PR FROM THE BEACH

The Ice-Melt Cometh

If you haven't caught the ice shelf melt in Antarctica, then check out this report from the BBC. Winter draws on here in the South, but things are definitely warming up where they shouldn't be. For a flyover of the shelf, look here and the 'collapse' report is recorded here. Magnificent indicators of things to come?

A Darkening of the Cloud?

The concept of cloud computing has, as we know, gained considerable ground, tipped over by Microsoft's Azure, but established as a potential reality by the Googles and Amazons of this world some time past. The news that Googledocs 'leak' earlier this month, followed by this weekend's report that a 'vast spy system' was looting computers faster than you could say hacker, starts to sow the seeds of doubt among those whose nerves start to twitch at the thought of committing their information into cyberspace. Personally, I believe the bigger concern is the vast amount of server space that will be needed as we progressively mobilise our data. Sooner or later, I think the big switch off will be caused by a big server bang, rather than a big server hack. And who says the cyber pirates will want the data when eventually they could hold a floating server island hostage instead? In years to come, such islands be more valuable than the oil tankers currently negotiating their way through cut-throat waters. I'm guessing someone, somewhere is working on worrying about this?

All eyes on the skies as the hunt for a 'New Earth' begins

In case you've missed it, the Kepler Mission is scheduled to launch today. And in case that is lost on you as well, Kepler is on the hunt for habitable planets. Much has been made of the possibility that a new 'Earth' will be discovered as this first ever mission capable of unearthing 'Earth' size planets takes off for the great beyond.

I will never cease to marvel that humans have the ability to remove themselves from this planet and head off looking for new ones. As Orion wheels overhead through our long summer here and Betelgeuse blinks its way into the evening, I find myself regularly watching for the space station to pass by - awestruck that someone is up there, possibly having a cup of space tea and a ship's biscuit after a hard day at the control panel.

People can do such great things. Our collective human tragedy is that we can't seem to harness the brilliance and ingenuity we possess to bring peace and prosperity to this Earth, which, for the moment at least, is the only one we've got.

The Mac makes 25, The Pope makes YouTube

I grinned to myself on Friday when the much reported 25th birthday of the first Apple Mac was celebrated. Soon after its launch in 1984 - and at least a couple of months after Stephen Fry and Douglas Adams were tapping away on their milestone machines - I was sent to cover the first Apple Mac being used at a local school. Seemed like most of the school budget had been blown on it and the teacher in charge was immensely proud.  I've mentioned before that our old garage was something of a Mac museum before we upped sticks and moved here and I spend more time every day with my current Mac than any other piece of kit so I am a sucker for 'nice' Mac stories, especially now they are having such a rocky ride in the mainstream media. 

I can also remember 25 years ago reporting on local churches in that same London borough. The churches issued a collective warning that too much TV was bad for you; so the news, again on Friday, that The Pope  has launched his own YouTube channel demonstrated once again how time has changed the way we approach and utilise technology.

I suspect that 25 years hence, we will simply access a direct conversation with a virtual pope via eye-vision. You might give the idea short shrift, but who knows?  After all, less than a generation ago the marriage of YouTube and a Pontiff would have been almost impossible to conceive.

Cast a wary eye North as Iceland riots over crisis

Currently being reported as food riots in some blogs, the unrest in Iceland sees a physical manifestation of the financial meltdown that left the country all but bankrupt and, at times, facing severe food shortages. 

Here's the ITN report on YouTube and a report from The Scotsman.  Check on some of the blog conversations and you will see they are being dubbed 'food riots'.  Reviewing what has gone on, the riots are less about food and more about the future people see themselves facing - although I worry that the question of food may come into the protests soon. The actions taken by normally placid Icelandic citizens demonstrate the extent to which trust in the system - and those responsible for running the system - has been lost  We have seen food riots elsewhere in the world throughout this year (April was particulary notable for this)  and although any sort of riot is disturbing, a food riot, perhaps more than any other expresses the desperation people feel when they are cornered and without hope when it comes to the essentials of life. I think we will see more actual food riots from previously peaceful people in the months ahead and not simply because there are food shortages - primarily because people will simply not be able to afford the basics. Here in NZ, the average family food bill has risen by at least $35 - $50 per week in the last twelve months.

Without wishing to be a doom-mongerer - rather acting as an observant forecaster - there's definitely a storm brewing. Good crisis communication starts with tackling and resolving the issue long before it becomes a crisis.  Sadly, the issue has been around for the last eighteen months (longer in many parts of the globe) but very little overt action has been taken to address this fundamental concern for every single person. Hatches are not being battened, the political fallout will be extreme and the social cost immense. Oh dear.

