Read this latest Nokia article on your Amazon Kindle describing how data centers, including the future of cloud computing, could have been radically re-imagined if Nokia engineers had kept on fine-tuning a highly experimental mobile web server….

But, while the above has profound implications for how small businesses manage their online presence (and attempt to convert visitors into leads) it may also pose a risk to consumer health.

In the past few days while researching a vitamin et al supplement e-commerce website for a potential client I stumbled upon a paper published by Dr. Joseph Mercola, regarded as a leader in this sector by millions of consumers but also deemed controversial by the medical community.

The paper was entitled Cell Phone Radiation – Is the Danger All in Your Head. I took the time to read it since unofficial sources tell me that Dr. Mercola, an osteopath, may have over 1 million email subscribers to his monthly newsletters on a wide range of health issues, which now appear to include cell phone usage.

The Chicago Tribune suggests his website Mercola.com receives over 2 million unique visitors.

It’s thus worth reviewing his conclusions considering the potential influence he exerts. To confirm his audience, take a look at a trending Google Insights graph for search terms based around Dr. Mercola

The surge in interest displayed above is partly driven by the success of published books, including The No-Grain Diet, which made an appearance on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Considered an expert in alternative medicine his views stating that “HIV is harmless and does not cause AIDS” or that “sunscreens may cause cancer” are considered controversial. Some regard him as ahead of his time; others label him a quack. He has a checkered history.

But, his paper on Smartphone radiation indicates a new direction for his website. Most consumers tacitly conclude that Smartphones must in some way affect your health. Dr. Mercola slipstreams this belief with a lengthy article on the topic.

Further, the mainstream media generally suggests there is a link between cell phone usage and cancer, at some level, based on findings from selected independent groups. And, If not cancer then at least cell abnormalities caused by low level radiation.

Data can politicized and this fiery topic is no exception, with a battle underway between the Ayes and Nays.

Meanwhile, the government including the FDA and FCC, conclude there is no material evidence of cell phone radiation risk. The lower radio frequency bands used by these devices, suggest no direct causation of brain cancer from cell phone usage. Numerous studies seem to confirm this. On other hand a number of emerging studies challenge this position.

Dr. Mercola’s views are thus worth examining, considering the gigantic following he can influence through newsletters, books, Twitter, Facebook and online materials.

His 13-page synopsis on cell phone radiation is generally well researched, with over 29 studies, web pages, and magazine articles referenced throughout.

He initially points out that the body of governmental data suggests that there are no health risks. But, gradually over the course of the 13-page document suggests that new medical research from a number of independent bodies paints a different picture, where new conclusions may need to be drawn, including a direct relationship between cell phone radiation and human cell abnormalities.

A number of sources are quoted including a 2004 REFLEX report by the EU which broadly concluded that RF radiation caused several types of chromosomal abnormalities in human cells.

But, perhaps the area where his paper generates the most ‘buzz’ centers around the impact of cell phone usage on children.

A number of bodies, including the Environmental Trust, have challenged government studies which they suggest are biased towards a narrow group of subjects which are typically male, 6″2′ in height and weight 190 lbs. They state that this group only represents about 7% of the population.

Children, for instance, have smaller brains and may be more susceptible to radiation. Further, they conclude the government is remiss in not also using MRI scans to confirm their findings.

Dr. Mercola himself references a paper conducted by the CTIA, the governing cell phone body, which funded a five-year study in 1993 to investigate the link between cell phones and cancer.

According to Dr. Mercola CTIA results showed that cell phones may have an adverse affect on children. He quotes further media reports, which suggest that while the CTIA initially published the findings they never took action. The results, he said, were discarded due to the negative conclusions drawn by the lead researcher.

“In November of 2000, (Dr. Carlo) published a book, Cell Phones—Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age, 14 in an effort to expose the industry cover-up,” said Dr. Mercola.

