CosmoBC.com InTheBlogs

Today’s Stumbles February 18, 2010

Paul — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:46:39 +0000

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Today’s Stumbles February 17, 2010

Paul — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:45:10 +0000

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Rumors of Yahoo! Taking Down MyBlogLog

Paul — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:18:36 +0000

In the light of the recent rumors about Yahoo! preparing to take down MyBlogLog we all hope they are false.

MyBlogLog is a community for bloggers. It enables bloggers to connect and find each others blogs. This is what makes it an excellent blog promotion tool. As you can see, there is a MyBlogLog widget on this blog’s sidebar. All CosmoBC blogs are members of the MyBlogLog community.

Since MyBlogLog was acquired by Yahoo!, it became increasingly popular. So in my opinion it would be illogical to take it down. So let us all hope those rumors are false!

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Current Affairs India

Paul — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:54:03 +0000

Here are some news about the current affairs in India:

First there is news about riots in India’s Punjab State. Read More.

Then we hear about cyclone Aila hitting India and Bangladesh killing at least 73 and destroying thousands of homes. Read More.

Finally, there is some speculations that India might be the next country to start censoring the Internet. Read More.

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Update About Swine Flu

Paul — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:53:14 +0000

So far, over 2000 people have been infected by the Swine Flu virus, most of which were in North America (mainly Mexico, followed by the United States). It is hard to say, due to the flow of different and often contradicting information, but most likely 149 people have died, as of April 28, morning.

Now the question is if more people are actually infected than the reported numbers. It could be very likely that even up to a few million people are currently infected, but only the most critical cases make it to the hospitals (and thus are known to us). This could be possible, since health care isn’t really accessible in some poor regions of Mexico. If that were the case, then 149 dead out of a few million infected would be bad, but not as critical as 149 out of only 2000 infected. Also if this is found true, then Swine Flu would only be deadly in a few extreme conditions, and would give hope of recovery to those that are infected but hospitalized fast. Otherwise, the Swine Flu could soon become as deadly as the Spanish Flu in 1918 where about 20 million people have died.

The following is the latest map by Google showing the spread of the Swine Flu:

Spread of the Swine Flu. Map by Google.

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Swine Flu Spreads panic over the Internet

Paul — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:33:26 +0000

The recent spreading of the deadly Swine Flu has started a wave of panic in the media. The Internet isn’t different in that matter. In fact the Swine Flu is currently the top trending topic on the micro-blogging service Twitter. It is also one of the most searched keyword on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. For example “Swine Flu Ohio” is the 27th most popular search keyword on Google. As for the blogosphere, the keyword “Swine Flu” has been indexed on almost 2800 blogs all over the Internet, as of April 26. This is expected to continue to increase as more people get infected.

The flu, which originated in Mexico, has already spread to 5 states in the US (New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California) and two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and New Brunswick). It is also suspected to have spread to other countries such as France. 80 people have died from it in Mexico alone, and 20 are confirmed to be infected in the United States.

The following map by Google shows the location of confirmed Swine Flu infections:

Swine Flu Google Map

All this looks much more serious than the bird flu (2003-present), but it is not yet a pandemic so lets breathe! We might want to take some precautions though, such as washing our hands frequently or avoiding contact with people showing any symptoms of a cold or flu.

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Best vs. worst cities in the U.S. to get a job

Paul — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:26:41 +0000

Forbes recently published a report about the best cities for finding jobs, followed later on by another report about the worst cities for jobs. This is a very useful overview of the current state of the U.S. local economy.

Underwater Dwellings: H2Ome and The Poseidon Resort

Paul — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:28:38 +0000

U.S. Submarine Structures LLC is the company that designed both H2Ome and the Poseidon Resort. H2Ome is the world’s first sea-floor private residence while the Poseidon Resort is the first sea-floor hotel.

The Poseidon Resort is located underwater on the sea-floor inside a Fijian lagoon. The pressure at the sea-floor is equivalent to one atmosphere, so the structures are strong enough, yet not really massive. Also this depth enables sunlight to reach the resort’s huge windows, giving a magnificent view on the sea and it’s life-forms. This would be the dream hotel!

As for H2Ome, it is very similar to the Poseidon Resort (also under a one atmosphere pressure) but it is meant to be a series of private luxury residences.

Read more and see the awesome images: Underwater Dwellings: H2Ome and The Poseidon Resort

The company’s site: Poseidon Resorts

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7 (Crazy) Civilian Uses for Nuclear Bombs

Paul — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:52:55 +0000

Nuclear Bombs are known to be the most destructive weapon man has ever created, but it could also be a great tool for some civilian uses.

