Kate’s Controversies

In a world where people use technologies like Twitter and Facebook to update their status instantaneously, it was only a matter of time before someone took information-hosting to the next level.

Enter Gordon Bell, a 75-year old Microsoft researcher. For the past decade, Bell has been moving the data from his brain onto his computer. By carrying video equipment, cameras, and audio recorders, he's able to record all aspects of his daily life – including conversations, commutes, trips, and other daily coming and goings. Bell also records pictures of receipts, bills, and medical records. He even makes PDFs from each webpage he views!

The purpose behind Bell's constant recording is to create a digitized "e-memory" to back up his biological one. This way, he doesn't have to remember a single detail of his days. If he needs to recall something in particular, there is an entire 350-GB, multimedia transcript to reference.

Bell's Future Predictions

Social media and smart-phone technologies have begun to make it easy for people to record their routines. Many people update their social-networking statuses constantly for their online "friends," while many others carry location-aware technologies on their persons almost 24/7. While these options are widely popular, they have yet (as far as this author knows) to be used for personal database warehousing.

Bell predicts that everyone's life histories will be accessible online. In fact, he believes that by 2020, not only will the information be available, but that it will also be searchable. Visibility, he says, will be a personal choice; his recordings are only available to him, but he acknowledges that some people might want to be more public by using blogs or social media.

People who move to Bell's system wouldn't have to worry about storing information in their minds, a revolution that Bell says will "change what it means to be human." But those who question such reliance on computers say that the human brain will become mentally sluggish as a result, a concern that Bell tries to combat. "People have no memory of phone numbers now because of the cell phone -- their address book is in a cell phone. So I don't think they're getting any worse or any less facile about that. What an e-memory does, to me, is gives me a really wonderful free feeling," he said.

Would You Want to Record Your Own Life?

If you're interested in becoming your own personal librarian, you might not have to wait long. Microsoft is in the process of creating the SenseCam, a device worn around the neck that takes pictures "passively". Not surprisingly, Gordon Bell has been using a SenseCam for his recordings (he does work for Microsoft, after all).

Personally, I don't think I need 500 images of me sitting at my desk or getting coffee – the main activities that comprise my daily routine. I once had a brief affair with Twitter - and I occasionally post something on Facebook - but other than out-of-the-ordinary happenings, I am content with living life as it's presented to me. People I meet or things I see can be important, beautiful, etc., but I like that it's up to me to remember those things or draw my own meanings. I guess I just like what it means to be human right now.

What do you think?

• Would you want to document all aspects of your daily life?
• Do you think Bell's prediction will come true by 2020?
• Do you think this bodes well for humanity? Or will it be detrimental?

Resources:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/25/total.recall.microsoft.bell/index.html

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/09/28/man-boots-memories-from-brain-straight-to-computer/

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/sensecam/

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/

As consumers, we're bombarded with messages telling us to buy this, not that; to be active; and to do the right thing. Lately, many of the calls to do the right thing refer to environmental initiatives, such as the conversation of fossil fuels. One way consumers are prompted to use less fuel is to opt for a reusable drinking bottle.

Back in 2007, I wrote about my love/hate relationship with my Nalgene bottle. I (still) love it because it's easy, convenient, and doesn't cost anything to fill it up. The problem was (and remains) that these bottles can leech chemicals, like Bisophenol A (BPA), as they age.

Not long ago, a new alternative to plastic bottles began to appear – the SIGG bottle. These sleek, metal bottles are attributed with having ecological benefits, high standards of quality, and the SIGG lifestyle.

The SIGG demographic is largely focused on consumers who are environmentally-conscious, as 1% of their profits are donated to the non-profit organization 1% For the Planet. Fashionistas and the style-conscious are also part of the SIGG scope. In 2008, the company recruited world-renowned fashion designers to create custom bottles, which were then auctioned off as part of an environmental fundraiser.

Looks Good and Serves a Purpose. What's the Problem?

Considering all the positives attributed with SIGGs, consumers felt good about their choice of water bottle. However, early this September, Steve Wasik, CEO of SIGG Switzerland, released a statement warning users that bottles produced before August 2008 contained liners that may be linked to Bisophenol A.

In the release, Wasik claims that the liners in question were produced before BPA was under scrutiny. Until this time, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced, "The science we have reviewed does not justify recommending that anyone discontinue using products containing BPA."

When the risks of BPA leeching began to come to light in early 2008, however, an increasing amount of consumers began switching from plastic bottles like Nalgene to metal or aluminum bottles, like SIGGs. Up until this point of transition, SIGG bottles contained a liner containing trace amounts of BPA.

New Liners, No Worries (For Now?)

