(via The Canadian Gemmologist, Vol.III, No.3, Spring, 1982) . I come in a variety of colors, almost any color in fact, though most people think of me as a green stone which is relatively inexpensive. I frequently show strong dichroism. In rough crystals, I am quite strongly striated parallel to the c-axis. They call me a hemimorphic crystal. What am I?
Answer: Tourmaline
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The Search: How Google And Its Rivals Rewrote The Rules Of Business And Transformed Our Culture
Good Books: (via Emergic) It's really amazing how search has become part of our life + today the concept is embedded in our modified lifestyle (for good or worse) + the book The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture is a modified anthropological metamorphism of search + it also describes new ways of staying connected. A must-read book.
Amazon.com's review states:
This ambitious book comes with a strong pedigree. Author John Battelle was a founder of The Industry Standard and then one of the original editors of Wired, two magazines which helped shape our early perceptions of the wild world of the Internet. Battelle clearly drew from his experience and contacts in writing The Search. In addition to the sure-handed historical perspective and easy familiarity with such dot-com stalwarts as AltaVista, Lycos, and Excite, he speckles his narrative with conversational asides from a cast of fascinating characters, such Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Yahoo's, Jerry Yang and David Filo; key executives at Microsoft and different VC firms on the famed Sandhill road; and numerous other insiders, particularly at the company which currently sits atop the search world, Google.
The Search is not exactly the corporate history of Google. At the book's outset, Battelle specifically indicates his desire to understand what he calls the cultural anthropology of search, and to analyze search engines' current role as the "database of our intentions"--the repository of humanity's curiosity, exploration, and expressed desires. Interesting though that beginning is, though, Battelle's story really picks up speed when he starts dishing inside scoop on the darling business story of the decade, Google. To Battelle's credit, though, he doesn't stop just with historical retrospective: the final part of his book focuses on the potential future directions of Google and its products' development. In what Battelle himself acknowledges might just be a "digital fantasy train", he describes the possibility that Google will become the centralizing platform for our entire lives.
The most fascinating chapter in the book is the last one, where Battelle looks to the future.
Here is an excerpt which Battelle posted on his blog from the chapter entitled Perfect Search:
In the near future, search will metastasize from its origins on the PC-centric Web and be let loose on all manner of devices. This has already begun with mobile phones and PDAs; expect it to continue, virus-like, until search is built into every digital device touching our lives. The telephone, the automobile, the television, the stereo, the lowliest object with a chip and the ability to connect - all will incorporate network-aware search.
This is no fantasy; this is simple logic. As more and more of our lives become connected, digitized, and computed, we will need navigation and context interfaces to cope. What is TiVo, after all, but a search interface for television? ITunes? Search for music. That box of photographs under your bed and the pile of CDs teetering next to your stereo? Analog artifacts, awaiting their digital rebirth. How might you find that photo of you and your lover on the beach in Greece from fifteen years ago? Either you scan it in, or you lose it to the moldering embrace of analog obscurity. But your children will have no such problems; their photographs are already entirely digital and searchable - complete with metadata tagged right in (date, time, and soon, context).
The Search game has just begun. With it, we have seen a new business model emerge contextual advertising with pay-per-click. The recent announcement by Microsoft about making its applications available over the Web as services, in part paid for by advertising, takes the revolution started by Google even further. The combination of broadband and mobile networks is creating a new world. While Battelle's book may not answer questions about who will be tomorrow's winners (other than Google), it does a great job in laying out the story of Search and a company which today threatens incumbents across many industries by making the right information available at the right time.
Amazon.com's review states:
This ambitious book comes with a strong pedigree. Author John Battelle was a founder of The Industry Standard and then one of the original editors of Wired, two magazines which helped shape our early perceptions of the wild world of the Internet. Battelle clearly drew from his experience and contacts in writing The Search. In addition to the sure-handed historical perspective and easy familiarity with such dot-com stalwarts as AltaVista, Lycos, and Excite, he speckles his narrative with conversational asides from a cast of fascinating characters, such Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Yahoo's, Jerry Yang and David Filo; key executives at Microsoft and different VC firms on the famed Sandhill road; and numerous other insiders, particularly at the company which currently sits atop the search world, Google.
The Search is not exactly the corporate history of Google. At the book's outset, Battelle specifically indicates his desire to understand what he calls the cultural anthropology of search, and to analyze search engines' current role as the "database of our intentions"--the repository of humanity's curiosity, exploration, and expressed desires. Interesting though that beginning is, though, Battelle's story really picks up speed when he starts dishing inside scoop on the darling business story of the decade, Google. To Battelle's credit, though, he doesn't stop just with historical retrospective: the final part of his book focuses on the potential future directions of Google and its products' development. In what Battelle himself acknowledges might just be a "digital fantasy train", he describes the possibility that Google will become the centralizing platform for our entire lives.
The most fascinating chapter in the book is the last one, where Battelle looks to the future.
Here is an excerpt which Battelle posted on his blog from the chapter entitled Perfect Search:
In the near future, search will metastasize from its origins on the PC-centric Web and be let loose on all manner of devices. This has already begun with mobile phones and PDAs; expect it to continue, virus-like, until search is built into every digital device touching our lives. The telephone, the automobile, the television, the stereo, the lowliest object with a chip and the ability to connect - all will incorporate network-aware search.
This is no fantasy; this is simple logic. As more and more of our lives become connected, digitized, and computed, we will need navigation and context interfaces to cope. What is TiVo, after all, but a search interface for television? ITunes? Search for music. That box of photographs under your bed and the pile of CDs teetering next to your stereo? Analog artifacts, awaiting their digital rebirth. How might you find that photo of you and your lover on the beach in Greece from fifteen years ago? Either you scan it in, or you lose it to the moldering embrace of analog obscurity. But your children will have no such problems; their photographs are already entirely digital and searchable - complete with metadata tagged right in (date, time, and soon, context).
The Search game has just begun. With it, we have seen a new business model emerge contextual advertising with pay-per-click. The recent announcement by Microsoft about making its applications available over the Web as services, in part paid for by advertising, takes the revolution started by Google even further. The combination of broadband and mobile networks is creating a new world. While Battelle's book may not answer questions about who will be tomorrow's winners (other than Google), it does a great job in laying out the story of Search and a company which today threatens incumbents across many industries by making the right information available at the right time.
