International intrigue - what more can we ask for?
Well, we could put aside spying and stealing electronic data or accusing the opposition (American indication of Chinese-based hacking and vice versa); instead, encourage global cooperation using computer networks (hacker or otherwise) in solving big science questions.
Meanwhile, while we while away our wily, woolly tax cut agreements in the U.S., will there be a U.S. to tax or not to tax in twenty years?
The future engages us as we read, write, think and speak. I'll tell you more about it soon...
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Dichroic Dichotomies Bombastically Fantastic
Found for sale at roadside stand - fried bedbugs and ground flax seeds - mmmmm..... Never miss a business opportunity when there's free protein for the baking.
So which state functions do you care about - subsidies for business entities or subsidies for subcities?
I want a couple of days to step back and ponder the impermeable impervious impenetrable perforations. How, for example, does one step in and out of spacetime if spacetime does not exist? How does one appear to those who only know spacetime as the working model for daily living/survival?
I'll leave you with these thoughts by Ashleigh Brilliant:
2. How close did the Germans come to invading England in World War I?
3. Is it possible that the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa once had an affair?
4. Trade-name for a new brassiere: the CANDELA BRA.
5. Idea: write my own Constitution, beginning “I the person.”
6. Lists for the listless.
7. Are shoulders the only thing we can shrug?
8. Needed: a car that runs on URINE.
9. The Day I Didn’t Die.
10. The two great World Wars had many similarities and some striking differences. Where can I find a good comparative summary of these?
11. Do people with foot fetishes tend to become podiatrists?
12. Am I right in saying that, unlike the body, the mind discharges no waste products?
13. Good title: NOT NOTHING.
14. Good conversation starter: Complete this sentence: “My mother used to . . . .”
15. Did horse-and-buggy drivers ever use rear-view mirrors?
16. Question: Why “knuckle dusters”? What does the “duster” part mean?
17. We can say “there is only now” because past and future are in a certain sense unreal -- but we can’t say “there is only here” because we know other places exist.
18. Reality For Beginners.
19. Are there people who can put on their trousers both legs at once?
20. Do all Americans say “A to Zee” and all Brits say “A to Zed”? (This could be the basis of a detective story which hinges upon whether the perpetrator is American or British.)
21. Dear Obnoxious Cell Phone User,
I realize you are minding your own business (and that you wish I would mind mine) – but must you do so at the top of your voice?
22. And I heard God say, “THIS LIFE IS ON ME.”
23. I cut my finger on the First-Aid box.
24. I’ve heard of games involving a “greased pig.” How about an ordinary game of catch in which the players’ hands are greased. The game could be called BUTTERFINGERS.
25. When did a reigning British monarch first visit a British colony (not counting Ireland)?
26. How many home accidents occur when people are putting on or taking off their pants?
27. Question: Where did Hitler get the Negro extras who were sometimes needed in German films during the Nazi era? What became of them?
28. How many American black soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans during World War II, and how were they treated?
29. Idea: an illustrated Who’s Who of our local homeless population.
30. Which animals need least sleep, and are there any which never sleep at all?
31. I find 3 different meanings of Amadeus: “Love of God,” “Loves God,” and “God’s Love.”
32. Why was there no Roman anti-cruelty organization picketing the Colosseum? Has society as a whole actually become more “humane”? Is this “progress”?
33. Isn’t the song “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” dangerously close to sexual deviance?
34. Is a point well taken the same as a point well made?
So which state functions do you care about - subsidies for business entities or subsidies for subcities?
I want a couple of days to step back and ponder the impermeable impervious impenetrable perforations. How, for example, does one step in and out of spacetime if spacetime does not exist? How does one appear to those who only know spacetime as the working model for daily living/survival?
I'll leave you with these thoughts by Ashleigh Brilliant:
ASHLEIGH BRILLIANT, QUESTIONS AND IDEAS, AUG 2009- NOV 2010. Part I.
1. Do red and green mean stop and go everywhere in the world?2. How close did the Germans come to invading England in World War I?
