Here’s a selection of similar terms other searchers are using when searching for Enlightenment.

Enlightenment Keywords (Right click and click Save As to download). It’s a file with of over 1,000 other terms related to Enlightenment. Enjoy!

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A web search for the 19th Century Manchester School of Economics yields very little, until I finally stumbled across a speech given by Alex Singleton, the President of the Globalisation Institute on the occasion of their launch in London on July 19, 2005. This is what he said:

We follow the Manchester School of Economics. That’s the school founded in the 19th Century by economists, businesspeople and campaigners who argued for free trade. Why would we want to dig up the ideas of some dead economists?

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This research article in PLoS Biology describes the genomic DNA sequence from both chromosomes of a single individual- J. Craig Venter. Here is the abstract:

We have generated an independently assembled diploid human genomic DNA sequence from both chromosomes of a single individual (J. Craig Venter). Our approach, based on whole-genome shotgun sequencing and using enhanced genome assembly strategies and software, generated an assembled genome over half of which is represented in large diploid segments (>200 kilobases), enabling study of the diploid genome. Comparison with previous reference human genome sequences, which were composites comprising multiple humans, revealed that the majority of genomic alterations are the well-studied class of variants based on single nucleotides (SNPs). However, the results also reveal that lesser-studied genomic variants, insertions and deletions, while comprising a minority (22%) of genomic variation events, actually account for almost 74% of variant nucleotides. Inclusion of insertion and deletion genetic variation into our estimates of interchromosomal difference reveals that only 99.5% similarity exists between the two chromosomal copies of an individual and that genetic variation between two individuals is as much as five times higher than previously estimated. The existence of a well-characterized diploid human genome sequence provides a starting point for future individual genome comparisons and enables the emerging era of individualized genomic information.

Today’s Globe and Mail also has this story here. Here are some excerpts:

Now researchers from Canada, the United States and Spain have decoded all 46 of the chromosomes belonging to J. Craig Venter, the 60-year-old upstart American biologist whose company, Celera Genomics, compiled the private version of the human genome seven years ago. And the results indicate that those first celebrated DNA maps seriously underestimated the genetic diversity of humans - by a factor of at least five.

The new work suggests that the genetic code in the chromosomes we carry can vary widely, not only between any two strangers waiting at a bus stop, but between brothers and sisters.

“The biggest single surprise is how much we missed the boat with the human genome seven years ago, and how different we really are,” Dr. Venter said in an interview. “The overwhelming message back then was that we are all like identical clones of each other. … It’s comforting to know we are more unique than that.”

….Most experts predict that routinely reading individual genomes will become a reality within five years as the technology to unravel the six billion chemical units that make up DNA gets faster and cheaper.

Kathy Siminovitch, director of genomic medicine at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, noted that the first Human Genome Project rang in at roughly $1-billion (U.S). But with the new generation of “ultra-fast” DNA sequencing machines that have hit the market within the past two years, she said the bill is expected to drop to less than $100,000 by year’s end.

Connecticut biotech firm 454 Life Sciences, for instance, has been using the technology to decode the full genome of James Watson, the Nobel laureate who co-discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. That publication is expected later this year.

“It seems like it is possible to think that a $1,000 genome could be within reach,” said Dr. Siminovitch, who is buying an ultra-fast sequencer for the University Health Network. “When we see how much variation there is in [Dr. Venter’s] DNA, then chances are there is this much variation in all DNA. … This publication [of the Venter genome] will drive the momentum to get the price down and to be able to do this on lots of people.”

The prospect of a $1000 genome is a really exciting one.

Cheers,
Colin

I’ve been using a portable word processor (a Laser PC6) for about two weeks now, and I absolutely love it. My only question is: Where has it been all my life?

I started thinking about portable word-processors seriously after attending the Longevity Future Salon meeting recently. I brought my regular laptop to that meeting — the same laptop I’d also brought an artificial intelligence meeting a few months back. I was excited (okay, gleeful) at the Future Salon event to be able to take pictures, upload them into the computer, and post them online via the local wi-fi connection in real-time, but the fact that the battery crapped out after only about an hour and a half of normal use sort of soured me on the whole “bringing the laptop to seminars” thing. Lugging around an extra 6 pounds or so just isn’t worth it when you only get about 90 minutes of use out of the thing you’re lugging.

Upon reflection following the Future Salon, I determined that the only computing feature I really cared about for seminars and such was the ability to type stuff. Hence, no need for a fully-loaded laptop chock-full of power-sucking bells and whistles. I needed something more like a typewriter — something with the basic functionality of a really old laptop, but with better battery life. I didn’t even know if such a thing existed.

Enter Google (or, as we’ve been calling it in my household for a while now, “The Oracle”). I searched for “portable word processor”, and was set upon with a dazzling array of options, from the clunky to the sublime and streamlined. Prices ranged wildly, especially when I figured the various findings on auction sites into the mix. Most of the sites I ended up at which discussed portable word-processors were education-oriented; this makes sense when you consider how expensive it can be to supply computers to an entire classroom full of kids. A lower-cost dedicated word processor (or computer with very minimal functionality) can enable schools to purchase more units for use by more children, and I’m sure some teachers consider it a feature rather than a defect if said computers don’t allow Web access or games.

(I guess I went to school prior to the cheapie word-processor revolution, because I don’t remember seeing anything like the PC6 or Alphasmart when I was in school; instead, we had large rooms full of chunky green-monochrome Apple IIe machines, on which we wrote simple BASIC routines and played “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?.)

