A Google Map of Our Brains: The Next Chapter in Neuroscience

Scientists in New York City are at the center of President Obama'sbrain research initiative, a $100 million effort to better understand the inner workings of the human noggin."For a lot of the way that different brain regions work together to generate complex functions, we're really stumbling around in the dark," said Dr. Cori Bargmann, a Rockefeller University neuroscientist and co-chair of the project. "The point of the brain initiative is to turn on some lights."

Neon brain (dierk schaefer/flickr/CC-BY-2.0)

"A map is something static, and the whole point of the brain is that it's always moving," Bargmann said. "If you want to think of it as a map at all, you should think of it more as a Google Map that shows where the traffic is moving."

Augmented Reality and the Social Video App Vine; Google Glass

Google's Glass shaping the future of Glass

Augmented reality blends the real world with computer generated images: glasses or contact lens that are computer screens display images before our very eyes. It has the promise to change the way we experience the world.

Companies like Google and Vuzix are betting that consumers will want to strap on augmented reality glasses and take a stroll around town. Smartphone apps like Layar and TagWhat allow users to see everything from restaurant information to home prices by holding up a smartphone camera to the real world.

Google Glass may be the most well-known application of the technology, but it's not the most advanced: Scientists are already developing augmented reality contact lenses.

vimeo


Google's Glass Project: Can You Make The Grade?

Google's Glass lets users send messages, video-chat, record video and take photos

We’re looking for bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping the future of Glass. We’d love to make everyone an Explorer, but we’re starting off a bit smaller. We’re still in the early stages, and while we can’t promise everything will be perfect, we can promise it will be exciting.

Learning How to Make a Smartphone App

Learning How to Make a Smartphone App

According to Apple, app developers have received more than $6.5 billion in royalties since the App Store launched in 2007.

... Yes, coding can be difficult, but I would urge you to check out GameSalad.com. It's all "drag and drop" with no real coding, it allows you to make apps for iPhone or Android devices and the basic version (which is great) is totally free.

http://spillingcoffeemedia.com

What is GameSalad? tutorial

http://www.wnyc.org/tags/tech/

Mabel Scott -

BlackCat Rockabilly

Gee

MABEL SCOTT

Born the youngest of three children in Richmond, Virginia, on 30th April 1915, Mabel Bernice Scott's family moved to New York City when she was just six. She started piano lessons the following year and began singing at The Metropolitan Baptist Church, going on to form her own female gospel group, The Song Cycles. Turning to secular entertainment, Mabel Scott made her professional debut at the age of 17, working at the Cotton Club in Harlem with the Cab Calloway Orchestra and the Nicholas Brothers.

Consistent with Mabel Scott’s unfortunate and undeserved obscurity, there is very little information to be found about her online or elsewhere.

The Wall Street Money Machine

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeImage via Wikipedia

Wall Street Money Machine

ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein, who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for “The Wall Street Money Machine,” talk about the series, which examined how some hedge funds and banks worsened the financial crisis while making a hefty profit for themselves.  It’s ProPublica’s second Pulitzer in only its third year of publishing investigations, and it’s the first Pulitzer to be awarded to a group of stories that were never published in print.

• The Wall Street Money Machine
• ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its series, “The Wall Street Money Machine.”
  Its lead reporters, Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger, take a moment to explain the series, how it all started and their reaction after reeling in ProPublica’s second Pulitzer. Theirs was  the first Pultizer  awarded to a body of work that didn’t appear in print (i.e., online only). You can read the full series here: The Wall Street Money Machine [1] and the letter addressing the award from our editor-in-chief [2]. You can also subscribe to all of ProPublica’s podcasts on iTunes [3].
  
  Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won the award in the category of National Reporting for their outstanding Wall Street Money Machine series, which examined how some Wall Street bankers and hedge funds sought to enrich themselves at the expense of their clients and sometimes even their own firms through sketchy transactions that delayed and ultimately worsened the financial crisis.
  CDOs, Magnetar

The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going

The Anatomy of the Magnetar Trade

The hedge fund helped create mortgage-based securities, pushed for risky things to go inside them and then bet against the investments, resulting in billions in losses for investors and ultimately making the financial crisis worse.
Related articles

• Pulitzer Podcast: Bernstein & Eisinger on Wall Street, Magnetar, CDOs (ritholtz.com)

Electricity Grid Schematic

General layout of electricity networks. Voltages and depictions of electrical lines are typical for Germany and other European systems.       MBizon 

• Electric power distribution
• Electrical grid