When Bre Pettis, the co-founder of MakerBot, began his company in 2009, the mission was clear: make 3D printing accessible. Five years later, the company has sold tens of thousands of printers and joined forces with the industry stalwart Stratasys . Now that these creation machines are (relatively) financially feasible, how are we going to use them?
Japan may be on the cutting edge of everything from servant robots to tech-laden toilets, but music? Not so much, it seems. Old-fashioned CDs still make up 85 percent of the country’s music sales despite years of declining volume, and the Recording…
This week the world’s first commercial launch complex designed specifically for orbital missions has been the subject of a groundbreaking in Texas. Elon Musk of SpaceX and Governor Rick Perry have spoken up on the subject, noting that construction on the project will likely begin by mid-2015. Musk let it be known that he expects one commercial flight per month … Continue reading
Stitch together dirt roads, pavement, and smooth singletrack for some #epicrides with the Cannondale F29 Black Inc.
I previously reviewed the Cannondale SuperX cyclocross bike and noted it was a potential category killer. Which is to say it excels at commuting, road riding, and dirt. In fact, the latter is its one weakness. Yes, it can handle dirt roads. But anything close to rocky or steep terrain has you longing for some mountain bike handlebars and suspension. Enter Cannondale’s corresponding 29-inch hardtail, the F29.
Built primarily for racing, this bike is feather-light at 18 pounds. Yes, that’s what high-end road bikes weighed only a few years ago. This is accomplished through a carbon fiber frame, Shimano’s top-of-the-line drivetrain and brakes (XTR), and super-sexy carbon wheels from ENVE. The spare-no-expense Black Inc. retails for a post-IPO-like price tag of more than $11,000. But you can get in at more of a Series-A level with the F-SI Carbon 2 for less than $5,000 (still not cheap, of course). But, again, this is a potential category killer for those who index toward dirt.
When you’re riding on 29-inch wheels, which are much more road-like than a traditional 26-inch mountain bike wheel, it opens up a lot of riding potential. Given a moderately treaded tire, you can stitch together some epic rides that combine long sections of both paved and dirt roads with some mellow singletrack woven in for good measure. I did one of these on the F29 in the Topanga Canyon area back in June, covering about 30 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing. All told, I logged close to 200 miles in testing the F29.
I made a few tweaks to the bike’s spec to suit my style of riding. I added a quick-release for the seatpost, which gives the ability to drop the saddle slightly for descents. I also swapped out the stock tires for a more aggressive tread to handle the loose, fire-road conditions in the Santa Monica Mountains. Both of these added a lot of confidence on the descents. If I were to own this bike, I’d get a second set of wheels with slick tires for commuting, ripping around town, and the occasional road loop.
If I were pressed to complain about anything, it would be the front suspension. Cannondale’s proprietary “Lefty” fork gives you 100mm of ultra-smooth travel with the ability to lock it out for climbs, and it’s very light. But it’s not cross-compatible with any other front-suspension design. The hub and, therefore, the front wheel only works on this fork. This limits your wheel, fork, and even car rack options. All-in-all, it’s a minor tradeoff for a bike that will crush all of your climbing records while still feeling confident bombing dirt-road descents.
Note: I reviewed the 2014 F29. This has been updated for 2015 and is now the F-SI Carbon Black Inc. The major difference is Shimano’s new electric XTR Di2 drivetrain.
Once again, the United States is baffled by asymmetrical warfare in the Middle East.
While our military budget exceeds the rest of the world combined, our asymmetrical strategy to confront ISIS could be mistaken for a Saturday Night Live skit.
To “degrade and destroy” ISIS we will:
• Spend $50 million to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels. This is peanuts compared to our cost to train and arm the 250,000 strong Iraqi Army who fled at the first shot, abandoning their expensive American armaments to ISIS.
• Launch air strikes that will inevitably produce “collateral damage,” (dead innocent civilians) thus increasing rage against America and Jihadist recruits.
• Form a coalition of allies to fight against ISIS. The coalition will exclude Iran and Syria, the only countries with the military capability and willingness to defeat ISIS. However, it may include those powers that were so critical to the success of George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing” such as Iceland, Mongolia, Tonga, Moldova, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Solomon Islands.
Both former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believe our asymmetrical fighting strategy will take years and is unlikely to defeat ISIS without putting some “boots on the ground.”
So much for asymmetrical fighting strategies. What we need is a symmetrical fighting strategy. Remember there are only 15,000 to 30,000 ISIS fighters. At the low end of the estimate, they could not fill 15% of LSU’s football stadium. At the high end, they equal the male population of Marysville, WA.