The CITA adopts the following viewpoint (more or less) on its website:

“As the FDA points out on its website, radio frequency waves do not have enough energy to ionize biological material and therefore are categorized as “non-ionizing.” As the FDA notes, other types of non-ionizing radiation include “visible light” and “infrared radiation (heat).”

This basically means the radiation count from cell phones is far too small to have any impact on a human being. At least according to the CTIA.

To date there has been no long-term studies on the affects of cell phone usage among children. Generally, not enough data exists as yet to draw any concrete conclusions.

However, in recent days the World Health Organization has partially reversed its earlier position on cell phone risks and concluded that cell phones are “possibly carcinogenic,’’ putting these devices in the same category as some chemicals and pesticides which affect human health.

This turnabout has led a number of medical researchers to slam government positions on the issue.

“It’s a wake-up call for the telecom industry and for the U.S. government to take cell phone radiation seriously,” he said. “The first step should be limiting the use of cell phones by children,” said a New York Times report.

Dr. Mercola himself fails to out rightly condemn cell phones in the final paragraphs of his paper, although he generally moves in this direction.

His final suggestions relate to the steps one can take to mitigate (potential) cell phone radiation:

• Limit the amount of time you spend on the phone.
• Use the speakerphone instead of putting the phone to your ear this is probably one of the single most important steps you can take other than not using your cell phone.
• Use a non-Bluetooth (wired) headset to limit your exposure to the cell phone. Better yet would be use an air tube headset which conducts sound but prevents any radiation from travelling up the wire to your brain.
• Attach a ferrite bead to your headset to decrease RF interference
• Limit calls inside buildings.
• Use the phone in open spaces as often as possible.
• Limit use by children and preadolescents.

Meanwhile, mobile devices will get closer and closer to your brain over the next few years.

The New York times reports that mobile devices now account for 7% of worldwide web traffic. 37% of this traffic takes place over a Wi-Fi connection

And Gartner Inc officially adopts this position:

By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. According to Gartner’s PC installed base forecast, the total number of PCs in use will reach 1.78 billion units in 2013. By 2013, the combined installed base of Smartphones and browser-equipped enhanced phones will exceed 1.82 billion units and will be greater than the installed base for PCs thereafter.

The future is without doubt mobile. The question remains how our brains will adapt to this coming revolution in mobile usage. From what I can make out Dr. Mercola is still not completely sure himself, even though his paper attempts to suggest the rising dangers of radiation via cell phone usage.

Read about how Dubai can turn your husband into a walking zombie and cook his internal organs. And, how it can offer financial freedom, professional growth and endless creature comforts to a struggling family. And, how Virgin America offered a chance to reclaim the American dream and a normal family life.

Virgin.com: Read Full Story A pilot’s Journey Home

My dad, Paul Stevens, recently sent a letter to a Cape newspaper calling for a national referendum on the issue in the wake of the Japanese Tsunami. This was recently published. I would be interested in your views on this subject. The Koeberg plant is the only nuclear power station in Africa.

Sirs,

The safety issues regarding nuclear power are so utterly far reaching government really does not have the moral authority to proceed further along this path without first consulting every citizen in South Africa.

I am calling for a national referendum on this issue.

The question is simple: should South Africa use nuclear power or not?

Should the referendum result in a No majority the government should have the courage to abandon their expansion plans and in fact to decommission Koeberg over say a period of 5-10 years.

In Taipei, March 28, Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers have called on the legislature to approve a referendum on nuclear power.

In Poland, March 23, Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he does not exclude the possibility of holding a referendum on nuclear power.

Italy, March 23, has declared a one-year moratorium on plans to establish a nuclear power industry.

On Saturday March 26, 250 000 people took to the streets in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne to demonstrate against nuclear power.

These are still early days but as the full ramifications of Japan’s nuclear crisis become evident the demand for nuclear power referenda will become politically irresistible worldwide.

