Blogs

“They call it ‘nerd spring break’ for a reason,” one veteran conference-goer warned me shortly before I hopped on a flight bound for Austin, Texas and South by Southwest Interactive.

Today's atheists have come a long way from the days of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. For those that remember her, O'Hair was the quintessential angry atheist. Her days were filled with combating religion, undermining faith, and doing so with a caustic wit.

The last few years finally saw the arrival of supercomputers capable of petascale performance. In all, seven systems from the US, China, Japan and France achieved the milestone of processing a million billion floating point operations per second (flops) by the end of 2010. But even before this target was reached, computer scientists and engineers were setting their sights on an even loftier goal: Exascale computing.

Last week, my roommate bought a Kindle. Since then, he hasn’t stopped talking about it. Mainly, he’s wanted to get me to borrow it to read Henry Hazlitt‘s book Economics in One Lesson. The book, published in 1946, is an introduction to free market economics, and is a seminal text on economic principles. Tax season being upon us, I filed my taxes last night. Afterwards, I started reading Hazlitt’s book. His “one lesson” seemed pointedly relevant to this time of year.

A regional business newspaper, the Valley Business Report, is sponsoring a Foresight Workshop for business people in May in Mission, Texas. This will be about futures/foresight methods and how to apply those methods in business, particularly in small business. This is a four-hour workshop, which allows business people to attend in the morning and be back in their offices in the afternoon.
The format that I’m planning is a personal futures approach, then a discussion of how each tool or method can be applied in a small business. As a result, I’m working on a supplemental workbook for small business.

On solutions to the nuclear crisis in Japan: If the decision is made to entomb the entire Fukushima complex, as has been most recently recommended by physicist Michio Kaku, at least one constituency needs to be informed: The future.

The sun strikes every square meter of our planet with more than 1,360 watts of power. Half of that energy is absorbed by the atmosphere or reflected back into space. 700 watts of power, on average, reaches Earth’s surface. Summed across the half of the Earth that the sun is shining on, that is 89 petawatts of power. By comparison, all of human civilization uses around 15 terrawatts of power, or one six-thousandth as much. In 14 and a half seconds, the sun provides as much energy to Earth as humanity uses in a day.

Writing from Kyoto--I’ve delayed updating as I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to say something that might contribute to--rather than simply repeat--what’s been said in the international media. For four days, we in Japan have been bombarded with headlines indicating a slowly unfolding apocalypse.

The recent massive earthquake accompanied by a devastating tsunami and, worse, by the explosion of nuclear reactors endangered the lives of many Japanese. It proved once again that the future is not in control. It is as uncertain as before.

Update: 6:57 AM, Tuesday, March 27th
Annoying concerns about water quality have taken the place of the initial (mostly media) panic about the reactor situation. Indications are the radioactivity level in the water is elevated but far from dangerous for adults but parents are urged not give their children tap water or baby formula made from tap water. The situation with the reactor remains very dire, but the government and others are providing constant radiation information showing that levels remain at healthy around Tokyo and elsewhere. The death toll in the north continues to climb with the mayor of Miyagi anticipating 15,000 deaths there alone.

Interested in helping or volunteering? Peace Boat Japan is, as far as I can tell, the best charitable organization with boots on the ground now in the affected area, distributing necessities. Here's a great blog.

Update: 11:44 AM Monday, Japan Time
From NHK: "Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says a hydrogen and oxygen explosion occurred Monday morning at the No.3 reactor at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture." Residents within a 20 KM radius are being urged to stay indoors.

Edano--"Low possibility of radiation leakage, container is still safe."

Update: 9:00 AM Monday, Japan Time
The death toll has climbed to 1500. It is assumed that many of the residents of Sendai, a town that apparently no-longer exists, are also gone. At this hour, there is growing concern about supplying those in remote areas in the north with food and water. Shelters are full.