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10

2005-10 posts.

  1. 2005-10-03t15:02:11Z. RE: Conservation. Faith; Philosophy;. Health. Local. Nature. Play. Politics. Rambling. Show Biz. Words.
  2. 2005-10-06t17:12:41Z. RE: Conservation. Faith; Philosophy;. Health. Make. Play. Quirky [Possibly NSFW]. Show Biz.
  3. 2005-10-15t02:27:30Z. RE: Comics. Conservation. Cyber Life. Engineering; Tech;. Faith; Philosophy;. Food. Make. Martial. Math; Science;. Play. Words.
  4. 2005-10-24t18:18:58Z. RE: Conservation. Cyber Tech. Faith; Philosophy;. Food. Health. Local. Make. Math; Science;. Nature. Quirky [Possibly NSFW]. Relations [SFW]. Words.
  5. MySQL 5.0 Released. RE: Cyber Tech. Open Source.
  6. Bigger (not smaller) laptops. RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Measurements.
  7. Google RSS Reader. RE: Cyber Life.
  8. Butterfly Stroke Productivity. RE: Flow.
  9. Google-searching a site by directory. RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech.
  10. White Sox win "World Series". RE: Local. Play. Sports.
  11. Rolling Bomber Special!!!!!!!1. RE: Play. Video.
  12. A biological basis for prioritizing and timing. RE: Flow. Life. Math; Science;.

2005-10-03t15:02:11Z | RE: Conservation. Faith; Philosophy;. Health. Local. Nature. Play. Politics. Rambling. Show Biz. Words.
2005-10-03t15:02:11Z

Conservation

  • Arctic ice 'disappearing fast' [News.BBC.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4290340.stm]
    • Hmm... At least two scientists who'd bet their mortgage that the ice shrinkage is human-induced.
    • 'The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk for a fourth consecutive year, according to new data released by US scientists. They say that this month sees the lowest extent of ice cover for more than a century.'
    • ' Mark Serreze [of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colorado] believes that the findings are evidence of climate change induced by human activities. "It's still a controversial issue, and there's always going to be some uncertainty because the climate system does have a lot of natural variability, especially in the Arctic," he said. "But I think the evidence is growing very, very strong that part of what we're seeing now is the increased greenhouse effect. If you asked me, I'd bet the mortgage that that's just what's happening." '
    • ' "All data goes through cycles, and so you have to be careful," she [Liz Morris, of the British Antarctic Survey, currently working at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK,] said, "but it's also true to say that we wouldn't expect to have four years in a row of shrinkage. "That, combined with rising temperatures in the Arctic, suggests a human impact; and I would also bet my mortgage on it, because if you change the radiation absorption process of the atmosphere (through increased production of greenhouse gases) so there is more heating of the lower atmosphere, sooner or later you are going to melt ice." '
    • 'The idea behind tipping-points is that at some stage the rate of global warming would accelerate, as rising temperatures break down natural restraints or trigger environmental changes which release further amounts of greenhouse gases. Possible tipping-points include
      • the disappearance of sea ice leading to greater absorption of solar radiation
      • a switch from forests being net absorbers of carbon dioxide to net producers
      • melting permafrost, releasing trapped methane'
  • Freecycle Network [Freecycle.org]
    • 2005-09-25: My wife and I are checked out this group. Our first post: We gave away our old car. That generated dozens and dozens of requests immediately. We were able to get rid of the car the next day to family that really needed it.
    • 'The Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by clicking on the region on the right. It will generate an automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you a response with instructions on how it works.'
    • Related: Chicago Freecycle [groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagofreecycle/]

Faith; Philosophy;

Health

Local

Nature

Play

Politics

  • Bill Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down" [mediamatters.org/items/200509280006] via metafilter.com/mefi/45489.
    • I was giving this guy the benefit of being quoted out of context or a sloppy quote from a long and multi-faceted discussion, but when you look at the context Bennett's statement is "factual" (because fewer people = less crime) but clearly racist and a stupid thing for a politician to say.
    • FYI: I've read Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner [Freakonomics.com; Amazon.com] and it's a great book. Levitt and Dubner were able to make controversial statements but they were based upon careful economic analysis and they were also very carefully packaged.
    • 'BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --

      CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

      BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.'

