Over the past decade and a half the U.S. economy has weathered two significant recessions, including crises in the residential real estate and financial services industries.  Despite these economic hardships the self-employed and “solopreneur” workforce grew by 4.3 million workers and is projected to continue growing at double-digit rates.  The infographic below explores aspects of this “new economy” and attempts to dispel any notion that this rise is primarily driven by lay-offs or downsizing (only 13.8% of those surveyed gave that as their reason for wanting to work independently).

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Great advice from Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic || "A New Era for Global Leadership Development" ow.ly/9clts #leadership—
Marshall Stanton (@marshallstanton) February 21, 2012

When I first saw the video above taken from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory the “Tears In Rain” soliloquy delivered by Replicant Roy Batty in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) immediately came to mind.  These twisters are as large (or larger) as the Earth itself, gust at 300,000 miles per hour, and are a relatively cool 15,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  While scientists have known about these phenomena for years, capturing images such as these was not possible until the launch of the SDO two years ago.  Unfortunately the video is not set to Vangelis’ iconic soundtrack but one can only hope that someone will put it together and post that version to YouTube any day now.

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”  - Roy Batty

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Reblogged from streetsofsalem:

Heart-shaped maps are one thing, but maps of the human heart are quite another, and I’ve got both on this Valentine’s Day.  The charting of emotional territory, as opposed to physical space, has resulted in the production of several interesting maps from the seventeenth century to the near-present.  Below are the companion Map of the Open Country of a Woman’s Heart and Map of the Fortified Country of a Man’s Heart, ostensibly and anonymously drawn “by a lady” and published by the Kellogg Brothers of …

It is a few days early for me to be posting a “geek-out Sunday” article but this great post from Donna Seger is too good to not share. These maps of the human heart are beautiful and humorous examples of 19th century geekery.

Reblogged from Fortune Finance: Hedge Funds, Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Wall Street, Washington:

In an adaptation from his upcoming shareholder letter, the Oracle of Omaha explains why equities almost always beat the alternatives over time. By Warren Buffett FORTUNE — Investing is often described as the process of laying out money now in the expectation of receiving more money in the future. At Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) we take a more demanding approach, defining investing as the transfer to others of purchasing power now with the reasoned expectation of receiving more purchasing power — after taxes …

I am a huge fan of Warren Buffett’s. It isn’t so much that he’s a brilliant investor who has delivered a tremendous amount of value to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, but rather than he’s willing and able to put some of the most complex (and controversial) topics of discussion into a context that is digestible for nearly everyone. In his upcoming shareholder letter, Buffett challenges the conventional wisdom that has long stated that cash is among the safer aspects of one’s investment portfolio and that stocks are among the riskiest. Quite the contrary says Buffett, you’re guaranteed to lose money on your cash position (although it affords you flexibility and liquidity) and over the long run a diversified stock portfolio is much more likely to produce big returns.

On 05 February 2012, a team of Russian scientists drilled the approximately 12,400 feet (3,768 m) to pierce the protective ice cover to recover samples of freshly frozen water that was drawn into the bore hole.  The samples will be recovered later this year when the Antarctic summer will permit additional investigation.  Scientists have theorized that the the lake will yield a bounty of information about an ecosystem that has been isolated for millions of years below over two miles of ice in an environment that could resemble the frozen ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa.  Scientifically speaking there is no reason to believe that unique and previously undiscovered life forms will not be found in the ice.  Extremophiles – organisms that thrive in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on earth – have been found in virtually every corner of the planet including in other polar areas.

In true science-fiction fashion, the station lost contact to the outside world for a few days prior to breaking through to the lake which conjured images of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) or the 2011 remake by the same name.  On a slightly more realistic note, there’s really no telling what kind of microbes could be discovered in the freezing depths of what has been called “the last great wilderness” on Earth.

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What do all of the world’s social media users have in common?  Besides having a rabid obsession with making Mark Zuckerberg even more money, we’re all going to die.  Yes, you (and me).  Regardless of whatever we do, no one is getting out of this life alive.  In fact, every 20 seconds one of Facebook’s users transitions to the great beyond which added up to a whopping 1.78 million people in 2011 – that’s a bit more than the entire population of Philadelphia or Idaho.

So what happens to your digital self when you pass on?  Some social media providers will help your next-of-kin recover your files but others aren’t quite so helpful.  It is hard to imagine Facebook “resurrecting” a digital version of you for future generations as this video suggests but then again you never know what will be acceptable in 10, 50, or 100 years.

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I spend a lot of my day (and night) talking to people.  In fact, if I were to total all of the activities in my life – and probably the lives of most people I know – the largest single activity on which time is spent (although curiously perhaps not by level of effort) across my entire life has been communication.  Words have meaning.

In fact, not only do they have meaning but many represent emotions and abstract concepts (e.g., religious faith) which are fundamental elements of our very humanity that transcend time and – in some cases – the very meaning of the idea they are meant to embody.  If you think about the meaning of words such as “love” or “hate” is it the dictionary definition that comes to mind or emotion they represent and/or evoke?  Their spoken and written forms are one of the few things that truly differentiates humans from animals.  They have the power to heal, to humiliate, to bring peace, to foment war, and change the very lives of people the world over.

My wife sent me the video clip above which is an outstanding example of how mastering the dynamic nature of words and language can deliver a powerful message.

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“First, quadrotors do not require mechanical linkages to vary the rotor blade pitch angle as they spin. This simplifies the design and maintenance of the vehicle.  Second, the use of four rotors allows each individual rotor to have a smaller diameter than the equivalent helicopter rotor, allowing them to possess less kinetic energy during flight. This reduces the damage caused should the rotors hit anything. For small-scale UAVs, this makes the vehicles safer for close interaction. Some small-scale quadrotors have frames that enclose the rotors, permitting flights through more challenging environments, with lower risk of damaging the vehicle or its surroundings.”

As you can see from the videos below, there is a lot of promise to this research when it is paired with technology that can simulate the group dynamics such as those found in a starling murmuration.  A team over at Harvard University is also exploring swarm technology with their Kilobot platform.  Starlings have had a few million years to perfect their method of flight but I can see that human ingenuity is catching up fast.

It is easy to imagine autonomous robotic search-and-rescue, surveillance, or construction teams in the relatively near future that can do a number of tasks more efficiently and safely than humans.  Obviously there are also a number of military applications when you begin to think about nanocopters equipped with small arms, tactical explosives, or laser/GPS targeting systems for larger munitions.  Either way, I think we can expect to see some amazing things from this line of robotic innovation.

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The infographic below makes a few reasonably good guesses about how our current interests – general, mobile, social media, video, gaming, and e-commerce – will grow and change over the remainder of 2012.  Look carefully as there are literally dozens of thought-provoking predictions that could and will shape the world in which we live.

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