“U.S. Internet speed better but still lags”

       This article tries to draw a connection between a countries internet speeds and its economic growth.  In my opinion this article was not very persuasive and did not have many facts.  The article says, “Studies repeatedly link faster Internet connections to improved economic development and education outcomes,” but does not give any details from there.  A statistic showing the United States’ internet speeds are shown, but no facts showing where our education or economic levels are given.  I believe the author omits these facts because there is only a weak correlation between internet speeds and economic growth.

            One useful statistic the article gives is, “A 2011 report concluded that doubling broadband speeds can increase a nation's gross domestic product by 0.3 percent. That would add up to $126 billion in the United States, noted the paper by networking equipment company Ericsson, consulting firm Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.” This shows a possible correlation between internet speeds and gross domestic product even if it is only 0.3 percent.  I know that 0.3 percent would lead to a large amount of money gained, but it is such a small percent that it could be due to other factors. Even the useful statistics in this article could be shown to be hollow easily.

            The idea behind the article however is an interesting one and could be plausible.  A faster internet connection could, in principle lead to a higher education level.  This is a little bit of a stretch, but it might be possible to show a direct correlation between the two.  The next part is where it gets a little muddled.  The question is, does a higher education level lead to a higher gross domestic product?  I don’t believe you can prove this with a direct correlation.  While a higher level of education would lead to smarter business decisions, there would still be companies and people who invest in things that are high risk high reward and could possibly fail.  Also if everyone had a college degree there would be even more people fighting for the same amount of jobs. (It’s nice being an engineer because you are fighting with a more limited amount of people that if you were in the business field)  I don’t believe that there is a connection between education level and gross domestic product.

            This article brings up a few good points but does not use enough statistics to back them up.  It is plausible to draw a connection between faster internet and a higher level of education.  However, I don’t think it is possible to draw a connection between higher education levels and a higher gross domestic product.  I was not persuaded by this article to believe that a connection between faster internet and economic levels was anything more than a coincidence. 

AP IMPACT: Recession, tech kill middle-class jobs

        Structural unemployment is defined as a mismatch between the demand in the labor market and the skills and locations of workers seeking unemployment.  With technology being brought into every sector of the economy, consumers are dealing less with people and jobs that can be automated by computers or machines are being done so at an alarming rate.  Start ups whose innovation in the past has helped to bring many jobs to the table during recessionary periods are hiring a third less than 20 years ago.  Many smart technologies have single-handedly removed jobs that technicians in the past would have been trained and paid a good salary to perform.   Many experienced workers are having their jobs replaced by the younger generation who generally is more comfortable using newer software despite whether or not they have formal training 

        The reductionist theory of Technological determinism states that technology drives the development of society and cultural values.  Technology is advancing at a faster rate than society and the current generation of entry level employees is realizing this as seen by the recent rapid influx of degrees dealing with software, hardware and technology management. As Karl Marx would have believed, the people who control new technology also have a relative increase in social power.  Technology autonomously promotes stratification which re-balances social power and thus empowers those who understand it.  Living standards are sure to fall overall for the middle class and adaptation to the market is a must for their survival in the long run.  Many politicians run on a platform claiming that they are fighting for the middle class and it will be interesting to see whether or not the Obama administration will intervene to bring back jobs in some of the sectors hardest hit by technology like manufacturing and retail. Curves such as the Beveridge Curve help to show shocks of cyclical and structural unemployment in a graphical sense.   

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-recession-tech-kill-middle-class-jobs-051306434--finance.html

Voter Data for a Price

During the 2012 election cycle, President Obama's campaign accumulated massive amounts of user data. Through the process of donations, facebook likes, surveys, store purchases, and various other outlets, a staggering amount of information collected for millions of voters, and has been handed over to a new advocacy group.

This data is without a doubt very personal. Campaigns will go to great lengths to learn more about potential voters. Age, gender, location, voting history, and opinions on various issues are collected from your browsing behavior. Campaigns use this personal data to refine their missions, serve personal recommendations (Hey Jack, did you know Mitt Romney also loves Sriracha sauce?), and pinpoint targets to gain more votes. But as we've seen today, this data doesn't always stay with the campaign.

