Dedwarmo

New home

2005-06-25T11:18:00.000-04:00

I have decided to use Wordpress to publish my blog. It has moved to Dedwarmo.com

Flexible non-stick bakeware

2005-06-24T02:08:00.000-04:00

I don't like to cook, but I am fascinated by new materials. I thought teflon coated frying pans were cool when they came out. Now there is a new kind of bakeware that looks and feels like rubber, but you can use it to bake things. Teflon was invented by Roy Plunkett who was a researcher for Du Pont. This new material is sold as Smartware and the material is called Temperflex. I haven't done much research and I haven't found who invented this interesting material.

Child friendly

2005-06-14T02:24:00.000-04:00

This is a child friendly blog. I don't use profanity and I don't post questionable photographs. I do, however, discuss my beliefs about Christianity and certain ethical issues. I believe in the free exchange ideas and no topic is off limits if addressed in a reasonable manner.

Wordpress allows you to take control of your blog

2005-06-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

I've been experimenting with Wordpress blog software that I host myself on my own domain name. It was remarkably easy to set up, is as easy to use or easier than Blogger and to the best of my knowledge has many more features. One requirement is that you must have webhosting that allows you to create a MySQL database. Dedwarmo.com is hosted by GoDaddy.com and has one-click database set-up.

Here's how easy it is to do it:
1. Created the database at GoDaddy.com
2. Downloaded a zip file from Wordpress.org .
3. Modified one text file.
4. Uploaded the files from the expanded zip archive to Dedwarmo.com via FTP
5. Pointed my browser to http://dedwarmo.com/wp-admin/install.php
6. Followed the install instructions that appeared in my browser
7. Finished

Actual detailed instructions are here

Are software patents a good idea?

2005-06-01T12:49:00.000-04:00

"...[S]oftware isn't just something new. Software is something fundamentally different. Abstract and slippery, it doesn't conform to the ordinary constraints of the real world of objects. The nature of software has created not only a different kind of intellectual challenge, but a different kind of industry with its own particular economic structure. To this is being applied a 200 year old patent system.

...In most other industries, a product will contain perhaps twenty parts. In the case of sophisticated consumer goods, such as video cameras, we could raise this to 1000 parts. Nevertheless, the constraints of the real world ensure that the complexity of the product cannot become too great. Software, however, is essentially free from these constraints. A major computer program can comprise anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million lines of code. In most other industries a product will involve technologies covered by just a few patents. In the software industry, a product can contain thousands of inventions, any of which might be patented."

From article at League for Programming Freedom

I hate banner ads

2005-05-30T21:21:00.000-04:00

I hate banner ads because they are visual distractions, clutter, and slow down my web surfing, not to mention they are often ugly. That said, I came across what I thought was a visually pleasing, clever banner ad. The earphones appear to drip from the words. Neat, eh?

48 Hour Film Project returns to Greensboro

2005-05-30T20:17:00.000-04:00

From the Press Release:

2005 Tour Bigger Than Ever!

The 48 Hour Film Project, the first and biggest of the
timed film competitions, brings filmmaking teams
together to make a movie from scratch — teams write,
shoot, edit and score original music — all in just 48
hours. Our 2005 Tour has begun. This year the 48HFP
will visit 30 cities around the world. And Greensboro
is gearing up for its second year!

Ed Moye and Nisha Coffey brought the 48 Hour Film Project to Greensboro and were voted People of the Year by GoTriad

Register online .

The first 10 registrations we receive are automatically entered into the Project. The remaining teams are determined from a random drawing between all entries received by June, 24. All teams will be notified of the drawing results within two days.

Greensboro Hockey

2005-05-30T19:59:00.000-04:00

Bruce Bullington has put together a history of professional hockey in Greensboro, NC, my hometown. I am not a sports fan myself, but I found all the wrangling between Greensboro Coliseum officials and sports franchises fascinating. Excellent job, Bruce.