How should we confront 15,000 to 30,000 homicidal maniacs, thugs, thieves, felons, rapists and fanatics? Ask the New York City Police Force. Last year the NYPD dealt with 111,135 murders, rapes, robberies, felonious assaults, burglaries, and grand larcenies. The NYPD stopped and frisked 69,000 suspects in Brooklyn alone–in a single month, March 2012
Our symmetrical strategy is obvious. Send in the New York Police and arrest every member of ISIS. NYPD has 34,500 uniformed police officers, outnumbering ISIS by roughly two to one. Last year, NYPD made over 400,000 arrests. They could arrest every member of ISIS 15 to 20 times a year.
After arrests, we could exploit our international dominance of incarceration. We are number one in prisons, enjoying the world’s highest documented incarceration rate. While the United States represents about 5 percent of the world’s population, it houses around 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.
So that’s the symmetrical strategy. Arrest them. Lock them up. Throw away the key.
We could pursue an alternative symmetrical strategy: arm ISIS with nuclear weapons and allow them to establish an empire. Then we can bankrupt them by initiating another Star Wars arms race.
However, the “send-in-the-police” strategy is more cost effective. While the asymmetrical wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costs between $4 to $6 trillion, NYPD’s annual budget is only $4.6 billion. With NYPD on board we could halve the defense budget, saving $320 billion annually.
Even better our conventional military would free to concentrate on their primary mission–deterring Russia from territorial aggression.
On second thought, maybe we would be better off the enlisting the LAPD as well as the NYPD.
Learn what you are made up of.
What you stand for.
And what you are here to contribute.
Lolly Daskal
When you think of a great leader who comes to your mind? Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, Tony Hsieh, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King, Jr.? What are some of the characteristics that we are able to witness from these wonderful leadership role models?
• Social responsibility
• Caring
• Innovation
• Commitment to making a difference
• Optimism
• Joyful disposition
• Focus on personal development
• Driven by a sense of purpose
A great leader understands that his/her external environment is a true representation of how much he/she can grow from within. Certain skills and expertise contribute toward making a good leader. However, to move from a good to great leader, one has to focus on personal growth to influence the growth of one’s team and organization. And growth from within is typically driven by a personal mission. A personal mission defines:
• Who you want to become.
• What you stand for.
• How you will live out your purpose.
Looking at the above leadership examples, I want to focus on Sir Richard Branson. As he has said, Virgin’s mission statement could easily be “Screw it, let’s do it.” I believe this applies to his personal mission as well. He has been willing to be a contrarian and challenging the status quo. His motto has served him so well that he’s just been voted Britain’s most admired business leader of the past 50 years in a poll of top bosses. Richard Branson truly leads from within. He leads from his heart, inspires and motivates people driven by his strong commitment to his personal mission. All this with lots of fun, laughter and a sense of adventure.
A lot of leaders and emerging leaders though aren’t quite certain what their personal mission is since they’re guided by many different personal motivators. I have found that writing out your personal mission statement is the best way to get clear on what your personal mission is. During personal branding workshops that I lead with emerging leaders, I typically guide participants through a 3-step process to help them formulate their own personal mission statement:
“To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference.” Denise Morrision, CEO of Campbell Soup
“To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” Oprah Winfrey, Founder of OWN
Being a leader is a true gift. So, learn to bring your own gifts and purpose into the mix when you go about leading your team and organization. We see far too many examples of individuals who function as leaders in title only. The world needs a lot more leaders who serve through their personal mission and want to make a difference. I can’t wait to see you step up and lead the way!
Are you a leader looking to influence and inspire your team? Learn why you first need a solid personal mission to help you rally your team and mobilize your stakeholders in my book The Impactful Leader.
How can I do a good job as best man at a friend’s upcoming wedding?: originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and get insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Answer by Will Wister, Fund Manager
Write a funny speech.
The best wedding speeches I’ve heard are funny, pulling together key stories of a person’s life that provide insight into who they are, while also being amusing.
If you happen to know things someone did as a toddler or a young child that are supposedly indicative of their current personality it helps to throw some of that in there.
Stumbles the person has had that can be framed in an endearing light are also excellent fodder for this sort of thing.
You need to quiz everyone who knows this person to help put together a solid stream of embarrassing stories – with a compliment or two thrown in for the appearance of balance.
You want to a paint a picture of this person as infant, such that it becomes obvious what they are like, and carry that narrative forward, perhaps accentuating a few flaws and positive traits, really painting more of a caricature of them more than anything else.