I also came across a lot of sites devoted to “assitive technology” in my search for a light, portable, power-thrifty word processor. Leaving aside for the moment the fact that all technology is assistive technology, and the fact that some doubt the meaningfulness of “technology” as a term to begin with, it also makes sense to find word processors in this market. Students who have extreme difficulty with handwriting, or who benefit from such things as real-time spell checking while doing their classwork, are sometimes assigned portable word-processors as part of their Individualized Education Plan.

Additionally, some word processors (such as the PC6, the Alphasmart 2000/3000 with AffordaSpeech add-on speaker, and the Alphasmart Dana) provide text-to-speech capability or at least the potential for it. TTS can be used to support communication for people who type more effectively than they can speak, and to provide auditory feedback for people who listen more effectively than they can read (you can’t really go wrong with a feature like that — anything that helps people with drastically different communicative modes understand each other is a wonderful thing in my book. Plus, it’s fun to make the robot voice.).

And finally, I found sites and articles authored by people who were either reporters or busy executive-types writing about how lovely it was to be able to bring something that had all the computer capability they needed practically everywhere, without having to worry so much about battery life. I saw no reason to hesitate further, and simply hung around eBay until I saw someone selling a PC6 for a reasonable price. The rest is (near-term) history.

So far, I’ve found my word processor to be a wonderful, wonderful thing. I’ve been taking better notes at work, and doing it a lot faster than when I was trying to hand-write everything. I’ve also been able to augment my communicative abilities to some extent by storing important conversation points and phrases in the device prior to entering a meeting or discussion (this is something I’ve been doing for ages anyway, either via use of a paper notebook, or via composing words in my mind and rigorously memorizing them in advance of an interaction, so the word processor simply makes this necessary activity a lot more streamlined). Additionally, the device has basic spreadsheet capability, as well as a scientific calculator and various other built-in programs.

Overall, the device is a bit like some kind of odd (yet attractive) hybrid between a regular laptop computer and a personal digital assistant. I was prepared for that, since that’s about what the device sounded like in all the descriptions I’d read.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the reaction the device would get. I honestly expected to just be able to, you know, use it the same way I have been using inconspicuous paper notebooks for years (with just as negligible a reaction from those around me). Contrary to what my elementary-school teachers thought, I am not much for deliberate attention-seeking; I just do what makes sense to me, and I am usually genuinely shocked at the kinds of things other people end up noticing. Hence, I did not expect to be greeted with the phrase, “What is THAT thing?” by almost everyone I encountered the first day I used the device. I got asked this question so much that I typed up a small description of the device and my reasons for using it and stored it in the machine’s memory. While I don’t mind sharing information about whatever interesting electronic gadgets I find and decide to carry around, I was taken aback by the responses people had to the mere presence of my PC6.

Judging from recent observations, it seems that the portable word-processor is something of a “forgotten machine”. That is, it is something extremely useful that has been around for years, but remains relatively unknown outside a few specialized demographics. When looking at what people tend to consider “progress”, I’ve noticed that they often tend to think in terms of the addition of more Shiny Features — e.g., laptops with faster processors and higher-resolution screens, PDAs with built-in cellular phone and digital camera, etc.

I’m not saying that Shiny Features are useless or bad — this isn’t some kind of random departure to Luddism or anything like that. I am extremely fond of my desktop PC with its super-duper 3D graphics card and 2 GB RAM, and I openly admit to having gazed longingly at heavily-modded computer cases equipped with blue LEDs and clear panels that allow you to see the fans spinning (sigh). Rather, I just think it’s interesting how some extremely useful devices and features sometimes end up falling almost completely off the cultural radar, where they remain in obscurity unless one happens to discover them by chance.

It also bothers me a bit how, in the drive for Bigger Better Faster Shinier, some very cool and functional features end up all but disappearing. I remember first noticing this phenomenon when my dad upgraded the family computer sometime in the early 1990s; all the games I’d loved playing up until that point now ran so fast that they were impossible to actually play. Yes, I eventually discovered other games I liked, but I didn’t want the new games to replace the old ones; I wanted them to add to the Total Pool of Possible Sources of Fun available in the world. (And apparently, given the popularity of vintage game emulation, I am not the only one who feels this way!)

The same goes for non-entertainment features; while I certainly appreciate lots of what newer machines can offer, I don’t want cool, useful old capabilities to fall by the wayside as if they can’t somehow coexist with the new. The fact that my PC6 will hold up to 20+ hours of continuous use on one set of batteries is a pretty darn impressive feature — one that most modern laptops can’t even begin to match. The fact that many portable word-processors are extremely light (mine weighs perhaps 2 pounds) is another nice feature.

Perhaps someday we will have uber-laptops with wi-fi and 3D acceleration and toaster ovens and other morsels of featurey goodness that last 10x as long as the PC6 on a single battery charge, but for now, power management remains a pervasive bugbear for computer designers.

Now, I realize that it’s entirely possible that my recent fascination with cheapie keyboarding devices is one of those things that is just going to make people go, “huh?”. But if you are curious about word processors, apparently, the Laser PC6 is still being manufactured (I purchased mine from an eBay surplus vendor for an extremely low price, and was very surprised to find afterward that these devices are still in production). Other portable word processors still being sold include the Alphasmart and the QuickPad; these can generally found used, new, or nearly-new online, with only a minimal amount of searching.