i'm so smart now

Vidiocy OR::: 24fps (for pete's sake)

2009-12-14T13:23:00.005-05:00

Watching one of my favorite films on a newfangled HD TV/ DVD setup the other week, I was (semi) mortified to notice that the "high-end" player was compensating for the Film-ness of the film, and was therefore doing some wonky things with the frame rate. I protested to my viewing companion that "the film doesn't actually look like this!" and, "This is weird, it looks like a British TV show." The film still worked, of course, and we had a decent enough time, but I remain(ed) bothered by the pomposity of this system changing the frame rate of something I knew very well should look another way. I started to gripe about frame rates: film vs. video, and the weirdness that occurs when trying to jump between the two, I had to stop short, however, of an explanation of how video actually worked, and/or why it was different.

Film makes sense. Film is alluringly and obviously physical. It is bound by all sorts of physical restrictions having to do with how much you can cram onto the strip, how fast you can pull the film through the projector or camera, and so on. It is one of those bewildering and elegant examples of arbitrary decisions in a design process like "QWERTY" or the width of train tracks, they're arbitrary decisions grounded in physical considerations.

Video was not as obvious to me. Again it is a physical system. Another analog format, but very different from Film. It converts and reads information as opposed to a direct transmission or capturing of a physical image (a cake vs a recipe). Film records and displays at a tight 24 frames per second. 24 images are displayed and shown in succession per second. Video (NTSC for us Americans) is either 30FPS (non-interlaced) or 60i (interlaced). Film is a non-interlaced format. Images are displayed one after the other in sequence. Interlaced video means that only half of the information of a "frame" (half of the scan lines) is rendered at a time. Alternate "fields" of scan lines are rendered in succession using half the bandwidth to display video image with much more fluid motion than Film. This type of motion we associate with TV and News Broadcasts (it is, after all, the standard for these formats, although the News is generally recorded at 50i).

As for video tapes, they are an analog format, same principles as audio tapes, pulled through and scanned diagonally by a play head reading an audio strip at the top of the tape, the interlace video information in the middle, and all sorts of stuff about tape speed and tracking along the bottom. The storage format is magnetic in principle, and information is encoded with electromagnets onto a layer of magnetic reactive coating on the tape (generally iron rust) that "remembers" its state.

There is all sorts of more information out there about display, encoding, interlacing, non-interlacing, converting, and whatnot, but this should suffice for now as a general run-down. In the case of this story, it sounds like the player was probably trying to pump it out at 60p (for progressive scan) but I'm still sore about it, so I'm not going to go into detail about that format. 24 Till Death!

DigiConform 24 vs 30

How many computations could the Universe compute if the Universe was a computer

2009-07-15T22:53:00.003-04:00

...Which it could be. So if each atom in the available universe could register ONE BIT of information, which they all can as determined by its being "here" or "there", basically its position within the Universe, within the physical system. To compute, bits are flipped. Bits are flipped any time anything within the physical system changes. Any time anything within a system changes, it changes what the information about that system is. For a system to change, for a bit to flip, energy is required. The more energy, the faster a bit can flip. Seth Lloyd in his paper Ultimate Physical Limits to Computation shows that the maximum computational capacity of any system can be figured by running a function of the amount of energy available to the system and the system's size.

To calculate our Cosmic Computational power we have to take the Margolus-Levitin theorem that says that the maximum rate a bit can flip is proportional to the system's energy. So to calculate the maximum bit-flip rate we take the amount of energy available, multiply by 4, and divide by Planck's constant. This will yeild the number of possible bit-flips per second. We then need to find the total amount of energy in our system (E = mc2) E is energy, M is the mass of the system, and c is the speed of light (300 million meters per second). Taking the reasonable estimate of 14 billion years for the age of the Universe from expansion, and light being a finite speed, there is only a finite area of the Universe within it's "horizon" that we can have information about. The horizon grows with time, but will always be of a finite size, even within an infinite universe. To accurate calculations, the horizon of the universe is 42 billion light-years away. On average there is a mass of about one hydrogen atom per cubic meter throughout the Universe. Totaling the energy within the horizon we find that there is approximately 100 million billion billion billion billion billion billion billion (10**71) joules of energy in our Universe. Plugging this into our formula (E * 4 / Planck's Constant) we find that every second the Universe could perform 100,000 googol (10**105) operations. In the 14 billion years of the Universe's history it could have performed about 10,000 billion billion googol ops (10**112).

Compared to our efforts (and estimates) in the whole history of modern computing all the computers on Earth have only performed (according to Seth Lloyd) some fewer than 10 billion billion billion ops (10**30). To quote Terry Jones dressed as a woman whose husband is having his organs removed from him while still alive in The Meaning of Life "makes you feel sort of insignificant doesn't it?"

What a large Arthropod you have

2009-04-02T10:31:00.005-04:00

I just stumbled upon an insane image of a coconut crab raiding someone's trash. I immediately thought it was some internet hoax since rudimentary searches yielded only that single photo. However increased searches turned up that it is in fact a real beast. The largest of land arthropods, so named because they live in the tropics (mostly the Philippines) and roam around cracking open coconuts and small dogs and feasting on their insides. Not really small dogs. They can get to be 19inches in diameter, but knowing nature, probably have pushed past that in a few specimens over the years. They are much less afraid of humans than they generally are of them, and, apparently, have been known to raid people's garbage. Basically just giant bugs filling the open niche left by raccoons in the tropics.

Think that's gnarly however, and I'll turn your attention towards one of the biggest arthropods ever to have lived. Slimonia of the family Hibbertoperus. It was a species of water scorpion 5 feet in length. It lay in wait motionless in prehistoric UK bogs some 330 million years ago. It is believe that this is about the absolute physical limits of what an arthropod can grow to. Horrors yesterday and today. What a world.

National Geographic

Unbearable Lightness of Peeing

2009-03-25T17:09:00.006-04:00

Since I am traveling to Africa in June (Malawi specifically), and I made the mistake of informing my mother of these plans before I was already in the country, I have been the recipient of a steady stream of things that will undoubtedly try to kill me on my travels. The most disturbing was her insistence that I not pee into any rivers or bodies of fresh water, citing a parasite that will swim up you urine stream and root itself in your urethra. I immediately agreed that this was not something that I have any desire to mess around with, and it is a small sacrifice to give up peeing into water.

Something of this description begs investigation however, so here it is. The parasite is a fish called the candiru which (phew) lives in the Amazon. It is a type of catfish that feasts principally on the blood of other animals. It is nearly translucent in water, and lays in wait at the bottom of the river for prey to happen by. The disturbing aspect of its parasitism is that it makes straight for the exposed orifices of the unsuspecting host. It swims in, hooks in its barbs, and gorges itself on blood until it becomes so swollen that its own exit becomes difficult.

The candiru's legendary ability to swim up pee streams is a myth, but they are aggressive, and will leap for it if at close enough range. Because of their barbs, they are nearly impossible to remove without surgery. They are on average about 3 inches long but can get up to 7.

So it looks like I'm off the hook with those buggers for now, but I've still got bilharzia parasites to worry about. Or, more accurately, for my mother to worry about. Sorry Mom. I'll bring you back somethin nice.

SOURCES:
Associated Content
Damn Interesting

Learning V2.0

2009-03-25T00:47:00.001-04:00

I've decided to revitalize this project and begin to learn things again. It has been almost an entire year with absolutely no new information contacting my brain. I would like to formally put a stop to that again. ...Starting tomorrow.

Horse Diving School

2007-10-07T14:21:00.000-04:00

I first came across the concept of horse diving last evening when some friends brought up the movie "Wild Hearts Can't be Broken" about a horse diver who lost her sight in a dive, but continued to dive without it. It was initially described to me as somewhat of a sport where a rider rode a horse off a high dive, and into a small pool of water. Wild vision of uptight crowds, and harsh judges flooded my mind, evaluating the panicked fall of the graceful animals, that I don't imagine take to freefall too well. I was eventually calmed down, and came to understand that it was more of a sideshow attraction. Specifically on Atlantic City's Steel Pier.

The concept was allegedly invented by William "Doc" Carver in 1881 when his horse fell off a bridge in Nebraska into the water below. I guess he enjoyed it, so he developed it into an act. His son Al Carver built a large ramp for the trained horses to "dive" off of. His daughter Lorena Carver was the first rider, but was joined by her sister in law, Sonora Webster Carver in 1924. Sonora is the famed blind horse diver, who lost her sight when she hit the water with her eyes open in 1931 and detached both of her retinas. Sonora continued diving until 1942, when the spectacle fell largely out of favor with the public and various animal rights groups for various, but obvious reasons.

please take that rash to the doctor

2007-08-24T15:21:00.001-04:00

in honor of the us' recent display of its complete inability to deal with infectious disease, among other natural disasters, i thought it might be nice to take a look at how we're doing on a global scale to keep ourselves alive. i am referring here to mr. andrew speaker, the gentleman infected with tuberculosis, who, due to his antibiotic-resistant form of tb, was listed as an international health-risk, and then subsequently was allowed to board a series of international flights from the united states, to canada, to the czech republic. if avian flu becomes transmittable from human to human, we're essentially fucked, but we can't keep one guy with tb from getting on a plane. somehow, this doesn't sound promising.

in any event, according to the World Health Organization, "With about 2.1 billion airline passengers flying each year, there is a high risk of another major epidemic such as Aids, Sars or Ebola fever." familiar as we are with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome, and perhaps even the ebola virus, we also seem to be simultaneously immune to awareness and/or logic on the subject, due to a constant saturation of fear-style propaganda from the media. this announcement, however, comes not from the media, but from the WHO, a slightly more reputable source.

what is more frightening, though, is not the fact that we are completely unprepared, but the increasing rate with which we are rapidly being confronted with new diseases; "In the report, A Safer Future, the WHO says new diseases are emerging at the 'historically unprecedented' rate of one per year." the WHO unfortunately seems to give us no solid explanation as to why this is the case. misuse of antibiotics is one factor, but that, of course, would not account for the viral epidemics. inadequate medical care in much of the world (to make no mention of the continual blockages to complete access even here in the united states) may also share in the responsibility.

keep in mind also that these are new diseases, and we are currently as a global nation unable to deal with the simplest and most curable infections on an international level. "More than 90 percent of the deaths from infectious diseases worldwide are caused by only a handful of diseases. These diseases - lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, malaria and measles - are also the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa". (http://web.globalhealth.org/view_top.php3?id=228). with the exception of malaria and aids, these are curable.

curable.

if this is not a problem of poverty, i don't know what is.

now, let's take a look at the numbers. in the us alone, defense spending for 2006 was 556,505 million dollars. that looks like a typo, doesn't it? it's not. spending on health, you ask? 56,489 million dollars. how about education? 39,688 million. the basic message that should be gained here is that the nation seems far more concerned with death than with the health or education of its citizens. at least 10 times more concerned. these figures can all be found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/pdf/ap_cd_rom/27_1.pdf

anyone else a little scared about that cough?

W.P. Greene

2007-08-22T12:22:00.000-04:00

The other afternoon, for lack of air conditioning and a better thing to do, a female companion and myself, snuck into a movie! Aren't we badasses? The primary attribute required of the movie was that it be starting as near to our arrival as possible. What we ended up seeing was well worth the metaphorical firebombing of the film industry by seeing a 10 dollar movie for free. It was Don Cheadle's new vehicle, Talk To Me. Now neither of us had any idea what this movie was, let alone cared, let alone that it was based on real people, and events, and even a real place: Washington DC, in a real time: the 1970's. Wow! I was just happy it wasn't a romantic comedy (as I had assumed based on the title). But anyway, it's a fairly decent film, with some fairly decent points touched upon.

More interestingly is the fact that this man, Petey Greene, played by Cheadle was a genuine human being. Prominent DJ for DC's WOL 1450AM. Ex-con, activist, loudmouth, and all around bad-ass mother-SHUT YO MOUTH! Anyway, Greene articulated a lot of the rage felt in the black communities of DC in the 70's. He also spun some most excellent funk and soul records. He eventually branched out into stand up comedy, and settled in on his own tv show, Petey Greene's Washington on WDCA-TV20.

Greene died of cancer in 1984 and an estimated 20,000 mourners turned out to show their last respect. I'll do my best to dig up some of this cat's more radical moments and shoot em back at you. Sounds like a righteous dude. Hat's off to ya Petey Greene.

Biological Myths Debunked!

2007-08-21T11:43:00.001-04:00

Alright, so this isn't news to me (because I'm so smart, duh!) but apparently there are alot of you out there who still believe stuff like this. ...A LOT! Could have something to do with that fact that we came in 33 out of 34 surveyed countries in terms of our acceptance of EVOLUTION! So anyway, you don't have to stop believing in God or Leprechauns yet, but let's at least put two big myths about us humans in the ground.

First up, the assumption (ASSUMPTION! This CAN and IS proven every day) that men have two fewer ribs than women, since God had to take a pair from Adam to make Eve. But dig this, that's not true. Men and women BOTH have 12 pairs of ribs. Period. There is no argument to be made here, just the calm acceptance of the fact that you have spent you life under a false assumption. Link if you still don't believe me.

Secondly, lets address the less biblical belief that oxygenated blood is blue. It is not. It is certainly a deeper, more purple tinged color, but a far cry from blue. It is our veins that look blue through our skin, it is not a result of the royal blue blood that floweth through all of our veins.

Longer, redder wavelengths, though, can penetrate more deeply into the skin than shorter, bluer wavelengths before reflecting out. A vein looks blue because red light travels far enough into the skin to be absorbed by the blood in the vein. If the blood vessel is far enough below the skin, however, blue light--which would normally also be absorbed by the vein--reflects out of the skin before reaching the vein. So the light reflecting from tissue over the vein contains less red light than blue, giving the vein a bluish cast.

From the MadSci Network. Try this experiment if you still don't believe anyone.

So sleep soundly with a slightly better understanding of yourself tonight. Know your own body if nothing else. Maybe next week we'll get on to the widely held bullshit that there is no separation of church and state in the Constitution. Yeah...we'll get on to that for sure.

Decoherrence

2007-08-15T17:05:00.000-04:00

Quantum Decoherrence occurs as a particle becomes more entangled with it's environment; removing it from a quantum super position, and "forcing" the particle to behave in a "classical" manner. Dechoerrence is what prevents large objects from exhibiting quantum behavior. The more linked a particle becomes with it's environment (the more information it has given off in the form of photon radiation, or collisions with other particles) the more absolute it becomes. Larger objects cannot maintain a quantum super position because to much decoherrece will have necessarily occurred.

from Decoding the Universe

AF is short of water

2007-07-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

"Af is short of water" turned the tide for the American forces battling on the Pacific Front in WWII. In the spring of 1942, Allies had already cracked the Japanese Navy cipher JN-25, and had intercepted Japanese plans to attack a US base on island "AF." Intelligence knew that AF referred to a base in the Pacific, but were uncertain which one. Backing up the wrong island would be catastrophic, so to narrow the field, the Americans sent out a fake transmission stating that the water distillery on Midway island was damaged, and the base was running out of fresh water. The transmission was intercepted by the Japanese and the communique "AF is short of water." was sent out, identifying Midway as the location the attack was planned. On June 4th, 1942 the Japanese lost 4 carriers to a fleet of American ships that had been ready and waiting for the attack. It was the turning point for the War in the Pacific, and all because a code was broken.

from Decoding the Universe

Under the Bridge

2007-07-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

It's a bit embarrassing to admit this, having practically grown up on the internet, but until just now, I have remained in the dark as to what exactly an internet troll was. I had assumed that they were akin to a bot, but with slightly more malicious intent. Like an irritating automated friend request generator on MySpace, or automatic ad posts on blogs, and forums. But trolls, as it turns out, are humans knowingly baiting members of forums and communities with controversial, and insulting comments. They appear to be cousins to standard jerks, or a derivation of the common asshole, just with a more specific purpose and focus. But at least now I know what lurks under the bridges of the many byways of th internet. Macho assholes too meek to shake anything up in the real world, so they bait kids in chat rooms.

Hello Goodbye Public Broadcasting

2007-07-25T14:33:00.001-04:00

I thought that since it has recently been under fire from the Bushies, we should take a moment to look into the history of our nation's public broadcasting program:

Public broadcasting in the United States is as old as broadcasting itself. Most early public stations were operated by state colleges and universities, and were often run as part of the schools' cooperative extension services. Stations in this era were internally funded, and did not rely on listener contributions to operate; some accepted advertising. Networks such as Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin Public Radio began in this way.

The concept of a "non-commercial, educational" station per se does not show up in U.S. law until the 1940s, when the FM band was moved to its present location; the part of the band between 87.9 and 91.9 MHz is reserved for such stations. Educational television, the forerunner of modern U.S. public television, evolved in big cities in the 1950s; in rural areas, it was not uncommon for colleges to operate commercial stations instead.

In the United States, public broadcasting is decentralized and is not government operated, but does receive some government support. The majority of funding comes from community support to hundreds of public radio and public television stations, each of which is an individual entity licensed to one of several different non-profit organizations, municipal or state governments, or universities. These organizations often produce their own programs, but largely depend upon national producers and program distributors such as National Public Radio (NPR), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Public Radio International (PRI), American Public Television (APT), and American Public Media. U.S. government support is filtered through a separate organization, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

And some more on the CPB:

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private non-profit corporation which is chartered and funded by the United States Federal Government to promote public broadcasting. The CPB was created on November 7, 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. CPB initially collaborated with the pre-existing National Educational Television network, but in 1969 decided to start its own network, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which signed on officially in October of 1970, after NET was forced by the CPB and the Ford Foundation, to merge with the New Jersey PBS station, WNDT-TV (now called WNET-TV) or face funding withdrawal. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides some funding for the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio (NPR), but much more of its funding goes to public television and radio stations that are members of PBS or NPR, as well as to other broadcasters that are independent of those organizations. CPB also funds some Internet-based projects.

The CPB has nine board members who serve six-year terms and are selected by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

Presently (May 2007) the CPB board contains five Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent.

According to the Public Broadcasting Act, the White House cannot appoint persons of the same political party to more than 5 of the 9 CPB board seats. Thus, President George W. Bush may not appoint another Republican to the one vacant seat.