Hot Air Ballooning in the Piedmont Triad

2005-05-29T18:18:00.000-04:00

Cloud Nine Hot Air Balloon Company

"Our first concern is for a SAFE and FUN event. For that reason, it is sometimes necessary to reschedule the flight due to weather conditions beyond our control. We make no promise as to the duration, distance, altitude, or visibility of the flight, as all of these are controlled by the variables of nature. It is not uncommon to reschedule a flight several times. About 50% of our flights launch as scheduled."

Visit CloudNine.biz or call (336) 993-2229

I hope to take a balloon ride one of these days. It looks like it would be a blast.

New Artwork

2005-05-29T05:11:00.000-04:00

New artwork posted to Davidmo.com including a simple animation .

Did a strict upbringing cause me to rebel?

2005-05-26T04:19:00.000-04:00

When I was a young child my parents taught me their Christian beliefs. I learned that the Bible was the infallible Word of God and that we are all sinners who deserve eternal punishment in hell. I was taught that God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for our sins, so that if we repent and trust in God for our salvation we can go to heaven when we die.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

I no longer believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God. I believe that it is an extraordinary book written by men who sincerely believed what they wrote. Out of the six children in my family, I am the only one who no longer believes. Friends ask me if I would have rejected the teachings of my youth if my parents weren't so dogmatic in their beliefs, that maybe I'm just rebelling. I don't think that is why I am no longer a believer. I don't feel like I have rebelled against my parents, but I have rebelled against the belief system. I grew up believing that I should submit myself to God. Matthew 16:24 says "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." I was and still am unwilling to submit my will to God. I wanted to live the way I wanted to live, do what I wanted to do. Why should I obey God? The more I excerted my own will, the more I doubted the Bible. I began to consider the possibility that the Bible might have errors in it. I began to ask myself, "Why should I believe something for which there is no evidence?" There certainly is lots of evidence for most of the historical events described in the Old and New Testaments, but where is evidence for the resurrection of Jesus? What evidence could there possibly be for the "Virgin Birth".

Christian Viewpoint
AllAboutGod.com
AllAboutJesusChrist.org
AnswersInGenesis.org
Institute for Creation Research
Bob Jones University
Moody Bible Institue

Other opinions
Skeptic's Guide to Jesus
Wikipedia's Jesus article
Skeptic.com
Committe for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
Reason Online

Going barefoot feels great.

2005-05-25T05:11:00.000-04:00

About the The Barefoot Hiker:

"Maybe you're one of the many people who slip off their shoes as soon as they get home. Maybe you even remember running around barefoot when you were a kid. If so, then you're already aware that going barefoot is mighty comfortable (and maybe even faintly subversive).

Did you also know that it provides a number of medical benefits? Well, it does; there are lots of chronic problems -- and not just foot problems -- that are caused in part by wearing shoes unnecessarily.

So have you ever tried barefoot hiking? If not, Richard Keith Frazine would like your attention.

In this altogether charming book, Frazine sets out the case not only for hiking barefoot but for avoiding shoes in general. Far from being unsanitary or gross, he holds, going barefoot is actually physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy."

Review by John S. Ryan

Flexible robot skin

2005-05-25T05:07:00.000-04:00

Article at BookofJoe.com

Open Source Initiative, Free Software Foundation

2005-05-22T08:36:00.000-04:00

Dedwarmo.com

2005-05-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

dedwarmo.com

Modern day Nomad

2005-05-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

"In North Carolina, we passed Interstate 40, and I tried to talk Dick into turning left. We could go to Nashville, Amarillo, Texas, Tucumcari, N.M., or to the Bagdad Cafe in the Mojave Desert. Dick wouldn't do it. He said he had to get back for his flute lesson."

from StPetersBurgTimes.com

Flickr

2005-05-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

Share you photos at Flickr.com

Henry and Nisha

Gmail, Exporting contacts, and Nirvana

2005-05-12T10:50:00.000-04:00

I love Gmail , but you can't export your contacts. You can, however,
import them.

Spell checker

2005-05-10T01:22:00.000-04:00

I've been blogging at Blogspot.com since September 2004 and I never noticed that Blogger has a spell checker. I usually check my spelling in longer posts with an external spell checker, but until today I didn't spell check my shorter posts. Please forgive my spelling errors. Feel free to leave a comment if you notice one. By the way, the Blogger spell checker doesn't recognize "blogging" or "Blogger."