Thanksgiving ahead - but food shortages increase in US towns

There has been a significant increase in the last three weeks in the number of stories coming out of the USA highlighting the problems and shortages facing the country's foodbanks. As times get tougher, more and more people are turning to foodbanks for help - some are reporting increases of up to 40%. Here is an example of a typical situation as described in one of the many reports.  Other reports in the last week indicate that 2007 saw 36.2 million US citizens wondering where their next meal would be coming from, a pretty shocking statistic for somewhere often referred to as the richest country on the planet. One of the many articles on this subject, sparked by a new report by the US Department of Agriculture, was written by James Thalman and gives a fairly rounded picture of the research.

Last month, World Food Day produced statistics that indicated nearly one billion people worldwide were without sufficient food. The financial crisis left Iceland with some very worrying weeks
and predictions in October suggested that similar food shortages would follow elsewhere - and soon.  As the credit crunch starts to bite and the price of food continues to rise, I suspect foodbanks in many countries are going to struggle to cope.  Personally, as Thanksgiving looms, I hope that things improve sufficiently for our neighbours in America to the point where so many of them don't have to worry where the next meal will come from.

Dropping a clanger in space - as non-recoverable as the US CEOs' Congress blunder

My heart went out to the astronaut who dropped her toolbag during a spacewalk earlier this week - see it drift away here. Definitely a non-recoverable position for anyone, but a genuine mistake nonetheless.

The same cannot be said for the CEOs who turned up in their corporate jets in order to beg for cash from an already over-committed US government. What were they thinking?  The Star, among many others, calls it a 'PR storm' and undertaking a rough count up, I unearthed from the last fifteen hours  around 9000 mainstream media articles condemning their rather shortsighted and dim actions - and that is without counting any blog discussions.

Good public relations starts with appropriate action tempered with an understanding of the situation and operating environment. It is also underpinned by a willingness to change behaviour and do the right thing for the communities and publics that provide you with your licence to operate. Fail to do so and that licence to operate, the trust in the organisation, is withdrawn.

You would imagine that these three autocrats would have the wit - or at least the advisors - to enable them realise that what you do has to come before the things you say. These are clever people after all, who hold the fate of millions in their hands.  Yet when they were quizzed as to whether they would sell their jets and take an economy flight home all the hands which should have been immediately visible were nowhere to be seen - instead an embarrassed silence ensued.

Realistically, the money 'saved' by such an action would probably be a drop in the ocean, given that General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner informed the committee that they were burning through "$5 billion each month."  But - and as always, it is a big but - the CEOs looked like the other CEOs trotted before committees last month; eager to protect their own positions as demonstrated by their actions, rather than the industries and communities they say they are keen to protect.  The US needs its auto industry right now and all is not lost. It has its eye firmly on the emerging markets - Brazil, India, China to name but a few - places where new car ownership has far more potential than existing markets which are saturated and in decline.

Sadly, I suspect the car workers in Detroit will be scraping around for bus fare long before the CEOs in question tumble from the top and hand in their executive gate pass. 

The disgruntled question I am hearing time and again at worker level is why should our tax dollars bail out the corporates who will be axing our jobs and leaving us with nothing anytime soon, while those who make the decision to send us to the streets walk away with enough money to keep a town full of families comfortable over several years?

Pundits suggest that the best route for the carmakers to take would be a Chapter 11 arrangement - think of it as a kind of organised bankruptcy that allows continuance of trade.  Such a continuance of trade that would allow the manufacturers to buy time and buy into the markets that could save their collective futures. A purchase of time in which they might also consider rethinking their business model, the impact on the environment and the ethics of sustainable automotive development allowing the tax dollars to go elsewhere. However, Chapter 11 is resisted apparently because 'it doesn't look good' and 'affects the brand'. 

But probably not as much as a corporate jet fiasco or three million unemployed workers and their families.

But Hadron Collider hits the skids with a £14m repair bill

Replicating the Big Bang doesn't come cheap, but at least those who were worried it might just trigger the end of the world will be relieved.  Scientists now say, according to the BBC, that the repair bill is huge and  the Collider will be out of action for much longer than they thought. It occurs to me they may well be thinking on the quiet that playing Creator of the Known Universe is a bit harder than they thought it would be - but it will still be interesting to see what they come up with when it is operational again, possibly sometime next year.

At Asian food market, a sign of lost confidence - The Boston Globe

At Asian food market, a sign of lost confidence - The Boston Globe

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Food Shortages: One leader calls for help, another executes those who call

Contrasting approaches to critical food shortages are apparent today. Neither needs much comment from me.
On the one hand, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama: "Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for global political will to address severe food shortages and help developing countries reduce hunger and poverty as the situation becomes more critical with the international financial turmoil". 
On the other hand, in North Korea, The Times (London) reports: "North Korea is clamping down on mobile phones and long distance telephone calls to prevent the spread of news about a worsening food crisis, according to the United Nations investigator on human rights for the isolated communist country."  The investigator goes on to say that public executions have been used as a means to intimidate the public.
Perhaps we could make that call on behalf of those who are unable to do so themselves - or at least respond to the Malaysian plea and add our voices to their call for action, hopefully driving a global political will that will address this situation before it is too late for another million or so people - simply trying to feed their families, just like us.