“Happy”, the surprising protest song

 

 

How This Became the Surprising Protest Song of Our Generation – PolicyMic
[Via - PolicyMic]

It’s hard to remember that Pharrell wrote “Happy” for an animated film.

The peppy neo-soul song is not in any way controversial. But something strange began happening to it a little while ago. It became a mega pop sensation and an unexpected global anthem for citizens living under troubled regimes.

The movement started slowly — first it was the soundtrack to a video of people dancing joyfully in Paris. But then the song began cropping up in videos from countries in political turmoil. One came from the Philippines, a country still picking up the pieces from Typhoon Haiyan. Soon, one followed from Tunis, still reeling from the aftershocks of the Arab Spring. And then another from Moscow. While not a “protest” song in its traditional sense, Pharrell’s “Happy” has taken on a politically charged meaning as an anthem of international resilience.

[More]

Interesting that the song was not written for any ulterior motive. But the ability of distributed democracy means that people can appropriate what they want to serve what they need, and then let the rest of the world know about it

And there is little that hierarchical authoritarians can do about it.

Apple not hit by Heartbleed. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart. The best is to be both.

 

How Apple dodged the Heartbleed bullet
[Via AppleInsider]

In 2011, Apple told its developers that it would be deprecating OS X’s Common Data Security Architecture including OpenSSL, describing it as an outdated relic of the late 1990s. Nearly three years later, OpenSSL was hit by a severe flaw that affected a wide swath of vendors and their users, but not Apple.

[More]

Apple was not hit by the Heartbleed defect because it had stopped using the vulnerable software in its operating systems 6 months before the vulnerability was added.

Apple just saw some other flaws in the underlying Open Source security applications and moved to its own.

Smart and lucky.Best way to go. 

The future of space travel started today

The first reusable spacecraft – Falcon-9R – successfully took off today. Here is a video of what this type of rocket will provide us.

And here is a recent test flight if the compete Facon-9R:

From almost 1000 feet the rocket returned to the same place it took off from. When this becomes routine, Space-X homes to reuse it up to 100 times. This will greatly lower the price of space travel.

Mankind just entered a new age a few minutes ago, thanks to Space-X

We just had the successful launch of a Space-X Falcon 9 to resupply the ISS. The reason this is a new age is that this is a newversion of the Falcon 9 – it has retractable landing legs!

This will allow the first stage to be brought back to Earth safey, to land on a landing pad and to be reused. On this flight, they will not try to land the first stage, But they will soon.

Yes, for the first time in human history, a rocket that can be reused. Space-X- hopes to be able to do this perhaps 100 times. This reduces the cost of getting tnto space a lot if it can be done routinely.

Perhaps down to $10 a pound! That will change everything.

But we need to see some successful experiments with the technology. They expect only a 30% chance of success today. Keep your fingers crossed.

Americans are confident about the future. Not as much about the present

 

Future of Technology | 
[Via Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project]

The American public anticipates that the coming half-century will be a period of profound scientific change, as inventions that were once confined to the realm of science fiction come into common usage. This is among the main findings of a new national survey by The Pew Research Center, which asked Americans about a wide range of potential scientific developments—from near-term advances like robotics and bioengineering, to more “futuristic” possibilities like teleportation or space colonization. In addition to asking them for their predictions about the long-term future of scientific advancement, we also asked them to share their own feelings and attitudes toward some new developments that might become common features of American life in the relatively near future. Overall, most Americans anticipate that the technological developments of the coming half-century will have a net positive impact on society. Some 59% are optimistic that coming technological and scientific changes will make life in the future better, while 30% think these changes will lead to a future in which people are worse off than they are today. 

[More]

Looking forward 50 years, almost 60% of Americans are confident that technology will provide tremendous gains (although they still want their jet cars). As we look closer to the present, the confidence drops tremendously.

So, we just need to move some of that future confidence to the present.

Neil deGrasse Tyson moderating a debate on selling space

From March 2014. We live on the cusp of an amazing age. It will save us all.

Isaac Asimov discussing global warming and the exact way the world needs to be saved – 25 years ago

An amazing speech that could be given today.  Done without notes.

And it recapitulates almost everything I have been focussed on for some time. Talk about walking in the footsteps of giants!

Oncoming global warming. The amazing benefits of the Cold War. The changing aspects of nation states. National security. 

The sticks that are driving cooperation between nation states. And the carrots.

How the Constitution shows us a path forward. How Westward expansion produced a united country, not one with Southern separatists.

It will be about getting into space and beaming power back to Earth.

We now no longer can simply have one nation state fight another. Because what they do affects us all.

We need to figure out how to deal with the effects of humanity that transcend all national boundaries.

It is well worth watching the whole thing. It will be 45 minutes that could make a difference.