So listen to NPR, watch PBS, read the BBC, and think about how we could be doing way better.

via Wikipedia

the Battle of Lepanto

2007-07-06T12:32:00.000-04:00

The Battle of Lepanto was the largest naval battle ever fought. Waged between the Holy League (an ungainly alliance of Venice, Pope Pious V, Spain, Genoa, the Knights of Matla, Duchy of Savoy) and an Ottoman fleet (at the time the possessors of the most supreme Navy in the world). On the 7th of October 1571 212 Holy League vessels captained by Don Jon (Juan) encountered an Ottoman fleet 300 strong on their way out of their naval base of Lepanto on the Ionian Sea.

The battle was a crushing defeat for the Ottomans who lost 210 of their 300 vessels (127 of which were captured by the Holy League). The League conversely only lost about 20 ships to the battle. They lost almost 13,000 soldiers and rowers but reclaimed nearly that amount in freed prisoners. The Turkish lost nearly 30,000 men by either death or capture.

It was a rousing victory for the Christians, by they proved to be too disunited to capitalize on their advantage. It is still regarded however as one of the most significant turning points in naval history.

So now I know that.

via Wikipedia

Resurrection Mary

2007-07-03T01:44:00.000-04:00

I have been entertaining myself this evening reading up on local haunts and legends in and around the state of Illinois. One of the most intriguing (and from right here in Chicago on Archer Avenue) is one you've all heard before. A driver is headed down a dark stretch of road late one night. They notice a beautiful but forlorn and pale female by the side of the road and offer her a ride. She orders the driver to stop and let her out at the cemetery, and is gone before the driver knows what has happened. It that same old hitchhiker story that's been around since the horse and buggy days, but this one has some interesting peculiarities. First of all this "ghost" (using the quotes because I am not prepared to commit to the full usage of the term) who has been given the name Resurrection Mary, has been spotted hundreds of times, and by all sorts of people. Some poor fellas have even picked her up at dance clubs in the area only to have her vanish into the air around the cemetery. She is always a striking blond with a weathered looking white dress. One guy in particular, James Palus has a particularly thorough encounter to relate. There is also an alleged account of Mary bending and partially melting the bars of the cemetery gate with her ghostly hands, but the owners maintain that a sewer truck backed into it and left the marks while trying to heat up the metal with an acetylene torch to push the bars back into place. You be the judge.

via Wikipedia
Prarie Ghosts
and Weird Illinois

Great Walls of Fire

2007-06-28T16:10:00.001-04:00

I was up late last night turning my home computer into a media server so that I could stream my music from anywhere (in theory) with an internet connection. After realizing how little I know and struggling to comprehend the first step of various Unix and php kernels, I finally tracked down a helpful explanation of what the hell to do. Thanks Hadley Stern!

Anyway one of the steps of the procedure involved opening up one of the "ports" on my computer as well as on my router. I understand what firewalls do in concept, but I had never had any reason to know their actual function until last night.

Firewalls were first put up in 1988 when the "Morris Worm" caused one of the first major internet security breaches in history. Firewalls are simply a means of restricting access to parts of a computer on a network. There a varying levels of trust such as the internet (no trust) versus an area or local network (high trust).

Firewalls have evolved over the years and have many different functions. Packet filters compare packets of information coming across a network and discard packets that do not comply with firewall settings. There are stateful filter which can analyze packets based on the type of connection they are connected with. A third type of firewall is an application layer or a proxy. These types of firewall can "understand" certain types of application (ftp, DNS, browsing) and determine if they are using non-standard ports. A port is a transfer protocol between computers. That is what I had to enable to open up my computer and turn it into a music server. And it works great, well kind of. All the music is there, and the concept is awesome, but the connection is a bit slow to handle the streaming (buffers more than it plays). But hey, at least I learned something.

via Wikipedia

Saturday Morning Commercials

2007-06-25T13:55:00.000-04:00

I just put down an article on the soon to be unsheathed Transformers movie. An interesting fact that came up, of which I was previously unaware, was that the reason we had shows like Transformers, He-Man, Lone Star, Silverhawks, and their like is that in 1981 Ronald Regan eliminated many of the restrictions on children's programming that had been in place since the late 60's. The restrictions were put into play by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) and included limitations such as a shortened allotment for commercials in children's programming (nine and a half minutes versus sixteen) as well as regulating the content of shows to ensure they were not simply the half hour long commercials as my generation would come to know and love. They went so far as to cancel the show Hot Wheels under that same provision. They even considered banning the advertising of that blight of the nation sugar.

However, at the beginning of the Regan era, all of those regulations went out the window. The doors were opened to the market and the Children's Television Act (which would have reinstated many of these limitations) was vetoed. Companies were given unrestricted access to young minds. We, of course, all know the result. Our whole generation grew up worshiping and collecting (or forcing our parents to buy) every single object with a price tag these poorly animated talking advertisements touched. Because of television deregulation in the early 80's valuable space in my brain is occupied by every name of every character from Thundercats and He-Man. At least Regan lost his mind too.

Via Everything 2

Auto Alchemy

2007-06-20T00:38:00.000-04:00

Though the press was all over it last month, I just heard today about Purdue University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jerry Woodall's discovery that adding an aluminum + gallium solution to water yields hydrogen atoms. The is of particular interest for application to hydrogen fuel cells, and even more specifically to clean internal combustion engines. Previously no solid solution had been found for generating transporting and storing the hydrogen fuel. Woodall's process is safe, clean, and very efficient (two atoms of aluminum yield three atoms of hydrogen). It can be done on site with virtually any quality of aluminum and water (including salt water) and on the spot so hydrogen needn't be stored or transported.

The process is a simple chemical reaction. When water comes into contact with the aluminum pellets in the liquid gallium the hydrogen atoms separate and can be easily collected. Of course the implications are grand. It's clean, easy, safe, efficient, and the ingredients are plentiful. Keep you eyes open for developments.

A bit on the elements while I'm learning stuff. Gallium (Ga) is periodic element 31. It is a metal that melts just above room temperature, and will actually melt in your hands. In the form of gallium nitride and gallium arsenide, it is used as a semi conductor in LED's. It is not naturally occurring, but it easily derived from smelting.

Aluminum (Al 13) is a ductile member of the poor metals family of periodic elements. It is very lightweight and notable for it's ability to resist corrosion. Aluminum is nontoxic, nonmagnetic, and nonsparking.

Hydrogen (H 1) Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element making up roughly 75% of the universes' elemental mass. It is odorless, tasteless, nontoxic, and highly flammable. It will also someday hopefully power our lawnmowers and transportation.

Meeting with Problems

2007-06-14T23:37:00.001-04:00

I was sitting in on a meeting at work this morning, and the boss was speaking with an SEO specialist about the big redesign of our website which we will soon undertake. Anyway, SEO was all they ever said, but they said it a lot. I nodded my head enough to seem like I knew what they were talking about, and I kept up with the rest of the discussion, but that acronym remained elusive until now:

from Wikipedia

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevancy, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, and making sure that the content is easily indexed by search engines and also appeals to human visitors.

The acronym "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers," a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

Additionally, I also found out about so called White Hat and Black Hat SEO, which means what you would assume. White hat is the good guys; playing by the rules and designing content for users and not resorting to deceptive tactics to improve their spot on the search engines. Black Hat is appropriately dark and deceptive, often using hidden text, and repeated word to lock in results and generate hits. Invent anything and people will exploit it. Trust me on this one.

And that's it. I'm going to be taking some training in it in the weeks to come, so I'll get more than my fair share of knowledge about it. But at least now I'll know what they're talking about. Just making sure your site is optimized as much as possible for web searching and trawling.

LOLcats

2007-06-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Now, I wouldn't consider myself a n00b by any stretch of the imagination. I have an avatar in Second Lie, although I forgot my password about a year ago and have yet to correct the matter. I'm on Flickr, Mog, Last FM, Skype, Veoh, Digg, Odeo, De.li.cious, all that newfangled web hipster 2.0 hoo-haa. But one avenue (well many, but this one for now) of the internet that I remain completely dumbfounded by is the explosion of LOLcats. I could try and put the craze into my own words, but I think I'd better let the experts speak on this one:

From Wikipedia

Lolcats, a compound of lol and cat,[1][2] are photos of cats with humorous captions. They are a type of image macro, and are thus also referred to as cat macros. Lolcats are created for the purpose of sharing them with others on imageboards and other internet forums, especially on Saturdays ("Caturdays").[3]

Lolcat images usually consist of a photo of a cat with a caption characteristically formatted in a sans serif font such as Impact or Arial Black.[4] The image is, on occasion, photoshopped for effect. The caption generally acts as a speech balloon encompassing a comment from the cat, or is a simple description of the depicted scene. The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and syntax[4] featuring "strangely-conjugated verbs, but [a tendency] to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar."[5] These altered rules of English have been referred to as a type of pidgin[4] or baby talk.[6] The text is frequently in the form of a snowclone parodying the grammar-poor patois stereotypically attributed to internet slang.

Lolcats are similar to other animal-based image macros, such as the O RLY? owl and captioned pictures of walruses (lolruses [7]), elephant seals, dogs, hamsters, birds, and rabbits.[8] The format is popular enough to have spread to subjects as diverse as United States Presidents and tapirs.

So it turns out that I fully understood the concept all along, I just never fucking got it. I still don't think it's funny. But that certainly cleared up a lot. Thanks Internet, I'm glad we had this talk. Now I feel comfortable making a submission of my own to the fog of LOLcat hysteria:

Meez so smartz now!

Gone to Croatoan

2007-06-04T11:42:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite of history's mysteries because it is so vague and ominous. The vanished colonists of the Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in present day North Carolina. Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish a permanent colony there between 1585 and 1587 but after three years of being cut off from supplies from England, the settlers vanished, and Roanoke went down in history as "the Lost Colony."

It is still uncertain what happened to the original colonists. There was no trace left of them except for the words "Croatoan" scratched into the bark of one tree near camp, and "Kro" on another. They had been instructed to carve a maltese cross into a tree as a sign of forced relocation, but no such indication was ever found.

It is theorized they they were absorbed into the surrounding Native tribes, but the assimilation theory has never been confirmed nor denied. To this day they remain the Lost Colony.

Cobination unLock

2007-05-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the things I learn are useful.

How To Crack A Combination Lock - video powered by Metacafe

Protest Nothing

2007-05-22T01:55:00.000-04:00

This was organized by a group called NODE from Berlin and Oslo in the year 2004.

This demonstration was part of our workshop “Means of Promotion” at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn. The workshop examined different strategies for being a parasite on existing media. We organized an unregistered demonstration with empty banners by the Liberty Clock monument in Tallinn. Estonian law requires a demonstration to be registered by the authoroties. We did not ask for such permission, thereby posing the question to the system whether or not this was an illegal action. The event was covered by all major TV-stations and newspapers in Estonia.

More than meets the eye (ugh, sorry)

2007-05-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

The other week, while I was happily working on painting a 4ft diameter fiberglass globe destined for the United States Congress (that is serious by the way) A loud noise rang out, echoing off the other building down on Fulton Market Street. I looked out the window to see a number of people looking down the street next to our building, and just as many backpedaling out of the alley at a decent clip. I then noticed a number of people from the warehouse on the corner shouting and waving at me. They we're shouting things like "You're on fire!" and "Hey! Get the hell out of there." They also persisted in pointing above and behind me as if there were something of importance that I was somehow missing. Since I was not at that point on fire, I had difficulty believing them and responded with things like "What?" and "Really?" So we begrudgingly toddled out of a possibly flaming building and exited into the alley to find two cars completely engulfed in nine feet of flame. Soon after the spectacle took effect, tires started exploding left and right, which served to bring us back to reality. The gas ignited, spewing flame out of the ...uhh..gas filling hole? But anyway, I have a much more realistic understanding of how cars burn, than Holloywood ever provided.

Upon speaking with a fellow gawker he informed me that the transformer had blown, raining down fire on to the innocently parked car, which went up apparently like a car that burns quickly and turned the SUV next to it into a nice toxic bonfire. What is in a transformer that rains down as balls of fire I thought. Why do they have to go and explode all the time in the first place?

Well as is the nature of this blog, I found out. Here is the simple definition of a transformer via Wikipedia:

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling without requiring relative motion between its parts. It usually comprises two or more coupled windings, and, in most cases, a core to concentrate magnetic flux.

An alternating voltage applied to one winding creates a time-varying magnetic flux in the core, which induces a voltage in the other windings. Varying the relative number of turns between primary and secondary windings determines the ratio of the input and output voltages, thus transforming the voltage by stepping it up or down between circuits.

Amongst the simplest of electrical machines, the transformer is also one of the most efficient,[2] with large units attaining performances in excess of 99.75%.[3] Transformers come in a range of sizes from a thumbnail-sized coupling transformer hidden inside a stage microphone to huge giga VA-rated units used to interconnect portions of national power grids. All operate with the same basic principles and with many similarities in their parts, though a variety of transformer designs exist to perform specialized roles throughout home and industry.

Allright, fair enough, so what the hell produced a huge ball of fire and a loud explosion?

It's actually much simpler than this post justifies. In generating current, transformers build up a tremendous ammount of heat (lost energy) to counteract this, transformers are filled will coolant to keep the temperatures down, older transformers, and many outdoor transformers use mineral or canola oils to keep them cool. At very high temperatures, these can ignite, and turn into big hot balls of grease fire. The explosion is the electrical arc escaping from the confines of the transformer couplings.

It is important to remember that not all explosions are the result of a blown transformer. Some are populations, emotions, or terrorists.

On Breathing Liquid

2007-05-10T16:29:00.000-04:00

Unbelievably, I saw the movie the Abyss for the first time last night. In this film, as the rest of you know, they breath liquid to keep their lungs from collapsing below 2 miles of ocean. I was aware of the concept, but unclear on it's validity and history, so of course, I found out.

It turns out the concept is mostly sound. The lungs can be filled with oxygen rich solutions and function relatively normally. The problem arises in the expulsion of excess carbon dioxide. This was initially circumvented by keeping the liquid at incredibly low temperatures. One subject mouse survived for over 20hours breathing liquid at 18 degrees celcius. This is a problem however because it would induce hypothermia in the animals, and would not serve as a functional application. Unfortunately almost all animals tested have suffered varying degrees of lung damage. There have been some advancements in the application in recent years.

from Wikipedia

During later years, the techniques of liquid breathing were constantly refined and improved. The survival rate of all the tested animals in recent years has been very high, thanks mainly to improvements in carbon dioxide elimination. Current liquids used can dissolve over 65 ml of oxygen and 228 ml of carbon dioxide per 100 ml perfluorocarbon. By the early 1990s this procedure was developed:

1. The animal was anesthetized with intravenous sodium thiopental.
2. The animal was put on its back. A tube was placed down its airway, ready for the liquid breathing medium.
3. A blood sample was taken. The temperature of the liquid was adjusted correspondingly. It was no longer necessary to make the animals hypothermic.
4. The perfluorocarbon was instilled into the animal's lungs through the tube.
5. A floor-mounted 3-litre reservoir was filled with the perfluorocarbon. The liquid was driven by a pump through a series of machines which warmed and oxygenated the liquid and took the carbon dioxide out of it. The liquid flowed through a tube into a 3-way pneumatic valve which directed flow to the animal. A computer controlled the respiration (18 ml of fluid per second), pumping the liquid into the animal's lungs, then back out again to the reservoir, at a rate of about 6 complete respirations per minute.
6. At the end of the test, the animal was tilted for about 15 seconds and the perfluorocarbon was allowed to drain from the lungs. This can be seen in the film The Abyss where Ensign Monk drained the liquid out of the rat's lungs: in the filming, the rat genuinely breathed liquid.

These tests of the early 90s were successful: dogs could be kept alive in the perfluorcarbon medium for about 2 hours; after removal the dogs were usually slightly hypoxic, but returned to normal after a few days. When the animals were necropsied, the typical findings were mild oedema and some hemorrhaging, clearly an improvement over the lung damage of earlier tests.

The application of liquid breathing in human medicine, deep sea diving, and space travel is still speculative, but perhaps some day we will all get the opportunity to breath liquid. The mouse at the top is alive by the way.

Two things I just learned about that make me want to fucking kill myself.

2007-05-08T00:58:00.000-04:00

And no it's not global warming, or pollution, or our terminal race of military inflation; not poverty, nor famine, death, murder, or disease. I want to die because there is A) a newly discovered spider that FUCKING EATS CHICKENS! and B) a desert arachnid that can run at speeds up to 10 miles per hour.

Here is the lovely subject A:

I thought bird eating spiders were the worst, but this lovely beast was just discovered in a hole in the Amazon. They can grown to be bigger than a foot in length, are rumored to eat chickens.

More on the discovery.

Then there's subject B:

A pair of camel spiders. This photo shows two of them dangling from each other, but yeas they are that FUCKING big and they can run 10 miles an hour, which is just a little bit slower than I would be running if I ever saw one of them. They are not actually spiders, but a classification of arachnids, like scorpions, all their own. They do not purportedly carry any venom, but they can probably bite you arm off, so I still wouldn't recommend trying to start anything with one of them.

I have fought long and hard to overcome a childhood fear of arachnids, and feel that I am doing pretty well, but the existence of these two creatures on the same planet as me is really, just a bit much. I'm considering suicide as an option, but I think I will probably just relegate my travel to areas with no confirmed sightings of these monsters.

Link if you care to see either of these beasts in motion.

Just a Second

2007-05-01T00:17:00.000-04:00

Not just Mississippi.

Under the International System of Units, the second is currently defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.[1] This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K (absolute zero). The ground state is defined at zero magnetic field.[1] The second thus defined is equivalent to the ephemeris second.

The international standard symbol for a second is s (see ISO 31-1)

Originally, the second was known as a "second minute", meaning the second minute (i.e. small) division of an hour. The first division was known as a "prime minute" and is equivalent to the minute we know today.