Organizing for Action (OFA) has struck a leasing deal with the Obama campaign, essentially gaining access to databases of millions of voters without them knowing it. The OFA will use this data to push its legislative agenda onto Obama's once "secret" supporters, unleashing what has been referred to as "an army of door knockers" geared towards holding Obama supporters accountable for the ideas they supposedly agreed with.

The uncertainty of where this data will go next is worrisome to many, and even more worrisome is the fact that so few Obama supporters actually realize what data has been collected on them, and how this data can be exchanged for a price.

Source: http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16726913-obama-campaign-gives-database-of-millions-of-supporters-to-new-advocacy-group?lite

$1.6 Billion Supercomputer simulate human brain

An international group of researchers have secured $1.6 billion dollars to fund the Human Brain Project. Over the next 10 years scientists from various disciplines will seek to understand and map the networks of over a hundred billion neuronal connections that illicit emotions, volitional thought and even consciousness itself. The Scientists will be using a scaled up multi-layered  simulation running on a super computer. The team will consist of more then 200 individual in 80 different institutions across the globe. The project will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The project looks to build new platforms for "neuromorphic computing" and "neurorobotics,"  allowing the scientists to develop new computing systems and robots based on the architecture and circuitry of the brain. They will also attempt to reconstruct the human brain piece by piece and install these into a overarching supercomputer.

Sex Differences in Drug Metabolization

        Just when I thought that it was already difficult being a female in the social realm, scientific research has brought yet another issue (a biological one) to the forefront concerning women's health as opposed to men's health in the use of sleep aids. In a recent study, the Food and Drug Administration experimented with a pill that would help people who suffered from waking up in the middle of the night, a pill that was meant to last a shorter period of time than a normal prescription would, which is around 8 hours after consumption. However, upon testing Intermezzo, a hypnotic drug used to offset the chemical imbalances found in those with sleeping problems (insomniacs), it was concluded that men had little appearance of the drug remaining in their system as opposed to their female counterparts. With these results, a smaller dosage (3.5 mg for men and 1.75 mg for women) was approved and prescribed by the F.D.A. As Dr. Janine Clayton of the National Institutes of Health states, "There are a lot of sex differences for a lot of drugs, some of which are well known and some that are not well recognized."
        Something that I found alarming was that the F.D.A. did not allow women of child-bearing age to be test subjects for experimental drugs until 1993; it was probably placed as a countermeasure for ethical reasons, but that's pretty recent! So when drugs such as aspirin and new forms of anesthesia were approved by the F.D.A. and released for public health care, many physicians and experts of the scientific community were on edge and skeptical as to what impact these drugs would have on women, and negative side effects were no surprise to be had. A gruesome statistic collected by the Government Accountability Office showed that 8 out of 10 drugs banned from the market between 1997 and 2000 posed as severe health risks for women. Women taking Seldane or Propulsid often experienced deadly heart arrhythmias at some point while on a regiment for either one of these medications. All in all, it looks like sleep aids are not the only "remedies" affecting women negatively today. But what are some of the reasons as to why there are such prominent differences in women than in men for drugs such as sedatives, antibiotics, anesthesia, and even alcohol? 

 

Studies have shown that women oftentimes have sedatives remaining in their systems upon waking up in comparison to men. This can lead to a continued state of drowsiness and pose as a hazard while doing everyday tasks, such as operating a vehicle.

Some reasons include that women tend to have more body fat in relation to men who tend to have more muscle, and because a majority of medications are largely water-based, they linger in the bloodstream and fat tissue for extended periods of time. Furthermore, women are also suspected of taking more drugs at a time than men are for illnesses such as high blood pressure as a result of going through menopause. The fact that women also menstruate and experience constant hormonal fluctuations also serve as other modes of reasoning. There are also biological gaps in kidney function and in the rates at which the liver metabolizes food in men and women.

        The bottom line is that there is a prominent difference with drugs and gender, and future testing in medication should take them seriously and into account no matter how big the test group needs to be. When it is a matter of life and potential lawsuits and recalls, these differences are definitely not worth the risk to ignore. 

-Radster



 Sources:

1) For the original article, "The Drug-Dose Gender Gap," published in the New York Times by Roni Caryn Rabin, click here.
2) For the actual study report written and conducted by the Government Accountability Office, click here.
3) For the image link, click here.


