where has no one gone before?

Space has long been called, the final frontier. In the last 50 years, Men have gone to the moon and back, then stagnated. Today, as a race, our journey to space is barely three (US shuttle) flights per year into orbit in 2006.

Entrepreneurs who have begun an era of privately funded human space flight like Burt Rutan and Sir Richard Branson (via Virgin Galactic) are opening up space exploration like never before.

Branson and Rutan are not the only ones.

Maverick adventurers like Bill Stone would like to challenge the status quo. From lessons learned in exploring the deepest secrets of our planet, he dreams of sending a team to the moon in seven years in order to build an orbiting fuel station, which he believes is part of the key to open up space for further exploration. They are also using techniques learned in mapping out the deepest part of the Earth to send an autonomous smart tools to the moon Europa and search for life there.

Bill Stone's TEDTalk:

downloadable zipped video (mp4): here.

It would be nice to be part of that mission.

Can anyone say, "where no one has gone before"?

Apple, why do you tease us so?

Screenshot of iTunes 7.3 from the latest system update... Apple, why do you tease us so?

Cats of Fertile Crescent

Scientists from the America's National Cancer Institute and University of Oxford in England are now saying that your house cat's origin was traced to the Near Eastern Wildcat of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq. They were able to trace the lineages of modern domestic cats to five matriarchs by following mitochondrial dna.

national geographic quoted Carlos Driscoll of the National Cancer Institute saying:

"The cats just sort of domesticated themselves. People today know that you can't keep a cat inside [without barriers], and 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent you couldn't just shut the window."

the early house cats probably helped humans kill rats as they started farming, and migrated as with humans as we scattered. they are liking this to our human "out of africa" migration.

fascinating, wouldn't you say?

iDay: iPhone is Coming

image published by the Washington Post on June 21, 2007 (click image to see the entire cartoon)

iDay is coming. And if you don't know what the heck that is, it begs the question, have you been living in a Cave the past six months?

On Friday, the 29th of June 2007, Apple Faithful in North America, together with common folk will congregate in the Temples and Chapels of Macs and AT&T stores to get themselves the most anticipated consumer device and status symbol ever. it will be the 2nd coming of the iPod... clothed in a multi-touch all-in-one device and accomplishes what smartphones everywhere could not: be smart.

Mossberg's iPhone review (and link to original video source)

David Pogue of the New York Times says:

Apple says one battery charge is enough for 8 hours of calls, 7 hours of video or 24 hours of audio. My results weren’t quite as impressive: I got 5 hours of video and 23 hours of audio, probably because I didn’t turn off the phone, Wi-Fi and other features, as Apple did in its tests. In practice, you’ll probably wind up recharging about every other day.

5 hours of video is good enough for me (my 5G ipod works with 2 hours of video, so this is certainly an improvement).

The reviews (and much of other people's reviews from Macrumors) have the same conclusion that Pogue best wrote:

all the iPhone hype isn’t hype at all. As the ball player Dizzy Dean once said, “It ain’t bragging if you done it.”

Excellent.

A Look Back

Some of you may have missed it. Here are some of the highlights of the past year that was written on this blog:

• "Are You Incapacitated?" is all about ordinary people, and how they can help each other build communities and fight poverty.
• "Can the Future be Designed?" is a continuation of "Are you Incapacitated?" and looks at how creative design, entrepreneurship and education can be leveraged to fight incapacity especially in the developing world of the Philippines.
• For anyone looking at Education and how it can be leveraged to design a better tomorrow, have a look at The Elephant in the Room, where i test run the One Laptop Per Child Operating System "SugarOS".
  
• Don't Cry for Me Cupertino talks about how simplicity sells and how it is very relevant to software design and new computing technology.
• When someone asked "Would you use Windows, if it were GPL," i wrote Why I Made the Switch... not from Windows to the Mac but Linux to the Mac.
  
• At the start of the dawn of the new year (2007), i was Asking Questions and it pertained to leadership and what it should mean for Filipinos.

Doomsday: Even Gods Must Die

While I'm primarily a Bat-Fan, this new movie from Warner Brothers and DC Comics will have to do until The Dark Knight Returns:

via Superman Homepage
Home Page: Superman Doomsday

Microsoft Surface: Future is Here

Anybody interested in that coffee table computer the boys and girls up at Redmond came up with? Checkout this video from SarcasticGamer.com that surely will make you wanna change your mind.

SarcasticGamer.com: kudos! excellent video!

