Category:

Nov 27th

11/27/2013

www.bbc.co.uk

Sony has filed a patent application for SmartWig, as firms jostle for the lead in the wearable technology sector. The SmartWig can be worn over natural hair, and will be able to process data and communicate wirelessly with other external devices. The wig could be made from horse hair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair or any kind of synthetic material. The technically intelligent device has the potential to become a trend and a fashion statement.

The communication interface and sensors placed in the wig are at least partly covered by parts of the wig in order to be hidden from sight during use. This significantly increases user comfort and improves the handling of the wearable computing device.

readwrite.com

According to the filing, the SmartWig can help navigate roads, collect information such as blood pressure, and help blind people navigate roads. A small video camera or a sensor on the wig could help to provide the position and the location of the wearer.

Google with its smartwatch Google Glass and Samsung with GALAXY Gear are among other firms that have launched wearable gadgets, which are predicted to be one of the big areas of growth over the next two years. Both Wearable Devices to Enhance the Freedom of Mobile Communications.

www.cultofandroid.com

Android device developers around the world are planning to incorporate new Android KitKat technology into wearable devices and seize their share of this lucrative new market. Market researchers predict the global wearable device market will hit 125 million units sold by the year 2017. Smart watches, smart glasses, and fitness bands will be the biggest sellers in wearable computing over the next five years. Brace yourself for the coming wave of smart watches and headwear.

Samsung

From a wristband that replaces passwords to a device that helps you read on the treadmill, these wearable tech gadgets break new ground.

I've written a first draft of a novel set in 2027, in which I predicted what society would be using in 15 years. But technology is progressing so fast. Whatever I come up with is already hovering on the sidelines.

Who could afford these devices? Once again, new technology separates the haves from the have nots.

Nov 25th

11/25/2013

www.scandanavian-hiking.com

I'm in pain today. My agony isn't something that a pill would fix. It's caused by accumulated operations and time, one compacting on the other until there's nothing left of what should have been a beautiful, but aging, body.

I wonder how life treated older people from the past. Perhaps allowing nature to take its course would be better than this lingering half-life. My mind's still active, so I won't explore that avenue any further. At least I can entertain myself by writing. And I can luxuriate in my husband's company, knowing that very few partners are still together in their seventies.

A crackling cave fire sending out fingers of warmth sounds appealing. Just sit in shelter and allow others to find the food. I could pound grain and watch the children in their absence rather than be a burden to the others of my group. But, is this cozy picture one of reality?

www.theguardian.co.uk

Research presented to the Royal Society in London, shows a group of Neanderthals killed and ate their fellow ancient humans, including young children. Using modern forensics techniques, including DNA analysis, the researchers found that 12 Neanderthals, all from the same family, had been eaten by their peers. Remains, discovered at the El Sidrón cave system, near Asturias, in north western Spain, included the bones of three female and three male adults, three teenage boys and three children aged between two and nine-years-old.
According to the findings, the people were eaten raw during one sitting.

Did they run out of game to hunt? Where was their cozy fire? Maybe they were in a hurry. The most astounding thing is that modern man's moral code has changed. On the whole. Discounting murderers.

But, I'm happy with my life. I love what I do—love sharing my stories with you. During no other time on earth, has one isolated woman been able to contact so many other people.

And now, a story. Here's a short excerpt from Knights in Dark Leather, my co-written post-apocalyptic novel, which is the second in line from the Higher Ground Series shown on the right sidebar.

Chapter Forty-Two

Cerridwen opened her eyes and felt stronger. Time to face her fear. The best way to handle her capture might be to try to fit in until a chance to leave arose. Smoke and steam from the cooking pot rose into the central shaft of the underground room. She swung her legs over the edge of the cot and walked towards the fire. "Can I help you with something, Tina?" she asked the old woman with speckled white skin.

"Not today, dear. It's all taken care of. I've made a nice pot of stew vegetables with some roots that Ginny brought back yesterday."

"Smells good." A rasping croak attracted Cerridwen's attention. She swung around. A black bird perched on a tree branch stuck into the ground. "Oh, who are you?"

The crow opened its beak. "Crawk."

