Sieberg's Reporter's Notebook
"Only On The Web": Daniel Sieberg shoots a behind-the-scenes look at his report on the effects of climate warming on coral reefs.
Saving Coral
Our colorful story on what one marine biologist in Miami is doing to help save coral reefs airs tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. I hope you'll tune in to watch! He's got an interesting approach to preserving the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae, and he's hoping to really make a difference with his research. Corals are like the rainforest of the ocean, and they're disappearing at an alarming rate at places around the world. And even though they only cover less than one percent of the Earth's surface, coral reefs are vital as a home for massive biodiversity. You can also watch some behind-the-scenes video clips that I shot on my Flip camera, including our trip about 10 miles offshore to Biscayne Bay and how we tried to keep our balance onboard the tiny boat in some choppy waves.
From A Dip In The Ocean To A Ride Into Space (Well, Not Quite)
My weeks can be rather eclectic given all the travel I do and the subject matters I cover, but this past week certainly ranks among the most fascinating and diverse. In the span of several days I snorkeled in waters off the coast of Miami while observing coral samples get collected, chatted with rocket scientists in the Mojave Desert who want to take people into space, and spent time in a famous pool in Mission Viejo as I tried out one of the new Olympic swimsuits that cover most of the body. Yes, my week started and ended with me being all wet.
I started out in Miami on Sunday night and Monday as part of a story about a marine biologist there named Andrew Baker who's trying an innovative if somewhat controversial approach to improving the future of disappearing coral reefs. His research, in simplistic terms, involves transplanting more heat-resistant algae from other parts of the world to the coral off the coast of Florida. Coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship, with the coral receiving life-giving photosynthesis through the algae, and the microscopic algae finding a safe haven from predators as part of the coral.
But as waters in the area warm even by only a degree or two the algae can die and in turn cause the coral to "bleach" and also wither (there are other factors, too, like over-fishing and pollution). Baker wants to strengthen the algae in the waters in Florida, and he's got a Pew Foundation grant to help make it happen. But there are those who say it won't work, that "messing" with nature isn't the answer. At this point, his story is slated to air on the Evening News with Katie Couric on Monday night.
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I started out in Miami on Sunday night and Monday as part of a story about a marine biologist there named Andrew Baker who's trying an innovative if somewhat controversial approach to improving the future of disappearing coral reefs. His research, in simplistic terms, involves transplanting more heat-resistant algae from other parts of the world to the coral off the coast of Florida. Coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship, with the coral receiving life-giving photosynthesis through the algae, and the microscopic algae finding a safe haven from predators as part of the coral.
But as waters in the area warm even by only a degree or two the algae can die and in turn cause the coral to "bleach" and also wither (there are other factors, too, like over-fishing and pollution). Baker wants to strengthen the algae in the waters in Florida, and he's got a Pew Foundation grant to help make it happen. But there are those who say it won't work, that "messing" with nature isn't the answer. At this point, his story is slated to air on the Evening News with Katie Couric on Monday night.
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Grand Theft Auto IV
(CBS)
I got a chance to talk about it with reviewer and author of "Get Rich Playing Games" Scott Steinberg. Continue »
A Tech View From Istanbul
(AP)
But as it turns out, I didn't use the gadget all that much. Even though most Turkish people I ran into don't speak English, some do; and you can always get around by pointing and smiling a lot. While riding on a mini-bus in a suburb of Istanbul, I ran into a 17-year-old student named Acar Einc who spoke surprisingly good English. When asked how he learned so well he said he took it in school but got a lot better chatting with fellow players on World of Warcraft, a "massively multiplayer online role playing game" used throughout the world. Some of his fellow players are from English speaking countries but many are from Japan, Germany and Scandinavia who use English as their common language. I had never thought about this before, but this strikes me as a big advantage of Internet-based game playing and social networking.
And speaking of speaking, I've been talking, texting and emailing the folks back home thanks to a Blackberry from Verizon Wireless and a Samsung Ace from Sprint. Even though most phones from these companies don't work on most continents, the companies do have a few GSM phones that work jus fine over here. You can get the details in my column "A World Away, U.S. Phone Service is Swell".
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Behind-The-Scenes Moments; CSP Saves Humanity?