Rambling

  • People, Ideas, and Things
    • Yesterday I was talking with my coworkers about how the company has progressed from the "ideas" stage and should now be focusing on the "people" stage in order to survive, i.e. we have our product and now we need to talk about, market it, sell it, etc. Going back and working on ideas related to our product is a distraction, an excuse from our current people stage. In our situation, the "things" aspect hardly comes into the picture (although there are some physical aspects to our product).
    • (Disclaimer: I am going to work with several models, have them interact, and try to keep them in perspective.)
    • One model I am using is from the study of the rapier: The way to your opponent is through his or her sword --you must deal with that sword first-- there is no other way. To achieve your objective you have to acknowledge obstacles and deal with them (usually by diffusing, dominating, delaying, or voiding them).
    • One model I am using is the "People, Ideas, and Things" model from job-hunting and career-choosing book What Color Is Your Parachute? [Amazon.com/...] by Richard Bolles that I read years ago. The model is that people are good with either people, ideas, or things, or some combination of the three, and that pondering upon this can help you choose what you will do.
      • In relation to the "people" skill, is the model related to tribal theory --the concept that people are genetically wired to be comfortable with a tribe of around 50 people. The 50 are "us" and the rest are "them". I think that people with "people" skills are able to somehow extend beyond their 50 limit. People-skilled people are able to see "them" as "us", and can spend more time on "them". This is quite an amazing skill! In one sense it is more powerful than either "ideas" or "things" skills because people-skilled people can get people with the other skills. Personally I'm sociable but introverted. I can perceive the skill but I lack the taste and drive for it. If the need arose, I would have the drive and could overcome the taste factor. However I would still be lacking in other factors: practice and experience. The rapier model would suggest that I should practice this skill now especially since I am weak at it.
      • The "things" skill is related to a taste, a drive, an intuition for the physical. This is the physical self or physical non-self things. I believe I am very good with this but only in areas that interest me. I have a clear taste, drive, and intuition for martial arts and engineering. There are martial arts that focus more on the doing and less on the analyzing because practice is so important in the physical. It takes a lot of practice to intuit and apply the ideas necessary for the physical. I love engineering and yet as far as car and house maintenance, I only want to do what I have to, must do. My guess is that while I have physical-skills, I need them to intersect with ideas. The physical must have a fascinating idea aspect because the pure physical is not enough. Hence martial arts and science-engineering appeal to me but cars and running do not.
      • I believe I am strongest in the "ideas" skill. I'm not saying that I'm brilliant but relative to the other two skills, I am strong with the ideas-skill. I can sit for hours at a time dealing with ideas --whether or not they have a people or thing aspect. Few jobs deal with primarily ideas (programmers).
      • "Lower" level jobs can deal with just people (customer service) or just things (factory work, cooks), but "higher" jobs draw in ideas. People with people-ideas skills (sales, politician, psychologists, historians) have a taste for ideas that deal with people. People with things-ideas skills (engineers, physical scientists, chefs, artists) have a taste for ideas that deal with things. Some fields are people-things-ideas (doctors).
    • Yep, now I'm rambling.

Showbiz

Words

  • E-mail From Copenhagen: Return of the Vikings [time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1085814,00.html]
    • The Freedom to name.
    • 'Starting next April, Danish newborns will no longer be required to share a last name with either of their parents, following the adoption of a new law that allows a return to the Viking tradition of patronymics. Instead of maintaining a single last name across generations, each generation of children, in this system, is given a last name that consists simply of the father's (or in these gender-egalitarian times, the mother's) first name with the suffix "son" or "datter" (daughter) added on.'
    • 'Patronymic nomenclature prevailed throughout the country from Viking days and until 1828, when it was banned by law in favor of family surnames as institutions like public education and conscription required that the authorities keep records on large numbers of people. The 1828 law simply froze the process, dictating that new generations would keep the patronymic of the head of the family at that time. The unfortunate result was that two thirds of Danes still carry a limited selection of names such as Nielsen, Jensen and Hansen.'
    • ' The only change from the days of horned hats and pillage is that parents can also choose to use the mother's first name with the suffix "son" or "datter." '
    • ' What allowed the liberalization? Computerized public records that turn people into numbers rather than names. "Names are simply not so important anymore," says Michael Jorgensen, spokesman of the Department of Family Law. "The authorities have other ways of identifying people than by their name so there is no longer any reason to stick to rigid naming rules." '
    • 'What has made patronymic names practical, however, doesn't explain what made them fashionable. The revival of Nordic traditions may be a reaction to the cultural impact of globalization. Two years ago, some descendants of the Vikings took another major step into to the past when the pagan Asa religion was granted official recognition, granting tax benefits to those organizing the worship of Odin, Thor and other Norse gods. "It's all the same movement," says Senior Researcher Else Marie Kofod of the Danish Folklore Archives. "In these years, many old traditions are revived because there is a need for it. We live in a complex and material world where people have to create their own identity and perhaps find a new spirituality -- and a way to do that is by searching for one's roots." '

2005-10-06t17:12:41Z | RE: Conservation. Faith; Philosophy;. Health. Make. Play. Quirky [Possibly NSFW]. Show Biz.
2005-10-06t17:12:41Z

Conservation

  • Gas pump speed bump for SUVs: Chrysler, Japanese show stronger sales [http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0510040047oct04,1,7936442.story]
    • I'm actually surprised. Usually American need more kicking in the nuts before they change. I used to be anit-SUV, but now I figure that using up the oil more quickly will make force us to convert to sustainable resources sooner.
    • 'Sales of sport-utility vehicles ran out of gas in September, giving General Motors and Ford dismal results for the month while the Chrysler Group and major Japanese brands [esp. Toyota and Honda] gained ground.'
    • 'The dramatic drop in truck sales hit hardest at GM, whose sales plunged 24 percent to 344,797 vehicles, and Ford, which fell 19 percent to 228,157.'
    • 'Toyota, Honda and Nissan posted double-digit increases and all reported record September sales because of surging interest in passenger cars. Car sales were up 22 percent at Toyota and Honda and 26 percent at Nissan.'

