September 7, 2011
Hilti develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction and building maintenance industries, primarily to the professional end-user. It concentrates primarily on hammer drills, firestops, and installation systems, but manufactures and markets an array of tools (including cordless electric drills, heavy angle drills, laser levels, power saws, and fasteners). Hilti is based in Liechtenstein, and is the principality’s largest employer. The company employs more than 20,000 people worldwide with over 2,500 employees in the United States. Hilti’s North American headquarters has been located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since 1979.
The Hilti Group invests over US$160 million annually in researching and developing safer and more efficient building technologies. A recent example of this R&D in power tool technology is Hilti’s TPS (Theft Protection System), which relies on RF technology to prevent unauthorized users from activating power tools, thus discouraging theft. Similarly, Hilti’s ATC (Active Torque Control) technology monitors tool-body movement to prevent equipment from twisting out of the operator’s grip and causing injury. Other developments include improved design of chemical and mechanical anchors for better durability during seismic events, thus helping to save lives during natural disasters.
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September 7, 2011
Kingdom Tower is a supertall skyscraper approved for construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at a preliminary cost of US$1.23 billion. It will be the centerpiece and first phase of a US$20 billion proposed development known as Kingdom City that will be located along the Red Sea on the north side of Jeddah. If completed as planned, the tower will reach unprecedented heights, becoming the tallest building in the world, as well as the first structure to reach the one-kilometer mark. The design, created by American architect Adrian Smith, incorporates many unique structural and aesthetic features.
The creator and leader of the project is Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the wealthiest Arab in the Middle East, and nephew of King Abdullah. Talal is the chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the largest company in Saudi Arabia, which owns the project, and a partner in Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), which was formed in 2009 for the development of Kingdom Tower and City. Reception of the proposal has been highly polarized, receiving high praise from some as a culturally significant icon that will symbolize the nation’s wealth and power, while others question its socioeconomic motives, and forecast that it will actually have negative financial consequences.
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September 7, 2011
Bowie Bonds are asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of the 25 albums (287 songs) that David Bowie recorded before 1990. Issued in 1997, the bonds were bought for US$55 million by the Prudential Insurance Company. The bonds paid an interest rate of 7.9% and had an average life of ten years. Royalties from the 25 albums generated the cash flow that secured the bonds’ interest payments. By forfeiting ten years worth of royalties, David Bowie was able to receive a payment of US$55 million up front. Bowie used this income to buy songs owned by his former manager.
The Bowie Bond issuance was perhaps the first instance of intellectual property rights securitization. The securitization of the collections of other artists, such as James Brown, Ashford & Simpson and the Isley Brothers, later followed. These Bonds are named Pullman Bonds after David Pullman, the banker who pushed the original Bowie deal. In March 2004, Moody’s Investors Service lowered the bonds from an A3 rating (the seventh highest rating) to Baa3, one notch above junk status. This downgrade was prompted by lower-than-expected revenue ‘due to weakness in sales for recorded music.’ A downgrade to an unnamed company that guarantees the issue was also cited as a reason for the downgrade. However, the success of Apple’s iTunes and other legal online music retailers has led to a renewed interest in Bowie and Pullman Bonds.
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September 7, 2011
Mushin (‘without mind’) is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. The term is shortened from’ mushin no shin,’ a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and is also referred to as the state of ‘no-mindness.’ That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything. It is somewhat analogous to ‘flow’ experienced by artists deeply in a creative process, or athletes being ‘in the zone’ while playing a sport.
Mushin is achieved when a person’s mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intentions, plans or direction. In analogy a clear mind is compared to a still pond, which is able to clearly reflect the moon and trees. But just as waves in the pond will distort the picture of reality, so will the thoughts we hold onto disrupt the true perception of reality.
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September 7, 2011
Stereotype threat is the experience of anxiety or concern in a situation where a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about their social group. First described by social psychologist Claude Steele and his colleagues, stereotype threat has been shown to reduce the performance of individuals who belong to negatively stereotyped groups.
