Flying Car

 

Lucky Man

 

Worthless

 

Another Technology Wave

Amid all the hype, hope, and handwringing about artificial intelligence (AI), another technology tide has quietly been rising, and attracting massive amounts of investment.

It's all around us and keeps proliferating unabated -- in sensors, trackers, production machines, appliances, wearables, vehicles, and buildings. Welcome to the edge, which is likely to shape and shift our jobs and businesses before AI makes its mark. Many of the devices and products seen here at ZDNET represent the edge wave.

The edge and Internet of Things (IoT) are big business. At least 23% of respondents to a survey from the Eclipse Foundation say they spent between $100,000 to $1m on IoT and edge in 2022, and 33% expect to spend this much in 2023. 

One in 10 anticipate spending more than $10m in 2023. More than half (53%) of enterprises currently deploy IoT solutions, with an additional 24% planning to introduce them within the next 12 to 24 months.

Hybrid cloud is the vehicle on which edge projects are riding. At least 42% of respondents suggest that edge deployments are made possible by hybrid cloud. The intersection of edge and the cloud -- typically seen as polar opposites in technology landscapes -- has not been lost on cloud vendors, especially Amazon Web Services (AWS).

"More and more new use cases and customer requirements have increased the need to have edge computing on top of cloud," says Yasser Alsaied, vice president of IoT for AWS, in a discussion with ZDNET. "Edge infrastructure is important for companies that want their applications closer to their users."  READ MORE...

Medical Update

 As I have shared before, I am being treated for two different kinds of cancers simultaneously - lymphoma and melanoma.  After a good 5 years of now growth from either one, a recent CT scan indicated there was growth.  A biopsy was performed to determine if it was the lymphoma or the melanoma growing.  Yesterday, I found out it was the lymphoma; my oncologist was pleased because he said he was not sure if he could stop the growth of melanoma.  I am glad it was the lymphoma after hearing that too.

So, since it is the lymphoma, there are two possibilities that the lymphoma is growing or that it is mutating into a large cell lymphoma (from a small cell) that is more aggressive and requires me returning to STRONGER DRUGS.

Stronger drugs have more serious side effects that could adversely impact my body which now older.

One of these drugs is CYCTOXIN which I have taken before and could be the reason why I got melanoma and that is one of its side effects.

Could this drug start my melanoma growing?

My oncologist sent samples of my biopsy out to a lab to look for MARKERS.  He will use these markers to target with the immunotherapy drugs.  There will be no radiation nor surgery, only the infusion of these drugs.  I will find out on July 21, what my new treatment protocols will be.

My current fatigue and nausea is coming from the growing cancer, not the drugs...  but, taking these new drugs could increase the intensity of the fatigue and nausea as well as a loss of appetite, a lowering of immunity, and increasing my anemia.  It could also negatively impact other organs.  So far, no other organs except my thyroid have been damaged.

AND I AM STILL ABOVE GROUND...

The Old Man

 

Why Go To College???

This post might sound a little unusual coming from a person who has a BA degree and a master's degree, but I question why I went to college, other than my degrees opened doors even though I used about 10% of my education.  I also spent several years teaching on the college level business courses and instead of going over exactly what was in the textbook, I taught them what they really needed to know that they would actually use.

My father was a handyman with a college degree and could fix ANYTHING around the house from plumbing, electrical, carpentry, masonry, and had a technical mind as well.  He was good at reading and understanding the confusing directions.  HE TAUGHT ME NOTHING!!!  So, about the only thing I can do is change a light bulb.  LOL

So, if I had it to do over again, I would want to know about the TRADES rather than paying someone to fix my house.

My 6 years of college was paid for by the GI bill because I was a Vietnam Veteran.  I doubt very seriously if I would pay $20,000 to $40,000 a year for a college education.  It ain't worth it knowing what I know and I damn sure would not borrow the money from the government.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a career in the military.  BUT, you have to be careful which branch of the military you want to join.  I would NEVER encourage anyone to join the Army or the Marines unless you have a death wish.  The Navy is not bad but you have to spend 6 months at sea every four years.  Unless you like being away from your family, stay away from the Navy.

The branch therefore to join is the AIR FORCE.  There are plenty of oustanding jobs in the Air Force that after 20 years of service, you can use the training for a civilian job and have TWO - TWENTY YEAR CAREERS...

NO COLLEGE DEBT...

COMPLETE HEALTHCARE...

PROVIDE MILITARY HOUSING...

Constantly Changing

 

Space-Time Distortions

Observing time distortions could show whether Einstein's theory of general relativity accounts for the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Scientists could soon test Einstein's theory of general relativity by measuring the distortion of time.


According to new research published June 22 in the journal Nature Astronomy, the newly proposed method turns the edge of space and time into a vast cosmic lab to investigate if general relativity can account for dark matter  -  a mysterious, invisible form of matter that can only be inferred by its gravitational influence on the universe's visible matter and energy -  as well as the accelerating expansion of the universe due to dark energy. The method is ready to be tested on future surveys of the deep universe, according to the study authors.

General relativity states that gravity is the result of mass warping the fabric of space and time, which Einstein lumped into a four-dimensional entity called space-time. According to relativity, time passes more slowly close to a massive object than it does in a mass-less vacuum. This change in the passing of time is called time distortion.

