Huawei and the shift to the East

I have been out of touch with tech for over 8 years, being in the boondocks, so please chip in.  If necessary will do updates to post from comments. (also here at Brown Pundits for comments)
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Trumps plans are pushing and hastening countries to be less dependent, even independent of US products.  The Huawei ban seems to be game changer.

So  excerpts from an article linked below plus  links other info.
Huawei, needs a new operating system (Mobile OS/Operating System) for its phones. There are few out there, almost all are based on  Linux as is Android.

Android was Initially developed by Android Inc and Google bought in 2005.

Aurora

Aurora is a mobile operating system currently developed by Russian Open Mobile Platform, based in Moscow. It is based on the Sailfish operating system, designed by Finnish technology company Jolla (for its smart phone), which featured a batch of Russians in the development team. Quite a few top coders at Google and Apple also come from the former USSR – exponents of a brilliant scientific academy tradition.

HongMeng also called Ark OS:  Huawei’s own operating system, apparently Android App compatible (hmm, i will believe when I see it).

No Google? Who cares?Tencent, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo are already testing the HongMeng operating system, as part of a batch of one million devices already distributed. are not (yet) banned in the US market, and combined they sell more than Samsung. They could decide to move to Huawei’s operating system in no time.

The HongMeng system may also harbor functions dedicated to security and protection of users’ data. That’s what’s scaring Google the most; Huawei developing a software impenetrable to hacking attempts. Google is actively lobbying the Trump administration to add another reprieve – or even abandon the Huawei ban altogether.

The next step for Huawei and other producers is to go for Made in China processing and memory chips, breaking the stranglehold by Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Micron Technology, Western Digital and the British ARM.

Final thought.  What happens to India and its role in Mobile phones and Mobile OS’s.  India was not a player in hardware such phone or computers  Indirectly India’s software developers gained thru large software companies such as Google. Now it is possible some significant fraction of hardware and OS is shifting to China.

Italics from:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-15/huaweis-plan-b-meet-russia-china-os

Also read
https://www.cnet.com/news/huawei-files-trademark-for-hongmeng-os-while-objecting-to-us-ban-reports-say/

Software Glitch: 28 Deaths

This post is to emphasize that understanding rounding errors are paramount in writing code. In older versions of Excel and on older versions of programming languages if you did the following in two steps 10/ 3 x 3 you would get 9.999.  Modern compilers have apparently fixed most such issues.

On 25 February 1991, an Iraqi Scud hit the barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 soldiers from the U.S. Army.

A government investigation revealed that the failed intercept at Dhahran had been caused by a software error in the system's clock. The Patriot missile battery at Dhahran had been in operation for 100 hours, by which time the system's internal clock had drifted by one third of a second. Due to the closure speed of the interceptor and the target, this resulted in a miss distance of 600 meters.

The radar system had successfully detected the Scud and predicted where to look for it next, but because of the time error, looked in the wrong part of the sky and found no missile. With no missile, the initial detection was assumed to be a spurious track and the missile was removed from the system. No interception was attempted, and the missile impacted on a makeshift barracks in an Al Khobar warehouse, killing 28 soldiers.

At the time, the Israelis had already identified the problem and informed the US Army and the PATRIOT Project Office (the software manufacturer) on 11 February 1991, but no upgrade was present at the time.

As a stopgap measure, the Israelis recommended rebooting the system's computers regularly. However, Army officials did not understand how often they needed to do so. The manufacturer supplied updated software to the Army on 26 February, the day after the Scud struck the Army barracks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot#Failure_at_Dhahran

For more in depth on Rounding Errors see
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/806-3568/ncg_goldberg.html

PC/Laptop HDMI to LCD TV

Recently had to attach an old laptop thru a HDMI port to a large LCD TV.  Had issues with bad sound and also erratic movie picture (Netflix) and sound.  Searched the Internet and there was no comprehensive location to trouble shoot the problem. So a post with what I had to do to get the Laptop HDMI output to work properly on a LCD TV.