Faith; Philosophy;

  • Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies [http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html]
    • This study correlates religious prosperous democracies as having higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion than secular prosperous democracies.
    • 'In the twentieth century extensive secularization occurred in western nations, the United States being the only significant exception (Bishop; Bruce; Gill et al.; Sommerville). If religion has receded in some western nations, what is the impact of this unprecedented transformation upon their populations?'
    • 'Among the developing democracies absolute belief in God, attendance of religious services and Bible literalism vary over a dozenfold, atheists and agnostics five fold, prayer rates fourfold, and acceptance of evolution almost twofold. Japan, Scandinavia, and France are the most secular nations in the west, the United States is the only prosperous first world nation to retain rates of religiosity otherwise limited to the second and third worlds (Bishop; PEW).'
    • 'By removing the need for a creator evolutionary science made belief optional. When deciding between supernatural and natural causes is a matter of opinion large numbers are likely to opt for the latter. Western nations are likely to return to the levels of popular religiosity common prior to the 1900s only in the improbable event that naturalistic evolution is scientifically overturned in favor of some form of creationist natural theology that scientifically verifies the existence of a creator. Conversely, evolution will probably not enjoy strong majority support in the U.S. until religiosity declines markedly.'
    • 'In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies'
    • 'If the data showed that the U.S. enjoyed higher rates of societal health than the more secular, pro-evolution democracies, then the opinion that popular belief in a creator is strongly beneficial to national cultures would be supported. Although they are by no means utopias, the populations of secular democracies are clearly able to govern themselves and maintain societal cohesion. Indeed, the data examined in this study demonstrates that only the more secular, pro-evolution democracies have, for the first time in history, come closest to achieving practical "cultures of life" that feature low rates of lethal crime, juvenile-adult mortality, sex related dysfunction, and even abortion. The least theistic secular developing democracies such as Japan, France, and Scandinavia have been most successful in these regards. The non-religious, pro-evolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator. The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.'
    • 'The United States' deep social problems are all the more disturbing because the nation enjoys exceptional per capita wealth among the major western nations (Barro and McCleary; Kasman; PEW; UN Development Programme, 2000, 2004). Spending on health care is much higher as a portion of the GDP and per capita, by a factor of a third to two or more, than in any other developing democracy (UN Development Programme, 2000, 2004). The U.S. is therefore the least efficient western nation in terms of converting wealth into cultural and physical health. Understanding the reasons for this failure is urgent, and doing so requires considering the degree to which cause versus effect is responsible for the observed correlations between social conditions and religiosity versus secularism.'
    • See the trend from J=Japan (most secular) to F=France to U=U.S. (most religious).
      [CHARTS: Correlating religion and life expectancy]
  • Kitzmiller v DASD [MetaFilter.com/mefi/45669]
  • Seeing Creation and Evolution in Grand Canyon [NYTimes.com/2005/10/06/science/sciencespecial2/06canyon.html]
    • These people are adults? In this century? Who can read? Who went to school? Who can experiment?
    • 'For Mr. Vail and 29 guests on his Canyon Ministries trip, this was vacation as religious pilgrimage, an expedition in search of evidence that God created the earth in six days 6,000 years ago, just as Scripture says. That same week, a few miles upriver, a decidedly different group of 24 rafters surveyed the same rock formations - but through the lens of science rather than what Mr. Vail calls "biblical glasses." Sponsored by the National Center for Science Education, the chief challenger to creationists' influence in public schools, this trip was a floating geology seminar, charting the canyon's evolution through eons of erosion. "Look at the weathering, look at the size of the pieces," Eugenie C. Scott, the center director, said of markings in Black Tail Canyon. "To a standard geologist, to somebody who actually studies geology, this just shouts out at you: This is really old; this is really gradual." Two groups examining the same evidence. Traveling nearly identical itineraries, snoozing under the same stars and bathing in the same chocolate-colored river. Yet, standing at opposite ends of the growing creation-evolution debate, they seemed to speak in different tongues. '
    • ' "I won't defend evolution," Dr. Scott said in exasperation one evening. "We don't defend the spherical Earth. We need to stop defending, as they put it, Darwinism, and just make them show they have a scientific view." '
      • Right on!
    • ' "Ultimately, creationism is not just bad science to me, it's bad Christianity, it's Bible worship," said Mr. Gishlick, 32, a paleontology Ph.D. "There's just no reason to look at these patterns of layered sediment, or in the fossil record, or at the stars, and think that what you're seeing isn't what you're seeing. God doesn't require you to be stupid, to deny what you see, to deny what you know." '
      • Right on!
    • ' She said she asked God whether her role as an evolution advocate was meant to be her mission. "I say, 'God, if this is wrong, if I'm wrong, please strike me with lightning, because I don't want to be walking down the wrong path.' " '
      • Ah there's her proof.
    • ' "I don't really care how they reconcile Noah's flood with scientific things - it's about religion," protested Mary Murray, 54, an artist from Laguna Beach, Calif., who came with her biology-professor husband. "We shouldn't be talking about religion at all in the public schools." '
      • Right on!

Health

Make

  • Symbols [metafilter.com/mefi/45579]
    • ' ✚ ☾ ♢? The addition of a third protective symbol (fourth, if you count this happy lion) will allow the Magen David Adom of Israel to join the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies after over 50 years. It might look odd, but a lot of other symbols we take for granted have interesting recent origins. ☮ was designed in 1958. ☣ was created by Dow in 1966. ☢ first appeared as a doodle in the 1940s. The symbols of the planets have many origins, but here on earth, the origins of ☺ remain so convoluted that it might take a fictional "symbologist" to sort it all out. '
      • The red cross of the Red Cross is neutral and not specifically Christian because it was a reversal of the Swiss flag. However the Christian association of any cross cannot be ignored so I think a new "red crystal" symbol is a worthy secular attempt.
      • Nice trivia on the other symbols too.
    • 'Switzerland plans to convene a conference by the end of the year at which the 192 countries party to the Geneva conventions will be asked to approve the red crystal, a red square tilted on its edge against a white background.'
    • So instead of a CRoss or a CRescent, you get a CRystal? How succinct and secular. The Brights had their logo contest and didn't come up with anything nearly as good. Would the Internationa Red Cross/Crescent rename themselves as the International Red Crescent?
    • I need a photo of a Red Crystal crew rescuing some poor chump smashed into a tree that's right next to a black diamond ski run sign.
    • Related: Red Cross [W].
  • Photoshop Magic Melts Prison Bars [Wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69035,00.html]
    • I don't know anybody in prison but if I had a loved one in prison or if I ended up in prison, then something like this would provide hope. (This makes me sound like a bleeding heart, eh?)
    • 'For $10, Friends Beyond the Wall takes your prison visiting room photo, crops you and your loved one out of it, and digitally inserts you into one of dozens of exotic backgrounds. Instead of standing in front of a cinder block wall, you can be seen leaning on your Jaguar, on safari in Africa or taking a virtual honeymoon in Morocco. '
    • [PHOTOS: Photo at prison modified to photo elsewhere]