The factor of 60 comes from the Babylonians who used factors of 60 in their counting system. However, the Babylonians did not subdivide their time units sexagesimally (except for the day). The hour had been defined by the ancient Egyptians as either 1/12 of daytime or 1/12 of nighttime, hence both varied with the seasons. Hellenistic astronomers, including Hipparchus and Ptolemy, defined the hour as 1/24 of a mean solar day. Sexagesimally subdividing this mean solar hour made the second 1/86,400 of a mean solar day.[citation needed] Hellenistic time periods like the mean synodic month were usually specified quite precisely because they were calculated from carefully selected eclipses separated by hundreds of years—individual mean synodic months and similar time periods cannot be measured. Nevertheless, with the development of pendulum clocks keeping mean time (as opposed to the apparent time displayed by sundials), the second became measurable. The seconds pendulum was proposed as a unit of length as early as 1660 by the Royal Society of London. The duration of a beat or half period (one swing, not back and forth) of a pendulum one metre in length on the earth's surface is approximately one second.[2]

In 1956 the second was defined in terms of the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun for a particular epoch, because by then it had become recognized that the Earth's rotation on its own axis was not sufficiently uniform as a standard of time. The Earth's motion was described in Newcomb's Tables of the Sun, which provides a formula for the motion of the Sun at the epoch 1900 based on astronomical observations made between 1750 and 1892.[1] The second thus defined is

the fraction 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year for 1900 January 0 at 12 hours ephemeris time.[1]

This definition was ratified by the Eleventh General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960. The tropical year in the definition was not measured, but calculated from a formula describing a tropical year which decreased linearly over time, hence the curious reference to a specific instantaneous tropical year. Because this second was the independent variable of time used in ephemerides of the Sun and Moon during most of the twentieth century (Newcomb's Tables of the Sun were used from 1900 through 1983, and Brown's Tables of the Moon were used from 1920 through 1983), it was called the ephemeris second.[1]

With the development of the atomic clock, it was decided to use atomic clocks as the basis of the definition of the second, rather than the revolution of the Earth around the Sun.

Following several years of work, Louis Essen from the National Physical Laboratory (Teddington, England) and William Markowitz from the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) determined the relationship between the hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium atom and the ephemeris second.[1] Using a common-view measurement method based on the received signals from radio station WWV,[3] they determined the orbital motion of the Moon about the Earth, from which the apparent motion of the Sun could be inferred, in terms of time as measured by an atomic clock. As a result, in 1967 the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined the second of atomic time in the International System of Units (SI) as

the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.[1]

The ground state is defined at zero magnetic field. The second thus defined is equivalent to the ephemeris second.[1]

The definition of the second was later refined at the 1997 meeting of the BIPM to include the statement

This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K.

The revised definition would seem to imply that the ideal atomic clock would contain a single caesium atom at rest emitting a single frequency. In practice, however, the definition means that high-precision realizations of the second should compensate for the effects of the ambient temperature (black-body radiation) within which atomic clocks operate and extrapolate accordingly to the value of the second as defined above.

via Wikipedia

Crosse's Acari

2007-04-20T18:34:00.000-04:00

I have in my collection a book entitled "Oddities" which is a bit of an oddity in it's own right. In it, numerous tales of unexplained intrigue can be found, however rudimentary investigation in the past has revealed the book to be one of a few, if not the only source on most of the subjects. Such as appears to be the case in the story of Crosse's Acari. Andrew Crosse was an amateur scientist studying electricity in relative seclusion in the North of England in the first half of the 19th century. Inexplicably, and unexplainably, because his records were lost, in studying the effects of electrical current on a crystal he noticed that tiny aphids, or acari had sprouted from the surface of the rock. He continued his experiments and before long was overrun by literally hundreds of the little blighters.

From his own account:

"On the fourteenth day from the commencement of this experiment I observed through a lens a few small whitish excrescences or nipples, projecting from about the middle of the electrified stone. On the eighteenth day these projections enlarged, and struck out seven or eight filaments, each of them longer than the hemisphere on which they grew.

"On the twenty-sixth day these appearances assumed the form of a perfect insect, standing erect on a few bristles which formed its tail. Till this period I had no notion that these appearances were other than an incipient mineral formation. On the twenty-eighth day these little creatures moved their legs. I must now say that I was not a little astonished. After a few days they detached themselves from the stone, and moved about at pleasure.

"In the course of a few weeks about a hundred of them made their appearance on the stone. I examined them with a microscope, and observed that the smaller ones appeared to have only six legs, the larger ones eight. These insects are pronounced to be of the genus acarus, but there appears to be a difference of opinion as to whether they are a known species; some assert that they are not. [See Fig. 1]

"I have never ventured an opinion on the cause of their birth, and for a very good reason—I was unable to form one. The simplest solution of the problem which occurred to me was that they arose from ova deposited by insects floating in the atmosphere and hatched by electric action. Still I could not imagine that an ovum could shoot out filaments, or that these filaments could become bristles, and moreover I could not detect, on the closest examination, the remains of a shell...

"I next imagined, as others have done, that they might originate from the water, and consequently made a close examination of numbers of vessels filled with the same fluid: in none of these could I perceive a trace of an insect, nor could I see any in any other part of the room."

He abandoned his studies due to the amount of scorn and ridicule that befell him after publishing his findings. It should be noted that no similar cases have since occurred. What did Crosse know that no one else did. Here is a link to the entire story as related in the book Oddities for you continued learning.

Boffins and Anoraks

2007-04-16T22:11:00.000-04:00

Hurling some British slang in your direction this eve, we come to "boffins" and "anoraks". Each in their own way describing a "nerd" to us, although both words carry with them their specific connotations. A boffin describes a scientist or an engineer, generally an older, more mature man, tinkering away at some useful endeavor. An anorak on the other hand, describes a creature from the bottom of the barrel of social sensibilities. Someone like a D&D dweeb, or a trainspotter. Much lower functioning than their cousins the boffin, anoraks are doomed to ridicule with no hope for a way out through technological advancement. You on the other hand know how to identify them, hopefully you didn't learn something about yourself. Have the fun.

Trainspotters

2007-04-12T15:35:00.000-04:00

After years and years, it finally occurred to me to find out exactly what the hell a "trainspotter" is. Well trainspotters, or railfans, are a classification of people that range from the amateur spotter to the obsessive weirdo. They are, as simply as the name suggests, people enamored with railways, and all aspects involving railways. Trainspotters are a particular classification of railfans that are particularly hung up on attempting to spot and identify every single piece of rolling stock know to exist for a particular rail company. They can be found hovering around rail line with note pads or tape recorded jotting down the serial numbers of passing rail cars. They are generally well connected with communities of other trainspotters in order to form as complete a picture as possible.

From Wikipedia, more on railfans:

Excessively enthusiastic railfans are sometimes referred to pejoratively as "foamers", especially by American railworkers, in reference to the joking notion that they foam at the mouth in their excitement over train operations. "FRN" (for "fucking rail nut")[2] is a similarly-used term in the American rail industry. The UK equivalent is "crank", which has been taken into enthusiast usage.

In the UK, railfans are sometimes called trainspotters, grizzers or gricers, according to their speciality (see below) or anoraks. In Australia, they are sometimes called "gunzels".

Just further proof that obsession knows no limits. The more you know.

Ik-y (sigh, sorry)

2007-04-04T00:43:00.000-04:00

I was lured to the Ik by Vollmann's incredible "Rising Up and Rising Down." Specifically a quote by Colin Turnbull, a social anthropologist studying the Ik, in which he stated, "I am hopeful that their isolation will remain as complete as in the past, until they die out completely." The reason for this, Vollmann explains, is that Turnbull witnessed the Ik as a completely Machiavellian society in which food is stoled from the starving, children are cast out at 3 and the necessities of life are stolen from the needy to suit the greedy. Such accusations warranted investigation, and I find that Turnbull is widely discredited.

From Wikipedia:

Colin Turnbull wrote an extremely successful ethnography about the Ik, titled The Mountain People, which was quite disparaging.[1] While highly popular, the book was controversial, and the accuracy and methodology of much of Turnbull's work has been questioned.

Turnbull advocated to the Ugandan government forcible relocation of random tribal members (with no more than ten people in any relocated group). He defended this by arguing that the Ik society was already destroyed and all that could be done was to save individual tribal members.[2]

There is strong evidence that Turnbull had limited knowledge of the Ik language and cultural traditions, as well as almost no knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area. He completely misrepresented the history of the Ik by claiming they were traditionally hunters and gathers who were forced to become farmers. There is ample linguistic and cultural evidence that the Ik were farmers long before the creation of Kidepo National Park, which Turnbull claims caused the Ik to be driven from their major hunting grounds and forced them to become farmers.

Some of his main informants were not Ik, but Diding'a. Lomeja who helped him learn the Ik language was undoubtedly Diding'a, and according to informants of Bernd Heine (a linguist), who studied the Ik in early 1983, spoke only broken Ik. Further, three out of the six villages Turnbull studied were headed by non-Ik.

Turnbull's claim that Ik raided cattle and frequently "do a double deal" by selling information concerning the raid to the proposed victims are at odds with both the Dodoth County Chief's monthlty reports and the files of the Administrator in Moroto between 1963-1969. Rather, what these files and reports suggest is that the largest number of cattle raids occurred in parts of Dodoth County where any involvement by the Ik can be ruled out. No mention of Ik raiding livestock can be found in any of these reports and files.

Turnbull's claims that adultery was common is completely opposite to the statements of informants interviewed by Bernd Heine in 1983. They reported that during the two years Turnbull stayed in Pirre there was only one case of adultery. Heine writes: "All Ik elders interviewed stated that there are no indications whatsoever in the oral traditions to suggest that adulterers were burnt in the past."

Finally, Bernd Heine states: "Secondly, Turnbull's account of Ik culture turned out to be at variance with most observations we made—to the extent that at times I was under the impression that I was dealing with an entirely different people."

This is all that was said of the Ik people:

The Ik are an ethnic group, numbering only a few thousand people, living in the mountains of northeastern Uganda near the border with Kenya, next to the more numerous Dodoth and Turkana. They were expelled from their land to create a national park and, as a result, suffered extreme famine. Furthermore, their weakness relative to other tribes meant they were regularly raided. The Ik are subsistence farmers and grind their own grain.

The Ik language, Icetot, is of interest to linguists as a member of the highly divergent Kuliak subgroup of Nilo-Saharan languages.

The Ik people create several small villages in clusters, forming a "community". Each small village is surrounded by an outer wall, then sectioned off into familial- or friend-based "neighborhoods" called Odoks, also surrounded by a wall. Each Odok is sectioned into walled-off households called asaks, with front yards (for lack of a better word) and, in some cases, granaries.

It has been observed that children are expelled from the household at three years old and not allowed into the house afterward. They form groups called age-bands with people in their age group. The Junior Group consists of children from the ages of three to eight and the Senior Group is a band of children between eight and thirteen. There are no adults that look after these children, so they teach each other the basics of survival. Howewer, it is not certain whether this tradition is typical for the Ik or was temporarily caused by unusual famine conditions.

I plan to look deeper into the heart of the matter, and will report further when more is known.

Evolving Bananas

2007-04-02T12:41:00.000-04:00

Wild Banana

I recently learned that atheists are wrong, and god has to exist because bananas are easy to eat. Link. But some nagging doubt in the back of my mind stuck around. "That just can't be true." I thought. So, rather than resorting to logic, which was my original defense, I have been tipped off to a bit of history that I find particularly crucial in this particular case.

The particular variety of banana that was most recently drafted into the army of god is a mutant. The cultivation of bananas goes very far back into human history. The first mention of a banana occurs around 600 B.C.E. in a Buddhist text. If you're keeping score this is also hundreds of years before Christianity evolved. Anyway, the variety of bananas we consume are cultivated mutations on the banana genome.

From About: Bananas

Historical bananas were not the sweet yellow banana we know today, but the red and green cooking variety, now usually referred to as plantains to distinguish them from the sweet type.

The yellow sweet banana is a mutant strain of the cooking banana, discovered in 1836 by Jamaican Jean Francois Poujot, who found one of the banana trees on his plantation was bearing yellow fruit rather than green or red. Upon tasting the new discovery, he found it to be sweet in its raw state, without the need for cooking. He quickly began cultivating this sweet variety.

More smoke for the gun from Wikipedia

While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, triploid (and thus seedless) cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for fruiting immediately and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" that will produce fruit in 6–8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates. Latin Americans sometimes comment that the plants are "walking" over time.

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, another form of propagation is required. This involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana pseudostem) with some roots intact. However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet elongated suckers, are harder to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to 2 weeks; they require minimal care and can be boxed together for shipment.

So, the bananas that god allegedly made for us humans to eat with ease are not even naturally viable as a species. They had to evolve before they could even get to that state. Not that that PROVES anything, except that humans also eat pineapples and coconuts.

Andrewsarchus

2007-03-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

Surfing the internet this morning, I accidentally stumbled upon the largest carnivorous mammal to have ever existed: the andrewsarchus mongliensis. The andrewsarchus was the largest of a wholly extinct genus of carnivorous ungulates (hoofed animals).

More from Wikipedia:

Andrewsarchus is known only from an enormous, meter-long skull and pieces of bone, but the skull's similarity to that of smaller mesonychids suggests that Andrewsarchus had the same wolf-like body on a larger scale. Extrapolating from the body proportions of similar mesonychids, Andrewsarchus was most likely about 4-6 metres (13-18 feet) long, standing nearly 2 metres (6 feet) at the shoulder, making it the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammal that has ever existed. It probably averaged about 1500 kilograms in weight with some exceptional animals over 2000 kilograms, making it over twice as heavy as most Kodiak brown bears, and rather heavier than a Percheron horse.

The skull of Andrewsarchus was found in Late Eocene sediments in what is now Mongolia. As there has only been a skull and a few bones found, it is still too premature to speculate on its time range, beyond being a Late Eocene apex predator.

To judge from its immense jaws, and the coastal location of the fossils, Andrewsarchus may have fed on beached primitive whales, shellfish and hard-shelled turtles, and contemporary large mammals at various periods during its existence. Toward the end of the Eocene very large mammals (such as the brontotheres) had evolved in the region of Central Asia. Andrewsarchus possessed some of the strongest jaws ever evolved in a land mammal, able to bite through large bones if needed.

Despite the enormous jaws and very sturdy teeth, Andrewsarchus did not have teeth adapted for the carnassial shear, though its immensely powerful jaws rendered such an adaptation unnecessary. Judging by its sheer size, the animal fed on large animals such as the extinct brontotheres, which were among the largest herbivorous mammals at the time. Simply scavenging smaller animals would not have required a body and jaws of the size that Andrewsarchus possessed (over twice that of a modern brown bear). It was not adapted to eating plants or digging, and hence could not enjoy an omnivorous lifestyle as do pigs and bears today. Most likely, it fed off of brontotheres, possibly both hunting them, and scavenging already dead carcasses.

By the mid Oligocene, the Creodonts supplanted both the Mesonychids, and giant flightless predatory birds entirely in North America, Eurasia and Africa, and in turn, competed with their relatives, the true carnivores until the last creodont genus, Dissopsalis, went extinct about 8 million years ago. The order Carnivora includes such animals as the dogs, cats, and bears. Various species of Carnivora have now spread (partly assisted by humans) to every continent, as well as most islands, and have replaced most other large non-avian terrestrial predators worldwide.

the Berbalangs of Cagayan!

2007-03-29T12:06:00.000-04:00

I happened upon this story in a book entitled "Oddities" by Rupert T Gould. It was published in 1965 and the account references a previous text by a Mr. Ethelbert Forbes Sketcherly, which appeared in the Asiatic Society of Bengal's Journal in 1896. There is little hope of the tale related having any factual connection, but it is an interesting bit of lore nonetheless. I would also like to illustrate that the Sketcherly text appears to be the original and only text on the subject, for every subsequent account I have found (and there are few) are nearly exact replicas of the original story; the story of the Berbalangs of Cagayan!! (duh duh duhhh!)

From the Sketcherly text:

"These Berbalangs are ghouls.They dip open the graves and eat the entrails of the corpses;but in Cagayan the supply of cadavers is limited,so when they feel the craving for human flesh they go away into the grass,and having carefully hidden their bodies,hold their breathe and fall into a trance.Their astral bodies are then liberated,whereupon they fly away,and entering a house they invade the body of one of the occupants and feed on his entrails.You can always tell them because their pupils are not round,but just narrow slits like those of a cat.They may be heard coming,as they always make a moaning noise which is loud at a distance and dies away to a feeble moan as they approach.When they are near you the sound of their wings may be heard and the flashing lights of their eyes can be seen dancing like fireflies in the dark."It is said that the only way to beat them off is with a "kris"a blade which has been rubbed with lime juice.

the Golden Record

2007-03-26T18:18:00.000-04:00

A little history about a bit of human culture that will survive the extinction of our solar system.

The Facts:

The Voyager Golden Record is a phonograph record included in the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. It contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It is intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or far future humans, that may find it. The Voyager spacecraft will take about 40,000 years to come near another star, 'near' meaning in this case within around 1.7 light-years' distance; hence, if other beings do not come in the direction of the spacecraft to meet them, it will take at least that long for the Golden Record to be found.

As the probes are extremely small compared to the vastness of interstellar space, it is extraordinarily unlikely that they will ever be intercepted. If they are ever found by an alien species, it will be far in the future and the aliens may not even have technology able to play the record or the biology to see or feel the images, and thus the record is best seen as a symbolic statement rather than a serious attempt to communicate with aliens.

The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, and thunder, and animal sounds, including the songs of birds and whales. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earthlings in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.

After NASA had received much criticism over the "smut" on the Pioneer plaque (line drawings of a naked man and woman), the agency chose not to allow Sagan and his colleagues to include a photograph of a nude man and a nude, pregnant woman on the record. Instead, only a silhouette of the couple was included.

By the time it reaches anything that can make sense of it, it will probably be old news.

Spolier Alert!

2007-03-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

I heard through the grapevine today that eggs never go bad. This sounded fishy to me, so I came home on this very nice day to check it out. Here's the facts:

Eggs apparently can spoli if the shell is compromised (i.e. cracked), but it seems that they primarily just run the risk of "not being as good." It seems that the yolk becomes thinner, and the white runnier with time, but otherwise the only thing you need worry about is the egg drying up. If your eggs comes out in one solid clump, or in a powder, you should probably try getting a fresher batch. Otherwise, eat up!

From Learn More About Eggs.

Cordyceps strikes again!

2007-03-24T12:24:00.000-04:00

This time in video.

Link to a previous post on Cordyceps.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

2007-03-23T17:28:00.000-04:00

I figure I should clear up a bit of my Chicago history. I know that the St. Valentines incident was a massacre, and I know that it involved mobster in prohibition era Chicago, but I felt I should tighten up the facts a bit now that I live here.

Here's some facts:

The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is the name given to the shooting of seven people (six of them gangsters) as part of a Prohibition Era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago, Illinois in the winter of 1929: the South Side Italian gang led by Al "Scarface" Capone and the North Side Irish/German gang led by George "Bugs" Moran. The Purple Gang was also suspected to play a large role in the St. Valentine's Day massacre, assisting Al Capone.

