s column for the Daily Mail last week. He began with Scotland, comparing the “threat” of independence with that presented by Hitler (the article was helpfully illustrated with a picture of the Führer – unaccompanied, in this case, by the Mail’s former proprietor)...

Read the entire article in The Guardian here.

 http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/scottish-independence-and-growing.html

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord."
Psalm 19:14

Electronic Skin Made From Nanoparticles Offers Early Breast Cancer Detection

From IEEE Spectrum:

The researchers, who published their findings in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, developed a thin-film tactile device, also known as “electronic skin”, in which the contact pressure that corresponds to the shape of the object can be mapped by measuring the local deformation of the tactile-device film.

The research team built the tactile device layer-by-layer using spin coating of polymers in combination with the deposition of 10-nanometer (nm) gold nanoparticles, which are often used in cancer detection and treatment techniques—along with 3-nm cadmium sulfide nanoparticles. The overall multilayer structure consisted of three layers of gold nanoparticles and two layers of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles separated by nine layers of the polymers. All of this was then deposited onto a indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate. The ITO served as the bottom electrode while aluminum foil was used as the top electrode.

In their tests, the researchers embedded objects that simulated lumps into a piece of silicone and pressed the device against it with the same pressure a clinician would use during a breast exam.

The results were significantly better than what a doctor might be able to detect. With the device, the researchers were able to detect an artificial lump as small as 5 millimeters wide that was embedded 20 mm into the silicone.

This compares favorably to clinical breast exams performed by medical professionals, in which they typically don’t find lumps as large as 21 mm wide. It’s estimated that if doctors were able to detect irregularities when they’re half the size of those missed 21-mm lumps, a patient’s chances of survival would improve by more than 94 percent.

pectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/biomedical/diagnostics/electronic-skin-made-from-nanoparticles-offers-early-breast-cancer-detection

Small Business Ownership In America Is At An All-Time Low

From Zero Hedge:

In a report that was just released entitled "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances", the Federal Reserve revealed that small business ownership in America "fell substantially" between 2010 and 2013.  Even in the midst of this so-called "economic recovery", small business ownership in America has now fallen to an all-time low.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-09/small-business-ownership-america-all-time-low

A Historic First: Bank Of Japan Monetizes Debt At Negative Rates

From Zero Hedge:

First, Europe infamously shifted to a NIRP and now Japan has begun NIRP monetization. As WSJ reports, Tuesday marked another milestone in the topsy-turvy world of monetary easing in Japan: The Bank of Japan bought short-term Japanese government debt at a negative yield for the first time. In the understatement of the decade, one Japanese bank strategist noted, "The BOJ probably didn't expect this would happen, and T-bill rates staying negative should be a cause of concern for them." The BoJ's decision to scoop up these negative-yielding bills appears to confirm they will meet the QQE-buying demands no matter what the cost (to the Japanese people). The bottom line, the Bank of Japan is now implicitly issuing debt to the Japanese Treasury.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-09/historic-first-bank-japan-monetizes-debt-negative-rates

145 Years Of Japanese "Growth" And Inflation

From Zero Hedge:

Well into the second year of Abenomics, doubts have risen about the effectiveness of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approach of boosting economic growth and overcoming deflation via “three arrows” of monetary, fiscal, and structural policy. Yet another set of disappointing data recently released for July has reinforced these doubts. As several key turning points approach before year-end, whether Abenomics will succeed or stumble is at the forefront of most traders' minds (whether they understand that or not). In the interest of some context for just how far Japan has fallen, we present 145 years of growth and XX-flation for the Japanese economy... one might argue that 'lost decade' or two is generous...



one former Japanese Economic Policy cabinet member noted,

"I am very concerned [about the widening trade deficit], not about the widening of the trade deficit in itself, but about the fact that this widening is a result of a rising energy import burden. This situation cannot continue forever; we must reform our energy policies.”

"Monetary policy is just a placebo – it has no effect on real economic activity and certainly no effect on the longer-term growth path of the Japanese economy."

Yukio Noguchi

Source: Goldman Sachs

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-03/145-years-japanese-growth-and-inflation

Moyers: Fighting Back Against the Wall Street Giants

From Jesse's Cafe:

One has to be concerned that America's first female president will be as great a disappointment and failure as America's first African-American president.

Unlike Obama or Hillary, I think Elizabeth Warren may be the real progressive deal. She has political street smarts and leadership skills that make her more than just a hectoring voice from the sidelines.

Yes, she has some concerning views on the foreign policy front that grate on liberals. And yes, when you listen to her, she is no doubt a politician, and remarkably partisan, excusing the sins of her own party and railing against those of the opposition. And Moyers calls her on it, beautifully.

