Have a look at this nifty infographic from the CSA.
Unlike people who work in the warmth of an indoor space, they may not have the luxury of avoiding the harsh weather.
Without the right precautions, they may suffer from problems such as hypothermia, frostbite, or trench foot. The wet weather can also increase their risk of injury. If the weather is extremely harsh, then work can be called off for safety reasons.
However, workers who are trained and experienced to work in cities that experience colder climates usually adapt well. For example, if you need someone to help you with concrete cutting in Calgary – then you can easily find a reputable and professional locally owned and operated company that’s been serving clients in cold climates for decades.
Here are a few ways concrete contractors adapt to the winter:
When working outside, contractors pay attention to the weather forecast. They identify potential weather-related issues so that they can prepare in advance. They also try to use daylight to their advantage and have artificial light to help if necessary.
When working in the cold, concrete contractors usually wear multiple layers. Some also wear insulated clothes, which shield the skin from moisture, and thermal undergarments. The outer layers are waterproof and quickly removable. On their heads, they may wear a wool liner under their hard hat.
In the winter, contractors may take more short breaks to warm up their bodies or their clothes. They may also try to get the most work done during the warmest part of the day. The buddy system also comes in handy during the winter, where partners can look out for each other.
Gloves are especially important in the winter. Many contractors prefer leather gloves because they’re more resistant than cotton gloves, which can get damp. When the temperature drops to less than 20 C, they may switch to mittens. However, mittens aren’t always practical for work.
Waterproof boots are a must in the winter. Contractors may treat their leather boots to waterproof them further and wear insulated socks. They may also wear multiple layers of socks, with the outer sock being the largest size. Some carry extra socks in case they need to work outdoors for longer periods.
After donning the proper equipment, concrete contractors also take precautions with their equipment. They avoid using cold tools because this can lead to problems. Instead, the tools are warmed up before they can contact concrete.
Tools with metal handlebars are treated with extra caution. Metal handles are covered with an insulating material to protect workers. Usually, contractors only use equipment that’s designed to be handled with gloves or mittens. Contractors may also use powerful tools that are integrated with dust collection to avoid cutting wet.
These are a few ways concrete contractors adapt to the winter when doing outdoor work. With the right precautions and appreciation from their clients, they get the job done correctly and safely.
Like other authors who write about innovation, I love Thomas Edison stories. He was an inventive genius and found the code to serial innovation more than 120 years ago.
Less well known is Edison’s entrepreneurial side. He put financiers, government officials, politicians and inventors like himself together in an inspired coalition that built the first electrical grid in New York City. After all, what good is a light bulb if you don’t have a source of electricity to power it?
For example, very few people today know about Edison’s talking doll. Expected to sell during the 1890 Christmas season, she was a marketing failure.
I think she looks like the “Bride of Chucky” and is more than a little spooky. Talking, animated objects are commonplace today, but Edison was the first to have the idea and execute it.
What gave her voice was a tiny version of the phonograph – another of his inventions. He thought it would be novel to make a talking doll and hoped it would catch on. The doll market was already thriving, so a talking doll could potentially reach the top of the heap.
But not all of Edison’s creativity turned into cash, and his Bride of Chucky was a dismal failure. The little talking machine went inside the doll with the handle protruding from her back. Edison produced 2,500 of the dolls but only 500 sold. They were $10 each — two weeks of the average pay back in 1890 – and many of those sold were returned for quality problems.
I particularly like this story because it shows the critical difference between innovation and entrepreneurship. Great ideas are not always great opportunities. Opportunities possess five characteristics that differentiate them from great ideas:
Durability – They keep creating value over time.
Sustainability – The organization has the willpower, manpower and resources to sustain the idea through failure, rethinking and reformulation.
Defensibility – The potential return on investment makes it worth the time, resources and risk that accompany all new ventures, thus making it worth doing this over doing something else.
It creates value – It creates value for the person willing to reach into their pockets for money to pay for the intangible form and thus it creates value for the company.
It is compelling – The Innovation is differentiated in some critical way that makes a customer segment just have to have it.
Entrepreneurs differ substantially from innovators because they have the discipline to determine whether a great idea is also a great opportunity. This takes a lot of work, failure, rethinking and, most of all, passion to get you through all of this vetting. Many innovators lose interest after the idea stage and don’t understand that innovation without value creation may be fun – but it’s also folly.
Edison, like many other inventors, fell in love with his baby and he built a bunch of them, assuming a slam dunk in the market. In fact, these dolls were not just spooky looking, they were big and heavy and cost a lot of money.
Edison’s enthusiasm for his ability to make a talking doll was not counterbalanced by the discipline necessary to determine whether the idea was just that or a real opportunity. He was so eager to produce them that he didn’t ask if the market wanted such an invention and at what price.
I am sure that Edison was OK with failure, as he once said that he had not failed in his efforts to create the light bulb, but rather found a thousand ways that didn’t work. For the Silo, Neal Thornberry, Ph.D.
Supplemental- Bride of Chucky http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144120/
Despite only being invented about fourteen years ago, cryptocurrency has formed a world of its own and it is now estimated the market will hit well above a $1 trillion USD valuation from four years ago…..
Allowing transactions, alongside other things such as documents and invoices, to be sent across a P2P network, the technology has been praised for its advanced security and anonymity benefits.
The latest infographic crafted by Bitfortune looks into how many ways Blockchain technology impacted the world and various business industries, such as charities and banking.
For example, REMME is a secure platform that has eliminated the need for passwords and instead uses Blockchain as a form of authentication.
The technology also helps reduce time and increase efficiency – a win-win all around, really. FedEx recently announced plans for an internal Blockchain pilot program that will help solve customer disputes while IBM and Maersk are also working together on a new company that will use Blockchain within global shipping supply chains.
Take a look at the infographic below to learn how Blockchain is disrupting other industries around the world for the better and why it’s time to start thinking about how you can incorporate the technology into your lives.
For the Silo, Josh Wardini.
Supplemental- Why some traditional banks are broke: Fractional reserve banking.
Lockheed Martin continues refining its technology solution for Space Fence, a program that revamps the way the U.S. Air Force identifies and tracks objects in space. The U.S. Air Force selected Lockheed Martin in 2015 to build a $USD914 million Space Fence Radar to Safeguard Space Resources.
Lockheed Martin’s Space Fence solution, an advanced ground-based radar system, enhances the way the U.S. detects catalogs and measures more than 200,000 orbiting objects. With better timeliness and improved surveillance coverage, the system protects space assets against potential crashes that can intensify the debris problem in space.
Lockheed Martin delivered up to two advanced S-Band phased array radars for the Space Fence program. The Space Fence radar system greatly improves Space Situational Awareness of the existing Space Surveillance Network.
![That's a LOT to track! [CP]](https://www.thesilo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SpaceFenceMain.jpg)
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Lockheed Martin
The following day the US formally requested from the UK and Denmark use of facilities in RAF Fylingdales, England and Thule, Greenland respectively, as a part of the NMD Program.
The administration continued to push the program, despite highly publicized but not unexpected trial-and-error technical failures during development and over the objections of some scientists who opposed it. The projected cost of the program for the years 2004 to 2009 was 53 billion US dollars, making it the largest single line in The Pentagon’s budget. For the Silo, George Filer.
A Silo look back article 🙂
It’s Fall 2013 and the “now brand new” Wraith from the Rolls-Royce car company is not something I get exposed to often. Let’s face it, I’m a mid size car guy. Not high-end luxury. I rationalize my affordability factor by saying that high end’s are too ‘heavy’ and shee-shee poo-poo. Up until now, that may have been as true.
Rolls had an unveiling of their new car The Wraith the other week here in beautiful Vancouver. And well, like the locale, the car itself did stand out even beyond the scenery. The Silo was invited to attend and I earned the assignment. Life is hard 😉
There was jewelry set to the tone of $425,000 (Canada’s biggest pink Diamond); a price tag similar to the cars standing right next to them. The food was excellent and the company certainly discerning.
There was not shortage of demonstration of other models and those with mostly older not only in lineage but also in style, heralding a tradition one has come to know of Rolls Royce. Which is why when the time came for the unveiling of the new car, there was nothing short of a surprise. The car looked sleek and modern while maintaining the more discernable feature Rolls is known for. It looked like, well, not quite a Rolls. It seemed sporty even.
Once the shock settled opera singers belted out a song of elegance that matched the vehicle’s looks and appearance. I became transported and wanted to change careers all of sudden.
The show was a success, so now came the long shot that I would get to test-drive one of them. I am not a buyer, no sir.
“So when can I test drive one, ahahaha”
“Are you free tomorrow at 3pm?”
Ummm….yeah maybe sure….oh look at that I am free. Perfect” Gulp.
I show up at the Rolls dealership in Vancouver and was met with nothing but interest and enthusiasm for someone who clearly was not in the market for such a car. That didn’t matter much as they were very excited to show off their new marvel. Ha! I thought. No way this thing can actually drive as cool as it looks. Well, my dear readers, was I wrong.
0-100 in 4.4 seconds. Quite. Handles like a dream. Smooth. Great suspension. 14 speaker sound system. Crazy navigation. Just crazy. The holographic road map was floating next to a virtual speedometer in/on (?) the windshield. Touch sensitive screen for drawing on. I mean the whole thing was about performance from interior to engine.
The camera system is a cool feature, however at the end of the experience I didn’t really know how to use them. What happens is a 5-camera system captures unique perspectives and through an algorithm creates a bird eyes view of the car. Very cool. However, I just used my mirrors and the over–the-shoulder-one-arm-on-the-back –of-the-passenger-seat to look behind me for the approach in backing up. Technology is great but it has to actually be effective or helpful. Give the user a certain level of confidence that she or he would never have alone otherwise.
And boy did I check my mirrors often when driving. I didn’t want to risk a dent or a scratch.