On the morning of Thursday, February 14, St. Valentine's Day, six members of George 'Bugs' Moran's gang and a doctor who happened to be at the scene were lined up against the rear inside wall of the garage of the S-M-C Cartage Company in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago's North Side. They were then shot and killed by five members of Al Capone's gang (two of whom were dressed as police officers). When one of the dying men, Frank "Tight Lips" Gusenberg, was asked who shot him, he replied, "Nobody shot me." Capone himself had arranged to be on vacation in Florida at the time.

And an additionally interesting tidbit:

The garage, which stood at 2122 N. Clark Street, was demolished in 1967; the site is now a landscaped parking lot for a nursing home. The wall was dismantled brick by brick, sold at auction and shipped to George Patey of Vancouver, a Canadian businessman, who rebuilt it in the men's restroom of a bar with a Roaring Twenties theme called the Banjo Palace. After the bar closed, Patey began trying to sell the bricks as souvenirs.

From Wikipedia

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

2007-03-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

This incident was mentioned on BoingBoing today, but a story of this nature warrants more breaking, so here is some additional information.

There is no greater phantom attacker in the history of the unexplained in America than the legendary “Mad Gasser of Mattoon”, a bizarre figure who wreaked havoc in a small Illinois town in 1944. This creature turned out to be so elusive that law enforcement officials eventually declared him nonexistent, despite dozens and dozens of eyewitness reports and actual physical evidence that was left behind at the scene of some attacks.

Making matters even more interesting was a series of nearly identical attacks that took place in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1933 -1934. Social scientists declared that the attacks in Mattoon had been nothing more than mass hysteria, but how could the Illinois residents have known anything about the events in Virginia, which were barely publicized, in order to duplicate them so closely?

Both of these series of attacks involved a mysterious figure (dressed in black) who came and went without warning, left little in the way of clues behind and for some reason, sprayed a paralyzing gas into the windows of unsuspecting residents. The gas was never identified in either case and both cases involved fairly isolated areas where the attacks took place. The homes that were attacked in Virginia were in a rural county and Mattoon, at that time, was a small, Central Illinois town with no large cities in the vicinity. Also, police officials were totally stumped in both cases.

From Hauntings of Illinois

And also:

Most contemporary descriptions of the Mad Gasser are based on the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Kearney of 1408 Marshall Avenue, the victims of the first Mattoon case to be reported by the media. They described the gasser as being a tall, thin man dressed in dark clothing and wearing a tight-fitting cap. [2][3] Another report, made some weeks later, described the gassers as being a female dressed as a man. [4][1] The Gasser had also been described as carrying a flit gun, an agricultural tool for spraying pesticide, which he purportedly used to expel the gas.

From Wikipedia. Be sure to check out the chronology on the Wikipedia page as well.

And sleep well tonight, lest you be the next victim of THE MAD GASSER!

Nocebo

2007-03-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

This will come in handy later:

n its original application, "nocebo" had a very specific meaning in the medical domains of pharmacology, and nosology, and aetiology.

It was a subject-oriented adjective that was used to label the harmful, injurious, unpleasant, or undesirable reactions (or responses) that a subject manifested (thus, "nocebo reactions" or "nocebo responses") as a result administering an inert dummy drug, where these responses had not been chemically generated, and were entirely due to the subject's pessimistic belief and expectation that the inert drug would produce harmful, injurious, unpleasant, or undesirable consequences.

In these cases, there is no "real" drug involved, but the actual harmful, injurious, unpleasant or undesirable biochemical, physiological, behavioural, emotional, and/or cognitive consequences of the administration of the inert drug are very real.

A "classic" example of the nocebo response is someone dying of fright after being bitten by a non-venomous snake.

From Wikipedia

Shockwave Cannon: Weird Weapons of WWII

2007-03-19T18:47:00.000-04:00

This is a segment from the History Channel's "Weird Weapons of WWII" featuring Mark Pauline from SRL demonstrating the "shockwave cannon" which was a failed bit of Nazi technology that was supposed to decimate aircraft with a powerful column of air. It never quite worked, as evidenced by the fact that at the end of the clip MYSELF and two of my good friends appear getting blasted by the cannon on top of Mark's Trailer. This was filmed two summers ago when I was out in San Francisco working for RE/Search.

From SRL:

Used in SRL performances since 1987, this giant stationary device forms vortex rings of air and projects the rings at high speeds. This model is nearly 20 feet long; the broad barrel is mounted atop a reinforced tripod. An stoichemetric oxygen acetylene mixture creates a non-propulsive, controlled explosion at the back of the chamber, causing a torroidal air current to accelerate out of the barrel. Check valves control the fuel delivery systems, controlling the flow of gases. An electronic timer control system keeps the gas mixture precise; on the tethered manual control box one timer is for fill, and another fires the device. The timer automatically stops when the gas is mixed, and the device can only fire after the timer has shut off.

Current-ly

2007-03-16T01:55:00.000-04:00

So I watched Finding Nemo the other night with my sick girlfriend, which got me thinking about the EAC (Eastern Australian Current) that they ride into Sydney in the movie. Specifically, if it really looks and behaves like that. Here's what I found out:

Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers. They are very important in determining the climates of the continents,especially those regions bordering on the ocean. Perhaps the most striking example is the Gulf Stream, which makes northwest Europe much more temperate than any other region at the same latitude. Another example is the Hawaiian Islands, where the climate is somewhat cooler (sub-tropical) than the tropical latitudes in which they are located because of the California Current.

Surface ocean currents are generally wind driven and develop their typical clockwise spirals in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise rotation in the southern hemisphere because of the imposed wind stresses. In wind driven currents, the Ekman spiral effect results in the currents flowing at an angle to the driving winds. The areas of surface ocean currents move somewhat with the seasons; this is most notable in equatorial currents.

Deep ocean currents are driven by density and temperature gradients. Thermohaline circulation, also known as the ocean's conveyor belt, refers to the deep ocean density-driven ocean basin currents. These currents, which flow under the surface of the ocean and are thus hidden from immediate detection, are called submarine rivers. These are currently being researched by a fleet of underwater robots called Argo. Upwelling and downwelling areas in the oceans are areas where significant vertical movement of ocean water is observed.

Ocean currents are measured in Sverdrup with the symbol Sv, where 1 Sv is equivalent to a volume flow rate of 106 cubic meters per second.

So, the movie about animated talking fish looking for a lost son has embellished slightly. I think I'm going to boycott Pixar.

from Wikipedia

Pygmy Slow Loris

2007-03-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

I went out to the Lincoln Park Zoo today because it's the first nice day we've had in Chicago all year. I stopped by to pay a visit to my favorite critters, the pygmy slow loris of Vietnam. They have almost no information posted about them at the zoo, and the curators holding the brown sand boa had already proved to be unhelpful, so I swore to myself that I would come home and do some research on the loris. So here it is:

The Pygmy Slow Loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus) is a rare species of loris found in the tropical dry forests of Vietnam, Laos, China, and parts of Cambodia. About 72,000 of the creatures live in the wild, and 183 are in captivity.[2]

This primate is a nocturnal animal and will eat fruit, insects, small mammals, slugs and snails. It can catch prey by licking a toxin that is released from the inside of its elbows and delivering the toxin via its teeth.

It is arboreal, crawling on branches, unnoticed as it quietly moves through the thick leaves of the subtropics. It lives together in small groups usually with 1-2 offspring.

Adults can grow to around 18-21cm long[3] and have virtually no tail. They weigh about 1 pound (450 grams)

It mates once every 12-18 months and will have 1-2 offspring after an average gestation period of 190 days. For the first few days, the young loris clings to belly of its mother. After 9 months the baby will be weaned and at that point the females will be at sexual maturity while the male reaches maturity between 17 to 20 months.

This loris was nearly wiped out during extensive burning, clearing and defoliating of forests in Vietnam during the Vietnam war.

So now I'll have something to talk with them about next time I go to the zoo.

from Wikipedia

Non-insect Millipedes

2007-03-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

Here's some info on the staggering IBM Miilipede chip which they are currently developing:

Millipede is a non-volatile computer memory stored on nanoscopic pits burned into the surface of a thin polymer layer, read and written by a MEMS-based probe. It promises a data density of more than 1 Terabit per square inch (1 Gigabit per square millimeter), about four times the density of the best magnetic storage available today.

Millipede storage technology is being pursued as a potential replacement for magnetic recording in hard drives, at the same time reducing the form-factor to that of Flash media. IBM demoed a prototype millipede storage device at CeBIT 2005, and is trying to make the technology commercially available by 2007. At launch, it will probably be costlier, on a per-megabyte basis, than other prevalent technologies, but the disadvantage will be offset by the storage capacity that Millipede technology would offer.

It gets even cooler as time marches on.

Climbing Down Jacob's Ladder

2007-03-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

In the movie Jacob's Ladder, a particularly potent psychoactive drug is administered to a squad of soldiers in Vietnam with disastrous results. That drug was BZ or 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate. The drug was indeed tested on US soldiers, but it's effects don't necessarily sinc up with the effects depicted in the film.

3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB), empirical formula C21H23NO3, full chemical name 1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]Oct-3-yl α-hydroxy-α-phenylbenzeneacetate, is an odorless military incapacitating agent. Its NATO code is BZ. The Iraqi incapacitating agent Agent 15 is believed either to be the same as or similar to BZ.

BZ is a glycolate anticholinergic compound related to atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and other deliriants. Dispersal would be as an aerosolized solid (primarily for inhalation) or as agent dissolved in one or more solvents for ingestion or percutaneous absorption.

Acting as a competitive inhibitor of acetylcholine at postsynaptic and postjunctional muscarinic receptor sites in smooth muscle, exocrine glands, autonomic ganglia, and the brain, BZ decreases the effective concentration of acetylcholine seen by receptors at these sites. Thus, BZ causes peripheral nervous system (PNS) effects that in general are the opposite of those seen in nerve agent poisoning. Central nervous system (CNS) effects include stupor, confusion, and confabulation with concrete and panoramic illusions and hallucinations, and with regression to automatic "phantom" behaviors such as plucking and disrobing.

Physostigmine, which increases the concentration of acetylcholine in synapses and in neuromuscular and neuroglandular junctions, is a specific antidote.

Following World War II, the United States military investigated a wide range of possible nonlethal, psychobehavioral chemical incapacitating agents to include psychedelic indoles such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) and marijuana derivatives, certain tranquilizers like ketamine or fentanyl, as well as several glycolate anticholinergics. One of the anticholinergic compounds, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, was assigned the NATO code BZ and was weaponized at the beginning of the 1960s for possible battlefield use. This agent was reportedly employed by American troops as a counterinsurgency weapon in Vietnam, but supposedly otherwise never saw operational use. It has been rumored that BZ was administered to American troops in order to increase their fighting power and improve their performance, but this rumor is strongly disputed. It is unclear why a drug known for its high efficacy in producing stupor and delerium would be believed to improve fighting power. This rumor is a major reference point in the film Jacob's Ladder (1990), although the film does not discuss BZ specifically. Destruction of American stockpiles began in 1988 and is now complete.

But maybe that's just what they want us to think. What do you think?

From Wikipedia.

I Was WAY Off!

2007-03-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

So there has been much posting on BoingBoing about Daleks lately. I assumed, based on their form and name, that they were some form of ancient Indian, or Chinese ceremonial prayer bell. Of course, if you were a Gang of Doctor Who fans, you would probably pin me down and punch me in the face until most, if not all of my teeth, had been removed. I would still laugh at you though. But anyway, the Dalek is NOT anything sacred, or ancient (except in the previously mentioned circle). A Dalek is:

The Daleks (pronounced "DAH-lecks"; IPA: /'dɑːlɛks/) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A Dalek is a grotesque mutated organism integrated with a tank-like mechanical casing. The resulting creatures are a pitiless race bent on universal conquest and domination. They are also, collectively, the greatest alien adversaries of the Time Lord known as the Doctor. Their most infamous catchphrase is "EX-TER-MI-NATE!", with each syllable individually screeched in a frantic electronic voice

The Daleks were created by writer Terry Nation and BBC designer Raymond Cusick and were introduced in December 1963 in the second Doctor Who serial.[1] They became an immediate hit with viewers, featuring in many subsequent serials and two 1960s motion pictures. They have become synonymous with Doctor Who, and their behaviour and catchphrases are part of British popular culture. "Hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" has even been cited as an essential element of British cultural identity, along with Bovril and afternoon tea.

So, there I go. Don't I feel so much smarter now. I sure am glad I got to find out about something of great cultural significance.

From Wikipedia

Bank + rupte

2007-03-02T11:54:00.000-05:00

From the great documentary The Story of 1 Hosted by Monty Python's Terry Jones, I learned an interesting fact about the origin of the word bankruptcy. In ancient Rome the Latin "bancus" referred to a bench or table where you would change out your money. The tables were like large abacuses, and allowed the banker to tabulate the exchange. If however, the banker was found guilty of cheating you on the exchange (since they were the ones trained in counting) the Romans would come by and "rupte" or "rotto" literally "break" their table. This way the bank was literally broken, or banco rupte, or bankrupt. Interesting eh?

Wikipedia for more.

Sorry Orwell.

2007-03-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

So there are many reasons to be wary of the National ID card, and you need to realize that you needn't be a liberal, or a libertarian, or a lunatic, to feel that way. Even the most conservative of people (and aren't they, after all, supposed to be in favor of restricted government) should be cautious. This is an unproven technology with an unprecedented amount of information on it. We risk not only Orwellian governmental snooping, but also open ourselves up to all sorts of potential for identity theft. Just because I'm an anarcho-libertarian, doesn't mean I am any more in favor of having my information stolen than anyone else. And it WILL happen. The hackers, and the criminals ARE smarter than the government, than technology, than YOU! Maybe not all of em, but enough. I don't trust this Act, and you should seriously consider it before you march unafraid out to the DMV to get your new National ID.

From Wired:

Homeland Security officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years.

The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes.

And more details on Real ID from Wikipedia. Get yer'self informed.

Quickie

2007-02-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

Sony designed but never released an in-dash car stereo that played MP3s recorded on high-capacity 2.88MB floppy discs. The device could hold 4 minutes of music at 96Kbps.

From Gullible Info

Mind Spanning

2007-02-26T02:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know why or how this came up, but now I am the semi-proud father of the knowledge of the longest bridge in the world. That particular honor is held by Japan's Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge which spans 6,532 feet. It opened April 5, 1998, and that's all I want to know about it. This is clearly one of the more pointless facts to date, but hey, that answer may just win you some money some day. Probably not, but maybe...

more

Rabid

2007-02-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

Here is another example of something I've known for a long time, but was never clear on the exact details. This interest springing up after viewing the 1971 hippie gore freakout film, I Drink Your Blood, in which a town is overrun by a group of rabid hippie satanic freaks.

Here are the facts:

The virus is usually present in the blood and saliva of a symptomatic rabid animal. The route of infection is usually, but not necessarily, by a bite, and in many cases in animals, causes the victim to be exceptionally aggressive, attack without provocation, and exhibit otherwise uncharacteristic behavior[1]. Transmission has occurred via an aerosol through mucous membranes; transmission in this form may have happened in people exploring caves populated by rabid bats. Transmission between humans is extremely rare, although it can happen through transplant surgery (see below for recent cases), or, even more rarely, through bites or kisses.

After a typical human infection by bite, the virus directly or indirectly enters the peripheral nervous system. It then travels along the nerves towards the central nervous system. During this phase, the virus cannot be easily detected within the host, and vaccination may still confer cell-mediated immunity to preempt symptomatic rabies. Once the virus reaches the brain, it rapidly causes encephalitis and symptoms appear. It may also inflame the spinal cord producing myelitis.

The period between infection and the first flu-like symptoms is normally three to twelve weeks, but can be as long as two years. Soon after, the symptoms expand to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, progressing to delirium. The production of large quantities of saliva and tears coupled with an inability to speak or swallow are typical during the later stages of the disease; this can result in "hydrophobia". Death almost invariably results two to ten days after the first symptoms; the few humans who are known to have survived the disease were all left with severe brain damage, with the recent exception of Jeanna Giese.

The virus has a bullet-like shape with a length of about 180 nm and a cross-sectional diameter of about 75 nm. One end is rounded or conical and the other end is planar or concave. The lipoprotein envelope carries knob like spikes, composed of Glycoprotein G. Spikes do not cover the planar end of the virion. Beneath the envelope is the membrane or matrix (M) protein layer which may be invaginated at the planar end. The core of the Virion consists of helically arranged ribonucleoprotein. The genome is unsegmented linear antisense RNA. Also present in the nucleocapsid are RNA dependent RNA transcriptase and some structural proteins.

You've generally got about fourteen days after exposure to get your PEP shots before the infection hits your brain so try and get out for some medical treatment, or else you'll turn into a hippie freak and infect the whole town.

from Wikipedia

the MEM Meme

2007-02-23T11:13:00.000-05:00

Technological expansion is a multi-dimensional cloud spreading in all directions. Not only through time, but forward and back, up and down, very large and very small. Very small as in Nanotech. Intrinsically, nanotechnology must be composed of something, that something is a type nanomechanics called MEMS.

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nanoscale into "Nanoelectromechanical" Systems (NEMS) and Nanotechnology.

MEMS are also referred to as micromechanics, micro machines, or Micro Systems Technology (MST). MEMS are separate and distinct from the hypothetical vision of Molecular nanotechnology or Molecular Electronics.

MEMS generally range in size from a micrometer (a millionth of a meter) to a millimeter (thousandth of a meter). At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical physics do not always hold true. Due to MEMS' large surface area to volume ratio, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass.

But we can now go even one better than that. If MEMS are too large and cumbersome, we can drop down to NEMS.

So the future for human advancement then, appears to be very small.

From Wikipedia.

Use your Illusion

2007-02-22T02:36:00.000-05:00

Here's some more visual stimulation to make up for the lack of verbal: an insane collection of mind-bending optical illusions. Way better than your old third grade illusion books.

Link

Images can make you smarter too.

2007-02-22T02:18:00.000-05:00

Here is an information light, but visually enriching post from Smart Now. It is a fantabulous collection of some of the most bizzare statues from around the world. It has already sent me reeling into a vicious cycle of research, hopefully you will be similarly stimulated. (Warning: the page is huge. Look at them all!)

Link again if you're slow.

So Much Death...

2007-02-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

Here I have found a delightfully morbid Wikipedia entry detailing a number of strange deaths throughout history. Some of the Highlights Include:

458 BC: The Greek playwright Aeschylus was killed when an eagle dropped a live and apparently very savage tortoise on him, mistaking his bald head for a stone.

