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The premise for Ian I. Mitroff's Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis is a simple, yet difficult one to swallow: that we now live in a crisis-plagued society -- a place where we no longer have to cope with just natural disasters and normal accidents, but abnormal accidents that are potentially very devastating. Natural disasters are one thing. We've learned how to mitigate risks from natural disasters. Not locating in high risk regions, to enacting some control over the environment where we do locate, lowers risk. We've managed to even take some control over normal accidents, although, as the complexity and interrelatedness of processes grow, normal accidents in one area could have ripple effects across the entire system -- across industries -- across geography. Still, risks from normal accidents can be mitigated, as we can quantify the probability of an accident happening to a given aspect of a system. Where we face a steep challenge, is in th...

I read this essay [PDF] this morning on the subway ride to work -- A.S. Byatt waxing eloquent on science and literature, and how science has shaped her fiction and characters. From early on, Byatt was interested in reading writers who cared about the science of their time. She saw how science could be used to explore the world -- be a metaphor to bring the world alive in literature -- how science made the world accessible at a completely different level. She sees in scientists, the same motivations that drive writers -- curiosity, creativity and the need to explore. In her quartet that follows the adventures of Frederica and friends, The Virgin in the Garden , Still Life , Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman , Byatt follows her characters from the 1950s into the turn of the century. Her writing is apparently intellectual, filled with allusions and are a challenge to read. I've yet to read anything by her -- but after reading her essay, I'm motivated to give her fiction a ...

I got the news at work this afternoon -- a colleague was heading out early to hopefully beat the traffic home, as there was an accident at Pearson International Airport. An Air France Airbus A340 plane from Charles de Gaulle, overran runway 24L by some 200 metres and skidded into a ditch. The aircraft had 297 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. There's been no news of whether anyone got hurt. My first reaction was to hope that this wasn't some act of terrorism visited upon us -- but it looks like that's not the case. We've had some really bad rain today -- at work, there was the constant scream of sirens from fire trucks and ambulances -- so it's most likely just an accident -- nothing else. Commuters on their way home are probably not having such a good time either. I just got in from work -- I don't take the 401 -- and looked up the traffic cameras on the 401. You'll see the image below. There appears to be smoke from the aircraft -- or I'...

I don't know much of the history , but being Canadian , I think I will stake a claim on Hans Island for king queen me and country! Recently, the squabble over Hans Island reared its head when Defense Minister Bill Graham visited the uninhabited island, and Canadian soldiers planted the Maple Leaf flag there. Canada and Denmark have long claimed Hans Island as their own -- it being between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. Canada's claim dates back to the handover of British territory to Canada in 1867, of which Hans Island was a part. Denmark claims Hans Island because it's closer to Greenland than it is to Canada. Like that's a good enough excuse. Denmark still maintains a hold over Greenland -- a hold that goes back to the colonial days. Someone ought to remind them that colonialism died out a while back. The bad news in this for Canada is that we don't have much of a northern military presence [PDF] -- in fact, we hardly have a military, so there's n...

ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has taken images of a water ice patch within a crater on Mars. The crater is located in northern latitude of Mars, in the plain known as Vastitas Borealis. The possibility of finding evidence of past life on Mars -- or perhaps life still existing, has increased. The finding also provides a boost for future manned missions to Mars, as water will be needed for the astronauts to survive there. Previously, ESA has detected a large frozen sea below the surface of Mars. Image credit: ESA's Mars Express, High Resolution Stereo Camera.

A friend just sent out this list of random sites to his distribution list. Without further ado, here they are: FutureMe.org -- it's a neat concept that I wished I had thought of first. The site offers you the chance to send yourself an email in the future. Compose something today, set the date when you want it delivered and it will be emailed to you then. Send something inspirational decades from now, or an email reminder to leave the office in the afternoon. The catch: how long will FutureMe.org be around to ensure your email gets sent -- and, how long will you be keeping your email address around. OK, maybe I should be an optimist. the Longevity Game -- want to know when you're going to die? According to the site, I'm going to be dead by 80 unless I smarten up. That sucks. Although it does allow you to mess with the answer -- ie. see if you made some intelligent choices, how many more years you'll get. Eating fruit for instance will give me 3 more years....