Interesting Places

2005-05-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

Just a list of places that I would like to visit for their visual beauty.

The Moon
Antarctica
Alaska
Sequoia National Forest
the natural arches in Utah
The Grand Canyon
A pure sand desert
the grasslands of Africa
The Himalayas
The Andes
The Aleutians
The Galapagos
Australian outback
The great barrier reef
Swiss Alps
Scandinavian fjords
Suez canal
Sahara Desert
Kalajari Desert
tar pits
New Guinea
New Zealand
Japan
Great Wall of China
Mojave Desert
Amazon River
Congo River
Nile River
Sail out of sight of land in a sailboat
Jungles of Brazil, Africa
Yellowstone National Park
I list these two mainly because they are they are very far south.
Cape of Good Hope
Strait of Magellan

Controversial Essays - free will, racism, IQ

2005-05-06T11:03:00.000-04:00

Free Will, Racism, IQ and other thought provoking essays by Eric S. Raymond.

Phlogiston

2005-05-06T09:54:00.000-04:00

From Wikipedia :

...The theory states that all flammable materials contain phlogiston (derived noun form of the Greek phlogistos, meaning "inflammable"), a substance without color, odor, taste, or weight that is liberated in burning. Once burned, the "dephlogisticated" substance was now in its "true" form...

Ulobasah sher sholki

2005-05-03T10:31:00.000-04:00

Ulob she sohab.

If I had my life to do over again

2005-05-02T21:15:00.000-04:00

I haven't found the original source for this quote but it has been attributed to Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky. It has been said that she was 85 when she wrote this.

"If I had my life to live over I'd like to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax and limber up. I'd be sillier than I've been this trip. I'd take fewer things seriously and take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I'd eat more ice cream and less beans. I'd have perhaps more actual troubles, but I'd have far fewer imaginary ones.

You see I'm one of those people who lives sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact I'd try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had it to do again, I'd travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances, ride more merry-go-rounds, I would pick more daisies."

Overwhelming ignorance

2005-05-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

Here is an excerpt from the Richard Dimbleby Lecture on November 12th, 1996, delivered the on BBC1 Television in England by Richard Dawkins. He quotes Bernard Levin, the columnist.

Bernard Levin's effusion in The Times was entitled "God, me and Dr. Dawkins" and it had the subtitle: "Scientists don't know and nor do I -- but at least I know I don't know".

It is no mean task to plumb the full depths of what Mr Bernard Levin does not know, but here's an illustration of the gusto with which he boasts of it.

"Despite their access to copious research funds, today's scientists have yet to prove that a quark is worth a bag of beans. The quarks are coming! The quarks are coming! Run for your lives . . .! Yes, I know I shouldn't jeer at science, noble science, which, after all, gave us mobile telephones, collapsible umbrellas and multi-striped toothpaste, but science really does ask for it . . . Now I must be serious. Can you eat quarks? Can you spread them on your bed when the cold weather comes?"

It doesn't deserve a reply, but the distinguished Cambridge scientist, Sir Alan Cottrell, wrote a brief Letter to the Editor:- "Sir: Mr Bernard Levin asks "Can you eat quarks?" I estimate that he eats 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 quarks a day.

Taken from The Edge .

Is Science a Religion?

2005-05-01T19:12:00.000-04:00

In an article published in the Humanist in 1997, Richard Dawkins starts with the question, "Is Science a Religion?" I don't agree with everything he says, but I found the article to be very thought provoking.

There is a very, very important difference between feeling strongly, even passionately, about something because we have thought about and examined the evidence for it on the one hand, and feeling strongly about something because it has been internally revealed to us, or internally revealed to somebody else in history and subsequently hallowed by tradition. There's all the difference in the world between a belief that one is prepared to defend by quoting evidence and logic and a belief that is supported by nothing more than tradition, authority, or revelation.

-Richard Dawkins

Eustace Conway

2005-04-30T16:14:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wished you could go live in the woods and get away from city life? Eustace Conway is doing it.