207 BC: Chrysippus, a Greek stoic philosopher, is believed to have died of laughter after watching his drunken donkey attempt to eat figs.

1884: Allan Pinkerton, detective, died of gangrene resulting from having bitten his tongue after stumbling on the sidewalk.

1953: Frank Hayes, jockey, suffered a heart attack during a horse race. The horse, Sweet Kiss, went on to finish first, making Hayes the only deceased jockey to win a race.

1990: George Allen, an American football coach, died a month after some of his players dumped a Gatorade bucket on him following a victory (as it is tradition in American Football), resulting in pneumonia.

The rest of them, including those already listed can be found here.

Stuffing Rabbits in your Vagina

2007-02-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

In the quiet town of Godalming England, in the year 1726, an event completely unique in the history of medicine was taking place.

From Wikipedia:

Mary Tofts was twenty-five years old and married at the time, and despite a miscarriage in August had still seemed pregnant. She went into apparent labor and the Guildford male-midwife John Howard arrived to assist. Howard reported that Mary told him she and a friend had been weeding in a field when they saw two rabbits and chased them: the escape of the rabbits created "such a longing" in Mary that she miscarried and from then on could think of nothing but rabbits. Soon, Howard recorded, she began producing parts of animals: a rabbit's liver, the legs of a cat, and, in a single day, nine baby rabbits.[1] Howard sent letters to some of England's greatest doctors and scientists asking for help investigating the situation, and among those who came to his assistance were Nathaniel St. Andre, surgeon-anatomist to King George I, and Sir Richard Manningham, the most famous obstetrician in London. Tofts gave birth to several more dead rabbits in their presence.

Tofts claimed that during pregnancy she had an intense craving for roast rabbit, that she tried to catch rabbits in the garden, that she had admired them in the village market, and that she had dreamed about rabbits. Based on this testimony, the doctors explained the births as a result of "maternal impressions", contending that a pregnant woman's experiences could be imprinted directly on the fetus at conception and cause birth defects.

Sir Richard Manningham eventually exposed the birthings as a hoax after a porter admitted smuggling a rabbit into Mary's chamber. Tofts was forced to admit on 7 December 1726 that she had manually inserted dead rabbits into her vagina and then allowed them to be removed as if she were giving birth.

Unprecedented in the history of medicine, and remains elusive to this day, but what truly transpired that year in England is a phenomenon as old as human society.

Hair yesterday gone tomorrow.

2007-02-17T01:02:00.000-05:00

Today on a bus ride back to Indianapolis (why do I keep coming back?) I finished up the excellent book, Mutants by: Armand Marie Leroi. In it many topics of extreme fascination, many of them I have looked into more, but one that struck me as quite a bit queer was the description of "lanugo hair."

From Wikipedia:

Lanugo are hairs that grow on the body to attempt to insulate it because of lack of fat. It is a type of pelage. It occurs on fetuses and it is normal for the unborn fetus to consume the hair, which then contributes to the newborn baby's first feces (meconium). Lanugo hair is usually shed and replaced by vellus hair at 36–40 weeks gestation. The presence of lanugo in newborns is a sign of premature birth.

It is also a common symptom of serious anorexia nervosa, as the body attempts to insulate itself as body fat is lost.

It just seems strange to think that for a period of our development, we're floating around completely covered in downy translucent hair that mostly goes away by the time we come out. Who knew. Now I do, and so do you. ...unless you just read that last sentence, then you don't know what I know.

Female Complex

2007-02-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

The spotted hyena of Africa has a very peculiar attribute pertaining to gender. Long thought to be true hermaphrodites the females of the species (which are by far the dominant gender) actually posses masculinised genitalia. The females have no vagina, and have an elongated clitoris that resembles the male penis in nearly every way.

From Wikipedia:

The female Spotted Hyena's urogenital system is unique among mammals: there is no vagina, and the clitoris is as large and as erectile as the male's penis - only the shape of the glans makes it possible to visually tell the sexes apart. The female urinates, mates and gives birth through this pseudo-penis (it dilates for mating, the opening widening to admit the male's penis). It was thought that the development of this structure depended on a masculinisation process triggered by the action of androgens on the female fetus, but experiments with anti-androgens show that it still forms in the effective absence of the hormone, so it is now ascribed to normal morphogenesis and sexual mimicry. Since it is impossible to penetrate without the female's cooperation, female hyena have full control over who they choose to mate with.

Birth is very difficult: the internal birth canal extends almost to the subcaudal location of the vulva (which in Crocuta is fused to form a scrotum containing fatty pseudo-testes) before turning abruptly towards the clitoris, and the clitoris itself is narrow (although it ruptures with the first parturition, making subsequent births easier). In captivity, many cubs of primiparous mothers are stillborn because of the long labour times involved; in the wild, survival rates of females seem to fall sharply around the age of first giving birth, suggesting that the process is hazardous for the mother also. This suggests that at some point there must have been powerful selective pressures driving the evolution of masculinisation.

Researchers originally thought that one of the things that causes this characteristic of the genitals is androgens that are expressed to the fetus very early on in its development. However, it was discovered that when the androgens are held back from the fetus, the development of the female genitalia was not altered. Other hyena species lack this adaptation, making it a fairly recent one in the hyena line. Masculinised female genitalia also appears in some lemurs, spider monkeys, and the binturong but the fused vulva is unique to the hyena.

There are a few other mammals with similarly masculinised genitals, but the pseudo-scrotum is unique among the spotted hyena. It should also be noted that no other genus of Hyena possesses this characteristic.

Pedicle Tubing

2007-02-14T01:55:00.000-05:00

I have been tracking in awe through the galleries at Project Facade; a exhaustingly comprehensive collection of the facial reconstruction procedures developed for victims of World War I. The project came out of the Gillies Archives at the Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup, just southeast of London. Project Facade is an exhausting collection of arresting images, terrible injuries, and incredible repairs. While browsing the case studies and galleries you will come into constant contact with images of and references to "pedicle tubing." It is an obvious term, but the true use and nature of the procedure is not as immediately apparent. Here is a full definition of the procedure from Project Facade:

The tube pedicle was developed simultaneously yet independently by Sir Harold Gillies at the Queen’s Hospital Sidcup and ophthalmic surgeon Vladimir Petrovich Filatov in Odessa, Russia between 1916 and 1917. A tube pedicle is a flap of skin sewn down its long edges, with one end left attached to the site of origin, the other is attached to the site to be grafted.

The procedure begins with the lifting of a long, large flap of skin by making a roughly ‘U’ shaped incision. The rounded end of the flap is cut to shape to fit the area to be repaired. The long edges of the skin flap are stitched together to form a tube to prevent drying out and infection of the raw side of the skin flap. The shaped end of the tube is then attached to the site to be repaired whilst the other end of the tube remains attached to its site of origin. After a number of weeks, the tube is cut near the area to be repaired leaving enough skin on the graft site to shape and model. The remainder of the tube can once again be opened and returned to its original position. On occasion, multiple tubes might be taken to rebuild substantial parts of the face or body.

Tissue must be taken from distant parts of the body in stages. For example a tube might be taken from the stomach area and attached to the wrist. After a number of weeks the tube would be disconnected from the stomach, the arm raised and the loose end of the tube attached to the site on the face to be repaired. Once again after a number of weeks the tube is disconnected from the wrist and this loose end of the tube is attached to another part of the face. Only then can the tube be opened and modelled to the face.

Sir Harold Gillies is a fascinating study in his own right. He not only pioneered facial reconstruction and plastic surgery, but preformed the both first sex reassignment surgery from female to male in 1946 and from male to female in 1951. To the strong stomached, I highly recommend browsing around Project Facade. The more you explore the more the accomplishments of these pioneers of plastic surgery begin to shock more than the unimaginable damage suffered by the poor soldiers.

From: Project Facade

Patty Hearst Kidnapping

2007-02-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

This is one I have had knowledge for a long time, but was lacking in the all important details. I have long known the generalities of the Patty Hearst kidnapping case, and was familiar with the famous bank-robbing photos, but here is some more information via Wikipedia:

On February 4, 1974, the 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from the Berkeley, California apartment that she shared with her fiancé Steven Weed, by an urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). When the attempt to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members failed, the SLA demanded that the captive's family distribute $70 worth of food to every needy Californian - an operation that would cost an estimated 400 million dollars. In response, Hearst's father arranged the immediate donation of $6 million worth of food to the poor of the Bay Area. After the distribution of food, the SLA refused to release Hearst because they deemed the food to have been of poor quality. (In a subsequent tape recording released to the press, Hearst commented that her father could have done better.)

On April 15, 1974, she was photographed wielding an assault rifle while robbing the Sunset District branch of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco. Later communications from her were issued under the pseudonym Tania (from the nickname of famous guerilla Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider) and asserted that she was committed to the goals of the SLA. A warrant was issued for her arrest and in September 1975, she was arrested in a San Francisco apartment with other SLA members.

Hearst was convicted of bank robbery on March 20, 1976. Her seven-year prison term was eventually commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and Hearst was released from prison on February 1, 1979, having served only twenty-two months. She was granted a full pardon by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, the final day of his presidency.

So now you can impress all of your friends with some specifics about the motherly blonde Patricia Hearst who frequently pops up in John Waters films.

Mini Mouse

2007-02-13T12:20:00.000-05:00

I read recently about the ability to engineer a certain type of mouse in the lab by crossbreeding two mice of differing developmental growth deficiencies. While trying to find more information on the subject, however, I stumbled upon the naturally occurring African Pygmy Mouse, which is of similar size and variety.

The mini-mouse is achieved by parenting a mouse with a defective growth-hormone receptor gene with a mouse with defective IGF gene. The mouse lacking the growth-hormone receptors is only about half the size of a normal lab mouse, whereas the mouse with deficient IGF is only about a third of the size. The product of this dominant gene deficient union is lacking in both and end up weighing around 5grams fully grown.

This is incredible small for a mammal. A dime weighs 2 grams. So stack up 2 to 3 dimes and you'll have the equivalent weight of a living mammal in your hands. IInterestingly this is the same size as the naturally occurring pygmy mouse. I do not yet know if they are a result of similar deficiencies, but I would have to assume otherwise at this point since they make up an entire species. The differences in biology between these two tiny rodents could be uite revealing.

Experiment in Absolute Power

2007-02-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, I sat down with some friends to view a little German film with a terrible cover called The Experiment (2001). It was about a group of subjects who signed up to take part in a prison simulation for a psychological study. A third of the subjects assumed the role of prison guards while the rest of them became prisoners. The study was supposed to go on for two weeks, but was terminated after five days. The end of the movie turns into a bit of a bloodbath, but the study and a great deal of it's results were based entirely on a real incident at Standford in 1971.

From Wikipedia:

The Stanford prison experiment was a psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular, to the real world circumstances of prison life, and the effects of imposed social roles on behavior. It was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University. Volunteers played the roles of guards and prisoners and lived in a mock prison built in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their assigned roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to genuinely dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early. Despite the now highly unsanitary and out of control conditions evident, only one of 50 observers, graduate interviewer Christina Maslach, objected to the experiment. Zimbardo then ended the experiment early.

There is more to read on this subject than I alone could adequately do justice, but a riot broke out within the first day, and it was terminated after only six. The whole experiment is a living example of the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely" and the terrifying reality of what prison type systems, or for that matter, any position of dominance and supreme authority can do to normal human beings.

Highly suggested reading/ viewing:

Zimbardo's own Prisonexp.org with slideshow
Wikipedia Article
Stanford Report 2001
Stanford News 1997

And if you are 49 minutes interested in the study, I recommend this documentary, Quiet Rage:

Zimbardo was apparently upset enough about the German "Das Experiment" to try and block it's release in the states.

Zimbardo says that, without notifying him in advance, earlier this year a German production company released a film titled Das Experiment. It opens with the statement: "The story of this film is inspired by incidents that occurred during a psychological experiment at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California."

What angers Zimbardo is the way the movie's authors used specific elements of his experiment but turned its conclusion into a fictional nightmare. Without explaining that the film's climax deviated from Zimbardo's experiment, some viewers might be left confused about the psychologist's role. Instead of showing the abrupt end of the experiment -- Zimbardo halted it early after only six days -- the film shows guards attacking and raping a female psychologist and committing other fictional acts of mayhem.

Zimbardo said he has received hundreds of e-mails from Germans asking how he could have allowed such things to happen -- even though he didn't.

"It was very disheartening to have them take this story and twist it in a negative way," said Stanford's legal counsel, Deborah Zumwalt, whose office contacted the film's director and producers. "We were very concerned about it."

I however, would consider the film is worth seeing for the fact that it led me to the real truth behind the matter. Exaggeration serves as a good lure for the more rewarding truth.

Sonic (the) Hedgehog

2007-02-08T22:31:00.000-05:00

I read today of a signaling protein named "sonic hedgehog." This is a startling name for a signaling protein for anyone out of the 16bit generation such as myself. It was apparently dubbed "hedgehog" when it was discovered in the 1980's to produce a spiny mutation in fruit fly larva. In the 90's it was discovered to be present in vertebrates and was given the "sonic" qualifier by a postgraduate with a propensity for gaming. Lack or deficiency of the sonic gene is responsible for dividing the forebrain into its two hemispheres. Failure of hemisphere division results in a condition known as holoprosencephaly meaning "whole forebrain" or cyclopia.

From: Mutants

Monster of Ravenna

2007-02-07T19:54:00.000-05:00

Opened up the book Mutants today and found this enticing description of a child born of a particularly severe (if the legend is to be believed) deformity in Ravenna in 1512.

Described, among others, by Ambroise Paré, this being was meant to have been born in Italy in 1512, contemporaneous with the bloody Battle of Ravenna, in which King Louis XII and Pope Julius engaged in combat. It survived to grow into a hulking brute which, naturally enough, terrorized the countryside. It was considered an omen of God's anger with the Italian people and, as such, it various disjointed parts could be "read" metaphorically. The arms never developed, scholars claimed, because the Italians showed a conspicuous lack of good deeds. Because the Italians had no firm dedication to any cause, their fickle, flighty nature was reflected in the Monster's wings. The beast was a biological hermaphrodite, and its double set of genitals illustrated sexual immorality: lust, sodomy, bestiality. The great ugly claw was greed, and the knee-mounted eyeball betrayed a covetous love of material things; the single horn-- overweening pride. The only positive side to this scaly abomination, which was in fact not always mentioned (note its exclusion from the above illustration), was a cruciform marking on the beast's trunk. This, of course, was interpreted as Christ's willingness to save all His people-- if they would only reform.

And from Lucca Landucci's 1512 account:

We had heard that a monster had been born at Ravenna, of which a drawing was sent here; it had a horn on its head, straight up like a sword, and instead of arms it had two wings like a bat's, and the height of its breasts it had a fio [Y-shaped mark] on one side and a cross on the other, and lower down at the waist, two serpents, and it was a hermaphrodite, and on the right knee it had an eye, and its left foot was like an eagle. I saw it painted, and anyone who wished could see this painting in Florence.

If modern science was to hazard a guess, you might be able to approximate the beast with the genetic disorder Robert's Syndrome. A particularly severe disorder affecting numerous developmental features.

From Guardian UK: Books
and Ravenna

XLI

2007-02-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

A series of bizarre circumstances, and my formative years spent in Indianapolis led me to kind of care about the events of last night's Super Bowl (XLI) The Chicago Bears (My current city of residence) V. the Indianapolis Colts (my roots). I admit that I am one of the last people on the planet to care about a football game, but a lifetime of hearing that the Colts were going to be good this season led to an overwhelming suspicion that they were due (mostly just so I could be done with it, and get on with my life). It is now up for time to tell if my wish will be fulfilled. But regardless of the background, I spent last night in front of the first Football Game I've ever seen from beginning to end. I would be lying if I said that I did not have fun, but I owe that to my friends.

The intrigue comes in after the game has been played, the chips eaten, the cokes empty, and the friends gone. To continue the theme (Super Bowl) My one remaining friend and I viewed the 1977 movie, Black Sunday. The plot concerns the actions of a group of Bosnian Terrorists called black September and their culminating attempt to detonate a lethal device from the Goodyear Blimp above the Miami Stadium at the Super Bowl. Similarities ring. First of all, I had had a similar plan, but abandoned it due to lack of interest. Secondly, last night's game was played at the same stadium. Perhaps they are always played in Miami, I don't know, and I don't care to find out. In Black Sunday the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Dallas Cowboys. I remembered hearing that the Colt's head coach Tony Dungy was now the 3rd person to ever win the Super Bowl as a player and a coach. I also recalled that he won while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. AHA! Perhaps this was that very game! Well...almost. Tony Dungy won against the Dallas Cowboys in Miami while playing for the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII. Great! Must be. But not so fast, me. It appears Super Bowl XIII was played in 1979. Black Sunday was shot in 1976. Well what happened then? The Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys in Miami in Super Bowl X. Hmm. But no Tony Dungy. Not until three years later under nearly the same circumstances, but no terrorists, and no blimp. Well too bad, almost would have been a very coincidental viewing. As it is, I'm not so sure.

I would also like to apologize to the Chicago Bears. It is my belief that you lost last night because we watched your 1985 Super Bowl Shuffle at half-time last night. It must have crippled you past the point of no return. My regrets for the disgrace you must come home to.

City of Darkness

2007-02-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, while in Scotland, I met a young girl from Honk Kong who had (unfortunately for her) come to the states to study at Ohio State University. My travel companion wowed her, and I think radically challenged her perception of the standard college fair of America. What particularly impressed her was my friend's mention of the Kowloon Walled City. A forgotten anarchistic block (0.026 KMsq) of Hong Kong, surrounded by British Occupied territory. At it's height it was the most densely populated area on Earth. Approx 1,900,000 per KMsq. It was called because the City of Darkness because so little natural light penetrated into the city; blocked out by the patchwork buildings and pipes. Many of the collaged apartments grew to be 14 stories high. From GSAAP:

The Chinese officials left for good in 1899, but whenever the colonial authorities tried to impose their will, the remaining residents threatened to turn the attempt into a diplomatic incident. And so it remained until the Second World War, when the invading Japanese delivered the first body blow, tearing down the huge granite walls and using them to build Kai Tak Airport in the shallows of nearby Kowloon Bay. The former harmony was destroyed: the creation of the airport drove away the Yin spirit provided by the water and the City was abandoned.