It can be argued in very simple terms that the risks of nuclear power are actually insane. Cancer, genetic defects, destruction of businesses, loss of jobs, and the immediate collapse of property values. In a major disaster an entire city (e.g. Cape Town) can be rendered uninhabitable for 200 years.

Referenda have been held in Sweden (1980), Austria (1978), Switzerland (1995), Japan (1996), Italy (1987), and Taiwan (1982).

Citizens, the time is now and the right is yours.

Paul Stevens
Llandudno, Cape Town

Within the catamaran sector itself there has been further upheavals including the rising popularity of power catamarans and the advent of mega cats or “super catamarans” over 60 feet in length, including Richard Branson’s beast, the Necker Belle measuring over 100 feet.

These sailing and power catamarans have slowly and surely enticed many monohull enthusiasts over to the joys of stable, comfortable and sexy cats. While not exactly a war, there are strong advocates on both sides, which proclaim the merits of either one or two hulls respectively.

And, within the cat sector one particular sailing catamaran continues to maintain its popularity and affordability as the years go by: The Gemini 105Mc

Its famous teardrop hulls, measuring 34 feet, are still considered revolutionary, reducing drag and giving it the motion of a catamaran much larger in size.

It has the unusual ability of being able to traverse shallow waters — less than 2′ — made possible by lifting centerboards and pickup rudders.

In recent years, the builders of the Gemini crossed the great divide and partnered with Hunter Marine, a monohull builder to leverage their modern production methods and gain economies of scale in the wake of the recession.

The result is what I call the Gemini Effect: Updated interior designs to match the existing breakthroughs in hull design.

In a perfect twist of irony, the battle between Monohulls and Catamarans has been replaced, at least in this case, with a winning partnership between the builders of 1 and 2 hulls respectively.

By the way, if you are interested in a sailing vacation on a Gemini Catamaran send Kimberly Lee an email at charter [at] catamarans [dot] com. She would be glad to throw together some ideas for you in Florida, British Virgin Islands or even Mexico.

Catamarans Vs. Monohulls: Who Do You Support?

Illustration by Nick L’Ange

His team spent a paltry $5 million cleverly building a turnkey GSM mobile wallet and Telecom suite of services to slash transaction fees and allow marginalized individuals with no bank account or credit card to transfer cash to anyone else around the world provided they also have a PayToo account.

He used the recent CTIA show in March to officially announce plans to capture new American users in one of the most traditional banking sectors in the world.

At the time of going to press, Paytoo is now available in over 35,000 wireless U.S. stores. He has basically left the United States until last in his long-term strategy to capture a global audience.

“Our target market is the 5-billion people who have a handset. And inside this community 3 billion people who do not have any bank accounts and cannot buy online, but who are funding transactions valued at $300-billion based on recent statistics released by financial institutions,” said Mr. Poignant.

Numbering only 35 global employees, including 7 programmers, the Swiss Paymotech parent group was launched on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2008 after three years of development.

In 2007, a mobile “virtual” wallet was built on top of the existing (and highly successful) Yackie Telecom division, which already offered mobile phone solutions, VoIP and SIM cards.

Built exclusively on open-source, including PHP, Ajax and MySQL, the project costs have been kept low while also aggressively pursuing a policy of tightly controlling the network, technology and services to slash transaction fees for consumers.

Paytoo’s core attraction is the ability to elegantly handle international micro payments and cash transfers without getting hit with large transaction fees or requiring a traditional bank account.

Metaphorically and literally, this puts it on the side of the poor, especially in third world regions where cash transactions often range between $1-2 and saving one penny may literally be life saving.

Coincidently, Mr. Poignant lists Gandhi as his sole inspiration under the public section of his Facebook profile.

While recent press releases and blogs have outlined the obvious advantages of a unified mobile interface for low-cost prepaid voice calling and cash transactions, there are other areas, which I find more interesting.