Play

  • Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time [MuseumOfHoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/]
    • I usually dislike hoaxes and April Fool's Day joke because of my loose grip on reality, but I like #4:
      • 'The Taco Liberty Bell. In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called up the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell is housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed that it was all a practical joke a few hours later. The best line inspired by the affair came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale, and he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though to a different corporation, and would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.'
    • and #7:
      • 'Alabama Changes the Value of Pi. The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.'

Quirky [Possibly NSFW]

  • Snake bursts after gobbling gator [news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4313978.stm]
    • Weird. The exact same thing happened to me the last time I was at the all-you-can-eat buffet.
    • 'An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps. The Burmese python tried to swallow its fearsome rival whole but then exploded. The remains of the two giant reptiles were found by astonished rangers in the Everglades National Park. '
      [PHOTO: This python ate too much]

Show Biz

  • Superman Returns.
    • Picks up five years after Superman II (i.e. ignores the events of Superman III and Superman IV).
    • 2006-06-30 release. Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men and X-Men 2). Warner Brothers.
    • Note that the Superman's usual straight red is darkened so that it's almost maroon.
      [PHOTO: Brandon Routh in the upcoming Superman Returns movie]
    • Related:

2005-10-15t02:27:30Z | RE: Comics. Conservation. Cyber Life. Engineering; Tech;. Faith; Philosophy;. Food. Make. Martial. Math; Science;. Play. Words.
2005-10-15t02:27:30Z

Comics

Conservation

Cyber Life

  • Buying the Song [TechnologyReview.com/articles/05/10/wo/wo_100705hellweg.asp?trk=nl]
    • Why steal when 99¢ per song is so cheap? So Grokster/Mashboxx, Kazaa, eDonkey, and BitTorrent are all having to change or face extinction just like MinMX did.
    • 'At first glance, the vital signs of the music industry don't look so good. According to the latest figures from the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, total physical unit sales in the first half of 2005 were $13.2 billion, down from $13.4 billion a year earlier. And this continues a seemingly endless trend of losses for music companies. But these latest aggregate figures hide a different trend: online music has experienced phenomenal growth: roughly 350 percent since 2004. In this industry segment, sales skyrocketed from $220 million in the first half of 2004 to $790 million a year later. Dominated by Apple's iTunes Music Store, online music purchases now account for six percent of overall sales, up from just two percent a year ago.'
    • 'Even some at the file-sharing companies admit defeat. "The music industry has won not only the online music battle, it's won the war," says Wayne Rosso, founder of the much-assailed Grokster file-sharing system, and now chairman of Mashboxx, Grokster's new owner.'
  • Apple Gives Video the IPod Touch [Wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,69193,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2]
    • I've hesitated on the iPod because I thought it would be silly to have just part of you music collection on it. However for some reason I am OK with having just part of your video collection on it.
    • On the other hand I'd rather watch video on a bigger screen. I'm all for "on-demand" content, whether I download it or I can choose content streamed by some provider. Why buy whole albums or pay for monthly cable when you can do things a la carte?
    • 'The video iPod, available in classic white or shiny black, will ship next week in 30-GB and 60-GB capacities for $300 and $400 respectively.The iPod has a 2.5-inch, 320-by-240 screen, and a video-out jack that can connect it to a TV using an optional cable, sold separately.'
    • 'The video iPod will play music videos, video podcasts and movie trailers downloaded form the updated iTunes Music Store, but will not play movies ripped from DVD, which are typically copy-protected. However, it will play unprotected movies converted to Apple's QuickTime format, even if the movies are downloaded illegally from file-sharing services, said an Apple representative after Jobs' presentation. It will also display home movies, which can be exported to the iPod via a new function in Apple's iMovie software.'
    • Related:
      • Apple's new thing? Video iPod. But more crap-o copy-blocking. [BoingBoing.net/2005/10/12/apples_new_thing_vid.html]. Apparently for some people when they think of video iPod, the first thing that comes into their heads is ... porn.
      • Info direct from Apple.com/ipod/:
        • Audio supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF
        • iPod shuffle: 12 hr battery, 3.3" x 0.98" x 0.33", 0.78 oz
          • $99 for 512 MB, 120 songs
          • $129 for 1 GB, 240 songs
        • iPod nano: 25000 photos, 14 hr battery, 1.5-inch 176x132 display, 3.5" x 1.6" x .27", 1.5 oz
          • $199 for 2 GB, 500 songs
          • $249 for 4 GB, 1000 songs
        • iPod: 2.5-inch 320x240 display
          • $299 for 30 GB, 7500 songs, 75 hr video, 14 hr battery, 4.1" x 2.4" x 0.43", 4.8 oz
          • $399 for 60 GB, 15000 songs, 150 hr video, 20 hr battery, 4.1" x 2.4" x 0.55", 5.5 oz
        • [PHOTO: The 3 iPods ]
  • Writeboard.com. Free, web-based collaborative documents, complete with roll backs, version comparison, etc. Also basic formatting (such as bolds, italics, list, and links).
  • SingingFish.com. 'The audio/video search engine'. Could be good.