Nuke Crater. Image from Wired.com

The 7 proposed civilian uses for some of the 23,000+ known nuclear bombs in the world are:

1) Creating a Harbor, or Just a Hole: Nukes can easily dig huge holes in the ground in a matter of a few seconds.

2) Creating a New Panama Canal: The Panama Canal is not wide enough for some of the world’s biggest ships, and has to be constantly maintained, otherwise mud and sand or other deposits would accumulate, filling up the canal. Therefore, an easy and inexpensive solution would be to dig a series of big holes along the canal using nukes. New canals could be easily dug in the same way.

3) Natural Gas Exploration: According to some studies, the use of nuclear explosions could increase the natural gas production.

4) Mining Oil Shale: Oil shale is the name given to carbon-rich sedimentary rocks. These could be transformed into kerogen with the use of controlled nuclear explosions.

5) Disposing of Nuclear Waste: Oddly enough, a nuclear explosion could be used to store nuclear waste. Such an explosion deep underground would create a cavity where nuclear waste could be safely stored. The heat produced by the initial nuclear explosion would result in the nuclear waste melting into the surrounding rocks.

6) Human Spaceflight: A nuclear powered spaceship design has been proposed by American scientist Freeman Dyson for NASA’s Orion Project, which was unfortunately ended up being abandoned.

7) Defending Earth From an Asteroid: As discussed in a previous article, nukes could be used as one of the ways to deflect an asteroid from an Earth-collision orbit.

One great disadvantage of such uses of nuclear weapons would be the deadly radiations produced in the process, but when in concerns the use of nukes in space or deep underground, there should not be such risks.

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13-year-old boy accused of robbing Illinois bank

Paul — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:58:09 +0000

A 13-year-old boy was accused of robbing a bank in Peoria, Illinois, after being caught in a nearby garage about half an hour after the incident with his hands stained red by a dye pack that had been placed in the bag of money.

If tried as an adult he would face up to 30 years in prison.

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Dead Man Elected In Ultimate Political Comeback

Paul — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:34:17 +0000

Mayor Harry Stonebraker has been re-elected to a fourth term in the small town of Winfield in Missouri, about a month after his death, with 90% of the votes.

Similarly in Missouri’s 2000 U.S. Senate race, Democrat candidate Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash a few weeks before the election, but still defeated Republican John Ashcroft.

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Sony confirms talks with YouTube on full movies

Paul — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:47:21 +0000

Sony has confirmed talks with YouTube on posting full-length movies on the site. Therefore YouTube might take an even bigger share of the online media streaming business and sites such as Crackle or Hulu are expected to loose popularity.

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Google Health

Paul — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:59:51 +0000

Now millions can access medication records online through Google Health, a new service that has recently been released by Google partnered up with Medco and CVS.

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NASA unveils new space ship

Paul — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:50:12 +0000

NASA has unveiled a mock-up of its new spaceship, the Orion exploration vehicle, which will replace the space shuttle in the next few years.

Italy’s Earthquake

Paul — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:21:31 +0000

On Monday, April 6, Italy was hit by an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter was the city of L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region with a population of about 70,000. So far 40 dead have been reported.

British search engine ‘could rival Google’

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:00:59 +0000

British scientist Stephen Wolfram says that his new search engine called WolframAlpha “could rival Google”. Instead of searching the Internet by keywords it will answer questions asked by users. Therefore this will involve some kind of artificial intelligence (AI).

Image by Wolfram Research

Wolfram|Alpha Is Coming!

British search engine ‘could rival Google’

Site: WolframAlpha

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10 Rare HTML Tags You Really Should Know

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:51:45 +0000

This is a list of 10 uncommon HTML Tags which purpose is the most misunderstood, but are still quite useful:

10 Rare HTML Tags You Really Should Know

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Kremlin Kids: We Launched the Estonian Cyber War

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:37:54 +0000

Moscow’s youth movement Nashi (“Ours”) claims responsibility for the 2007 cyber attacks on Estonia.

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The World’s Billionaires

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Here is a list of the world’s richest people, which like the rest of us have lost money because of the bad economic times:

Forbes: The World’s Billionaires

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About the Youngest Millionaires

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:25:57 +0000

Discover how some kids made a million before graduating:

Forbes: How To Make A Million Before You Graduate

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HOW TO: Make Firefox Your Productivity Machine

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:32:32 +0000

Firefox has some option you probably haven’t heard of. Here are some tips for faster browsing on Firefox:

HOW TO: Make Firefox Your Productivity Machine

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Thirteen ways to boost your online reputation

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:22:08 +0000

Here are some tips on how to improve your online reputation: Thirteen ways to boost your online reputation

This is really important if you want to get a job in the IT sector, since employers might search for some information about you on the Internet. So it better be good!