How does a typical day unfold for your humble correspondent? Well, needless to say, it varies depending on what's making news, my availability, our internal resources, etc. A couple weeks back I used my Flip camera (see video below) to capture a rather hectic travel and filming day as I went from New York to Baltimore, then drove to Frederick, Maryland, back to Baltimore and then into Phoenix. (In the same day!) The story we shot in Frederick was going to air this week, but now it's slated for next Thursday, April 24, as part of a mini-series on the environment. That's the one about the CRAGs or Carbon Reduction Action Groups. You'll see a little of what it takes to get the story, and how some long days turn into REALLY long days. The trip to Phoenix was to cover the Space Access conference, which is an annual gathering of the commercial space industry. In other words getting you and me into space -- safely -- without the involvement of NASA. Of course, it's prohibitively expense right now, but that'll change.
In other news, interesting article here at Salon.com about the other solar power -- solar thermal electric, or basically using heated water to power engines and generators. The headline alone is enough to get your attention: "The technology that will save humanity." A good read.
Oh, and, um, who is really behind "Raining McCain"? The answer is here.
In other news, interesting article here at Salon.com about the other solar power -- solar thermal electric, or basically using heated water to power engines and generators. The headline alone is enough to get your attention: "The technology that will save humanity." A good read.
Oh, and, um, who is really behind "Raining McCain"? The answer is here.
Lasers, The 'God' Particle, And An Announcement
Most everyone in tech agrees: lasers are cool. These days a red laser pen is sort of 2003. A green laser pen is very 2007. ThinkGeek has blue laser pens for 2008 costing about $900 each. But what would you pay for a laser that when turned on -- even for a fraction of a second -- is 2,000 times more powerful than all the power plants in the U.S.? Does $7 million seem reasonable? You can read more about the work being done at Unveristy of Texas at Austin here.
The so-called (and perhaps unfortunately dubbed) "God" particle was back in the news this week as researchers at CERN discussed their optimism in discovering it. CERN is where scientists will be smashing miniscule particles together later this year at nearly the speed of light to get a better look at what's inside. The "God" particle is more mundanely known as the Higgs boson or Higgs particle, and it's described as the missing link or glue that defines mass at the smallest level. Its existence (also up for debate) would give physicists major insight into the origins of life and the true composition of everything. Sounds lofty, sure, but if it exists it could truly unlock a lot of secrets. Is it "God"-like? Well, even the researcher behind it isn't so sure. But it's fascinating to imagine what it could reveal...
Finally, a little shameless self-promotion. In addition to my duties here at CBS News, I'm also going to be co-hosting a daily, one-hour show on Discovery Channel's new Planet Green network. Called GWord, it's meant to explore the slightly edgy and practical side of "going green" with the environmental movement. For more, check out this article from TV Week or this announcement from Planet Green. The channel is set to debut on June 4. Stay connected, and I hope you'll be watching!
Continue »
The so-called (and perhaps unfortunately dubbed) "God" particle was back in the news this week as researchers at CERN discussed their optimism in discovering it. CERN is where scientists will be smashing miniscule particles together later this year at nearly the speed of light to get a better look at what's inside. The "God" particle is more mundanely known as the Higgs boson or Higgs particle, and it's described as the missing link or glue that defines mass at the smallest level. Its existence (also up for debate) would give physicists major insight into the origins of life and the true composition of everything. Sounds lofty, sure, but if it exists it could truly unlock a lot of secrets. Is it "God"-like? Well, even the researcher behind it isn't so sure. But it's fascinating to imagine what it could reveal...
Finally, a little shameless self-promotion. In addition to my duties here at CBS News, I'm also going to be co-hosting a daily, one-hour show on Discovery Channel's new Planet Green network. Called GWord, it's meant to explore the slightly edgy and practical side of "going green" with the environmental movement. For more, check out this article from TV Week or this announcement from Planet Green. The channel is set to debut on June 4. Stay connected, and I hope you'll be watching!
Continue »
Cyber Thieves Picking Your Pocket?
It borders on "tin foil hat" territory but the vulnerablility is real. Many credit cards these days have an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip or "tag" embedded inside. It contains your credit card number and other personal details. The chips are "passive" meaning not powered, and in order to send a signal it must be placed in front of a reader at close range like a few inches. Plus the information is encrypted. But if a hacker got close enough to your wallet and was equipped with a special scanning device, the number COULD be stolen and read later. It got a couple of companies thinking about how to solve the problem, however unlikely or minor.