Graphics Card
First and Foremost is to check if your Graphics card software has been installed.
 Do a Right-Mouse click on the Desktop.  A menu will come and and the top most choice should be the place to activate your Graphics card.  Something like AMD Vision Center or ATI Radeon Graphics.  If you see the software control, go to the next, i.e. Connect HDMI cable to LCD TV.




On a Laptop that had the drive formatted or system re-installed its likely the graphics card software has been erased.  

You will need to find out your graphics card details.  If you dont have your computer specs try searching for you computer model.  You might also be able to get your Graphics card details from the  Display Adapters sub menu in Device Manager (Right Mouse Click-My Computer-->Properties-->Device Manager).  Download the appropriate software from the manufacturer website and install.  Check if installed by a Right-Mouse click on the Desktop.

Connect HDMI cable to LCD TV
Connect the HDMI cable to LCD TV and note the TV HDMI input port (e.g. HDMI 1or HDMI 2).   Turn on  TV and select appropriate HDMI input.

Setting Up Graphics Card
Start the graphics card software (Do a Right-Mouse click on the Desktop). 

You will see something like Displays Manager.  Select Displays Properties.  You should see you LCD TV as a Display selection. Select your LCD TV.

•  Change the Resolution as needed (it should be automatically selected)
• Change Color Quality (it should be automatically selected).
• Refresh rate: Set to 24 hz (very important)

Now select DTI (HDMI) HDTV support

•  Select the appropriate format your LCD TV supports (e.g. 1080p60 (NTSC))

Press Apply and OK. You should be seeing you laptop on the LCD TV by now.










Setting Up Sound
 On your Volume Control (Bottom right of computer) right mouse click. In the menu select Playback devices. Select or similar option.

Digital Output Device (HDMI)
You will now have the sound from the LCD TV

New York City gets own .nyc Domain

New York City gets its own domain .nyc.  To register, applicants must have a physical address in New York City.

Maybe Colombo should petition net address regulator ICANN for its own .cmb domain

From:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23150658

Sivalingam Sivanathan named a White House Champion of Change

Sivalingam Sivanathan,  Professor of Physics and Director, Microphysics Laboratory at UIC  has been named a White House Champion of Change .  He is a graduate of the University of Peradeniya (1980) and also  Faculty Adviser  of the Sri Lankan Graduate Student Association at University of Illinois at Chicago (SLGSA).

University of Illinois Press Release

Sivalingam Sivananthan, Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has been named a White House Champion of Change. He was presented with the honor at a ceremony this morning at the White House.

Sivananthan’s work with a semiconductor material, mercury cadmium telluride or MCT, is at the heart of night vision technology and made the raid that took down Osama Bin Laden on a moonless night possible. Developing “technology that protects our protectors” has given him the opportunity to give back to his adopted country, said Sivananthan.

 Sivananthan is the founder of the high-tech, Bell-Labs-styled incubator, Sivananthan Laboratories, Inc. in Bolingbrook, Ill. The Laboratories’ focus is on infared technology, radiation detection, materials research and biosensors.

Because, at its most fundamental, MCT technology is about transforming light into electricity, Sivananthan is also leading an effort to develop next-generation solar power. To that end, he helped found InSPIRE (the non-profit Institute for Solar Photovoltaic Innovation, Research, and Edu-training), whose mission is training Illinois’s workforce and exciting Illinois undergraduate and high school students to create a renewable energy and solar eco-system in Illinois.

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β-Carotene for Ice Cream produced from Algae

May or may not really be made of people

β-Carotene is also used as a substance to colour products such as juice, cakes, desserts, butter, ice cream and margarine. It is approved for use as a food additive.  One of the many steps toward Soylent Green.