Just pulling out for the first time was nerve racking, but once you got the feel for it, which happens quick, you are instantly spoiled as a driver which is of course the point when dealing with luxury cars. And it seems Rolls still has been able to retain the ability to spoil its driver no matter what. The wraith delivers. For the Silo, Arthur Maughan.
According to research by our friends at Zutobi.com, the United States takes top spot and earns a total EV score of 8.19/10. The US offers the world’s most popular EV, the Tesla Model 3, at the lowest price, just over $39,000usd/ $53,540cad. The US also has one of the most generous incentives for EV purchases, placing in the top five for the factor.
Germany and Luxembourg tied for second place, both scoring 7.67/10. The German government offers motorists over $9,000usd/ $11,552cad off the price of a new EV, and It also has one of the top 10 highest proportions of EVs. Luxembourg earns its place in the rating thanks to its great purchase incentives, as motorists in the country can get over $8,000usd/ $10,269cad off a brand-new EV.
Next up is Norway taking third place in the index with a score of 7.42/10. The Scandinavian country takes the top spot for both the highest proportion of EVs and the cost of an EV as a proportion of the average income.
Germany has the most generous incentive for buying an EV, offering a rebate of just over $9,000usd/ $11,552cad for EVs. On top of this, the country also has a reduced VAT rate when buying EVs, and EVs are exempt from some vehicle taxes.
Luxembourg ranks second, offering motorists more than $8,000usd/ $10,269cad for their EV purchases. The country also charges the minimum tax rate for vehicles with very low emissions, which is excellent news for EV motorists.
Offering over $7,500usd/ $9,267cad in subsidies for EV purchases is Slovenia, taking it to third place. The Slovenian government also only charges its minimum rate of 0.5% sales tax on vehicles that emit less than 100 grams of CO2 per kilometre.
With the ever-present media message of climate change, more and more people are considering finding ways to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and shrink their carbon footprint. One of these ways is ditching traditional polluting gas and diesel cars in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). In fact, many people have already adopted electric cars and are using them to learn to drive.
So which countries are the best for electric vehicles? We’ve delved into the data to find out, taking into account purchase incentives, the proportion of EVs in each country, and the cost of one of the world’s most popular cars, the Tesla Model 3, as a proportion of average income too.
Boulder, Colorado, October, 2022 – PS Audio’s Octave Records label announces its latest release, The Audiophile’s Guide: The Loudspeaker, a book and companion SACD/download that tells listeners exactly how to get the most out of their loudspeaker setup. Written by PS Audio CEO Paul McGowan, the book and its accompanying disc (also available as a download) offer the practical knowledge he’s gained through more than 50 years of high-end audio design and in setting up hundreds of speaker systems.
“I’ve had to come to the rescue of someone’s system time and again because it just wasn’t sounding right. It was almost always a setup problem. Like everyone else, I used favorite music tracks for system tuning. But now, with Octave Records’ recording studio at our disposal, we were able to create tracks that are ideal for system setup, and then write a book that tells listeners how to implement these tracks to their best advantage.”
The Audiophile’s Guide: The Loudspeaker is useful for both novices and experienced audiophiles who may benefit from bringing their setup to a higher level or musical realism.
The book begins by covering a variety of topics including the nature of sound, different speaker designs, the importance of choosing the right speaker for your particular needs and listening tastes, and one of the most critical aspects of speaker setup: the effect of the listening room on loudspeaker performance.
Next the book discusses where to place the speakers in the room, and how to deal with various types and shapes of rooms. The Guide notes that different placements may be appropriate for different speaker types – for example, stand-mounted “box” speakers versus dipole planar designs – and listening room configurations (such as whether to place speakers across the short or long wall of a room). Real-world aspects like accommodating living spaces that aren’t dedicated to loudspeakers, and taking into account the locations of furniture, are also considered.
The Audiophile’s Guide: The Loudspeaker (SRP: $58usd/ $79 cad – $68usd/ $93cad depending on format) then walks the listener through using the accompanying reference disc (or download) to fine-tune the system to perfection. The disc starts with some basic tests for channel orientation and moves on to exacting, step-by-step procedures (time to get out the tape measure!) for getting the best bass response and tonal balance, achieving a solid center image, finding the best seating position, maximizing dynamics, producing a believable soundstage, capturing subtle musical details, and ultimately, getting the speakers to “disappear” and create the feeling that the musicians are in the room with the listener.
The tracks on the disc are tailored to help the listener zero in on various sonic aspects, from the pluck of Chris Brunhaver’s acoustic bass and how it energizes the room, to the focused center image of Gabriel Mervine’s trumpet, and the resonance and spatiality of Bill Kopper’s acoustic guitars and a number of tracks featuring vocalists with a full band.
The Recording
Recorded over three months of intense work, The Audiophile’s Guide: The Loudspeaker was the first recording project at Octave Records’ new state-of-the-art studios. Recorded in pure DSD256 and mixed by Paul McGowan and Jay Elliott, the tracks on this work were laid down with every effort to maintain not only the purity of recording, but the accuracy of mic’ing, distance, and purpose. The mic’ing on solo voice, piano, trumpet, and guitar was primarily handled with a single-point stereo microphone to maintain a sense of realism. In particular, Octave Records’ hand-modified AKG C24 was used throughout the many tracks. On other tracks, like guitarist Bill Kopper’s seminal work focusing on the beauty of ringing harmonic overtones, we blended the detailed stereo condensers of the single-point Telefunken with the dynamic impacts of a single-point stereo ribbon microphone. Engineers Jay Elliott and Zach Balch went all out to get the best recordings from an amazing drum kit.
The kit (the same kit used in The Audiophile’s Guide: The Stereo) consists of a Ludwig 1970 Blue Sparkle 20” kick drum, 12” rack tom, 16×16” floor tom, 14 x 6.5” Ludwig Superphonic John Bonham LM 402 snare drum, Zildjian New Beats Hi-hat 70’s era 14”, Custom Dark Crash Kerope by Zildjian Crash 18”, and a Kerope by Zildjian 22” ride. To capture this kit, Jay and Zach employed their favorite setup for close mic’ing: a Shure Beta 52 for the kick-in and a cardioid patterned, phantom powered, large-diaphragm FET Soundelux U195 by David Bock for the kick-out. The top of the snare was handled by a Hypercardioid Beyerdynamic M201 with its phase flipped while the snare’s bottom was a Telefunken M80. The rack tom was captured by a Shure SM7B Cardioid dynamic microphone and the floor tom, an Audix D4 hypercardioid dynamic microphone.
To capture the ambient room response, a pair of calibrated DPA omnis were used for the overheads, and the stereo AKG C24 in a Blumlein configuration was placed twelve feet into the room for space recording. All microphone preamplifiers were Manly vacuum tubes with a small smattering on the overheads using Forsell preamps. The tracks were all mixed in Octave Records’ custom mixroom on PS Audio’s aspen FR30 loudspeakers powered by an all-PS Audio system.
The Audiophile’s Guide: The Loudspeaker SACD is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player (an SACD player is required to play the high-resolution DSD files on the disc). In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download in formats up to 352.8 kHz/DSD256 from psaudio.com at this link.
Radiation is all around us.
It occurs naturally in our environment, coming to us from the sun, from the soil and foods that we eat, and in the air that we breathe. It is omnipresent across a diverse cross section of industries. We tend to associate radiation with the nuclear industry, but the reality is that we come across radiation sources in numerous other areas: construction, health care, oil and gas, research, manufacturing, food processing – to name just a few.
With radiation being everywhere in our lives, it is not surprising that it garners a lot of attention, curiosity and, often, worry.
With more than 15 years as a career radiation protection professional, I’ve had to respond to many occupational radiation safety questions — some have related to regulations and compliance, others to potential health effects of exposure and ways to minimize such exposure. In all cases, it is best to rely on well established radiation physics concepts and scientific data, where available.
Radon testing of homes is the simplest first step you can take to protect yourself and your family from radon gas, but all too often we do not make the time to educate ourselves and make this a priority. Workplaces are required to have a radiation protection program in place that is appropriate for the type of radiation and potential risk in their industry. But it takes time and investment to develop these programs, and it requires the commitment of both employers and workers to put these programs into practice.
Our challenge is that radiation and its associated risks are not always well understood.
On the one hand, we do not wish to alarm anyone unnecessarily, yet we want to make sure that the public, workers and employers are aware of the steps they need to take to stay safe. Remember, we are talking about an “invisible” hazard that very rarely causes ill health effects in the short-term. Additionally, the existing radiation protection models are built on what we call the linear no-threshold concept, which, in simple terms, is based on studies of the atomic bomb survivors from the Second World War in Japan and other high-exposure situations, and extrapolates the information to the potential health effects of low exposures.
An agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a study on the health effects of low-level exposure to radiation that provides data to support the validity of the linear no-threshold model. We encourage all who read the study (available at The Lancet Haematology) to not get alarmed and to keep the study conclusions in perspective.
A frightening statement, but we have to keep in mind that the increased risk is small, in line with what we have estimated based on the modeling concepts. This boils down to two things: first, it is important that we continue to apply the ALARA principle — “As Low as Reasonably Achievable” — to all our of interactions with radiation; and second, that we continue to view the numbers associated with radiation and risk in the proper context. The study points to a “small increase” of risk of dying from cancer from low levels of radiation exposure.
If we extrapolate this study’s conclusions for nuclear workers to persons living near Canadian nuclear plants, people are 6,000 times more likely to die in a car accident, than to die from leukemia due to doses received from reactor plant emissions. Yet most of us think nothing of driving to work, driving our kids to school, or driving to visit friends and family. The radiation risk is there, but it is significantly smaller than the risks we accept every day, often without even thinking or worrying about them.
More research is required on the health risks from low-level radiation exposure, and there are efforts underway around the world to make it happen. At the Radiation Safety Institute, we will be looking forward to hearing about more study results. In the meantime we invite all people who are interested in the subject of radiation safety, who have a question or a concern, to reach out to our Free Information Service at 1-800-263-5803 or by e-mail at info@radiationsafety.ca. Let’s keep the conversation going. For the Silo, Laura Boksman Chief Scientist at the Radiation Institute of Canada.
