Useful dog tricks

Presenting, Useful Dog Tricks!! Whoever said tricks can’t be useful? Jesse loves helping around the house, and I just love his happy attitude and smile on his face =o)

Jesse chooses to do the behaviors in this video, and has so much fun bringing smiles to people’s faces. He gets treats for doing his tricks, and enjoys learning new things. Tricks are just one of the activities we enjoy doing together. When not doing tricks, Jesse can be found playing with his cuz ball, chasing squeaker tennis balls, digging in search for lizards, de-fluffing stuffed toys, swimming, and accompanying me on outings.

~Heather and Jesse~

 

Thx to Christina Rollo

Most of us would probably survive a nuclear blast in Washington D.C.

It’s the most nightmarish scenario—a nuclear device being detonated in downtown Washington.

Whammo and good night, right?

For most of us, actually, that wouldn’t be the case, according to a recent study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The 120-page report, “Key Response Planning Factors for the Aftermath of Nuclear Terrorism,” was released last November.

The FEMA report posits a detonation a few blocks from the White House. Everything within a half-mile radius would be reduced to rubble and be so irradiated as to make any rescue operations unfeasible. Between half a mile and one mile out, there would still be significant damage and heavy injuries, but the area would be approachable by emergency responders.

And further out, there would just be a lot of broken glass from windows shattered by the force of the explosion, but few, if any, injuries that would require medical attention. (Aside from those sustained by people running face first into their bursting windows when they try to look outside to see what is happening.)

So, good chance of injury, temporary blindness, destroyed hospitals and a massive fallout cloud—but more likely than not, you’d live. At least until the radiation settles in.

 

via DCist – **click for the full report and much more gruesome details**

 

Thx to Shevonne Polastre

 

// Photo – James Nash

Is live streaming going to take over?

Famed author and technology journalist, Steven Levy, posed a question/bet on his Google+ stream:

My bet (literally) is that most of the video we watch in 10 years will be live — whether a persistent connection with friends or co-workers, streams from the cameras of friends and strangers, or the increasing amount of pro entertainment that will be streamed live on the unlimited channels of YouTube, network carriers, or the web. It will be more unusual for something NOT to be streamed live than the alternative.

Personally, I think we are witnessing the rise of on-demand, but he may be right with sporting events and parents live streaming their sleeping babies…

Living on a Stream: The Rise of Real-Time Video

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about streaming. I was marveling how easy it’s becoming to beam a live video feed, anywhere, not only to a friend or a group, but, essentially, the entire world. The province of the network news team with satellite truck has now extended to anyone with a smartphone.

I ranted that we’re only at the beginning of a process that will transform the way we watch moving images, not to mention what those images are and how we produce them. We are well clear of the world of television — where video meant sitting down in a living room and watching carefully scheduled, professionally produced “shows” — and now are about to move from our more fluid, DIY and YouTube-infused paradigm into something different: an explosion of video as its happening now.

Whether the point is to share an environment with friends or co-workers for an extended period of time, to indulge in a slickly produced event enhanced by the knowledge that it’s live, or to drop in on the most compelling events on the planet at any time, more and more of what we see will be seen as it happens.

via Wired Opinion

 

 

// Photo – Fibonacci Blue

Hasbro Star Wars toys – a universe of characters and vehicles

I got an email today about Hasbro toys being 20% off, and so did a little walk down memory lane. And, if you have kids these are some sweet gifts.

R2-D2 on Jabba's Sail Barge
AT-AP
Electric Darth Vader Helmet

Continue reading “Hasbro Star Wars toys – a universe of characters and vehicles”

How algorithms shape our world – TED Talk

Kevin Slavin argues that we’re living in a world designed for — and increasingly controlled by — algorithms.

In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can’t understand, with implications we can’t control.
 

Thx to Siegfried Hirsch

China’s meteoric rise makes it the second largest app economy

Flurry recently quantified China’s meteoric adoption of iOS and Android applications. While China ranked 10th in application sessions at the beginning of 2011, it finished the year in 2nd place, only behind the United States. With its large population and rapidly emerging middle class, adoption of apps vaulted China into the position of world’s 2nd largest app economy.

This report reveals that, for the first time ever, China now leads in new smart device adoption (iOS and Android smartphones and tablets).

With China now activating more devices per month than the U.S., this means that the gap is closing between the two countries in terms of installed base.

Ten fastest growing countries in terms of app sessions:

No matter how we slice it, the application market continues to grow at unprecedented rates, and increasingly across more borders. With smart devices adoption rates more than four times greater than those witnessed during the 1980s PC revolution and twice as great as those seen during the 1990s Internet Boom, no other consumer technology has been more accessible than smart device application software. It’s literally taking over the world.

via The Flurry Blog

Random acts of journalism – the new media

People don’t care about scoops, they care about trust. Social media has compressed the news cycle to the point where the half-life of a scoop is measured in minutes rather than hours or days.

The number of people who care about who reported something first is rapidly diminishing

Instead, what matters most to readers and listeners and viewers is the trustworthiness of the source, whether it’s a TV program or a newspaper. Trust is “the new black.”

The reality of the news ecosystem now is that news can be broken by just about anyone, including non-journalists who happen to be close to an event, who often wind up committing what NPR’s Andy Carvin has called “random acts of journalism.”

Trust is the benchmark for any news outlet or media source — regardless of what medium it publishes through or whether those producing the content have degrees from a journalism school or ink beneath their fingers.

via Mathew Ingram

The first university-run channel on YouTube – original content just got smarter

On March 1, University of California Television (UCTV) will launch a new YouTube original channel, UCTV Prime, the first university-run channel to be included among YouTube’s new production partnerships with such recognizable brands as the Wall Street Journal, Madonna and TED.

Each week, UCTV Prime will debut 15 minutes of fresh content.

The channel’s inaugural effort, the first installment of a four-part documentary mini-series called “Naked Art,” which explores UC’s preeminent art collections.

via UCLA Today

Reflections on the diverse definitions, purposes and modes of public art from UC campuses and elsewhere, including comments by artists, curators, students and other participants.

 

The featured playlists so far are:

  • Science
  • Health/Medicine
  • Explorations in Art
  • Election Analysis
  • Research Developments

Watch more at www.youtube.com/uctvprime and www.uctv.tv/prime.