But, unlike Obama before he became President (and some might say after), on the whole she has actually accomplished some things for Main Street, and against terrible opposition. And unlike Barry and the Clintons she did it without selling out to Wall Street money.

Perhaps she has a miraculous cattle trade in her past that we do not know about. If there is anything shaky in her past, it will certainly be used against her in a politically motivated hit as was done on Eliot Spitzer when he crossed the vested interests. Or just a big media smear campaign, like Ross Perot and Howard Dean.

I doubt that she can run successfully however. The moneyed interests will never vet her, and it is impossible to run for high office from either party without their approval.

The 'bullet or the bribe' is a powerful disincentive for political change. And if any progressive agent for change ever does run, and is elected, they will not be able to stand up for change alone, unless the people stir themselves and show some serious support for reform. At least as much concern as they are willing to show for nude selfies of movie stars, and the latest twists and turns of staged reality shows.

I am hopeful, but not optimistic. And this interview does not make me moreso. There seems to be little that Washington cannot spoil with its taint. This is the age of the narcissist and sociopath. I think the hardships will increase dramatically before adversity makes human beings of us once again.

 adversity makes human beings of us once again.



http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.kr/2014/09/moyers-fighting-back-against-wall.html

Joseph Stiglitz: The Costs of Inequality

II have included the issues of entrepreneurship and SMEs in the Korean context in my book to some extent.  I'd like to write a book on the impact of entrepreneurs and SMEs on Korea in terms of equality and social cohesion over the long term down the road.

From Zero Hedge:

“There are two visions of America a half century from now. One is of a society more divided between the haves and the have-nots, a country in which the rich live in gated communities, send their children to expensive schools, and have access to first-rate medical care. Meanwhile, the rest live in a world marked by insecurity, at best mediocre education, and in effect rationed health care―they hope and pray they don't get seriously sick.

At the bottom are millions of young people alienated and without hope. I have seen that picture in many developing countries; economists have given it a name, a dual economy, two societies living side by side, but hardly knowing each other, hardly imagining what life is like for the other.

Whether we will fall to the depths of some countries, where the gates grow higher and the societies split farther and farther apart, I do not know. It is, however, the nightmare towards which we are slowly marching.”

Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality

China Will Revise Its GDP Definition Until Its Hits Government "Growth Targets", Goldman Explains

From Zero Hedge:

Moments ago, in an example of "very serious phrasing", none other than the bank that does god's work on earth (especially when it means providing off balance sheet financing for the bank of the Holy Spirit), just reported that the reason why China will hit its growth target is because of, drumroll, its fudged GDP. Only Goldman is far more serious when it says all of this, with the result being just too hilarious for words: to wit: "In the coming months, China’s National Bureau of Statistics is to make adjustments to the methodology used to calculate GDP. These adjustments are likely to boost real GDP growth by 0.1-0.2pp, thereby making it easier for the government to reach its goal of “around 7.5%” GDP growth in 2014."

The effects on China’s GDP growth rate of adopting the SNA 2008 is likely to be at least as significant, given that China's R&D expenditure growth has been particularly fast (Exhibit 1).



The rapid growth in R&D likely reflects the government's strong focus in this area, and may explain why China's GDP growth rate accelerated strongly in 2009 even as growth rates in most other economies suffered significantly. Private investment has also contributed, as the private sector has been able to take advantage of the large and relatively cheap talent pool in science and engineering. But private investment probably still plays a secondary role, especially given that the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) has only just started to improve.

Those sceptical of China's economic model may question the impact of increased R&D expenditure, since investment expenditure does not necessarily form capital if it is not used efficiently. However, the same could be said about other fixed investment expenditure, and we have seen no evidence that China’s R&D expenditure is spent less efficiently than other fixed investment (although this does not imply that the level of efficiency itself is high or low). Indeed, the number of patents has increased rapidly in recent years, which we view as a reasonable way to judge the impact of R&D in China (Exhibit 3).

Exhibit 3: ... and in patent filing



Source: OECD, China national bureau of statistics, US national science foundation

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-02/china-will-revise-its-gdp-definition-until-its-hits-government-growth-targets-goldma

3-D Printed Storybooks for the Visually Impaired

I found this cool.

From Electric Literature:

Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, have created the Tactile Picture Books Project, a series of 3-D printed books that go beyond the possibilities of braille. Propelled by the increasing accessibility of this technology, the team at Boulder has transformed the classic images of Goodnight Moon and Harold and the Purple Crayon into tactile forms. These 3-D printed figures, which emerge from the page in the shape of objects within the text, are meant to guide visually impaired children through the stories’ landscapes, allowing them to feel the representations they cannot see.





http://electricliterature.com/3-d-printed-storybooks-for-the-visually-impaired/