The one conversational tool that will make you better at absolutely everything

Use the 5Ws ("who", "what", "where", "when", "why") & a few other simple devices to improve absolutely everything.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3003945/one-conversational-tool-will-make-you-better-absolutely-everything / mentor meeting interview relationship executive business journalist ask question multiple choice /

Little spider makes big-spider-puppet clone of itself out of dirt

Apparently, this little spider (only 5mm long) makes the clone to distract predators & even animates its creation by moving its web.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/spider_marionette_in_amazon/ / conservation biologist Phil Torres Amazon leaf debris dead insects genus Cyclosa Tambopata Research Center /

iOS 6.0.2 suspected of draining batteries

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/ios-6-0-2-suspected-of-draining-batteries/ / battery life WiFi connection cell cellular mobile data iPhone iPad Apple /

Bitcasa cloud storage • 10 gigabytes free • Infinite storage $10 per month

Everything is encrypted, multiple backups with a rollback facility.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/12/19/bitcasa-infinite-cloud-storage/#comments

http://www.bitcasa.com/ / backup encrypted encrypt /

21 December 2012: the end of the world? Not according to the Mayan calendar!

Like all calendars, one of the functions of the Mayan calendar is to break time up into convenient intervals.  We use periods including years, months days.

In the Mayan calendar there are a number of very long time units, including B'ak'tun (394 years, some say 395), Piktun (7,885 years) & others.  Longest is the Alautun at 63,081,429 years.

Since the Mayan calendar begins in 3114 BCE, not even a single Alautun (63,081,429 years) has elapsed. There is a very long journey ahead for the world according to the Mayan calendar.

On 21 December 2012, a B'ak'tun (394 years) is coming to an end.  What happens then?  What happens at the end of the year in our calendar: a new one starts!

Check back tomorrow :)

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/travel/Mayan+calendar+cause+celebration+doom+researcher+says/7728912/story.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar   / end of the world end-of-the-world long count /

Sitting more than three hours a day can take two years off your life

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-07-09/sitting-less-could-extend-life/56117870/1

http://neurosynthesisarchives.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/the-extreme-dangers-of-sitting/ / sedentary exercise heart muscles walk disease capillaries lined fat burning enzyme lipoprotein lipase /

Pushing computers toward petahertz with femtosecond lasers & weird electronics

http://m.extremetech.com/extremetech/#!/entry/pushing-computers-towards-petahertz-with-femtosecond-lasers-and-weird-dielectrics,50d0776394f4be7169310338/1 / dielectric insulator conductor semiconductor light electrons internal logic metamaterial meta-material switching Max Plank Institute Ludwig Maximilian University Germany /

New study sheds light on dinosaur size

http://phys.org/news/2012-12-dinosaur-size.html / largest land animals Queen Mary University of London compared size femur bone fossil record larger smaller vertebrate species young dinosaurs occupied different ecological niche /

Malaria progress falters; critics say WHO’s goal of eliminating deaths by 2015 is unrealistic

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/malaria-progress-falters-critics-say-whos-goal-of-eliminating-deaths-by-2015-is-unrealistic/2012/12/17/3bbde41c-483e-11e2-8af9-9b50cb4605a7_story.html / epidemic health officials deaths parasitic illness symptoms fever chills vomiting mosquito nets /