Spray The Ketchup, Fling The Lettuce
David Galloway writes about John Bock’s interdisciplinary fusion of language, fashion, film, video, performance, and installation + his specialty in 'suitcase performances' + his work (s) that has a character of its own + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2038
The Travels Of A Lady-Wearing-Rough Into A Legal Kimberley Process Hole
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about creative ways of smuggling large rough diamonds + Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's (KPCS) oversight + a new look in the rough diamond jewelry + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp
Some Aspects Of Fraud
2007: With the spread of gemology you think most if not all of these tricks should never succeed, but to tell you the truth, today, it does. Synthetic, treated, and imitation gemstones have just become too sophisticated (there are many) + gem testing laboratories are in dilema describing what they see, especially with treatments (nearly all colored stones are treated one way or the other), because they need the trade as well as the consumers to function as a business + gem dealers and jewelers have no time/patience sitting with gem testing instruments to identity/sell their merchandise, because the pereception is if you think like a gemologist you won't be able to buy/sell colored stones, so they leave it to the trade/independant laboratories + the so-called experts for their opinion, and this is where opinions may go right/wrong/misinterpreted + the well-trained fraudsters are also familiar with gemology, treatments, synthetics and imitations + its limitations so they become adept playing their game.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, No.1, Vol.1, January 1947) Robert Webster writes:
Value is an essential concomitant of that type of criminal offence which the legal mind terms ‘stealing by false pretences’ and the jeweler trading in precious stones is a fitting target for this type of trickery. The following notes, based on factual reports and personal experiences, may make interesting and informative reading, and may in some measure prevent others suffering loss through the same pitfalls. Although all the episodes mentioned may not have been fraudulently conceived, most would have, or had, the stricture of the law upon them.
Perhaps it would be wise to remark that no trick of this nature would be effective unless some preparation in the way of the gaining of confidence were first engendered. To walk into a shop, place a four carat zircon on the counter and say ‘I want £700 for this diamond’ would not get a rogue very far with hard-headed businessman of today; but with confidence established suspicion is lulled and almost anything may happen. Indeed, it can be given as an axiom that one is never caught except when haste is the ‘jade’ a ‘breezy’ type of personality or pretty face and a trim figure be the distraction, or when the desire for profit overcomes commonsense.
It is fitting that the diamond be the first stone to consider, for that is the gem most handled by the jeweler and the most likely to be the stone whose simulation leads to chicanery. The substitution of a diamond by a paste imitation does not, at first sight, appear a likely cause of loss, for only an imitation jeweler would come to grief with this fake; it is the amateur who falls for a piece of glass. What member of the trade has not heard of the wonderful bargain bought in a public house for a song? Inevitably it is the jeweler who has the unenviable task of supplying the denouement.
Most jewelers have encountered false diamonds which they glibly term ‘jargoons’ ‘doublets’ or ‘white sapphires’, often totally unaware of the correct interpretation of the names they use. In most of these cases the fake has been the colorless zircon which owes its lack of color to heat treatment and has a high dispersion. Exhibited in a ‘half light’, such stones do show an appreciable resemblance to diamond—providing one does not look for the strong double refraction. Time and time again these zircons have caught the unwary, often the same operator working the same fraud for months on end until Nemesis finally overtakes him.
The diamond doublet, although so often mentioned, does not appear to be so prevalent as is generally supposed. Of three authentic cases known to the writer, one consisted of a crown of true diamonds and a base of glass; in another the base was probably rock crystal; the third, a stone with a two carat spread and mounted with ‘roman’ or ‘gipsy’ setting in a heavy gold ring, caused the jeweler who bought the ring (as dusk, when the light was bad) to lose many pounds. This stone, which the leaders of the jewelry trade considered to be such a dangerous fake that they instituted a ‘broadcast’ caution, was found to have a base of synthetic white spinel.
It is doubtful whether the synthetic white sapphire has ever caused much difficulty, but mention must be made of the artificially produced colorless spinel, if only to comment on the journalistic enthusiasm which caused the ‘diamond scare’ of 1935. These ‘Jourado diamonds’ generally ‘emerald cut’, a style which was then beginning to be favored for diamonds, did momentarily cause confusion, but only for the few hours before the report of the Laboratory Experts was published by press and radio. That these synthetic white spinels have not been entirely neglected by the unscrupulous is recalled by the recent conviction of the Dutchman, Winnser, but this probably more in the nature of substitution than in direct simulation.
Comparatively early in the writer’s career he met with the ‘painted’ diamond. Shown a single stone diamond ring which had been pledged by a gentleman prominent in the theatrical profession, he noticed something ‘not quite right’ about the stone, but lack of experience precluded a definite reason. The opinion of an experienced diamond broker confirmed this suspicion; he washed the stone in hot water, thereby removing the dye from the rear facets, and returned an off-colored yellowish diamond instead of the ‘white’ stone submitted to him. The method used to restore the stone to a white color need not be considered here.
It is questionable whether the inducing of a green color in a diamond by radium emanations, so easily detected by autophotography and spinthariscopic observation, can be called fraudulent, for in the case of the heat treatment of zircons and topazes and the staining of agate, the alteration of hue is not considered to be wrong providing the stone is sold as such; but how often is the radium-treated diamond so sold?
Although having little application to the retail jeweler, the imitation of diamond crystals goes to show to what length the crook fraternity will go in their endeavor to make money by fraud. There have been three authentic cases of ‘diamond octahedra’ which had been found to have been artificially shaped from base material. In two of these cases the material used was synthetic colorless corundum, and for the third case colorless quartz was used.
Most jewelers, knowing all too well the synthetic production of the corundum gems, ruby and sapphire, are wary of dealing with such stones unless they have sound reasons or are backed by a laboratory report, and it is rare that loss is occasioned by such an artifice. That fraud can occur, even with an experienced trader, was made apparent recently when a three-stone ruby ring was bought for some hundred of pounds, it being discovered later that the most important center stone was synthetic.
With respect to emerald, the most likely cause of trouble is surely the composite stone better known as the soude’ emerald, but despite the undoubted fine effect of this counterfeit, the writer cannot recall a single case of fraud involving this stone. The true synthetic emerald which is now being made in America has as yet not invaded this country, and when it does, as surely it will, more care still will be required by the members of our trade.
The painting of the rear facets of pale rubies, sapphires and emeralds in order to enhance their color is too patent and too well known to cause much difficulty, and the same may be said for the older type of garnet-topped doublets. The imitation of the alexandrite by the synthetic version of corundum and spinel does not now appear to worry the trade as it has done in the past, nor, for that matter, do the opal doublets; on the other hand, the orange red synthetic corundum, sometimes called the ‘padparadshca’ is still confused with the fire opal by some people less informed than their neighbors.
Before bringing these few notes to a close, reference must be made to gem pearl, for although the cultured pearl is so well known and so difficult in some cases to detect at sight, that risk is rarely taken. It is with the black pearl that trouble may occur, for artificial coloration may be particularly good, and, rather surprisingly, that hoary textbook fake, the polished hematite sphere, has quite recently shown itself. What probably was the most unusual fake that the writer came across was a necklace of pink beads, bought as coral, which turned out to be vegetable ivory appropriately stained.
