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Last login: 10 hours agoLaodan: laodan is a guy from Milford, Pennsylvania, USA.; Likes 1,599 pages, 24 videos, 8 photos • 228 fans • Received 65 reviews; Member since Aug 08, 2005

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Computerworld & Open source 3D printer copies itself: Apr 8, 9:27am 8 reviews open-source, economy, freetools
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/2F5C3C5D68A380EDCC257423006E71CD; Open source 3D printer copies itself via kurzweilai.net, in ComputerWorld by Ulrika Hedquist
Based in the Waitakeres, in West Auckland, software developer and artist Vik Olliver is part of a team developing an open-source, self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer can replicate and update itself. It can print its own parts, including updates, says Olliver, who is one of the core members of the RepRap team. Open source 3D printer copies itself Great. Open Source goes to Open Production. This is an initiative that should be given wide diffusion.

Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs: Feb 12, 12:45pm 1 review economics, economy, finance, collapse
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JB13Dj02.html; Financial models head for scrap heap in AsiaTimes by Martin Hutchinson
It is now clear that the credit crunch was not due simply to bull market over-optimism, but resulted very largely from the failures of a number of the financial models that have been a staple of the last generation. ... ... the subprime mortgage is simply a scam, and the market a giant Ponzi scheme that could survive only as long as more people entered into subprime mortgage contracts, keeping house prices high and mortgage brokers active. ...it becomes obvious that the financial system of the future will look very different from that of the recent past. ... The percentage of financeu2019s value added in the US and world economy will shrink once again, close to the levels of the 1970s and 1980s, around half those of today, and remuneration for bankers, traders and salesmen will be correspondingly more restricted. ... Eventually, perhaps not before 2030, another financial revolution, immensely profitable to its participants, will begin. It is undoubtedly the case however that the new revolution will involve products and sales methodologies far different from those of recent decades. Financial models head for scrap heap Wow! So much for the wealth generated these last 20 years. It has been, at best, an illusion and, at worst, a scam. But there is a huge difference between illusion and scam. If it was an illusion we can conceive that the actors in the financial game were not really responsible. If it was a scam the actors in the financial game should undoubtedly be penalized and the least that would be expected from them is to return the high incomes they generated during those years of scamming... But who will be the judge?

The Archdruid Report: Back Up The Rabbit Hole: Feb 7, 2:43pm 1 review environment, economy
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2008/02/back-up-rabbit-hole.html; Back Up The Rabbit Hole in The Archdruid Report by John Michael Greer
As the world closes in on the end of the 21st century's first decade, its industrial societies are leaving behind a period in which just such a temporary set of conditions held sway. Until we recognize the blind alley down which those conditions led the developed world, we will be hard put to respond to a future that has begun to move in a very different direction. ... During the quarter century of ultracheap energy, transportation costs were so low that they became a negligible fraction of the cost of goods. This allowed manufacturers to arbitrage the difference in labor costs between industrial and nonindustrial countries without having to take shipping costs into account. ... Another result, at least as dramatic as globalization though less ballyhooed then or now, was the rise of a throwaway economy all through the industrial world. In hindsight, I suspect, the entire period from 1980 to 2005 will be seen as one of history's supreme blind alleys. ... The possibility that the only way forward out of the present blind alley may require going back to less convenient and more costly ways of doing things is nowhere on our collective radar screens just now. Back Up The Rabbit Hole This idea of progress as being the direction forward on the line of history is typically a story derived out of the religions of the word. This is nowhere to be seen in China and the greater Confucian area nor in any area where animism is still in practice. The Western idea of progress starts with the religions of the word being imposed on all citizens as the societal glue of early kingdoms and empires. That moment is also considered to be the beginning of Western civilization moment that Toynbee spent his life studying. Civilization is like a house. The FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION are not made of bricks but of AXIOMS of a model of perception of reality that is shared by all the citizens. Culture, understood as epochal behavior within society, is then added to the axioms to grow the house of civilization. Each particular snapshot of epochal behavior acts thus like a CULTURAL ADD-ON. A civilization is then the sum of its axioms + its cultural add-ons. So how do the axioms of our Western and Christian civilization compare with the axioms of the Chinese civilization? It's the story of dualism in the West versus the polarities of unity in China. - dualism: God versus devil, beginning versus end, good versus evil, love versus hate, "you are with us or you are against us", progress versus regress, and so on. Under dualism it is implied that you are on the side of God and good and that the road of history is made of progress. The logical behavior in such an axiomatic setting is thus to believe that everything is fine because we are on the road of progress towards reaching God (ultimate good). As a consequence Westerners experience an utter inability to recognize reality as it is and tend to reject the idea that what they do could be wrong, or even less, counterproductive to their own interests. - polarities of unity: the contact between polarities generates a burst of energy fueling changes and transformations that are as the seconds on the ticking clock of evolution. In that axiomatic setting there is no beginning and end, no all and nothing, no progress and regress. Reality is perceived indeed as a continuum of change. And the logical behavior is then to surf on the realities of the moment in order to position oneself to be able to size the best opportunities at hand in the present. In light of this I'm afraid that John's assertion that "The challenge before us now is to climb back out of the rabbit hole and deal with the world we will have to face when the extravagant Wonderland of the brief era of ultra-cheap energy dissolves into windblown leaves and the shreds of a departed dream" is wishful thinking, for, as Toynbee observed (in a Western civilizational environment) it's NECESSITY that powers change and not the willpower of men.