3. Is it possible that the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa once had an affair?
4. Trade-name for a new brassiere: the CANDELA BRA.
5. Idea: write my own Constitution, beginning “I the person.”
6. Lists for the listless.
7. Are shoulders the only thing we can shrug?
8. Needed: a car that runs on URINE.
9. The Day I Didn’t Die.
10. The two great World Wars had many similarities and some striking differences. Where can I find a good comparative summary of these?
11. Do people with foot fetishes tend to become podiatrists?
12. Am I right in saying that, unlike the body, the mind discharges no waste products?
13. Good title: NOT NOTHING.
14. Good conversation starter: Complete this sentence: “My mother used to . . . .”
15. Did horse-and-buggy drivers ever use rear-view mirrors?
16. Question: Why “knuckle dusters”? What does the “duster” part mean?
17. We can say “there is only now” because past and future are in a certain sense unreal -- but we can’t say “there is only here” because we know other places exist.
18. Reality For Beginners.
19. Are there people who can put on their trousers both legs at once?
20. Do all Americans say “A to Zee” and all Brits say “A to Zed”? (This could be the basis of a detective story which hinges upon whether the perpetrator is American or British.)
21. Dear Obnoxious Cell Phone User,
I realize you are minding your own business (and that you wish I would mind mine) – but must you do so at the top of your voice?
22. And I heard God say, “THIS LIFE IS ON ME.”
23. I cut my finger on the First-Aid box.
24. I’ve heard of games involving a “greased pig.” How about an ordinary game of catch in which the players’ hands are greased. The game could be called BUTTERFINGERS.
25. When did a reigning British monarch first visit a British colony (not counting Ireland)?
26. How many home accidents occur when people are putting on or taking off their pants?
27. Question: Where did Hitler get the Negro extras who were sometimes needed in German films during the Nazi era? What became of them?
28. How many American black soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans during World War II, and how were they treated?
29. Idea: an illustrated Who’s Who of our local homeless population.
30. Which animals need least sleep, and are there any which never sleep at all?
31. I find 3 different meanings of Amadeus: “Love of God,” “Loves God,” and “God’s Love.”
32. Why was there no Roman anti-cruelty organization picketing the Colosseum? Has society as a whole actually become more “humane”? Is this “progress”?
33. Isn’t the song “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” dangerously close to sexual deviance?
34. Is a point well taken the same as a point well made?
Science And Engineering Through A Comic's Viewpoint
[oldies but goodies from a female friend at the Nuclear Operations Directorate (NOD) - the jokes can be retold for either gender]
Understanding Engineers – Take One
Two engineering students were walking across a university campus when one said,
"Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said,
"Take what you want."
The second engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fitted you anyway."
Understanding Engineers - Take Two
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Understanding Engineers - Take Three
A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.
The engineer fumed, "What's with those blokes? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!"
The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such inept golf!"
The priest said, "Here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him."
He said, "Hello, George! what's wrong with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"
The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes. That's a group of blind fire fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."
The group fell silent for a moment.
The priest said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."
The doctor said, "Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there's anything he can do for them."
The engineer said, "Why can't they play at night?"
Understanding Engineers - Take Four
What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?
Mechanical engineers build weapons and civil engineers build targets.
Understanding Engineers - Take Five
Understanding Engineers - Take Six
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.
One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections."
The last one said, "No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area ?"
Understanding Engineers - Take Seven
Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
Understanding Engineers - Take Eight
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a Princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do ANYTHING you want."
Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog? Now that's cool!"
Understanding Engineers – Take One
Two engineering students were walking across a university campus when one said,
"Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said,
"Take what you want."
The second engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fitted you anyway."
Understanding Engineers - Take Two
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Understanding Engineers - Take Three
A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.
The engineer fumed, "What's with those blokes? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!"
The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such inept golf!"
The priest said, "Here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him."
He said, "Hello, George! what's wrong with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"
The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes. That's a group of blind fire fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."
The group fell silent for a moment.
The priest said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."
The doctor said, "Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there's anything he can do for them."
The engineer said, "Why can't they play at night?"
Understanding Engineers - Take Four
What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?
Mechanical engineers build weapons and civil engineers build targets.