  

          

The Dangers of Surf Technology

As technology in our world is advancing, we are slowly finding that it is making its way into our sports programs. Surfing technology has been on the rise for years and has no intentions of slowing down. During the filming of the movie Chasing Mavericks, which was released within the past few months, a new wetsuit was designed and used to help surfers brave the 30 foot surf swell. Invented by surfer Shane Dorian and manufactured by Billabong surf company, this wetsuit, called the V1, allows a surfer who has been driven deep underwater after a wipeout to pull a cord on the wetsuit and inflate the air bladder attached to it. This process uses a CO2 cartridge to inflate the bladder and bring the surfer to the surface of the water.

This new technology is great in ensuring that surfers do not drown when being pushed nearly 40 feet underwater after falling, but it is also talk of concern among many professional surfers.
The advancement of new technology in the surfing world not only allows surfers to be safer in the bigger waves, but it also allows more surfers to push their limits. Many professional surfers believe that with this suit, young surfers will not prepare themselves for the gigantic surf and will simply rely on their inflatable wetsuit.
As a surfer myself, I fear that new technology in surfing will only leave us with more injuries. This technology allows people to surf in larger conditions and feel safe, without preparing their bodies for the physical beating they will get when surfing larger waves.
The biggest question as technology pushes its way into sports is -Where do we draw the line?
A sport such a surfing is something that takes years of practice and training to master. With this technology, it is feared that surfers will not master enough skills before pushing their body to new extremes.

Article:  http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/water-activities/surfing/Courage-in-a-Canister.html?page=1

Spider Unchained: New Means of Silk Harvesting

          In what was a toss-up with the solar panel spotted salamander, the enslaved silk-producing spider won my attention.  Reported by NewScientist, a man by the name of Fritz Vollrath and his Oxford-based team have discovered a way to harvest the natural material that exceeds the strength of our artificial steel by an impressive 20 times.  However, the silk acquired is for research purposes and by potentially controversial means.

         The producer of the silk is none other than my ultimate phobia, the spider; more specifically, the orb spider.  To harvest the silk naturally produced by the orb spider, Vollrath and his team pin down the arachnid and carefully extract an initial strand of silk, wrapping it around a motorized wheel to continue the spider's silk production.  This process can continue for up to 8 hours, and with the orb spider's natural silk-spinning rate being 2 centimeters per second, this technique can potentially amass 57,600 centimeters of silk.  For those handful of countries still stuck in the customary measurement system (Hey, U.S.!), that's nearly 22,700 inches, approximately 1,900 feet, or a little more than 6 football fields; you get it—a lot of silk.
        Of course, the potential for gathering copious amounts of spider silk is great, running the gamut from artificial muscle replacements to stopping a bullet (sort of).  And with the breadth of silk that can be acquired being so large, this mode of harvesting spider silk may prove to be the most efficient, albeit ironically time-consuming, process of obtaining the scientifically versatile substance.  However, the only "but" to be debated is the ethical issue of detaining the spider for such an elongated period of time in the name of science.
      Now, at the end of the day, the spider is released back into its habitat, according to Vollrath,  "unharmed," but for up to 8 hours the creature is held captive.  Calling this practice exploitation or slavery may be what some may call "extreme," but the basis of the silk extraction process is in alignment with that of actual slavery.  Animal rights activists will certainly be opposed to this on principle, but the scientific and practical potential that Vollrath's team could tap into is invaluable.  To see the process hands-on, in video format, click on the spider below.

The orb spider: 6-inch leg span and 600
yards of silk.

'Superomniphobic Surface' Coatings

At the University of Michigan, Engineering Researchers have successfully created a surface that most liquids cannot wet. When a liquid comes into contact with the surface, the liquid simply bounces or ricochets off of the material. As an example, when you’re driving in the rain, you can see all of the little trails rain drops have left behind on your window or even some individual drops that still remain on the window. But if the window was instead coated in this new material, the individual water droplets would slide or bounce off and would not be able to stick around on the window, leaving no residue. The coating itself is a Nano scale coating that is comprised of mostly air (95-99% air), which gives the material its ‘special’ properties. Because the material is comprised mostly of air pockets, the liquids do not have much of any ‘solid’ material to ‘stick’ to and therefore slide right off. The material proved to be capable of repelling a large range of liquids, where out of the one hundred liquids they tested, only two failed (chlorofluorocarbons: chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners). Some of the few liquids that were repelled were: Water, coffee, soy sauce, vegetable oil, hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, gasoline, various alcohols, tea, and non-Newtonian liquids (ex. Shampoos, blood, printer ink, etc.). There is a video included with the article that I highly recommend watching. I personally find it quite intriguing and it really illustrates the effect better than a picture. Here is a picture anyway:

This technology can potentially ‘perfect’ or streamline many technologies out there today, with one of my favorites being, fingerprint proof materials for a touch screen technology. (It is really annoying having those lingering fingerprints all over the place). But the material itself can also be used for ships to hopefully create a more frictionless environment which would allow boat engines to be more efficient. The material could even be used as a protective coating from toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid. The material use can really be applied to anything you can think of where one would not desire a liquid interfering in some way; perhaps one day it will be a transparent material on windows of a car so you might not need windshield wipers anymore. I can really see this material/coating being something commonly found in many technologies and daily life in the future.

Article: (I suggest watching the clip)

http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/21099-a-material-that-most-liquids-won-t-wet

-Mike Dougherty

Free Speech is Free Speech, Regardless of Medium

For years and years, the watercooler was thought of as a hub for office gossip and the occasional snide comment, however, like most everything else, the watercooler has been made digital. In a world where people keep a Twitter account rather than a journal, and an Instagram rather than a photo album, complaining about work is just simply part of some employees daily routine. In recent years, companies have put new rules in place about how they can be discussed online by employees. Corporations like Target, Costco, and General Motors have all written in specific rules about how their employees should portray their respective companies online. These rules, however, will soon have to be deleted.

Despite strong efforts and deep pockets, the rules created by institutions about employee behavior are quickly being overturned and deemed unconstitutional. As Steven Greenhouse describes in his New York Times article, Even if It Enrages Your Boss, Social Net Speech Is Protected (linked below), many employees use social media to discuss poor conditions at work or in company policy. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) agrees, and has backed countless cases of wrongful termination. Greenhouse specifically depicts Mariana Cole-Rivera, who used Facebook to contact fellow co-workers and voice their concern about over-sized workload. Cole-Rivera's employer, Hispanics United of Buffalo, soon got wind of the post and fired her and four other co-workers who had interacted with the Facebook post, voicing their own concerns and opinions. Not surprisingly, Mariana Cole-Rivera won her wrongful termination suit, but currently continues her social work for another social institution.

Mariana Cole-Rivera's New York Times file photo

Not all commentary is welcome online, however, as offensive commentary is still at the discretion of the employer. Tweets like that of a Arizona police reporter's are still deemed inconsiderate and created grounds for firing. The reporter, frustrated with a lack of news, is cited as tweeting “What?!?!?! No overnight homicide. ... You’re slacking, Tucson.” Greenhouse continues to describe similar situations, such as a bar tender who wished asphyxiation on his customers as they drove home drunk, illustrating the bar's regulars as rednecks. 

Simply, we live in a world where anyone could be reading anything, and we should still be critical of what we say, post, tweet, and photograph, regardless of how 'constructive' we might think our point of view is. 

Steven Greenhouse's original article can be found here.

For information on the National Labor Relations Board, you may visit their website.

-Dan Longo

Another Twist in the Story of Life

Shy of the April 60^th anniversary of Watson and Crick revolutionary paper which explained the ‘double helix’ DNA structure, Cambridge researchers have yet again rewritten how we understand the world around us.  The University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry and Cambridge Research Institute, led by Giulia Biffi, was the group researching for the past ten years to prove the “existence of four-stranded ‘quadruple helix’ DNA structures – known as G-quadruples (in the human genome).”

So what does this mean for the future expansion in understanding the human genome?

Well, personally, I am skeptical about the ability to write the human genome for under 1 K if scientists are STILL finding additional regions of DNA.   Even though, for the past 60 years the structure has been “solved” scientists are proving that DNA is not as “easily” structured as initially thought.  Some of this development clearly relate to the improvement of technology as well as techniques in the lab involving understanding the DNA structure.  Originally the qaudruplex was found in a test tube, a vacuum, and was considered not to be a feature founded in nature or in living human cells.