Engineering; Tech;

  • Harry Potter magic for e-paper? [news.com.com/2061-11199_3-5895420.html?part=rss&tag=5895420&subj=news]
    • I love the Harry Potter tie in. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. Clarke
    • 'German electronics maker Siemens has unveiled paper-thin TV screens that could be used as newspapers or magazines. paper The screens were unveiled at the at the Plastics Electronics trade fair in Frankfurt this week, according to The Guardian. A spokesman for the company told the paper that the screens, which would likely start as ads in high-end magazines, could resemble the magic moving pictures seen in the "Harry Potter" films and books.'
    • 'The paper reported that one square meter of the material costs around 30 pounds ($52), and scientists working on the screens said they should be available by 2007. Siemens has competition in the e-paper chase; others working on flexible display technology include Dutch electronics giant Philips. '
    • [PHOTO: Paper thin video]
  • Aquaskipper [Inventist.com/products/aquaskipper.html]
    • I've seen the video but I find it hard to believe that it works. This device appears to have no buoyancy but floats strictly by hydrofoil lift. This is amazing since even regular hydrofoils start off and end with buoyancy. I imagine the Aquaskipper is like a shark: it must be in continuous motion or it will sink. It looks like a lot of fun.
    • 'Now you can fly above the water on the latest product from Inventist! A hopping motion propels you forward while the hydrofoil gives you lift. You will continue to move at speeds of up to 17 miles per hour above the water, where there is little drag.'
      [PHOTO: Aquaskipper skims on water]
  • Firewall flueless gas fire [Ouzledale.co.uk/main.php?ePage=firewall]
    • Another unbelievable product! A gas fireplace 110 cm = 4.3" thick that can be put into nearly wall since it has no flue. Plus it is very fuel efficient with a substantial heat output. Plus it cleans the air.
    • 'With a maximum heat output of 2.4kW the Firewall is not just for decoration, it is a powerful heating appliance that is also 100% efficient. Absolutely no energy is wasted and lost up a chimney like a conventionally flued gas fire. As a result all the heat generated warms your room. This means lower running costs and optimum efficiency. With the Firewall set on low it will burn only a very small amount of gas per hour yet still provide a respectable heat output of 1.1kW.'
    • 'Catalytic gas technology means the Firewall actually cleans the air it uses. This process also helps to remove odours in the home, such as those generated by cooking, smoking or family pets and neutralises airborne particles such as dust mites, creating a cleaner, healthier home environment.'
      [PHOTO: Sleek flueless fireplace]

Faith; Philosophy;

  • The Atheism Debate forum on BeliefNet.com are usually lots of fun. Here's one snippet:
    • 'Like I said, since I've found that probably 90% of these people haven't read the Bible, I find they follow what their pastor/priest tell them it says, read the passages that they are told to turn to, and claim the general "I haven't read the Bible" Bible, which involves creation in 6 days, Adam and Eve, the fall, Cain and Abel, Abraham, no gays, Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction, no gays, Noah great flood, the entire movie account of the "Ten Commandments" something about David, a whale, and a harlot, possibly a tower as well, Jesus is born on December 25th under a pine tree, Jesus mysteriously disappears for decades and reappears as an adult, compassion, love, Jews are evil, crucifix, 3 days, bunny rabbits and eggs, walk on water, rise up, no gays, Paul, no gays and women are bad, Jesus will return someday, end of times, appendix." This model, with select passages from only these sections, presents a much more unified theme, has some nice verses, but contrasts those with stern declarations (like no gays). I've found the OT, except for pulling out creation, the flood, Moses and the Levitican anti-gay thing, is largely discarded, and some Christians will say "That's the OLD Testament", discounting that the OT makes up about three quarters of their holy writings.' - BeliefNet.com/boards/message_list.asp?boardID=5606&discussionID=460573
  • "Are the Desert People Winning?" by Robert Sapolsky [ArthurMag.com/magpie/?p=797 but originally from Discover.com]
    • Generalizations can very easily become too broad but the ideas are interesting. This is the Forest v Desert meme applied culturally, theistically, biologically, and ecologically.
    • 'So now we have Christians and Jews and Muslims in the wheat fields of Kansas, and in the cantons of the Alps, and in the rain forests of Malaysia. The desert mind-set, and the cultural baggage it carries, has proven extraordinarily resilient in its export and diffusion throughout the planet. Granted, few of those folks still live like nomadic pastoralists, guiding their flocks of sheep with staffs. But centuries, even millennia after the emergence of these cultures, they bear the marks of their desert pasts. Our vanquished enemies in Afghanistan, the Taliban, and our well-entrenched Saudi friends created societies of breathtaking repressiveness. In Jerusalem in recent years, Jewish Orthodox zealots have battled police, trying to close down roads on Saturday, trying to impose their restrictive version of belief. And for an American educator with, say, a quaint fondness for evolution, the power of the Christian right in many parts of this country to dictate what facts and truths may be uttered in a classroom is appalling. Only one way to think, to do, to be. Crusades and jihads, fatwas and inquisitions, hellfire and damnation.'
    • 'In the end, if we want to understand how people find answers to these intensely personal, individuating questions, we must admit some biology in the back door. We already recognize the many ways in which genetics, neurochemistry, and the endocrinology of depression affect whether a person constitutionally views life as a vessel half empty or half full. We are even beginning to glimpse a biology of religious belief itself. There are neurological injuries that cause religious obsessions, neuropsychiatric disorders associated with "metamagical" thinking; there are brain regions that regulate how tightly an organism demands a link between cause and effect, potentially creating room for insight into that odd phenomenon we call faith.