Further proof that we live in a wacky world, and if we're not careful, we could all be owned by someone else someday. Microsoft has filed a patent with the US Patent Office to trademark the creation of custom emoticons . Microsoft apparently believes that it created emoticons; emoticons have commercial value; and wants to own it. WTF? Bill, how far do you intend to go? The emoticon patent hasn't been granted as yet. However, this ridiculous patent was recently granted to Amazon . It represents a process by which is a visitor's viewing history can be used to form relationships -- e.g., "products A and B are related because a significant portion of those who viewed A also viewed B." There's nothing unique in the process Amazon patented. It's used by many already -- like bricks and mortar stores that will recommend a product with another based on the purchase history of the latter -- e.g., people who buy a coffee, sometimes buy a cookie with it. Whe...

Astronomers from the Palomer Observatory, the Gemini Observatory and Yale University, have discovered the 10th planet in the solar system. The planet is located beyond the orbit of Pluto -- just over twice the distance from the Sun than Pluto, which puts it smack in the Kuiper Belt . The planet is currently the third brightest object in the Kuiper Belt. Astronomers are estimating that the planet is most likely larger than Pluto, based on the amount of sunlight it is reflecting. The temporary name of the planet is 2003 UB313. The IAU is determining the permanent name for the planet. The announcement of the planet, follows the announcement of the discovery of another large Kuiper Belt object -- currently known as 2003 EL61 . 2003 EL61 appears to be as large as Sedna -- although it appears that the verdict is still out on whether Sedna, Quaoar and Orcus (other Kuiper Belt objects) are really planets. Image credit: Samuel Oschin Telescope, Palomar Observatory

The latest issue of the journal Nature has a supplement on the emerging life science industry in India. India is expected to rapidly ascend to the third largest economy, behind China and the US, in the coming decades. With a huge population, that is young and hungry for opportunities, the future appears bright. There are serious obstacles in the way however. Health is one of the biggest [PDF] -- and unless India makes a concerted effort to turn the tide, the road to economic success may be a bumpy one. The outlook is an interesting read, as it provides a life sciences view of an emerging economy. This perspective is interesting in that it demonstrates that if health can be improved in third world countries, to a point where it is self-sustaining, then improvements in economic health would have a chance -- and improvements in economic health would surely be followed by improvements in social health. Or maybe I just have a dose of optimism.

The following comes from a friend. Some have been around for a while -- most likely for a reason. Try them out in the office -- I'm sure you'll find the application. [ Thanks Naj! ] Blamestorming - Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible. Seagull Manager - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over everything and then leaves. Salmon Day - The experience of spending an entire day swimming up stream only to die in the end. Chainsaw Consultant - An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee head count, leaving the brass with clean hands. CLM - Career Limiting Move - Used by microserfs to describe an ill-advised activity. Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM. Adminisphere - The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the probl...

Not to be outdone by Google Maps , Microsoft has entered the fray with Virtual Earth . Take a tour of both and decide which you prefer. While Microsoft's offering is quite good -- comparable to Google's, with a few interface enhancements -- Microsoft still can't beat Google's satellite images for just exploring the planet. If you're looking for a map to get you some place, either one will do fine. As Google and Microsoft duke it out, we can only benefit.

BusinessWeek's latest features a cover article on the latest shift in focus of the economy -- from a knowledge economy to a creative economy. The knowledge economy has become commoditized, with the emerging economies of Asia and Eastern Europe taking the bread and butter of the industrialized nations. Manufacturing has already gone. Highly skilled and cheap labour is now devouring what was the differentiator for the developed economies, driving the development of a new core competency -- creativity. What is creativity? It's about right brain thinking -- imagination -- innovation. It's about the manufacturing of experiences, not just products. It's about catering to the whims of consumers, before consumers even know they have those whims. Leading the charge in this unfolding creative economy are companies like Procter & Gamble and General Electric -- aided by a new breed of consultants from design firms such as IDEO and Design Continuum. GE, credited for cr...