The photograph is of a β-Carotene alage farm in Kalbarri, Western Australia

About β-Carotene from wiki
Most of the world's synthetic supply of carotene comes from a manufacturing complex located in Freeport, Texas and owned by DSM. The other major supplier BASF also uses a chemical process to produce β-carotene. Together these suppliers account for about 85% of the β-carotene on the market. In Spain Vitatene produces natural β-carotene from fungus Blakeslea trispora, as does DSM but at much lower amount when compared to its synthetic β-carotene operation. In Australia, organic β-carotene is produced by Aquacarotene Limited from dried marine algae Dunaliella salina grown in harvesting ponds situated in Karratha, Western Australia. Cognis Australia Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Germany-based company Cognis, is also producing β-carotene from micro algae grown in two sites in Australia that are the world’s largest algae farms. In Portugal, the industrial biotechnology company Biotrend is producing natural all-trans-β-carotene from a non genetically modified bacteria of the Sphingomonas genus isolated from soil.

β-Carotene algae farms Kalbarri, Western Australia

Groundwater Depletion, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu) and Jaffna River Project

From Hidayathulla and Karunaratna

A recent research article by Thushyanthy Mikunthan and C.S. De Silva highlight the accelerating
depletion of the limestone groundwater aquifer in Jaffna peninsula. There are two serious concerns that need to be addressed because of this.

a) As the authors point out, with thousands of people returning to settle in the former war zone, groundwater extraction is bound to increase, resulting in  shortages of water supply in the Jaffna peninsula for agriculture and domestic use.

b) With pesticides and fertilizer runoff seeping into the groundwater  the main source of drinking water in the Jaffna peninsula, kidney and other health issues are going to become more common.  I think the Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu) prevalent in Anuradhapura will be be a walk in the park, compared to what is probably in store for the Jaffna dwellers.   CKDu incidence in Jaffna has been low probably because agriculture and use of fertilizer/pesticides were minimal due to lack of access to markets in the South during the civil war.

Background on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu).

The majority of CKDu patients are from the Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kebithigollewa, Girandurukotte, Padaviya, Vilachchiya and Ampara  areas. In the Anuradhapura area CKDu prevalence averages around 12% and affects more women (62%)  than men (32%).  The disease progresses slowly and majority of patients do not have any symptoms until they are in the late stages of the disease

Many causes have being attributed to CKDu excessive cadmium in the natural environment; high levels of fluoride in drinking water; using fluoride-rich water in low quality aluminium pots; “hard water” with higher than normal levels of minerals; and toxins generated by blue-green bacteria in the water and of course Arsenic.  My untested opinion is that dioxins too may be a cause (see Dioxin causes Kidney Disease: Alternative Explanation to Arsenic). If Dioxins are one of the causes of CKDu then not just the individuals exposed, but potentially the great-grandchildren may experience increased adult-onset disease susceptibility.

So what can be done

a) Better testing and monitoring of ground water (and blood).
b) Increased rain water collection and harvesting.
c) Controlled use of Fertilizer, Pesticide

Testing and Monitoring of Ground Water 

Ms. Thushyanthy Mikunthan has publications on water quality.  However, the analysis are for rudimentary components, e.g. chloride, iron and sulphate concentration, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids,  pH and Nitrate.  Let alone dioxins and dioxin-like product, metals or arsenic are not tested.  Most likely this is because the equipment and material needed for sophisticated testing (e.g. HPLC's) are unavailable in Jaffna and/or testing in Colombo is cost prohibitive.

So maybe its time to consider a project to test/monitor groundwater for metals, dioxins and dioxin-like chemicals.  Maybe donation of instruments, or a collaborative research project to link agricultural use, dioxin content in ground water incidence CKDu and effect of alleviation methods such as rain water harvesting.

Increased rain water collection and harvesting

The biggest project for Rainwater collection that has been proposed and partially completed is the Jaffna River project. The basic concept is to create fresh water lakes from the Elephant Pass, Vadamarachchi and Upparu lagoons, by preventing saltwater intrusions.  More details from D. L. O Mendis in the Daily News. 