The summer may be winding down, but there are still a few weeks left to keep that air conditioner pumping fresh, cool air throughout your home and before you receive a professional furnace check-up for the winter months ahead.
Just like a furnace, with regular upkeep and maintenance, your air conditioner will enjoy a long and healthy lifespan. Your HVAC system is an integral component to your home because it not only provides comfort, but it also supplies high-quality and clean air for you and your family to enjoy.
You should get your AC unit fixed right away if you notice the following:
Always work with a trusted and professional heating and cooling service provider who offers 24-hour emergency repair. Commercial or residence, it’s important to work with experienced technicians who can advise you with integrity and sincerity on the right solutions for your needs.
There are also a few things you can double-check before you jump to any serious conclusions.
Does it feel abnormally hot or humid in your house? Always be sure to set the thermostat to Air Conditioning Mode. If you notice that it is set to that, and it’s still muggy and hot in the house, it might be time to give your maintenance technician a call.
Often air conditioners can have trouble maintaining service if it’s hotter than 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit). However, most units should be able to maintain your home’s cool air within a couple of degrees of your setting. If it’s not working when it’s above 33 degrees, there might be a problem.
Dirty air filters can cause great damage to your AC unit. You’d be surprised at how much dust and debris air filters catch, and when they’re not cleaned or changed, the collected debris can clog things up and cause wear and tear on the system’s parts.
This prevents clean, cool air from flowing through. It also means that the AC unit will not live a long, healthy life because the extreme wear and tear of the dirty parts will cause it to breakdown faster than it should.
Take a look at your filters and investigate how clean they look. If you’re unsure how to locate the filters or how to do this, consult your trusted heating and cooling service provider to know exactly what to do. The best companies offer DIY tips so that you’ll be able to tackle any small problems yourself in the future.
Keep in mind to always switch off the unit’s power entirely before you attempt any maintenance or repair work.
If you’ve already checked the temperature and taken a look at your filters, check the air coming out of the supply vents.
If you have an outdoor unit, make sure it’s running and that the thermostat is in Air Conditioner Mode. You should feel cold air.
If you find that there is considerably less air than usual coming out of the vents, or if you find the air to be warm, it’s possible that there is an issue. If there is no air coming out of the outdoor unit’s vents at all, this could also be a problem.
In these cases, your evaporator coils may be iced over. Be sure to cut off the unit so that it can thaw before a technician arrives.
If you notice any squeaks, grinding, or grating sounds coming from your AC unit, chances are there are problems to be attended to.
These types of noises usually occur when a belt has slipped out of place, parts need lubrication, or the motor bearings have broken.
It’s critical that this is maintained right away because prolonged avoidance can result in additional and costly damage. It’s possible that you need a replacement unit or simply have repairs made.
Always remember to work with a trusted maintenance and installation company who offers round-the-clock emergency support, and one who you can trust! For the Silo, Mila Urosevic.
With the imminent arrival of Autonomous Vehicles, many people have started worrying about the safety of this new technology, especially when an issue arises to do with choice.
Infographic courtesy of our friends at selectcarleasing.co.uk
Supplemental- Silo archives, Fall 2015: Ontario became the first province to test AV’s on Canada’s roads.
According to new research commissioned by internet security company NordVPN, only 3.5% of Canadians never accept cookies. To make matters worse, a whopping 43% say they always accept cookies. While most HTTP cookies are safe, some can be used to track people without their consent. Even more, cookies can sometimes be spied upon or used to fake the identity of a user, to gain access to their account or use their identity to commit a crime.
“HTTP cookies are vital to the internet, but they are also a vulnerability to people’s privacy. As a necessary part of web browsing, cookies help web developers to provide more personal, convenient website visits. Because of cookies, websites remember you, your logins, shopping carts, and even more. But they can also be a treasure trove of private information for criminals to spy on,” says Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
Also known as an HTTP cookie or browser cookie, a cookie is a piece of data that’s stored on your browser whenever you visit a website. When enabled, the website will remember your preferences and any small changes you made during your last visit.
Cookies are a normal and necessary part of the internet. Without them, you couldn’t log into a website or fill your online shopping cart. However, too many cookies can become a threat to both your security and privacy.
“People need to be aware that cookies follow you online. Even if you hide your IP address with a VPN, cookies can track what you do online and form a partial ID of who you are. Moreover, third parties can sell your cookies. Some sites earn revenue by serving third-party cookies. These aren’t functional – their purpose is to turn a profit from your data. Also, cookies are a vulnerability. With the wrong browser settings or when visiting the wrong website, cookies can introduce security vulnerabilities to your browsing experience,” says Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert.
68.5% of Canadians feel that their online data is used for targeted ads
Research shows that Canadians feel the consequences of collected cookies:
“Canadians must be pretty aware of the constant pop-up requesting them to ‘Accept all cookies?’ while visiting online websites. It happens in order to comply with data privacy laws, which were designed to protect users’ personal information and force companies to state what kind of data is being collected and how it is being used,” says Daniel Markuson.
There are plenty of tools and tips to make your online activity more private.
“First, navigate to your browser’s settings and choose to delete all the cookies stored in your browser. Most browsers also offer features to block unnecessary cookies automatically. Second, use incognito mode. While incognito mode does not equal privacy, this is exactly what it was made for — setting aside a single browsing session that won’t save cookies and your history.
Finally, use a VPN. One of a VPN’s core features is to hide your IP address, which is critical if you want your online searches to stay private. You can also look at installing various types of tracker blocker programs. That means that third-party cookies won’t be able to gather data about people’s browsing habits and create a detailed profile on you.
Methodology: The survey was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by the external company Cint on October 4-12, 2021. The survey’s target group was residents of France, the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland aged 18+ (nationally representative), and the sample was taken from national internet users. Quotas were placed on age, gender, and place of residence. 7800 people were surveyed in total, made up of 800 people from Spain and 1000 people from each of the remaining countries.
The European Union (EU) isn’t known for its intelligence, fairness, or competence to govern and it more than proved this when it changed financial regulations limiting the amount of leverage contract for differences (CFD) brokers could offer their clients.
A few years ago, there were no limits on forex trading leverage with some brokers offering up to 1,000 times leverage to clients who eagerly accepted these terms as the returns were often highly favorable. In August 2018, however, the EU imposed a 30X restriction on leverage to retail investors, damaging their ability to make great returns from forex trading and investing.
The regulations were implemented by the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA). Any country that was within the EU at that time had to enforce them regardless of whether they thought they would make a positive or negative impact within their borders. It is how the EU works.
ESMA stated that the leverage restriction was to protect retail investors from overexposure to the market. It could be argued that there is some validity in this position, but a good counterargument is that leverage should be left in the hands of the individual to take responsibility for their decisions.
It also has to be said that as EU politics is dictated by lobbyists, you would have to be very naive not to rule out lobbying from big financial institutions to prompt the change in leverage limits. Larger brokers played the PR game and said they welcomed the decision but the market reaction was mixed.
So what do you do now if you are a retail investor and want to utilize forex trading leverage for higher returns and advantage when investing?
The solution is to become a professional trader as they have no limits on leverage. To become a professional trader is not an easy thing to do as you have to meet strict criteria. See below:
To achieve professional status, you need to demonstrate at least two of the above.
To become a professional trader you need to apply for a professional trading account from your broker. There are disadvantages with professional trading accounts as you may lose some forms of investor protection, but you’ll enjoy higher leverage from day 1. In some circumstances, you may even qualify for lower fees. As you are an experienced forex trader, you’ll know the fees eat into your investment returns.
When the EU imposed regulations on forex trading and investing, many retail investors were impacted negatively. Retail investors were no longer treated like adults, and were treated as if they needed protection from themselves. Through opening a professional trading account, ESMA at least for now is treating you like an adult. So become a pro trader and trade as you want to.
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It’s been eight years since an historic landing took place between an European Space Agency drone and a comet.(which looked suspiciously a lot like an asteroid to us!)
At that time a report from Deep Space Industries laid out their business plans up to 2020 and what they had committed to sounded more like science fiction than fact.
A 2019 announcement from NASA stating that it would be the National Space Administration in the lead instead ( NASA will soon begin hunting a nickel laden asteroid ) spoke volumes about not only the possibility of asteroid prospecting- but also to its inevitability in the private sector.
In early 2020 Deep Space Industries (along with the only other asteroid mining company, Planetary Resources) were purchased by Bradford Space Group and ConsenSys Group respectively and all plans for private asteroid mining were shelved indefinitely. Deep Space Industries is now focused on developing space propulsion systems and ConsenSys is now focused on developing blockchain security applications for space technology.
Their plan was to send an entire fleet of prospector spaceships to Near-Earth asteroids in order to harvest them for precious metals and other undisclosed resources. (space rubies anyone?). Starting in 2015, Deep Space Industries were to begin their operation by sending three small spacecraft called FireFlies to selected asteroids near earth for sample taking and photo reconnaissance. One year later, bigger craft called DragonFlies were to leave on four year missions to retrieve asteroid samples and bring them back to Earth. An ambitious project to be sure and not surprisingly, the timeline had been regularly pushed back.
This press release from DSI said a precursor mission was scheduled to launch in 2017: “Recently, Deep Space Industries and its partner, the government of Luxembourg, announced plans to build and fly Prospector-X™, an experimental mission to low-Earth orbit that will test key technologies needed for low-cost exploration spacecraft. This precursor mission is scheduled to launch in 2017. Then, before the end of this decade, Prospector-1 will travel beyond Earth’s orbit to begin the first space mining exploration mission.”
Valuable materials exist in abundance in space and have strong economic potential. Using their tested indicators as investment attractors, Deep Space will move towards securing a commercial space operation and start into the next phase of its business plan. This involves concentrating firstly on processing rocket fuel from asteroid-harvested water.