Scientists believe that G-quadruples occur when a cell rapidly reproduces – a cancerous cell –possibly.  By linking this feature, scientists can target the cells to hopefully cure cancer.  They would like to use the unusual structure of the G-DNA to trap tumorous cells as they see a connection and opportunity to have the ability to stop these cells from dividing.   

However, I also understand that the general public cannot truly grasp what a quadruple helix in someone’s DNA exactly means.  The Race for the Double Helix, a 1987 TV movie, document Watson and Crick’s race to unlock the secret structure of DNA.  I feel like this showcases the lack of public understanding of science.  The public really does not care for figured it out nor do they grasp the political undercurrents and tension that stems from scientific discoveries.  With the basic public understanding of science plus I feel that social norms might reject the manipulation of one’s DNA, just like the mosquitoes in the “Mosquito Solution” article, because the impacts are unknown.  I understand that the alternative attempts to cure cancer are not really having been shot done as the families are usually willing to try anything. 

All in all, it is incredible to comprehend the possible outcomes by this discovery and what that can mean for the future of cancer treatment, other applications for life and how or if the social culture changes with this advancement in both science and technology.

Researchers have shown that four-stranded 'quadruple helix' DNA structures -- known as G-quadruplexes -- exist within the human genome. (Credit: Jean-Paul Rodriguez and Giulia Biffi)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130120150033.htm

Angela

My Own Apathy Terrifies Me

I need to lay down a little background first. I work in the AVL Industry (Automatic Vehicle Location) and I love my job a hysterical amount. I get to play with big data all day long. With a few clicks or a quick keystroke I can tell you how many times a bus was late somewhere and on average if it’s worth keeping that bus running. The power to do that is fantastic. What you can do with a few coordinates and a time would blow your mind.

It’s also terrifying. I mean, it doesn’t matter for buses. There’s no personal data. Nothing like that; my data makes sure people get to school, work, or dates on time. It’s pretty nifty like that.

But you know, I also have this little bugger:

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, a smartphone packed with features such as texting, facebook, sending my location to some satellite somewhere in who-knows-where, and occasionally allowing me to make a phone call.

I totally have a GPS device in my pocket 24/7. I don’t even know who gets the data and I don’t have a clue as to who can read it. I don’t know how much data I’m giving out just by walking down the street or going to buy water at the bodega downstairs. If I had access to my own GPS logs I could probably decipher where I’m supposed to be and when I’d be there.

I could totally spend some time analyzing that data and finding out when I’m most vulnerable to attacks, or when an advertisement would work best on me. If there’s a huge amount of variation at 1pm every day and I tend to go to any of a dozen different restaurants at that time it would only be reasonable to start getting advertisements at 12:30 about restaurants in my area.

I’m putting a lot of data out there somewhere, and that’s pretty scary.

What’s terrifying is that I honestly can’t get myself to give a damn about it. I can admit that there’s this terrifying problem, but I really won’t do anything about it. I trust, for now, that my data is in the hands of our benevolent overlords and not being too misused.

Google, the benevolent overlords of the world in regards to data, personal information; the kings of targeting ads and spinning profit. They also run a really nifty search engine and have some really pretty maps.

I work with this data, I know what it can do, and I don’t know if everyone’s as responsible as I am. It says a lot about my own personal apathy that I don’t really do anything about it. I know I’m in good company, too: I don’t know anyone that really does anything about their phone’s GPS’s. It’s just kind of faded into the back of our minds, or just become a constant. “Oh yeah, that’s just my GPS pinging a satellite somewhere every few seconds. Dunno which one. Dunno who gets the data. Whatevs.”

Maybe it’s because I have this fundamental hope embedded into the core of my personhood: I like to think that humans are essentially good, and that we’re intensely curious and that that’s why I love the data. I assume that everyone else is just as addicted to it, and that we’ll use it safely.

So I don’t care. I don’t do anything. I haven’t even turned off my phone in paranoia while writing this.

My apathy scares me. The apathy of my peers scares me. Yet the thing that which I am apathetic about, while terrifying in nature, does nothing to make me quake in my boots. It is most peculiar.

We humans are a confounding lot.