The City may have effectively ceased to exist, but the area's status as a diplomatic black hole was not forgotten, and in the chaos of the War's aftermath it proved the perfect place of asylum for many of the hundred thousands of refugees pouring south to escape famine, civil war and political persecution as the Communists gained control in China. Surrounded now only by walls of political inhibition, the City became the place where they could get their breath back; where they could live as Chinese among other Chinese, untaxed, uncounted and untormented by governments of any kind.

And so, the Walled City became that rarest of things, a working model of an anarchist society. Inevitably, it bred all the vices. Crime flourished and the Triads made the place their stronghold, operating brothels and opium 'divans' and gambling dens. Undoubtedly, these few (and it always was a small proportion) kept the majority of residents in a state of fear and subjection, which is why for many years outsiders trying to penetrate were given the coldest of shoulders.

But for most, the main priority was survival and their needs were little different from anyone else's: a life without interference with water, light, food and space. Of these water was the most indispensable and in the early years the only way to get it was to go down. And so that's what they did, sinking some 70 wells in and around the City, to a depth of some 300 feet. Electric pumps shot the water up to tanks on the rooftops from where it descended via an ad hoc forest of narrow pipes and connections to the homes of subscribers. Only in the last 20 years were Government stand-pipes installed around the City to provide safe drinking water.

To run the pumps and to light up the City's many alleys required electricity and initially this challenge was tackled in a similarly robust fashion: it was stolen from the mains, often by Hongkong Electric employees who lived within the City boundaries. Only in the late 1970s, after a serious fire (much the most terrifying hazard in the City), were the authorities allowed in with their meters.

Thus was the substructure of urban life roughly but workably banged into shape. And out of all the chaos and apparent lack of real organisation, a sort of society began to flourish. Soon, there were factories of every description, small shops and even schools and kindergartens, some of them run by organisations such as the Salvation Army. Medical and dental care were no problem, as many of the residents were doctors and dentists with Chinese qualifications and years of experience, but lacking the expensive licences required to practice in the rest of the Colony. They set up their clinics on the edges of the City and charged their patients a fraction of what they would pay elsewhere.

For the moments of relief from toil, there were many restaurants on the City's fringes and embedded deep in its heart were a temple and a 'yamen', relics of the City's distant past. And so life went on. Every afternoon the alleys were alive with the throb of hidden machinery and the clacking of mahjong tiles, while up on the roof, in cages not much smaller than some of the City's homes, cooed hundreds of racing pigeons, joined there by children playing after school.

The government spent 3 Billion HK$ to evacuate the city for demolition between 1991-92. In 1993 it was leveled. Now a park stands in it's place. Kowloon City remains one of the longest living examples of full-out Urban Anarchy.

From Wikipedia
Kowloon Walled City
GSAAP

Circumfrence of your brain

2007-01-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

Eratosthenes (276-194BC) the Greek who measured the circumfrence of the Earth within 202 miles. (He was short, and the actual distance is 24,902, so do the math.) His measurements were all accomplished using mathematics:

Eratosthenes knew that on the summer solstice at local noon in the town of Syene on the Tropic of Cancer, the sun would appear at the zenith, directly overhead. He also knew, from measurement, that in his hometown of Alexandria, the angle of elevation of the Sun would be 7.2° south of the zenith at the same time. Assuming that Alexandria was due north of Syene he concluded that the distance from Alexandria to Syene must be 7.2/360 of the total circumference of the Earth. The distance between the cities was known from caravan travellings to be about 5000 stadia: approximately 800 km. He established a final value of 700 stadia per degree, which implies a circumference of 252,000 stadia. The exact size of the stadion he used is no longer known (the common Attic stadion was about 185 m), but it is generally believed that the circumference calculated by Eratosthenes corresponds to 39,690 km [citation needed]. The estimate is over 99% of the actual distance of 40,008 km.

This same method was repeated 150 years later by Posidonius, and subsequently rejected by the Christians, who had faith that they were more intelligent and advanced than the Greeks, for about 1,400 years.

Eratosthenes was also a playwright, developed the idea of latitude, and longitude, cataloged over 650 stars, many cartographic maps, was a currator at the Library of Alexandria, and wrote a historical account back to the Trojan War. Because of all of this, he was labeled as "Beta" by his contemporaries for being second best at everything. I'm not sure if they knew they were complimenting him.

from: Wikipedia

If God were real, he would be a lunatic.

2007-01-31T02:35:00.000-05:00

This is a recently discovered species of assassin spider. The type of spider was found last year on the island of Madagascar. It preys on other spiders by injecting them with venom out of it's enormous (relatively) fangs, and extending it's long neck to attack it's prey from a distance. Yes, this spider has a neck. Yes it's one of the scariest looking things I can imagine. Luckily they only grow to be, at largest, 2mm in size, but we're just finding out about this type of spider and have already discovered 9 different species of them, so who's not to say that there are some that eat birds or dogs. Another interesting fact about these buggers (or bugs, well arachnids technically) is that this genetic variation has come up at least twice in independent paths of evolutionary history. From Animal Planet News:

The genetics of the new assassin spiders have yielded yet another surprise, said Griswold. The genetic map of the assassin spider family history suggests the long necks and jaws evolved more than once, in what's called convergent evolution, he said.

Convergent evolution is analogous to two people stumbling onto a very similar solution to a problem independently of each other. Apparently, the longer necks are an effective solution that caught on more than once. It's just a little family secret that's impossible to detect if you're just looking the spiders themselves, said Griswold.

Anyway, I'm probably going to have nightmares tonight, and I suggest you do the same. Nature is capable of more bizzare things than we could ever come up with on our own. These new spiders are just a few more examples.

from: Wikipedia: Assassin Spider
National Geographic News
Animal Planet News

Plant-ation

2007-01-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

My roommate returned today with stories of plant perception and alleged that even discussing this subject was setting any plant hooked up to a lie detector in the tri-state area off the charts. This was all reported from a zine he picked up on his travels chronicling the discovery of Cleve Backster that plants hooked up to a GSR (galvanic skin response) analyzer registered huge spikes when you even thought about... lots of stuff: fire, not watering them, watering them, undressing them, etc. The plants, Backster found, could pick human thoughts out of the ether. This would give much credence to such theories as divining, lay lines, auras, and energy fields. He also thought that yogurt (of the same culture) could communicate.

I was intrigued. I've been reading a bit about the nature of time, and the possibility that linear time might not exist. Read about entangled particles and try and go to sleep. But anyway,I decided that that would be my knowledge for the night. After spending the day reading and viewing various skeptical publications, I jumped into the so-called Backster Effect.

Unbelievably, it seems his finding are highly dubious.

Basically it was found that plants respond more to the thought of being cut, burned, or torn than to the actual act. He discovered that if he tore a leaf from one plant a second plant would respond, but only if he was paying attention to it. The plants seemed to be mirroring his own mental responses. He concluded that the plants were acting like batteries, storing the energy of his thoughts and intentions. He said of these experiments: “I learned that there is energy connected with thought. Thought can be pulsed and the energy connected with it becomes coherent and has a laser-like power

He has been debunked numerous times since, "The Secret Life of Plants" was published in 1973. Most recently by the Mythbusters. It appears his findings could never be satisfactorily replicated in control experiments, to which he would contest that the plants were not properly attuned to the environment or researchers. He seems to be guilty of the blunder of false correlation. There is nothing to suggest that the plants were reacting to human thought; only human thought connects the two.

Now if we could just figure out this time thing...

more at:
Wikipedia: Plant Perception
James Randi Encyclopedia
Skeptics Dictonary
A pro-Backster Article

"What?" is appropriate

2007-01-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

This is the fabled Wolpertinger of Germany and Bavaria. Unlike most native fauna, the wolpertinger is actually benefiting from human expansion as it's natural habitat is gift shops and mantles of incredibly tacky people. It is the equivalent of our jackalope or a Swedish skvader. The wolpertingers vary widely in shape and size, but are commonly assortments of wings, horns and avian feet on a small mammal such as a ferret, rabbit, or squirrel, but you know what small mammals are already.

The only bit of useful information that can be gleaned from this whole episode is that jackalopes and wolpertingers alike are thought to derive from rabbits afflicted with papilomavirus. This virus afflicts most species of animal on the planet and exists in many form that do nothing harmful whatsoever. Certain types of rabbits can catch a serious strain of the stuff that causes horn like growths.

Here is a link to more images of this sort: link
and more images of wolpertingers

from: the Zymoglyphic Museum
and Wikipedia

Seeking knowledge

2007-01-24T02:04:00.000-05:00

I know I'm not going to find it here. I think I've had all of 1 comment ever on this blog, but I don't do this for you, and even if I did, maybe I just wanted to get your little gears a' turnin tonight. That being said, I would like to offer a reward of something very cool mailed to the address of whosoever can provide for me a satisfactory explanation of the following quandary that I have been pondering for well on a year now:

My friends and I have wavered back and fourth for some time on the notion of attaching a rope, or tether, or similar device to the surface of the Moon, across space, and into the Earth's gravitational pull. The tether would not, however be attached to the surface of the Earth. If the cord was of considerable length, would it simply traverse the Earth's surface as the Moon orbited, and at certain points (when the distance of the moon to the Earth and the elevation were right) would there just be an end of a rope coming out of the sky that passers by could grab onto, and thus hold something attached to the Moon? As I had cautioned, it is a flight of fancy, but still an intriguing scenario. For fun, I posed this question to NASA about a year ago. 5 months later I received a note directing me to some websites that covered the concept of a "space lazer" more in depth. This was not a satisfactory response, so I have no choice but to torment others who are more versed in physics than my education in animation has afforded me.

The above e-mail was sent and never returned from Professor Rocky Kolb from the University of Chicago Physics department. I attended a lecture of his and hoped he would finally illuminate me on this hypothetical, but sadly, he didn't. Are we to remain in the dark forever?

Bonus: If you satisfactorily describe what would happen if the rope were teathered to the Earth as well.

you may also respond to my post on the Nova board

The Earth's Ages

2007-01-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

The Earth is where we live. The Earth is old. Currently believed to be around 4,570 million years old, give or take a year. Please note that this is considerably longer than the 6 thousand years that certain mythologies propose. Why these mythologies are still believed is another matter entirely. It should also be noted that the Earth is relatively young with the origin of the Universe hanging somewhere around 13.7 billion years ago.

So how is the age of the Earth documented? We all know (or think we know) about the Jurassic (Park) and the Cretaceous, but can you put them in order? Do you know which Age or Eon we are in now? Good, because I do now too.

The largest defined unit of time is the Eon. Eons are divided into Eras, which are in turn divided into Periods, Epochs and Stages. Now, some history on the Earth's history:

The first serious attempts to formulate a geological time scale that could be applied anywhere on Earth took place in the late 18th century. The most influential of those early attempts (championed by Abraham Werner, among others) divided the rocks of the Earth's crust into four types: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary. Each type of rock, according to the theory, formed during a specific period in Earth history. It was thus possible to speak of a "Tertiary Period" as well as of "Tertiary Rocks." Indeed, "Tertiary" and "Quaternary" remained in use as names of geological periods well into the 20th century.

The identification of strata by the fossils they contained, pioneered by William Smith, Georges Cuvier, Jean d'Omalius d'Halloy and Alexandre Brogniart in the early 19th century, enabled geologists to divide Earth history more precisely. It also enabled them to correlate strata across national (or even continental) boundaries. If two strata (however distant in space or different in composition) contained the same fossils, chances were good that they had been laid down at the same time. Detailed studies of the strata and fossils of Europe produced, between 1820 and 1850, the sequence of geological periods still used today.

Study the following information: Wikipedia: Geologic Time and Smithsonian: Geologic Time so you can be smart, and because thirst for it, and tell all your friends how old you really are, because the DNA in your cells goes back to the origins of life on this planet, some 400 million years, and the atoms that make up those cells go back to the origins of the universe and time. We are all very old indeed.

Also: Remote Sensing: Geologic Time

Wilbur and Orville, Right.

2007-01-23T01:30:00.000-05:00

Tired, but really fascinating article from Scientific American about a new theory on dinosaur (or microraptor at least) flight. From the article:

On parts of the creature's arms and legs, the discoverers observed a series of long asymmetric feathers, with one side of the feather narrower than the other. In modern birds such asymmetry is considered a hallmark of aerodynamic function—like the asymmetry of an airplane wing. Based on the orientation of the feathered remains, the group imagined the dinosaur flying spread-eagled, with wings trailing from each limb.

Paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University and his colleague, retired aeronautical engineer R. Jack Templin of Ottawa, Ontario, take issue with the reconstruction in a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. "We realized there's something wrong in the anatomy because no dinosaurs could splay their legs sideways," Chatterjee says. "No birds can do that."

Chatterjee and Templin instead envisioned Microraptor's legs tucked under its body, with its rear feathers parallel to and beneath the feathers on its outspread arms. "It's a very common posture in living raptors," such as when holding prey, Chatterjee says. That's also a more realistic position, they say, because it puts the leading, narrower edges of the leg feathers forward against the direction of airflow, like the arm feathers. The spread-eagled wing plan had the feathers in clashing orientations, they note.

So tongiht when you drift off to sleep, instead of picturing raptors soaring through the air spread eagle, picture dozens of carnivorous, feathered biplanes swooping and soaring above Cretaceous Earth.

Article

Meat Plants

2007-01-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

I've been reading today about meat culturing. It's becoming more and more likely that we will soon be able to synthesize meat sans animal. The study was spearheaded by NASA in June of 2005 along with the University of Maryland. They are able to successfully grow meat by culturing muscle cells in a lab setting. The muscles still must be "exercised" so they maintain some form other than mush, but he implications are staggering. If this could be widely applied, it would probably be much cheaper, and certainly more humane than tending livestock. Vegetarians would have some things to think about. Everyone would. It's definitely in the realm of frankenfood, but the implications are quite interesting. The texture is still a little dodgy, but last week, a team of scientists cooked up a "chicken breast" if that's what you want to call it, in some oil and spices. The agreed that it smelled "quite delicious" but refrained from chowing down.

From: University of Maryland
and BBC

Fur Mich?

2007-01-18T02:28:00.000-05:00

This one is for the reading audience. I want to know this, but have been unsuccessful in searching the internet. I want to know, and I'm sure it has occurred, but I want specific cases of people calling in to the police to report that a character on a movie or television show is in peril. I must know, and am determined to find out. If you have any information on these people please contact the author.

Surley Maclaine

2007-01-17T14:16:00.000-05:00

Today I had the good fortune of having my attention stolen by the "Gentleman Highwayman," James Maclaine. A kindly thug roundabouts the Hyde Park area of Englad in the mid 1700's. He fell in to cahoots with a destitute apothecary by the name of William Plunkett. The two got together, compared there respective positions and took to highway robbery. At one point they robbed and accidentally shot a one Horace Walpole. Maclaine sent him this courtly letter to try and patch things up. But all good things, as they do, come to an end. They were both eventually caught trying to sell ripped off goods to the people who had been ripped off, and Maclaine was hanged on October 3, 1750. Plunkett however escaped with both his money and his life. No one seems to care much about his exploits after that point. There is a film "somewhat" based around their exploits called titled, appropriately, "Plunkett and Macleane."

from Wikipedia
and Stand and Deliver

Big Fucking Rabbits

2007-01-13T17:08:00.000-05:00

Apparently North Korea wants to start breeding the German Grey strain of giant rabbits for food. I didn't know rabbits could get to this size, but here you have it. They are selectively bred all over Europe, but this man, Karl Szmolinsky, has engineered some of the biggest ever. His rabbits regularly break 20lbs, and are as big as well fed children. Everything else aside, they freak me out.

from:
Times UK article
Der Spiegle
Boing Boing

Stephen King, liar.

2007-01-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

Recently, I watched Pet Sematary for the first time. I know, a rather large gap to have left in my horror movie education, but what's done is done, and what isn't isn't. My suspicious were aroused at the point in the movie where Tasha Yar's sister has been turned into a hideous skeletal zombie creature and locked in a room upstairs for years because of spinal meningitis. This struck me as a mite queer remembering how a friend of a friend had succumbed to the "same" illness in the course of an evening. As I remembered it, in the case I had heard about, the kid just went to sleep complaining of a stiff neck and never woke up. Didn't begin to resemble a corpse until after he died.
Through the magic of basic research, I have discovered that there are different forms of Meningitis, viral, bacterial, or fungal, but all of them affect the meninges: the system of membranes that envelop the central nervous system. Bacterial Meningitis is particularly serious form will kill within 24 hours without prompt medical treatment (in the form of strong antibiotics, or steroids).

Here is a list of symptoms associated with Meningitis from Wikipedia:

Symptoms of meningitis are: Sudden high fever, drowsiness or confusion, severe, unrelenting headache, stiff neck, intolerance to bright light and sounds, twitching, convulsions, delirium particularly in children, and/or a rash of small, irregular purple or red spots all over the body may indicate meningococcal meningitis. Chills, nausea, or vomiting, may also occur. Seizures may occur in about 20 to 40% of patients. Other signs include Kernig's sign and Brudzinski's sign. Although commonly tested, the sensitivity and specificity of Kernig's and Brudzinski's tests are uncertain.

Spinal Meningitis, though serious, is not a chronic illness. I think Zelda was misdiagnosed:

Either that or Stephen King just opened up his "Big Book of Medical Ailments" and picked something that sounded good. Don't trust everything you see in pulp horror.

See also:
Understanding Meningitis
Mayo Clinic: Meningitis
Wikipedia:Meninges

Of cats and a flame

2007-01-09T00:55:00.000-05:00

Today I unearthed the knowledge of the long forgotten pastime of "Cat Burning." The "sport" was popular in 16th century France where spectators would huddle around a fire and hoist bails full of cats into the air; slowly lowering the yowling bundle of felines until they perished in flame. The Parisians apparently thought this was great fun and "shrieked with laughter, as the animals, howling with pain, were roasted." The dessicated kitty ashes were scooped up into bags and carted home for good luck.

It was apparently commonplace for the royalty to partake in this form of revelry, including Louis XIV who personally lit one such bonfire wreathed in roses and dancing jovially about the flames to the chorus of shrieking cats.

I was tipped off to this bit of history because Stephen Pinker is happy that we don't do it anymore. I suppose, base as Fox News and MTV are, at least it's not Cat Burning.

from Wikipedia

Indiana + Polis

2007-01-08T00:29:00.001-05:00

I wanted to try and learn a little about the history of the town that bored (that's correct) and raised me, because I am back home again in Indiana this weekend, and bored out of my mind. Unfortunately for aforementioned mind, learning about my city was just as boring as being in it.

