Take a look at the website if you want to have your say...
Facebook, Twitter Fans To Decide Fate of Barbie and Ken
We know you were all crushed when Barbie and Ken, yes, the dolls, split up on Valentine's Day in 2004. Fortunately for you, the cupids at Mattel are giving this plasticine couple another shot.
Toymaker Mattel has launched a massive social media campaign asking Internet users to help Ken, now in his 50th year, win back his old flame. After all, if dolls can't make it in the age of social media, who can?
At the core of the campaign is the website www.barbieandken.com, where users can vote on whether Barbie should take Ken back after apparently ditching her in 2004 (inspiring a Bachelor-like reality dating show). Voters can also help Barbie sort out her feelings by voting on her "Love-o-Meter," featuring a familiar option, "It's Complicated."
The campaign also uses Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, FourSquare, and Hulu to spread the message. Fans of either doll's accounts will note the two "flirting" online. For instance, after checking into the Metropolitan Museum of Art on FourSquare, Ken left the tip: "Barbie could spend hours looking at the timeless art, and I could spend hours looking at Barbie."
Not sweet enough? Mattell has also partnered up with Magnolia Bakery in Los Angeles and New York City to create a special cupcake that will only be sold on Valentine's Day. In a mock press release covering a Ken sighting, Mattel wrote, "On a mission to prove he's the ultimate boyfriend, America's most fashionable "first man" was overheard saying that designing a dessert for his beloved at her favorite bakery would really take the cake. With Valentine's Day around the corner, that's the kind of sweet-talking a girl can really go for.
But despite the grand "gestures," Barbie seems torn. Her @BarbieStyles handle recently tweeted, "At a loss with what to do about @OfficialKen. A walk on the beach is exactly what this Malibu girl needs" – referring to one of her classic incarnations, Malibu Barbie.
2011年2月7日星期一
Using Special Crystals, Researchers Make a Paper Clip Invisible The first invisibility cloak that works on visible objects
Guess we don't have to wait too long...
Using Special Crystals, Researchers Make a Paper Clip Invisible The first invisibility cloak that works on visible objects
By Clay Dillow
Posted 02.01.2011 at 5:49 pm
Metamaterials have long been thought the key to creating the working, visible spectrum “invisibility cloak” promised us by sci-fi, but it might be time for metamaterials to move over. Two independent labs—one at the University of Birmingham in the UK, the other at MIT—have used naturally forming calcite crystals to render visible objects (as in large enough to see with the naked eye) invisible, something metamaterials haven’t come close to doing.
Metamaterials have achieved a measure of invisibility, but not in any practical sense; they can bend certain wavelengths of light to conceal an object at the microscopic level, but so far they have not been able to work well at the macro scale or in the visible spectrum. It turns out researchers may not have needed such an exotic medium.
Calcite, an abundant crystalline form of calcium carbonate that forms naturally (it’s the primary stuff of sea shells), has long been known to have peculiar light-bending properties, and if the Birmingham and MIT findings are any indication it might have a future in cloaking devices.
In both experiments, researchers had to finely tune their crystals—they’re technically composite crystals, as the researchers basically glue together two crystals with opposite crystal orientations—then placed them over small but entirely visible objects (MIT used a small metal wedge the size of a peppercorn; Birmingham went bigger, concealing a paperclip). In both experiments, the calcite crystals essentially reflected and refracted the light coming through in such a way as to conceal the objects on the other side, making it appear as though there weren’t there.
For now, the technology is nascent and somewhat two-dimensional, though the MIT team says it has some ideas regarding how they could make the cloaking three-dimensional. And, at least theoretically speaking, the calcite cloaking technology is limited only by the size of calcite crystals, which can grow well more than a dozen feet long—large enough to conceal a person or an average New York City apartment.
To think: all that work with metamaterials when all it really takes to make oneself invisible are some special crystals. Perhaps science fiction had invisibility right all along.
Using Special Crystals, Researchers Make a Paper Clip Invisible The first invisibility cloak that works on visible objects
By Clay Dillow
Posted 02.01.2011 at 5:49 pm
Metamaterials have long been thought the key to creating the working, visible spectrum “invisibility cloak” promised us by sci-fi, but it might be time for metamaterials to move over. Two independent labs—one at the University of Birmingham in the UK, the other at MIT—have used naturally forming calcite crystals to render visible objects (as in large enough to see with the naked eye) invisible, something metamaterials haven’t come close to doing.
Metamaterials have achieved a measure of invisibility, but not in any practical sense; they can bend certain wavelengths of light to conceal an object at the microscopic level, but so far they have not been able to work well at the macro scale or in the visible spectrum. It turns out researchers may not have needed such an exotic medium.
Calcite, an abundant crystalline form of calcium carbonate that forms naturally (it’s the primary stuff of sea shells), has long been known to have peculiar light-bending properties, and if the Birmingham and MIT findings are any indication it might have a future in cloaking devices.
