4,000 years of history in 1 chart – superb visualization

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Think you could map out the history of the world over the last 4,000 years, showing the relative power of all the major governments and people groups, and then put all that info into one chart?

John B. Sparks did just that back in 1931. His five-foot-long chart can be seen at Slate – The Entire History of the World – Really, All of It – Distilled Into a Single Gorgeous Chart.

Very cool to look at the ebb and flow of the people groups discussed in the Old and New Testament – the Egyptians giving way to the Babylonians and Assyrians. Then the Persians and Greeks and Romans. Then the Ottoman Turks, then British & other European powers. The map stops in 1931, at the start of the Great Depression and between the two world wars.

Continue reading “4,000 years of history in 1 chart – superb visualization”

The printed book industry looks like the dying honeysuckles in the park. And I’m okay with that. Not the plants dying, but the industry.

Daily I walk past a large group of honeysuckle plants that used to be about 30 feet long and about 12 feet wide. The aroma is wonderful while they are in bloom.

Over the last couple of months, something has happened to the plant bed. There are three big areas where there is now only dirt. The number of honeysuckle plants is about half what it used to be.

The ones left are pretty, growing, and fragrant.

However, that bed of plants is dying.

What is happening to those fragrant plants is happening to the book industry.

Continue reading “The printed book industry looks like the dying honeysuckles in the park. And I’m okay with that. Not the plants dying, but the industry.”

More good stuff on surveillance – 8-15-13

There are a lot of articles discussing the surveillance world we now live in. I would like to comment on many of them in a full post. Alas, time does not permit.

Here is my second list of good stuff that I’d like talk about but only have time to recommend with a quick comment.

Here’s two new phrases for you:

  • Localized cloud
  • “Patriot-Act proof” – a new promo for cloud storage sites that aren’t in the U.S.

Continue reading “More good stuff on surveillance – 8-15-13”

Maybe there is a Peak Oil issue after all. That would be Peak Oil Consumption, not Peak Oil Production

We may be hitting a peak in demand for oil. That’s the idea raised in The Economist two weeks ago – Yesterday’s Fuel.

Between a tremendous surge in natural gas production and car efficiencies, they perceive demand for oil may stabilize instead of continuing to grow.

Thus, we might finally have a real Peak Oil issue: Continue reading “Maybe there is a Peak Oil issue after all. That would be Peak Oil Consumption, not Peak Oil Production”

Mali update – 8-12-13 – Mali has a new president

Wow. Election is resolved in Mali a day after the balloting and before the official results are announced.

On Monday Soumaila Cissé, former finance minister, conceded to Ibrahim Keita, a former prime minister.

Not that my voice matters to anyone, but I wish from the bottom of my heart that Mr. Keita will have a successful presidency and bring peace and prosperity to his country.

See Wall Street Journal – Keita Wins Mali Vote After His Opponent Concedes for the news.

Other background articles

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Damage to trust in our government is most dangerous risk of the spying fiasco

I think the most serious damage from the feds spying on everything is that the effort could rapidly destroy our trust as citizens in our government. Collateral damage is that the big tech companies could wipe out our trust in them.

Bruce Schneier has been discussing this often, especially in a recent column at Schneier on Security – Restoring Trust in Government and the Internet

Look at these technically true comments that are actually very clever deceptions: Continue reading “Damage to trust in our government is most dangerous risk of the spying fiasco”

Looks like newspapers are available for purchase with pocket change – if you have humongous pockets

Amazing. The Boston Globe was sold for a negative sales price. The Washington Post is purchased by an individual for his personal portfolio.

Continue reading “Looks like newspapers are available for purchase with pocket change – if you have humongous pockets”

Global impact of fracking on oil market

Huge increase in oil production in the U.S. created by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is a strategic threat to OPEC.

Against Crony Capitalism blog observes:

Saudi Arabia is concerned. Thanks to the shale gas revolution which has blossomed in the United States and which is starting to blossom in places like the United Kingdom and even China, the Saudi stranglehold on world energy reserves is loosening with each passing day.

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7 ways life is getting better – you likely haven’t heard about them

Cancer rates are going down. Increasing life expectancy is reducing the growth in population.

Lots of surprising things going on around us that we often don’t focus on. Check out this video of Ron Bailey discussing some of the items with Reason TV:

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbHHXTa5eUw&feature=player_embedded]

 

What are a few of those things you probably hadn’t heard lately?

Continue reading “7 ways life is getting better – you likely haven’t heard about them”

The next industry to collapse – low-end digital cameras

How’s this for disruption – a 42% drop in the volume of point-and-shoot cameras shipped in the first five months of 2013.

Olympus expects their volume of low-end cameras to drop 50% this year compared to last.

Continue reading “The next industry to collapse – low-end digital cameras”

“A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is.”

Philosiblog discusses that idea in a post of the same name.

It took me many years of struggling with the concept before I understood the idea that each of us is responsible for our own attitude.

The comment above illustrates the idea.

Philosiblog says:

Misery, like happiness, comes from within. If you choose to be miserable, you will be. If you choose to be happy, you will be. Yes, sometimes it is easier to be miserable than happy, but you can be happy, if you put forth the effort.

Continue reading ““A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is.””

Estimates of population in Williston show doubling since 2010

Number of people in Williston is growing so fast that the people who track such things are having a hard time figuring out how many are there.

Latest study is from N.D. State University, reported by AP in Grand Forks Herald: Study: Williston population growth to continue.

Current estimate is somewhere between 25,000 and 33,000 people are living in Williston. That’s up from the official count in the 2010 census of 14,700.

Notice the range of the estimate?

Continue reading “Estimates of population in Williston show doubling since 2010”

12 situations when it might matter to you that the Feds are tracking everything you text or email and making note of everywhere you go.

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Recent news reports indicate federal intelligence agencies are gathering up a lot more information than we knew. That data is available to undisclosed lists of unknown people and will be retained for a very long time.

So what?

Here’s just a few circumstances in which you might not want access to your data by a long list of unidentified persons from various federal, state, or local agencies who were granted access to various unidentified parts of the various databases: Continue reading “12 situations when it might matter to you that the Feds are tracking everything you text or email and making note of everywhere you go.”