Seadragon, Biochar, Torrefaction, Dobet Gnahore, Circumcision

Arnold Toynbee...civilizations rise under the leadership of a creative minority, who are able to offer a vision of human destiny and possibility strong enough to overcome the inertia of tradition and launch a new phase of social integration. As long as the creative minority continues to come up with successful responses to the challenges and curve balls the world throws at every human society, the society they lead continues to expand. Sooner or later, though, the creative minority becomes so deeply committed to some particular set of solutions that it keeps on trying to apply those solutions, whether or not they actually fit the challenges. At that point the creative minority degenerates into a dominant minority, ruling its society by increasingly blatant coercion rather than inspiring it with the force of its ideas. Unsolved problems pile up as failed responses are repeated on an ever more lavish scale, and the death spiral of decline and fall begins.
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a small company in New Zealand, EcoInnovation Ltd., that builds micro-hydro systems – ... What sets the EcoInnovation systems apart from others, though, is that the generators used in them are salvaged washing machine motors.
energybulletin

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new Computer Interfaces Amazing videos of

<>comnellink
photosynth
ted
seadragon
"computer vision algorithms have registered these images spatially" Blaise Aguera y Arcas at Microsoft

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Bad Virus
Confliker C. The recent report by SRI makes for some chilling reading. On April 1 (that is, next Wednesday!) the virus is set to…well…do something. It’s not clear what, but with so many millions of computers will do it. ... Variant C, which emerged on the Internet at roughly 6 p.m. (PST) on 4 March 2009. T

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Biochar Again
George Monbiot is arguing against plantations for charcoal on 'degraded' land - GM apparently dislikes spruce. I wonder if he would support DOC crews who poison "wilding" pines because folks dont like them. because Montery pines are not enzed 'native'.

. GM is very harsh on Massey U's Peter Read who sees former forests as 'degraded land' where plantations will lead the impoverished into the joys of a 'waged income'.
My personal experience of logged rain forests, in Palawan, was armed guards keeping the peasants off. The particular guard who squashed next to me in the front seat of a jeepney, had the disturbing habit of playing with his M16, displaying the loaded clip. His weapon had the grenade launcher attachment, which seemed somewhat overkill. As a timid 'Haribon' tee-shirt wearer I was already heading out of town. He was escorting sacks of something, I believe they were coral.
The big boss boasted that he was saving the forests by scaring off the poor. Only a few had been shot, people got the message. The boatman in the harbour refused to go with rifle-shot of the ship obviously illegaly loading round-logs for export.

In the early 90s the green movement believed that tropical rain-forests once logged became sun-baked lateric desserts. Paleo-Billionaire Ludwig famously failed in a plantation attempt in the Amazon.. Recently, however, it has become evident that with enough fertilizer and alkali, ex-jungle can grow soy-beans to the horizon. This perhaps puts rainforests even more at risk.

Wandering through Central American Jungle (nb the word Jungle is non-PC in green circles, be careful where you use it) Alarmed by rushing herds of peccaries. Awed by the enterprise of leaf-cutter ants. Various mounds, I later learned, are remnants of the Maya civilization - which signed off 1,111 years prior to my visit. Looked like 'natural' rainforest to me. Apparently it is enriched with fruit trees, indicative of human modification. More mammals because of the fruit trees.
Throughout the Amazon large lenses of black earth indicate prior human settlement - the stuff grows back, you can harvest some of it and sell it - buyers get shards of pre-colombian pottery with their 'humus'.
I watched a video of some anthropologist standing on a bend of the Congo river, bent down and picked up pottery shards. Seems the Congo forest was populated also. Dont know what Pan did then.

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Torrefaction
During torrefaction, woodchips go through a machine ..– to remove the moisture and toast the biomass. ..drier and easier to crush.
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The torrefied wood ... retains 80 percent of the original energy content in one-third the weight. .. NC State ... Autothermic Transportable Torrefaction Machine (ATTM), is field portable and self-heated. ... reduces the cost of transporting tons of woody biomass ..
[ add a stirling engine generator, and what more do ya need?]
sciencedaily
Biowatt?
hotfrog
pritchardpower - Pritchard had 2-man lifted biomass Stirling engines,

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Dobet Gnahore wondrous singer


myspace
contrejour
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Serval
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LNG tanker
216,000m³. say 100 kilotons if it was mixed with air thats 100+ kilotons, a thermonuclear sized blast.
Fortunately its difficult to get the air mixture right.
The density of LNG is roughly 0.4 1 to 0.5 kg/L, ... The energy density 60% of that of diesel fuel.[1] ... LNG ... 1/600th the volume of natural gas

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circumcised men had a 25% reduced risk for infection. for Herpes. 35% less HPV (warts, most cervical cancer
Foreskins seem to invite infections. Perhaps the SQE cells had a role in presenting possible infections for inspection. HIV infects the inspectors. I dont know if HSV and HPV similarly circumvent the immune system.
I was circumcised. I had HPV. - since burnt off with chemicals. A girlfriend died of cancer. I was not informed of her death, nor was I told if it was cervical cancer. Thats a hideous burden to carry
nytimes

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