Borinqueneer still serves as a military intelligence volunteer at 92 | Wiser With Age

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

The 65th Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as “Borinqueneers,” was created in 1899 by the U.S. Congress as a segregated unit composed primarily of Puerto Ricans. Thousands of these brave men served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.According to Gilberto Villahermosa’s book, “Honor and Fidelity: The 65th Infantry in Korea, 1950-1953,” 61,000 Puerto Ricans served in the Korean War alone, thousands of them with the 65th. However, the 65th has been the only segregated military infantry unit to have not yet been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.But just last month, after more than a year in the making, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed bills that will grant the 65th Infantry Regiment its long-awaited recognition. President Barack Obama will sign the legislation on June 10, 2014, and the living members of the infantry, and their families, will head to Washington to receive the Medal.“I am feeling wonderful!,” says Master Sergeant Andres Vergara about the pending honor.

via Borinqueneer still serves as a military intelligence volunteer at 92 | Wiser With Age.

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Obama Awards Borinqueneers With Congressional Gold Medal – NBC News.com

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

WASHINGTON, DC — A U.S. Army segregated unit composed mainly of soldiers from the island of Puerto Rico distinguished itself in World War I, World War II and Korea. But it was not until Tuesday that these soldiers, most of them no longer living, received one of the nation’s highest honors.President Obama awarded the 65th Infantry Regiment – known as the Borinqueneers for Puerto Rico’s native name, Borinquen – the Congressional Gold Medal.Sign up for breaking news alerts from NBC News”In World War I, they defended the homeland and patrolled the Panama Canal Zone. In World War II, they fought in Europe. In Korea, they fought in mud and snow. They are the 65th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army,” said Obama to cheers from the audience.

via Obama Awards Borinqueneers With Congressional Gold Medal – NBC News.com.

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Obama honors Puerto Rico’s ‘Borinqueneers’ – The Washington Post

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

borinquneers GMAllianceJune 10, 2014 11:23 AM EDT — President Obama signed a bill on Tuesday that awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the 65th Infantry Regiment “Borinqueneers,” who came from Puerto Rico and served in World War II and Korea. The Associated Press

Click here to see video

read more about The Borinqueneers here & here

via Obama honors Puerto Rico’s ‘Borinqueneers’ – The Washington Post.

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The Borinqueneers trailer – YouTube

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

The Borinqueneers chronicles the never-before told story of the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment, the only all-Hispanic unit in U.S. Army history. Through compelling interviews and rare archival footage, this film explores the unique experience of the 65th, culminating in the Korean War and the dramatic events that would threaten its very existence. Bound by a strong cultural identity, the men of the 65th were determined to prove their mettle, in spite of discrimination within the Army and curtailed rights in their own land, where to this day they can be drafted but cannot vote in U.S. elections. But in the fall of 1952, the 65th would face its toughest challenge when dozens of its soldiers abandoned their positions and were tried in one of the largest courts martial of the war.

DVD available at http://www.borinqueneers.com

via The Borinqueneers trailer – YouTube.

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This is NASA’s new concept spaceship for warp drive interstellar travel

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

“This is exactly why we need Science fiction, We need it to inspire Science Fact. Reaching for the future will help us acquire the tools to make a better present, which will in turn help us overcome our past errors.” [STR]

This is NASA’s idea for a warp drive spaceship, capable of interstellar travel. It’s not a fantasy sci-fi ship but a concept based on the equations of Dr. Harold White—lead at NASA’s Eagleworks Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory—who also works in ion engines and plasma thrusters.

via This is NASA’s new concept spaceship for warp drive interstellar travel.

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HP Invented a New Computer That Could Make Data Centers Obsolete

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

Hewlett-Packard is developing an entirely new kind of computer. But this isn’t some cheap laptop, quirky mobile device, or whatever else you assume HP makes these days; this is a snarling industrial-strength beast that could replace an entire data center with a single unit the size of a refrigerator.Nicknamed “The Machine,” the new hardware is still being pieced together at HP Labs—the research division of the company—and it sounds like it’s taking it awfully seriously. Businessweek reports that the company “will bring the Machine to market within the next few years or fall on its face trying.” Indeed, Martin Fink, the head of HP Labs thinks that they “have no choice” but to.So what’s all the fuss about? Well, precise details are scant, but Businessweek claims that it’s a completely new form of computer architecture that could entirely replace the forms of computing we’re used to: different memory, super fast data transfer, new operating systems written from the ground up. New everything, and so powerful that a unit the size of refrigerator could replace an entire data center.

via HP Invented a New Computer That Could Make Data Centers Obsolete.

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Brain-Like Memristors Could Revolutionize Memory Chips at the Atomic Level

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

The brainiacs at H.P. think they’ve discovered a way to replace transistors with technology that will shrink chips to the atomic scale. Emphasis on “brain.”They’re even throwing around impressive hyperbole, saying, as electrical engineer Dr. Leon O. Chua did, that “we have the right stuff now to build real brains.” Bwah? Real brains?Sort of. The “stuff” is called a memristor, and truth be told Dr. Chua actually conceived the idea way back in the Digital Dark Age known as 1971 seriously, there was no Facebook. It was only in 2008, however, that an H.P. lab at UC Berkeley was able to implement the technology and compare the result to how a human brain operates. Turns out they’re similar, Dr. Chua said, with our organic synapses and gray matter behaving very much like his artificial memristors.

via Brain-Like Memristors Could Revolutionize Memory Chips at the Atomic Level.

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How to Hold Your Phone When Shooting Video

Posted on June 10, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

In today’s Ask Pogue! video, I’m not going to answer a reader’s email query. I’m going to answer 30 of them.Seriously. I’ve received a lot of emails asking, why, for Pete’s sake, does anyone hold the phone vertically to capture video, when every playback device in existence TV, YouTube, phone, tablet has a horizontal screen?The answer, I’m guessing, is because they’re not thinking about it. They will after watching this video!And while I’m at it, there’s a little shout-out to people who record video with gigantic tablets at public performances.

via How to Hold Your Phone When Shooting Video.

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A Nosebleed Tour of the Wind Turbines Taking Over NYC’s Rooftops

Posted on June 6, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

According to the New York Times, wind turbines are all the rage in New York City. We decided to find out for ourselves what all the buzz—or whoosh?—was about. So we met with wind turbine maker UGE and its mechanical engineer, Darius Salgo, who was kind enough to show us around the newly-installed wind turbines on top of one NYC high-rise.

Read more via A Nosebleed Tour of the Wind Turbines Taking Over NYC’s Rooftops.

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Healthcare.gov revamp promises simpler sign-ups

Posted on June 6, 2014 by StevenTorresRamos

It’s almost universally accepted that Healthcare.gov’s launch was an absolute nightmare. The next iteration may very well not be, thanks to the new blood that’s been working tirelessly on a redesign since last November. As Wired tells it, once the revamped site launches this November 15th, it will employ something that was missing the first go ’round at all levels: common sense. That means the site will use Amazon’s cloud services as a back-end just like Netflix and Instagram, which should help avoid the black-outs from overloaded servers version 1.0 suffered. What’s more, the sign-in system has been vastly simplified. Instead of using a login requiring a special character like an underscore or a dollar sign, your email address acts as a username. A new option to sample plans without inputting any personal info will be implemented as well, and the entire process has been optimized for those scoping out plans on a mobile device. If you weren’t among the initial 5.4 million insured under the Affordable Care Act, this fall might be the time to start a new application.

via Healthcare.gov revamp promises simpler sign-ups.

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