This includes the interesting angle of partnering with British-based PalmTree technology shop to offer ‘cloud-ready’ secure, multi-factor LiveEnsure authentication for users logging into the PayToo system from their phone.

Falling under the umbrella term Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) PalmTree gives Paytoo robust ways to hook into cloud authentication services using their flagship product LiveEnsure, without having to build their own version.

“Don’t just identify your users. Authenticate them,” is their catchy call sign. Suffice to say that security is one of the biggest brakes on m-commerce adoption rates.

If Smartphones are set to become one of the primary game-changers in terms of how users access the Internet by 2013, cloud computing may be even bigger, offering new ways to drive down costs and complexity as I.T resources are pushed out into datacenters in the sky.

Smartphones, m-commerce and cloud computing thus represent the holy trinity driving innovation in the technology sector. And e-commerce security is the final hurdle they need to cross, especially in the United States.

For this reason Mr. Poignant confirmed Paymotech has contracted with local Miami firm called AML Compliance to leverage ‘fast track compliance’.

“By implementing a Fast Track methodology, compliance officers can achieve a level of simplicity that will allow them to complete their tasks in record time, without compromising the quality of their work and their results,” stated the AML website.

Mr. Poignant also told me that besides the mission statement of providing the world’s first truly global mobile wallet, his team is also looking at future ways to vertically integrate location based deals, since, as he put it, “our system knows what people are doing, what they are buying, where it’s located, where its coming from and where it’s being transferred.“

(Author’s note: Check out this expired experiment between FourSquare and American Express allowing the younger generation to register their Amex cards in the Foursquare system to get access to special offers from merchants who are also Foursquare participants.)

This direction has also manifested itself in a personal project of his called Muzicol, which aims to connect Songwriters directly with fans who may wish to buy their music. Anybody who signs up with Muzicol account automatically gets assigned a PayToo account (and vice versa) to facilitate the flow of small payments without large fees.

Paytoo is also working with a small on-demand Web HDTV startup, which he claims has been injected with $16 million in cash from Intel.

“The service provides an Internet set-top box to users who can search online for HDTV web content available through our partner’s global relationships. There are also plans to stream location-based content,” he said..

“The current problem facing our partner is how to sell web content that’s sometimes priced as low as 50 cents to users who do not have a bank account or credit card. That’s where Paytoo Mobile enters the picture.”

While he was reluctant to disclose the name of the HDTV partner since negotiations were still at a sensitive stage, he did suggest that the service already had 500,000 international users. He hopes to see this number eventually climb to millions with the PayToo payment icon clearly visible on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

“We are always talking to the same customer: one who needs to have content but does not have solution to make the payment but who are sending money all over the world, calling long distance, who need to save money, and need an elegant way to make payments to a stores (or a websites). Paytoo provides this all-in-one-system in the least expensive way.”

Mr. Poignant also stated that Paytoo has plans to shortly hook up with an African bank to deploy Paytoo in 12 African countries.

“Further, we are also finalizing the validation of our NFC connection in the United States. We will shortly release a NFC phone (with the US SIM and Paytoo embedded inside) by May 2011 for less than $49 per mobile phone.”

Author’s note: Check out this recent article by TechCrunch entitled The Ever-Elusive Mobile Wallet: Why NFC Chips Are Overhyped And Will Underdeliver which overviews the entry of Google into the Mobile Wallet sector and stormy debates around NFC technology. According to Paytoo, NFC is simply one component of their overall strategy and they are busy rolling out new NFC features for users. Paytoo now has a 17-month jump on Google, but the search giant has way more than five programmers so let’s see where things stand in a few months.

This interview was conducted, produced and delivered by Jason Stevens, a tech blogger operating out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jason is a regular contributor to the following sites: blog.vi.net | uk2.net/blog | Jason-stevens.com. You can also follow Jason on Twitter at _Jason_stevens_

Formerly known as Atomic Guppy, the company resurfaced in 2009 as Quamtel under the leadership of a new team currently responsible for steering the data transmission specialist into hot new mobile markets and custom development for niche verticals in sectors such as the health industry.