This fuel, harvested and processed in space will save millions of dollars, since existing communications satellites will no longer be ‘thrown away’ when their fuel supply has been used up. (Satellites that can longer ‘move’ and stay in orbit by using their rocket engines are left to slowly fall towards earth and burn up in the atmosphere ).
Deep Space Industries past-CEO David Gump estimated that a satellite ‘refueled’ and saved from burn up is worth up to $8,000,000 per month. Those figures start to add up when you factor in the number of satellites in use and being launched every year. Another plan during this phase of their business operations is to return precious group metals such as platinum and gold back to earth.
Deep Space believed that other metals harvested from asteroids also have an in-orbit value. They are developing the Microgravity Foundry- a type of 3D printer that will be used to fabricate and machine metal parts in space from pure asteroid metal such as high strength nickel parts.
Since this factory will operate in space and in zero gravity and produce parts in space, the idea of permanent space development and human habitation is economically feasible. Stephen Covey co-founder of Deep Space Industries and inventor of the Microgravity Foundry process: “What’s cool about the [3D] printer is that it can take its own parts, grind them up, and recycle them into new parts.”
Deep Space Industries past-CEO David Gump: “Using resources harvested in space is the only way to afford permanent space development. More than 900 new asteroids that pass near Earth are discovered every year. They can be like the Iron Range of Minnesota was for the Detroit car industry last century- a key resource located near where it is needed. In this case, metals and fuel from asteroids can expand the in-space industries of this century. That is our strategy.” Company estimates place a value of 1 ton of raw asteroid material at a worth of $1,000,000 [usd] in orbit.
Buy outs over the last few years have all but ended the dream and it will be the various space agencies such as NASA and ESA that will fulfill Deep Space Industries abandoned plan. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
Supplemental: http://www.businessinsider.com/deep-space-industries-asteroid-mining-plans-2013-1#ixzz2Io8Qg8uc
Updates: Deep Space Industries aligns with Luxembourg Government, applauds space commercialization policy.
Mexican commercial space company MXSpace partners with Deep Space Industries.
NASA hunting nickel 16 Psyche asteroid worth quadrillions of dollars.
Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) will showcase its industry-leading high performance battery technology at The Battery Show Europe from 28-30 June, in Stuttgart.
Visitors to the WAE stand in Hall 8, stand F50, will have the opportunity to examine an example of the company’s innovative Adaptive Multi-Chem advanced battery pack, together with the Triumph Motorcycles TE-1 prototype demonstrator.
Triumph’s first zero emission prototype demonstrator motorcycle – the battery pack for which delivers a peak power of 130kW and continuous power of 90kW, with a capacity of 15kWh – will also be on display. With the optimum balance of power and energy, TE-1’s battery gives the rider access to greater electric power for longer, regardless of battery charge, and matches exhilarating acceleration with exceptional range. The 360-volt system also enables a fast-charging time of under 20mins (0-80%).
WAE developed the technology to support the TE-1 prototype demonstrator, a unique collaboration between Triumph Motorcycles, Integral Powertrain Ltd, and WMG at the University of Warwick funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK.
This customer project demonstrates WAE’s sector-leading partnership with ItalDesign, which sees WAE provide a highly sophisticated composite EV platform and powertrain, with ItalDesign contributing the body design, safety systems and electric architecture.
The partnership provides a unique offering for established car companies and start-ups who want a luxury, high-performance EV, without having to spend many years – and billions of dollars – developing a proprietary EV skateboard and associated technology.
Taking place from 28 – 30 June 2022 in Stuttgart, Germany, The Battery Show Europe is Europe’s largest battery technology showcase and conference. With more than 480 suppliers in attendance, The Battery Show Europe provides an ideal opportunity for WAE to showcase its motorsport-derived, zero-emission mobility solutions.
On day one of the conference, Tim Engstrom, WAE Manager – Advanced Battery Technologies, will also deliver the keynote presentation, ‘Examining the Role of Motorsport as a Platform to Accelerate Battery Technology, And Why It Matters’.
Dyrr Ardash, Head of Strategic Partnerships, WAE said: “The Battery Show Europe is an ideal event for WAE to showcase its high-performance battery and EV platform technology. As the world electrifies, motorsport developments act as a springboard to bring world-class technical innovation for a decarbonised and sustainable future. WAE’s role in electric motorsport has significantly accelerated the development of the lightweight battery and e-powertrain technology we can offer our customers today. We continue to learn valuable lessons from our motorsport involvement that will deliver further transformative benefits to the users of EVs in terms of power, performance, efficiency, and sustainability.”
For the Silo, by Ben Lewis.
| Salk researchers treated mice with anti-aging regimen beginning in middle age and found no increase in cancer or other health problems later on |
| LA JOLLA—Age may be just a number, but it’s a number that often carries unwanted side effects, from brittle bones and weaker muscles to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute, in collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche group, have shown that they can safely and effectively reverse the aging process in middle-aged and elderly mice by partially resetting their cells to more youthful states. “We are elated that we can use this approach across the life span to slow down aging in normal animals. The technique is both safe and effective in mice,” says co-corresponding author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory and holder of the Roger Guillemin Chair. “In addition to tackling age-related diseases, this approach may provide the biomedical community with a new tool to restore tissue and organismal health by improving cell function and resilience in different disease situations, such as neurodegenerative diseases.” As organisms age, it is not just their outward appearances and health that change; every cell in their bodies carries a molecular clock that records the passage of time. Cells isolated from older people or animals have different patterns of chemicals along their DNA—called epigenetic markers—compared to younger people or animals. Scientists know that adding a mixture of four reprogramming molecules—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc, also known as “Yamanaka factors“—to cells can reset these epigenetic marks to their original patterns. This approach is how researchers can dial back adult cells, developmentally speaking, into stem cells. In 2016, Izpisua Belmonte’s lab reported for the first time that they could use the Yamanaka factors to counter the signs of aging and increase life span in mice with a premature aging disease. More recently, the team found that, even in young mice, the Yamanaka factors can accelerate muscle regeneration. Following these initial observations, other scientists have used the same approach to improve the function of other tissues like the heart, brain and optic nerve, which is involved in vision. In the new study, Izpisua Belmonte and his colleagues tested variations of the cellular rejuvenation approach in healthy animals as they aged. One group of mice received regular doses of the Yamanaka factors from the time they were 15 months old until 22 months, approximately equivalent to age 50 through 70 in humans. Another group was treated from 12 through 22 months, approximately age 35 to 70 in humans. And a third group was treated for just one month at age 25 months, similar to age 80 in humans. “What we really wanted to establish was that using this approach for a longer time span is safe,” says Pradeep Reddy, a Salk staff scientist and co-first author of the new paper. “Indeed, we did not see any negative effects on the health, behavior or body weight of these animals.” Compared to control animals, there were no blood cell alterations or neurological changes in the mice that had received the Yamanaka factors. Moreover, the team found no cancers in any of the groups of animals. When the researchers looked at normal signs of aging in the animals that had undergone the treatment, they found that the mice, in many ways, resembled younger animals. In both the kidneys and skin, the epigenetics of treated animals more closely resembled epigenetic patterns seen in younger animals. When injured, the skin cells of treated animals had a greater ability to proliferate and were less likely to form permanent scars—older animals usually show less skin cell proliferation and more scarring. Moreover, metabolic molecules in the blood of treated animals did not show normal age-related changes. This youthfulness was observed in the animals treated for seven or 10 months with the Yamanaka factors, but not the animals treated for just one month. What’s more, when the treated animals were analyzed midway through their treatment, the effects were not yet as evident. This suggests that the treatment is not simply pausing aging, but actively turning it backwards—although more research is needed to differentiate between the two. The team is now planning future research to analyze how specific molecules and genes are changed by long-term treatment with the Yamanaka factors. They are also developing new ways of delivering the factors.” At the end of the day, we want to bring resilience and function back to older cells so that they are more resistant to stress, injury and disease,” says Reddy. “This study shows that, at least in mice, there’s a path forward to achieving that.” Belmonte is currently an Institute Director at Altos Labs, Inc., in addition to being a professor at the Salk Institute.Other authors included Mako Yamamoto, Isabel Guillen Guillen, Sanjeeb Sahu, Chao Wang, Yosu Luque, Javier Prieto, Lei Shi, Kensaku Shojima, Tomoaki Hishida and Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban of Salk; Kristen Browder, Zijuan Lai, Qingling Li, Feroza Choudhury, Weng Wong, Yuxin Liang, Dewakar Sangaraju, Wendy Sandoval, Michal Pawlak, Jason Vander Heiden and Heinrich Jasper of Genentech, Inc.; Amin Haghani and Steve Horvath of UCLA; Estrella Nuñez Delicado of Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia; and Pedro Guillen Garcia of Clínica CEMTRO.The study was supported by Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), and Fundación Dr. Pedro Guillén. DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00183-2 About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk’s mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer’s, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. |
Aquiline Drones (AD) has now combined the fast-paced drone industry with the demand for external property care services and developed a revolutionary drone franchise business model. Specifically, the Hartford, Connecticut based drone manufacturer offers budding entrepreneurs and those with existing property maintenance companies the power of drone technology to fulfill various exterior cleaning and improvement services safely, quickly and cost-effectively.
“Franchising has contributed greatly to the overall North American economy since 1731 and has proven to be a lucrative avenue for those who seek both work freedom and financial stability,” said Barry Alexander, Founder and CEO of Aquiline Drones. “There are thousands of franchises across hundreds of industries, but none like ours in the drone sector, so it’s perfect timing for those wanting to grow their business from the ground floor up.”
In fact, according to Dr. Franchise’s website, there are more than 792,000 franchising companies in the United States with a projected $826.6 billion usd/ $1.07 trillion cad in revenues for 2022.