Tina laughed. "That's our pet, Fortuna. She broke her wing a year ago. The men wanted to twist her neck and put her out of her misery. But I couldn't let them. She can't fly, but she keeps me company."

"Crawk!" Fortuna hopped from the perch.

"Oh," Tina said. "She doesn't do that very often."

Fortuna waddled towards the centre of the room. Cerridwen squatted and called, but the bird just gave her a quick sideways glance and moved on, glancing up every now and again.

"Anyway," Tina continued. "Ever since she recovered, we've prospered. The earth provides more nourishment for us, and animals are much easier to catch. Fortuna is our good luck."

One for sorrow. Cerridwen had heard a rhyme about black birds once, probably during one of her vivid dreams. "She's beautiful. And what a pity she can't fly anymore."

Nov 22nd

11/22/2013

www.nasa.gov

Scientists have analyzed a cosmic explosion, the brightest ever seen, caused by the death of a massive star. The monstrous blast from the dying star was spotted by Nasa's Swift and Fermi space-based telescopes. The journal of Science published the results of the blast of radiation, called a gamma-ray burst, spotted earlier this year.

Researchers believe the distant star was about 20-30 times the mass of the Sun. When the star ran out of fuel from the material at its core, it exploded and hurled radiation across the cosmos. The core of the star would have collapsed into a black hole, while liberating a powerful jet of energy—the gamma-ray burst.

A blast wave would have caused the rest of the star to expand outwards, creating another dazzling event called a supernova. Although the event was closer to Earth than most gamma-ray bursts that have been detected, the radiation would have posed no danger. Once it reached our planet, the energy would have been absorbed by our atmosphere.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Several months ago, observations from the Hubble Space Telescope appeared to show a distant collision between two neutron stars—the remnants of massive supernovae.

Astronomers suggest that such collisions are responsible for ultra-short bursts of gamma rays occasionally seen across the Universe. The rare cosmic event could produce heavy elements such as gold. Neutron stars are incredibly dense and massive. As well as bursts of light, when they collide they are also expected to send gravity shock waves through the Universe.

Although uncommon, neutron star collisions would generate the enormous fluxes of neutrons needed to make elements heavier than iron, like platinum, lead and gold, by rapid neutron capture.

www.nrao.edu

At some point in the Earth's history, we were probably irradiated by a gamma-ray burst, and it will happen again in the future. If a similar explosion happened closer to home, within a distance of 1,000 light years, it could damage the ozone layer, with devastating consequences for life on Earth.

Fascinating, but the circumstances are out of our control. What I take from this is that there's a reason why gold and platinum are so precious. Giant superstars gave up their life to produce these prized metals. From now on, I will regard my golden wedding band with more reverence and awe—not only does it represent a union made before God, but the metal has been forged by a supernova.

This sense of awe spills over into all my novels that feature a star moonstone ring, set in pure gold. Both the gold and the stone were created from materials made during the original big bang at the beginning of time.

Nov 21st

11/21/2013

Two news items that make me feel small in the grand scheme today.

The first is about how mankind evolved and moved around our planet. DNA from a 4 year-old Syberian boy who died in south-central Siberia 24,000 years ago, link him to the origins of Native Americans, whose ancestors crossed from Siberia into the New World during the last Ice Age. Eske Willerslev from the University of Copenhagen said native Americans are composed of the meeting of two populations - an East Asian group and these Mal'ta west Eurasian populations.

news.bbc.co.uk

The burial of an Upper Palaeolithic Siberian boy was discovered along with numerous artifacts, one of which was a Venus figurine, in the 1920s by Russian archaeologists near the village of Mal'ta, along the Belaya river. Apparently, these Venus figurines are found all the way west of this area into Europe.

Dr Willerslev and a colleague obtained a sample from the boy's arm bone, extracted DNA and compared it with that of present-day populations. "When we sequenced this genome, something strange appeared," he explained. "Parts of the genome you find today in western Eurasians, other parts of the genome you find today in Native Americans - and are unique today to Native Americans."