Emphasize how they are infinitely better now that their significant other is around and able to compensate for their many flaws. Emphasize that they are lucky to have found this person, without whom they would likely be relatively helpless – and mention they would have trouble adequately fending for themselves without their spouse.
Emphasize that they have struggled and stumbled numerous times in their life, and they finally have gotten it all together quite recently and that this is symbolized and best epitomized by their spousal selection.
Make sure to spotlight the spouse’s positive traits, and thank her profusely for putting up with whatever she might encounter.
On the other hand, you can also play it straight and give a comprehensive tour de force on just how awesome both people are who are getting married and throw in only a modicum of teasing just for good measure and to show you care.
…
Answer by Stephen Newton, Have been a best man in 8 weddings
Some great examples here, let me add a few pointers:
…
Answer by Lauren Grove, Wedding Planner
More questions on Quora:
On Monday, the Baltimore Ravens released a lengthy statement pushing back on the highly critical report from ESPN’s “Outside The Lines.” The report, which ran last week, claimed that the organization was guilty of “purposeful misdirection” in the handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case.
Citing more than 20 unnamed sources, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg reported that the team’s director of security, Darren Sanders, received a detailed account of Rice punching his then-fiancee in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City, N.J. just hours after it took place in February.
In the Ravens’ statement, Sanders denied the allegations and said the Atlantic City police officer that he spoke to couldn’t tell if Rice “slapped or punched” her.
“I did not receive an account of what happened in the elevator “within hours” of the incident. Within a couple of days, I asked the casino and the Atlantic City Police Department for a copy of any videotape of the incident. They said they could not release a copy of the videotape to me. Some days later—I believe it was on February 25—I spoke to an Atlantic City police official again, asking again whether I could get a copy of the tape or, if not, whether I could come to his New Jersey office and view it. He said I could not, but he did offer to view the tape and describe what he saw,” Sanders said in the statement. “(As I understand it, he was describing a raw video, not the “cleaned up,” “smoothed . . . out” version that appeared on TMZ.) He said that Ray and Janay both appeared to be intoxicated, and that they were involved in a heated argument that began outside the elevator and continued inside. As he described it, Janay appeared to initiate the altercation, but they both spit at and struck each other, resulting in Janay falling and hitting her head against the wall railing. The officer could not tell from the video whether Ray slapped or punched her, but Ray told me very clearly that he did not punch her. It was not clear from the officer’s account whether it was being intoxicated, being hit, or hitting her head against the railing that caused Janay’s apparent unconsciousness.”
Click here to to read the entire statement from the Ravens.
The ESPN report also alleged that Biscotti, Ravens’ president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome urged NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to hand Rice a two-game suspension during the summer. On Monday, Biscotti denied that he ever pushed for such a lenient punishment.
“I expected four or six games, I was surprised as everyone else that it was two,” Biscotti told reporters. In the statement, both Cass and Newsome also denied urging Goodell to suspend Rice for only two games.
Story developing..
At the beginning of June, Islamic State militants launched a lightning offensive in Iraq. Just four days into their campaign, they captured the country’s second largest city, Mosul, taking over roads, banks, courts, schools and hospitals. The group issued religious decrees governing daily life according to a rigid interpretation of Islamic law. Many of the city’s Shiites were persecuted or forced to flee and their iconic shrines and landmarks were destroyed.
Since its capture, Mosul has become a symbol of the hardships people face living under the Islamic Sate. The Associated Press has taken a look back at the city in a different — more peaceful — time. The agency collected dozens of photographs, which were housed at the Library of Congress and taken in the autumn of 1932 by staff from the American Colony Photo Department, and contrasted them with images of Mosul from today.
In the photo from 1932 above, the AP writes, “the Crooked Minaret towers over a street in central Mosul, adjacent to a Yazidi shrine. The shrine was gone long before militants overtook the city, but it reveals a time when different religious faiths could coexist here.”