According to a recent survey by Franchise Business Review, the average annual income of an American franchise owner is approximately $80,000 usd/ $104,000 cad ( According to glassdoor.ca the average income of a Canadian franchise owner is approximately $40,480 cad) ; however, this number varies based on the motivation of the owner, and the particular business industry. “Clearly, the sky is the limit and with a drone franchise given the rapidly evolving and lucrative drone services market, a new franchisee can literally dominate an entire region in a very short period,” adds Alexander. “In fact, we are already seeing substantial interest since we announced this unique and creative franchise model with customers already purchasing our equipment.”
Besides its high earning potential, other advantages of AD’s drone franchise include: direct training, easy-to-secure financing, lower investment costs, piggybacking off an established corporate brand, proven management and work practices, and ongoing support – all creating a higher rate of success than other start-up companies in the same business category.
Similarly, AD’s drone services franchise will offer the prospective franchisee in-depth training through its well-established Flight to the Future (F2F) commercial drone pilot training program.
In addition, AD’s proprietary Drone-On-Demand (DoD) mobile app, downloadable on Google Play Store (Apple iOS in July), will match customer service requests nationwide with drone service providers within proximity to the requested jobs.
Flexible financing and insurance options are currently being organized through AD and its subsidiary, Aquiline Drones Indemnity Corporation for new franchisees and established businesses alike.
Individuals can purchase various commercial, American-made drone models through AD’s manufacturing department depending on their desired business scale and goals.
“We founded our company on the underlying mission that drones should enhance, preserve and save human lives, and certainly many of those in the outdoor property care industry put themselves at risk every day.”
Specific exterior maintenance services supported by AD’s unique franchise model include:
For example, solar energy has been taking the world by storm and homeowners have been using it to save money on their electricity bills, add value to their property, and sometimes make a little money from the utility company. According to Sunbadger.com, 16.4 million American homes currently use solar panels as their primary electricity source and regular cleaning ensures that they are working more efficiently, hence allowing for maximum tax credits, rebates and other federal and state incentives.
According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, Canada has more than 43,000 solar (PV) energy installations on residential, commercial and industrial rooftops, providing power directly to those homes and businesses.
“Cleaning solar panels with a drone is much safer than traditional methods and could viably save a homeowner money by increasing its efficiency by 15-25%, a welcomed bonus with today’s economic inflation,” said Alexander.
AD is offering its innovative franchise system as a 3-tiered business opportunity:
Other benefits of the AD franchise model as compared to a traditional franchise company include, a modest start-up cost without needing an expensive, fixed building lease since all drone missions take place outdoors, single proprietor ownership vs. needing multiple employees up front, affordable drone insurance offered by AD’s insurance subsidiary instead of requiring pricy market liability insurance, flexible and accessible AD lines of credit for the initial investment vs. having to incur market loans.
“Whether one is seeking a career change in a burgeoning industry or a company looking to expand its book of business, the AD drone franchise represents a viable revenue stream and scalable fee structure for both new entrants and experienced business owners alike.” For the Silo, Alisa Picerno.
LOS ANGELES—Automation is no longer an option, automation is the key to surviving the Great Reset.
In 2021, more than 47 million American workers resigned, an annual record. In Canada numbers are harder to determine since accurate resignation numbers are not readily available. However, Statistics Canada has published the results of a survey pitched towards Canadian workers.
With no sense of the number of people surveyed and the accuracy of the data gathering the results should perhaps be best taken at face value: “In January, respondents were asked whether they were planning to leave their current job, and whether quality of employment considerations were among the reasons for doing so. Fewer than 1 in 10 Canadian workers aged 15 to 69 (7.3%) were planning to leave their current job within the next 12 months, compared with 16.1% in 2016, when respondents to the General Social Survey were asked the same question (not seasonally adjusted). When January 2022 LFS respondents were asked to report their main reason for planning to leave their job, preliminary results show that at least 1 in 5 of those planning to leave (22.2%) reported reasons related to quality of employment, including low pay (15.7%), heavy workload (4.3%) and inability to do their current job from home (2.2%). The trend is continuing. Surveys and data show that 6 in 10 young professionals have changed jobs or plan to and that 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in March.”
Businesses face continuously evolving markets and societal pressures that are transforming the way employees and employers put in exchange with each other to provide value to consumers and clients.
Bilflo automates back-office tasks and helps staffing manage hundreds of contractors and direct hires on a single, simple platform. This allows organizations to conserve time and labor while expanding business operations and profits. The ability to pull in live performance metrics makes it easy for businesses and teams to track their progress on goals.
“The pandemic was a catalyst for development and expansion, springing from a strong foundation. We spent the past decade developing Bilflo to provide value to clients, especially during a turbulent time,” said Bilflo CEO Barrett Kuethen. “Bilflo was built by staffing industry experts to specifically serve the industry and address the unique operational pains to bridge process gaps.”
As of 2022, Bilflo has an extensive integration roadmap that has started with ATS platforms: Bullhorn and Jobadder along with accounting systems like Quickbooks. The company is expanding with key offerings such as Importing External Time, which will support staffing companies by eliminating redundancy and manual errors from VMS tools and other client time portals. Bilfo’s developers and leadership update the platform responsively to customers to provide optimized results.
Bilflo is outcome-driven and their case studies with leading companies bring to life their platform and services. Amtec, a 60-year-old staffing company which employs over 1,000 contractors every year, provides talent to industries like health care, IT, aerospace and more. After adopting Bilflo the company reduced back-office labor by 75 percent, doubled capacity and achieved 49 percent annual cost savings. Extension, a 20-year-old full recruitment and staffing company handles up to hundreds of employees per week, and similarly achieved success through Bilflo, saving more than $20,000 usd a year and eliminating 16 hours a week in manual workload.
Bilflo founders held a webinar, in association with Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), to discuss why and how to automate staffing companies’ back-office processes. Bilflo has already seen success after emerging in the market early this year and has received 3rd party validation from industry leaders like G2.com. Bilflo received recognition as a high performer for 2022 including generally, and for small business, mid-market, “easiest to use,” “easiest to do business with” and for “best support.” G2 features Bilflo reviews and case studies here on back office management, and tech stacks.
Bilflo’s APIs (application program interface) communicate with organizations’ ATS to retrieve information. This eliminates the need for someone to spend hours manually entering data.
Bilflo makes it so that companies can store contract job information such as rates, burdens, timecard types, overtime rules, job site addresses, workers’ comp codes and rates, and more.
Compliance is more difficult to manage than ever. Bilflo solves these problems by calculating overtime in all states and provinces. Payroll integration and automated invoicing rapidly handle complex payment terms, billing addresses, line item information, and real-time reports.
When I do, I particularly enjoy reading comments left by others who have somehow found their way to whatever it is I happen to be watching. This comforts me because I know that this method of purposeful and accidental consumption of media is not exclusive to me [many comments start with: “Not sure how I ended up at this video but….” or ” __________led me here.”] but perhaps I’m alone in the belief that spontaneous discoveries help connect me better to the production. I think what I’m talking about is called “verisimilitude” and no doubt as I type this out there’s someone trying to figure out how they’ve discovered the same excellent BBC synth documentary that I discovered by chance: Synth Britannia.
Not one to beat around the bush, Will wanted to know what had happened to the future? Specifically the future suggested if not promised in comic book ads to the then pre-adolescent Will Ferrell. He asked, where were the Jet packs, autopilot-flying cars and robot butlers? It occurred to me that if Will was an electronic musician he would have come to the same conclusion that the producers of Synth Britannia did while they drew up the plans to make their excellent documentary: The future did come, it just wasn’t so literal.
To compound matters this future somehow passed by all of us, unless perhaps you were a student of history or an existentialistic, free-radical electronic acolyte or computer programmer back in the golden age of dystopia vision. I call this era the ‘other’ 1970’s.
I have added the qualifier: ‘other’ 1970’s, because today’s media mistakenly focuses on reinforcing the bell-bottom, disco driven qualities of the 1970’s but there was a much more robust, artistic movement running against the grain in the same way that meaningful art has always done. This movement bridged fashion, art, cinema, sound design and of course music and if you want to learn more while being thoroughly engaged, then spend some time paying attention while you watch Synth Britannia.
Supplemental- While I polished this article, one thing became apparent. New music or to be specific, those new artists that are being profiled on national television as new music agents are all lacking the one thing that characterizes the heroes of this column. Simply put, today’s music heroes are not a unity of ideas and expression. They are not bands. They are performers representing wish fulfillment with no sense of genuine attitude or social commentary and perhaps even worse, no sense of daring inventiveness. So far, most (but not all-there are exceptions) of today’s star performers are ‘safe’, predictable and lacking in terms of communicating their alienation. They have become game show contestants. This is because media business (in other words the television networks) has formulated and created what is palatable to an audience. The home video game market further suggests and reinforces created fantasies with interactive games that essentially boil down to a form of karaoke or twister. Simply put, new consumer habits are being engineered and I’m sure they always will be.
So, as listeners, is it fair to say that we no longer think for ourselves and we no longer question what is ‘good’ or ‘impactful’? With today’s de rigueur promise of dream and wish fulfillment (in terms of television shows that empower an audience with voting privileges to create the next pop star) that most crucial artistic ingredient: “individualized commentary” has been eradicated. Even more alarming is that consumers’ freedom of choice is being challenged.
So-is it fair to say that we have become woefully inadequate in identity and informed choice? If there is art, angst and message, where can we find it? Try channel surfing around YouTube and follow what catches your interest. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley 4 years ago with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I received two job offers, one from SETI to work on high performance signal processing and the other from industry.
One does not simply walk away from SETI, so I had the pleasure of joining the Berkeley SETI Research Center (BSRC) team this past June. I received a warm welcome and was promptly sent to West Virginia to help install a new SETI system at the Green Bank Telescope.
As it turns out, our group is looking to expand its computing power, providing the ability to look at more star systems with habitable planets, expand the involvement of volunteers and acquire larger volumes of data; in short, broaden the search and increase our chances of intercepting a signal. Now I’m working on setting up new servers, network hardware, and signal-processing systems at Green Bank. We’re hoping to get data flowing and recording soon, and make it available for the interested public.