As  Dr Rajasingham Narendran says
The ‘ River for Jaffna’ project, which is vital for Jaffna is stalled , although considerable work has been recently done. The Elephant Pass lagoon has been isolated from the sea on both sides. I was pleasantly shocked to learn yesterday at a seminar on water resources that this work was completed by the government in 2008, amidst the war. Further, after the war the Thondamanaru and Ariyalai barrages have been reconstructed. However, the construction of the Mulliyan canal to connect Elephant Pass reservoir with the Vadamaracchchi lagoon has not commenced. The bund of the Iranaimadu tank has been raised preventing a natural spill into Kanagarayan Aru and flow into the Elephant Pass reservoir. Mr. Anandasangari is leading the effort against Iranaimadu waters spilling over to fill the Elephant Pass reservoir. It is imperative that the government make the visionary river project for Jaffna of the Late Engr. Arumugam come true. There can be no greater blessing for Jaffna. This project if completed will make Jaffna bloom in every possible way – agriculture, tourism, inland fisheries, industrialisation fresh water availability, good quality ground water availability, greenery etc.,

Resources
http://www.scidev.net/en/south-asia/news/jaffna-aquifer-depleting-from-overuse.html
http://idosi.org/aejaes/jaes7%281%29/15.pdf
http://www.gsslweb.org/home/files/109-113-hidayathulla-final.pdf
http://archive.riversymposium.com/index.php?element=ARUMUGAM

Water Resources Development, Jaffna Peninsula by  K. Shanmugarajah, Fast Books, Australia, 1993

 

Monitoring Annoying Link Comments on Blog

For those of you who maintain a blog an easy way to monitor and delete those innocuous comments
to link back to a product web page being promoted.

First an example from this blog.
In the comment box you can see that that there is a comment

thanks for share<a href="http://ladies.creditbox.o... - Anonymous

The link above goes directly to the comment on this blog.  On first appearance there appears to be no link. But if you hover the mouse over the full stop (.) after the word share the link to the ladies.... site a Chinese website can be seen.

I can delete the comment now that it is visible, but will leave it as an example.

I enabled the comment the gadget/widget for the recent comments by

a) Inserting the Feed gadget/widget
b) Setting feed URL to http://myblog.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default
c) Couple of other simple configuration

Voila, I can monitor comments easily.

For a more complete step by step description to install recent comments/feed widget see
     http://www.ittwist.com/2013/01/recent-comment-widget-for-blogger.html

Cut & Paste, GUI, Links in 1968

Douglas Engelbart demonstrates the NLS (“oN Line System”) in 1968.  As Lambert Strether says it took 16 years (1984 – 1968) to  to be adapted successfully for commercialization (e.g. Apple Lisa) . For 45 years ( 2013 – 1968)  Engelbart’s vision or, at least a version of it remains unchanged.

The demo is one hour and forty minutes long,

You will see the first demonstrations of:

• The mouse
• The cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor (what we all used before flat screens, if you can imagine such a thing)
• The graphical user interface (GUI) with windows (as opposed to the previous state of the art, the teletype)
• The word processor (with cut, copy, and paste)
• The outliner 
• Computer generated slides
• Hypertext with clickable links
• Video-conferencing
• More abstractly, “the file,” with file name, creation date, and creator, with navigation through a hierarchy of files
• And Herman Miller office furniture!

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/03/the-mother-of-all-demos-presented-by-douglas-engelbart-1968.html#1S1PLXtj8TQyygrw.99

Facebook: Paid Content replacing Likes

I guess this is no different from Google where search will bring up paid content first. Also probably Facebook must be under pressure to ramp up revenue give that FB share price has fallen.