With the spread of the science of gemology, most, if not all of these tricks should never succeed, and those enemies of society who perpetuate them be forever put out their nefarious business—but for the frailty of human nature.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, No.1, Vol.1, January 1947) Robert Webster writes:
Value is an essential concomitant of that type of criminal offence which the legal mind terms ‘stealing by false pretences’ and the jeweler trading in precious stones is a fitting target for this type of trickery. The following notes, based on factual reports and personal experiences, may make interesting and informative reading, and may in some measure prevent others suffering loss through the same pitfalls. Although all the episodes mentioned may not have been fraudulently conceived, most would have, or had, the stricture of the law upon them.
Perhaps it would be wise to remark that no trick of this nature would be effective unless some preparation in the way of the gaining of confidence were first engendered. To walk into a shop, place a four carat zircon on the counter and say ‘I want £700 for this diamond’ would not get a rogue very far with hard-headed businessman of today; but with confidence established suspicion is lulled and almost anything may happen. Indeed, it can be given as an axiom that one is never caught except when haste is the ‘jade’ a ‘breezy’ type of personality or pretty face and a trim figure be the distraction, or when the desire for profit overcomes commonsense.
It is fitting that the diamond be the first stone to consider, for that is the gem most handled by the jeweler and the most likely to be the stone whose simulation leads to chicanery. The substitution of a diamond by a paste imitation does not, at first sight, appear a likely cause of loss, for only an imitation jeweler would come to grief with this fake; it is the amateur who falls for a piece of glass. What member of the trade has not heard of the wonderful bargain bought in a public house for a song? Inevitably it is the jeweler who has the unenviable task of supplying the denouement.
Most jewelers have encountered false diamonds which they glibly term ‘jargoons’ ‘doublets’ or ‘white sapphires’, often totally unaware of the correct interpretation of the names they use. In most of these cases the fake has been the colorless zircon which owes its lack of color to heat treatment and has a high dispersion. Exhibited in a ‘half light’, such stones do show an appreciable resemblance to diamond—providing one does not look for the strong double refraction. Time and time again these zircons have caught the unwary, often the same operator working the same fraud for months on end until Nemesis finally overtakes him.
The diamond doublet, although so often mentioned, does not appear to be so prevalent as is generally supposed. Of three authentic cases known to the writer, one consisted of a crown of true diamonds and a base of glass; in another the base was probably rock crystal; the third, a stone with a two carat spread and mounted with ‘roman’ or ‘gipsy’ setting in a heavy gold ring, caused the jeweler who bought the ring (as dusk, when the light was bad) to lose many pounds. This stone, which the leaders of the jewelry trade considered to be such a dangerous fake that they instituted a ‘broadcast’ caution, was found to have a base of synthetic white spinel.
It is doubtful whether the synthetic white sapphire has ever caused much difficulty, but mention must be made of the artificially produced colorless spinel, if only to comment on the journalistic enthusiasm which caused the ‘diamond scare’ of 1935. These ‘Jourado diamonds’ generally ‘emerald cut’, a style which was then beginning to be favored for diamonds, did momentarily cause confusion, but only for the few hours before the report of the Laboratory Experts was published by press and radio. That these synthetic white spinels have not been entirely neglected by the unscrupulous is recalled by the recent conviction of the Dutchman, Winnser, but this probably more in the nature of substitution than in direct simulation.
Comparatively early in the writer’s career he met with the ‘painted’ diamond. Shown a single stone diamond ring which had been pledged by a gentleman prominent in the theatrical profession, he noticed something ‘not quite right’ about the stone, but lack of experience precluded a definite reason. The opinion of an experienced diamond broker confirmed this suspicion; he washed the stone in hot water, thereby removing the dye from the rear facets, and returned an off-colored yellowish diamond instead of the ‘white’ stone submitted to him. The method used to restore the stone to a white color need not be considered here.
It is questionable whether the inducing of a green color in a diamond by radium emanations, so easily detected by autophotography and spinthariscopic observation, can be called fraudulent, for in the case of the heat treatment of zircons and topazes and the staining of agate, the alteration of hue is not considered to be wrong providing the stone is sold as such; but how often is the radium-treated diamond so sold?
Although having little application to the retail jeweler, the imitation of diamond crystals goes to show to what length the crook fraternity will go in their endeavor to make money by fraud. There have been three authentic cases of ‘diamond octahedra’ which had been found to have been artificially shaped from base material. In two of these cases the material used was synthetic colorless corundum, and for the third case colorless quartz was used.
Most jewelers, knowing all too well the synthetic production of the corundum gems, ruby and sapphire, are wary of dealing with such stones unless they have sound reasons or are backed by a laboratory report, and it is rare that loss is occasioned by such an artifice. That fraud can occur, even with an experienced trader, was made apparent recently when a three-stone ruby ring was bought for some hundred of pounds, it being discovered later that the most important center stone was synthetic.
With respect to emerald, the most likely cause of trouble is surely the composite stone better known as the soude’ emerald, but despite the undoubted fine effect of this counterfeit, the writer cannot recall a single case of fraud involving this stone. The true synthetic emerald which is now being made in America has as yet not invaded this country, and when it does, as surely it will, more care still will be required by the members of our trade.
The painting of the rear facets of pale rubies, sapphires and emeralds in order to enhance their color is too patent and too well known to cause much difficulty, and the same may be said for the older type of garnet-topped doublets. The imitation of the alexandrite by the synthetic version of corundum and spinel does not now appear to worry the trade as it has done in the past, nor, for that matter, do the opal doublets; on the other hand, the orange red synthetic corundum, sometimes called the ‘padparadshca’ is still confused with the fire opal by some people less informed than their neighbors.
Before bringing these few notes to a close, reference must be made to gem pearl, for although the cultured pearl is so well known and so difficult in some cases to detect at sight, that risk is rarely taken. It is with the black pearl that trouble may occur, for artificial coloration may be particularly good, and, rather surprisingly, that hoary textbook fake, the polished hematite sphere, has quite recently shown itself. What probably was the most unusual fake that the writer came across was a necklace of pink beads, bought as coral, which turned out to be vegetable ivory appropriately stained.
With the spread of the science of gemology, most, if not all of these tricks should never succeed, and those enemies of society who perpetuate them be forever put out their nefarious business—but for the frailty of human nature.
Stichtite
Chemistry: Hydrated carbonate, hydroxide of magnesium and chromium (an alteration product of chrome serpentine)
Crystal system: Trigonal; massive/aggregates.
Color: Purple, purplish red, lilac; may be veined with green serpentine.
Hardness: 1.5 -2
Cleavage: Perfect: basal; fracture: splintery.
Specific gravity: 2.15 – 2.22
Refractive index: 1.53 mean; Uniaxial negative.
Luster: Greasy or waxy.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: Dark red to light red.
Occurrence: In serpentine rocks associated with chromite; Algeria, South Africa, Tasmania, Canada.
Notes
Decomposition product of chrome serpentine, veined with green; occasionally cut for collectors; distinct chrome spectrum – 3 bands in red between 635 – 630nm; cabochon, beads.
Crystal system: Trigonal; massive/aggregates.
Color: Purple, purplish red, lilac; may be veined with green serpentine.
Hardness: 1.5 -2
Cleavage: Perfect: basal; fracture: splintery.
Specific gravity: 2.15 – 2.22
Refractive index: 1.53 mean; Uniaxial negative.
Luster: Greasy or waxy.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: Dark red to light red.
Occurrence: In serpentine rocks associated with chromite; Algeria, South Africa, Tasmania, Canada.
Notes
Decomposition product of chrome serpentine, veined with green; occasionally cut for collectors; distinct chrome spectrum – 3 bands in red between 635 – 630nm; cabochon, beads.
Friday, August 10, 2007
What Am I?
(via The Canadian Gemmologist, Vol.III, No.3, Spring 1982) In my pure form I am white, but you seldom see me that way except as a synthetic. Usually I have color, and that color varies considerably. Sometimes I fluoresce brightly, sometimes not. I don’t have a very high dispersion, so people buy me primarily for my color. I have a good luster, I am durable, and my specific gravity is higher than most run-of-the-mill gems. What am I?
Answer: Corundum
Answer: Corundum
Wine Economics
The Economist writes about the relationship between the price of a bottle of wine and its taste + the perception of price of wine based on colour, ranking and vintage, rather than simply by taste and smell @ http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8031377
The Movies Meet Web 2.0: Lance Weiler On The New Economic Model For Independent Cinema
New Business Model: Knowledge@Wharton writes about Weiler's vision of cinematic experience (s) with a combination of live + interactive elements what he calls a cinema ARG or alternative reality game + an economic model for independent cinema @ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1783.cfm
Everyware
Good Books: (via Emergic) Adam Greenfield's book, Everyware is about the dawning age of ubiquitous computing.
Here is the book's description:
Ubiquitous computing--almost imperceptible, but everywhere around us--is rapidly becoming a reality. How will it change us? How can we shape its emergence?
Smart buildings, smart furniture, smart clothing... even smart bathtubs. networked street signs and self-describing soda cans. Gestural interfaces like those seen in Minority Report. The RFID tags now embedded in everything from credit cards to the family pet.
All of these are facets of the ubiquitous computing author Adam Greenfield calls "everyware." In a series of brief, thoughtful meditations, Greenfield explains how everyware is already reshaping our lives, transforming our understanding of the cities we live in, the communities we belong to--and the way we see ourselves.
Here is an excerpt (via A List Apart):
Everyware is an attempt to describe the form computing will take in the next few years. Specifically, it’s about a vision of processing power so distributed throughout the environment that computers per se effectively disappear. It’s about the enormous consequences this disappearance has for the kinds of tasks computers are applied to, for the way we use them, and for what we understand them to be.
Although aspects of this vision have been called a variety of names -- ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, physical computing, tangible media, and so on. I think of each as a facet of one coherent paradigm of interaction that I call everyware.
In everyware, all the information we now look to our phones or Web browsers to provide becomes accessible from just about anywhere, at any time, and is delivered in a manner appropriate to our location and context.
In everyware, the garment, the room and the street become sites of processing and mediation. Household objects from shower stalls to coffee pots are reimagined as places where facts about the world can be gathered, considered, and acted upon. And all the familiar rituals of daily life, things as fundamental as the way we wake up in the morning, get to work, or shop for our groceries, are remade as an intricate dance of information about ourselves, the state of the external world, and the options available to us at any given moment.
In all of these scenarios, there are powerful informatics underlying the apparent simplicity of the experience, but they never breach the surface of awareness: things just work.
Everyware is an interesting book + provides a preview of what's coming + gives you an interesting perspective of the emerging new world of convenience (s).
Here is the book's description:
Ubiquitous computing--almost imperceptible, but everywhere around us--is rapidly becoming a reality. How will it change us? How can we shape its emergence?
Smart buildings, smart furniture, smart clothing... even smart bathtubs. networked street signs and self-describing soda cans. Gestural interfaces like those seen in Minority Report. The RFID tags now embedded in everything from credit cards to the family pet.
All of these are facets of the ubiquitous computing author Adam Greenfield calls "everyware." In a series of brief, thoughtful meditations, Greenfield explains how everyware is already reshaping our lives, transforming our understanding of the cities we live in, the communities we belong to--and the way we see ourselves.
Here is an excerpt (via A List Apart):
Everyware is an attempt to describe the form computing will take in the next few years. Specifically, it’s about a vision of processing power so distributed throughout the environment that computers per se effectively disappear. It’s about the enormous consequences this disappearance has for the kinds of tasks computers are applied to, for the way we use them, and for what we understand them to be.
Although aspects of this vision have been called a variety of names -- ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, physical computing, tangible media, and so on. I think of each as a facet of one coherent paradigm of interaction that I call everyware.
In everyware, all the information we now look to our phones or Web browsers to provide becomes accessible from just about anywhere, at any time, and is delivered in a manner appropriate to our location and context.
In everyware, the garment, the room and the street become sites of processing and mediation. Household objects from shower stalls to coffee pots are reimagined as places where facts about the world can be gathered, considered, and acted upon. And all the familiar rituals of daily life, things as fundamental as the way we wake up in the morning, get to work, or shop for our groceries, are remade as an intricate dance of information about ourselves, the state of the external world, and the options available to us at any given moment.
In all of these scenarios, there are powerful informatics underlying the apparent simplicity of the experience, but they never breach the surface of awareness: things just work.
Everyware is an interesting book + provides a preview of what's coming + gives you an interesting perspective of the emerging new world of convenience (s).
Paintings For Now
Peter Schjeldahl writes about Neo Rauch + his complex compositions and persuasive visual poetry on canvas @ http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2007/06/04/070604craw_artworld_schjeldahl
Revisiting The Rihga Hotel
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about a diamond that was submitted by a New York sightholder to New York's GIA lab + the grading incident (s) + the management practice (s) + behind the scene events + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25451
Science Or Empiricism?
2007: Gemological competence requires more than reading textbooks, and the writer is right. I can imagine what was it like in the 1940s and 1950s. Despite the technological advances in gem identification, we still make mistakes. Again, he states that human senses are not always capable of analyzing their observations. Absolutely true. Here is what he has to say.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, No.1, Vol.1, January 1947) Norman A Harper writes:
Informed experience is a faculty of considerable value in any walk of life and knowledge gained by experience remains more firmly embedded in the minds of most people, than does knowledge culled from books or acquired at lectures.
Unfortunately, the human senses are not always capable of analyzing their observations, with the result that experience is frequently ill-informed, and thus of little value.
For countless centuries men experienced the diurnal journey of the sun round the world, and having a prejudice in favor of a geocentric universe, never suspected that in reality the roles were reversed, it being the earth which was the wanderer. By means of the scientific method, the measuring, analyzing and indexing of experienced observation, it was possible, however, to arrive eventually at this now almost universally known truth.
In every branch of knowledge the scientific method has proved its indispensability, and scientific instruments which measure and analyze human observations have become so numerous that a book of some three hundred pages is required to describe briefly the forms and uses of the more important of them.
There is still, however, a remarkable disinclination or reluctance among many to use such instruments, or rather to acquire the technique enabling them to be used. This may be due to a mistaken idea that these instruments require a technique that can only be achieve by long and painful practice and study. If this is so, it had better now be stated that while such study is necessary to grasp thoroughly the scientific principles underlying the use, say, of the telescope, much valuable and accurate knowledge can be gained by anyone, completely unversed in the science of optics, who knows which end to place next to the eye.
Few advances in knowledge have had such beneficent effects upon humanity as those associated with medical science, and few sciences can equal it in the number of the instruments to which its practitioners have recourse. The instruments of physics, of optics, of chemistry, of electricity—to all these the physician turns for aid.
It is hard to imagine a doctor without a thermometer, a stethoscope, and a hypodermic syringe, yet it is possible for him purely by experience and the use of his hands to tell whether or not a patient is feverish, or by his unaided ear to hear the rhonchi or rales which mark successive stages of bronchitis; it is also possible for him to introduce drugs into the body without hypodermic syringe, but who will deny that the use of such instruments makes these operations so much accurate and certain, besides their having other uses and a much wider application.
What, one may ask, is the object of this long preamble? The answer is contained in another question. Does the jewelry trade make sufficient use, in the hands of its numerous practitioners, of the scientific instruments which are available for the determination of the nature of the materials in which it deals?
The writer has within the past few weeks encountered three pieces of jewelry in which there were green stones which experience told him were emeralds, and not only his own experience, but the experience of three other jewelers of no mean capabilities, to whom they were shown. By the use of scientific methods and scientific instruments, however, these stones were proved to be extremely good imitations. As they were mounted in association with diamonds of considerable value, they might have escaped suspicion had not three very simple scientific tests been utilized to determine their true nature. Needless to say, the results of the investigations were a grave disappointment to their owners, who had vigorously asserted their genuineness.
In such cases the empirical method is generally employed, with the result that the truth is never discovered.
There are few trades where such mistakes can be more costly and few trades where accurate diagnosis is so often necessary. Every purchase from the public (and sometimes even from the trade) and every valuation, for whatever purpose, pre-supposes an exact knowledge on the part of the buyer or appraiser of the true nature of the constituent materials of the object to be bought or valued. Yet, in spite of the growing number of competent gemologists, a census of the jewelry establishments in which a bottle of dilute nitric acid and a smooth faced file were the only instruments available (and in a few enlightened cases, one Chelsea color filter), might engage a large number of enumerators.
In such establishments it is not possible to differentiate between unmarked platinum and unmarked white gold, or, for that matter, between either of those metals and stainless steel, and even an approximation of the quality of unmarked yellow gold would be with difficulty arrived at.
But when it comes to the determination of gemstones, the difficulties which beset such establishments would cause shivers of apprehension in a gemologist.
Of course, jewelers in that position can always say that it is possible to ‘play safe’, ‘when in doubt, don’t buy’, or ‘sell?’, ‘when not sure, allow nothing for the colored stone’, ‘buy it as 9 carat (or even when is obvious better than that….15 carat). But surely that is unethical and dishonest. What would be thought of a doctor who said ‘I can’t be sure whether it is colic or appendicitis, so we had better operate?’
A knowledge of gemology and the purchase of a little equipment would resolve most, if not all these doubts. In the case of precious metals, the expenditure of a few shillings and an hour of time with Selwyn’s ‘Retail Jeweler’s Handbook’ are all that is necessary to banish them for ever. Precious stones require a little more attention, but the possession of a few scientific instruments and an easily acquired knowledge of the technique of their use constitutes all that is necessary to transform an empiricist into a scientist, or one who guesses into one who knows.
The cost of these instruments might deter the individual, as it is in the region of thirty to forty pounds, but it should not, under any circumstances, deter a business, or an individual if he happens to be the proprietor of a small business, as this equipment will in a few years pay handsome dividends if used with knowledge and imagination. In any case, the increased confidence to be gained from their use will manifest itself inevitably in more and more successful sales talk.
‘I don’t want to turn my showrooms into a laboratory’ is a remark occasionally heard, but a consultation in Harley Street will be conducted in the atmosphere of a cultured 18th century salon, with gastroscopes, cystoscopes, and even such a pleasant instrument as the microscope, kept well in the background. No one doubts their existence and possible proximity, however, and the certainty that the consultant will take every advantage in diagnosis they offer, makes his advice invaluable as compared with the advice of the greatest physician of medieval times.
What equipment will benefit the jeweler? Here is a list of instruments in the order in which they should be purchased, in the opinion of the writer:
- The refractometer (Tully, Herbert Smith, or Rayner)
- Heavy liquids (Bromoform, methylene iodide, clerici solution)
- Petrological microscope
- The dichroscope
- The spectroscope
The method of their use is fully explained in textbooks written specially for the jeweler, but the first essential is a competent knowledge of gemology.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, No.1, Vol.1, January 1947) Norman A Harper writes:
Informed experience is a faculty of considerable value in any walk of life and knowledge gained by experience remains more firmly embedded in the minds of most people, than does knowledge culled from books or acquired at lectures.
Unfortunately, the human senses are not always capable of analyzing their observations, with the result that experience is frequently ill-informed, and thus of little value.
For countless centuries men experienced the diurnal journey of the sun round the world, and having a prejudice in favor of a geocentric universe, never suspected that in reality the roles were reversed, it being the earth which was the wanderer. By means of the scientific method, the measuring, analyzing and indexing of experienced observation, it was possible, however, to arrive eventually at this now almost universally known truth.
In every branch of knowledge the scientific method has proved its indispensability, and scientific instruments which measure and analyze human observations have become so numerous that a book of some three hundred pages is required to describe briefly the forms and uses of the more important of them.
There is still, however, a remarkable disinclination or reluctance among many to use such instruments, or rather to acquire the technique enabling them to be used. This may be due to a mistaken idea that these instruments require a technique that can only be achieve by long and painful practice and study. If this is so, it had better now be stated that while such study is necessary to grasp thoroughly the scientific principles underlying the use, say, of the telescope, much valuable and accurate knowledge can be gained by anyone, completely unversed in the science of optics, who knows which end to place next to the eye.
Few advances in knowledge have had such beneficent effects upon humanity as those associated with medical science, and few sciences can equal it in the number of the instruments to which its practitioners have recourse. The instruments of physics, of optics, of chemistry, of electricity—to all these the physician turns for aid.
It is hard to imagine a doctor without a thermometer, a stethoscope, and a hypodermic syringe, yet it is possible for him purely by experience and the use of his hands to tell whether or not a patient is feverish, or by his unaided ear to hear the rhonchi or rales which mark successive stages of bronchitis; it is also possible for him to introduce drugs into the body without hypodermic syringe, but who will deny that the use of such instruments makes these operations so much accurate and certain, besides their having other uses and a much wider application.
What, one may ask, is the object of this long preamble? The answer is contained in another question. Does the jewelry trade make sufficient use, in the hands of its numerous practitioners, of the scientific instruments which are available for the determination of the nature of the materials in which it deals?
The writer has within the past few weeks encountered three pieces of jewelry in which there were green stones which experience told him were emeralds, and not only his own experience, but the experience of three other jewelers of no mean capabilities, to whom they were shown. By the use of scientific methods and scientific instruments, however, these stones were proved to be extremely good imitations. As they were mounted in association with diamonds of considerable value, they might have escaped suspicion had not three very simple scientific tests been utilized to determine their true nature. Needless to say, the results of the investigations were a grave disappointment to their owners, who had vigorously asserted their genuineness.
In such cases the empirical method is generally employed, with the result that the truth is never discovered.
There are few trades where such mistakes can be more costly and few trades where accurate diagnosis is so often necessary. Every purchase from the public (and sometimes even from the trade) and every valuation, for whatever purpose, pre-supposes an exact knowledge on the part of the buyer or appraiser of the true nature of the constituent materials of the object to be bought or valued. Yet, in spite of the growing number of competent gemologists, a census of the jewelry establishments in which a bottle of dilute nitric acid and a smooth faced file were the only instruments available (and in a few enlightened cases, one Chelsea color filter), might engage a large number of enumerators.
In such establishments it is not possible to differentiate between unmarked platinum and unmarked white gold, or, for that matter, between either of those metals and stainless steel, and even an approximation of the quality of unmarked yellow gold would be with difficulty arrived at.
But when it comes to the determination of gemstones, the difficulties which beset such establishments would cause shivers of apprehension in a gemologist.
Of course, jewelers in that position can always say that it is possible to ‘play safe’, ‘when in doubt, don’t buy’, or ‘sell?’, ‘when not sure, allow nothing for the colored stone’, ‘buy it as 9 carat (or even when is obvious better than that….15 carat). But surely that is unethical and dishonest. What would be thought of a doctor who said ‘I can’t be sure whether it is colic or appendicitis, so we had better operate?’
A knowledge of gemology and the purchase of a little equipment would resolve most, if not all these doubts. In the case of precious metals, the expenditure of a few shillings and an hour of time with Selwyn’s ‘Retail Jeweler’s Handbook’ are all that is necessary to banish them for ever. Precious stones require a little more attention, but the possession of a few scientific instruments and an easily acquired knowledge of the technique of their use constitutes all that is necessary to transform an empiricist into a scientist, or one who guesses into one who knows.
The cost of these instruments might deter the individual, as it is in the region of thirty to forty pounds, but it should not, under any circumstances, deter a business, or an individual if he happens to be the proprietor of a small business, as this equipment will in a few years pay handsome dividends if used with knowledge and imagination. In any case, the increased confidence to be gained from their use will manifest itself inevitably in more and more successful sales talk.
‘I don’t want to turn my showrooms into a laboratory’ is a remark occasionally heard, but a consultation in Harley Street will be conducted in the atmosphere of a cultured 18th century salon, with gastroscopes, cystoscopes, and even such a pleasant instrument as the microscope, kept well in the background. No one doubts their existence and possible proximity, however, and the certainty that the consultant will take every advantage in diagnosis they offer, makes his advice invaluable as compared with the advice of the greatest physician of medieval times.
What equipment will benefit the jeweler? Here is a list of instruments in the order in which they should be purchased, in the opinion of the writer:
- The refractometer (Tully, Herbert Smith, or Rayner)
- Heavy liquids (Bromoform, methylene iodide, clerici solution)
- Petrological microscope
- The dichroscope
- The spectroscope
The method of their use is fully explained in textbooks written specially for the jeweler, but the first essential is a competent knowledge of gemology.
Staurolite
Chemistry: Hydrated aluminum silicate.
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; cross-shaped, interpenetrant twins at 60º or 90º;crystals display pseudo-hexagonal cross section.
Color: Transparent to opaque: reddish brown.
Hardness: 7 – 7.5
Cleavage: Poor: 1 direction; fracture: brittle, conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 3.65 – 3.78
Refractive index: 1.739 – 1.762; Biaxial positive; 0.011-0.015
Luster: Vitreous to resinous.
Dispersion: Moderate.
Dichroism: Colorless, yellow/red, golden yellow; varies.
Occurrence: Metamorphic; Switzerland, France, Brazil, Russia, Scotland, USA.
Notes
Most specimens are opaque and valued for its cross-shaped twins; also known as cross stones, fairy stones; faceted.
Crystal system: Orthorhombic; cross-shaped, interpenetrant twins at 60º or 90º;crystals display pseudo-hexagonal cross section.
Color: Transparent to opaque: reddish brown.
Hardness: 7 – 7.5
Cleavage: Poor: 1 direction; fracture: brittle, conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 3.65 – 3.78
Refractive index: 1.739 – 1.762; Biaxial positive; 0.011-0.015
Luster: Vitreous to resinous.
Dispersion: Moderate.
Dichroism: Colorless, yellow/red, golden yellow; varies.
Occurrence: Metamorphic; Switzerland, France, Brazil, Russia, Scotland, USA.
Notes
Most specimens are opaque and valued for its cross-shaped twins; also known as cross stones, fairy stones; faceted.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Tanzanite And Some Imitations
Zoisite: Blue to violet
Tanzanite (trade name)
R.I=1.688 – 1.696 (1.691 – 1.700); Birefringence=0.008 – 0.009; S.G=3.35
Heavy Pb-Glass
U.M Tanzanic (trade name)
R.I=1.600 – 1.605; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G=3.36 – 3.48
YAG
Purple Coranite (trade name)
R.I= >1.80; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G=4.58
Synthetic Corundum
Blue Coranite (trade name)
R.I=1.764 – 1.771; Birefringence= 0.007; S.G=4.02
YAG
Russian YAG (trade name)
R.I=>1.80; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G= 4.56
Ca-Phosphate Glass
R.I=1.537; Birefringence=Isotropic (SR); S.G=2.64
Tanzanite (trade name)
R.I=1.688 – 1.696 (1.691 – 1.700); Birefringence=0.008 – 0.009; S.G=3.35
Heavy Pb-Glass
U.M Tanzanic (trade name)
R.I=1.600 – 1.605; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G=3.36 – 3.48
YAG
Purple Coranite (trade name)
R.I= >1.80; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G=4.58
Synthetic Corundum
Blue Coranite (trade name)
R.I=1.764 – 1.771; Birefringence= 0.007; S.G=4.02
YAG
Russian YAG (trade name)
R.I=>1.80; Birefringence= Isotropic (SR); S.G= 4.56
Ca-Phosphate Glass
R.I=1.537; Birefringence=Isotropic (SR); S.G=2.64
The House Of Mondavi: The Rise And Fall Of An American Wine Dynasty
Good Books: Here is what the description of the book The House Of Mondavi: The Rise And Fall Of An American Wine Dynasty says: (via Amazon)
An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built—and then spectacularly lost—a global wine empire
Set in California’s lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corp.’s twenty-first-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare’s sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert’s exile from the family—and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert’s sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battle with each other for control of the company before Michael’s expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate.
A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.
Here is a review from Penguin (via Amazon):
An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built—and then spectacularly lost—a global wine empire.
Set in California’s lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corp.’s twenty-first-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare’s sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert’s exile from the family—and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert’s sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battle with each other for control of the company before Michael’s expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate.
A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.
It's a must-read book + blood feuds + (business) split-personalities are common traits in any business + when it happens in a family, it becomes a classic thriller.
An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built—and then spectacularly lost—a global wine empire
Set in California’s lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corp.’s twenty-first-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare’s sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert’s exile from the family—and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert’s sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battle with each other for control of the company before Michael’s expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate.
A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.
Here is a review from Penguin (via Amazon):
An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built—and then spectacularly lost—a global wine empire.
Set in California’s lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corp.’s twenty-first-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare’s sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert’s exile from the family—and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert’s sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battle with each other for control of the company before Michael’s expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate.
A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.
It's a must-read book + blood feuds + (business) split-personalities are common traits in any business + when it happens in a family, it becomes a classic thriller.
The Change Function
Good Books: (via Emergic) The Change Function is about why some technologies succeed -- and others fail. The short answer: The Change Function = f (user crisis vs. total perceived pain of adoption).
From the book’s description:
After years of studying countless winners and losers, Coburn has come up with a simple idea that explains why some technologies become huge hits (iPods, DVD players, Netflix), but others never reach more than a tiny audience (Segways, video phones, tablet PCs). He says that people are only willing to change when the pain of their current situation outweighs the perceived pain of trying something new.
In other words, technology demands a change in habits, and that’s the leading cause of failure for countless cool inventions. Too many tech companies believe in build it and they will come -- build something better and people will beat a path to your door. But, as Coburn shows, most potential users are afraid of new technologies, and they need a really great reason to change.
Here is an excerpt from the book (from Fast Company):
Technologists think we'll gladly adopt an innovation when it's manifestly smarter. But change is an emotion-laden process; disrupting, game-changing technologies. No way. Most of us despise being disrupted and don't wish to be game-changed.
The technologies that stand the best chance of winning us over are enhanced editions of products we already understand. Flat-panel televisions, for example, are much better televisions with low perceived pain of adoption. Everyone "gets" what a basic television is all about. There's nothing to learn. At the same time, flat-panel TVs address a powerful need. True, it's both subtle and self-fulfilling: It's the psychic pain we feel for not having one. Since 19% of televisions sold in 2005 were flat panels, the technology appears set to hit a societal tipping point. Anyone who doesn't have one will feel deeply embarrassed about it. If that's not a crisis, I don't know what is.
A technology's success or failure is not merely fated. Instead, it demands action of one of two varieties. Technologists can identify and intensify a customer crisis. Or they can reduce the perceived pain of adoption.
Tom Evslin wrote about the book: It’s important, says Pip, not to confuse a perceived crisis on the part of the would-be vendor with a crisis on the part of the prospect. The oft-failed Picturephone (not be confused with cell phones that take pictures) was an answer to a crisis felt by telcos, not their customers. They needed new high-margin products. TPPA (Total Perceived Pain of Adoption) for this product/service has always been high both because we aren’t used to being seen when we talk remotely and because the first users (and someone has to be the first user) can’t find anyone else to talk to?
I think it's an interesting book because it aggregates many concepts, its unique chemistry + why sometimes there is chemical mismatch between perceptions and realities.
From the book’s description:
After years of studying countless winners and losers, Coburn has come up with a simple idea that explains why some technologies become huge hits (iPods, DVD players, Netflix), but others never reach more than a tiny audience (Segways, video phones, tablet PCs). He says that people are only willing to change when the pain of their current situation outweighs the perceived pain of trying something new.
In other words, technology demands a change in habits, and that’s the leading cause of failure for countless cool inventions. Too many tech companies believe in build it and they will come -- build something better and people will beat a path to your door. But, as Coburn shows, most potential users are afraid of new technologies, and they need a really great reason to change.
Here is an excerpt from the book (from Fast Company):
Technologists think we'll gladly adopt an innovation when it's manifestly smarter. But change is an emotion-laden process; disrupting, game-changing technologies. No way. Most of us despise being disrupted and don't wish to be game-changed.
The technologies that stand the best chance of winning us over are enhanced editions of products we already understand. Flat-panel televisions, for example, are much better televisions with low perceived pain of adoption. Everyone "gets" what a basic television is all about. There's nothing to learn. At the same time, flat-panel TVs address a powerful need. True, it's both subtle and self-fulfilling: It's the psychic pain we feel for not having one. Since 19% of televisions sold in 2005 were flat panels, the technology appears set to hit a societal tipping point. Anyone who doesn't have one will feel deeply embarrassed about it. If that's not a crisis, I don't know what is.
A technology's success or failure is not merely fated. Instead, it demands action of one of two varieties. Technologists can identify and intensify a customer crisis. Or they can reduce the perceived pain of adoption.
Tom Evslin wrote about the book: It’s important, says Pip, not to confuse a perceived crisis on the part of the would-be vendor with a crisis on the part of the prospect. The oft-failed Picturephone (not be confused with cell phones that take pictures) was an answer to a crisis felt by telcos, not their customers. They needed new high-margin products. TPPA (Total Perceived Pain of Adoption) for this product/service has always been high both because we aren’t used to being seen when we talk remotely and because the first users (and someone has to be the first user) can’t find anyone else to talk to?
I think it's an interesting book because it aggregates many concepts, its unique chemistry + why sometimes there is chemical mismatch between perceptions and realities.
