Bill Gates On Safest Nuclear Energy, Requiring Depleted Uranium

Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum ,2007.

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There are folks who champion Thorium as the safest nuclear energy.  I’ve written about it in the article “Can Thorium Be The Only One Element That Energizes The World Of The Future?” — and now there is Bill Gates who champions depleted uranium to be used in new nuclear technology which he said it would be the safest nuclear energy yet.  He also said this new nuclear technology requires no human intervention and it is still going to be safe.  You can read Huffingtonpost’s article “Bill Gates’ China Nuclear Reactor Project: Microsoft Co-Founder Aims To Develop Safer Version” for more details on Bill Gates’ pushing for new nuclear technology which requires depleted uranium.



What About Airplane Mode For Smartphones?

Bell-Augusta BA-609 in airplane mode (Paris Ai...

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Mobile users who travel the world know Airplane Mode could potentially save their bank accounts from depleting.  Mobile users who aren’t travel the world probably never have had to activate Airplane Mode before, and these folks might not know what is Airplane Mode.  These are the folks who might see their bank accounts deplete without knowing why when they travel abroad.

It’s all about the roaming charges.  What Airplane Mode does is to prevent Cellular Data from working even though Cellular Data setting is still on.  Without a working Cellular Data, users who use Airplane Mode can turn on Wi-Fi to access the web without worrying about roaming charges.  Wi-Fi is local or I should say it’s local to the party that allows the usage of Wi-Fi connection.

Mobile users who travel less can still turn on Airplane Mode so they don’t have to use up their data plan.  When these folks are out of Wi-Fi range, they can turn off Airplane Mode and their Cellular Data will resume the responsibility.  You can correct me if I’m wrong, I think I’d heard somewhere that certain smartphones can drain battery fast if 3G connection is on.  I’m not sure by turning on Airplane Mode will actually save battery, but it is worth a try.

In summary, before you get on the airplane to travel the world, you should turn on Airplane Mode.  With Airplane Mode, you don’t have to worry about accidental roaming charges.  With Airplane Mode on, you can still turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.  Wi-Fi is local, therefore roaming charges aren’t possible.  It might be possible that Airplane Mode could allow battery to be charged less.  So go Airplane Mode when you travel the world, OK?

Online Stores Such As Amazon Might Be Eventual Winners In Retail Battles If The Law Allows

English: Amazon Kindle wordmark.

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Some major brick and mortar retailers are worrying how Amazon could best them at their own games by rolling out Price Check app that help customers use their stores as showrooms.  Amazon could always allow customers to see better deals on Amazon through Price Check app.  Furthermore, Amazon could possibly allow customers to purchase products directly on Price Check app, but I don’t know if this is truly possible since I haven’t yet tested the app.  I just say Amazon could do it if they want to.  If they have done so, then that’s exactly my point.  I think this could potentially cripple retailer stores.

Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL

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I think Amazon is creating a new trend where more online stores will copy Amazon promotional approach.  We may never know, but if this specific approach becomes so effective, major brick and mortar retailer stores could lose big time.  Perhaps, in the near future, only true online retailer stores (i.e., as big as Amazon or even bigger) could afford to open brick and mortar stores so customers could experience the wall garden experience.

My use of the phrase wall garden is to compare what I mentioned to how Steve Jobs executed his business philosophy.  That is, Steve Jobs preferred in having Apple owned the hardware and software platforms through and through, and he went even further by skipping the third party retailer distributors and built the many brick and mortar Apple stores.  I think the successful existence of brick and mortar Apple stores might be an excellence model for online stores to create the wall garden experience Steve Jobs adamantly worshipped.

I think sooner or later, some smart online stores might program their apps to allow the lowering of product prices on the fly so customers will save money more and the online stores will make more money at a faster rate.  Of course, the algorithms for such apps need to be super smart, otherwise online stores could sell products way below the profitable point and end up lose more money than they would want.  Brick and mortar retailer stores might see this as constant price wars.  Obviously, I don’t think brick and mortar retailer stores can beat this kind of tactics, because such physical stores need to have ways to monitor product prices of online competitors and then change prices in the moments.

I can also see mom and pop stores that serve local communities lose out to online stores if people love to frequently use mobile apps to compare products at physical stores against online stores.  Such phenomenon will drive mom and pop stores out of business.  Perhaps, the future can only embrace brick and mortar stores that truly have big online presences.

Just A So So Experience With Controlling Xbox Through Voice

After the new Xbox Dashboard update for Xbox yesterday, I’m now able to control Xbox with voice in a more extensive way.  Still, I think when I’m talking to Xbox, it does feel as if I’m talking to a stupid robot!  Sometimes, I have to repeat my commands.  At other times, I have to figure out what to say first before Xbox could wake up and understand me.  Often times, I have to make sure there is a black panel on the bottom of the screen of the dashboard, because without it, there won’t be a small microphone icon and I won’t be able to talk to Xbox.  I also notice there are windows within Xbox Live, I often stumble upon, require me to use my controller still.

I think Microsoft has released a better Xbox Dashboard, but I’m not impressed.  Sure, the new Xbox Dashboard is way better than the old one, but voice controller is somewhat iffy still that I prefer the use of the controller.  If I’m not wrong, Microsoft should be hard at work in improving the intelligence behind the technology which allows Kinect and Xbox to be able to process the words that come out from the mouth of any human.  If Microsoft isn’t, then I think Xbox will eventually lose luster and play catch up to something else that does it better in respect to voice intelligence.

I think voice intelligence that is able to understand the words that come out of the mouth of any human in natural way will be very popular and useful in many ways in the future.  One example would be telling a device to search for something on the Internet.  OK, sure, Xbox is now allowing users/gamers use voice commands and demand Bing to search for something, but I’ve found out that it’s rather hard to do so.  Either I’m clueless how Xbox Bing should work, because for the life of me I could not ask Xbox Bing to search for what I want.  Correct me if I’m wrong, perhaps Xbox Bing is only searching for games, music, videos, movies, and whatever else that is available on Xbox Live and console.  If this is the case, then Xbox Bing isn’t yet capable in searching the entire Internet as how Bing normally does through a web browser.

Shutting down Xbox through voice is fun if you know how to; the correct way is by saying “Xbox Go Home, Settings, Turn Off , Yes.”  This is why Microsoft definitely needs to make Xbox understands longer phrases in natural way and not through specific commands.  Nonetheless, it’s easier now for Xbox users/gamers to control Xbox through voice than before.

In summary, it’s now possible for Xbox users/gamers to play movies, music, games, and do other things with voice commands.  Before, Xbox users/gamers could only command Xbox through voice in a more limited way.  Still, Xbox voice intelligence leaves much to be improved, because it’s not natural for users/gamers to remember specific commands and reading what could be read inside Xbox Dashboard and other sections inside Xbox Live.  It’s much better if users/gamers can just speak naturally to Xbox.  Xbox isn’t Siri, but don’t we wish Xbox is capable as Siri?  How about even better, I think Xbox should be able to talk back to Xbox users/gamers in a natural way.