Food

Make

Martial

  • I've been pondering lately how some people mistake combat with being combative. Skill, knowledge, practice, etc. in combat is important (especially if it's your job). A combative, fighting spirit is also important at times. Two points:
    • People can be combative regardless of the the magnitude of their combative abilities. Sometimes the meek can become mighty through sheer combative spirit. Of course it's best to combine combative spirit with combat skill.
    • People can be combative at inappropriate times --this is usually non-productive. This includes frictional folks who hold up the line at the grocery store. This also includes people who get into fights all the time.

Math; Science;

  • Top Advisory Panel Warns Erosion of U.S. Science [Science.Slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/13/1640200&from=rss]
    • It is hard to not correlate the rise of religion in America with the fall of science in America.
    • America has a lot of unsustainable practices and trends economically, scientifically, philosophically, socially, militarily, environmentally, etc. Wages, brains, raw goods, manufacturing, etc. are all cheaper over seas. We will either adapt or break.
    • 'A panel of experts convened by the National Academies, the nation's leading science advisory group, called yesterday for an urgent and wide-ranging effort to strengthen scientific competitiveness. The 20-member panel, reporting at the request of a bipartisan group in Congress, said that without such an effort the United States 'could soon lose its privileged position.' It cited many examples of emerging scientific and industrial power abroad and listed 20 steps the United States should take to maintain its global lead.'
    • From the press release by the National Academies:
      • 'Given the United States' history of economic and scientific pre-eminence, it is easy to be complacent about these complex issues, the report says. Following are some indicators that illustrate why decisive action is needed now:
        • For the cost of one chemist or one engineer in the United States, a company can hire about five chemists in China or 11 engineers in India.
        • Last year chemical companies shuttered 70 facilities in the United States and have tagged 40 more for closure. Of 120 chemical plants being built around the world with price tags of $1 billion or more, one is in the United States and 50 are in China.
        • U.S. 12th-graders recently performed below the international average for 21 countries on a test of general knowledge in mathematics and science. In addition, an advanced mathematics assessment was administered to students in 15 other countries who were taking or had taken advanced math courses, and to U.S. students who were taking or had taken pre-calculus, calculus, or Advanced Placement calculus. Eleven countries outperformed the United States, and four scored similarly. None scored significantly below the United States.
        • In 1999 only 41 percent of U.S. eighth-graders had a math teacher who had majored in mathematics at the undergraduate or graduate level or studied the subject for teacher certification -- a figure that was considerably lower than the international average of 71 percent.
        • Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of higher education in China. In India, the figure was 350,000. In America, it was about 70,000.
        • In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development. '
    • These are not differences of a few percent but of multiples.
    • I doubt that the U.S. will become a third world country but I can easily see us slipping from a dominant position in spite of either our military might (which actually weights us down) or financial might (which is virtual).

Play

Words

2005-10-24t18:18:58Z | RE: Conservation. Cyber Tech. Faith; Philosophy;. Food. Health. Local. Make. Math; Science;. Nature. Quirky [Possibly NSFW]. Relations [SFW]. Words.
2005-10-24t18:18:58Z

Conservation

  • Solar Decathlon 2005 [eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon] [via MetaFilter.com/mefi/45940]
    • University of Colorado took first place, but I like the looks of the Cornell University house better. Don't forget that these team probably had very low budgets.
    • 'The Solar Decathlon brings together 18 teams of college and university students from around the globe to participate in an unparalleled solar competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home.'
    • 'University of Colorado students used the poor weather to their advantage, developing a strategy to gain points in the competition by using the energy they managed to collect on a series of very cloudy days to keep their car charged. By driving more than any other team, Colorado won the Getting Around Contest. Colorado also placed first in the Communications and Documentation Contests, and second in the Appliances Contest.'
    • 'Cornell students came in second in the Getting Around Contest, and the Appliances Contest. Cornell took first in the Comfort Zone Contest, successfully keeping their humidity within the preferred range, and the team won the Hot Water Contest.'
      [PHOTO: Solar home by Cornell University]
  • How Sustainable is Your Community? [Gen.EcoVillage.org/activities/csa/English/index.html]. A 3 hour, plain English test you can take where you can assess your community for sustainability based upon its ecological, spiritual, and social foundation.