I’ve stayed on Facebook after its repeated privacy violations partly because I foolishly believed there was some sort of democratic approach to sharing freely with others. The company persuaded us to share under that premise and is now turning it inside out by requiring us to pay for people to see what we post.
“Certainly Facebook has changed its policies and adjusted its products in order to squeeze as much revenue out of all of the openings of the business model in a way that they didn’t have to do before they went public,”
the value of the product disappears as the stream of information in your social network, one that used to be rapid and friction-free, is no longer there and now consumed by advertising.

From Comments

I manage pages for two nonprofits. One has over 3300 subscribers, the other (a church) just a few dozen. In the past couple of months, engagement on the pages has nosedived and it appears only 15-20% of subscribers ever see the posts.

My biggest "issue" with Facebook is that that the pages which I "like" rarely show up in my newsfeed. I have double checked that the pages are set to "Show in Newsfeed" but they still never show up there.

build a loyal following of “Likes”, you can no longer access the majority of that group without paying, again. As far as I am concerned every person who has liked my page should see my posts. They should not be moved up and down based on an algorithm or via a payment plan. If they (my likers) do not like what I am posting then they should unlike me and my information will go away. Beyond that, if FB wants to charge me to reach people that have not liked my page, I am fine with that.
Bottom line: FB Likes are now meaningless fluff.

From:
 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/disruptions-when-sharing-on-facebook-comes-at-a-cost/

Google's virtual tour of the Grand Canyon

Images of the Grand Canyon are the first to be taken by the company's Trekker platform, which allows workers on foot to collect 360 degree imagery with a back-pack mounted camera system.
'Our team strapped on the Android-operated 40lb backpacks carrying the 15-lens camera system and wound along the rocky terrain on foot, enduring temperature swings and a few muscle cramps along the way,' Mr Falor said.
Google's Trekker cameras capture images every 2.5 seconds with 15 cameras that are 5MP each. A removable hard drive on the trekker stores the data as it is gathered.
GPS data around the Grand Canyon is limited, so Google was forced to compensate with sensors to record temperature, vibrations and the orientation of the device as it changes. These details were essential to developers given the job of stitching them back together into seamless, scrollable panoramas.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2271298/Google-Grand-Canyon-View-Search-giant-expands-maps-include-virtual-tour-world-famous-natural-wonder.html

Disable your Cell Phone if Stolen: IMEI Number

*#06# into Keypad to get IMEI number.  If phone gets lost or stolen the phone let the company know IMEI number. Does Dialog Mobitel etc support "blacklist IMEI number" of lost phone.

The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI  is a number, usually unique,^[1][2] to identify GSM, WCDMA, and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones.

The IMEI number is used by the GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing the network in that country. For example, if a mobile phone is stolen, the owner can call his or her network provider and instruct them to "blacklist" the phone using its IMEI number. This renders the phone useless on that network and sometimes other networks too, whether or not the phone's SIM is changed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity

How the Dongfeng ‘Hummer’ got built

AM General tried to sell the HMMWV to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the late 1980′s.
The PLA however had no interest in the vehicle by that time, they thought it too big and heavy. AM General left one HMMWV in China, hoping the Chinese would change their mind.

They did after the first Gulf War in 1991 when the HMMWV was on every TV screen in the world, seen as a winning vehicle that could cross every desert. The HMMWV that was rotting away somewhere in China was cleaned up and taken apart to the last bit. In the mid ’90′s, Chinese oil companies bought several civilian HMMWV’s, officially for oil exploration but the vehicles actually ended up in PLA’s laboratories and were taken apart as well.

The PLA now wanted a HMMWV, and in the early 2000′s, two Chinese companies bid for the order. Each made its own HMMWV prototype based on knowledge gained by reverse engineering the American HMMWV’s. One company was Dongfeng, the other one the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC). Dongfeng won the order and the EQ2050 was born. I’ll get back on SAC’s prototype in a later article.