Descendant Of The Pharaohs
Sylvia Hochfield writes about Egypt’s antiquities council's campaign to repatriate artistic icons from museums around the world + Zahi Hawass, the passionate secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2039
Dubai Topped $10 Billion In Diamond Transit Trade In 2005
Chaim Even-Zohar profiles Dubai, the tougher policies of Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), the Kimberley Authorities + the business angle @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25483
Synthetic Or Artificial
2007: Even today many don't know/understand the difference (s) between synthetic and artificial gemstones. The minute you mention synthetic they will ask if it's glass or plastic; to my surprise even gemologists, jewelers and traders ask the same. I call it momentary autism. They go blank/inert. I think gemological education should be perceived as a life long learning endeavor.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.VII, No.6, April, 1960) A E Farn writes:
Most gem enthusiasts have at some time or other either attended a gemological exhibition, or proudly shown their own collection of gems to friends and relations—always to be asked the inevitable question, ‘how much are they worth?’ To the keen collector, this is an irritating question, since it indicates clearly where the interest lies and how the average person reacts to such terms as gemstones or jewelry. Seldom does one meet the true appreciation of beauty or rarity, but always the eternal ‘how much?’
Unfortunately certain elements in our society readily apply their criminal psychology to this materialistic interest in valuables so quickly evinced by the more greedy or gullible section of the public. Thus, when a new material came on to the market and displayed tremendous fire and attraction for a price low in comparison to diamond it afforded possibilities which the unscrupulous were not slow to realize. The new material’s trade name of fabulite seemed coined specially for word play—fabulous for the credulous! It was not until some fairly recent occasion that I was asked by a gem dealer, who wanted to satisfy a customer’s enquiry, whether it was intended to simulate diamond and if it was a synthetic stone.
Answering rather quickly without very serious thought, I replied that it certainly was not intended to simulate diamond but doubtless it could be so used. It was not synthetic diamond, since its formula was SrTiO3, strontium titanate, but it could be described as a synthetic stone. Since then I have had second thoughts. I began to wonder if it was correct to describe this product as synthetic, and without going into the various aspects and methods of manufacture of synthetics generally I wondered whether it was correct so to describe strontium titanate.
Being weak on etymology I could only have recourse to what I had been taught, and as far as I could remember a synthetic stone is a stone which has the same chemical composition, refractive indices and specific gravity as its natural counterpart.
If a synthetic ruby be analyzed it would correspond with natural ruby and similarly in the case of sapphire. With synthetic spinel this is not quite the same, as here there is an excess of alumina in the composition and the properties are slightly higher in R.I and S.G than those of natural spinel. It would seem to be hair-splitting, but even synthetic spinel is not a true synthesis of natural spinel. It did not intend to propound this particular case, but it slipped in as a natural sequence.
What I really wanted to focus on is: strontium titanate, is it a synthetic, since so far as is known there is no naturally occurring mineral? Certainly it is an artifact as indeed are all synthetics, whether corundum, spinel, rutile or emerald. The Concise Oxford dictionary gives synthesis as ‘combination, composition, putting together. Chemically: artificial production of compounds from their constituents.’ Jarrold’s dictionary of difficult words gives synthesis as ‘combination of parts into a uniform whole. Synthetic—pertaining to synthesis and adjectivally as artificial.’ Webster’s Compendium carefully states, ‘synthetic gems having similar chemical composition to natural corundum and spinel and which in physical and optical properties approximate to these gems are made in an oxy-coal gas furnace (Verneuil process)’. Anderson’s Gem Testing gives: ‘synthetic stones, manufactured stones which have essentially the same composition, crystal structure and properties as the natural mineral they represent.’
It would seem, therefore, that a consensus of opinion is against terming an artifact of no known natural counterpart as a synthetic from a gemological view. Incidentally, most so called synthetics which have a counterpart in nature are all certainly harder than fabulite, which has a softness too low to admit of normal jewelry usage. It would seem therefore that strontium titanate is in fact an artificial stone and should be so described.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.VII, No.6, April, 1960) A E Farn writes:
Most gem enthusiasts have at some time or other either attended a gemological exhibition, or proudly shown their own collection of gems to friends and relations—always to be asked the inevitable question, ‘how much are they worth?’ To the keen collector, this is an irritating question, since it indicates clearly where the interest lies and how the average person reacts to such terms as gemstones or jewelry. Seldom does one meet the true appreciation of beauty or rarity, but always the eternal ‘how much?’
Unfortunately certain elements in our society readily apply their criminal psychology to this materialistic interest in valuables so quickly evinced by the more greedy or gullible section of the public. Thus, when a new material came on to the market and displayed tremendous fire and attraction for a price low in comparison to diamond it afforded possibilities which the unscrupulous were not slow to realize. The new material’s trade name of fabulite seemed coined specially for word play—fabulous for the credulous! It was not until some fairly recent occasion that I was asked by a gem dealer, who wanted to satisfy a customer’s enquiry, whether it was intended to simulate diamond and if it was a synthetic stone.
Answering rather quickly without very serious thought, I replied that it certainly was not intended to simulate diamond but doubtless it could be so used. It was not synthetic diamond, since its formula was SrTiO3, strontium titanate, but it could be described as a synthetic stone. Since then I have had second thoughts. I began to wonder if it was correct to describe this product as synthetic, and without going into the various aspects and methods of manufacture of synthetics generally I wondered whether it was correct so to describe strontium titanate.
Being weak on etymology I could only have recourse to what I had been taught, and as far as I could remember a synthetic stone is a stone which has the same chemical composition, refractive indices and specific gravity as its natural counterpart.
If a synthetic ruby be analyzed it would correspond with natural ruby and similarly in the case of sapphire. With synthetic spinel this is not quite the same, as here there is an excess of alumina in the composition and the properties are slightly higher in R.I and S.G than those of natural spinel. It would seem to be hair-splitting, but even synthetic spinel is not a true synthesis of natural spinel. It did not intend to propound this particular case, but it slipped in as a natural sequence.
What I really wanted to focus on is: strontium titanate, is it a synthetic, since so far as is known there is no naturally occurring mineral? Certainly it is an artifact as indeed are all synthetics, whether corundum, spinel, rutile or emerald. The Concise Oxford dictionary gives synthesis as ‘combination, composition, putting together. Chemically: artificial production of compounds from their constituents.’ Jarrold’s dictionary of difficult words gives synthesis as ‘combination of parts into a uniform whole. Synthetic—pertaining to synthesis and adjectivally as artificial.’ Webster’s Compendium carefully states, ‘synthetic gems having similar chemical composition to natural corundum and spinel and which in physical and optical properties approximate to these gems are made in an oxy-coal gas furnace (Verneuil process)’. Anderson’s Gem Testing gives: ‘synthetic stones, manufactured stones which have essentially the same composition, crystal structure and properties as the natural mineral they represent.’
It would seem, therefore, that a consensus of opinion is against terming an artifact of no known natural counterpart as a synthetic from a gemological view. Incidentally, most so called synthetics which have a counterpart in nature are all certainly harder than fabulite, which has a softness too low to admit of normal jewelry usage. It would seem therefore that strontium titanate is in fact an artificial stone and should be so described.
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