Cyber Tech

Faith; Philosophy

  • If You're a Christian, Muslim or Jew - You are Wrong [HuffingtonPost.com/cenk-uygur/if-youre-a-christian-mu_b_9349.html] [via MetaFilter.com/mefi/46095]
    • This article's a lot of fun. I respect the right to worship, but I'm also amazed at the level of unacknowledged superstition in the world (and people on the science side do too). It will take time for people to change and there has yet to developed any unified alternative systems to "religions" that are psychologically, culturally, and "spiritually" satisfying. Are civil services
    • The MeFi thread is pretty decent too. It also has some agnostics coming out against the author.
    • 'There are a lot of people I love dearly and respect wholeheartedly who believe in religion. I hate to do this to them. But we have killed far too many people, wasted far too much time on this nonsense for us to keep going in this direction for fear of offense.'
    • 'If you don't want to be called ignorant or misinformed, then get informed. Learn the real nature of our universe and put aside old wives tales about resurrected Gods, omniscient prophets and a guy who could split the Red Sea but couldn't find where he's going in the desert for forty years.'
  • "Bible Charts" by Clarence Larkin [Members.CityNet.net/morton/charts.htm]
    • Some people take this quite literally. They must walk around feeling as if they have this vast perspective of reality.
    • 'The books and charts by Clarence Larkin have been extremely helpful to Christians since they were first published over 75 years ago. They have passed into the public domain and we are making some of the charts available here as an aid to Bible study. Larkin's charts are well thought out and Scriptually sound. Some of the more detailed are books in themselves. They reveal Larkin's vast knowledge of the Scriptures and phenomenal grasp of prophecy. Practically all of the prophecy teachers today got their basic prophecy knowledge directly or indirectly from Larkin and C. I. Scolfield. Larkin's works, as well as Scolfield's, are definitive, works that will endure until Christ's return. No other book since their publishing over 75 years ago has much improved on them. '
    • [CHART: Larkin Chart Number 5 for 7 Thousand Years]

Food

  • World's Healthiest Foods [WHFoods.com]
    • And this coming from a guy who loves Krispy Kreme.
    • 'The George Mateljan Foundation is a non-profit organization with no commercial interests. Our purpose is to show you a healthier way of eating that's enjoyable, affordable, quick and easy to fit your personal needs and lifestyle.'
  • Kitchen opens at McDonald's [ChicagoTribune.com/business/chi-0510240021oct24,1,6363574.story]
    • Cool! Open source kitchens!
    • 'Through a link on its Web site, McDonald's plans to show how its food gets "from farm to table," with videos and explainers showing the processes and companies behind its french fries, hamburgers and Egg McMuffins.'
    • 'Few consumers realize that it is a blend of corn-fed and grass-fed beef, said Cannell. Some of the grass-fed beef is imported from Australia and New Zealand because so little U.S. beef is grass-fed, he said.'
    • McDonalds.com/usa/eat/quality0.html

Health

Local

Make

Math

  • Fractal Food: Self-Similarity on the Supermarket Shelf [FourmiLab.ch/images/Romanesco/] [via MetaFilter.com/mefi/45968]
    • Why they're almost as beautiful as Krispy Kreme donuts! Math = God.
    • 'Nearly exact self-similar fractal forms occur do in nature, but I'd never seen such a beautiful and perfect example until, some time after moving to Switzerland, I came across a chou Romanesco like the one above in a grocery store. This is so visually stunning an object that on first encounter it's hard to imagine you're looking at a garden vegetable rather than an alien artefact created with molecular nanotechnology. But of course, then you realise that vegetables are created with molecular nanotechnology, albeit the product of earthly evolution, not extraterrestrial engineering.'
    • [PHOTO: Romanesco broccoli][PHOTO: Romanesco broccoli close-up]

Nature

Quirky [Possibly NSFW]

  • Association of International Glaucoma Societies [GlobalAIGS.org] [via MetaFilter.com/mefi/46056]. This is so bizarre. Glaucoma Hymn is my theme song for the day.
  • Damn cool illusion [PatMedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.html].
    • The illusion is interesting (if not "damn cool"). I got to see the moving green dot but not the rotating green dot.
    • 'If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink. If you stare at the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green. Now, concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture. After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating if you're lucky! It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. '
      [ANIMATION: An optical illusion animation]

Relations [SFW]

Words

2005-10-25t15:04:09Z | RE: Cyber Tech. Open Source.
MySQL 5.0 Released

MySQL 5.0 Now Available for Production Use [MySQL.com/news-and-events/news/article_976.html]. How dare they release it when I bothered to download and install MySQL 4.1 last week! New features include stored procedures, triggers, views, and cursors. Oddly all of those features have been available on Microsoft SQL Server for years. But hurrah for an ever improving gratis and libre software!

2005-10-25t15:39:46Z | RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech. Measurements.
Bigger (not smaller) laptops

Ready for a 20-inch laptop? [News.Com.com/Ready+for+a+20-inch+laptop/2100-1044_3-5911772.html?part=rss&tag=5911772&subj=news].

Yes!

I live in, on, around, about my laptop. Just this morning I was thinking that I'd like a laptop whose screen could raise up a decimeter or two so that I wouldn't have to stoop so much.

I'm also torn about the aspect ratio issue.

  • 1.333 (actually 1.333...) or 4:3 is the most common aspect ratio for TV and computer video. This is mathematically beautiful since this aspect ratio is the smallest Pythagorean Triple: the diagonal/hypotenuse is exactly 5 units if the angle is square. Surprisingly, even IMAX uses 1.33.
  • Of the wide-screen formats, I tend to favor either the Golden Ratio or 15:8 (which is another Pythagorean Triple).
    • 1.600 or 16:10. Less common HDTV variant. Only about 1% different from the Golden Ratio.
    • 1.618 (actually (sqrt(5)+1)/2 = 1.618...) or φ:1. The Golden Ratio with many special mathematical properties.
    • 1.666 (actually 1.666...) or 5:3.  European theatrical standard.
    • 1.777 (actually 1.777...) or 16:9. Most common HDTV variant.
    • 1.850 or roughly 13:7. American theatrical standard. Very close to a Pythagorean Triple.
    • 1.875 or 15:8. A Pythagorean Triple with a diagonal of exactly 17.
    • 2.000 or 6:3. Aww, come on: why not?
    • 2.390 or roughly 12:5. Anamorphic widescreen, first popularized as "CinemaScope". A true 12:5 is another Pythagorean Triple with a diagonal of exactly 13.