From TurtleIslandPreserve.com :
"Eustace has lived in the woods for 20 years. He hasn't had a sip of a soft drink in that time or electricity (no TV) or running water.

Eustace camped alone for a week in the mountains at age twelve, living off the land and loving it! At age seventeen, he moved outside to live in an Indian tipi, which was his only home for 17 winters. At age eighteen he canoed 1,000 miles on the Mississippi River. Then he walked across America on the Appalachian Trail, completing the 2,000 mile journey. He kayaked the entire southern coast of Alaska amongst icebergs and whales.

He has backpacked over 5,000 miles of breathtaking wilderness trails in North America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe...from sandy deserts to lush jungles. He trained his own mules, horses, and bulls to pull logs, sleds, wagons and to plow the garden. He set the world record for coast to coast horse travel from the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean in 103 days!"

Which iPod should I buy?

2005-04-28T22:22:00.000-04:00

If you are considering buying an iPod you should consider how much storage space you need.

512 MB...$99......120 songs
1 GB.....$149.....240 songs
4 GB.....$199...1,000 songs
6 GB.....$249...1,500 songs
20 GB....$299...5,000 songs
30 GB....$349...7,500 songs
60 GB....$449..15,000 songs

I initially bought my iPod because I was running out of hard drive space and I wanted extra storage. I bought the 40 Gigabyte* iPod because it had the greatest capacity of all the iPod's at the time of purchase. I have since purchased a new 15" PowerBook with a 60 GB hard drive, so storage is not an issue anymore.

The longer I own my iPod the more I use it. Even so, I still only have 250 songs stored on it. That leaves me with about 35 GB of available space. I don't think I'll ever fill all that space with music.

I should say that I would like to have more songs on my iPod, but I'd rather spend my time doing other things than searching for and downloading music that suits my taste.

Conclusion: If I had it to do over again, I would have purchased the iPod Mini (4 GB). I would have saved a couple hundred dollars and still have PLENTY of room for all the songs I could want.

*Apple no longer makes a 40 GB iPod.

Make up your own numbers

2005-04-23T10:11:00.000-04:00

I imagine that there was a time when humans did not have different symbols for different numbers. They just made marks in the sand. If they counted five sheep they might have made five marks. If they counted a hundred sheep they made a hundred marks. With very large numbers this marking system becomes impractical. Today we use a base 10 numbering system, in other words we use 10 symbols to represent numbers. Any number can be represented with these 10 symbols: 01234567890. Ten sheep can be represented with only two symbols: 10. The order and placement is very important. 01 does not represent ten, it represents one. Each part of the number is called a digit. The rightmost digit represents ones. The digit to the left of that represents multiples of ten. The digit to the left of that represents hundreds, and thousands, ten thousands, etc. There is no limit to how large the number can be. Each digit represents an amount ten times the amount of the digit to its right. So if someone had 247 sheep, how many sheep would she have? Well you have seven ones, four tens, and two hundreds. So you have two hundred, plus forty, plus seven. Numbers can be represented other ways, too.

A Happy Song

2005-04-23T09:18:00.000-04:00

I know a song
A happy song
It's not too short
It's not too long

It's not too fast
It's not too slow
It's not too high
It's not too low

It's also not
too good my friend.
So aren't you glad
This is the end.

About Me

2005-04-21T23:26:00.000-04:00

I'm 177 cm tall, I displace 0.0681 metric tons or 68 kg. On a clear day I can see objects that are millions of miles away. I can detect audio frequencies as high as 20 khz. I can detect electromagnetic emmissions which have wavelengthes between approximately 700 and 400 nanometers. I can carry cargo up to 10 kg. I don't know you but I'm guessing you can too.

Undisclosed location

2005-04-21T22:15:00.000-04:00

Do you know where this is?

Originally found here

Dadaism

2005-04-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

Dadaism is deliberate irrationality and the rejection of the prevailing standards of art and literature. It can also be described as arrangement zodiac filtrate di po fa key la bu ba ba.