The Dreamliner Drama Continues

For the past few weeks we have been watching, listening and reading news about the problems faced by the much-heralded Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Authorities around the world last week grounded the new 787 Dreamliner, and Boeing halted deliveries after a problem with a lithium-ion battery prompted an All Nippon Airways 787 into the emergency landing at Takamatsu airport during a domestic flight. To add to the failure lists, the 787 Dreamliner has also been hit with a series of problems including fuel leaks and a cracked cockpit windscreen. Some sources cite that the reliance on electrical signals for almost everything in its operation makes the 787 Dreamliner a vulnerable aircraft and prone to electrical failure.

Two major airlines in Japan grounded all Boeing 787 jets on Jan. 16 after one had to make an emergency landing. (Source: AP)

A few days ago, I stumbled upon an interesting news article from The Washington Post titled “Is outsourcing to blame for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner woes?”. The article is interesting to me because the problem is now seemed to be centered towards outsourcing of components and human error. The critical component that is prone to failure, the lithium-ion batteries, are Japanese-made. This has prompted criticism from many of Boeing own former and current employees. Boeing is being criticized for being far too reliant on offshore suppliers for the 787’s production. This problem arises because the airliner is billions of dollars over budget and three years late from the promised operational time. So Boeing now transfers a large portions of its manufacturing and production lines to many foreign countries to cut cost and also to take advantage of the cheaper and abundant manufacturing materials and labor force. From an economic viewpoint, to put it vaguely, I think Boeing is building its manufacturing facilities in foreign countries due to cheaper work labors and services.

The drawback of this approach is that some of the pieces manufactured by far-flung suppliers did not fit together. Apart from that, there is also the issue of qualified experts operating in Boeing's facilities in the foreign nations. Since the final assembly of all the parts take place in Boeing’s facility in the United States, there will always be the constant problem of mismatch of parts or confusion with the scaling or measuring systems. A quick fact about the new 787 Dreamliner; 30% of the aircraft components are of foreign origins, including the Japanese-made lithium-ion batteries that are being blamed for the failure of the 787 Dreamliner. In comparison to its older brother, the Boeing 747, which has only 5% of its components made from foreign origins. (Source: the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace)

The damaged main lithium-ion battery, left, from the All Nippon Airways plane that made an emergency landing in Japan on Jan. 16 contrasts with the plane's undamaged auxiliary battery.(Source: Japan Transport Safety Board / January 17, 2013)

I am not saying and accusing that components made from outside of the United States are not of good quality. I’m also not saying that Japan is incapable of making good quality lithium-ion batteries. Its just that when Boeing employs a strategy to manufacture or have parts of the 787 Dreamliner made from other parts of the globe, the main problem that will happen is that the US-based manufacturers will have a hard time finding and evaluating the systems made from foreign origin. To make matters worst, the huge collections of components by hundreds of suppliers from tens of countries will make troubleshooting even more difficult. Outsourcing of some components, including the Japanese-made lithium-ion batteries, even made some of Boeing’s own employees mistrust the 787 Dreamliner.

However, the 787 Dreamliner is an aircraft not to be taken lightly. There are still a huge number of optimist folks out there that believe and confident that Boeing will work out the issues currently being experienced by the 787 Dreamliner and ultimately be a very reliable aircraft.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/18/is-outsourcing-to-blame-for-boeings-787-woes/

Wikileaks and Aaron Swartz

     A few days ago Wikileaks tweeted a few things about Aaron Swartz.
Aaron Swarts committed suicide on January 11, 2013, allegedly because of a major lawsuit over downloading academic material. In their tweets, they hinted that Swartz may or may not have been a contributor. They also hinted that he was in contact with Julian Assange (head man of Wikileaks), and that Swartz "assisted" Wikileaks. Weather or not Swartz did what Wikileaks suggested, it was irresponsible of them to suggest it publicly.

     Wikileaks entire operation relies on contributors being able to trust that their submissions, or assistance will remain completely anonymous. Without this guarantee, it would be idiotic to submit anything to them. By posting these tweets, they possibly compromised one of their sources and ruined their claims of anonymity. They have also possibly put the immediate family of Swartz in risk. If someone did not suspect Swartz of leaking something before, now it is possible they will look to his family for revenge.

     Aside from this ruining their contract with their leakers, their claims are also very vague. By saying that Swartz assisted Wikileaks, it could mean anything from, "he once held the door open for Julian Assange", to, "he payed for all server space". They also mention that Swartz was in communication with Assange at one point. Considering both men were up to their eye brows in legal trouble, it is very possible they were only discussing their lawsuits.