It's a good thing the future isn't written in stone.

where credit is due: I ran across this reading The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs post, appropriately titled, "If this movie doesn't make you buy Microsoft Surface, nothing will"..

Is Rizal Worth Emulating?

Though I've had a hard time reading the Filipino (shames me that i'm out of practice reading Filipino) post from MLQ3 "Si Rizal at ang Pilosopiya ng Pagtitiis". It was enjoyable for the simple reason that there are so few things written in Filipino worth reading. His post was all about Rizal--- the Filipino National Hero who died being shot at by Spain and martyred. MLQ3's point can be summed up in his concluding paragraph:

Sa totoo lang, ang daan tungo sa kalayaan ay naitakda sa dugo ng mga martir na namamatay dahil sa kanilang mapayapang pagkontra. Ang tagumpay ng kalayaan sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas ay hindi nakakamit sa pamamagitan ng bala at dahas kundi sa pagtitiis, sa pagpapakita ng isang buhay na makatarungan, at sa kamatayan na marangal. Noong sinuri ng Kastilang doktor ang pulso ni Rizal bago siya barilin, nagulat ang doctor dahil panatag ang pulso nito. Sa kadalisayan ng kabutihan nagmumula ang pag-asa sa kinabukasan. (i added the emphasis)

Where the Filipino word "pagtitiis" roughly translates to "working hard for it".
There is a difference between working hard and working right. Filipinos certainly work hard, but are we working right?

The Filipino has certainly aspired for something bigger than himself. It is certainly not to say, he has succeeded. While certainly there has been only one experience by our race to succeed in a violent act to gain freedom--- World War 2, we have certainly never been a militarized people where every war fought, a botched job. Was that a mistake?

Perhaps we weren't ready then to become a nation. That people thought at the time we weren't ready for freedom. Did they really understand what freedom and self-determination meant? Do we today? Perhaps freedom is every bit as paralyzing as democracy.

Is it not the right of every human being to be free, to determine his own destiny? Is it not the right of every man to aim for heaven and it is not his right also to fail and then rise up once more should he fall?

Isn't that the promise of life and the joy of toiling for life?

For all his talents and for all his knowledge, did Rizal really grasp and construe the beast that is Freedom and Democracy? If Rizal thought freedom: the right of self-governance, the right to determining one's own destiny, was something to be earned rather than God given, from that point of view, i ask you this: is Rizal worth emulating?

Economics: How an Empire Fell

The American Enterprise Institution for Public Policy Research has posted Grain and Oil. It was a speech by Yegor Gaidar who is director of the Institute for Economies in Transition in Moscow. At the time of the Soviet Union's collapse--- between 1991 and 1994, Yegor Gaidar held the positions of acting prime minister of Russia, minister of economy, and first deputy prime minister.

He has an interesting conclusion:

the understanding by the elites and society that a real democracy is not an ideological dogma or something imposed by the West, but rather an important precondition for the stable development of the country, will finally give Russia the hope of escaping crises and cataclysms. This realization is vitally important for Russia's development in the next decades. (i added the bold/emphasis)

story came across via digg.

Yegor Gaidar has an interesting take on history. His idea is that the collapse of the Soviet Union was really a foregone conclusion that involved mistakes in economic strategies as well as dependence on oil.

While his thoughts are for Russia in general, which he likened the existing conditions to Germany before world war 1 and until world war 2, we too can gain insights based on learning from history.

Anybody we know has an overt dependence on oil and falling/inept grain production?

Mac Speak: the Computer will Listen and Obey

Ever been envious of those guys on Science Fiction shows (like star trek) and movies that talk to their computer? One of the little known and equally unused feature of Mac OS X is the user's ability to command the computer to do a thing by just speaking to it.

screenshot of my system preferences

In your OS X, open up system preferences and you'll see a mic icon labeled speech. click on that and you'll find the speech recognition options. in there you can set your computer by clicking on certain commands--- for me i usually swap between setting it to option+esc or choosing the computer to "listen" actively. you can even set it to follow commands after a certain keyword is evoked, like your computer's name.

it is quite fun really, when you're reading a web page and you just utter "move page down" and the page goes down. Or "move page up" and the web page goes up. You can also evoke apps like "switch to parallels" or "switch to neooffice" and the computer will open the app for you. It impresses the kids when you say "switch to photobooth" and their favorite photobooth application rises.