For example, stereotype threat can lower the intellectual performance of African-Americans taking the SAT reasoning test used for college entrance in the United States, due to the stereotype that African-Americans are less intelligent than other groups. Since its introduction into the scientific literature in 1995, stereotype threat has become one of the most widely studied topics in the field of social psychology.
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September 7, 2011
ToeJam & Earl is an action video game for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive elsewhere). Released in 1991, it centers on the titular ToeJam and Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. ToeJam & Earl’s design was heavily influenced by the computer role-playing game Rogue, and took from it such features as the random generation of levels and items. It references and parodies 1990s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained sleeper hit status despite low initial sales, and its protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. Several sequels were produced for other consoles, but their commercial and critical success was mixed.
The game has been called a surreal, comic satire, and a ‘daringly misanthropic commentary on Earthly life.’ ToeJam, a red, three-legged alien, wears a large gold medallion and a backwards baseball cap, while the rotund and orange Earl is marked by high-tops and oversized sunglasses; both outfits are ‘over-the-top appropriations’ of 1990s urban culture. Their speech features California slang. The game is set to a jazz-funk and hiphop soundtrack inspired by Herbie Hancock.
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September 7, 2011
Mountainboarding is a well established, if little-known extreme sport, derived from snowboarding. A mountainboard is made up of components including a deck, bindings to secure the rider to the deck, four wheels with pneumatic tires, and two steering mechanisms known as trucks.
Mountainboarders ride specifically designed boardercross tracks, slopestyle parks, grass hills, woodlands, gravel tracks, streets, skateparks, ski resorts, BMX courses and mountain bike trails. It is this ability to ride such a variety of terrain that separates mountainboarding from other board sports.
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September 7, 2011
Bubblegum is a type of elastic chewing gum, designed to be blown out of the mouth as a bubble. A 23-inch bubble blown by Susan Montgomery Williams of California in 1996 holds the Guinness World Record for largest bubble blown. Bubble gum was invented by Walter Diemer in 1928. Diemer was working as an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia. In his spare time, he experimented with a new gum recipes. The gum he invented was less sticky than regular chewing gum, and stretched more easily. He sold his gum under the name Dubble Bubble in 1928. Original bubble gum was pink because that was the only dye Diemer had on hand at the time.
Bubblegum is available in many different colors and flavors. ‘Bubblegum flavor’ is the taste of the plain gum, an d it is made from synthetic chemicals, such as ethyl methylphenylglycidate, isoamyl acetate and others, and fruit extracts, the true ingredients being kept a mystery to customers. When blended, the chemicals and extracts fuse together to make a sweet, palatable flavor. Other flavors also include strawberry, apple, cherry, watermelon, cinnamon, banana, and grape. Strawberry and banana can be achieved with isoamyl acetate limonene and ethyl methylphenylglycidate, respectively. Malic acid can be used for apple flavor, allyl hexanoate for pineapple, ethyl propionate for fruit punch, cinnamic aldehyde for cinnamon, and acetophenone for cherry.
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September 7, 2011
The cherimoya [cher-uh-moi-uh] is a species of Annona (also known as a sugar-apple) native to the Andean-highland valleys of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. The fruit is oval, often slightly oblate, with a smooth or slightly tuberculated skin. The fruit flesh is white and creamy, and has numerous dark brown seeds embedded in it. Mark Twain called the cherimoya ‘the most delicious fruit known to men.’
The Moche culture of Peru had a fascination with agriculture and represented fruits and vegetables in their art. Cherimoyas were often depicted in their ceramics. The name originates from the Quechua word chirimuya, which means ‘cold seeds,’ because the plant grows at high altitudes. The tree thrives throughout the tropics at altitudes of 1,300 to 2,600 m (4,300 to 8,500 ft). Though sensitive to frost, it must have periods of cool temperatures or the tree will gradually go dormant. The indigenous inhabitants of the Andes say that although the cherimoya cannot stand snow, it does like to see it in the distance.
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The Daily Omnivore 