They will be using the upcoming CTIA Wireless show in Orlando to officially launch new products including DataJack, a prepaid, no contract USB modem that offers speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps and file downloads of up to 5GB. The modem costs $99.99 with a monthly fee of $49.99.

At first glance, it may seem odd why Quamtel would bother releasing a USB dongle if one considers Gartner’s prediction that By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. This implies DataJack has a limited shelf life.

However, argues Stuart Ehrlich, CEO, the technology is simply a means to an end, highlighting Quamtel’s underlying pedigree in data transmission technologies and ability to provide data in different formats across various devices.

“Niche retail products like DataJack open up doors into other niche markets. An example of this is prepaid tablets. Hopefully we will be the first to come out with a no-contract, prepaid service for the tablet by April of this year,” said Ehrlich.

The 7-inch tablets will retail at $200 with 10-inch tablets expected to be priced just below the $250 mark.

“And unlike a Virgin or a Best Buy we don’t need 10 or 20 million customers or products to move the dial. Five-hundred thousand, 1 million or 1.5 million is a huge deal to us.”

The rock-star appeal of these niche products is attracting attention from the health care sector where legacy applications are being painfully repurposed towards the upcoming Smartphone revolution.

“DataJack and pre-paid tables lead to other applications and opportunities. For instance a glucose meter company may approach us to incorporate data transmission into their devices to automatically update a website in real-time. This marketplace offers us annual returns of $15 million, maybe more.”

The magic sauce driving the above is the same technology housed in DataJack modems and the soon-to-be-released prepaid tablets.

An intriguing dark horse in the Quamtel constellation of subsidiaries is a division called Syncpointe, which monitors, controls and analyzes every single thing that happens over a cell phone.

You are probably wondering if this technology may be targeted towards location-based advertising or other GPS revenue models. The answer is yes. Quamtel is already thinking of ways to monetize this, especially in the area of text messaging.

“Do you think there may be 20 million parents in this country, who if they had an app to monitor everything that’s taking place on a cell phone — texting, cyber bullying, all that stuff you read about — do you think they would be interested? That’s where Syncpointe comes in.”

“If Syncpointe is downloaded onto your phone Quamtel would know exactly when a SMS message came to you, the time you opened it and whether you forwarded it onto any of your friends, including the timestamp. ”

The nuclear reactor for the Quamtel suite of services is their flagship WQN division, which pioneered calling cards on the Internet and established itself as contender in prepaid mobile technologies.

Ehrlich confirmed Quamtel ultimately intends to combine the voice features of WQN with their latest USB wireless product, DataJack which would further allow them to differentiate themselves from the myriad of competitors on the 3G landscape.

Fortunately, Both Virgin Mobile and Clearwire Inc., have in recent weeks fallen off the radar as heavyweight threats to the Quamtel suite of retail products.

In early February, Clearwire abandoned its retail strategy to focus on becoming a wholesaler, much to the delight of majority shareholder SprintNextel, third biggest wireless carrier in the United States.

Later that month, Virgin Mobile began throttling user data transfer rates and elevated monthly fees after the unexpected growth of its BroadBand2Go brand last year.

Both these developments have put Quamtel in a prime position to market their products in 2011.

However, traditional terrestrial carriers are not the only threat to Quamtel extending market share in the prepaid wireless market.

It also has to consider Internet computing delivered by satellite services such as Wildblue, which offer similar speeds and pricing along with greater coverage, especially in rural areas.

To counter these threats, Ehrlich confirmed that Quamtel is in advanced discussions with an unknown satellite provider to integrate their data transmission protocols.

“I am under an NDA, but we are in talks with a company seeking to become another satellite carrier. We will integrate some of the data portions of the transmission; they will be focusing more on voice. Syncpointe may be one of the technologies they use to interact with their customer base.”

