lørdag 2. mai 2015

Why you should reconsider your purchase on Apples new MacBook

Foto: Thomas Marynowski

We all know how intimidating it is when Apple releases a new product, whether it is a new iPhone or a new Mac. The new MacBook is of course very elegant and it looks very pretty with its 12 inch screen instead of the standard 13 inch that is adapted by both the Macbook Air and Pro. Apple claims that the new MacBook is a the start of a whole new Ultrabook generation.

Here are 3 reasons why I feel that the new MacBook is a turn off for consumers.

Foto: Thomas Marynowski

Reason 3
The biggest turn on with the product is that it is “revolutionary”, but has Apple gone a step back with only one USB-C input? With only one input, expensive Apple dongles might be needed for adequate amount of connection. Not only the price is the matter, but having dongles also compromises the total portability of the notebook.



Reason 2
Both the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro are powered by dual core Intel Core i5/i7, but the new Macbook is powered by an Intel M CPU that is fanless, but we all know how it goes in terms of performance. Fanless are almost always slower than their fan cooled CPU counterpart, but at least fanless design offer better battery life? With 8GB RAM and 256 GB Flash storage, the CPU is no doubt the weakest part of the system

Reason 1
Why buy the Macbook when Apple has a much cheaper and better alternative? Apple own Macbook Air is cheaper, has larger screen, more powerful processors and better graphics. But its port are also complete with two USB 3 and one Thunderbolt port.

torsdag 30. april 2015

How to start your own country 101

The national flag of the new Balkan sovereign state, Liberland.
Starting a country might sound like an impossible task, a task that usually involve seceding and a violent revolution. Actually, starting your own sovereign state might not be that difficult on paper. Y

You will need
1. Land unclaimed by another sovereign state.
If you declare your house or your property as an independent state, the country that is sitting on it       would probably ask it back, and if it get too complicated, it will usually be taken back with military     force and guess what? Running a country from a jail cell isn't easy.

2. Form a functioning government and enact basic laws
Parliamentary democracy, monarchy or totalitarian dictatorship? Having a FUNCTIONAL                 government would be good to start with. You and the founding fathers/mothers of a state would         start by forming some basic executive/legislative branches. A constitution is not needed but highly     recommended, so your state won't have a coup d'etat now and then. Flags, emblem and coat of             arms should also be designed. Establishing diplomatic ties is probably a must too, unless you want     to do a North Korea.

3. Having a permanent population
Getting people to live and work in your country on permanent basis, which mean you have to             create jobs and build an infrastructure for your people.


And with three not so easy steps, you have your own state/republic/kingdom.


Read more about the "Free Republic of Liberland" HERE!

søndag 26. april 2015

The Big 3 With Most Bucks

By statistic, most billionaires in the world are.... rich... ridiculously rich. These three bad boys have more money than a lot of countries in the world, they have made their fortune through hard work and some luck. We are counting the top 3


Number 3

Warren Buffet (born 30 August 1930) hails from the United States and is currently regarded as the most successful investor and businessman in the 20th century. He has a network of multiple massive investing companies around the world, most notably the Berkshire Hathaway. In 2012, it was estimated that he holds a fortune of around $53 billion.

Even though he is insanely rich, he is known for his modest and moderate lifestyle. He is still living in the suburban house that he bought in 1957 for $31 500. He is also a member of the Gates Foundations, and is expected to donate around $43 billion.





Number 2

Carlos Slim Helu (born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican businessman that is currently controlling big portion of telephone companies such as Telmex. Through America Movil, he has built his telephone empire through big portions of Latin America. In 2011, his fortune was around $74 billion, compared to Gates $56 and Buffets $50.

He is currently fighting for the throne of the richest person in the world against the reigning Bill Gates.






Number 1
Bill Williams Gates (born 28 October 1955) is one of the main founders of the mega corporation Microsoft. If you are using anything that is related to computers, chances are you are making him richer and richer.