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The Web Celeb 25

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:13:15 +0000

In this age almost anyone with a computer and an access to the Internet can receive an audience online. Some very lucky people have become celebrities in this way.

This is a list of the top 25 web celebrities: The Web Celeb 25

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Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

Paul — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:59:54 +0000

Here is a list of the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Each of them helps their members to succeed, so if you are an entrepreneur you might want to join them:

Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

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The totally wired home

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:14:49 +0000

A totally wired home? Intelligent home appliances that communicate with each other? Is this Science fiction? Not anymore! An upstart company called Fugoo is planning to turn this into reality.

The totally wired home

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Local flavor for Google Suggest

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:03:43 +0000

Google Suggest is a service that suggests you search results when you start typing in a Google search box. Now the suggestions are more localized. For example if you live in England and start typing “liver”, the top suggestion you will get would be about Liverpool.

Image by Google.

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Industries That Thrive On Recession

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:50:08 +0000

We all thought that a recession hits hard on everyone, but it seems that some industries will continue to grow and will even benefit from it.

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13 Excellent Resources For Free Photoshop Plugins

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:45:35 +0000

This is a list of free cool Photoshop plugins:

13 Excellent Resources For Free Photoshop Plugins

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Space Shuttle Discovery Lands After Landmark Flight

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:36:39 +0000

The space shuttle Discovery safely landed after successfully completing its 13-day mission which was to complete the building of the International Space Station. It is now ready and working at full power since the two final solar array wings have been added. This required some space walks.

The completed International Space Station. Image by NASA.

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How to Defend Earth Against an Asteroid Strike

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:21:37 +0000

This sounds like something from a science fiction movie, but it is a real threat to the whole planet. It can happen any time. A medium sized asteroid of a few kilometers in diameter crashing into the Earth can completely destroy our civilization and exterminate the whole human race, just like it happened to the dinosaurs.

But fortunately there are some ways to prevent all this. The human race is at the point that it can prevent it’s own extinction. There are numerous ways of deflecting such an asteroid to a safer orbit, but it has to be spotted years before potential impact, otherwise nothing can be done. Therefore, the world’s governments should fund research programs to track all asteroids that can be a potential threat. In such hard economic times this doesn’t look like it’s a priority to most governments, but it should!

Asteroid Deflection
Image from Wired.com

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Twitter still has no business model, and that’s OK

Paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:05:21 +0000

Despite false rumors, Twitter still has not announced a business model. Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networks on the Internet and therefore has a possibility of a huge potential income, but no such moves have been done.

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Life After Google

Paul — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:22:58 +0000

Even though Google is the major search engine (followed by Yahoo and Live Search by Microsoft) there are still a lot of smaller search engines. Some of these “small” search engines might grow big.

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The Most Corrupt Countries

Paul — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:16:04 +0000

During the year 2008 corruption has increased in a lot of countries. The most corrupt countries (Chad and Kyrgyzstan) happen to be poor countries, but that doesn’t mean that the rich countries aren’t corrupt. Even Canada and Japan happen to be below the G7 standards on that matter.

Blockbuster Surrenders To The Digital Age

Paul — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:52:39 +0000

Blockbuster is partnering with TiVo to offer a digital movie library through the Internet. This is due to the diminishing number of customers that rent movies because they prefer to download them through the Internet.

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Pupils to study Twitter and blogs in primary schools

Paul — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:04:28 +0000

Children in the UK will now learn much less of the traditional school subjects such as history, geography and science. What will they learn instead? Twitter and blogs! Doesn’t that sound ridiculous to you?

Pupils to study Twitter and blogs in primary schools

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25 Things I Hate About Facebook!

Paul — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:53:21 +0000

Is Facebook annoying you? Well then you’re not the only one!

Find out what most people hate about Facebook:

25 Things I Hate About Facebook!

Or just watch the video here:

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GDC 2009: Microsoft’s “Kodu Game Creator”

Paul — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:02:56 +0000

Ever dreamed of creating your own games? It might soon be possible to do so with the new Microsoft “Kodu Game Creator”.

It is still under development, but should be released soon. What’s so good about it is that you don’t need to do everything from scratch, you can use the so called “starter worlds” that are already offered in the program and you can edit them as needed. It should be similar to Visual Studio for general programing, but it would be much more user-friendly and easier to use. Basically, now you don’t need to be a programmer to make your own games!

GDC 2009: Microsoft’s ‘Kodu Game Creator’ = My First Gaming Software Development Kit?

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