Now things get a bit murky. Dongfeng had to deliver, but it didn’t have parts to mass produce. AM General had plenty. So Dongfeng bought the parts from AM General and started production at around 2004. The first 100 or so EQ2050 were made with the American parts. In the meantime, Dongfeng set up their own parts operation and soon it was able to make the EQ2050 without American parts, and so it still does.
Except for one vital thing: the engine. It is a Cummins diesel made by Dongfeng in China under license from Cummins USA. Dongfeng also imports a GM V8 diesel, but that engine is only used in the civilian version of the Dongfeng EQ2050 which nobody can buy. I’ll get back to that in a moment.

Some other reports say that AM General licensed the HMMWV’s design to Dongfeng. This is not true. AM General was happy to sell parts to Dongfeng, the very company that copied their own car. Its all bout the money indeed. The only thing licensed is the engine, licensed by Cummins.

Back now to the civilian version. There is an arms embargo against China since 1989 when a student party on Tiananmen Square got messy. The US takes part in this embargo. That means US companies are not allowed to sell military goods to China. This is not only about finished military goods, like a tank, but also for everything that can be used to make a tank, like the gun, the armor – or the engine.

This was a problem for both AM General and Cummins. The HMMWV was clearly a military vehicle and so was the Dongfeng EQ2050. There is however an exception in the embargo. When something can be used both in a military and civilian way, it can be sold to China. Let’s say binoculars. They can be used by the army but also by civilians spotting birds. These goods are called ‘dual use goods’.

The American companies and Dongfeng talked things trough and arrived at a simple answer: Dongfeng was to make a civilian version of the EQ2050, right next the the military version. Dongfeng promised to do so, and the Americans started selling parts and engines, approved by the American government. Dongfeng showed a civilian EQ2050 on several autoshows but nobody can actually buy it and nobody ever will.
Today it doesn’t really matter anymore anyway, Dongfeng can make the parts from AM General by itself and the Cummins engines are now also used in very civilian trucks. But it was a nice trick – most likely with the full knowledge of all involved. Plausible deniability is everything!

from CarNewsChina.com

A real Interactive Travelogue Blog srilankafor.91days

For those who follow kottu, I am sure you have seen the posts of  srilankafor.91days.
But then have you ever got to this point, the srilankafor.91days Interactive Index.

Kirigalpoththa and Lanka Reviewed please note.

FYI: Cheap (Reasonable) Calls from US and UK (I Think) to Sri Lanka from mobile/cell phone

Got sticker shock when I saw the rates to Sri Lanka from the AT&T package in the US.

If you use a Skype like package it USD 0.16/min (and that does not include internet data usage).
If you use the World Connect package its USD 1.23/min (yes USD 1.23 min or SLR 150/min).

The other standard option is to use phone cards available from most grocery stores/bodega's out here in NY.
That means scratching the card, getting a pin number. Then call a local access number, punch in pin and then the phone number you wish to call. Its a real pain in the neck. One of the many downsides is you need to remember the phone numbers or have them written down.

Anyway was trying to figure out a way to call cheap from the mobile/cell phone and also be able to use the contact list in the phone. The other criteria was it had to be a phone-to-phone solution and not a Voice over IP (VoIP) solution. Skype etc are VoIP solutions and that means you get billed for data usage on the cell phone.

Settled on the following solution. Application on phone called LowCaller and subscription to phone-to-phone carrier. I used lowratevoip.com. but there few others and apparently might be the same organization (see here under the rate calculate pull down menu).

Here are the steps I used to get this working.

a) First check if your phone supports the LowCaller app (IPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Samsung and Symbian). I have a basic starter Android.
b) Get yourself an account at LowRateVoIP or similar (see here).
c) Make sure the phone (s) you are calling from are set up properly. You will get a text message and/or phone call with a verification number to your phone which you enter on the website.
d) Download the LowCaller app on to your phone. I used the browser on the phone and typed in the URL get.lowcaller.com.
e) Install the app (you will be prompted).
f) You can make all International calls to default thru the app. Make sure the phone number in the contacts/address book is in the form +94-7755522 for contacts in Sri Lanka.
g) Voila. You call a contact/name in the address book that has the phone number in an international format (i.e. +CountryCode-PhoneNumber) and it goes thru the app. Your phone number will also show up on the caller ID on the receiving parties phone.