Ehrlich believes that Quamtel will post a 8-fold increase in revenue by the second quarter of 2012, partly fueled by the launch of DataJack and prepaid tablets.

This interview was conducted, produced and delivered by Jason Stevens, a tech blogger operating out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jason is a regular contributor to the following sites: blog.vi.net | uk2.net/blog | Jason-stevens.com. You can also follow Jason on Twitter at _Jason_stevens_

The recent financial meltdown tightened the national waist to such an extent that it was inevitable that used “brokerage” sales would replace new boat sales as the staple diet for sail and power yacht dealerships across the country during 2010.

While new yacht sales offered bigger margins in the past, today many dealerships are forced to sell more used boats (and catamarans) to offset the effects of the dampened economy.

There are signs of a recovery but interestingly the turnaround may be surfacing in the sailing vacation or “charter” market first.

This includes The Catamaran Company whom I presently work for, which is feeding the rising interest in sailing vacations in the British Virgin Islands and elsewhere by offering big charter discounts on various Gemini and Lagoon models for the duration of the Miami Boat show.

In a surprise twist our charter department will from today also be running a virtual online boat show offering massive Internet discounts to those unable to attend the show due to work or family commitments (or just plain terrible weather! Did I read that 22 inches of snow recently fell in Chicago?)

Sailing Vacations are also increasingly becoming an “underground” or grassroots alternative to the commercialized “cookie-cutter” packages offered by massive cruise lines such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The keyword is “escape” with a sailing catamaran representing the best features of family vacation in an island setting.

The Miami Boat Show is always an interesting barometer to gauge the current strength of the yachting industry in general and the catamaran sector in particular. On a final parting note, early signs indicate that February yacht sales for The Catamaran Company may turn out to be the best the company has had in several years.

“All ten days were an aha moment but I didn’t have any individual spiritual experience or anything like that, I was just like ‘Wow, I’m the luckiest guy alive to be able to do this,’” said Olsen.

“I mean, every day when I woke up I felt that way, I just felt so fortunate and lucky. To be an average guy from America and now I’m flying into space at the age of 60 years old… I felt very privileged and fortunate.”

Having just finished reading his book By Any Means Necessary I knew the research scientist and business entrepreneur lived by the mantra “Never Give Up” which drove him to overcome a number of earthly obstacles to reach Space including a collapsed lung which had initially alarmed the brilliant, albeit conservative Russian doctors based at Star City, Kazakhstan.

The never-say-die scientist flew back to America and underwent surgery to put himself back in contention.

“It took me eight months of pounding on the door until they finally let me back into training with the condition that if the black spot shows up again, I’m immediately out. Fortunately that didn’t happen and I got to fly.”

Even once he was finally locked into the capsule with fellow cosmonauts Valei Tokarev and American Bill McArthur he had nagging doubts the Russians would allow him to fly.

“Call me overcautious, but I had instructed Jim McLaughlin [financial advisor] not to authorize the final payment for my trip into space until the rocket had cleared the launch pad.”

Interestingly, unlike their American counterparts the Russians do not have a 10-second countdown made famous by Houston mission control. Instead, once every circuit has been checked and re-checked they simply hit the launch button.

His capsule reached space within several minutes and began orbiting the Earth at speeds reaching 17,500 miles per hour. The 10-day journey would categorize him more a space scientist than ‘space tourist’ – a term he dislikes.

During this period he performed a number of medical and scientific experiments for the European Space Agency, which kept him busy but not to the point he could not enjoy the experience of seeing the Earth from above.

“I vividly recall looking out the window and suddenly seeing this massive cloud formation, with an unmistakable funnel inside: a hurricane.”

Awed by the image, he completely forgot to immortalize the moment with the digital camera he had brought onboard.