The most puzzling part was the genones showed no link with the East Asian populations such as the Chinese, Japanese or Koreans.

news.bbc.co.uk

The other story is about the planet Mars. Scientists believe a rock discovered in the Sahara Desert is the oldest Martian meteorite ever found on Earth. New tests indicate the rock dates to 4.4 billion years ago. The dark and glossy meteorite, nicknamed Black Beauty, would have formed when the Red Planet was in its infancy. It would have been created during a turbulent period of Martian history, when volcanoes were erupting all over the surface.

All that history about the formation of planets is hard to take in. Earth is such a tiny part of the cosmos. Here on our world, life has evolved to make the human race the most powerful of all the species. In charge of the day-to-day running, eliminating animals and insects we don't consider important, clearing forests, using rivers and seas for our dumping grounds, and, in our greed, using the land for our own purpose without considering other life forms that inhabit the earth with us. What have we done?

Excerpt from Golden Submarine - (on the sidebar)

March 25, 2032

I need to finish my recordings today. Tomorrow may be too late.

I dozed fitfully through the lapping of flood water outside after watching the news last night. First, meteor showers hit various parts of the world. Very quickly the weather changed. Volcanoes erupted in California, Australia, and the European continent. Heat killed people in Russia. Snow covered the tropics and people froze to death. Then ice melted after more eruptions in Iceland. After three days of reporting catastrophes, the radio and television channels have shut down for evacuation.

The water is flowing under the door and rising under my feet. I need to seal my records and carry through with my plans. I've lost touch with all my family and friends. If only I could see my mother one more time. Did I tell her I loved her enough? What is she going through right now? I don't know if I can carry on through this sorrow, but I must. If someone finds this record it might help people in the future to know what happened.

But could they avoid making the same mistakes?

Nov 20th

11/20/2013

ispygod.net

A global fitness study has shown that many children cannot run as fast as their parents could when they were young. The figures presented at the American Heart Association's annual meeting suggest children's fitness levels are declining in Western countries. But some parts of Asia like South Korea, mainland China and Hong Kong are also seeing this phenomenon.

Researchers analyzed data spanning 46 years and involving more than 25 million children in 28 countries. On average, children today run a mile 90 seconds slower than did their counterparts 30 years ago.

Across nations, cardiovascular endurance—gauged by how far children can run in a set time—has dwindled consistently by about 5% every decade, according to the findings. The decline in endurance is seen in boys and girls and across all ages from nine to 17 years, and is linked to obesity, with some countries faring worse than others. In the UK, half of seven year olds don't get enough exercise according to research. Whilst nearly two out of three boys do an hour's physical activity a day, for girls it is around one in three.

www.ecommunity.com

To stay healthy, children and young people need to do at least an hour of physical activity every day. This can be walking or cycling to school and running in the playground. It can be done in small chunks rather than one session.

Prof Michael Gwitz of the American Heart Association stresses that the exercise needs to make a person or child sweat and should be sustained and dynamic to promote cardiovascular fitness. Simply going to the gym or belonging to a school sports team might not be enough without plenty of movement. Parents, schools and community groups can all help kids on their way to 60 minutes exercise a day.

So how can anyone motivate children to be active? School sports are vital. But parental input is crucial. Seven year olds today face more distractions, more incentives to sit, than any previous generation. For many of them, the computer tablet, apps or smart phones are a part of daily life. Sadly, many regard playing outside as a dull alternative to controlling a computer game.

www2.kirklees.gov.uk

Telling them that they need to exercise and be healthy doesn't work for the average primary or secondary school child.

Two things are crucial. First is making physical activity routine—part of daily life. Walking to school is one obvious example. Parents who set an example and do exercise tend to have more active children. The second is finding a sport or activity which engages the child.

The Change4Life campaign is aimed at encouraging people of all ages to lead healthier, more active lives. Its motto, "Eat well, move more, live longer", sums up the aim of the campaign. It already has half a million members.

www.nytimes.com

Using free apps and email messages Change4Life encourages children to take several small steps that will help lead to a permanent improvement in their health. This includes breaking down the perhaps daunting task of being active for at least 60 minutes into 10 minute chunks, plus suggestions for games which will tempt kids away from their screen.