Gates started to program computers in 1968 when he was just 13 years old. In 1973 he started at Harvard University and got known with Paul Allen, that eventually became his partner when founding Microsoft. His fortune now is around $79 billion.

Even though he is the richest person on planet earth, he is also one of the most generous. He has helped African countries against diseases such as Malaria and with his wife, founded the Gates Foundation.





Images:
«Warren Buffett KU Visit» av Mark Hirschey - Work of Mark Hirschey. Lisensiert under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warren_Buffett_KU_Visit.jpg#/media/File:Warren_Buffett_KU_Visit.jpg
«Carlos Slim Helú» av José Cruz/ABr - Agência Brasil [1]. Lisensiert under CC BY 3.0 br via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos_Slim_Hel%C3%BA.jpg#/media/File:Carlos_Slim_Hel%C3%BA.jpg
«Bill Gates in WEF ,2007» av World Economic Forum - Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), swiss-image.ch/Photo by Severin NowackiCropping of World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2007.. Lisensiert under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_Gates_in_WEF_,2007.jpg#/media/File:Bill_Gates_in_WEF_,2007.jpg

lørdag 25. april 2015

Chile's State of Emergency


(Twitter/@elrafaarenas) 
Twin blasts from the Calbuco volcano in southern Chile emitted this large cloud of volcanic ash that shot 12 km up into the sky. Eruption of this volcano is usually rare, its last eruption was more than 4 decades ago. The ashes has covered cities in dangerous volcanic ash, many houses are at risk of roof collapse due to the weight of the ashes. The ashes also went as far as the neighboring  Argentina. The eruption took officials by surprise, the President of the republic has now declared state of emergency.




Scary... (David Cortes Serey/AFP/Getty Images)
Tension and fear is high in towns surrounding Chile's Calbuco volcano, after the sleeping giant awoke this week, sending spectacular plumes of ash into the sky.
This week was the volcano's first eruption in 42 years. The blasts that began Wednesday, creating a remarkable scene of smoke plumes and ash shooting more than 6 miles into the sky. Calbuco had another spectacular outburst early Thursday with lightning crackling through a dark sky turned reddish orange by the explosion. More smoke was seen coming from the volcano Friday, and experts warn it could erupt again. -TWC
                                                                                                                                                   

In other news, our satellites continue monitoring the #ChileVolcanCalbuco eruption: http://t.co/cyGDZQB6fQ pic.twitter.com/NrsweuYAsR




onsdag 22. april 2015

Food, What we all like

The last post on this site was about a genocide and terrible atrocities that was/is committed by humans against humans.

For eyewash, I am giving you sweetness in this post. Instead of the traditional conflict ridden posts, this is about the unique culture that our civilization has. Everything from food and... food....
Some cultures are "underrated" and I will show you some culture and tradition that will probably make you hungry, read at your own risk.

Let us start, shall we?

This time, our country is Indonesia

Indonesia is an archipelago that consist of more than 15,000 island, although the majority of the population only reside in 4 biggest islands.


3 Short Facts
-The government is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. Unlike Russia, Indonesia is just like the US with the president as head of state and head of government
-It recognizes 6 religions. Although Islam accounts for 80% of all Indonesians.
-There are over 300 native ethnic groups and over 743 regional dialectics.

The cuisine
Unlike Japanese and Chinese cuisine, Indonesian cuisine is not generally well known to the world. Some cuisines that Indonesian eat on daily basis. Indonesia is a country where a lot of rice is eaten, and guess what? Their cuisine is heavily based from rice and other homegrown foodstuffs.

"Nasi Goreng" literally fried rice, is an example of food from Indonesia. It can be served from simple roadside stall to 5 class restaurant. It is made by frying rice with some cooking oil and typically spiced with sweet soybean sauce, garlic and some chili and accompanied by other ingredients such as egg, shrimps, chicken and so on. You can put just about anything.