Longhorn has a new name -- Vista -- a name that is amusing in many ways. The Microsoft marketing whizzes apparently think that the software will bring focus and clarity to your world -- hence the name. Amusing when you think of all the promises that were dropped from Longhorn to make Vista. It's also amusing because Microsoft chose a name that happens to be the name of a software company also located in Redmond -- and they're apparently not amused at all -- especially since Microsoft has apparently claimed trademark protection for the name.

Researchers at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University have used data from the hydroacoustic station at Diego Garcia to piece together a more accurate story of the magnitude 9.3 Sumatra earthquake that rocked Asia on December 26 , last year. The Diego Garcia hydroacoustic station, like others around the world, consist of underwater microphones setup to listen for the sounds of atomic blasts -- however, they end up recording other sounds that travel underwater, from the cracking of icebergs to earthquakes. The sounds coming from the Sumatra earthquake revealed the quake was traveling at 2.8 km/s to 2.1 km/s -- from south to north along the zone where the India Plate is being pushed beneath the Burma Plate . The researchers have made the sound of the quake available online in MP3 format . For more on the tsunami that resulted from the Dec. 26th quake, check out the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog .

Akira Haraguchi of Japan has recited 83,431 digits of P i is a 13-hour marathon. This is amazing on two counts: 1) that someone memorized it; and, 2) that someone felt the need to do this. Pi World Ranking List , which hasn't been updated with the new results, keeps track of this and similar feats wasting brain cells.

NASA has decided that when we next go to the Moon and Mars, we will be employing two new launch vehicles to replace the aging shuttles. Both new launch vehicles will be based on the current space shuttle hardware, whose derivatives will come in two flavours: a heavy cargo lifter, and a vehicle to launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle. The heavy cargo lifter, while resembling a standard rocket launch vehicle, will reuse shuttle engines. The multi-stage lifter will come in a stacked configuration, with the cargo riding on top of successive booster rockets. The other launch vehicle to carry the CEV to orbit will also similarly be multi-staged, but with smaller rockets of different configurations for boosting. This all means that the era of the space plane may be over.

My wife and I are off to Tobermory this weekend -- Friday to Sunday. We haven't been there for a couple of years, and it's as good a far off driving destination, as any. Tobermory is located on the tip of the Niagara escarpment, where Lake Huron meets Georgian Bay. Haven't a clue what we're going to be doing up there, but it's not going to be scuba diving -- even is Tobermory is the scuba diving capital of North America. Most likely, we'll try to get in some hiking along the Bruce Trail and definitely an evening boat trip out on the Bay. Next week, I'll be putting new photos up.

Google is celebrating the 36th anniversary of the first landing on the Moon by humans in their own, unique way -- Google Maps, using NASA imagery .

How far the internet has traveled. From a small US military funded research network to an international network that is increasingly becoming the road of commerce, and just about everything else imaginable. Through this incredible growth, the United States has maintain control over the network -- their network -- even as it has moved beyond their borders, both physical and digital. With recent moves, the US has been moving to reiterate their dominion over the internet. I'm of two minds on this. The internet was created in the United States, for the United States. It's theirs -- but not the network beyond their borders, and they should not have dominion over the extended network. It's about control. Right now I trust the intentions of the US, but I'm becoming increasingly concerned with where their society is heading. Control of the internet is power, and the US lives in uncertain times. Would they ever use the control they have over the internet to extend the...

Dude, Where's My Digital Car? -- It isn't news that the South Koreans have embraced the digital future, but sometimes, when news like this comes out, it makes you wonder -- just what kind of future awaits us out there? Kart Rider is a popular online car racing game. So popular that at any time, as many as 200,000 South Koreans are online driving. So popular that online drivers can make a living from it by driving all day, becoming an expert, a racing champion, and getting real world sponsors to slap virtual ads on their virtual cars. I have this feeling that there is a big part of the future I'm going to be missing out on. When Your Name is Mud, Advertise -- What happens when your company runs afoul of the law? When your CEO is being arraigned on charges of sticking it to the shareholders? You don't go into a period of quiet, shunning the limelight -- no, you advertise a positive image! Read how companies are going on the offensive when they run into a legal s...