In the Drop-Out 70s when my children were young, we had no such toys. We even gave up the television until the school required them to use it. When home in the country town of Robe, South Australia, they walked everywhere they needed to go, which included the swimming at the nearby beach, exercising at the playground and collecting firewood or wildflowers for our craft shop. Their father and I considered the possibility of a future apocalypse because of missiles pointed at all major cities in the world at that time. I made sure they would have every chance to survive if civilization should be destroyed.

What would happen to these unfit and unprepared children if a catastrophe, either natural or man-made, happened now?

See my co-written novels on the sidebar, where a young group of survivors in the future after the Great Flood form together to search for a way to save mankind. In the first of the Moonstone series, Wind Over Troubled Waters, sixteen-year-old Cerridwen loses her mother in a landslide.

Nov 19th

11/19/2013

Esther Rantzen, a mature television presenter, has set up a helpline for lonely pensioners. And with Christmas approaching, Miss Rantzen is only too aware that this is the loneliest time for some of the UK’s 10 million people now over 65. With this in mind she is rolling out The Silver Line, a 24-hour helpline service aimed at elderly people who are struggling to cope with loneliness, nationally on Monday November 25. Having successfully set up the ChildLine telephone service, for worried children, Miss Rantzen knew providing a similar service for the elderly would prove just as helpful.

But it's not just at Christmastime that elderly people feel a sense of loss. All year round, many people struggle daily to find some purpose in their lives, especially those without close family ties. The Silver Line has been running for a year, but now the service is to be set up nationwide.

Talking about her decision to set up the service she said in a new interview with the Radio Times: ‘Recently I received a letter from Ellen, clearly a clever woman who has brought up a family and held a responsible job, and yet who feels that in her old age “my days are pointless and I’m a waste of space”.

‘Reading it, I felt a surge of anger. Something must be done to assure our older population that they are valued. We must reach out to them, link them back into their communities, and convince them that older people are a resource, a national treasure. There must be no sell-by date, no moment when older people become rubbish to be discarded, thrown away. Loneliness is, according to the Department of Health, as dangerous physically as smoking or obesity. Mentally and emotionally, it is utterly destructive.

‘This is the generation that does not readily ask for help. They don’t want to be a burden. Loneliness is a creeping enemy, it isolates, erodes confidence, until it becomes more and more difficult to step outside the front door.’

Each one of us had a mother and a father. If they were good to us, we know how precious they are—how irreplaceable. My parents lived to their mid. 80s and I'd abandoned them in Australia when I left for England. My siblings took good care of them, and I wrote on a regular basis. I'm forever grateful that I took a trip back to see them one last time before they died.

But, now I'm facing a time of uncertainty in my later years. Separated from family and the grandchildren I never had a chance to know, I'm redundant. Despite living with the disability of not being able to walk without pain, I write, which gives me a sense of fulfillment. You'll see my published books on the sidebar. I've vowed to never have another operation—they go wrong. Besides that, what is the point at my age? I'm not a working member of society. I won't bother a busy doctor with my disturbing weakness. My husband takes care of me—at the moment. I'd rather not face what will happen in the future if he should be struck down.

Bravo to Esther Rantzen for setting up this Silver Line for all those people who feel alone and just need to talk to someone. I don't know what it's like in your country, but I hope you appreciate all the knowledge that an older person can share, given encouragement.

Nov 18th

11/18/2013

Doris Lessing, the Nobel Prize-winning author has died aged 94.

At the age of 30, she began writing for a profession, although her debut novel The Grass is Singing was not published until 1950. She made her breakthrough with The Golden Notebook in 1962.

Born in 1919, Doris Lessing's best-known works include The Golden Notebook, Memoirs of a Survivor and The Summer Before the Dark.

The Swedish Academy said the Golden Notebook was seen as "a pioneering work" that "belongs to the handful of books that informed the 20th Century view of the male-female relationship". On winning the Nobel Prize, the Swedish Academy described Lessing as an "epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny".

The content of her other novels ranged from semi-autobiographical African experiences to social and political struggle, psychological thrillers and science fiction. Harper Collins published her last novel, Mara and Dann, in 1999, which makes her 80 years old at the time.

