ChrisPrasojo

Homo Evolutis

Even as mega banks topple, Juan Enriquez says the big reboot is yet to come. But don’t look for it on your ballot or in the stock exchange. It’ll come from science labs, and it promises keener bodies and minds. Our kids are gonna be… just different.

Enriquez said the fact that we are the only living species of humans is an anomaly – or at least out of sync with the history. Millions of years ago, there were as many as five different species of humans co-existing on the planet.

Well, perhaps modern humans like us are the end result of all evolution. Aren’t we smart and capable enough to domesticate and cultivate the nature, or even conquer the world? 
And perhaps we have reached the very pinnacle of natural selection and genetic drift. (Darwin?)
On the other hand, as Enriquez suggested, perhaps those are slightly arrogant conclusions.

Spare your eighteen minutes and let Enriquez show you his perspective. Arstechnica has also published a decent and thorough article about Enriquez keynote.

Juan Enriquez will change your view of change itself.
–Nicholas Negroponte

Reuse Plastic Bags

Ways to reuse plastic bags:

1. Tiny trash can liner
2. Doggy duty
3. Soggy laundry
4. Tomorrow’s lunch bag
5. Care package padding

Reuse Plastic Bag

The Great Global Warming Swindle

The following movie, titled The Great Global Warming Swindle, is a well compiled ideas from various sources contradicting the popular Inconvenient Truth. This movie was screened in one of my GE3223 Environmental Change In The Tropics lecture, one way to stimulate critical thinking of Geography students I guess. Haha

Aside from that, my days are… hmpf… just like that! I’ll try to write some ’bout it in this coming Christmas break — hopefully with a mood to write ’bout it…

There are moments where I just wanna run into the jungle and shout HOLY SHIT out loud!

Erm… Where to run into when there’s no jungle around, huh? Haha

Update: Angeline told me her bro found these two sites that debunk false information shown in the movie. The movie itself is a swindle!

Coffee Can

I had a long afternoon break between tutorial and lecture last week; Pasted stripes of correction tape on my vanilla coffee can (vanilla!) and doodled on it…

on the other side of the can…

and it ended up in recycle bin.

Island on Recycled Bottles

White sand… wooden chair… green foliage surrounding a modest hut… What a getaway! Here’s the same island captured from far.

Now what if you’re told that this island is owned by a man? No, he is not a tycoon who can afford ‘buying’ tiny islands. Nor an explorer who can discover an islet in the Pacific.

The man, Richie Sowa, built his own Spiral Island since 1998. He collected thousands of plastic bottles and built strong floating foundation for his own island. Cool!

If you can’t afford to buy your own tropical island paradise, why not build your own? That is exactly what Richie Sowa did back in 1998, from over a quarter-million plastic bottles. His Spiral Island sported a two-story house, solar oven, self-composting toilet and multiple beaches. Better yet, he has started building another one! His ultimate goal? To build the island bigger and bigger and finally float out to sea, traveling the world from the comfort of his own private paradise.

Sowa and his island were featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Here’s a YouTube copy of the TV show:

It’s a smart way to reuse unwanted plastic bottles which are deemed unprofitable to be recycled. Thumbs up to Richie Sowa! Visit his website to see the latest update.

Pole to Pole

This video clip was played during Green Awards Inaugural at London’s Guild Hall. The clip takes us on a visual journey of the alarming effects of climate change on our planet. Visit www.green.tv for more information.

Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech

“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” says John Doer, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. His daughter even said, “I’m scared and angry. Dad, your generation created this problem; you’d better fix it.”

Will my children say so? Will they even have a chance to say it?

Morph

Take a look at this cool video (it’s just a concept!) about Nokia Morph. A great concept about future phone with nanotechnology and how it can change the way we interact with mobile phone.

I like the idea of battery self-recharge using sunlight and possibility of using it on building surface.

Disaster

Recent disasters in various countries get violent more than ever and the environment is badly damaged. This reminds me of the inconvenient truth; you should read or watch it if you haven’t.

I hope these open everyone eyes and get them to act now for a greener earth.

What we can do now:

• Help the victims in Myanmar via DBS or UNICEF.
• Go green!
• Reduce your waste and carbon footprint.

Making a donation via DBS is as easy as:

Distributed Computing

Sometimes I need to leave my computer on while I’m away. Some friends and colleagues do the same thing for many reasons, such as:

• downloading big files or torrents overnight.
• leaving it in “ready” state so when the owner back to use the computer, it can be used immediately without waiting for start-up/loading process.
• the computer is left on to process certain task such as backup, scan, or other maintenance tasks.
• the computer is left on so its owner can access it remotely from another computer.
• and so on…

Most activities listed above only take a small fraction of computer’s processing power, often leaving the processor idle for hours. Not many people know that there is a better way to utilise the unused processing power: donate it for grid computing. 

Some might have heard the term “Grid Computing” or “Distributed Computing” and relate it to scientific projects and geeky stuff in labs. Some think about DNA mapping and analysis. Some think about difficult mathematics or physics formula. Some even think about military project, UFO, and the outer space. 

Before going deeper into the subject, let’s take a look of what Wiki says about grid computing:

Grid computing is a phrase in distributed computing which can have several meanings:

• Multiple independent computing clusters which act like a “grid” because they are composed of resource nodes not located within a single administrative domain.
• The creation of a “virtual supercomputer” by using a network of geographically dispersed computers. Volunteer computing, which generally focuses on scientific, mathematical, and academic problems, is the most common application of this technology.

Continue reading grid computing’s wiki…

In a simpler concept, grid computing is about lending unused computing power to a collective cause, ranging from climate prediction to DNA analysis to UFO search. 

Join GridRepublic, a non-profit organisation that allow home users to be part in grid computing to solve various research projects such as climate prediction and DNA mapping for cancer study. I use GridRepublic to help research on climate changes, cancer study, and DNA mapping. It runs in the night time when my computer is on and unused.

If you occasionally leave your computer on overnight for certain tasks, I recommend you to install GridRepublic to donate your unused computing power for good causes. It is secure, does not interfere your privacy, and does not degrade your computer performance. Learn more about GridRepublic or see research projects you can take part in. 

Of course energy conservation is the best way. Turn off your computer when you don’t use it at all. Pass the positive influence to your friends and colleagues!