Video on how the world is changing and at what pace
This video compiles a number of facts and estimates relating to humanity and technology. Here is a taste:
- Google 31 billion searches per month
- By 2013 there will be a supercomputer with more computational capacity than the human brain
- By 2040, there is likely to be a $1,000 computer with more computational capacity than the entire species!
- The US govt estimates that the average person born today will have had 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.
- The Top Ten in-demand jobs in 2010 will not have existed in 2004.
- Technical information is expanding at a phenomenal rate, to the extent that the information an engineering student learns in the first year of a 4 year course will be out of date by third year.
- Indian companies have developed fibre optic cables able to transmit 210,000,000 phone calls per second, or 2,100 CDs worth of data! That speed is expected to double every year for many years to come.
What does all this mean? It means we are on a path heading forwards at ever increasing speed and every moment we pause we get further behind. There is no place to hide, we need to stay in the loop. Get ready for a breathtaking ride:
Jing
Have you ever had to show a parent, aunty, uncle, or co-worker how to do something on the computer? Sometimes it would be simpler to record your screen as you do the action, overlay a voiceover, and send them a video to watch. That whole process just got easier and it is free! It is through a service called Jing.
Jing is software you download to your Mac or PC so that you can record what is on your computer screen either as a still image or as a 5 minute video.
Furthermore, your free download also comes with a free account at screencast for uploading and storing your videos online.
Have fun with this software! To show you how easy it is, I just did a 15 second video and it is here http://screencast.com/t/fMQxvyHqsjq.
To find the link to Jing, visit Richard Pascoe on Computers.
PS Dave from Adelaide called during the live talkback show to mention VNC as an alternative. It is free software for allowing people to grant remote access to their computer to a friend, colleague, etc. Thanks Dave. The link to the current free version is here – VNC version 4.1. If that link doesn’t work for you, go direct to http://www.realvnc.com.
Postsecret
This is an incredible project and website. Forget watching commercial TV or dime-a-dozen Hollywood movies, visit this site for poignant insights into the human condition.
On this site, people from all over the world send in artistic representations of their deepest secrets anonymously.
Through these postcards, people share their fears and their naughty secrets, their regrets and their anger, and their optimism and hope.
It is hard not to be moved by most of the submissions. It is also hard not to find a few that could easily have been written by you! It underlines just how universal many of our private and personal quirks actually are.
Frank, the guy behind this project, says people have two kinds of secret: those we keep from others and those we keep from ourselves.
I have posted two videos that explain the concept more eloquently.
You can visit the site at postsecret.com – note that images are replaced every week. You can get them sent to your inbox and Frank would like you to buy the hard cover collection books to fund the site, he also raises money of a suicide prevention hotline.
Opensourcefood
This is the height of online open source websites – Open Source Food.
On this site you will find more than 2,000 delicious recipes and gorgeous photographs of the finished dishes. It is a feast for the senses in many ways.
The photos look so good, the recipes thus far seem relatively simple – this site could see me back in the kitchen very soon!
Here are some favourite recipes:
- South Asian Pork Soboro (a minced pork stir fry dish – other users, in the comments, made it with minced turkey with success and a thing called “?evap ?i?i mince” which is equal parts pork, lamb and beef)
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts (yes, this caught me by surprise too – I can’t wait to try them)
- Chocolate Truffles (this is a very simple recipe – just chocolate and cream cheese. These might replace the White Santa’s Balls I made last Christmas)
Plus, I added my Pasta Exotica recipe which you can find here – Steve’s Pasta Exotica recipe
The front door to the site is opensourcefood.com.