Macworld has tips on how to "bookmark" a page in safari--- and when you issue your voice command, the browser will open the page for you. Macworld uses safari but really, if your default browser is camino or firefox, it will open the page in that browser. pretty neat when you're coming in the morning (i set the system to "wakeup" at a certain time of day so when i do slip into my home office it's primed and ready to play), sipping coffee and your system is idle. utter "open my browser" and followed by "open google reader", takes multi-tasking to a higher plane.

does the novelty wear off? I mentioned earlier that this is a little known and equally little used feature. how come? See, it is fun and useful but 90% of the time it doesn't work. most especially when the environment is quite noisy and the computer can't understand you or when you find yourself working and listening to iTunes at the same time (or when kids are in the area). Which is why i switch to using a keyboard shortcut to enable speech recognition during those instances or just shut it out entirely.

Trillanes was hired to do a job

Antonio Trillanes IV, one time mutineer is now a Philippine Republic Senator. The Administration and its allies--- have of course their negative view of the matter. They'd be idiots not to.

On one hand, Senator Trillanes was quoted by the Inquirer as saying "this is the people's victory" and that "people are longing for change". His rhetoric of course is sweet sounding and quite true.

Centrists like myself long for change--- a government that is for the people, as much as it is by the people and of the people.

If elections poll people who they want to hire to be stewards of their estate, then politicians have got to know that if they don't do the job we voted them into office for--- then they're out. just look at the last election--- no amount of cheating can really turn the tide when people have decided to get someone into office.

isn't that fair warning?

There is nothing worst for business than to see uncertainty. There has to be something certain, something sure like a common playing field, or rules that can not be changed in the middle of the game. Sometimes it is a certainty that any political climate will not disrupt the status quo: the flow of profits that business needs as assurance. So when a guy like Trillanes executes a mutiny, things go crazy. people back off from deals because they're not certain profits will be made.

I can not speak for anybody other than myself but the reason why i voted for Trillanes was because here was a guy with stellar credentials yapping at the top of his lungs (and he has a huge voice to disrupt everyone's business) something he believes must be corrected. he wants to change the system for the better. These guys have reasonable grievances, though unacceptable their way of expressing it. (added for clarity) why not give them the opportunity to prove their worth in a positive way through the system?

what do you do with a person with stellar credentials who is a resource badly misappropriated?

The gloria macapagal-arroyo way (well to be fair, not really just her way, but really the conservatives in general that she personifies) is to alienate him. they make this person irrelevant. fundamentally nothing is wrong with such a tactic. it is quite useful.

however, If you do that--- without giving them ample opportunity to put their mouth where its worth, you'll only create terrorists and critics and detractors. not to mention, losing a perfectly good resource. such waste!

our democracy, however imperfect isn't dead nor close to dying as many may like to believe. certainly there are those who subvert elections, who cheat here and there. admittedly they may win sometimes, but generally I'd like to believe those who people want to be in, will be in. the same reason exist why there are political dynasties in the philippines. People do vote who they think is best to lead them.

how can I believe this?

I hope Senator Trillanes will not see his election as some sort of reward. Likewise, future adventurers may view the victory of Trillianes as an opportunity, a road to fame and power. Raise a ruckus, start a coup and even if you fail, you become a senator. make no mistake, they will be making the same grievous error many politicians in government have made. they underestimate our people's ability, democracy's ability to see right from wrong. people do vote who they want in: for good or ill.

i've got no hard numbers. look at nueva ecija, look at pampanga, batangas and look at Makati: they're just some of the places that for good or bad have either thrown out dynasties and powerful clans or have reasoned to reelect them.

for all the political killings and all the violence, for all the cheaters and ways to subvert our democracy, given these facts, generally speaking and given how utterly imperfect our democracy is, our people's voice can be heard.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is probably (still) pissed at the results of the election. you know what? sometimes the other guy wins. then again, may be not. Seriously, may be it is time for the president herself to reevaluate and see what the people are saying to her. what do they approve of and what is it that they don't?

Senator Trillanes and the others who've been elected, I do not know whether to congratulate you or not. you'll have your work cut out for you. You've been hired to do a job. The least of your worries is to fail to live up to people's expectations and be voted out of office in the next election. you should be more worried about failing to live up to people's expectations and if you do, come 2010, people will cease participating in the process of elections. so much is riding on your success and that of many politicians elected into office like Ed Panlilio. If you should fail, politicians being ignored will be the least of this nation's problems because what degree of apathy will exist against democratic processes then?

PC is Fake Steve?!

BumpTop: Desktop in a New Way

Ran across this today via TED. BumpTop mimics real world physics and lets you organize your computer desktop much like you would your own real world one.

