Tar-sands magnate, Bill Gates support research on geoengineering
February 11, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Geoengineering -- the notion that we might blunt some of the effects of climate change by, for example, creating an artificial volcano to shade earth's surface and cool the planet -- is picking up steam among rich people. And not just Montgomery Burns! Philanthropists too!
The latest to join the fray are Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and "tar-sands magnate Murray Edwards," …
'Cohort replacement': Climate deniers won't change, but they will die
February 10, 2012 § Leave a Comment
A great many people believe that one of the primary barriers to action on climate change is the existence of a cadre of "climate deniers" -- people who refuse to accept the now-overwhelming scientific evidence for anthropogenic climate change. There is a great deal of tortured introspection among people in my circles about how to reach the deniers and bring them around to reality.
App Economy is 'job leader' into the future
February 9, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Last spring Technet asked me to examine the size of the 'App Economy', focusing on the number of jobs being created. The official job statistics from the BLS were no help, given the speed at which the App Economy was evolving. Instead, I developed an innovative methodology for using a '21st century' database, The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine, to track App Economy jobs.
Greek trump card fails as stronger Europe shrugs off break-up threat - Telegraph
February 8, 2012 § Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank’s flood of cheap credit for three years has removed the immediate threat of a banking crisis and proved a powerful tonic for confidence, transforming the character of the crisis.
Bond yields have plummeted in both Italy and Spain since November, largely decoupling from the ups and down of daily events in Athens. The effect has been to nullify Greece’s trump card: the implicit threat to bring down the whole edifice if treated too harshly.
Shanghai shipping slump as IMF warns China on euro slump - Telegraph
February 8, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Shanghai shipping slump as IMF warns China on euro slump - Telegraph.
The shipping specialist Lloyd's List said container traffic through the Port of Shanghai - the world's largest - fell by 100,000 boxes in January from a year earlier, or 4pc. Volumes fell by over one million tonnes.
The figures may have been distorted by China's Lunar Year but there has been a relentless slide in the Shanghai transport data for months.
Russian official visits Syria to meet al-Assad
February 7, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Damascus on Tuesday to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, days after world leaders accused Russia of helping give the Syrian government a green light to kill more civilians.
While attempts at diplomacy have so far failed to curb the estimated thousands of deaths in the 11-month conflict, residents and opposition activists say they are desperate for international help in stopping the regime from slaughtering dissidents.
Google hires a senior director at Apple for a top secret project (exclusive)
February 6, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Google has pulled off a coup by hiring an Apple senior director of product integrity for a secret project, VentureBeat has learned.
The recruiting feat is historic since Google has never hired such a senior person away from Apple. The hiring is also interesting because the Department of Justice is investigating Google and Apple for allegedly working out a "no poach" agreement where the companies -- along with Pixar, Lucasfilm, Intel and Intuit -- allegedly conspired to suppress employee compensation by not poaching each other's employees.