In both experiments, researchers had to finely tune their crystals—they’re technically composite crystals, as the researchers basically glue together two crystals with opposite crystal orientations—then placed them over small but entirely visible objects (MIT used a small metal wedge the size of a peppercorn; Birmingham went bigger, concealing a paperclip). In both experiments, the calcite crystals essentially reflected and refracted the light coming through in such a way as to conceal the objects on the other side, making it appear as though there weren’t there.
For now, the technology is nascent and somewhat two-dimensional, though the MIT team says it has some ideas regarding how they could make the cloaking three-dimensional. And, at least theoretically speaking, the calcite cloaking technology is limited only by the size of calcite crystals, which can grow well more than a dozen feet long—large enough to conceal a person or an average New York City apartment.
To think: all that work with metamaterials when all it really takes to make oneself invisible are some special crystals. Perhaps science fiction had invisibility right all along.
2011年2月1日星期二
An Open Letter to Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt
埃及網上資訊封鎖已經成為tech news其中一個最熱門的主題……
這倒是一個有趣的現象
如果網路言論自由真的是帶來革命的動力
那麼你也不能不同意中共真的具備不凡的前瞻性
而且亦不是每一個政權都能頂得住國際的壓力的
有時，除了佩服外也不能做些什麼了……
An Open Letter to Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt
Andrew McLaughlinFormer
White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer
Posted: January 29, 2011 04:47 PM
Dear Tarek:
The news anchors are reporting that Egypt's Cabinet has just submitted its resignation, and a new Prime Minister has been appointed. As Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology since 2004, you are now most likely heading back to private life.
As a friend, I write to urge you to take one final action before you walk out the door of your Ministry: Give the order to reconnect Egypt to the global Internet, and to drop all remaining blocks on wireless networks.
Unless you act now, in your final hours as Minister, to reverse the Internet cutoff, your name will forever be associated with an unprecedented human rights violation on a national scale, and an economic catastrophe triggered by a shortsighted regime's drive for self-preservation. That would be a tragedy for many reasons, but most of all because I am certain that you don't, in your heart, believe this decision to be right.
We have known each other since we jointly organized one of the first ICANN conferences on global Internet coordination, in Cairo in March, 2000. I know you to be a man of intelligence, integrity, and character. Your record is one of ambitious endeavors, large-scale accomplishments, and thoughtful innovation. Through your early work to bring network links to Egypt and your later service as a Trustee of the Internet Society, you demonstrated your understanding of, and commitment to, the Internet as a powerful tool for free expression and human development. And indeed, until last week, Egypt's Internet, under your administrative guidance, was notable in the Arab world for being free and open -- almost entirely uncensored. (Outside your domain of control, Egypt's security forces used other, brutally effective means of controlling dissent, like relentless surveillance and arbitrary arrests and detentions.) You helped design and build a truly impressive communications infrastructure, achieving impressive levels of Internet access and use, highly competitive mobile and ISP markets, and low consumer broadband prices. Unlike most of your regional neighbors, you allowed Internet voice services without restriction. Egypt is now one of the major crossing points for the underwater fiber optic cables that interconnect the regions of the planet. You led an aggressive initiative to get personal computers and Internet connections into every home in Egypt. At an early date, you used farsighted regulatory moves to enable free dial-up Internet services. Under your leadership, Egypt was among the first countries to launch an Arabic-language Internet top-level domain, making Internet addresses vastly easier for the majority of Egyptians to use.
All of these achievements, however, are now eclipsed by your participation in the Egyptian government's unprecedented decision to sever Egypt from the global Internet, and to shut down mobile phone services.
Even now, two days later, as cellular networks are starting to function again, nearly all Egyptians remain cut off from the Internet. A worried mother who has not heard from her son or daughter cannot send an email or check Facebook for a status update. A witness to violence or abuse cannot seek help, document responsibility, or warn others via Twitter or blog. Life-saving information is inaccessible. Healthy, civil debate about the future of Egypt is squelched. And in the absence of trustworthy news, first-hand reports, and real-time pictures, rumor and fear flourish. In those ways, the total Internet cut-off undermines the government's own interest in restoring calm and order.
Moreover, innovative Egyptians are finding ways to overcome the block. They are relaying information by voice, exploiting gaps in your digital Iron Curtain, and dusting off old modems to tap foreign dial-up services. To seek to lock Egyptians behind an airtight seal is triply wrongheaded: it harms Egyptians, increases tensions, and, ultimately, can't be sustained.
Finally, and not least, your use of the Internet kill switch is about to start inflicting serious harm to Egypt's economy, its markets, its workers, and its soundness in the eyes of trading partners and investors. Already, Egypt's reputation as a reliable hub for Internet services and infrastructure -- a reputation you have labored tirelessly for more than a decade to fashion -- has suffered incalculable damage. (Yes, your sophisticated cutoff techniques cleverly made your networks unreachable without interfering with other countries' traffic transiting Egyptian territory and seaways, but the perception that Egypt can't be trusted with critical communications is now widespread, growing, and grounded in reality.)