It was founded as the state capital in 1821 by Indiana Supreme Court Judge Jerimiah Sullivan. It was founded here because the state legislature demanded that it be as close as possible to the center of the state. Great. In an incredible leap of intellect, he created the name of the city by combining Indiana (the name of the State) with Polis (which is Greek for city). Boy! Indiana City! Great. Yep.

Indianapolis appears to be most notorious for not quite being notable for anything. I'm so glad I took the time to find all this out.

That's really about it, the White River, which the developers had high hopes of being a central hub for transport and trade, proved to be too shallow and too sandy for anything but pavement in the 1990's. Admittedly, the canal is nice now, but it has become over run with rental pedi-carts.

Oh and Kurt Vonnegut is from here. Cool people call it Naptown.

from Wikipedia
and Indianapolis History

>>What would you like to do?

2007-01-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

Your brain interprets the information. On your desk is a pen and a pad of paper. You write down a few notes to call upon later. It is dark out, but not later. It's Winter, but a peculiarly (less so each year) warm one.

>>What would you like to do?
>>Read on.

>>I found myself recently immersed in an alien but exciting world. A world of obsessive genius, it's own language, and imagination. I have found the world of Interactive Fiction. An admittedly limited world, but one of much interest. Since the beginning of computer programming, it has existed in some form or other, but it has achieved the bulk of it's accomplishments in the form of Inform.

From Wikipedia

Inform is a programming language and design system for interactive fiction originally created in 1993 by Graham Nelson. Versions 1 through 5 came out relatively quickly between 1993 and 1996. Around 1996, Graham rewrote Inform from first principles to create version 6 (or "Inform 6")[1]. Over the following decade, version 6 has become reasonably stable and a popular language for writing interactive fiction. In 2006, Graham released version 7, a completely new language based on principles of natural language and a new set of tools based around a book-publishing metaphor ("Inform 7" or "Natural Inform"). As of this writing, Inform 7 is still in beta, but is usable for and has been used for the release of interactive fiction.

>>There is much possibility within the medium of IF, and it deserves consideration. For more information, see the following pages:

The Bible of IF
Zoom Manual
Indie Game Developers

Freaky Fungus

2007-01-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

I generally try to do better than just transmission of other people's posts, but this is just too cool to pass up:

Deep in the Cameroonian rain forests of west-central Africa there lives a floor-dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens, or more commonly, the stink ant. This large ant -— indeed, one of the very few capable of emitting a cry audible to the human ear -— survives by foraging for food among the fallen leaves and undergrowth of the extraordinarily rich rain-forest floor.

On occasion, while thus foraging, one of these ants will become infected by inhaling the microscopic spore of a fungus from the genus Tomentella, millions of which rain down upon the forest floor from somewhere in the canopy above. Upon being inhaled, the spore lodges itself inside the ant’s tiny brain and immediately begins to grow, quickly fomenting bizarre behavioral changes in its ant host. The creature appears troubled and confused, and presently, for the first time in its life, it leaves the forest floor and begins an arduous climb up the stalks of vines and ferns.

Driven on and on by the still-growing fungus, the ant finally achieves a seemingly prescribed height whereupon, utterly spent, it impales the plant with its mandibles and, thus affixed, waits to die. Ants that have met their doom in this fashion are quite a common sight in certain sections of the rain forest.

The fungus, for its part, lives on. It continues to consume the brain, moving on through the rest of the nervous system and, eventually, through all the soft tissue that remains of the ant. After approximately two weeks, a spikelike protrusion erupts from out of what had once been the ant’s head. Growing to a length of about an inch and a half, the spike features a bright orange tip, heavy-laden with spores, which now begin to rain down onto the forest floor for other unsuspecting ants to inhale.

So if you go to the rain forest in Camaroon, don't look up and don't inhale.

From Boing Boing
And Mr. Wilson's Cabinet

Solar Cycle 24: The Death of Us All

2006-12-23T21:43:00.000-05:00

Today I learned that the Mayans were right and we're all going to die in 2012 during solar Cycle 24. Although we probably wont die of that. Solar cycles are regular 11 year fluctuation in the Sun's magnetic field. The next one coming is going to be the biggest one in the recorded history of Sun (or as I like to call them, FUN cycles)! What this means is that starting around 2010, don't trust your compass, and keep your eyes trained on the night sky for the Northern Lights (probably as far South as Brazil).

The solar Maximum is the period we are concerned with.That is when the Sun's magnetic field is at it's strongest, and sunspots appear due to inconsistencies in said field. The field gets all fucked up and collides with Earth's field causing phenomena such as the Northern Lights and the Loch Ness Monster.

Anyway, if you want to read more about how we're probably going to die go here:
Physorg
Wikipedia: Solar Cycle
Wikipedia: Solar Maximum

the God Experiments

2006-12-22T17:48:00.000-05:00

These took place back in the 80's. I couldn't remember who conducted the study, so I looked it up. The studies were conducted by Dr. Michael Persinger. The results of the tests found that 80% of the subjects tested sensed an "ethereal presence" which differed depending on the subjects cultural background. I.E. God, aliens, angels, Buddha, Vishnu, Allah, or whatever else helps you get to sleep at night. IN effect this reveals that "religious experience" is nothing more than human experience. Read these for more:

Discover: God Experiments
God and the Temporal Lobes
Wikipedia: God Helmet

Klezmerized

2006-12-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to learn about Klezmer music, because last night I was blown away by the band Golem from New York who play an amped up brand of punk rock infused Klezmer. The band was fantastic. I stand in awe of their musical proficiency, and also in their connection to their own cultural heritage. Being an atheist Anglo mutt from central Indiana, I posses no such thing, it's alright, I'm fine, I don't miss it, I just admire it when I see it.

Klezmer came about in around the 150's (that's it) in reference to the Klezmorim (like the Rohirrim in Lord of the Rings) who were traveling musicians who would make merry at Jewish weddings. They were mostly frowned upon by the church but eventually, like most things, got subsumed into the culture at large. It's a very rich and storied development, that I'll let you read more of on your own.

from Wikipedia

Single. Female. 33. Gorilla.

2006-12-20T19:50:00.000-05:00

Today I learned that people are stupid and sensitive enough to file sexual harassment charges against a gorilla. This is older news apparently, but went under my radar. Allegedly Koko, the 33 year old "talking" gorilla who has a vocabulary of over 1,000 ASL words, pressured some of the foundation employees into exposing their nipples to her. The gorilla in a transcript (yes) is admittedly preoccupied with nibbles, but also for candy. Her keeper clarified that she refers to people as nipples. Thankfully all the claims have been permanently dropped as of November 21, 2005.

I hope this case leads the way into a new era where animals can be sued for all their worth for discrimination, harassment, and battery charges. It might be just the thing we need to illustrate the ridiculousness of our very own human legal system.

From the St. Petersburg Times
Wikipedia

Presidents, politicians, and pistols

2006-11-25T22:17:00.000-05:00

I have been viewing a show on the History channel detailing all of the JFK assassination theories. This set me on an oddessy to look up all the American Presidents who have had attempts on their life and pair them with their assailants. Here we go:

Presidential assassinations:

Abraham Lincoln- John Wilkes Booth. April 11, 1865
James Garfield- Charles Julius Guiteau. July 2, 1881
William McKinley- Leon Czolgosz. Spetember 6, 1901
John F. Kennedy- Lee Harvey Oswald. November 22, 1963

Attempted Presidential assassinations:

Andrew Jackson- Richard Lawrence. January 30, 1835
Theodore Roosevelt- John Schrank
Franklin D. Roosevelt- Guiseppe Zangara. February 15, 1933
Harry S. Truman- Griselio Torresola, Oscar Collazo. November 1, 1950
Richard Nixon- Samuel S. Byck. February 22, 1974
Gerald Ford- Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Spetember 5, 1975. Sarah Jane Moore. September 22, 1975
Jimmy Carter- Raymond Lee Harvey. May 5, 1979
Ronald Regan- John Hinckley Smith Jr. March 30, 1981
George HW. Bush- Kuwait University. April 13, 1993
Bill Clinton- Francisco Martin Duran. October 29, 1994
George W. Bush- Vladimir Arutinian. May 10, 2005

A lot of these I had never even heard about before. I like this, we'll move on through more assassinations from history in the days and weeks to come.

List of Assassins
List of Assassinated
List of Attempts
From Wikipedia

2002 New Hampshire Phone Jamming Scandal

2006-11-24T19:29:00.000-05:00

I am home for Thanksgiving and my dad and I were watching the news. He scoffed at the mention of voting malfeasance. I, as is standard now, took objection to his objection and began a frustrated survey into voting scam and flammery.

I found this one which I had heard nothing about.

The 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal involves the use of a telemarketing firm hired by that state's Republican Party (NHGOP) for election tampering.

During that state's 2002 election for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Robert C. Smith, the NHGOP hired GOP Marketplace, based in Northern Virginia, to jam another phone bank being used by the state Democratic Party and the firefighters' union for efforts to turn out voters on behalf of then-governor Jeanne Shaheen on Election Day. John E. Sununu, the Republican candidate, won a narrow victory. In addition to criminal prosecutions, disclosures in the case have come from an ongoing civil suit filed by the state's Democratic Party against the NHGOP.

Three men have been convicted of, or pled guilty to, federal crimes and sentenced to prison for their involvement as of 2006. A fourth is under indictment. However, investigators and those who have followed the scandal closely believe that there were more people involved at the national level. It has been suggested that some high-ranking Republican Senate leaders were aware, and more recently records showing phone calls from the political operative convicted of engineering the scheme have raised questions as to whether officials in the Bush Administration were involved as well.

more from Wikipedia

and plasma

2006-11-17T21:19:00.000-05:00

In my reading on lasers I cam across plasma, another thing that movies have led us to believe will blow the wings off a spacecraft. Well, slow don the Han, because plasma is actually just a state of matter separate from solids, liquids, and gasses. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

In physics and chemistry, a plasma is typically an ionized gas, and is usually considered to be a distinct phase of matter in contrast to solids, liquids, and gases because of its unique properties. "Ionized" means that at least one electron has been dissociated from a proportion of the atoms or molecules. The free electric charges make the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields.

This fourth state of matter was first identified in a discharge tube (or Crookes tube), and so described by Sir William Crookes in 1879 (he called it "radiant matter")[1]. The nature of the Crookes tube "cathode ray" matter was subsequently identified by English physicist Sir J.J. Thomson in 1897[2], and dubbed "plasma" by Irving Langmuir in 1928 [3], perhaps because it reminded him of a blood plasma [4]. Langmuir wrote:

"Except near the electrodes, where there are sheaths containing very few electrons, the ionized gas contains ions and electrons in about equal numbers so that the resultant space charge is very small. We shall use the name plasma to describe this region containing balanced charges of ions and electrons."[3]

Plasma typically takes the form of neutral gas-like clouds or charged ion beams, but may also include dust and grains (called dusty plasmas). [5] They are typically formed by heating and ionizing a gas, stripping electrons away from atoms, thereby enabling the positive and negative charges to move freely.

getting my lasers on

2006-11-17T21:09:00.000-05:00

So I finally allotted some time to find out about lasers. What they are, how they work, and what they actually do. I think alot of people take alot of "common" knowledge for granted. I think lasers are an example of this. Everyone "knows" what a laser is, but I doubt if anyone really knows how they function and what they really are. So, here is my (someone else's) best explanation. There is much to be read on the subject, but I feel I am getting close to understanding those wonderful lasers.

A laser is composed of an active laser medium, or gain medium, and a resonant optical cavity. The gain medium transfers external energy into the laser beam. It is a material of controlled purity, size, and shape, which amplifies the beam by the quantum mechanical process of stimulated emission, discovered by Albert Einstein while researching the photoelectric effect. The gain medium is energized, or pumped, by an external energy source. Examples of pump sources include electricity and light, for example from a flash lamp or from another laser. The pump energy is absorbed by the laser medium, putting some of its particles into high-energy ("excited") quantum states. When the number of particles in one excited state exceeds the number of particles in some lower-energy state, population inversion is achieved. In this condition, an optical beam passing through the medium produces more stimulated emission than the stimulated absorption, so the beam is amplified. An excited laser medium can also function as an optical amplifier.

The light generated by stimulated emission is very similar to the input signal in terms of wavelength, phase, and polarization. This gives laser light its characteristic coherence, and allows it to maintain the uniform polarization and monochromaticity established by the optical cavity design.

more from Wikipedia

eunuchs

2006-11-15T00:44:00.000-05:00

I think it is important to come out of our cultural paralysis and admit that we don't know things. I had no idea previously what a eunuch was. I had heard it over and over again, and had always forgotten to look it up. Now I know, and I'm so much the better for it now that I know whenever I hear eunuch, I know they're referring to a castrated man. Here's some history for everyone:

A eunuch is a castrated man; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 21st century BC. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures such as courtiers or equivalent domestics, treble singers, religious specialists, government officials, military commanders, and guardians of women or harem servants. In some societies, the notion of eunuch has been expanded to include men who are impotent with women or are simply celibate.

HISTORY

The English word eunuch is from the Greek eune ("bed") and ekhein ("to keep"), effectively "bed keeper." Servants or slaves were usually castrated in order to make them safer servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence – seemingly lowly domestic functions such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter or even relaying messages, giving him "the ruler's ear" could impart de facto power on the formally humble but trusted servant, as reflected in the humble origins and etymology of many high offices (e.g. chancellor started out as a servant guarding the entrance to an official's study). Eunuchs supposedly did not generally have loyalties to the military, the aristocracy, or to a family of their own (having neither offspring nor in-laws, at the very least), and were thus seen as more trustworthy and less interested in establishing a private 'dynasty'. Because their condition usually lowered their social status, they could also be easily replaced or killed without repercussion. In cultures that had both harems and eunuchs, eunuchs were sometimes used as harem servants (compare the female odalisque) or seraglio guards.

Eunuchs were familiar figures in the Assyrian Empire (ca. 850 till 622 B.C.), in the court of the Achaemenid emperors of Persia and the Egyptian Pharaohs (down to the Lagid dynasty known as Ptolemies, ending with Cleopatra).

In ancient China castration was both a traditional punishment (until the Sui Dynasty) and a means of gaining employment in the Imperial service. At the end of the Ming Dynasty there were 70,000 eunuchs (宦官 huàn'guān, or 太監 tàijiān) in the Imperial palace. The value of such employment—certain eunuchs gained immense power that may have superseded that of the prime ministers—was such that self-castration had to be made illegal. The number of eunuchs in Imperial employ had fallen to 470 in 1912, when their employment ceased. The justification of the employment of eunuchs as high-ranking civil servants was that, since they were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty. Concurrently, a similar system existed in Vietnam.

The tension between depraved eunuchs in the service of the emperor and virtuous Confucian officials resisting their tyranny is a familiar theme in Chinese history. In his History of Government, Samuel Finer points out that reality was not always that clear-cut. There were instances of very capable eunuchs, who were valuable advisors to their emperor, and the resistance of the "virtuous" officials often was procrastination on the part of a privileged class which blindly resisted any change, whether it be for the good or the bad of the empire.

The practice was also well established in Europe among the Greeks and Romans, although more rarely as court functionaries than in Asia. For example in late Rome, emperors such as Constantine were surrounded by eunuchs for such functions as bathing, hair cutting, dressing, and bureaucratic functions, in effect acting as a shield between the emperor and his administrators from physical contact. Eunuchs were believed loyal and dispensable.

At the Byzantine imperial court, there were a great number of eunuchs employed in domestic and administrative functions, actually organized as a separate hierarachy, following a parallel career of their own. Archieunuchs—each in charge of a group of eunuchs—were among the principal officers in Constantinople, under the emperors.[1]

It [citation needed] was only after the Muslim Arabs conquered parts of the Roman Empire that they acquired eunuchs from the Romans, and not knowing what else to do with them, made them into harem guards. For the Eunuchs in the Ottoman Great Sultan's harem and wider palace service, see the (Topkapi) Seraglio.

The Ancient Indian Kama Sutra refers to people of a "third sex" (trtyaprakrti), who can be dressed either in men's or in women's clothes and perform fellatio on men. The term has been translated as "eunuchs" (as in Sir Richard Burton's translation of the book), but these persons have also been considered to be the equivalent of the modern hijra of India (see relevant article and the section below).

from Wikipedia

I am also aware that these are becomming lamer and lamer, but... well I refuse to appologise as of yet.

all dogs go to heaven

2006-11-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

After numerous trips to the Lincoln Park Zoo the wolves were out. I had been more excited about seeing them than anything else (probably because they're so damn elusive) and when I finally got a look today I remembered that wolves are just freakin dogs! Oh yeah, I see those all the time. Although a passing ambulance did produce a chorus of yelps and howls; dogs rarely do anything that exciting anymore. So in honor of the decidedly uninteresting reminder of the ancestry of dogs, I thought I would do some investigation into the decidedly interesting into the ancestry of dogs.

Molecular systematics indicate that the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) descends from one or more populations of wild wolves (Canis lupus). As reflected in the nomenclature, dogs are descended from the wolf and are able to interbreed with wolves.

The relationship between human and canine has deep roots. Wolf remains have been found in association with hominid remains dating from 400,000 years ago. Converging archaeological and genetic evidence indicate a time of domestication in the late Upper Paleolithic close to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000 and 14,000 years ago. Fossil bone morphologies and genetic analysis of current and ancient dog and wolf populations have not yet been able to conclusively determine whether all dogs descend from a single domestication event, or whether dogs were domesticated independently in more than one location. Domesticated dogs may have interbred with local populations of wild wolves on several occasions (so-called introgression).

The earliest dog fossils, two crania from Russia and a mandible from Germany, date from 13,000 to 17,000 years ago. Their likely ancestor is the large northern Holarctic wolf, Canis lupus lupus. Remains of smaller dogs from Mesolithic (Natufian) cave deposits in the Middle East, dated to around 12,000 years ago, have been interpreted as descendants of a lighter Southwest Asian wolf, Canis lupus arabs. Rock art and skeletal remains indicate that by 14,000 years ago, dogs were present from North Africa across Eurasia to North America. Dog burials at the Mesolithic cemetery of Svaerdborg in Denmark suggest that in ancient Europe dogs were valued companions.