DNA Is Blueprint, Contractor And Construction Worker For New Structures: Feb 4, 10:39am 3 reviews science, economy
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130130652.htm; DNA Is Blueprint, Contractor And Construction Worker For New Structures via KurzweilAI, in ScienceDaily from adapted materials provided by Northwestern University in EurekAlert
DNA is the blueprint of all life, giving instruction and function to organisms ranging from simple one-celled bacteria to complex human beings. Now Northwestern University researchers report they have used DNA as the blueprint, contractor and construction worker to build a three-dimensional structure out of gold, a lifeless material. ... By changing the type of DNA on the surface of the particles, the Northwestern team can get the particles to arrange differently in space. The structures that finally form are the ones that maximize DNA hybridization. DNA is the stabilizing force, the glue that holds the structure together. "These structures are a new form of matter," said Mirkin, "that would be difficult, if not impossible, to make any other way." ... "Once you get good at this you can build anything you want," said Mirkin, director of Northwestern's International Institute for Nanotechnology. "The rules that govern self-assembly are not known, however," said Schatz, "and determining how to combine nanoparticles into interesting structures is one of the big challenges of the field." DNA Is Blueprint, Contractor And Construction Worker For New Structures Computer rendition of a structure created by using DNA to assemble nanoparticles into well-defined crystal lattices. (Credit: Northwestern University) Letting biology, or better nano-bilology, work for us. This work done at Northwestern University colors the future in more livable tones. Imagine what a potential this work could unleash indeed!

The Oil Drum | Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves?: Jul 12, 2007 9:39am 1 review mexico, economy, globalization, change, geo-politics
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2752; Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves? in The Oil Drum by Jeff Vail.
In my annual new years predictions, I said that the most significant, and surprising, development of 2007 would be the collapse of both Mexico's economy and its very existence as a viable Nation-State. While there hasn't been a spectacular, single event confirming my prediction, there has been a steady erosion on all fronts with five months left in the year, I'm not yet willing to push back my prediction of Mexico's "collapse" to 2008. The decline of the Mexican Nation-State is a bellwether for the massively complex network of geopolitical influences sometimes termed above ground factors. It provides some insight into how symptoms of oil scarcity already being felt in poorer parts of the world will increasingly spill over into our own back yard. Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves? The New Map: Terrorism and the Decline of the Nation-State in a Post-Cartesian World A 24 pages PDF by Jeff Vail
Mexico's Oil Production is already Collapsing I'm back from abroad and discover this prediction about Mexico from Jeff Vail. Hum... Societal change is undeniably accelerating around the world. I just come back from Belgium where the collapse of the federal state appears also to nearing fast. We are assisting at the early stages of a global geo-political re-balancing and this takes the form of societal changes at the level of the nation-states... I guess the next big step in this process shall be the US stumbling into a muddle-through recession that will consecrate the EU and China as central pillars of the new world order...

Photos: The green view from Beijing | CNET News.com: May 30, 2007 11:26am 2 reviews environment, economy
http://news.com.com/2300-11392_3-6186860-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg; The green view from Beijing from diverse sources
in the capital, Beijing, plans are well advanced to use renewable energy for a big chunk of the city's power needs by the time it hosts what China is billing as the first "green" Olympics in 2008. Beijing intends to build a "solar street" where buildings and streetlights will run entirely on energy from the sun. To be green is to be hip in China these days, and even the government is taking note. The green view from Beijing a slideshow of Chinese innovations China Solar Energy Blog Dong Wang's blog China's Solar-Powered City by Xuemei Bai in Renewal EnergyAccess. Read also the comments. Overview of Solar Energy in China 2006 Major Solar Module Suppliers in China China Power to spend US$4b on renewable energy The quest for clean energy: China's green revolution

Is it grass? Is it concrete? No, it's Grasscrete, an environmentally sustainable alternative paving system used to create footpaths while leaving room for greenery. It will be part of Olympic Forest Park in northern Beijing, a multimillion-dollar, 680-hectare space being built for next year's Olympic Games.
I guess one day the West shall awake from its arrogance and discover the big leap forward gained by other countries in the meantime...