Of course RFID has plenty of handy uses like when driving through tolls or tracking inventory. But on Sunday night's Evening News we'll show you what a couple of entrepreneurs have created by lining wallets with a metal mesh shield to protect the information on credit cards. Mike Aiello from DIFRWear is one of them (get it?). Is it for the realm of the paranoid? In some ways, sure. But the potential for cyber thievery is there, says Johns Hopkins researcher Avi Rubin, who is known for his work on analyzing the security (or lack of it) with electronic voting. Finishing up the story tonight, and I hope you'll watch.
Next week will mark the debut of the Flip camera video, and I've got a special, work-related announcement to make on Monday, too. Stay connected!
Continue »
Of course RFID has plenty of handy uses like when driving through tolls or tracking inventory. But on Sunday night's Evening News we'll show you what a couple of entrepreneurs have created by lining wallets with a metal mesh shield to protect the information on credit cards. Mike Aiello from DIFRWear is one of them (get it?). Is it for the realm of the paranoid? In some ways, sure. But the potential for cyber thievery is there, says Johns Hopkins researcher Avi Rubin, who is known for his work on analyzing the security (or lack of it) with electronic voting. Finishing up the story tonight, and I hope you'll watch.
Next week will mark the debut of the Flip camera video, and I've got a special, work-related announcement to make on Monday, too. Stay connected!
Continue »
ValleyZen, Ancient Organisms, And Happy 'Beatles Birthday' Pop
Drue Kataoka is full of surprises. Not only is she a master Sumi-e artist, an ancient Japanese brush stroke technique, she's also an accomplished musician, world traveler, and Web pioneer. Her site, ValleyZen.com, has only been around for a couple months but it's getting attention for its message of simplicity in a tech world often cluttered with distraction and consternation. Indeed, her motto on the site is: "At the intersection of Zen and technology." I know, I know, if you're always stressed out and multi-tasking then then you might think Zen+technology seems like an oxymoron, especially in a place like Silicon Valley. Au contraire, mon frere. That's exactly why Kataoka believes it's such a worthwhile pursuit.
Her site contains stories, ideas, and videos that revolve around the Zen ideal, and some of the clips are illustrative of Zen through their spontaneity, such as the time a Silicon Valley exec decided to flip Drue (Judo style) and she gracefully went along for the ride. You have to see it. Anyway, I recently interviewed Drue for a CBS Radio segment, so keep an ear out for that, too.
Wanted to mention a cool story from the BBC today, which shows how researchers in France are using a high-powered X-ray to peer through dense amber (fossil resin) and analyze bugs and insects that have been trapped there for millions of years. It's part spycam, part high tech, and very gee whiz. They can even build 3-D images. Check it out here.
Continue »
Her site contains stories, ideas, and videos that revolve around the Zen ideal, and some of the clips are illustrative of Zen through their spontaneity, such as the time a Silicon Valley exec decided to flip Drue (Judo style) and she gracefully went along for the ride. You have to see it. Anyway, I recently interviewed Drue for a CBS Radio segment, so keep an ear out for that, too.
Wanted to mention a cool story from the BBC today, which shows how researchers in France are using a high-powered X-ray to peer through dense amber (fossil resin) and analyze bugs and insects that have been trapped there for millions of years. It's part spycam, part high tech, and very gee whiz. They can even build 3-D images. Check it out here.
Continue »
Put Your PC To Sleep
(AP)
As Verdiem CEO Kevin Klustner told me in my latest CBS News Tech Report podcast, two-thirds of the energy they consume costing nearly $6 billion a year and putting about 300 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Much of that energy could be saved if PCs would enter into a "sleep" or suspend mode when not in use. Configuring a machine to do that is pretty easy but many people don't bother. Windows Vista and Macintosh come pre-configured to go into sleep mode after a certain period of time but XP machines are often set to remain at full throttle unless the user turns them off or manually enters sleep mode. You can check the settings on your machine by clicking Power Options from the Control Panel.
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Hurtful Hack Attack
Working late tonight as we finish a segment for tomorrow's Early Show. The story is pretty alarming, especially for people with a certain type of epilepsy. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, within the last two weeks hackers broke into its site and planted flashing pornographic images and patterns on some message boards that were clearly designed to trigger headaches or seizures with people who have photosensitive epilepsy. It's a type of epilepsy experienced by about 3-5% of people with the condition. And it may be the first computer attack solely designed to cause physical harm.
