Fog of Future Wars?

This just in! A hosaa's blog exclusive:

This photocollage illustrates an article in the latest issue of the World Future Society's Futurist magazine, which just landed on my desk this afternoon.

"Nanopollution: The Invisible Fog of Future Wars" by Italian physicist Antonietta M. Gatti and colleague Stefano Montanari of Nanodiagnostics describes the effects of pollution from nano-scale particles, which "expands traditional battlefields and extends warfare's impacts to innocent victims, including future generations." This article is part of a special section on Bioviolence.

The cover story is on finding sustainable solutions to global shortages of freshwater.

Members should be receiving their copies later this week.

Identity Snark

I don't know about you, but I get far more spam in my office e-mail than through my personal Yahoo and Gmail accounts. Most of the junk is sent to Junk, but the spammers have found a way to spoof the subject lines sufficiently to get by the filter.

Of course the trick is to identify the e-mailer as an unfriendly sender, but I'm amused that they're even making that easy. Among the ones that caught my eye this morning came from blatant, sullied, and invective @ wherever...

My old pals Blatant, Sullied, and Invective. Yes. I remember them well. I will probably spend most of my college reunion weekend avoiding them.

love, hosaa
blatantly avoiding sullied invectives

Visual Aid

I'm really more of a word botcher than a bird watcher, but yesterday I heard a familiar voice in the neighborhood. I hadn't heard a Baltimore Oriole since I was a kid, but I think there's one making its home in the trees near my apartment building.

They're shy birds, but I thought I spotted one in the bare limbs. I whipped out my camera but knew that, shooting it against the early morning southeastern sky, I'd only get a silhouette:

I had a plan: Import the shadowy thing into Paint Shop Pro, crop, and click on Clarify and Saturate about a million times. Of course I wouldn't get a good photo out of it - I just wanted to see what colors would come up.

Close enough? I think I'm right. I recognized the voice. Maybe I'll name this one Belanger.

Love, hosaa
seeing through my ears - and technology

"Doolittle"

I admit this wasn't the greenest purchase I've ever made, because my new car, a Ford Focus, is not a hybrid. But "Doolittle" here was within my budget, while no hybrid in sight was within my reach.

Much of the green movement now is about consumption (though a more-informed variety), which is not only ironic but counterproductive IMO.

My greenest choice in life was to live 10 blocks from my office so I can walk to work. Dear little Doolittle will be asked to do very little over the next (hopefully) 10 or 15 years.

Love, hosaa
pricing car insurance

Superman of Futurism

Sir Arthur C. Clarke
b. December 16, 1917, d. March 19, 2008


Video by TVE Asia Pacific

"Superman" of Futurism, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, dies at age 90

The Foundation named for him reports with quiet dignity this morning: "After a prolific and esteemed career, Sir Arthur has passed away in Sri Lanka."

Best known as the author of the short story on which the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was based, Sir Arthur C. Clarke was both an inspired writer and a source of inspiration for others.

In a poll of futurists for the Encyclopedia of the Future (Macmillan, 1996), Sir Arthur C. Clarke was ranked sixth of the 100 most influential futurists in history--ahead of Jules Verne and Isaac Newton.

He was an early supporter of the World Future Society, participating in its first conference, purchasing books about the future from the Society's specialty bookstore, and ultimately joining its Global Advisory Council.

Society founder Edward Cornish noted in his series on the Society's founding that "Arthur C. Clarke not only joined but sent in a membership for Stanley Kubrick, the producer/director of 2001: A Space Odyssey."

Described as a "prophet" for the space age for his inspiring stories and meticulous scientific perspective, Clarke was one of very few science-fiction writers equally gifted on both the science side and the fiction side of the genre.

He was also modest; he demonstrated a graceful integrity when he wrote a letter to the editor to THE FUTURIST to correct another author, who had inadvertently credited him with "inventing" the solar sail--a sun-powered spacecraft he described in his story "Sunjammer."