Here is a YouTube presentation via bumptop.com:

Here is Anand Agarawala's Ted Presentation:

BumpTop is interesting, especially when you think of multi-touch displays as the interacting device instead of a stylus or mouse and Bumptop as the GUI. interesting isn't it?

iTunesU: Broadening Horizons

(Updated) Reader Gregory (if you've missed it) posted a comment yesterday on "Real World: I'm a PC, I'm a Mac". He pointed to this: Bill Gates' Harvard (Class of 2007) commencement speech (requires registration) and he quoted these inspirational lines:

For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them. Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Interesting isn't it?

updated: eweek has an article on Gates Champions Creative Capitalism to End Inequity.

Speaking of breaking down barriers, is the iTunes Music Store just a one stop shop for music and video? Education is a powder-keg topic and many talk about education as way to break down barriers, so whoever came up with iTunesU should be commended.

Some of the world's leading universities have posted content content online--- which you can download via iTunesU, for example. Topics range from "Modern Theoretical Physics" to "Geography of World Cultures" to "What is Existentialism?" just to name a few of the hottest downloads (as i write this).

here's (above) a screenshot from my mac of the current content of iTunesU

It's a bigger, broader world out there. Initiatives like iTunesU can broaden horizons in an engaging and meaningful way.

Real World: I'm a PC, I'm a Mac

transcript and original video can be found at D5: All things Digital. You can download it free via iTunes Music Store here: video, or for audio-only via Macenstein

i grew up in the PC era. i came of age in a time when technologies compete--- windows v. macs v. linux is the norm. Often this competition would reach religious fever.

It is refreshing to see two industry giants who've transformed in their own way how everyone on this planet is entertained, can communicate, interacts, does work and be creative and innovative can come together and we discover that the angel and the devil are not all that different. at the core of everything, both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs just want to "work" and do exciting and innovative things in their respective spaces and in their own way.

anyone interested in competing in technology or in business can draw inspiration from these two giants. i for one have new found respect for both bill gates and steve jobs. if you've seen those Apple commercials, these guys are the real PC and Mac guys.

All Right! Updated MacBook Pros!

All right New Macs! (the screenshot is from the online US Apple Store)

Are You Getting Parallels 3?

It was a pleasant surprise when I got an Email from Parallels today. What the heck is Parallels? Well for you Mac noob (or PC users who have no vague idea what the heck it is), Parallels is a Virtualization software. It lets you run Windows (2000, xp, Vista), not to mention Linux on your Mac.

What the heck for?

Say you wanna make the switch to the Mac because you found Windows too be plagued with too many problems--- spam, malware, spyware, trojans, viruses and that uber-annoying Norton Personal Security crap and so you thought to give the Mac a spin. Then you realize there is this particular piece of tech that doesn't work on the Mac that you absolutely need. it could be an app from the office, or you're simply a gamer and can't go without the PC.

Thats where the promise of Virtualization kicks in.

Virtualization lets you run another operating system, like Windows XP (or linux, which I do) on your Mac. This isn't crappy slow all the way around, in fact, it is near "native" performance--- what you'd expect with running XP on a regular PC. Some virtualization software like Parallels takes advantage of the Mac experience and lets you "Drag and Drop" data from Windows to Mac or from the Mac to Windows as if Windows was an Application running on your Mac.

Virtualization is quite useful actually.

One of the biggest complaints that I had for the year that I've been a Parallels users was the fact you couldn't get decent 3D graphics support on it. What the heck for? playing windows-only games for instance. I've also this perfectly decent copy of Knights of the Old Republic that I spent many hours just relaxing on that I know has a Mac version, but never saw the need to go buy one, since I've already purchased the PC version.

Another great reason to get Parallels 3.0 is really to try out Beryl decently. Now, I've had a hell of a time running that on my "real live" linux box--- but it would sure be nice to play with it on a Mac so I could do away with "real" PCs.

Parallels 3.0 is coming out by June 6th and there is a discount for existing users. At first, I thought it was some sort of scam. I even dared clicking on the links on the page that would take me to the purchase page, which were all empty by-the-way, so i went through their forums and the site to find out whether or not this is the real deal.

Seriously, I'm still debating over whether or not to get Parallels 3. The feature set looks great. I"ve been googling, looking for a beta of this build and nada. I'd like to know what i'm getting before shelling out some money. After all, inquiring minds want to know, how good is their 3D support? Parallels did that before I purchased the current version. I'd like to see a huge reason to upgrade or may be if it wasn't as great--- hold off until they do get it right. Sooner of later though, one thing is certain--- Parallels 3 will be in my hard drive, hopefully running Linux, Windows side-by-side with Leopard.