A Binary Universe

2005-04-21T21:48:00.000-04:00

What if the universe is fundamentally binary? It was once thought that the atom was the smallest unit of matter and could not be divided any further, but then subatomic particles were discovered and atoms were split. I know nothing about quantum physics, but I do know a little about imaginary physics. Imagine that all subatomic particles are made up of arrangements of two kinds of particles. Then all the physicists lived happily ever after.

Jump higher run faster

2005-04-19T15:06:00.000-04:00

Remember when Wile E. Coyote put springs on his feet so he could bounce really high? Now you can too! Check out Velocity Stilts .

From m4radio.com : "James Aston is the creator of Velocity Stilts, a dynamic motion stilt giving you the ability to jump 6 feet in the air and run with incredible speed (25 to 30 mph) while leaping and bounding..."

Also see:
Poweriser spring stilts.

French animation better than US?

2005-04-16T09:20:00.000-04:00

Decide for yourself. Watch Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003)

I love the Blue Man Group

2005-04-14T23:32:00.000-04:00

I love the The Blue Man Group , both their music and their stage show. I've only seen the Chicago show

Colored eye drops

2005-04-11T02:19:00.000-04:00

Hollywood makeup has come a long way. Remember when they painted Lou Ferrigno green on The Incredible Hulk ? His eyes and other mucous membranes were still pink. So I got to thinking, what if there is a harmless dye that can be used on those areas? I haven't done much research on the subject but I found an article about dry eye that mentions special dyes that are used to diagnose eye problems. This at least confirms my hunch that there are people putting things in their eye besides saline and ointments, etc.

Almost Human does some excellent makeup effects.

Put your memories on CD or DVD

2005-04-10T10:28:00.000-04:00

I used to work with Brian. He's a good guy. He either started or works for Dragon Media Works . They can transfer photos, slides, film or videotape to CD or DVD. They also do other creative things with music, photos and graphics.

The World's Largest Kite

2005-04-10T10:21:00.000-04:00

Yves Laforest claims that he and his assistants flew the world's largest kite . I have not heard of any counter claims. With such a large surface area, the kite is able generate hundreds if not thousands of pounds of lift. Two large trucks were used to anchor it. (Image from Ray Bethel's website. He's a kite flying fool, too.)

How to keep a human alive in space

2005-04-10T05:59:00.000-04:00

The Space Review has an interesting article about pressurized cabins in spacecraft.

Well, duh

2005-04-08T23:53:00.000-04:00

If I only posted original material, my blog would have no entries. So instead of choosing material based on originality I include ideas that interest me.

It's a Miracle!

2005-04-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

Imagine you have thee cards of different colors, say red, yellow and blue. You can arrange these cards in a maximum of 6 different ways. Red Yellow Blue, Red Blue Yellow, Yellow Red Blue, Yellow Blue Red, Blue Yellow Red, Blue Red Yellow. Each card can occupy one of three positions position 1, position 2, and position 3. When filling position 1, you have three cards to choose from. Once you have filled position 1, you have two cards to use to fill position 2. Once you have filled position 2, you have one card to use to fill position 3. So you have 3 possibilities multiplied by 2 possibilities multiplied by 1 possibility. or 3 x 2 x 1 = 6 for a total of 6 possible combinations.

If you had four cards you would have 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 possible combinations. As you can see the number of possible cards has increased by 18 with the addition of of just one card. With a deck of 52 cards there is a huge number is possible combinations. In fact it is approximately 8 with 67 zeroes behind it.* For the sake of simplicity I'll call this number 8 gazillion. Suppose you shuffle a deck of cards until it is in a completely random order and then you shuffle a second deck of cards until it is in a completely random order. The odds that both decks are in the same order is one in 8 gazillion*.

Now suppose that you shuffled two decks and they both came up in the exact same order. After jumping up and down and screaming and notifying the media, you might start to think, how could this possibly happen? This is a Miracle! But the truth is any arrangement of cards is just a likely as another. Why not be amazed at a deck arranged in any other order?

The same is true of any so-called rare event. Just because it happened only once in all of history doesn't mean it was a miracle.