Cost of the first few calls I made to Sri Lanka

Minutes    EUR     EUR/min   USD/Min   LKR/Min
00:11:39   0.720   0.06      0.08       8.8
00:00:14   0.070   0.30      0.39      42.9
00:06:31   0.420   0.06      0.08       9.2

So about the EUR 0.08/min advertised on website except for the very short call

LolCat, LOLCode and the Ceiling Cat Bible

Some these esoteric posts are based on links made by commentors on CalculatedRisk a financial blog. In the case of the LolCat / Ceiling Cat a comment by ac and follow ups by Rob Dawg.

LOLCODE Apparently has compilers and interpreters as well for the language.




Example

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
PLZ OPEN FILE "LOLCATS.TXT"?
AWSUM THX
VISIBLE FILE
O NOES
INVISIBLE "ERROR!"
KTHXBYE

The LoLCat Bible excerpt Genesis

Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs

1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.
2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.
3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1
6 An Ceiling Cat sayed, im in ur waterz makin a ceiling. But he no yet make a ur. An he maded a hole in teh Ceiling.7 An Ceiling Cat doed teh skiez with waterz down An waterz up. It happen.8 An Ceiling Cat sayed, i can has teh firmmint wich iz funny bibel naim 4 ceiling, so wuz teh twoth day.
9 An Ceiling Cat gotted all teh waterz in ur base, An Ceiling Cat hadz dry placez cuz kittehs DO NOT WANT get wet.

10 An Ceiling Cat called no waterz urth and waters oshun. Iz good.
11 An Ceiling Cat sayed, DO WANT grass! so tehr wuz seedz An stufs, An fruitzors An vegbatels. An a Corm. It happen.

12 An Ceiling Cat sawed that weedz ish good, so, letz there be weedz.13 An so teh threeth day jazzhands.

For those who are humor constrained, take heart from the following

"The effort to translate the Bible into a language full of grammatical errors, hacker acronyms and Internet lingo may appear distasteful or blasphemous to some, but not to worry. Much of the translation only loosely follows the Bible. It's crowded with references to lolcats pictures and to ambiguous Internet humor, and these references can only be understood by people who spend too much time on the Web."

Bloom Box: Electricity from a Box for a House

A good friend of mine (Chanaka Atukorale) sent me this YouTube Link
Bloom Box K.R. Sridhar-Part 1

Some skeptics, mainly on cost effectiveness.
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/


http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0222/Bloom-Box-What-is-it-and-how-does-it-work
What is Bloom Box?

• Bloom Energy’s Bloombox Fuel Cell is simply a revolution. Think about a box that consists of a stack of ceramic disks coated with green and black "inks". These ceramic disks are separated by cheap metal plates. Oxygen and methane is fed in, the whole thing is heated up to 1,000 Celsius, and electricity comes out. Bloom estimates that a box filled with 64 ceramic disks can produce enough juice.
• We can't say that the Bloom Box is cheap. The box is far too expensive. However, some major companies like FedEx, Google and eBay have already started using the boxes. It has said that eBay has were installed 5 boxes 9 months ago and has already saved $100.000 in electricity costs. According to some sources, eBay even claims that the boxes generate more power than the 3,000 solar panels at its headquarters. Another company Google, which is big search engine, has been using 4 Bloom Boxes for the last 18 month. They were Bloom Energy’s first customer.

Website
http://www.bloomenergy.com/benefits/save-money-and-the-environment/
Payback from saving is 3 to 5 years on 100kw plant. Not bad depending on lifetime