Since its introduction in 1915, general relativity has been tested extensively and has become our best description of gravity on tremendous scales. But scientists aren't yet sure if it can explain invisible dark matter and dark energy, which together account for around 95% of the energy and matter in the universe.  READ MORE...

Vibrating

 

Hate For Democracy

 

Early Universe Had Slower Time

A phenomenon called cosmological time dilation means that events taking place in the early universe seem to evolve slower than those today.

Time seems to have ticked more slowly when the universe was young, according to observations of ancient astronomical objects that appear to evolve at a fifth of the rate we see today.

The idea that time appears to be slower in the past sounds odd, but it is a direct consequence of the expansion of the universe since the big bang. This expansion means that light from ancient cosmic events must travel increasingly longer distances to reach Earth, and therefore takes more time to arrive. 

As a result, cosmic events that are extremely distant or far back in time appear to unfold more slowly compared to the same event happening nearby, right now. 

That isn’t to say the early universe was in slow motion, however – anyone present billions of years ago would have seen time evolving normally. Source: New Scientist (for registered users) TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

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Looking Into the Future

I doubt that Joe Biden will get re-elected because of his age and Kamala Harris as his VP is scary should something happen to him.  I also think that Donald Trump has worn out his welcome, even though his tactics created the best economy that we have ever seen...  too much water over the dam and too many indictments because of his ARROGANCE...  so, that leaves a Republican (other than Trump) becoming President.

Right away, we know that our WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS WILL END in the first day of office.

We also know that something drastic will be done to close our borders.

We can also assume that CHINA will no longer be dealt with like they were under Biden.

We can also assume that inflation, crime & violence, and a weaponized DOJ and FBI will be dealt with as well.

More than likely, efforts will be taken to curb government spending and to lower our national debt.

Because of China's claim to replace the USA as the global leader, our military will receive a boost as well.

Looking ahead...

1. Our national debt is our biggest enemy with which we must deal.  We must REDUCE spending if we are going to have a bright future for our children and grandchildren.

2. Social Security will never survive unless we raise the maximum retirement age and quite possibly reduce allotments by 10-20%.

CAVEATS: 

If we are to reduce allotments, then we MUST FORCE the workforce to create their own retirement accounts.  This training should be done in high school.

For example, if someone saved $2.50/day and at the end of the month put that money into a Mutual Fund, at the end of 40 years, they would have $500,000+/-.  They would be 58 years old...

Social Security would just be a back-up plat to supplement their own retirement account.

3.  Serious steps will need to be taken over the next 3-5 years dealing with employment as AI/ROBOTS are expected to replace 80% of the current jobs.

4.  If we are planning to commit ourselves 100% to green energy and electric vehicles, then we will need to substantially increase our energy grid as well as find ways to build EV cheaper so the average person can afford them.

CAVEATS:  

Currently, replacement batteries for EVs are $6,000-$10,000 and they only last 8-10 years.

Also, a fully charged battery will only take the EV 300+ miles which eliminate trips that are over 300 miles as the time to recharge is rather long.

Additionally, there are not enough charging stations to accommodate a large amount of EVs, so there will be lines of EVs waiting to charge.

If you haven't started yet, you need to seriously think about your future and the needs of you and your family and see if we are currently on the right track to meet your expectations.

Not doing this will have serious consequences.

Window Breeze

 

Magical Material

A seemingly magical material can block microwaves, infrared (IR) heat, and light and then magically shift to a transparent state that also allows IR and microwaves to pass through simply by being stretched or contracted.

Inspired by the properties of squid skin, which can shift from translucent to opaque due to the presence of iridocytes and chromatophores, the new material could help create stealth materials, safeguard electronic devices, dramatically improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings, and even protect against microwave weapons.

In the last few decades, researchers have developed a number of different seemingly magical materials. Some can shift from transparent or translucent states to more opaque states, with common applications including use in external office windows to improve energy usage or for internal windows that shift between public (transparent) and private (opaque) modes.

This ability was first noted in cephalopods like squids, which can shift the iridocytes and chromatophores embedded in their skin cells to alter their appearance, just one of the unique traits about these animals that have had some biologists asking if they are actually alien creatures. READ MORE...

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Promising new hydrogen fuel cell technology has up to 50% higher performance than current state-of-the-art technology, with improved durability. 

The grooved electrode design advance may help optimize next-generation fuel cell technology to power emission-free medium- and heavy-duty transportation.

"We had a theory that by reimagining the way electrodes are designed we could achieve improved performance," said Jacob Spendelow, materials scientist with the Los Alamos National Laboratory team that described its results in the journal Nature Energy. 

"One of our biggest takeaways is that novel materials are not the only route to improve performance. The way the materials are put together can be equally important.

"All we did was take conventional commercially available materials and change the way we put them together to change the microscale architecture, and that resulted in substantially higher performance."

Hydrogen fuel cells—and specifically a version of the technology called proton exchange membrane fuel cells—represent an emission-free engine design that uses hydrogen as a fuel. Fuel cells could transform the medium- and heavy-duty transportation sector, which has been difficult to decarbonize.  READ MORE...

I'll Drink to That