Funding from the Breakthrough Initiatives is spawning new projects that would not have been otherwise possible. SETI@home is planning to work with Breakthrough Listen to collect and distribute data from the Green Bank and Parkes telescopes. However, in order to sustain the whole SETI@home effort we could still use support from our devoted SETI@home contributors.
Recently, I spent a day at the Bay Area Science Festival talking to kids and their adults. I was fascinated by just how stoked kids are about SETI. Some came with prepared questions and showed incredible curiosity and intelligence. The BSRC team is hoping to inspire kids to pursue science careers and I think searching for life beyond Earth is a great way to get them interested and involved. I hope you continue your support for this fascinating endeavor, and keep your eyes on the stars. For the Berkeley SETI Research Center team, Zuhra Abdurashidova.
Supplemental- via nemesis maturity YouTube channel
Wow Signal – Scientists say that if the signal came from extraterrestrials, they are likely to be an extremely advanced civilization, as the signal would have required a 2.2-gigawatt transmitter, vastly more powerful than any on Earth.
The signal bore the expected hallmarks of non-terrestrial and non-Solar System origin.
One summer night in 1977, Jerry Ehman, a volunteer for SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, may have become the first man ever to receive an intentional message from an alien world. Ehman was scanning radio waves from deep space, hoping to randomly come across a signal that bore the hallmarks of one that might be sent by intelligent aliens, when he saw his measurements spike.
The signal lasted for 72 seconds, the longest period of time it could possibly be measured by the array that Ehman was using. It was loud and appeared to have been transmitted from a place no human has gone before: in the constellation Sagittarius near a star called Tau Sagittarii, 122 light-years away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
According to new research by our friends at NordVPN– one of the world’s most advanced VPN service providers , only 3,5% of Canadians never accept cookies. To make matters worse, a whopping 43% say they always accept cookies. While most HTTP cookies are safe, some can be used to track people without their consent. Even more, cookies can sometimes be spied upon or used to fake the identity of a user, to gain access to their account or use their identity to commit a crime.
“HTTP cookies are vital to the internet, but they are also a vulnerability to people’s privacy. As a necessary part of web browsing, cookies help web developers to provide more personal, convenient website visits. Because of cookies, websites remember you, your logins, shopping carts, and even more. But they can also be a treasure trove of private information for criminals to spy on,” says Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
Also known as an HTTP cookie or browser cookie, a cookie is a piece of data that’s stored on your browser whenever you visit a website. When enabled, the website will remember your preferences and any small changes you made during your last visit.
Cookies are a normal and necessary part of the internet. Without them, you couldn’t log into a website or fill your online shopping cart. However, too many cookies can become a threat to both your security and privacy.
“People need to be aware that cookies follow you online. Even if you hide your IP address with a VPN, cookies can track what you do online and form a partial ID of who you are. Moreover, third parties can sell your cookies. Some sites earn revenue by serving third-party cookies. These aren’t functional – their purpose is to turn a profit from your data. Also, cookies are a vulnerability. With the wrong browser settings or when visiting the wrong website, cookies can introduce security vulnerabilities to your browsing experience,” says Daniel Markuson.
NordVPN research shows that Canadians feel the consequences of collected cookies:
“Canadians must be pretty aware of the constant pop-up requesting them to ‘Accept all cookies?’ while visiting online websites. It happens in order to comply with data privacy laws, which were designed to protect users’ personal information and force companies to state what kind of data is being collected and how it is being used,” says Daniel Markuson.
There are plenty of tools and tips to make your online activity more private.
“First, navigate to your browser’s settings and choose to delete all the cookies stored in your browser. Most browsers also offer features to block unnecessary cookies automatically. Second, use incognito mode. While incognito mode does not equal privacy, this is exactly what it was made for — setting aside a single browsing session that won’t save cookies and your history.
Finally, use a VPN. One of a VPN’s core features is to hide your IP address, which is critical if you want your online searches to stay private. Quite recently, NordVPN launched the Threat Protection feature, which offers a tracker blocker. That means that third-party cookies won’t be able to gather data about people’s browsing habits and create a detailed profile on you. So you can use online services in privacy,” says Daniel Markuson.
Methodology: The survey was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by the external company Cint on October 4-12, 2021. The survey’s target group was residents of France, the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland aged 18+ (nationally representative), and the sample was taken from national internet users. Quotas were placed on age, gender, and place of residence. 7800 people were surveyed in total, made up of 800 people from Spain and 1000 people from each of the remaining countries.
Tesla has been the fastest growing automobile brand over the course of the pandemic with astounding brand value growth of 271% in the last two years, according to the latest report by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. Tesla’s impressive growth continued this year with its brand value up by 44% to US$46.0 billion ( CAD$58.55 billion) which saw it move from 6th to 3rd in the Brand Finance Automobile 100 2022 ranking.
Every year, Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes nearly 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The report ranks the world’s top 100 most valuable and strongest automobile brands, the top 20 auto component brands, the top 15 tire brands and the top 10 car rental service brands.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, has played a huge part in the growth of the brand with his charismatic, and at times controversial, behaviour keeping it firmly in the limelight. Tesla’s transformation into a household name has seen other brands try to connect themselves to the brand to benefit from the Tesla effect.
It opened a new research and development centre, its first outside of America, in addition to a data centre at its Gigafactory in Shanghai. The brand also built a second delivery centre in the city, which incorporates sales, test driving and delivery of Tesla vehicles. Looking to this year 2022, Tesla announced it would launch no new models this year due to the global chip shortage, as doing so would reduce its overall output. Instead, the brand will focus on its full self-driving software as well as scaling up its production capabilities.
Chinese brands account for eight of the top 10 fastest-growing brands in the ranking . The increasing popularity and adoption of electric vehicles in China has been a key driver behind the impressive growth for these brands, with China accounting for most electric vehicles sold globally. Several Chinese brands are looking to capitalise on the momentum by expanding their global footprints, with several of these brands launching in Europe in 2021.
While Tesla has seen the fastest growth over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Great Wall is the fastest-growing brand in the ranking this year, with its brand value increasing by an impressive 109% to US$2.6 billion (CAD$3.3 billion). As well as launching in Europe last year, Great Wall announced it will be launching nine electric vehicle models in Thailand over the next three years, where demand is expected to grow considerably. Great Wall plans to use Thailand as a base to launch its expansion into the ASEAN region. The auto marque’s CEO, Jianjun Wei, was also the top ranked automobile CEO in the Brand index, which ranks the world’s top 250 Chief Executives according to how well they manage and grow their company’s brand, and placed 3rd overall across all industries.
BYD was the second fastest-growing brand in the automotive ranking with its brand value doubling to US$6.4 billion (CAD$8.15 billion), an increase which saw it overtake Haval (brand value up 55% to US$6.1 billion or CAD$7.76 billion) to become China’s most valuable car brand. BYD, which specialises in electric vehicles, saw sales accelerating 232% in 2021 with 603,783 models sold – making it the best-selling new energy vehicle manufacturer in China for the ninth year.
Joining Great Wall and BYD in the Top 10 fastest-growing brands is Song (brand value up 90% to US$1.7 billion or CAD$2.16 billion), Qin (up 89% to US$475 million or CAD$604 million), Tang (up 88% to US$630 million or CAD$802 million), NIO (up 79% to US$2.6 billion or CAD$3.3 billion), Dongfeng (up 67% to US$1.4 billion or CAN$1.78 billion), and WEY (up 56% to US$613 million or CAN$780 million).
Toyota holds on to pole position as most valuable automobile brand
Although Chinese auto brands have seen impressive growth, Japan’s Toyota has held on to the top spot in the Brand ranking with a brand value of US$64.3 billion (CAN$81.9 billion).
The foresight allowed the brand to keep production levels high when others faltered and resulted in Toyota outselling General Motors in North America in Q1 2021 – the first time any brand has outsold General Motors in the region since 1998. Toyota remains the world’s top-selling automaker, the only manufacturer selling over 10 million vehicles globally.
Toyota was one of the early adopters of hybrid technology, with its Prius model dominating the hybrid segment for years, but it has fallen behind in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle arena in recent years. To regain ground, last year it announced it would be investing US$35 billion (CAD$44.6 billion) in electric vehicles, focusing on both battery technology and car development. The investment forms part of Toyota’s ambition to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles a year by 2030.
Fellow Japanese brands Honda (brand value US$28.2 billion or CAD$35.9 billion)and Nissan (US$14.6 billion or CAD$18.6 billion) join Toyota in the Top 10 of the ranking, though both brands saw a 10% decrease in brand value this year. Honda held onto its position in 7th, and despite the loss in brand value Nissan actually climbed two spots from 11th to 9th, as it fared better than Sweden’s Volvo (down 20% to US$14.2 billion or CAD$18 billion) and Germany’s Audi (down 20% to US$13.8 billion or CAD$17.6 billion).
Mercedes-Benz remains most valuable European brand
Sitting behind Toyota, Mercedes-Benz remains the second most valuable brand in the ranking, and the most valuable European brand, with a 4% increase in brand value year-on-year to US$60.7 billion (CAD$77.3 billion). Amid challenging market conditions due to the pandemic and an industrywide semiconductor shortage, the brand prioritized electromobility and has seen great results from it. The German automobile giant confirmed that their electric vehicles sales saw a 90% increase this year.
In 2021, Mercedes-Benz launched the sixth generation of the C-class series with a new interior design and is planning to implement autonomous driving features. At the same time, an industry-wide trend to make a transition to electric vehicles and a sustainable approach to production and distribution is on the rise.
A key development to strengthen the Mercedes-Benz brand is the rebrand of Daimler AG to Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The focus of the rebrand is to enhance passenger cars and vans in the luxury segment. The strategic move to rebrand was to fulfil the brand’s objective to focus on financial and mobility services by offering insurance and rental subscriptions and digital fleet management systems.