Understanding Engineers - Take Five
The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"
The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"
Understanding Engineers - Take Six
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.
One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections."
The last one said, "No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area ?"
Understanding Engineers - Take Seven
Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
Understanding Engineers - Take Eight
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a Princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do ANYTHING you want."
Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog? Now that's cool!"
Monday, November 15, 2010
Maxwell's Magic Hammer
Information (facts and rumours?) is more powerful than you thought:
Stairmaster Beads
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Two Subcontinental Peas in a Pod
The dried redbud seed pod outside the window told me I am the manifest projection of the seedpod's need to reproduce. Nothing more and nothing less.
I feel better now, demystified and debunked on a daily basis. What more can I ask for?
Of course, I can't sell a seed pod real estate or soybean futures so what is any of the science or philosophy of objective nonconscious observations going to do for my investment portfolio?
Keep me entertained by the multiverse of opinions, of course.
Until a member of our species is not a member of our species and can report what the universe is like outside our species to our species (yes, the illogically logical tautology is there on purpose), we have the faith in subjectively objective science to help us improve life as we know it for our species, our culture, our subcultures, our niches, and ourselves.
I feel better now, demystified and debunked on a daily basis. What more can I ask for?
Biocentrism: it's all in the perspective of the disbeliever
Of course, I can't sell a seed pod real estate or soybean futures so what is any of the science or philosophy of objective nonconscious observations going to do for my investment portfolio?
Keep me entertained by the multiverse of opinions, of course.
Until a member of our species is not a member of our species and can report what the universe is like outside our species to our species (yes, the illogically logical tautology is there on purpose), we have the faith in subjectively objective science to help us improve life as we know it for our species, our culture, our subcultures, our niches, and ourselves.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Anything Radical About Social Constructivism?
Thought for this morning: decreased solar activity leads to warming words, which make us reconstruct, socially, our radical views of the world.
I'm too bored today to think more about these subjects.
Perhaps the Wayans brothers could write a movie script about the goofiness and infighting of the scientific world?
I look forward to seeing the people reap what they voted for. Some say it's rats fighting over who gets to stand atop a sinking ship. I say the tide is turning and we aren't sure if it's really rising or falling in relation to what we called historic changes.
C'est la vie, my little chickadees, c'est la vie.
Better mail your overseas holiday packages early this season. Election year politics is putting a squeeze on shipping. Are you going to be the one to foot the bill, covering the costs of terror prevention security measures...again? How many billions in cost overruns will it take to detect the next version of a printer cartridge bomb?
Did we not claim that the space/defense race was a primary factor in defeating the communist political entity called the Soviet Union? Would it be too far of a stretch to see others are trying to do the same to us by driving up our nonprofitable costs of living with cheap acts of terrorism?
My brain is not awake or I'm too bored today to think more about these subjects.
All I care about is the bottom line. What is one life worth? Will our species gain or lose by our actions? How can we predict the future where more of our social/ecocological systems benefit than don't?
How does all of this fit into the untranslatable story of Earth I'm composing for an unknown readership?
I'm too bored today to think more about these subjects.
Perhaps the Wayans brothers could write a movie script about the goofiness and infighting of the scientific world?
I look forward to seeing the people reap what they voted for. Some say it's rats fighting over who gets to stand atop a sinking ship. I say the tide is turning and we aren't sure if it's really rising or falling in relation to what we called historic changes.
C'est la vie, my little chickadees, c'est la vie.
Better mail your overseas holiday packages early this season. Election year politics is putting a squeeze on shipping. Are you going to be the one to foot the bill, covering the costs of terror prevention security measures...again? How many billions in cost overruns will it take to detect the next version of a printer cartridge bomb?
Did we not claim that the space/defense race was a primary factor in defeating the communist political entity called the Soviet Union? Would it be too far of a stretch to see others are trying to do the same to us by driving up our nonprofitable costs of living with cheap acts of terrorism?
My brain is not awake or I'm too bored today to think more about these subjects.
All I care about is the bottom line. What is one life worth? Will our species gain or lose by our actions? How can we predict the future where more of our social/ecocological systems benefit than don't?
