El Acelerador

El acelerador LHC (CERN), a punto de iniciar la fase de los primeros descubrimientos ! . . . se inyectaron por primera vez los dos haces de protones (circulando a casi la velocidad de la luz en sentido opuesto) a una energía de 3,5 teraelectronvoltios (TeV) por haz.

China - Google

BEIJING, 24.03.10 — China is a nation that builds dams, high-speed rail lines and skyscrapers with abandon. In newly muscular China, sheer force is not just an art, but a bedrock principle . . . Now China has tightened its grip on the variegated world of online information, forcing Google, the world’s premier information provider, to choose between submitting to censorship and leaving the world’s largest community of Internet users.
“The Chinese are very serious about pushing their soft-power agenda,” Bill Bishop, a Beijing Internet entrepreneur, and author of the technology blog Digicha, says “Google just put a big hole in that sales pitch, and I think they know that.” China’s leaders appear aware of their dilemma. NY Times.

Believing is Seeing

. . . experiments show that vision can be improved by manipulating mind-sets. . . participants were primed with the mind-set that pilots have excellent vision. Vision improved for participants who experientially became pilots (by flying a realistic flight simulator) compared with control participants (who performed the same task in an ostensibly broken flight simulator).

EE.UU. Cámara aprueba

Reforma de la salud ! Domingo, la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos otorgó su aprobación a un proyecto de ley que reforma el sistema de salud. Al conseguir la aprobación de la ley, el presidente estadounidense Barack Obama avanza en el cumplimiento de una de las grandes prioridades de su mandato: darle cobertura de salud a unos 32 millones de estadounidenses que actualmente no están protegidos. Se espera que sea la reforma más ambiciosa en el sistema de salud de ese país . . . BBC MUNDO

Michael Portillo

Gracias amigo por tu «Power to the People», BBC2 TV tonight ! + Mira la página El País aqui.

Talk Deeply

Deep conversations make people happier than small talk . . . Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather? It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published a study on the subject. “We found this so interesting, because it could have gone the other way — it could have been, ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ — as long as you surf on the shallow level of life you’re happy, and if you go into the existential depths you’ll be unhappy,” [Thank you New York Times and RONI CARYN RABIN and ConversationsZenShui/Getty Images,March 2010]

Evan Williams

Very good interview on BBC World Service last night in their THE INTERVIEW series, with Evan Williams, founder of Twitter (and Blogger - thanks Ewan !)

Vivaz !

Creo que soy el primero. . . they say {Telefónica} that I'm the first in my region to try the new O2 Vivaz, which takes 9-sequenced photos, (like the old motor-drives that Terrence Donovan always used for his ace action fashion work. Review-links to follow, in commentarios below (to include Robbie Robertson's test this afternoon at BMGC ?

Meseon

New find: Meseon . . . via Google Alerts

Babylon

My first experiments with Babylon.
Demo video is here.
Will report on 2010 tests in comments below.
[ most machine translations to date are horrible «'oRRiblay» - PW ]

¿Quién es Carlos Slim?

Carlos Slim, de 71 años, no usa aviones privados . . . anduvo con un reloj de plástico en la muñeca. . . Slim no es el típico multimillonario que la gente se imagina. Y a pesar de que tiene una computadora personal, admite que no la usa: "Soy un hombre de papeles, no de electrónicos". . . En 1902 totalmente solo, con 14 años de edad, sin hablar español y procedente de Líbano llegó a México (su padre). . . [ BBC Mundo,Forbes, marzo 2010 y biografía oficial ].

Google Docs

I am a true believer in Google Docs, for quick recording of interesting topics, for colaborative projects, for posting pictures, for avoiding attachments, for one-click publishing to web. Here is Google's new ::video::

Fotógrafo

I have always avoided photos (fotos !) in blogs and sometimes on websites too . . . for various reasons, but I do like pictures taken by Brooke, and by Robbie at BMGC, and Terence Donovan (who I knew well in London), and by Jeffrey, amongst several others who I'll point to later. Today I must ask Jeffrey if I can use some of his.

World Book Day ?

Hi Peter ! , - as it is International Book Day, there must be something good going on in Hay on Wye ? I have a feeling that you are probably very busy at the moment with your websites and recycling and Timbuktu, and M. busy selling books at the BOOK DAY ! Will contact again soon, and before I get on that plane. Rosemary
Dear Rosemary, neither I, nor Magdeleine, knew that it was International Book Day. Thanks for telling us ! . . . and it was one of the quietest days ever in M’s bookshop ! I myself was out enjoying the Spring Sunshine at the Gliding Club and experimenting with my new Nikon L19 digital camera. Nearly all the photos on the Club website were taken with a similar camera, by Robbie Robson who spent all day up at 8,000 ft above us ! He is a great character, who looks a bit like Daniel, and has similar wit.

I’ve just discovered a very good Thai restaurant, GÂTHÂ, nearby in Talgarth. «SA WAD DE KRUPP, PETER» I learned, means "Hiya Peter". Lulu did not know that Krupp was/is a great German family and family business (like her’s !).
By all means let’s have a report about your International Day, for me to record here !! . . let us know what is going on in the world !!!
Peter

12 yr old brave girl !

Chilean Islanders nearly all saved by a 12-year-old girl ! She saved almost the entire population of a small island, 700km off the country's coast. The inhabitants of “Robinson Crusoe Island” were asleep as a massive tsunami approached, (triggered by the earthquake that hit the mainland). The coastal buildings were all smashed but most people survived. “ . . (from where she was – higher up). . . she apparently noticed the fishing boats (agitated by the receding water) . . and sprinted down to the town, where there is/was (had always been) a gong or bell to sound in case of emergencies such as fire . . . alarma de tsunami fue tocada cuando ola se acercaba . . . the whole coastal zone of the town has now been erased . . tsunami wave height over 40 metres . . some (slower) inhabitants swept out to sea. - Peter Hodum. [ precis and transcription of his radio report on BBC World Service].
(Robinson Crusoe, the larger island of the Juan Fernandez archipelago, did have signage about how evacuate (uphill) in case of tsunamis, but did not get the official warning in time.) . . . Que chica viva y rapida ! Increible !!
-

Dydd Dewi Sant

The National Day of Wales is always 1st of March, Dydd Dewi Sant, and we all wear a yellow daffodil flower. Dewi was one of the founders of the Celtic Church (c.589 AD) in the British Isles, and his day is celebrated with much singing of songs like Calon Lân.
Calon Lân is also sung before every rugby match thoughout the season, often by 1000's at a match. It is also sung beautifully in pubs, clubs, churches ! and by folksingers.
Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na'i berlau mân,
Gofyn 'rwyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lân.

Calon lân yn llawn daioni,
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos:
Dim ond calon lân all ganu
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos.
The first part translates as:
I don't ask for a luxurious life,
the world's gold or its fine pearls,
I ask for a happy heart,
an honest heart, a pure heart.
Here is Canol Lân sung by Bryn Tervel and choir:

Richard Dawkins

I've a couple of Richard's Audiobooks and they make very good going-to-bed listening. Richard has often held audiences spell-bound at The Guardian Hay Festival of Literature with his fine speaking voice, and quick wit.