It is not too late for you to act. Even as your formal mandate is ending, your moral authority is still weighty with the Ministry team you built. A directive from you to restore the Egyptian people's communications at this critical junction in Egypt's history would not only encourage peace and help restore order, but will prevent you from falling, tragically but indisputably, on the wrong side of history. You can, and must, move now to restore your reputation and reverse what will otherwise be a harsh and condemnatory worldwide judgment of your role in silencing Egyptians and infringing their fundamental human rights to speak, write, read, watch, and communicate.
My friend, Dr. Tarek Kamel, for the sake of your legacy and the future of your country: Re-connect your people.
Very truly yours,
Andrew McLaughlin
這倒是一個有趣的現象
如果網路言論自由真的是帶來革命的動力
那麼你也不能不同意中共真的具備不凡的前瞻性
而且亦不是每一個政權都能頂得住國際的壓力的
有時，除了佩服外也不能做些什麼了……
An Open Letter to Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt
Andrew McLaughlinFormer
White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer
Posted: January 29, 2011 04:47 PM
Dear Tarek:
The news anchors are reporting that Egypt's Cabinet has just submitted its resignation, and a new Prime Minister has been appointed. As Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology since 2004, you are now most likely heading back to private life.
As a friend, I write to urge you to take one final action before you walk out the door of your Ministry: Give the order to reconnect Egypt to the global Internet, and to drop all remaining blocks on wireless networks.
Unless you act now, in your final hours as Minister, to reverse the Internet cutoff, your name will forever be associated with an unprecedented human rights violation on a national scale, and an economic catastrophe triggered by a shortsighted regime's drive for self-preservation. That would be a tragedy for many reasons, but most of all because I am certain that you don't, in your heart, believe this decision to be right.
We have known each other since we jointly organized one of the first ICANN conferences on global Internet coordination, in Cairo in March, 2000. I know you to be a man of intelligence, integrity, and character. Your record is one of ambitious endeavors, large-scale accomplishments, and thoughtful innovation. Through your early work to bring network links to Egypt and your later service as a Trustee of the Internet Society, you demonstrated your understanding of, and commitment to, the Internet as a powerful tool for free expression and human development. And indeed, until last week, Egypt's Internet, under your administrative guidance, was notable in the Arab world for being free and open -- almost entirely uncensored. (Outside your domain of control, Egypt's security forces used other, brutally effective means of controlling dissent, like relentless surveillance and arbitrary arrests and detentions.) You helped design and build a truly impressive communications infrastructure, achieving impressive levels of Internet access and use, highly competitive mobile and ISP markets, and low consumer broadband prices. Unlike most of your regional neighbors, you allowed Internet voice services without restriction. Egypt is now one of the major crossing points for the underwater fiber optic cables that interconnect the regions of the planet. You led an aggressive initiative to get personal computers and Internet connections into every home in Egypt. At an early date, you used farsighted regulatory moves to enable free dial-up Internet services. Under your leadership, Egypt was among the first countries to launch an Arabic-language Internet top-level domain, making Internet addresses vastly easier for the majority of Egyptians to use.
All of these achievements, however, are now eclipsed by your participation in the Egyptian government's unprecedented decision to sever Egypt from the global Internet, and to shut down mobile phone services.
Even now, two days later, as cellular networks are starting to function again, nearly all Egyptians remain cut off from the Internet. A worried mother who has not heard from her son or daughter cannot send an email or check Facebook for a status update. A witness to violence or abuse cannot seek help, document responsibility, or warn others via Twitter or blog. Life-saving information is inaccessible. Healthy, civil debate about the future of Egypt is squelched. And in the absence of trustworthy news, first-hand reports, and real-time pictures, rumor and fear flourish. In those ways, the total Internet cut-off undermines the government's own interest in restoring calm and order.
Moreover, innovative Egyptians are finding ways to overcome the block. They are relaying information by voice, exploiting gaps in your digital Iron Curtain, and dusting off old modems to tap foreign dial-up services. To seek to lock Egyptians behind an airtight seal is triply wrongheaded: it harms Egyptians, increases tensions, and, ultimately, can't be sustained.
Finally, and not least, your use of the Internet kill switch is about to start inflicting serious harm to Egypt's economy, its markets, its workers, and its soundness in the eyes of trading partners and investors. Already, Egypt's reputation as a reliable hub for Internet services and infrastructure -- a reputation you have labored tirelessly for more than a decade to fashion -- has suffered incalculable damage. (Yes, your sophisticated cutoff techniques cleverly made your networks unreachable without interfering with other countries' traffic transiting Egyptian territory and seaways, but the perception that Egypt can't be trusted with critical communications is now widespread, growing, and grounded in reality.)
It is not too late for you to act. Even as your formal mandate is ending, your moral authority is still weighty with the Ministry team you built. A directive from you to restore the Egyptian people's communications at this critical junction in Egypt's history would not only encourage peace and help restore order, but will prevent you from falling, tragically but indisputably, on the wrong side of history. You can, and must, move now to restore your reputation and reverse what will otherwise be a harsh and condemnatory worldwide judgment of your role in silencing Egyptians and infringing their fundamental human rights to speak, write, read, watch, and communicate.
My friend, Dr. Tarek Kamel, for the sake of your legacy and the future of your country: Re-connect your people.
Very truly yours,
Andrew McLaughlin
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