Since then, SIGG began using a new "EcoCare" liner in August 2008. According to Wasik, SIGG began developing the new liners in June 2006, in light of the controversy surrounding BPA. After two years of testing, the new liners became commonplace in all SIGG bottles. Testing for the EcoCare lining can be found on their website.

The new liners boast a "powder-based co-polyester liner", as opposed to the "proprietary water-based epoxy liner used in earlier bottles.

People who purchased SIGG bottles before August 2008 can exchange their bottles for a newer one via the instructions on this page.

Thoughts

Sometimes it seems that consumers will never catch a break. We try to stay healthy by drinking bottled water, but we're told that the plastic bottle is killing the environment. We switch to reusable bottles like SIGG or Nalgene, only to learn they contain potentially harmful chemicals that may leech into our bodies. Consumers who ask for glass as an alternative are told that glass is too expensive.

Then there's the fear-mongering that's so prevalent and aiming to keep consumers worried and on their toes – or hopefully, even buying more stuff. I want to know, where does it end?

Resources:

http://www.sigg.com/news-media/news/news-detail/ceo-letters-about-our-liners

http://justbento.com/sigg-water-bottle-controversy-and-water-bottle-conundrum

Related articles:

Poisonous Plastics

Poisonous Plastics – Part Two: Human Effects

Poisonous Plastics – Part Three: What to Do?

Bottled H2 Oh-No!

It seems like every time you turn around these days, someone else is "going green". We're prompted to carry reusable bags and consider alternative energy for our homes. Some companies are even using alternative measures to keep their property trimmed without harming the environment.

For me, one initiative stands out as something that has been around for quite awhile – reducing paper waste. When I was a kid, I was taught to be conservative about paper use since paper production requires the cutting of trees. Maybe you have a similar memory from elementary school.

Lately, it seems as though reducing paper usage has become trendy – and is now highly advised by major companies with regard to billing. One industry that has been highlighted in the news recently is the cellphone/wireless industry.

Is T-Mobile Kicking Up Environmental Efforts or Alienating Customers?

This week, I was forwarded an article about United States cellphone service provider T-Mobile, a company that will begin charging users who prefer to receive hard-copies of their bills in the mail. The charges stand at $1.50 (USD) for regular bills and $3.50 for detailed billing. This change, which goes into effect on September 12th, has angered many of T-Mobile's customers.

Statements from T-Mobile have stressed easier accessibility for users to pay and view bills online, the rising costs of paper and stamps, and preserving the environment as the reasons behind the new fees. Many customers find this excuse to be unacceptable, however. The company's message boards are full of angry complaints like "If T-Mobile is doing this 'for the environment', I would suggest that they should have started by removing the two to four glossy ads and 'news' sheets that they include in each bill."

Other arguments discussed the fact that not all cellphone users have access to the Internet, which means that T-Mobile would be inadvertently punishing them. Additionally, many people cited using paper bills for tax purposes, correcting customer service representative errors, and tracking usage.

Not the First, Likely Not the Last

As an online bill payer, I go to my service provider's website to pay my phone bill. For awhile, I would be prompted to register for paperless billing. I made the switch eventually, but my decision was largely due to reminders from the company (in this case, Verizon). There was also the fact that I often paid my balance before the paper bill was even delivered!

At this time, Verizon and AT&T only charge $2 to users who request detailed billing statements. Verizon claims that it saves about $600,000 annually for every 100,000 customers who switch to paperless billing. After adopting this practice in 2008, the company saved 4.3 millions pounds of paper or approximately 52,000 trees that year.

In a world where the state of the environment is almost always front-page news, I'm not surprised to see companies pushing for paperless billing. But it's a tough sell to all customers. Reducing the cutting of trees will help the environment, but many people do not care about saving the world. They may also depend upon hard-copies of bills for tax or other personal purposes. Then there are those consumers who do have Internet access at all. All of these issues have been pointed to as being 'classist' or totalitarian.

What do you think?

• Do you believe T-Mobile is going paperless for the right reasons or is it a "dirty" move?
• Do you think that companies or organizations have the right for force people to go paperless by billing them?
• Should more people embrace going paperless? Why/how?

Resources:

T-Mobile Users to be Billed for Bills

T-Mobile Forums

Earth contains many varied landscapes and features such as mountains, plains, deserts, jungles, and waterfalls. Perhaps one of more fascinating features is volcanoes.

Often formed by converging or diverging tectonic plates or mantle plumes, volcanoes are openings where molten rock, ash, and gases escape from beneath the Earth's crust. A BBC documentary in 2000 also popularized the term "supervolcanoe," which refers to "explosions of exceptional violence and volume".

In this month's National Geographic, one of the United States' most famous National Parks is discussed. In the article "When Yellowstone Explodes," the author talks about how the park is seated upon one of the largest volcanoes on Earth and what it would mean should the Yellowstone caldera erupt again.