Clarke could justifiably be described as the Superman of futurism, and not just for his longevity against extreme physical challenges. According to newspaper obituaries, he had suffered from post-polio syndrome for the past two decades, succumbing to respiratory ailments.

But his forward-looking spirit led him to "predict" in his 1999 book Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! that he would celebrate his one-hundredth birthday as a space tourist, one of the first guests in the Hilton Orbiter. In that regard, his goal-driven life calls to mind that of Superman star Christopher Reeve, who set a goal to walk again by age 50 after the riding accident that paralyzed him.

Sir Arthur "was a good friend and an inspiration to us all," said Cornish.



Sir Arthur C. Clarke (center), the famed science and science-fiction writer, is welcomed at a Society meeting by World Future Society founding president Edward Cornish (left) and board member Michael Michaelis. Clarke, who died early on Wednesday, March 19, at his home in Sri Lanka, was a member of the Society’s Global Advisory Council. Photo: WFS Archive.

Links:
1. World Future Society's tribute to Sir Arthur C. Clarke

2. New York Times obituary

3. Arthur C. Clarke Foundation

4. Edward Cornish's series on World Future Society history, which notes Sir Arthur's early involvement in and support of the Society

5. NASA Remembers Arthur C. Clarke

Momentary Heroism

It only takes a moment to become someone's hero.



The story (briefly): I took my niece up to New York in January to see Clay Aiken in Spamalot. Moments after the show ended, the crowd gathered to collect autographs from our Idol. But I had a little trouble reaching him, as a tall man blocked my view and a mean lady pushed my poster away. In this video, Clay Aiken demonstrates how it only takes a few seconds and one graceful gesture to become somebody's hero.

Love, hosaa
Shopping for a nice frame for my autographed "Sir Robin" poster

Public Diplomacy

How many of you will see a story like this reported on TMZ, E!, or - well - anywhere? It is a positive story about the good that one celebrity is doing out there in the world. This is a press release from the U.S. State Department.

American Public Diplomacy Envoy Michelle Kwan Travels to Argentina

American Public Diplomacy Envoy Michelle Kwan will travel to Argentina March 15, 2008 to begin her third tour as a State Department Public Diplomacy Envoy. While in Argentina the figure skating champion will visit Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Parana. The Public Diplomacy Envoy program is carried out under the auspices of the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program in Argentina follows Kwan’s previous, highly successful envoy visits to China and Russia in 2007.

As an American Public Diplomacy Envoy, Ms. Kwan promotes cross-cultural dialogue with international youth to increase understanding of America by sharing her story and life experiences. Kwan’s activities in Argentina will include holding skating clinics for Argentine youth, meeting Special Olympic and Paralympic athletes, meeting and speaking with students, teachers, coaches and aspiring youth entrepreneurs working on Junior Achievement projects. Kwan will also share her experiences with women leaders as well as have an open dialogue with Argentine athletes.

Please direct media inquiries about this or other programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to Darlene Kirk.

Released on March 13, 2008


love, hosaa
admiring an admirable person

"She works in heaven"

A friend in Dallas sent me these pictures she took when she got to her office yesterday. She works on the 54th floor of the Bank of America building downtown.

Another friend observed, "Mary works in heaven. Above the clouds!"

Would that we all worked in heaven, if for no other reason than the perspective. The future may resemble an ancient ruin, and our job is to build a civilization from the pieces we inherit from our past.

Love, hosaa,
peeping up from somewhere below Mary's heaven

Footscapes

"My Pedestrian Documentary" by the World Future Society:



The big-picture thinkers often look at a broad landscape and forget to watch their steps. You need to see where you're going, yes, but you also need to get there.

The video ends with a wry lesson. A schlemiel is someone who falls on the slippery ground. A schlimazel is someone who trips on the "Slippery When Wet" sign.

love, hosaa
stepping cautiously into the future

Take

Take the willing heart
of an unconnected soul.

Take her heart and teach her
to share and to know

The love of her life
was never hers to take

But to give.