Econbrowser: The distribution of world income: Jan 14, 2007 6:35am 11 reviews economics, history, politics, economy
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2007/01/the_distributio.html; The distribution of world income via jonson / Metafilter, in Econbrowser by James Hamilton
One of the most profound questions in economics is why are some countries rich and others poor? A paper by John Gallup, Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Mellinger in the International Regional Science Review in 1999 introduced the concept of "GDP density", calculated by multiplying GDP per capita by the number of people per square kilometer. Basically GDP density is a measure of the total amount of economic activity that takes place at different spots on our globe. I found the map they produced quite fascinating: The distribution of world income A paper by John Gallup, Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Mellinger in the International Regional Science Review 56 pages PDF. how much of a difference institutions can make A conceptual framework 64 pages PDF.

Not surprisingly, it looks a whole lot like those satellite pictures of the earth at night

This subject is of the utmost interest and the graphs are enlightening. But I think that the studies mentioned here above are not the best material available. Better see Fernand Braudel and his seminal work on the emergence of capitalism.

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Pollution and the Chinese Future: Jun 11, 2006 3:17pm 1 review china, energy, economy, worldviews
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004553.html; Pollution and the Chinese Future Alex's comment is right on the mark. We will more and more see Western condemning comments about all that touches China but in the end China itself will answer what lays in store for humanity in the future. And we better remember that China has 3000 years of experience in managing a huge bureaucracy that permitted its state apparatus to survive without any need for outside "discoveries" and plunder. All the other political experiments ended up in ashes. This should serve as a reminder to Western salon critics that China has indeed the experience and should I add the moral canvas to steer humanity in the future. My understanding of China's history and civilizational axioms is what distinguishes my personal vision of the future from the deep pessimism of most Western analysts of our ecological future. 3 good articles in WorldChanging by Alex Steffen. """ The coal China is burning now is of immediate concern to most of East Asia and the North American West Coast, but the coal Chinas burns over the next two decades will weigh heavily in deciding not only what kind of future we will have: it may well play a critical part in deciding what kind of lives our great-grandchildren live. ... We need to intentionally trigger a planetwide eruption of bright green leapfrogging, and, in many ways, China needs to be the epicenter, not only because a dark brown China means a ruined world, but because of the influence China has come to exert across the Global South and especially in Africa. In much of the Global South, the U.S. and E.U. lack the credibility to bring on such a push, but a China which saw such a future as not only right, but in its interest (a bright green leapfrogged China is going to have a lot of solar panels and expertise to sell), might well be able to lead the charge. """ URL: Pollution and the Chinese Future URL: Pollution costs equal 10% of China's GDP URL: the Miracle will end soon, if China doesn't act quickly URL: The Times reports that coal-burning in China is killing 400,000 Chinese a year, and contributing mightily to environmental problems around the world. URL: environmental problems around the world URL: the influence China has come to exert across the Global South URL: China: Solar Water Heater Superpower URL: the world's largest boom market for solar water heaters

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pak…: May 31, 2006 6:03pm 1 review india, china, economy, globalization
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HF01Df01.html; India held back by wall of instability The argument lays out external instabilities and cites some internal disturbancies that are keeping many an investor at bay. What is astonishing is the conclusion where those problems seem forgotten for the habitual ideological sloganeering about democracy. in Asia Times by Chietigj Bajpaee (research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. He has been a researcher for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and a risk analyst for a New York-based risk management company.) """ While India continues to tackle insurgencies and active conflicts within its borders and on its periphery, China has either resolved or "shelved" all conflicts internally, with all 14 states along its border and with states in the region, with the possible exception of Japan. """ URL: India held back by wall of instability

A Theory of Power, Jeff Vails Critique of Hierarchy &Empire: Apr 14, 2006 9:56am 1 review politics, economy, worldviews
http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/rhizome-theory-directory.html; Rhysome theory This is a follow-up by Jeff Vail on his post about "A hamlet economy. Most interesting! in A theory of power by Jeff Vail """ I published several rather detailed posts on the theory behind actually creating a rhizome economy over the last few days. Here's a little directory (in recommended order for reading): 1. Envisioning a Hamelt Economy. Big-picture concpetion of how a rhizome economy will function. 2. Creating Resiliency and Stability in Horticulture. A more detailed analysis of how to implement a hybrid-horticultural scheme at the level of the rhizome node. 3. Rhizome & Central Place Theory. In response to a comment, a more detailed discussion of how rhizome can grow amidst existing hierarchal structures. 4. Rhizome Network Defense. A review of a Cambridge team's analysis of potential tacticts to defend rhizome structures against hierarchy. """ URL: Envisioning a Hamelt Economy. URL: Creating Resiliency and Stability in Horticulture. URL: Rhizome & Central Place Theory. URL: Rhizome Network Defense.