She became the oldest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature when in 2007 she won the award for her life's work aged 88.

The figures add up to fifty years of writing, in itself, a remarkable feat. I made a late start so I'll never achieve a similar target. Nor will I reach such heights of acclaim. My first book, Still Rock Water, on the sidebar at the right, begins with the relationship between a domineering man and woman who wants to please, who believes that everything she does will influence someone for the better and that a vow should never be broken. Yet, fete separates her from all she holds dear.

Writing runs in my family. Random Romance, a branch of Random House, will publish my sister, Virginia Taylor's first novel, available next month.: Dr. No Commitment. Virginia is the clever one of three sisters. She's charming, witty and sensible, whereas I acted the role of nonconformist. Virginia worked toward acquiring an agent, who submitted her work to various publishers. At the same time, Virginia received acclaim from many writing competitions. But, if we were all the same, it would be a dull world.

Gone are the days when someone could be described like Doris Lessing as 'an uninhibited and outspoken novelist who shattered convention, embarking on dizzying and at times stultifying literary talent.' Rest in peace, sister in spirit.

Nov 16th

11/16/2013

www.mirror.co.uk

The coldest weather of the year so far is about to hit parts of the country in UK as Arctic winds bring flurries of snow and widespread frost, with temperatures dipping as low as -3C. The weather is expected to be picturesque rather than cause serious disruption. However, long-range forecasters predict a horror winter ahead in Britain with months of freezing winds and heavy snow.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Maya Angelou

Okay. We've established we can't change the weather. What can we do to alter our attitude? Enjoy the diversity of nature. Look forward to the next season when buds form on bare branches. Most of all, appreciate the warmth and security of our home. There are so many people in the world right now who lack basic protection from the elements.

Despite this, there's a chill in my heart. I've blogged every day this year in the hope that my readers will appreciate my writing and choose to buy one of the five books displayed in the sidebar of my page. Four hours a day have been wasted with a goal I couldn't reach. Perhaps I should shift my perspective. Or stop blogging and concentrate on writing with these spare hours. I have three more books waiting to be edited.

I ask you, dear reader; has your curiosity been aroused enough to take a look at the first novel, Still Rock Water? Solstice Publishing have placed the novel in their paranormal category—and rightly so. It's also a love story. A tale about how a woman conquers her insecurities to find the strength lying inside. How a woman can subjugate herself for the sake of someone she loves. How she can never help that person unless he wants her to. And how positive thinking can influence so much more than we know.

You can see it on Amazon and take a peek inside here. Click on my name there and you'll see my bio and list of books.

Francene,

who wishes her time on earth wasn't drawing nearer at such an alarming rate, who needs to stay alert to achieve each goal, and who cares about you.

Nov 14th

11/14/2013

www.dailymail.co.uk

Fighting goes on in Syria. After the army secured the area around the city of Aleppo's airport and retook a strategically important base nearby, a jihadist rebel group affiliated to al-Qaeda has joined calls for a mass mobilization to halt a government advance.

The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011. These include women and children. More than 2.2 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries while an estimated 4.25 million have been displaced internally.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has recruited an army of 500 women to guard checkpoints and carry out security checks in an attempt to plug the holes left by defections and casualties in his dwindling army. The new paramilitary force called the 'Lionesses for National Defense' has been trained at a boot camp in Wadi al-Dahab in the Syrian city of Homs.

Should the female gender play an active part in war?

www.independent.co.uk

Women fight in Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden all permit women in all combat units. France, Israel, and the Netherlands permit women in combat positions but they are barred from some units. The US and Brazil are currently looking at how to include women in combat positions, and Australia is already phasing them in. Many other countries including the UK send women to the front line in non-combat roles, or permit women to be fighter pilots

In the United States, there is a move to lift the ban on women assuming roles in frontline combat units. Under current rules, female soldiers, compromising of around nine per cent of the British armed forces, are not allowed to enter into situations where they could engage and potentially kill the enemy. In the Canadian armed forces, unusually, every job is open to women. Both sexes live and fight together.