How does all of this fit into the untranslatable story of Earth I'm composing for an unknown readership?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wiki Word of the Day
How you interpret is not necessarily how you interpret what you interpret:
Any suggestions?
Can I put the rest of this year in fast-forward?
Thanks to all of those I haven't given my thanks. You know who you are even if you don't know how to interpret what I'm thanking you for.
HermeneuticsI'm trying to figure if voting in my local district on Tuesday is worth the effort and how to get a leader on the field to assess and decide in two seconds when last week's running recordbreaker isn't working again.
Any suggestions?
Can I put the rest of this year in fast-forward?
Thanks to all of those I haven't given my thanks. You know who you are even if you don't know how to interpret what I'm thanking you for.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Police and Investigators Baffled
Famed botnet not stealing your secrets or credit card numbers!
Authorities planned to tie the recent bust of an international botnet ring to a global organised crime unit, claiming the ring leaders were stealing government secrets, private IDs, and bank/credit card account information.
However, upon further research of the data secretly stolen from the botnets, analysts have revealed that the botnets are in fact inserting people's lives into the lives of others - falsifying backgrounds in private company personnel files, putting people's faces in other people's holiday photos, creating completely cross-referenced wikipedia entries with corresponding websites and news wire stories...essentially rewriting the Internet, codenamed Operation "John Malkovich in 'Being Tom Hanks'".
Breaking down the details of the illegal operation was going to be the success story of the government announced just prior to upcoming elections that pundits have predicted will sweep out the old and bring in the new.
Government consultants and PAC contributors secretly hoped the operation breakup would put a halt to the country's conservative reaction to bank lenders' predatory lending practices in response to newly rich stockholders looking for a sure bet that caused the collapse of the global economy and an increase in volatile investment trends like making cow patties more precious than gold.
A cow farting next to a lantern in a barn full of kerosene and dry hay couldn't have caused a more bitter tasting sweet mint in the mouth of a gifted sawhorse.
Now that the truth has been discovered, analysts are pouring over the wikileaks website to determine how much the wikileaks creators have themselves been duped by a group of teenagers determined to turn the e-world into a parody of itself by putting into the hands of "insiders" documents that were forged at the beginning.
NEWS FLASH! Whole floors of rooms of people being hypnotised to believe the documentation, including photographs and videos, that shows them performing acts in which they never participated! Debutantes caught shopping at discount stores! Queen Elizabeth funneling beer at a punk biker bar!
In archaeology news, scientists have released a report claiming that sacrificial wells in Central America contain the remains of alien creatures. Speculation and rumours say that the aliens may have been trying to hide from tribes wanting to turn the aliens into gods while they were merely picnicking on Earth before continuing their weekend tour of this spiral arm of the galaxy, their prescient spaceships taking off on autopilot and leaving the aliens behind.
Authorities planned to tie the recent bust of an international botnet ring to a global organised crime unit, claiming the ring leaders were stealing government secrets, private IDs, and bank/credit card account information.
However, upon further research of the data secretly stolen from the botnets, analysts have revealed that the botnets are in fact inserting people's lives into the lives of others - falsifying backgrounds in private company personnel files, putting people's faces in other people's holiday photos, creating completely cross-referenced wikipedia entries with corresponding websites and news wire stories...essentially rewriting the Internet, codenamed Operation "John Malkovich in 'Being Tom Hanks'".
Breaking down the details of the illegal operation was going to be the success story of the government announced just prior to upcoming elections that pundits have predicted will sweep out the old and bring in the new.
Government consultants and PAC contributors secretly hoped the operation breakup would put a halt to the country's conservative reaction to bank lenders' predatory lending practices in response to newly rich stockholders looking for a sure bet that caused the collapse of the global economy and an increase in volatile investment trends like making cow patties more precious than gold.
A cow farting next to a lantern in a barn full of kerosene and dry hay couldn't have caused a more bitter tasting sweet mint in the mouth of a gifted sawhorse.
Now that the truth has been discovered, analysts are pouring over the wikileaks website to determine how much the wikileaks creators have themselves been duped by a group of teenagers determined to turn the e-world into a parody of itself by putting into the hands of "insiders" documents that were forged at the beginning.