Olsen’s whole life has been dedicated to science both in terms of research (as a scientist) and application (as a businessman). Intriguingly, many of his interests and ventures have connections back to South Africa including his wine farm in Paarl, Cape Town– his next stop after the interview.

Olsen completed his post-doctoral studies in Materials Science at the University of Port Elizabeth in 1971.

During his 18-months on the tip of Africa he fell in love with the land, which eventually sparked the purchase of a vineyard near Cape Town in 2000. This is one of a multitude of personal and technology investments he has completed under the banner of his new company called GHO Ventures.

Olsen spends one month of each year with his family in South Africa, usually in February, attending to the summer harvest at Olsen Wineries.

“It’s either very relaxing or very hectic, depending on when the harvest takes place. You can’t plan it. It’s kind of a gamble. Once harvesting begins your up at 4.30 a.m. each day. It’s fun, I love it.”

During his 9-month training program at Star City, which included daily 2-mile runs, he used his connections with the South African embassy in Kazakhstan to personally deliver some of his Paarl wines to the evening meals attended by American astronauts based at the facility.

“I became very popular. It gave me a way to meet a lot of astronauts — many of whom remain friends of mine to this day.”

Oslen was inspired to pay $20 million to go into orbit after reading the exploits of the South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, who became the second private citizen to hitch a ride on a Russian Rocket.

Shuttleworth made his millions by selling his Internet-security company Thawte to Verisign for over $500-million, which would later allow him to launch the famous open-source project, Ubuntu.

Both men have strikingly similar profiles and reflect a new breed of entrepreneurs who pursue lofty goals in Space and on Earth. Nothing seems taboo for them.

Olsen is also a big fan of Elon Musk, another famous South African who reached great heights as the co-founder of Paypal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

Under his present company, GHO Ventures, Olsen has also invested in number of start-ups including a South African company called MLT Drives, which make inverters for solar energy.

According to their website:

“What all MLT products have in common is that they are particularly useful for African markets with large numbers of off-grid facilities, an unstable grid network and dramatically increasing energy prices instigating a trend towards independent green energy systems such as solar panels and inverters.”

Many of Olsen’s projects have a renewal energy theme; something he is passionate about. Two of his favorites are United Silicon Carbide and Princeton Power Systems, which reflect solar power inverter and silicon-transistor replacement technologies respectively.

The latter in particular has powerful miniaturization features, which may allow the electronics modules in electric cars to be reduced by up to 80% in size.

Some of his other “babies” housed under the GHO banner includes an Internet startup Achieve 3000, which focuses on improving the reading skills of children.

“It’s been extremely successful in the inner city schools in the U.S. and I would like to see it eventually being brought over to South Africa. Kids in fourth and fifth grades are falling further and further behind their classmates in reading. This enables them to catch up more quickly.”

Although he is agnostic politically he yearns for more political leadership from Washington to help bring America back to the glory days of the 1960s when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

“I wish we just had a political leader, I don’t care who he is or what party he is from who would just step up to the plate and say: listen, a lot of our problems, political and economic are related to energy. We could use energy independence to solve a lot of our political and economical problems.”

“If we became leaders in energy in general and specifically in clean energy we’d be world leaders. We could become a net exporter again. My concern is we’ll wind up importing more and more from China instead of developing our own technologies.”

I asked him if a possible solution may be to lock up the 100 best U.S. scientists in a room for the next five years until they came up with a viable commercial technology.

“[Laughs] I’m not sure if that would work. Back in 1960 when Kennedy made his famous speech with the goal ‘we are going to put a man on the moon before 1970’, it was something people could relate to and grab onto.”

“I went back and I re-read that speech, and it’s mostly a downer; he was talking about how we were slipping behind, how we were behind in education, how the Russians were ahead and this is gonna cost three hundred million and that’s going to cost five hundred million.”

“That’s when one hundred million meant something economically — it wasn’t a hundred billion, it was a hundred million! The first 90% of it was a downer but in the end he said: ‘we have no choice, we must do it, we will do it’ and it was those last few lines that were really were motivating.’”

