Archive for January, 2010
Our Commitment to Space Exploration – a Complex Calculation
Saturday, January 30th, 2010‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.’ – Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969 There are other words, more well-known, that capture the momentous occasion of man’s first step on a planet not our own. However, it is these first words that most represent the culmination of nearly two decades of effort taken by NASA [...]
Javed Abidi – Giving Visibility and Hope to India’s Disabled
Thursday, January 21st, 2010Power and compassion – these two words can sum up the focus behind Javed Abidi’s mission. As an impassioned advocate for India’s disabled citizens, he has given voice to an ‘invisible minority‘ – one that has been denied to them by both political and social sectors for decades. It is a subject that he understands [...]
Plug-in Hybrids Go for a Spin in 2010
Monday, January 18th, 2010Well, they shouldn’t be faulted for their enthusiasm. 2010 is here – slated to be the Year of the Electric Car – and automakers are still working out the glitches before the long-promised, much-hyped vehicles hit the production lines. To be fair, the year is still young – and with the Nissan Leaf expected to [...]
California’s Unquenchable Thirst
Saturday, January 16th, 2010‘Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.’ – Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell Folk icon Joni Mitchell’s hit 1970 song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ was written in response to the slow encroachment of mankind across the Hawaiian islands – but in modern times, the lyrics could serve [...]
Tiffin – Meals for Millions in Mumbai
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010It is a low-tech, high-volume service that has Western business management experts flocking to the crowded, dusty streets of Mumbai. Each weekday, the Tiffin delivery network provides hot, home-cooked meals to a growing population of office workers in India’s financial capital. From the city’s outer suburbs to the bustling downtown core, the small, aluminum boxes [...]
Avatar Raises the Bar for Moviemaking Tech
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Following up Titanic was never going to be an easy task. Director James Cameron’s 1997 ‘star-crossed lovers on a doomed ocean liner’ saga shattered existing box office records, netting $1.8 billion worldwide and earning 11 Oscars. He accepted his Best Director award with the memorable ‘I’m the king of the world!’ quote from the film, [...]
ADHD and the Literary Tradition
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010Writing is both mask and unveiling. – E.B. White Any editor will tell you – writers can be a notoriously difficult group. Prone to perfectionism, deep melancholy, and the sense that – given a little extra time – literary genius would be available for the taking. This is, of course, only slightly in jest. However, [...]
Florence Nightingale – An Early Social Entrepreneur
Monday, January 4th, 2010In the century since her death, the name of Florence Nightingale has become synonymous with kindness. But while recognizable to all, just who she was – and how influential her life’s work has been in the ensuing decades – is still shrouded in mystery. She is an icon – for healthcare workers, professional women, social [...]