"With so many DVDs featuring letterboxed or wide-screen versions of films, consumers' fascination with larger screen sizes is changing the size and shape of the laptop industry, stated an IDC report issued on Monday. The wide-screen format, found in only 39.2 percent of laptops expected to ship this year, will become dominant in mid- to late 2006. It will nearly eclipse standard screen dimensions by the end of 2009,  the market research firm estimates."

"Other factors in transitioning laptops into wide-screen format include the rise in high-definition content and operating systems like Microsoft Vista, which are expected to accommodate WSXGA (Wide Super Extended Graphics Array) pixel resolutions of 1680 by 1050 and 1440 by 900."

2005-10-25t17:55:25Z | RE: Cyber Life.
Google RSS Reader

Google came out with their Google Reader [Google.com/Reader] a few days ago. Let's see if their RSS reader is any good.

2005-10-25t18:05:14Z | RE: Flow.
Butterfly Stroke Productivity

"Butterfly Stroke Productivity" by Bob Walsh [To-Done.com/2005/10/butterfly-stroke-productivity]. "As you plan each day's work, focus on the 2 or 3 things which you're going to have to really work at for an hour or two each to get done. These should be things you want to reserve your best efforts for because they will make the most difference in your life. Now, make a 60-120 minute appointment for each."

2005-10-25t18:30:34Z | RE: Cyber Life. Cyber Tech.
Google-searching a site by directory

I've known that you can use Google to search a specific site by entering something like maroon site:www.georgehernandez.com. However a few weeks ago I noticed that you can search specific directories of a site by entering something like this: maroon site:www.georgehernandez.com/h/xComputers.

I've since changed my site's search function to include this capability. The code is very easy.

Here is the essence of the form on the bottom of most of my pages:

<form action="http://www.google.com/search" method="get" name="frmSearch" onsubmit="gSearch(this);">
    <p>
    <input type="hidden" name="q" />
    <input name="q1" size="22" accesskey="4" title="Access key is 4" />
    <button type="submit" value="Search" name="submit">Search</button><br />
    <input type="radio" name="searched" value="site" checked="checked" />this site &nbsp;
    <input type="radio" name="searched" value="dir">this directory &nbsp;
    <input type="radio" name="searched" value="web">the Web
    </p>
</form>

Here is the client-side JavaScript used.

function gSearch(form) {
    if (form.searched[0].checked) 
        form.q.value = form.q1.value+" site:www.georgehernandez.com";
    else if (form.searched[1].checked) 
        form.q.value = form.q1.value
                       +" site:www.georgehernandez.com"
                       +location.pathname.substring(0,location.pathname.lastIndexOf('/')+1);
    else
        form.q.value = form.q1.value;
}

On 2005-10-17 I moved all the content from my site's root directory (/) to a sub-directory (/h) so Google will have to re-spider all my stuff. A Google re-spider will take around 2 months so searching my site by directory won't work well until then.

2005-10-27t17:01:40Z | RE: Local. Play. Sports.
White Sox win "World Series"

So last night the Chicago White Sox [W] won the 2005 "World Series" by a sweep (4 wins in a row, 4-0, 4 out of 7 games) against the Houston Astros [W]. In case you didn't know, the "World Series" [W] is the championship series of the U.S. and Canadian Major League Baseball. The last time the White Sox won a World Series was in 1917 against the New York Giants. (They have, however, since lost the World Series in 1919 and1959.) In contrast, the Chicago Cubs [W] have the most years between titles, the Cubs haven't won a World Series since they beat the Detroit Tigers in 1908. (They have, however, since lost the World Series in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945.)

As a proud Chicagoan I'm happy for them but there is an odd taste in my mouth. This event really points out which side I fall on the White Sox-Cubs Rivalry [W] --I'm definitely from the North side. Could I possibly still be bitter about the Cubs losing the World Series to the White Sox in 1906? Why, if the Chicago Cubs had won, I probably would have actually watched some of the games --Heck, I probably would've done a little dance!

But in any case, congratulations to the CHICAGO White Sox. Good job! (Just don't rub it in.)

[PHOTO: The Chicago White Sox win the World Series 4-0]

2005-10-27t17:32:53Z | RE: Play. Video.
Rolling Bomber Special!!!!!!!1

This Power Rangers parody is so bad, that it's awesome!!!!!1

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7820333450116505275&q=shingo [via http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/46180]

2005-10-27t17:44:13Z | RE: Flow. Life. Math; Science;.
A biological basis for prioritizing and timing

"Email and letter writing share fundamental pattern" [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8214]

I love it when science explains the obvious but also provides a model as part of the explanation that can actually be used.

'Both Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein relied on pen, paper, and the postal service to communicate with correspondents around the world. But researchers have now found the pattern of their replies is the same as that of computer users answering email today, with both following the same mathematical formula. The pattern could reflect some basic biological encoding that shows up in everything from humans at work to birds foraging for food, according to Albert-László Barabási, a physicist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, US.'

Exploring odd subjects including myself. GeorgeHernandez.com
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