* 8.06581751709439e+67

Tried and True Computer Animation Tips

2005-04-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

GOAT has done work on Mission: Impossible II , Romeo Must Die and others. They also have a lot of good tips and tricks for Alias PowerAnimator which is the previous incarnation of Maya . Many of the tips and tricks will also work with newer versions of the software. Also a lot the concepts mentioned can be translated to any 3D computer animation package. The best thing about the website is that it is all basic html with no javascript-animated menus crap.

Blog for free at Live Journal

2005-04-08T21:09:00.000-04:00

I'll find out if Blogger is reading my blog after this post. Blog for free at LiveJournal.com

Live Journal Open Source Blogware

2005-04-08T20:20:00.000-04:00

LiveJournal.com is another place to get a free blog. I haven't spent much time messing with it, but it seems to pretty feature rich.

Feast your eyes

2005-04-06T12:19:00.000-04:00

Festivals and competitions. Including animation, film, computer graphics, and interactive media.

From Pratt Institute in New York.

Create your own world

2005-04-06T12:10:00.000-04:00

Stories can be told wonderfully with traditional 2D animation, but what I like about computer animation is that you construct your characters and build the world that they live in and then you put them in motion. Some animation studios go so far as to sculpt their characters out of clay first and then transfer that characters shape into the computer where he or she is brought to life. 3D computer animation is more like claymation or stop motion than it is tradition animation.

Out of our Minds Studios

2005-04-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

Out of Our Minds Studios

From OutofourMindsStudios.com

Out of Our Minds Animation Studios was established in Jan. 2000 as a 3D animation and special effects studio. Its six founding members were award-winning artists of all trades (designers, illustrators, painters, photographers, sculptors), fascinated by the revolution taking place in the animation industry. The company quickly saw many sleepless nights as it embarked on its first television projects. Within the second year, it had already produced several regional and a few nationally recognized fully computer generated commercials and provided the digital effects for the award-winning, "The Rough South of Larry Brown", an independent feature about the career of the writer.

...

Our goal will be to carry on the storytelling legacy of the late great Walt Disney.

What the Church of Satan isn't

2005-04-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

Bunco

Watson Card Problem

2005-04-03T19:02:00.000-04:00

http://www.skepdic.com/refuge/ctlessons/lesson3.html

Who has all the answers?

2005-04-01T01:00:00.000-05:00

After reading 4thof6's post, I was compelled to comment.

I think anyone who says science has all the answers is wrong. The only heresy in science is to make a claim that cannot be tested. There are far more than thirteen questions that have scientists puzzled. The great thing about science is that they give awards for disproving established theories. Vera Rubin is quoted in the New Scientist as saying, "If I could have my pick, I would like to learn that Newton's laws must be modified in order to correctly describe gravitational interactions at large distances." Lots of incorrect theories and dearly held beliefs have been disproven and many more will go the way of the four humors and a flat earth. Mysteries will remain, but the important thing is to never stop asking questions.

Germ Freak

2005-03-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

I wonder if they wash water pipes with anti-bacterial soap. How sterile is our tap water? Water pipes lay outside on the side of the road exposed to all the elements and wildlife before they are buried. Then the flush them with, as far as I know, just regular city water. The way the pipes and water system are kept "clean" is just by keeping the system flowing. Stagnant water provides a place for organisms to grow. The system is designed to avoid dead ends. If there is a dead end they put a valve or a fire hydrant at the end and it is "supposed" to be flushed out periodically.

From the 2003 Greensboro City water quality report:

"1,875 water samples were collected at various points in the distribution system to test for bacteria such as Total Coliform and E. Coli. No harmful bacteria were present in any sample." Notice it said, "no harmful bacteria." That does not eliminate the possibility that there were harmless bacteria in the water. There may be bacteria in your water. You scrub with anti-bacterial soap and then you rinse it off with water that may contain bacteria!

I think the fight against bacteria is wrong-headed. Every inch of your body is covered with bacteria. If you took a sterile swab and wiped it on any part of your body and then rubbed it on a bacteria culture and let the culture grow for a couple of days, you would see a nice fuzzy blob of bacteria. There is bacteria in your mouth, eyes, large intestine, etc. Small amounts of bacteria are normal. What we need to avoid are large concentrations of bacteria and known sources of harmful bacteria. Usually your nose will alert you to these hazards: spoiled food, feces, rot.