Many readers may be surprised why a guy like Olsen has not committed himself to building a interstellar initiative similar to Space Adventures (which helped him get into space) or something like Virgin Galactic started by Sir Richard Branson.

“Sure, I just don’t have enough money to do it,” he laughed. That’s quite a statement from a guy who sold one of his earlier companies for a whopping $600 million!

Instead, since he landed back on Earth in 2005, he has devoted himself to getting more kids in America interested in science and engineering. To this end, he has given more than 400 talks to kids in the 8-12 year age group across America.

“I think they are the most impressionable. I use the space thing to get them excited about technology.”

In his book, Olsen describes a brief moment on the day prior to launch when his family arrived on a bus at Star City to visit him. He was under strict orders not to have any human contact during the week leading up to blast-off, which meant he had to remain at a safe distance.

His youngest grandson, Justin, then four years old, ignored the order and attempted to rush out and give Olsen a hug.

“I had no choice but to run away, with Justin in hot pursuit,” remembers Olsen.

His daughter who calmed him down and explained the situation consoled a shocked Justin.

“He has a goal now and wants to be an astronaut, which is great. For me, its less about being an astronaut and more about being a scientist or an engineer,” said Olsen.

It’s always difficult finding that one last question to ask a person like Olsen who has done so much with his life and will probably do a whole lot more.

In these situations I like find out what they are currently reading as it gives me some insight into how they relax and what they find interesting.

“I am reading the Keith Richards memoir, called Life. What I find interesting about it is it’s more about life in the 50s in England, than about Rock and Roll. I mean, there’s obviously a lot of that, but you know, it’s not just, Oh, we used drugs here, we got smashed there, it talks a lot about growing up and what life was like in England. I think anyone my age would probably enjoy reading about it, especially people from England.”

When his capsule landed back on Earth in 2005, Olsen had been focused on Space for nearly two and half years.

“When I came down in that Kazakhstan desert and they pulled us out of the capsule, it was over it felt real good. People are cheering you and asking for autographs and that’s all nice.

“But then you go home and say ‘All right, so what’s the rest of my life going to be like?’”

Judging from what he told me in that interview on February 1st, 2010 I would have to say “Pretty Good.”

You can find his book By Any Means Necessary on Amazon.

This took him on a 34 year journey into martial arts which included joining the U.S. Air Force Human Intelligence & Spec Ops division landing him on the shores of Korea where he studied under Grandmaster Chang, Young-Shil, considered one of the top Hapkido grandmasters in the world.

This was no lucky incident but a calculated mission he had planned his entire life.

Many of you reading this have most likely never heard of Grandmaster Chang who chose to forgo the lure of Hollywood and cash-in on his Hapkido Skills.

But, he trained with some of Korea’s biggest names in Hapkido before they became famous in America including Bong Soo Han who starred in the movie Billy Jack and Ji Han-Jae who fought Bruce Lee in The Game of Death.

Chang is thus a traditionalist, a Korean who spent his life teaching Hapkido at one school to generations of martial artists, including a young American stationed at the Osan Air Force Base.

For a decade he trained hard under Chang moving up the ranks to eventually become a 6th Degree Black Belt Master and Instructor.

He returned to America with the distinction of being ranked within the top 1% of martial artists in the world today and assumed the role as President of the International Hapkido Federation (IHF).

While Hapkido has often hovered in the shadows of its more famous cousin, Aikido, it is without doubt more direct and often more effective, employing smaller circles and precise defensive maneuvers.

The most dangerous man alive is fluent in all areas of Hapkido and considered a prodigy by those knowledgeable in this Korean art , which has links back to Daito-Ryu Aki Jujitsu under Tokeda Sokaku.

He is also an inductee into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

He is gifted teacher; an amazing talent. Master Jeff Allen is the most dangerous man alive.