MultiMeat- food for thought

All the meat that's fit to eat ... Primary Blog Topics include: Science, Technology, History, and Current Events: Our primary subsets are ... Computers and simulation of thinking, Archaeology, Remote Sensing, Robotics, Cosmology, Physics,Geophysics,& Anthropology. We also include farming, tools and self-sufficiency. Reluctantly, we also include some politics and the "news" when compelled.

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Philosopher of Science, Robotics, Builder/Hi-tech Prototypes, Farmer, Writer

Friday, April 23, 2010

New Deadly Fungus and Contradictory News

National Geographic: New Deadly Fungus Found in U.S., Has Already Killed Six- Infections from a new strain are unpreventable... and the strain is spreading.

Google and ABC: Fatal Fungus Cryptococcus Gattii: Experts Say Fears Overblown

According to National Geographic, a new strain of deadly fungus found in Oregon that kills 25% of those infected ... "No one knows how the species got to North America or how the fungus can thrive in a temperate region, experts say. ... The alarming thing is that it's occurring in this region, it's affecting healthy people, and geographically it's been expanding,"

Conversely, according to a link to ABC from Google's front news page, there is nothing to worry about.

As far as the fear of fatal fungi, Alcabes of Hunter College pointed out that the strain is likely to fade out soon. "In most cases, when new strains arise, they are transient," he says.... Certainly, he said, "it's worth asking, 'Is there some new risk here?'" But in this particular case, he said, "I see no new threat at all, just a slightly different name for an existing, and rather rare, danger."As far as the fear of fatal fungi, Alcabes of Hunter College pointed out that the strain is likely to fade out soon ... In most cases, when new strains arise, they are transient," he says. "

If you take the time to read the two articles, you'll see that they are clearly contradictory. ABC's expert says that the fungus is likely to fade out soon, however the co-author of the study says the opposite. Common sense tells me that ABC's expert pundit Prof. Alcabes is not entitled to make longevity pronouncements on a new strain of fungus that somehow made from New Guinea to Oregon and managed to mutate. There are too many unknowns and Alcabes did not do the referenced study. Have a look at the articles.

In a previous blog entry "The US Is Heating Up" I proposed that Google appears to be influencing the news per their own the agenda by selectively posting links to news items. This may be another case. Google, Microsoft, Intel and Yahoo along with thousands of other high-tech companies are located in the region ... i.e. Washington State and Northern California. My question is whether or not Google links an article which trivializes the threat for business reasons like recruitment and property values. That is certainly a reason to evaluate the news that Google constantly flashes on our screen.

In my opinion, given the available data, Google should have at least presented both sides regarding this potential emerging threat. My own trust leans towards National Geographic and the person who did the study, rather than some professor pundit from ABC's Rolodex. Time will tell.

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Friday, April 9, 2010

Google, Smart Electric Meters and Enron

Google aready knows more about you personally than you can possibly imagine. Their official mantra ("corporate mission") is: "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." When they reference the "world's information ... they mean ALL. "universally accessible" is also literal ... See: http://www.google.com/corporate/facts.html

Understanding that they already know who you are via public and commercial records, broadcast images of your house, parse your gmail with computers and know what you're doing on the web ... Now ... According to National Geographic, Google is not only going to read your electric meter, they are also going into the energy business. Please read the Nat Geo article:

"Google Can Now Buy and Sell Energy" Source: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/thegreenguide/2010/02/google-can-now-buy-and-sell-en.html

"According to reporting by PC World, Google's move into the energy market is a strategy to help provide power to the electricity-hungry buildings that house its search engine, advertising network, email software, and all the other things Google does that require large groups of computers. Google has also made a pledge to be carbon neutral, so being able to buy and sell energy will help it incorporate greener energy into its operations, the article said. "

Nobody seems to understand what Google is doing. As I described in a previous blog entry ... Google is influencing the news with a political slant and has multiple executives placed in the Obama administration. http://multimeat.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-is-heating-up.html They are taking on Microsoft in the software business, are now a major player in the mobile smart phone business and more. Google's market cap is nearly $200B ... not bad for a company that went public in 2004. Google is far beyond the intellect of the average politician, in a business with little existing regulation and moving so quickly that any future regulations will always be behind the curve.

Nobel Prize winner Al Gore (who invented the internet) will certainly be proud of Google going green, but we have not forgotten Enron ... a predecessor with political clout who invented the business of buying and selling energy. If they can read the world's smart electric meters, they will "probably" do a better job the Enron could have imagined.

Here are some facts to consider: The wires in your home and business are also antennas; They are hard-wired into your phones and computers; The electrical grid system is fully capable of being an internet data transmission system. If a smart electric meter can report your energy consumption, it can also transmit your data. Don't worry though ... Google, per their corporate mission, is going to "organize" it for you.

Buy Recommendation: Google Inc. (NasdaqGS: GOOG)

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