Other German brands did not fare so well in the ranking this year, with Volkswagen (brand value down 13% to US$41.0 billion or CAD$52 billion), BMW (brand value down 6% to US$37.9 billion or CAD$48.2 billion), and Audi (brand value down 20% to US$13.8 billion or CAD$17.6 billion) all seeing losses in brand value. With lockdowns, network contractions in production and the ongoing semiconductor shortage, the industry has been faced with many challenges. Apart from sector wide disruptions, the German automakers who were reliant on diesel-powered vehicles have had to deal with regulatory challenges and the transition to electric mobility and electric production methods, resulting in rolling back on production to meet industry trends.
Porsche most valuable among luxury and premium, but Ferrari strongest across the whole table
Porsche is the most valuable luxury and premium automobile brand in the world with a brand value of US$33.7 billion (CAD$42.9 billion). The automobile giant celebrated the 50th anniversary of the iconic Porsche Design with a limited-edition sale of 750 cars to pay tribute to the iconic design by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche.
The brand’s aim to transform into an agile company has led to leveraging digital transformation by enhancing online sales. To adapt to new formats of sale in the automobile sector, Porsche has invested in e-commerce for 100 markets globally to adopt an omnichannel strategy to connect digital services and retail sales.
While Porsche is the most valuable brand in the luxury and premium segment, Ferrari was named the strongest automobile brand in the world with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 90.9 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA+ rating. Apart from calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Certified by ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in more than 35 countries and across nearly 30 sectors.
2021 was Ferrari’s best-ever year in terms of sales, with the company paying bonuses to all employees as a result, and the projected growth for 2022 remains high. The automotive brand’s historic pursuit of controlled growth has helped to preserve its exclusivity within its sector, however, last year Ferrari expanded its target market to a younger demographic by launching a new high-end fashion line. The aim of creating a brand that can cater to Italian luxury lifestyle in the high-end category will help expand and strengthen its brand portfolio into new avenues, whilst enhancing brand awareness amongst the younger generation.
Denso most valuable auto components brand
Car sales picked up following the loosening of lockdown restrictions, and auto component brands saw demand rise in turn. It has been far from clear sailing for the industry with the global chip shortage disrupting production, but the overall outlook is positive, evidenced by the vast majority of brands seeing good growth.
Denso has retained the title of most valuable auto components brand in the world for the 5th consecutive year, with brand value up 12% to US$4.2 billion (CAD$5.4 billion). The brand continued to play its part in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, creating respirator components in collaboration with Ford, as well as hosting over 50 vaccination clinics for employees across North America. Looking forward, the ever-increasing adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles is good news for Denso, which has over two decades worth of experience in the manufacturing of hybrid car parts.
Michelin most valuable and strongest tyres brand
As the world opened back up and travel increased throughout 2021 the tyre sector regained traction, with almost every brand in the ranking now more valuable than they were pre-pandemic.
Michelin has retained the title of the world’s most valuable and strongest tires brand, with a brand value of US$7.7 billion (CAD$9.8 billion) and a brand strength index score of 85.8 out of 100.
Despite continued disruption within the industry, Michelin saw a 15.6% year-on-year increase in consolidated sales in the first nine months of 2021 and exceeded expectations in the third quarter of the year thanks to a rebound in demand for tires for agricultural machinery. The brand also announced an extension of its partnership with the MotoGP World Championship, remaining the exclusive tire supplier for the competition until 2026.
SIXT is fastest-growing car rental services brand
The car rental brands have gained momentum in 2021 after a steep decline in brand value at the start of the pandemic. As the demand for vehicle hires increases, brands in this industry are presented with the opportunity to innovate and capture a high market share.
SIXT is the world’s fastest-growing car rental brand of 2022 with a 115% increase in brand value over the year to US$1.3 billion (CAN$1.7 billion), according to the Brand Finance ranking. This year’s increase is the continuation of an impressive growth trend for SIXT, which has seen its brand value increase 265% over the past five years. The brand has built a strong international growth strategy, expanding rapidly in the United States and entering new markets, such as Australia.
Enterprise has retained the position of the world’s most valuable car rental brand with a brand value of US$7.1 billion (CAN$9 billion) with a 6% increase in brand value over the year. Despite COVID-induced travel restrictions, the brand has performed well by launching new mobility hubs and undertaking fleet electrification, but it remains below its pre-pandemic brand value of US$7.4 billion (CAD$9.4 billion). For the Silo, James Haggis.
Featured image: Great Wall Ora Concept Electric Car Made In China
Mobile apps using ‘metaverse’ in their description surge fivefold in 3 months
Various mobile application developers are increasingly aligning their products with the growing metaverse concept after Facebook popularized the term following the company’s rebranding to Meta. Although metaverse is a work in progress, several appsol are associating with the concept in their descriptions.
Data presented by Burga indicates that between November 2021 and January 2022, a monthly average of 28 mobile applications added metaverse to their description, a fivefold growth or 460% spike from the five average recorded between June 2021 and October 2021. The highest number was registered in December 2021 at 30.
Elsewhere, games with 107 applications lead in the number of app categories referencing the ‘metaverse’ keyword. Finance ranks second at 101, followed by social at 70. In the tenth slot, there is education with 11 apps. Data on mobile apps referencing metaverse is provided by mobile intelligence platform Sensor Tower.
Mobile phone applications adding metaverse to their description were seemingly triggered by Facebook’s rebranding to Meta in October 2021. Most companies and applications have followed suit after the social media giant also announced that it plans to invest heavily in the metaverse. The apps are aligned with the metaverse even as players in the sector explore industry standards.
Generally, the metaverse concept is a network of virtual worlds focused on social connection as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world supported by virtual and augmented reality headsets.
Although the metaverse is still gaining ground, app developers are using the concept as a critical marketing tool as different sectors await the actual technical requirements for the metaverse to emerge. It can be argued that the applications are working towards having an edge once the technology’s full potential is realized.
A significant share of the metaverse will likely be enabled by apps, which explains developers’ decision to associate with the virtual concept. Notably, apps in the metaverse are touted to potentially harness the most critical features of smartphones, wearables, headsets, and IoT.
Furthermore, virtual interactions offer enticing financial opportunities for businesses and could potentially open new revenue streams for companies diving into this new venture. At this point, with the shift towards a digital life, the opportunities offered by the metaverse are limitless.
It is no surprise that the gaming apps are leading in adding metaverse to their description. Notably, games have long been associated with VR and AR technology which is at the core of the metaverse. Game engines are likely to be foundational technologies and a critical building block for creating virtual world applications.
In this line, some of the big players in the tech space led by Microsoft are increasing their involvement in the metaverse. According to the company, the metaverse is all about creating games, a key driver for its acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard. Additionally, gaming platform Roblox has long been viewed as the metaverse frontrunner.
Besides games, the metaverse is also expected to have several implications for different industries. Metaverse technologies have found practical applications among sectors like finance. For instance, VR and AR can be deployed in finance in data visualization, which can aid in analyzing financial risks providing more precise services to customers.
Although app developers are getting ready for metaverse, realizing the concept on a large scale might be extensive. For instance, access to high-speed Internet and the cost of reliable VR hardware remains a challenge.
Additionally, the high scale of interoperability required to build various aspects of the metaverse is yet to be achieved. In this line, tech companies will have to partner with other entities on factors such as metaverse laws. For the Silo, Gytis Gelzinis/BURGA.
| Salk researchers pinpoint a sound-sensitive mammalian protein that lets them activate brain, heart or other cells with ultrasound |
| LA JOLLA—Salk scientists have engineered mammalian cells to be activated using ultrasound. The method, which the team used to activate human cells in a dish and brain cells inside living mice, paves the way toward non-invasive versions of deep brain stimulation, pacemakers and insulin pumps. The findings were published in Nature Communications on February 9, 2022.” Going wireless is the future for just about everything,” says senior author Sreekanth Chalasani, an associate professor in Salk’s Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. “We already know that ultrasound is safe, and that it can go through bone, muscle and other tissues, making it the ultimate tool for manipulating cells deep in the body.” About a decade ago, Chalasani pioneered the idea of using ultrasonic waves to stimulate specific groups of genetically marked cells, and coined the term “sonogenetics” to describe it. In 2015, his group showed that, in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, a protein called TRP-4 makes cells sensitive to low-frequency ultrasound. When the researchers added TRP-4 to C. elegans neurons that didn’t usually have it, they could activate these cells with a burst of ultrasound—the same sound waves used in medical sonograms. When the researchers tried adding TRP-4 to mammalian cells, however, the protein was not able to make the cells respond to ultrasound. A few mammalian proteins were reported to be ultrasound-sensitive, but none seemed ideal for clinical use. So Chalasani and his colleagues set out to search for a new mammalian protein that made cells highly ultrasound sensitive at 7 MHz, considered an optimal and safe frequency.” Our approach was different than previous screens because we set out to look for ultrasound-sensitive channels in a comprehensive way,” says Yusuf Tufail, a former project scientist at Salk and a co-first author of the new paper. The researchers added hundreds of different proteins, one at a time, to a common human research cell line (HEK), which does not usually respond to ultrasound. Then, they put each cell culture under a setup that let them monitor changes to the cells upon ultrasound stimulation. After screening proteins for more than a year, and working their way through nearly 300 candidates, the scientists finally found one that made the HEK cells sensitive to the 7 MHz ultrasound frequency. TRPA1, a channel protein, was known to let cells respond to the presence of noxious compounds and to activate a range of cells in the human body, including brain and heart cells. But Chalasani’s team discovered that the channel also opened in response to ultrasound in HEK cells. “We were really surprised,” says co-first author of the paper Marc Duque, a Salk exchange student. “TRPA1 has been well-studied in the literature but hasn’t been described as a classical mechanosensitive protein that you’d expect to respond to ultrasound.” To test whether the channel could activate other cell types in response to ultrasound, the team used a gene therapy approach to add the genes for human TRPA1 to a specific group of neurons in the brains of living mice. When they then administered ultrasound to the mice, only the neurons with the TRPA1 genes were activated.Clinicians treating conditions including Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy currently use deep brain stimulation, which involves surgically implanting electrodes in the brain, to activate certain subsets of neurons. Chalasani says that sonogenetics could one day replace this approach—the next step would be developing a gene therapy delivery method that can cross the blood-brain barrier, something that is already being studied. Perhaps sooner, he says, sonogenetics could be used to activate cells in the heart, as a kind of pacemaker that requires no implantation. “Gene delivery techniques already exist for getting a new gene—such as TRPA1—into the human heart,” Chalasani says. “If we can then use an external ultrasound device to activate those cells, that could really revolutionize pacemakers.”For now, his team is carrying out more basic work on exactly how TRPA1 senses ultrasound. “In order to make this finding more useful for future research and clinical applications, we hope to determine exactly what parts of TRPA1 contribute to its ultrasound sensitivity and tweak them to enhance this sensitivity,” says Corinne Lee-Kubli, a co-first author of the paper and former postdoctoral fellow at Salk. They also plan to carry out another screen for ultrasound sensitive proteins—this time looking for proteins that can inhibit, or shut off, a cell’s activity in response to ultrasound. The other authors of the paper were Uri Magaram, Janki Patel, Ahana Chakraborty, Jose Mendoza Lopez, Eric Edsinger, Rani Shiao and Connor Weiss of Salk; and Aditya Vasan and James Friend of UC San Diego. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01MH111534, R01NS115591), Brain Research Foundation, Kavli Institute of Brain and Mind, Life Sciences Research Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation (SERF), and the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics and GT3 Cores (which receive funding through NCI CCSG P30014195 and NINDSR24). About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk’s mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer’s, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. |
Featured image: Neurons (magenta) in the mouse brain. The Chalasani lab made specific neurons express TRPA1 (white), so they can be activated by ultrasound.