Where fried rice is originally from is actually disputed, but Indonesian eats it a lot at least...
Anything is technically a fried rice as long it has fried rice...



Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, and is now commonly served across the country.One of the characteristic foods of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guests. Rendang usually consist of biff soaked with usually garlic, coconut milk, lemongrass and chili. After the contents are mixed, the meat is ready to be slow cooked for many many hours. It is usually cooked until the "soup" is gone and is leaving a dry meat left. If cooked properly, rendang is able to last as long as a month.



  




mandag 20. april 2015

Genocides, does it ever end.

Why the Armenian genocide is so controversial and unclear, is because of how we define a genocide. Currently there are many scholars that define a genocide differently, but the fundamentals criteria are. 
1 Removing an ethnic group
2 Removing a religious group

And therefore, we can say that a genocide is denying a group rights to exist.

Here are some widely recognized definitions of a genocide, and yes the Armenian genocide fulfills it.

Genocide is a form of violent social conflict or war, between armed power organizations that aim to destroy civilian social groups and those groups and other actors who resist this destruction. Genocidal action is action in which armed power organizations treat civilian social groups as enemies and aim to destroy their real or putative social power, by means of killing, violence and coercion against individuals whom they regard as members of the groups.[31]            
                                                                                                                          -Martin Shaw

Article 6 of the Rome Statute provides that ‘genocide’ means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
                                                                  -Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Article 2 In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
                                                                                -UN General Assembly 260A (III) Article II


Make peace, not war

søndag 19. april 2015

The Philosophy of Equality

Egalitarianism

With a trend towards a freer and a more liberated world, a world where people decide their own fate and write their own history, it is time to talk about the part where "is everyone really equal?". 

Without doubt, liberalism has spread rapidly over the last 40 years, starting with a student revolution, now the same generation is in government power. They went from rebelling against their parent to controlling governments. Our parents have certainly done a good job with everything from black rights to the more sensitive "LGBT" rights. It is now our turn to forward the job. I hate to say this, but we have to let the previous generation retire then we can put our ideology in power. In short, the next generation is usually more open minded than the previous.

Photo: Alamy
In many developed nations, rights are based off the idea of modernism. Japan is no exception with this, they have almost lost their cultural identity due to their focus to work. Their population is at an all time low in 15 years, they have 2 people over 65 for every people they have under 14. This huge demographic shift is due to long life expectancy and low birthrate. The government of Japan has proposed multiple plans to at least maintain their population. One of them is letting immigrants inn, but Europe has something to say with that.

Countries in Europe are changing their demographic fast in the next 20-30 years due to immigrant having a higher birthrate than their natives counterparts. In Sweden, the natives have a birthrate of around 1.6, while the number for non natives might be as high as 2.5. 

The value of a human life
No parties in the world can answer this question without many debates. Some put value of a human life based on religion, other based their life on traditional values and honor. It is no doubt that while everyone agrees that every human is equal, the practice is different from the paper. A law is only a law if there are parties that enforces it.

In developed countries, they value their citizen more expensively than a developing countries. Wealthier countries usually spend money and power trying to get a citizen in distress to a safe(er) location. A country usually has to have strong political powers to do this.

In Southern Europe, the refugee crisis is getting bigger and is almost out of control. People fleeing from war zones are so desperate, they flee together in the thousands in a craft that is too small to carry them all. Some are not so lucky and drown, while other face deportation as not everyone gets their asylum.

They are so desperate for a better life on an another continent that they are willing to risk their life during the voyage.

Close to Palermo, Italy, it is feared that 700 have drowned after their boat sank a mere 80 km from Italy's territorial waters. 

This is one of the worst refugee crisis in our time. How the problem is to be solved, I do not know.

Problem such as this are usually political, many countries are not willing to take in refugees. If they take in refugee, they are encouraging people to take the dangerous voyage across the ocean. Europe have at least 99 problems and the refugee crisis is one of them.