Around 12% of soldiers serving in the Canadian army are women and they have been integrated into combat positions since 1989. Those who argue against putting women into battle sometimes say that a woman would not be able to carry a wounded fellow from the battlefield. But women are tested every year in soldier carry and soldier drag exercises, paired with someone of a similar weight. They lift bigger people using the fireman's carry.

The only woman in a Canadian platoon of soldiers on the Afghan front line, Capt Ashley Collette was in charge. The traditional way to develop team cohesion is to train, eat and sleep as a unit. This presents some logistical challenges, but Collette took pains to be modest. While the men slept in boxer shorts, she would wear pajamas. When training in Canada, she would climb into a cupboard to change, or pull her sleeping bag around her and change underneath. In Afghanistan, she shared a room roughly 3m x 4.5m (10ft by 15ft) with up to 10 people.

She is passionate that people see her as a soldier, rather than a woman soldier and describes the whole debate about whether women can handle a combat job as null and void. After returning from her tour, she was awarded the Medal of Military Valour, one of Canada's highest military honors, for her leadership in Afghanistan.

During WWII , women of the Special Operations Executive did everything from spying, to sabotaging and gun fighting behind enemy lines. Now, Alesha Escobar has released the 3rd book of The Gray Tower Trilogy. Along with using espionage and fighting skills, the heroine must battle warlocks and vampires as well. You can visit the official blog tour page http://theministrytour.blogspot.com/

What are your views on women fighting on the front line?

Nov 9th

11/9/2013

en.wikipedia.org

Why you should rat on a rat on the islands of Scilly. The islands, which are located off Cornwall, are home to breeding populations of 14 seabird species and approximately 20,000 birds.

Originally, 18th century pirates were responsible for the spread of the cunning brown rat. Not only did pirates pillage from local people around the coast, but they unintentionally transported rats from far abroad. The little stowaways jumped overboard during storms when ships were wrecked around the coast.

This has put seabirds in danger. Brown rats steal their eggs and kill their chicks. Now, rat eradication to 'save the seabirds' has begun in earnest. A project aimed at protecting internationally important seabird populations on two of the Isles of Scilly by killing more than 3,000 brown rats, is under way. A period of intensive baiting started yesterday and most of the rats will be dead by the end of November. All the bait stations are enclosed, tied down and designed not to kill any other species, such as rabbits.

www.oldukphotos.com

After that, the surviving rats will be targeted. Keeping the islands 'rat-free' includes correct waste management, ensuring bio-security on boats and freight to the islands, and of course, educating all visitors to the islands to be vigilant and 'rat on a rat'. This is the largest community-based island restoration project attempted in the world to date, with 85 residents living there year round.

www.telegraph.co.uk

A spokesman from the RSPB, said, "Eight out of ten islands around the world now have rats, including remote places such as Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic and Henderson Island in the South Pacific. The predators are known to have impacted on the populations of 75 species of seabird, from albatross to shearwaters to small petrels. In response, there is a worldwide effort to rid islands of these voracious creatures."

I love the old stories of pirates in the days of old. All my books are set in Cornwall. The present-day Moonstone Series, and the futuristic Higher Ground series.

Here's a very short excerpt from Still Rock Water, the first of the Moonstone series:

“You have quite a lot of history tied up in the ring.” Yvonne took a closer look. “There was plenty of smuggling in the area back then.”

“Pirates too,” William said. “It could have turned up with a hoard of treasure from one of the wrecks along the coast."

And here's another from the fifth book in the dystopian series, Seaweed Ribbons, due for release early next year:

"Pirates," Raymond said. "I've heard the tales. They ransack settlements wherever they land and grab what they can."

"When they're sober," Eric said, "the badgers might send a group to explore the area."

"Or they might sail off," Ginny said, "to a distant land if you two would stop speaking so loud."

"Not much chance," Eric murmured. "Look."

On the horizon, another craft had left the mother ship and headed for the shore. Rowers dipped their oars on either side. Could the strangers see them from such a distance?

"Hide," Raymond whispered.

"No good." Eric ducked anyway. "They've seen us."

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Author

Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.