"Volcanoes Form Mountains; Supervolcanoes Erase Them"

According to NatGeo, the "hot spot" that caused the Yellowstone caldera (from the Spanish word from "cauldron") has erupted dozens of times for more than 18 million years. The tectonic plate associated with the hot spot is moving southwest, but ancient explosions are reportedly strung across southern Idaho and into Oregon and Nevada.

The last three known super-explosions have occurred in Yellowstone National Park, with the "most recent" one dating back 640,000 years ago. Though scientists cannot be positive, they calculate that the ash from the last explosion reached 100,000 feet, leaving debris all over the American West and all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Pyroclastic flows are estimated to have reached 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit.

While it sounds impressive, that eruption was considered tame compared to the one 2.1 million years ago, which left a hole in the ground the size of Rhode Island.

Not Extinct, Afterall

In 1870, Lieutenant Gustavus Donane completed an exploratory expedition of the Yellowstone Region and claimed, "The great basin has been formerly one vast crater of a now extinct volcano." His belief was accepted for decades before Francis Boyd, a Harvard graduate student, realized that the presence of a welded tuff – a heated and compacted ash that he'd been studying - was a sign of pyroclastic flows from a recent eruption.

Another researcher, Bob Christiansen, and his colleagues later discovered a second and third welded tuff. Christiansen's team used potassium-argon dating to discover that the three tuffs belonged to three distinct eruptions – each that created calderas, which were later buried by the most recent eruption.

"The Living, Breathing, Shaking Caldera"

Later, in 1973, yet another researcher named Bob Smith and a partner noticed that trees along the South Arm of Yellowstone Lake were partially submerged and dying. Curious, Smith began to resurvey benchmarks set by past workers begun in 1923. The results of this survey found that the Hayden Valley at the north end of the lake had risen over 30 inches throughout the decades, while the lower end of the lake had no change. This showed that the ground was doming and that the volcano was alive.

In 1979, Smith published his findings – referring to Yellowstone as "the living, breathing caldera". After a "swarm" of "mostly tiny" earthquakes in 1985, Smith revised his metaphor to Yellowstone being the "living, breathing, shaking caldera."

To this day, Smith continues his work at Yellowstone National Park in efforts to see beneath the park's surface. The continued rise and fall of the caldera has caused many to question when and if it will erupt. "We call this a caldera at unrest…the net effect over many cycles is to finally get enough magma to erupt. And we don't know what those cycles are," said Smith.

Waiting on the Next Eruption

The lingering, unanswerable question of whether Yellowstone will erupt again and to what scale remains. Some scientists believe that a modest eruption is likely sometime. Will it be a super-eruption that will kill-off all of mankind and send the Earth into volcanic winter for hundreds of thousands of years? These questions cannot be known at this time.

Now-retired Bob Christiansen believes there is a possibility that Yellowstone may be safely bottled up. The hot spot that once formed calderas in the basin and range of the West is now reportedly lodged under the thick crust of the Rocky Mountains. ""I think that the system has more or less equilibrated itself…but that's an interpretation that  would not stand up in court," said Christiansen.

What do you think?

Additional Reading about Yellowstone on CR4:
Yellowstone National Park - Hot and Steamy (Part 1) Part 2

Yellowstone National Park Has Its Own Grand Canyon

Resources:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/yellowstone/achenbach-text

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/21/73056/7458/travel/Things+At+Yellowstone+Aren%27t+As+Calm+As+Once+Thought

NatGeo Photo Gallery of Yellowstone

Thanks to TechoutReach for bringing this topic to my attention!

I've written about the "obesity epidemic" in the United States a number of times now (here and here). For me, the issue is an intriguing one because despite many studies and reports that encourage and promote healthier lifestyles, American obesity rates continue to climb – for both adults and children.

Just recently, the survey "F as in Fat: How Obesity Problems are Failing in America" was conducted by the nonprofit organizations Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The results of the study released on July 1^st show that obesity rates rose in 23 states compared to last year. Moreover, not one state showed signs of decreasing rates. The survey also indicates that adult obesity rates now exceed 25% in 31 states, which is up from 28 states in 2008 and 19 in 2007.

Adults are not the only people with increasing waistlines, either. According to the survey results, 30% of children between ages 10-17 are overweight or obese in 30 states. This study, like other previous ones, suggests that obese children are likely to be obese adults. This is a cause for concern with regard to the healthcare industry. Although researchers are now saying that overweight people often live as long as thin people, overweight people often have more chronic diseases that are more costly to treat.

Check out the rest of the report here to read how the different states stack up. You can also review key findings and read the nonprofits' recommendations for addressing obesity.

Whether you live in the U.S. or not, do you see this "epidemic" happening in your part of the world?

Resources:

http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2009/tc2009071_442911.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech