Apple: The End of an Era

Steve Jobs has spent his career challenging conventions about personal computing. He's transformed an industry and changed the way we think about technology. The ailing tech visionary who founded Apple Inc., said he was unable to continue as chief executive of the technology giant and handed the reins to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.

Apple said Mr. Jobs submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Wednesday and "strongly recommended" that the board name Mr. Cook as his successor. Mr. Jobs, 56 years old, has been elected chairman of the board and Mr. Cook will join the board, effective immediately, the company said.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know," Mr. Jobs said in his resignation letter. "Unfortunately, that day has come."

Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech and an Apple board member, said in a statement that the board "has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO." He added that Mr. Jobs will "continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration."

After a brief halt, Apple's shares slid 5.13% to $355.70 in after-hours trading, after closing at $376.18, up $2.58, at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market Wednesday.

Mr. Cook, 50, has been widely considered as the leading candidate to succeed Mr. Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January. The 13-year Apple veteran, who joined the company shortly after Mr. Jobs took over for the second time in 1997, has been running the day-to-day operations during this period as he has done during two prior medical leaves of absence by Mr. Jobs in the last seven years.

The announcement likely marks the end of one of the most extraordinary careers in U.S. business history. Mr. Jobs not only co-founded Apple—and the personal computer industry along with it—but decades later played a central role in reshaping the music, movie, animation, and mobile-phone businesses.

"Steve Jobs is the world's magic man. No compromises," wrote John Sculley, who led the company from 1983 for a decade, in an email. Mr. Sculley was recruited by Mr. Jobs in 1983 as CEO, but ousted him in 1985 after a power struggle.

Mr. Jobs—widely known for his mercurial, demanding management style—drove his company relentlessly to make products that consumers lusted for, unveiling them in heavily rehearsed events that earned him a reputation as high-tech's greatest showman.

It earned him a fortune that he said he wasn't interested in. The company pays Mr. Jobs a salary of $1 a year. He also has Apple shares worth about $2.1 billion, and is the single largest Disney shareholder, with stock worth about $4.4 billion.

Even after his health began to fail, Mr. Jobs insisted on turning up at key product launches—including the introduction of the iPad 2 earlier this year, where he was greeted with a sustained standing ovation.

"I think his brilliance has been well-documented, but what gets forgotten is the bravery with which he's confronted his illness," said Howard Stringer, Sony Corp.'s chief executive. "For him to achieve this much success under these circumstances doubles his legacy."

Perhaps more than any other CEO, Mr. Jobs has developed a cult-like following among both employees and customers who hang on his every word at press conferences and vigorously defend the executive from those who might question his products.

Former Apple employees say he created a unique culture inside the company, and affected how other Silicon Valley companies think about innovation.

"Steve inspired an entire generation of entrepreneurs and creative people to think about things in terms of innovation and design," said Dave Morin, the CEO of start-up Path Inc. and an Apple employee from 2003 to 2006.

The announcement focuses attention on the health of Mr. Jobs, who was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant two years ago.

Mr. Jobs hasn't commented on it since he said in a letter in January that he was taking another leave of absence to "focus on my health." He appeared thin at Apple's annual developers' conference in June.

People familiar with the matter say Mr. Jobs has continued to be active at Apple and closely involved in the company's product strategy. To the extent his health permits, some Apple watchers think that involvement is likely to continue even after Mr. Cook takes the CEO post.

Some Apple employees Wednesday were in a state of disbelief, people familiar with the situation said. One person noted that Mr. Jobs had been seen less frequently around the company's campus lately.

The transition to Mr. Cook has been widely expected and many are determined to move forward, starting with the launch of the fifth-generation iPhone, which is expected in October.

Mr. Cook, an Alabama native who previously worked for International Business Machines Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp., is known for his operational acumen. He was instrumental in wringing out inefficiencies in Apple's manufacturing and setting up its supply chain in China.

Since then, he has gradually increased his responsibilities, becoming chief operating officer in 2005. He has also ably led the company during Mr. Jobs's absences in the past.

Unlike Mr. Jobs, Mr. Cook has tended to stay outside of the spotlight apart from quarterly earnings calls with analysts.

Mr. Cook faces a daunting task succeeding Mr. Jobs, who proved his managerial mettle by bringing Apple back from near bankruptcy when he returned to it in 1997. And Mr. Jobs relentlessly pushed through his vision of the tech business, reviving the Macintosh computer business and developing new products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Apple faces a particular challenge in that Mr. Jobs has had an unusually strong influence in setting Apple's corporate culture and strategy, said Charles O'Reilly, a management expert at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business "Great companies rarely go from strength to strength," he said.

"I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it," Mr. Jobs wrote in his letter Wednesday. "And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

"I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you," he added.

The news of Mr. Jobs's resignation quickly became the talk of the Internet. Overwhelmed with traffic, the blog Cult of Mac temporary went offline. "This thing is melting down," said editor Leander Kahney, about an hour after the news broke on Wednesday.

Wall Street reacted with little surprise. "This was a 'when' not 'if' moment," said Mike Binger a fund manager for Thrivent Asset Management in Minneapolis, which owns Apple shares. He added that he had no plans to change his holdings, saying that the stock is still "really cheap for the kind of operating fundamentals they've been putting up."

The value of the company, however, has been skyrocketing as the success of products like the iPhone, iPad and ultra-thin Macintosh computers keep setting records. At close to $350 billion, Apple is second only Exxon Mobil in market valuationat the moment, recently eclipsing the oil giant for a brief period.

Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer for Solaris Asset Management in New York, which holds Apple shares said he has confidence in Apple's executive team even without Mr. Jobs, but is hoping for more details on who will be Apple's "creative force" now that he is gone.

While Mr. Jobs's resignation is a blow to Apple, the company has a solid pipeline of products, churning out new versions of its Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods every year.

A person familiar with the situation has said in the past that the board spends most of its time discussing product development and there is a roadmap in place for the next several years. Its next iPhone is expected in mid-October.

"This definitely marks the end of an era," said Michael Gartengerg, an analyst for Gartner, but he added that "there's much more to Apple than Steve Jobs."

(link: www.wsj.com)

Cocky Moxy: Shirts For People That Know They Are Awesome

This post was inspired by Karen. Here are some t-shirt print ideas for people that are completely comfortable with being cocky. I think I'll do a bunch of them and put the shirts online. The line of shirts will be called Cocky Moxy Apperal.

Bullet-Proof Skin: One More Reason Why Science Is Cool

Imagine having a gun fired at you, the bullet whizzing toward you at a super-fast speed. But instead of the bullet piercing your skin and traveling deep inside your body, what if it instead repelled off your skin?

What sounds like a scenario straight out of a superhero movie or a sci-fi novel could eventually become reality. Scientists have created a skin made with goat's milk packed with spider-silk proteins, according to news reports. Their hope is that they can eventually replace the keratin in human skin -- which makes it tough -- with the spider-silk proteins.

To make the bullet-proof material, Dutch scientists first engineered goats to produce milk that contains proteins from extra-strong spider silk. Then, using the milk from the goats, they spun a bullet-proof material; a layer of real human skin is then grown around that material, a process that takes five weeks, the Daily Mail reported.

"Science-fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spidersilk merge with an in vitro human skin," researcher Jalila Essaidi told the Daily Mail.

Does it work? Well, the skin is only able to stop bullets fired at reduced speeds, TechNewsDaily reported. It was not able to stop a bullet from a .22 caliber rifle shot at a normal speed, which is the required standard for today's bulletproof vests.

The skin is currently on display at the National Natural History Museum Naturalis in Leiden, Netherlands, until Jan. 8, 2012, TechNewsDaily reported.

More research must be done before this bullet-proof "super skin" can actually be possible to engineer into humans.

(link: www.huffingtonpost.com)

Altruism: Feel Like Being Singled Out?

This won't be like the posts I have done so far but perhaps I will have more like it in the future; I have a tendency to obsess about topics of current interest and writing about them helps me think them through.

The topic that has been on my mind lately is the ideology of altruism. If you aren't aware of what it is or of its application I'll summarize. The most accepted definition of altruism is the principle or practice of unselfish concern or devotion to the welfare of others (link: dictionary.com). In other words it's placing another person's needs before yourself. Now, I have no dispute with this definition. It is not wrong. But it is a bit like saying the ocean is a body of water. Sure the ocean is a body of water but that is a really simple definition. The ocean is obviously so much more than just a body of water; there is much more to it. The same goes for this accepted definition of altruism. There is so much more to it than just the practice of selflessness.

I should make the point to say that altruism, at its root, is not a bad concept. What could be wrong with being selfless and thinking of others? Well, nothing. But the problem isn't with the act but with its full application. Altruism actually requires more than just a single act of kindness. The moment you revert back to selfish behavior you are no longer an altruist you are simply someone who performed a good deed, but I suppose if you wanted to argue that you committed an altruistic act I couldn't argue in turn. But that doesn't mean that you are an altruist. The concept is an absolute that, as I stated, requires complete dispensation to its requirements by definition.

As I have read more on the subject I have seen many comment debates on the matter. Many seem to think that altruism is the foundation for a moral code; that if you are completely selfless you are ultimately right and that there could be no argument against you. I don't claim to be some great philosopher but I can definitely say that pure selflessness is a flawed idea and I would go even further to say that it is evil at its root.

Let's say that you are driving down a street and see a house on fire. You hear someone say that there is a child in the house. So you rush into the burning house knowing that you could be giving your life for the sake of this child's life. But you end up coming out unharmed and with the child. Two weeks later you see another house on fire (Its a bad month for electrical fires). This time you hear someone say that there is a fireman that went inside but hasn't come out. What would you do? More than likely most people wouldn't go in after the fireman unless they were one themselves. Why? Because there is value in that this individual in the burning house is a professional fire fighter. The child from two weeks before had no such value. And this, in my opinion, is one of two issues that make altruism impossible and ultimately "evil". Altruism requires that an individual place common value on everyone accept one's own self. An altruist considers one's self expendable for the sake of others or the greater good. But how can we do this when we all have specific individual values within a society? It seems wrong to say it but some people have greater value than others and I don't mean the value of their life but the value of what they have to offer. A doctor is going to have more value than a cook if you are injured. But a cook will have more value than a doctor if you are hungry. If you have absolutely no interest in art then an artist isn't going to be worth much to you. I would argue that these individual values are part of what makes a community grow and diversify. It's the product of a healthy society, not to be confused with the sub-topic of social equality.

Where the real evil of altruism rests is in the devaluing of one's self for the sake of a community. Self-sacrifice is truly a compassionate act but when it's expected, or even demanded, it somehow seems to lose its appeal. Altruism expects self-sacrifice. (Que the cheesy music for a family-sitcom's lesson thesis) If we devalue ourselves how can we expect to understand true value? And this is ultimately where, I believe, the evil rests. Altruism requires that everyone be personally "devalued". Rational selfishness is necessary for a community to prosper and grow and that is why I believe altruism is ultimately, not only impossible, but evil.

Bioluminescence: Hey Ocean, Your Dinoflagellates Are Showing

Ever had your mind blown from seeing bioluminescence in living organisms? If you haven't then prepare yourself, if you have then prepare to have your mind re-blown. Check out this video and then if you still want more mind-blowage read the info below.

What is Glowing in the Water? Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates.

“……it is not the property of fire alone to give light;…small drops of the water, struck off by the motion of the oars in rowing, seem sparkling and luminous.” -Francis Bacon, 1605

What is glowing in the water? If you have visited the ocean and witnessed the water at night, you may be pondering this question. The first scientist to document observations of glowing water was Anixinemenes in the year 500 B.C. He described light emitted by the sea when it was struck with an oar. Light in the ocean has been observed thousands of times since; these “mysterious glowing things” may even be responsible for some of the ghost stories told by sailors who witnessed the glowing waters but did not know the cause. Sightings of aerial bioluminescence have been documented; it appears the sky is glowing. It is assumed that bioluminescent particles are somehow carried into the air from the ocean, but no evidence has been found. Theories as to what is responsible for the things that glow at night have been proposed and many scientists have tried to unravel this mystery. The mystery has not been completely solved, but science is closer to discovering the truth.

Basic Facts of Bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is the light produced by a chemical reaction that occurs in an organism. It occurs at all depths in the ocean, but is most commonly observed at the surface. Bioluminescence is the only source of light in the deep ocean where sunlight does not penetrate. Amazingly, about ninety percent of the organisms that live in the ocean have the capability to produce light.

Four main uses for an organism to bioluminesce have been hypothesized. It can be used to evade predators, attract prey, communcate within their species, or advertise (Nealson, 1985). For example, the angler fish uses the Lure Effect (attracting prey). This fish has a dangling lure in which bioluminescent bacteria live. The lure hangs in front of its mouth; fish swim toward the light and may become food for the angler fish. Some fish use bioluminescence for mating signals or as territorial signals (intraspecies communication), and some use it to communicate interspecies (advertisement). Some organisms employ it for more than a single reason.

Most bioluminescence is blue for two reasons. First, blue-green light travels the farthest in water. Its wavelength is between 440-479 nm, which is mid-range in the spectrum of colors. Second, most organisms are sensitive to only blue light. They do not have the visual pigments to absorb the longer or shorter wavelengths. Red light, which has a long wavelength, is quickly absorbed as you descend in water- this is why underwater pictures appear blue. As with every rule, exceptions exist. Some cnidarians emit green light and one family of fish, the Malacosteids (known as the Loosejaws) emit and are able to see red light. The red light they produce is almost infrared and not visible to the human eye. This is a huge advantage to these fish because they can produce light to see their prey, but their prey can not see them!

Each luminescent organism has a unique flash. Factors that can vary are color, rise time, decay time, and total flash time (Nealson, 1985). Some organisms can emit light continuously, but most emit flashes with varying durations and brightness. The luminescence of one dinoflagellete lasts for 0.1 seconds and is visible to humans. Larger organisms, such as a jellyfish, can luminesce for tens of seconds.

In most multi-cellular organisms, the ability to produce light is controlled neurally. However, the transmitter that signals the change to take place is unknown in most organisms. Luminescence can also be induced by the presence of another luminescing organism.

A few characteristics are common to all bioluminescent reactions. All bioluminescent reactions occur in the presence of oxygen. Two types of chemicals are required- a luciferin and a luciferase (lucifer means light bringing). The luciferin is the basic substrate of the reaction and produces the light. The luciferase catalyzes the reaction. In the basic reaction, the luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin, which results in two products- light and inactive oxyluciferin. In most organisms, new luciferin must be brought to the system either by diet or internal synthesis for each reaction. Sometimes the luciferin and luciferase are bound together in one unit called a photoprotein. The photoprotein is then triggered when a particular ion is added to the system- frequently calcium. Most of the energy released in this reaction occurs in the form of light, therefore, bioluminescence is commonly called “cold light.”

Five main types of luciferins are known. Bacterial Luciferin is a reduced riboflavin phosphate and found in bacteria, some fish, and squid. Second, Dinoflagellate Luciferin is thought to be derived from chlorophyll because it has similar structure and is found in dinoflagellates and euphasiid shrimp. The third type, Vargulin, is found in the ostracod Vargula and is also used by the midshipman fish Poricthys. This is an interesting dietary link because the fish can not luminesce until they are fed luciferin bearing food. Fourth, Coelenterazine is the most common luciferin; it is found in many phyla- the radiolarians, ctenophores, cnidarians, squids, copepods, chaetognaths, and some fish and shrimp. The fifth is firefly luciferin, which requires ATP as a cofactor in its reactions.

Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates are the most common source of bioluminescence and are also known as Pyrrophyta or fire plants. Dinoflagellates are unicellular protists and are usually planktonic- ninety percent are marine plankton. They are small; many are microscopic, although the largest, Noctiluca, is 2 mm in diameter. Dinoflagellates are motile and swim by two flagella, which are movable protein strands. The longitudinal flagella extends from the sulcal groove at the posterior part of the cell and is responsible for the cells forward movement. The flattened flagella extends from the cingulum groove around the equator of the cell and provides the dinoflagellate with the ability to maneuver. Because of these two flagella, the dinoflagellate spirals when it moves.

Dinoflagellates are usually covered by cellulose plates. The cell is surrounded by a series of membranes called the amphiesma. In some, cellulose is deposited between these membranes and forms rigid plates called thecae. When no thecae are present, the dinoflagellates are termed as naked.

Chromosomes are always condensed in dinoflagellates. When the chromosomes of a cell are condensed, the cell is classified as dinokaryotic. The DNA is not associated with the histones as it is in other eukaryotic cells. Dinoflagellates have a relatively large amount of DNA and a large nucleus. The metabolic requirements to support a large amount of DNA probably account for the relatively low growth rates of these protists.

Many dinoflagellates are photosynthetic and play a key role as producers in the food chains of the ocean. The luminescence of photosynthetic dinoflagelletes is very much influenced by the intensity of the previous days sunlight. The brighter the sunlight, the brighter the luminescence will be. Not all are photosynthetic, some are symbiotic- living in the cells of their hosts. Zooxanthallae are the most common symbiotic dinoflagellates and are found in many marine invertebrates such as sponges, corals, jellyfish, flatworms, and other protists. About one half are heterotrophic; they eat other plankton. Sometimes they eat each other by snaring or stinging their prey.

Usually, reproduction is asexual and occurs by the process of mitosis. Occasionally, sexual reproduction can occur when two motile gametes fuse forming a planozygote.

Bioluminescence in Dinoflagellates

Bioluminescence is used to evade predators and acts as a type of burglar alarm defense mechanism in dinoflagellates. Dinoflagelletes produce light when the deformation of the cell by minute forces triggers its luminescence. When the cell is disturbed by a predator, it will give a light flash lasting 0.1 to 0.5 seconds. The flash is meant to attract a secondary predator that will be more likely to attack the predator that is trying to consume the dinoflagellate. The light flash also makes the predator jump and worry about other predators attacking it, making the predator less likely to prey on the dinoflagellate.

In most dinoflagellates, bioluminescence is controlled by an internal biological rhythm. Dinoflagellates are on a circadian rhythm. Towards the end of daylight, luminous chemicals are packaged in vesicles called scintillons. The scintillons then migrate to the cytoplasm from the area around the nucleus. It is not currently known how the scintillons are moved to the cytoplasm. At night, light is triggered by mechanical stimulation. When action potential generates in the vacuole, the action potential propagates throughout the rest of the cell. This allows protons to pass from the vacuole to the cytoplasm (where they were kept). The cytoplasm becomes acidified, normally by hydrogen ions, and the process is activated in the scintillons.

In dinoflagellates, the luciferin is usually bound to a protein called a Luciferin Binding Protein or LBP. At a neutral pH, LBP stabilizes the luciferin from being spontaneously oxidized. When it is activated by a drop in pH, the luciferin dissociates from the LBP and associates with the luciferase. At a pH of 8, the molecule is stable. When the Ph drops to around 6, the luciferin and the LBP dissociate. In the process of being oxidized, luciferin briefly exists in an excited state, after which it decays to the ground state- releasing energy in the form of light. Most dinoflagellates produce much less bioluminescence during the day because there are fewer scintillons. Bioluminescence in dinoflagellates reaches its maximum levels two hours into darkness.

link: www.jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu

Rhys Darby: One Of My Favorite Comedians

Window Phone: I Want One Now

This is truly amazing. Designer Seunghan Song has created the Window Phone. Though, this phone is still in the concept stage it has high potential to be the next big thing in cell phone technology. The focus of the attention this phone is getting is its ability to mimic weather conditions. If its sunny and clear outside the phone appears clean and fresh but should rain start falling the phone will begin to show drops of water on the screen. Also if its humid or foggy the screen begins to fog up or if its snowing or really cold the screen starts to show frost. I am sure by the time this concept becomes realized its ability to mimic the weather will be even more finely tuned showing even the most subtle changes in weather. But aside from the fact that it mimics weather people seem to be glossing over the fact that it literally looks like an iphone sized piece of glass in your hand. I suppose that technology is so yesterday but it still impresses me.

Check it out.