See the AP’s photo comparisons below:
BEFORE:
Men pause on a lorry on the road to Mosul, northern Iraq, 1932. (AP Photo/American Colony Photo Department via Library of Congress)
AFTER:
In this file photo taken Monday, June 23, 2014, fighters from the Islamic State parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo)
BEFORE:
A 1932 image of Lady Surrma of the Assyrian community posing for a portrait in Mosul, northern Iraq. (AP Photo/American Colony Photo Department via Library of Congress)
AFTER:
An Iraqi woman looking at a shop display in central Mosul after the Islamic State ordered clothes shop owners to cover the faces of the mannequins on Monday, July 21, 2014. (AP Photo)
BEFORE:
In this undated handout photo provided by the Library of Congress taken during the autumn of 1932, the Tigris River stretches out in the distance as seen from Mosul, northern Iraq. (AP Photo/American Colony Photo Department via Library of Congress)
AFTER:
File photo of smoke rising during airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants at the Mosul Dam on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014. (AP Photo)
BEFORE:
A 1932 image of Nebi Yunis, the tomb of the prophet Jonah, in Mosul, northern Iraq. (AP Photo/American Colony Photo Department via Library of Congress)
AFTER:
Iraqis walk in the rubble of the revered Muslim shrine after it was was destroyed on Thursday, July 24, 2014, by militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. (AP Photo)
BEFORE:
In this undated handout photo provided by the Library of Congress taken during the autumn of 1932, Iraqis pause in the market in Mosul, northern Iraq. (AP Photo/American Colony Photo Department via Library of Congress)
AFTER:
Demonstrators chanting pro-Islamic State slogans as they carry the group’s flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul on Monday, June 16, 2014. (AP Photo)
If we needed another call to action regarding the transformative power of education – on individual lives and the world we live in – here it is.
In a just-released United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report, education is cited as the catalyst for development, poverty reduction, nutrition improvement, health gains, gender equality and empowerment, water and energy sustainability, economic growth, inequality reduction, environmental protection and resilience, and promotion of peaceful, just and inclusive societies.
But across the globe, including even here in the United States, tens of millions of children don’t have access to the most basic educational tool: books.
In 2013 at the Clinton Global Initiative, First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise that I lead, made a promise. A promise to work with partners and funders toward the goal of bringing millions of brand new books, digital resources and educational materials to children – especially women and girls – around the world.
To do so, we’re building on First Book’s 20+ year history of innovative, award-winning models that have enabled us to distribute 120 million brand new high quality books through the largest and fastest growing network of educators and programs serving children in need in the U.S. and Canada – currently numbering 140,000 strong.
Since making our commitment just one year ago, we’ve started to move the needle on our global outreach with big and small steps.
Launching Innovative Models Worldwide
We launched the First Book Global Marketplace, an expansion of our First Book Marketplace: an online site offering high quality books and resources at 50 – 90% off. Shipping is available to those serving children in need anywhere in the world.
This means that NGOs, schools, and others serving children in poverty can access the books and resources they need – to date, numbering more than 1,000 titles for children ages 0 – 18, including books in French, Spanish and English. The current titles include board books, hard cover and paperbacks, including more than 100 selections at $2.00 or less, and audio books, such as Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales, with 32 folktales selected by Mandela preloaded on a portable, ready-to-play digital audiobook.
To date, NGOs have ordered books through the First Book Global Marketplace that have been shipped to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Senegal and the Marshall Islands. And we are continuing to add books and resources on an ongoing basis.
Empowering Educators with New Resources
First Book aggregates the buying power of educators and NGOs serving children in need, enabling us to elevate the voice of educators and provide the best quality resources. Signing up with First Book is free, with the only requirement that organizations serve 70% or more children in need. We are actively reaching out, directly and through partnerships, to connect educators and NGOs to First Book’s resources.
Through a built-in feedback loop, organizations provide ongoing input on content to add to the site. In addition to the current titles available on the First Book Global Marketplace, in the coming years we plan to work with in-country publishers to carry books by local authors, and to expand the types of educational resources we carry.
We are also hearing from organizations that want help to raise funds for brand new books. For example, in Alexandria, Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandrina used First Book’s online fundraising tool, the Virtual Book Drive, to raise $1,300 to buy books on the First Book Global Marketplace for children in need in Egypt.
Leveraging the Power of Partnerships
Local and national partnerships are critical, both to understand and to meet the expansive global educational needs. We’ve worked with corporate, nonprofit and government partners to help further our understanding of needs in locations around the world, and/or to subsidize the cost of distributing books. This includes:
While these efforts are a start, we have barely begun to address the vast need that exists around the world. An estimated 126 million young people cannot read or write a simple sentence.
Meeting these needs will take collaborative partnerships of all kinds: to bring the best, most culturally relevant free or low-cost resources, and to ship them where they are needed, to teachers and NGOs ready and able to use them on the ground.
Children the world over have an insatiable desire to learn, and UNESCO’s recent report gives us even more reasons to act.
Follow Kyle Zimmer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FirstBook
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