Genetic analyses have so far yielded divergent results. Vilà, Savolainen, and colleagues (1997) concluded that dogs split off from wolves between 75,000 and 135,000 years ago, while a subsequent analysis by Savolainen et al. (2002) indicated a "common origin from a single gene pool for all dog populations" between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago in East Asia. Verginelli et al. (2005), however, suggest both sets of dates must be reevaluated in light of recent findings showing that poorly calibrated molecular clocks have systematically overestimated the age of geologically recent events. On balance, and in agreement with the archaeological evidence, 15,000 years ago is the most likely time for the wolf-dog divergence.

Verginelli examined ancient DNA evidence from five prehistoric Italian canids carbon-dated to between 15,000 and 3,000 years old, 341 wolves from several populations worldwide, and 547 purebred dogs. Their results indicate multiple independent origins of dogs and/or of frequent interbreeding between early proto-dogs and wolves throughout a vast geographic range. The detailed history remains unexplored and until further evidence is available, the following section on wolf ancestors must be considered purely speculative.

from Wikipedia

Dog drawing by: Hitler

cuddle up with Claudine Longet

2006-11-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

A recent happy discovery for me has been the works of Claudine Longet. One of her records was spinning at work the other day and it blew me right away. I have it one order from Sweden. It could allegedly take a year to arrive. She traffics mostly in the sweet and sultry territory of late 60's bubble-gum pop. I love it! When I went up to ask about ordering her album I was informed that she had become somewhat infamous for shooting her Olympic skier boyfriend. Ladies and gentlemen, I am in love. Anyone who can record such lush and sweet renditions of pop songs AND get away with murder is alright with me.

Here's the rest of the whole story:
Claudine Georgette Longet (born January 29, 1942 in Paris), was a popular singer and recording artist in the 1960s and 1970s. She was best known as the ex-wife of singer Andy Williams and later for being convicted for killing skiing star Spider Sabich.

She met Williams while he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergere. They married on Christmas Day 1961 and had three children, Noëlle, Christian and Robert. In 1968, she appeared in The Party with Peter Sellers and sang "Nothing to Lose" by Henry Mancini. Longet recorded a series of five albums for A&M Records between 1966 and 1970 and two albums for Williams's Barnaby label in 1971 and 1972. She also made frequent acting appearances in television series and appeared from time to time on Williams' variety series and specials. Williams called Longet a beautiful, sleek brunette with large doe eyes, "my favorite French singer". She and Williams separated in 1969 but did not divorce until 6 years later.

One song, "Wanderlove" (music and lyrics by Mason Williams), went to #7 on the charts in Singapore and still occasionally gets airplay on Asian radio.

Longet was arrested and charged with the March 21, 1976 shooting death of her lover, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich at his Aspen, Colorado home after he had showered and was preparing to dress. Sabich was a very handsome athlete with no lack of female companionship when he met Longet. As their relationship progressed, Longet and her three children moved in with Sabich, radically altering his bachelor life. There were widespread rumors of discord between the couple before the shooting. Spider had told friends he wanted Claudine out of his house but had taken no real action to evict her because he adored her children. At the sensational trial, Longet claimed the gun discharged accidentally as Sabich was showing her how it worked. Despite the fact that the autopsy found that Sabich was bent over with his back turned to her and Claudine was no closer than 6 feet from him, she stuck to her story that it was a tragic accident. Williams very publicly supported Claudine throughout the trial, even escorting her to and from the courthouse.

The Aspen police made two enormous blunders which turned the tide for Longet. They took a blood sample from her and confiscated her diary without warrants. Longet's blood contained cocaine and her diary showed that her relationship with Sabich had turned bitter. Since the evidence was not obtained legally the prosecution couldn't use it. The gun was also mishandled by non-weapons experts. It was given to a policeman, who wrapped it in a towel and put it in the glove compartment of his unit; for 3 days it was unaccounted for.

Put on the stand, Longet reiterated her innocence and pleaded for mercy because her three young children needed her. The jury acquitted her of felony manslaughter but convicted her of criminal negligence, a misdemeanor and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail. As a generous gesture, Judge Lohr allowed Longet to choose the days she served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children. Longet chose to work off most of her sentence on weekends. Once the trial was over, she took off for a vacation with her defense attorney Ron Austin. Austin left his wife and children to do so. Longet and Austin later married and remain together residing in Aspen.

Longet has never performed again. After the criminal trial, the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually settled out of court for a large monetary settlement, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story. They also demanded that Claudine withdraw from public circulation her recording of "Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down."

from: Wikipedia

the sleep of reason breeds many monsters

2006-10-24T02:22:00.000-04:00

The subject of dreams has been throughly addressed between me and my chums this evening. Both of my comrades btoh cliam to have had lucid dreams. I have never been so lucky. In an attempt to find out why, here's the Wikipedia article on lucid dreaming. I would do my own work, but I am going to go dream now.

Lucid dreaming is the conscious perception of one's state while dreaming, resulting in a much clearer ("lucid") experience and usually enabling direct control over the content of the dream.[1] The complete experience from start to finish is called a lucid dream. Stephen LaBerge, a popular author and experimenter on the subject, has defined it as "dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming."[2]

LaBerge and his associates have called people who purposely explore the possibilities of lucid dreaming oneironauts (literally from the Greek ονειροναύτες, meaning "dream explorers"). The topic attracts the attention of a diverse and eclectic group: psychologists, self-help authors, New Age groups, mystics, occultists, and artists. This list is by no means exhaustive nor does interest in lucid dreaming apply necessarily to each group.

Lucid dreamers regularly describe their dreams as exciting, colourful, and fantastic. Many compare it to a spiritual experience and say that it changed their lives or their perception of the world. Some have even reported lucid dreams that take on a hyperreality, seemingly "more real than real", where all the elements of reality are amplified. Lucid dreams are prodigiously more memorable than other kinds of dreaming, even nightmares, which may be why they are often prescribed as a means of ridding one's self of troubling dreams.

The validity of lucid dreaming as a scientifically verified phenomenon is well-established. It may be classified as a protoscience, pending an increase in scientific knowledge about the subject. Researchers such as Allan Hobson with his neurophysiological approach to dreaming have helped to push the understanding of lucid dreaming into a less speculative realm.

A number of universities conduct continued research into the techniques and effects of lucid dreaming, as do some independent agencies such as LaBerge's The Lucidity Institute. Jungian psychology, for example, seems to indicate that non-lucid (or partly lucid) dreaming is a way to achieve self-understanding. At present, there are no known cases where lucid dreaming has caused damage on either a psychological or physiological level. However, it would be very difficult to determine whether some form of lucid dreaming might prevent one from receiving a benefit from normal dreaming.

The first book on lucid dreams to recognize their uniqueness and scientific potential was Celia Green's 1968 study Lucid Dreams. Reviewing the past literature, as well as new data from subjects of her own, Green analysed the main characteristics of such dreams, and concluded that they were a category of experience quite distinct from ordinary dreams. She predicted that they would turn out to be associated with REM sleep. Green was also the first to link lucid dreams to the phenomenon of false awakenings.

The first scientific support of lucid dreaming came in the late 1970s from the efforts of a British parapsychologist Keith Hearne, and a volunteer named Alan Worsley, who used eye movement signals on a polysomnograph machine to signal the onset of lucidity. Philosopher Norman Malcolm's 1959 text Dreaming argued against the possibility of checking the accuracy of dream reports in this way, but this experiment proved that actions agreed upon during waking life could be recalled and performed once lucid in a dream. Similar experiments were duplicated by Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University for his doctoral dissertation some years later. Interestingly, LaBerge had no knowledge of Hearne and Worsley's previous experiments at that time, probably due to the lack of publication of Hearne's work.

During the 1980s, further scientific evidence to confirm the existence of lucid dreaming was produced as lucid dreamers were able to demonstrate to researchers that they were consciously aware of being in a dream state (usually again by using eye movement signals).[3] Additionally, techniques were developed which have been experimentally proven to enhance the likelihood of achieving this state.[4]

One unresolved question on the neurophysiological nature of lucid dreaming concerns the electrical activity in the frontal cortex, which is generally reduced during normal sleep.[5] The behavior of the frontal cortex has not at present been crucially analyzed with respect to lucid dreaming.

... from Wikipedia

dad, do you have a cyanide pill?

2006-10-20T23:42:00.000-04:00

"No!" Was the response Vale of RE/Search gave when asked by his 9 year old daughter. "Do you even know what a cyanide pill is?" "No." Said Valentine. I didn't really know either. I mean, I knew the Hollywood cyanide capsule, but there's way more to it than that

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group -C≡N, with the carbon atom triple-bonded to the nitrogen atom.

The CN group can be found in many kinds of compounds. Some are gases, others are solids or liquids. Some are salt-like, some covalent. Some are molecular, some ionic, and many are polymeric. Those that can release the cyanide ion CN− are highly toxic.

Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas with a faint, bitter, almond-like odor. Nearly 40 percent of the population is unable to smell hydrogen cyanide. This seems to be genetically determined in a complex fashion[1]. Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide are both white powders with a bitter, almond-like odor in damp air, due to the presence of HCN formed by hydrolysis

Cyanides can be produced by certain bacteria, fungi, and algae, and are found in a number of foods and plants. In plants, cyanides are usually bound to sugar molecules in the form of cyanogenic glycosides and serve the plant as defense against herbivores. Cassava roots (aka manioc), an important potato-like food grown in tropical countries, reportedly contain cyanogenic glycosides[2][3]

The Fe-only and [NiFe]-hydrogenase enzymes contain cyanide ligands at their active sites. The biosynthesis of cyanide in the [NiFe]-hydrogenases proceeds from carbamoylphosphate, which converts to cysteinyl thiocyanate, the CN- donor.

"Cyanide" is a staple of crime fiction and publicly regarded as meaning deadly poison. Many cyanide-containing compounds are indeed highly toxic, but many are not. Prussian blue, nominally Fe7(CN)18, a common pigment, is administered orally to counteract the effects of poisoning by Thallium and 137Cs.

The most dangerous cyanides are hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and salts derived from it, such as potassium cyanide (KCN) and sodium cyanide (NaCN), but including others. Also some compounds readily release HCN or the cyanide ion, such as trimethylsilyl cyanide (CH3)3SiCN upon contact with water and cyanoacrylates upon pyrolysis. [citation needed]

Many thousands of organic compounds contain the CN group. These compounds are called nitriles. Generally, nitriles do not display the toxicity of HCN, NaCN, and KCN. In fact, the nitrile functional group is an integral component of numerous pharmaceutical drugs including cimetidine (Tagamet), verapamil (Isoptin), and citalopram (celexa). The reason for their diminished toxicity is that nitriles do not release the CN− ion, which permanently binds to and inhibits cytochrome c oxidase, the specific basis of the lethality of cyanide.

Cyanide ions bind to the iron atom of the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase (also known as aa3) in the fourth complex in the mitochondrial membrane in the mitochondria of cells. This deactivates the enzyme, and the final transport of electrons from cytochrome c oxidase to oxygen cannot be completed. As a result, the electron transport chain is disrupted, meaning that the cell can no longer aerobically produce ATP for energy.

Tissues that mainly depend on aerobic respiration, such as the central nervous system and the heart, are particularly affected.

Plants contain a cyanide-insensitive pathway (photosynthesis instead of the redox reaction) for respiration in their mitochondria, and as a result are insensitive to concentrations of cyanide that are lethal to animals.

from Wikipedia

non-wild stallions

2006-10-20T23:32:00.000-04:00

The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. Horses first evolved in the Americas, but went extinct there until reintroduced by Europeans. Horses have long been among the most economically important domesticated animals and are prominent in religion and mythology. The horse has played an important role as transportation, as a source of food, fuel, and clothing, and as a weapon. While isolated domestication may have occurred as early as 10,000 years ago, the first clear evidence dates to c. 5000 BC, and becomes widespread only after 2000 BC. Selective breeding since that time has produced numerous breeds. Some have been bred so that they can be ridden, usually with a saddle, while other breeds can be harnessed to pull objects like carriages or plows. In some societies, horses are a source of food, both meat and milk; in others it is taboo to consume them. In industrialized countries horses are predominantly kept for leisure and sporting pursuits, while they are still used as working animals in many other parts of the world.

Competing theories exist as to the time and place of initial domestication. The earliest evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from Central Asia and dates to approximately 4,500 BC. Archaeological finds such as the Sintashta chariot burials provided unequivocal evidence that the horse was definitely domesticated by 2000 BC.

from Wikipedia

I was right and now I know it

2006-10-20T23:28:00.000-04:00

Because there had been heated debate between me an my friends; some suggesting it was for "EL ectric" or "Loop" and I swore up and down that it was for "EL evated" and I was right and I knew it. So now you do too.

The 'L'[1], variously if perhaps incorrectly styled "L," El, or L (see below), is the rapid transit system that serves Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which also runs the city's bus system. It has been credited with helping create the densely built-up downtown that is one of Chicago's distinguishing features.[2]

The 'L' consists of a network of eight heavy rail lines totalling 106.1 route miles (57.1 miles elevated, 36.9 miles surface, and 12.1 miles subway) on over 242.6 miles of double-track rail line with 144 stations. The oldest section dates from 1892. The 'L' primarily serves the city proper plus eight close-in suburbs; service to more distant suburbs is provided by the Metra commuter rail system. Seventeen stations, mainly newer or at outlying locations, include "park-'n'-ride" facilities with a total of more than 6,600 parking spaces.

The 'L' is the fourth busiest rail mass transit system in the United States, behind New York, Washington, and Boston.[3] It is one of the few rapid transit systems in North America providing 24-hour service, though only on the two busiest lines.[4] On average 542,000 people ride the 'L' each weekday, 348,000 each Saturday, and 262,000 each Sunday.[5] Annual ridership for 2005 was 155 million,[6] the highest since 1985.[7]

Although the 'L' gained its nickname because large parts of the system are elevated,[8] the Red and Blue lines traverse the downtown area in subways, and also have long sections in the medians of expressways that lead into and out of Chicago. Chicago pioneered the use of the expressway median for rail lines in the 1950s. There are also open-cut and/or grade-level portions (with street crossings) on some parts of the system.

Noisy and sometimes overwhelmingly crowded, the 'L' nonetheless has become one of the symbols of the city it serves. In a 2005 poll, Chicago Tribune readers voted it one of the "seven wonders of Chicago," [9] behind the lakefront and Wrigley Field but ahead of Sears Tower, the Water Tower, the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry.

from Wikipedia

why Chicago?

2006-10-20T23:18:00.000-04:00

A Tidbit of local history for myself:

The indigenous Potawatomi tribe called the marshes on which Chicago was later built "Checagou (prounounced 'She-Ka-Gan')," which translates to "wild onion" or "garlic." European explorers assigned the name to the Chicago River, followed by settlers' delegating it as the name of the city. Before Chicago's founding, the name of the river was spelled several ways, such as "Chetagu" or "Shikago."

from Wikipedia

magnetic personality of a loser

2006-10-20T23:09:00.000-04:00

Hey. I suck and am dumb now, and I have a lot to do tonight, and I suck and am dumb now, so to catch up I am just going to be copying and pasting information. It's still information, and it's still stuff I'm learning, but I suck and I'm dumb and I need to catch up with myself.

So, No. 1:
Magnetic forces are fundamental forces that arise from the movement of electrical charge. Maxwell's equations and the Biot-Savart law describe the origin and behavior of the fields that govern these forces. Thus, magnetism is seen whenever electrically charged particles are in motion. This can arise either from movement of electrons in an electric current, resulting in "electromagnetism", or from the quantum-mechanical spin and orbital motion of electrons, resulting in what are known as "permanent magnets". Electron spin is the dominant effect within atoms. The so-called 'orbital motion' of electrons around the nucleus is a secondary effect that slightly modifies the magnetic field created by spin.

When given a treatment with relativity in mind, depending on the frame of reference, electromagnetic forces acting on an object partition differently into magnetic and electric fields. In fact, for this reason, magnetism can be considered a direct consequence of relativity.

Charged Particle in a Magnetic Field:
When a charged particle moves through a magnetic field B, it feels a force F given by the cross product:
F=qv X B

where q, is the electric charge of the particle v, is the velocity vector of the particle B, is the magnetic field.

Because this is a cross product, the force is perpendicular to both the motion of the particle and the magnetic field. It follows that the magnetic force does no work on the particle; it may change the direction of the particle's movement, but it cannot cause it to speed up or slow down.

This might give you pause: Simple bar magnets seem to be entirely able to pick up small metal objects, which certainly seems to require that they do work on those objects. As David J. Griffiths points out in his textbook Introduction to Electrodynamics, this law is absolute - the magnetic field doesn't do any work. However, quite like the normal force of an inclined plane, which also can't do work, the magnetic field can redirect the efforts of existing forces, and then those forces can indeed do work in the relevant direction.

One tool (often introduced in physics courses) for determining the direction of the velocity vector of a moving charge, the magnetic field, and the force exerted is labeling the index finger "V", the middle finger "B", and the thumb "F". When making a gun-like configuration (with the middle finger crossing under the index finger), the fingers represent the velocity vector, magnetic field vector, and force vector, respectively. See also right hand rule.

Magnetic Dipoles:
Normally, magnetic fields are seen as dipoles, having a "South pole" and a "North pole"; terms dating back to the use of magnets as compasses, interacting with the Earth's magnetic field to indicate North and South on the globe.

A magnetic field contains energy, and physical systems stabilize into the configuration with the lowest energy. Therefore, when placed in a magnetic field, a magnetic dipole tends to align itself in opposed polarity to that field, thereby canceling the net field strength as much as possible and lowering the energy stored in that field to a minimum. For instance, two identical bar magnets normally line up North to South resulting in no net magnetic field, and resist any attempts to reorient them to point in the same direction. The energy required to reorient them in that configuration is then stored in the resulting magnetic field, which is double the strength of the field of each individual magnet. (This is, of course, why a magnet used as a compass interacts with the Earth's magnetic field to indicate North and South).

From Wikipedia

scratch it, it's biologically programmed

2006-10-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

Today I learned about itching. Apparently also known as pruritis. It's pretty simple actually, itching is simply a response by your epidermis to any various type of irritant. Impulses are sent from your skin to your brain with the impulse to scratch. You scratch to remove the irritant.
The chemical messenger active in an itch is Histamine which is released by the mast cells in your skin. It's simply another evolutionarily developed method for our bodies taking care of themselves. Now I know.

read:
How Stuff Works: Itching
Wikipedia: Itching