NEWS FLASH! Whole floors of rooms of people being hypnotised to believe the documentation, including photographs and videos, that shows them performing acts in which they never participated! Debutantes caught shopping at discount stores! Queen Elizabeth funneling beer at a punk biker bar!
In archaeology news, scientists have released a report claiming that sacrificial wells in Central America contain the remains of alien creatures. Speculation and rumours say that the aliens may have been trying to hide from tribes wanting to turn the aliens into gods while they were merely picnicking on Earth before continuing their weekend tour of this spiral arm of the galaxy, their prescient spaceships taking off on autopilot and leaving the aliens behind.
Monday, October 18, 2010
I'd Rather Be Wrong Than Dead
Watching the Titans win tonight with only a minor slate of injuries reported, basking in Munster's victory this weekend, and wondering about the upsets in top 25 college football, I pause to consider Jupiter and the Moon.
No special reason. Just 'cause I can.
See what I'm saying?
I don't have to be right. I only want to learn from you, my fellow members of what we call our species, what we consider worth considering.
If you say you're practicing the commandments and following the tenets of a religion, I'll believe you and will want to read the primary documents that teach you what you're supposed to be doing when you practice and follow.
I can't read your mind. I'm a behaviourist at heart - I read your intent through your actions, including the emotions you express that you say you feel.
We're one big family so I react according to family-style training - respect the learned opinions of your elders, support the sick, and teach the young.
In the meantime, I'm composing the story that tells the history of this planet, all our civilisations a tiny dot along the timeline, the mere start of the Anthrocene (or Anthropocene) period.
How do you tell an Earth-sized story without using the communication method, the language, of a newcomer species?
How do you explain religion in terms that universally speaks to all living, feeling beings?
It's twisting my poor ol' brain into a pretzel, that's what all this rewriting of the act of communicating is doing to me.
And I'm supposed to compose five of these epic tales?
Glad I have the assistance of all seven billion of us.
Like this opinion about morals without an omniscient head of religion. Is fairness universal? Is it coded in our combination of states of energy? Why do some animals care for their young? Why do any creatures reproduce?
Je ne sais pas. Je ne connais pas.
I will complete at least one of my books about this small part of the solar system, even if it depletes my whole thinking/feeling process to do so, knowing that the act of communicating itself is not universal, let alone the style/format.
Look at the known states of what we call the universe and tell me if knowledge is more important than action. Now tell me how I'm supposed to express your opinion universally.
See what I'm saying?
No special reason. Just 'cause I can.
See what I'm saying?
I don't have to be right. I only want to learn from you, my fellow members of what we call our species, what we consider worth considering.
If you say you're practicing the commandments and following the tenets of a religion, I'll believe you and will want to read the primary documents that teach you what you're supposed to be doing when you practice and follow.
I can't read your mind. I'm a behaviourist at heart - I read your intent through your actions, including the emotions you express that you say you feel.
We're one big family so I react according to family-style training - respect the learned opinions of your elders, support the sick, and teach the young.
In the meantime, I'm composing the story that tells the history of this planet, all our civilisations a tiny dot along the timeline, the mere start of the Anthrocene (or Anthropocene) period.
How do you tell an Earth-sized story without using the communication method, the language, of a newcomer species?
How do you explain religion in terms that universally speaks to all living, feeling beings?
It's twisting my poor ol' brain into a pretzel, that's what all this rewriting of the act of communicating is doing to me.
And I'm supposed to compose five of these epic tales?
Glad I have the assistance of all seven billion of us.
Like this opinion about morals without an omniscient head of religion. Is fairness universal? Is it coded in our combination of states of energy? Why do some animals care for their young? Why do any creatures reproduce?
Je ne sais pas. Je ne connais pas.
I will complete at least one of my books about this small part of the solar system, even if it depletes my whole thinking/feeling process to do so, knowing that the act of communicating itself is not universal, let alone the style/format.
Look at the known states of what we call the universe and tell me if knowledge is more important than action. Now tell me how I'm supposed to express your opinion universally.
See what I'm saying?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)