TL;DR Wikileaks screwed up by posting about Aaron Swartz.

Source:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/19/3893268/wikileaks-tweets-aaron-swartz-was-ally-and-possibly-source

Of Religion and Science

 by Muhammad Ghazali

               For this blog entry, I am writing a review on Albert Einstein’s article entitled “Religion and Science” appeared in the New York Times Magazine on November 9^th, 1930. In the nutshell, this article talks about his philosophy on the origins of religions, our perceptions about religion and the concept of God, and his definition of a “cosmic religious feeling” which eventually concludes to his proclamation that in this materialistic age, the most religious people are those who take scientific studies very seriously.

               According to Einstein, the cosmic religious feeling is an experience in which a person feels that human desires and aims are meaningless and there exists a magnificent order manifested both in nature and in the world of thought. He feels that being human imprisons him from experiencing the universe as a whole, a feeling that can only be felt by an omnipresent being. Therefore, the idea of God cannot be represented in any man’s image because that would be bias: constrained by only an individual’s view of the world. Einstein claimed that this concept was presented in many early theological teachings such as the Psalms of David and Buddhism, in a number of works by classical philosophers and theologians such as Democritus and Francis of Assisi, and also by few modern day scientists such as Kepler and Newton.

               Last two weeks I got back in Hoboken from a long road trip with my friends across the southern part of America. There were quite a number of times I was awed by the nature we explored and the people we encountered. For example, when we were in the natural caverns at San Antonio, Texas, I was amazed by how beautiful it was few hundred feet underground. The naturally-formed stalactites, stalagmites, walls of smaller limestone straws, the ‘diamond river’ underneath, and many abstract formations of limestone basked in the man-made light inside the cavern. Fast forward while we were in Key West, Florida, we had an interesting conversation with a man who founded the first and only ‘masjid’ (a Muslim’s place of worship) in the island some tens of years ago. The masjid is in fact, his home. He devoted his house to be a place where the few Muslims on the island can gather and worship in congregation. Since there are not many Muslims on the island, especially of younger generation, he was afraid of the sustainability of the masjid in the future and insisted us to come back and bring more young Muslims there.

Unique reflection of light as we went down the stairs deep into the cavern at San Antonio

Having subways at the pier as we watched the sunrise at Key West

              

               And then it hit me, if the theory of evolution is true, in essence, if everything happened by accident from a single source they call the Big Bang, how did the creative aspects of the living beings originate? Given that the evolution theory is true, today, aren’t we supposed to be like those inanimate limestone formations in the cavern? In fact, when we call these natural formations beautiful or amazing, we have already associated creative traits to these inanimate objects. To me, the interaction between men and nature reveals that Creationism is true and there is order in all the things around us, as suggested by Einstein earlier.

               Some time ago I came across with a quite radical opening statement from a sociology book. As I recall from the poor memory of mine, the statement mentioned that the development of an early human society is not scientifically understandable. This is because if mankind is analyzed through the basis of cause and effect, early people would interact with each other by the means that would benefit them. For example, in a prehistoric barter system, an individual may trade his agricultural gain with a source of heat which is possessed by another individual. This is a win-win situation in which what one lacks is recovered from what another has in excess through the act of trading. However, when it comes to the building of a society, it is quite hard to explain scientifically why people sacrificed for the greater good of the unit or why people yearned for the comfort and security being with each other.

               Yet, this illogical concept of humanity exists in our everyday life. Even animals have love for their own kind. Why are there exist sentient beings like us? If animals cannot understand our words, where did they learn to love each other? How did emotions appear from a supermassive explosion occurred a really long time ago? Why is there right and wrong? These questions cannot be answered scientifically since there is no moral jurisdiction from the scientific point of view. To me, science provides ways for us to explain the mechanics of how things work. In order to understand the purpose and wisdom of our existence, we need to ponder upon nature which eventually, in my humble opinion, leads to our realization that there is a Creator out there, undefined by His creations, be it a created image or spoken words.

               Pardon my ignorance from having a significant study on other religions, but so far in my life, these ideas of mine seem to conform to the teachings of the somewhat misunderstood belief of Islam.

Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/einstein/einsci.htm