For our story on the Early Show (and likely posted on CBSNews.com soon) we talk to a woman with epilepsy who says she experienced the hurtful images on the site, and after the story we'll talk to a neurologist about what triggers this type of reaction in some people. It's not entirely clear which hackers are responsible for the attack, but some security experts are pointing to the underground group known as "Anonymous," which has recently been in the news for its campaign against the Church of Scientology. Others aren't convinced it was them since the assault seems so malicious. In any case, I'm sure we'll hear more about this troubling cyberassault in the coming days and weeks.
For our story on the Early Show (and likely posted on CBSNews.com soon) we talk to a woman with epilepsy who says she experienced the hurtful images on the site, and after the story we'll talk to a neurologist about what triggers this type of reaction in some people. It's not entirely clear which hackers are responsible for the attack, but some security experts are pointing to the underground group known as "Anonymous," which has recently been in the news for its campaign against the Church of Scientology. Others aren't convinced it was them since the assault seems so malicious. In any case, I'm sure we'll hear more about this troubling cyberassault in the coming days and weeks.
Hay Is For Horses
About to head on the road for a couple of upcoming stories -- one on personal space travel (a la Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic) and another on neighborhood-based groups looking to reduce their carbon footprint through working together (a la WeightWatchers Meetings to reduce, well, weight). In the meantime, I have a troubling story airing tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric that definitely will have some people cringing and outraged at the same time. It's about the hay shortage in parts of the southeast, caused primarily by last year's drought. As a result, the price of hay has gone up dramatically (doubling, even tripling) such that small famrs simply can't cope with the rising costs. Some owners are making sacrifices in their own life to feed their horse friends, but others are abandoning horses along highways or in city parks.
Human center are at capacity in some cases, and the problem isn't getting any better at the moment. Hundreds of horses are starving, and some are dying as a result. The Kentucky Horse Council held an emergency meeting this week, and a hay "hotline" has been established to bring in donations and match them with those in need. But more needs to be done. I hope you'll tune in tonight to see this important story.
UPDATE: here's the
Human center are at capacity in some cases, and the problem isn't getting any better at the moment. Hundreds of horses are starving, and some are dying as a result. The Kentucky Horse Council held an emergency meeting this week, and a hay "hotline" has been established to bring in donations and match them with those in need. But more needs to be done. I hope you'll tune in tonight to see this important story.
UPDATE: here's the
Evening News piece.
Video: Flip This, Tune That
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In other news, the Justice Department has said it will not stand in the way of a proposed Sirius Radio's buyout of rival XM. The FCC is expected to rule soon, and if it doesn't express any misgivings, it seems the deal might actually go through. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I don't have a subscription to either company, though every time I rent a car while traveling I'm thrilled when satellite radio is present since I tend to drive long distances and the signal remains clear throughout the trip.
The choice of content is also great (though occasionally overwhelming), and I guess this all comes down to choice for the consumer. Certainly both companies see a merger as a way to stop any fiscal losses, and make it easier since right now I think people get buyer paralysis. For example, there are some sports leagues just on one service (NHL is only on XM), or some personalities only on another (Howard Stern on Sirius). I must say if this deal goes ahead, I'd probably become a satellite radio subscriber -- though without owning a car in Manhattan I have less of a need than those who drive to and from work every day.
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A Fun Look At Online Safety
I've written a lot about online safety including my latest article about Myths and Tips but I don't pretend that my writings on this subject are all that much fun.
However a very creative groups of video producers, directors and actors have found a way to lighten up this subject with two new videos at ConnectSafely.org, the non-profit Internet safety forum I help operate.
The two newest videos include "The Webs" and "The Babysitter." "The Webs" is a retro family featuring 16-year-old Kate and her not-too-with it but lovable parents. In this first episode of a series, Kate announces that she met a guy online and he asked her to go steady.
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However a very creative groups of video producers, directors and actors have found a way to lighten up this subject with two new videos at ConnectSafely.org, the non-profit Internet safety forum I help operate.
The two newest videos include "The Webs" and "The Babysitter." "The Webs" is a retro family featuring 16-year-old Kate and her not-too-with it but lovable parents. In this first episode of a series, Kate announces that she met a guy online and he asked her to go steady.
Continue »
Hitting The Reset Button
I'm back! Yes, I was on vacation for about two weeks in sunny Hawai'i (Kaua'i and Maui, to be exact) but I've returned to rather chilly New York. I was hoping that spring would arrive a little early here, alas, it's only warmed slightly. Anyway, enough about the weather. Happy St. Patrick's Day! And what's with this? (There has to be a better way to get free cable.) Rest assured I'll have more to say here in the coming days, so stay tuned, and stay connected.
