Babbage: December 15th, 2010
M&Ms, man-made life and the Kinect
Flying Snake and Lizard
In this professionally made video, you can watch as a "flying" snake tries to attack a flying lizard, but the lizard gets away because it flies too. This video could be used on a unit about snakes, predators, or animal adaptations. Run time 01:47.
Make Classroom Posters with Microsoft Excel
This video shows you step by step how to make a poster using Microsoft Excel. This would be good demonstration video for a computer class. Run time 04:18.
The Installation Of Firefox
This is a step by step instructional on how to download firefox as a web browser on your computer.
Report accuses Kosovo PM of crimes
A European draft report says Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci led an organised crime ring that engaged in assassinations, beatings, and organ trafficking.
The War on Drugs: an upper or downer for development?
The panel will discuss the impact of legalising and regulating the international trade in illegal drugs. They will look at whether it would curb crime and war financing, and if it would promote development in fragile states. Misha Glenny is a journalist and author of McMafia: seriously organised crime. Michael Hartmann is manager and senior adviser of the Criminal Justice Programme at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Child Under-nourishment as a Social Predicament
This lecture is in honour of Dr Indraprastha Gordhanbhai (I.G) Patel who was the ninth director of the London School of Economics from 1984 to 1990. Amartya Sen is Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard University and was until recently the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has served as President of the Econometric Society, the Indian Economic Association, the American Economic Association and the International Economic Association. H
ICC names Kenya violence suspects
Kenyans have mixed reactions to the International Criminal Court's release of suspects' names in the 2008 post election violence that left more than 1,200 people dead.
Protests in Greece turn violent
Protesters in Greece clash with police in central Athens, exchanging petrol bombs and tear gas
Facebook founder "Person of the Yr."
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, which now boasts half a billion users, was named Time magazine's 2010 Person of the Year.
Asia's Rice Bowl Half Empty
As the pace of rice output slows and strong demand continues, Asia may face a major food shortage.
Russia's ethnic violence crackdown
Hundreds of people detained in Moscow and St Petersburg in what authorities say is a move to prevent new outbreaks of ethnic violence.
Authors@Google: The Lost Girls
Two of the three "Lost Girls" stopped Google's New York offices to discuss their lastest book and upcoming projects with Googlers and moderated by Lee Stimmel.
The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.
"This memoir is wonderful: Funny, smart, honest, and perfectly captures that odd time in life when you're no longer an adolescent, but still wobbling into adulthood."
More information:
Jen, Holly, and Amanda are at a crossroads. They're feeling
Jazz Conversation with Jim Hall
Jazz guitarist and composer Jim Hall talks about his life in music with Larry Appelbaum, senior music reference specialist in the Library's Music Division.
Speaker Biography: Jim [James Stanley] Hall was born in Buffalo, Dec. 4, 1930. After studying composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he studied classical guitar and began working with Chico Hamilton's Quintet and the Jimmy Giuffre Three. A gifted, thoughtful improviser, Hall is best known for his col
Special Topics in Embedded Systems
* Understand embedded systems
* How is it different from general purpose computer systems such as PC?
* Then… we are going to jump into a simple embedded system and play with it throughout the course
-Introduction to ARM
-Introduction to Skyeye and AT91
-And then Lab, Lab, Lab….
* As a side effect, you will be familiarized with Linux environment after taking this class
Japanese business: Time to take the brake off?
The Japanese economy may be the second largest in the world, but it was struggling in the 1990s and early 2000s. And while economic pain might have resulted in structural reforms elsewhere, that has not happened in Japan.
Identifying, assessing and mitigating political risk
Businesses try to avoid investing in countries or areas of an economy where they face a high probability that their investment returns will be reduced or even eliminated completely by political developments. Yet while investors the world over are willing to spend considerable time and money employing lawyers and accountants to carry out ‘due diligence’ on planned investments, particularly those in foreign jurisdictions, very few resources - if any - are allocated to examining the political
On pricing anomalies and the limits of arbitrage
Textbooks say that even minuscule differences in the price of identical goods in two places should be short-lived. But anomalies do exist, and they often persist for far longer than theories predict, write Denis Gromb and Dimitri Vayanos.
Cost innovation and the dragons
INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Asian Business and International Management Peter Williamson says Chinese companies are tapping niche markets and customising products, but instead of looking at premium pricing they’re choosing to go mass market with ‘everyday low prices on steroids.’
Success: A huge business vulnerability?
Former Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Bob Herbold says success creates nine dangerous traps for companies around the world today. “Once they reach some level of success they tend to lose their sense of urgency,” the INSEAD senior executive in residence says. Many companies “think they have found the secret that will lead to everlasting success. Little do they know that by turning their previously successful practices into legacy practices that they follow continually, they’re putting