The year 2021 was record-breaking in terms of the sheer size of data breaches. According to the data collected and analyzed by the Atlas VPN team, 5.9 billion accounts were affected by data breaches throughout 2021.
Atlas VPN has retrieved and calculated the numbers of breached accounts based on multiple publicly available sources. The total count includes worldwide data breaches that took place from January 1st, 2021, to December 31st, 2021.
The breach was named this way because it is not a result of a single hack of a specific organization but rather combines leaked data from a number of different breaches spanning five years, including Netflix, LinkedIn, and others.
The breached data was first offered for sale on RaidForums, an underground database sharing and marketplace forum, for just $2 in February. Other breaches that made it to the top five biggest data leaks of 2021 include LinkedIn (700 million people), Facebook (533 million people), Brazil’s Ministry of Health (220 million people), and SocialArks (214 million people).
Cybersecurity writer and researcher at Atlas VPN Ruta Cizinauskaite shares her thoughts on 2021 data breach trends: “Even with data breaches becoming a growing threat, it seems organizations are still not putting enough effort in protecting the personal information of their users. One of the first things every organization should do is evaluate the amount of sensitive user data it collects — the less sensitive data is stored, the lesser the risk of it being leaked.”
In 1981 RCA introduced Selectavision even though they knew they had little chance of getting these things into most people’s homes. Laserdiscs had been on the market for several years and video cassette recorders were starting to become more affordable and popular. But RCA had invested millions of dollars and spent 17 years engineering a way to extend the playing time of the LP record and embed full color, full motion video. The fact that they were successful seems incredible given the age of the vinyl medium. It had been around for a long time.
It’s an analog medium and when properly set up and viewed it can create a rich, warm viewing experience, far closer to a movie theater showing film than DVD. Yes I said that and I know there will be many that will think I am wrong. If you are one of them leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I will be happy to send you screen shots and a couple of reasons why what I’m saying makes sense. This is what family cinema was meant to be. It isn’t about lines of resolution and eight channels of sound, it’s about experiencing film as nostalgia, as fun, as intimacy, together as a family, even as art. Consider how a painting compares to the print or the digital copy of that painting. The original painting has a richness and a vivid quality that is difficult to describe in words. It has an immediacy and a temperature. Prints and digital images, although fine for technical analysis, do not create the same connection with the viewer.
There are other ways that collectors of CED’s (Capacitance Electronic Discs or Selectavision for short) connect with this unique format. They take special pride in the jukebox like mechanism that extracts the vinyl disc from its protective plastic jacket. They appreciate the fantastic sound quality of stereo transfers- most stereo discs carry the Dolby Stereo/Surround information signal which can be decoded with modern receivers. They admire technicolor movies that have a certain ‘glow’ on this format. (Still image screenshots do not demonstrate this strength because the effect is accumulative via moving images and scene transitions.) They enjoy watching classic movies on classic 4:3 television screens. They reminisce and appreciate a time when small screen sizes meant watching movies and shows from a physically closer position- circled around a TV in a cozy nook.
These folks probably never gave up their vinyl record collections and who can blame them? They’re laughing on that one, by the way. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
-Unaltered CED Movie Screenshots-
The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 director Norman Jewison
Rocky2 1979 director Sylvester Stallone
TRON 1982 Director Steven Lisberger
Black Orpheus 1959 Director Marcel Camus
Superman The Movie 1978 Director Richard Donner
The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959 Director Terrance Fisher
Playboy Collectors Video #2
Star Trek: The Motion Picture 1979 Director Robert Wise
Return of the Jedi 1983 Director Richard Marquand
An intuitive system makes training and operating a breeze. The Picnic Pizza Station is the essential back-of-house makeline. The modular food prep system fits into any kitchen and uses the owner’s unique recipe, delivering perfect pizza every time. Requiring only one operator, the system can produce up to 100 pizzas per hour which saves labor costs and increases yield through decreased food waste.
Combining sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and granular topping modules into any preferred configuration complements existing kitchen Pizza take out and restaurant operations. Further streamline production by connecting the station directly with an existing oven.
Picnic software solutions integrate with your POS system and includes an intuitive touch screen interface for ordering pizza and a dashboard to track ingredients and predict inventory needs.
Reduced labor costs: One operator can make up to 100 pizzas per hour.
Reduced food waste: Apply precise amounts of toppings with less than 2% food waste.
Consistent product: Use your recipe to create uniform, consistent pizzas every time.
Increased hygiene: Contactless assembly system, minimal operator ingredient handling.
• Small footprint. No special hook-ups
• Typical install is 86” (218 cm) W X 56” (142 cm) H X 40” (102 cm) D
• Easy to install with limited build-out
• Modular, configurable design
• Commercial-grade; built for food service
• Easy to clean. Dishwasher-safe
• Intuitive assembly and disassembly
• Free delivery. Free installation
• Free on-site maintenance checks
• Robotics-as-a-service subscription model
• Touch-screen interface
• Integrates into existing POS
• Quick to learn and no-hassle operation
• Customized software to meet your needs
• Temperature-controlled assembly line
• Fresh sliced pepperoni; never pre-cut
• Use your recipes with consistent results
• Well-lit and accessible from top and front
• Reduce food waste
• Integrates into existing make lines
• Monitor ingredient usage and yield
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ‒ December , 2021 – Barrett-Jackson will celebrate 50 years of The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions with an extraordinary docket filled with uniquely collectible vehicles, all selling at No Reserve, including a restored 1955 300SL Gullwing Coupe (Lot #1415) during the annual Scottsdale Auction at WestWorld of Scottsdale, January 22-30, 2022. One of only 855 made in 1955, the Gullwing was initially delivered to Havana, Cuba, and subsequently rallied by professional race car driver Santiago “Chaquito” Gonzales.
“Some of the star collectible vehicles crossing the block at No Reserve in Scottsdale come with significant provenance,” said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “The 1955 300SL Gullwing Coupe is one of those vehicles that we’re truly excited to offer at No Reserve. Not only is this Gullwing one of just 1,400 of a total production run, but its pedigree also includes a first-place win at the 1957 Havana Gran Premio National Race. This is an incredible chance to not just own a significant vehicle but help write the next chapter in its evolving legacy.”
Special ordered from the factory with Strawberry Red Metallic paint, the 1955 300SL Gullwing Coupe (Lot #1415) was delivered to the initial owner, the Ministry of Police in Havana Cuba, on June 16, 1955. After being rallied during the first part of its life, it was purchased in 1961 and imported to the United States. Optional features included factory beige leather, VDO gauges, wood steering wheel and custom aftermarket luggage. It is powered by the original matching-numbers M198 engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. This 300SL was restored by the third owner in the 1990s followed by a full engine rebuild by the fourth owner in 2003, and currently has only 59,265 miles.
The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS “Cutaway” Coupe (Lot #1369) is one of only two known “cutaway” promotional display cars used in 1968. Referred to as the “Double Header Car,” it was used by Chevrolet in 1968 to promote the new 1969 Camaro model. The Camaro’s body is a “first day of production body” and much of it is still in its original condition from the time it was modified for display. It features one of the original GM straight-6 cutaway engines and has been kept privately and out of the public eye for 52 years.
“Our bidders will not only have the chance to take home an incredible vehicle from Scottsdale, but also a true piece of automotive history,” said Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. “A rich heritage combined with exceptional collectability, many of these vehicles will be the centerpiece of any collection.”
The 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne Fleetmaster 409 (Lot #1291) is reportedly the world’s only 2-door version built and powered by the 409ci engine. It is the only documented 409 Biscayne Fleetmaster known and was ordered new by drag racer Allen May at Capitol Chevrolet in Salem, Oregon.
Lot #1312 is one of only 248 1962 Porsche 356B Roadsters that received coachwork by D’Leteren Freres. Finished in black over a tan interior, it is powered by a matching-numbers flat 4-cylinder engine with 4-speed manual transmission. For more information contact marketingdirector@thesilo.ca