Early computer animation

2005-03-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to find early examples of computer animation. So far the earliest movie that I've seen with computer animation is Futureworld (1976). It contains a brief shot of a primitive 3D model of a human head.
According to George D. DeMet , 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) contains no computer generated effects, but there is a shot where a video monitor shows what appears to be a rotating 3-dimensional model of an antenna. I suppose this could have been done using traditional 2D animation techniques.

Tron (1982) is another early movie using computer effects.

The Abyss (1989) has computer generated effects of water changing shapes.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) has the liquid metal guy.

Toy Story is the first feature length film done with 3D computer animation, but it is unusual because it, unlike these other films, will be remembered for its excellent, heartwarming story.

Heroine Films

2005-03-23T13:55:00.000-05:00

Heroine Films is a group of independent filmmakers in North Carolina.

Physics simulation and other links

2005-03-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

Ron Fedkiw's website contains simulations of falling objects and splashing liquids.

Siggraph is a trade organization for for the computer graphics and interactive techniques community.

Hight End 3D

2005-03-21T19:21:00.000-05:00

High End 3D

Visual Intelligence

2005-03-16T02:50:00.000-05:00

Donald D. Hoffman writes:

On the left are 49 colored patches. On the right I have randomly shuffled these same 49 colored patches. This dramatically affects the colored surfaces and lights that you see. On the left you see colored lights shining on the patches, e.g., a bright yellow light shining from the lower left and a bright green shining from the upper left. On the right you see the patches as illuminated by a single achromatic light source. You also see on the right some tans and browns that you don't see on the left. In fact the patches on the right might appear so different from those on the left that you might not be able to figure out the proper matches between them. I've indicated two of the matching pairs by the numbers 1 and 2.

All you can eat

2005-03-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

Morgan Spurlock ate 5,000 calories a day, gained weight and made himself sick. Thru-hikers often burn 6,000 calories a day and still lose weight. The mistake Spurlock made was not exercising. If you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight.

Where I've been

2005-03-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

In bold are the states I've been to, underline, the states I've lived in and italicize the state I'm in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Informant: 4thof6
Source: Ravinald

So many hybrids, so little time.

2005-03-14T20:42:00.000-05:00

Several automakers sell hybrid cars, so I went to Cars.com to see which ones were acutally for sale.

Found on Cars.com
Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Toyota Prius Hybrid
Ford Escape Hybrid

Not on Cars.com
Lexus Hybrid

Super Scam Me

2005-03-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

" Super Size Me " is not a serious look at a real health problem. It is, instead, an outrageously dishonest and dangerous piece of self-promotion. Through his antics, Spurlock sends precisely the wrong message. He absolves us of responsibility for our own fitness. We aren't to blame for being fat; big corporations are! And the remedy, he suggests, is to file lawsuits and plead with the Nanny State and the Food Police for protection. From CapMag.com Read More

Grafica Obscura

2005-03-12T04:10:00.000-05:00

Grafica Obscura

Aperiodic Tiling

2005-03-12T03:49:00.000-05:00

If you use specially shaped tiles you can create what is called an aperiodic tiling . See also the Geometry Junkyard and Aperiodic Colored Tilings . I could have sworn that I saw an aperiodic tiling using a single tile shape, but the web sites I've looked at recently say that such a tile has not been found.

Computer Graphics Links

2005-03-12T02:20:00.000-05:00

3D model made from photographs
High Dynamic Range Images
Creating virtual cityscapes. Remember the skyscrapers in The Matrix?
Reflection Mapping
Geometric paper folding Folding is an inadequate word to describe what happens to a sheet of paper in David Huffman's creations.

Blue Sky Studios - Robots

2005-03-12T01:39:00.001-05:00

Robots by Blue Sky Studios was just released. They were the creators of Ice Age and Bunny , which won the Acadamy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1998. Blue Sky Studios also created the digital cockroaches in Joe's Apartment (1996) .

According to IMDb.com they also did special effects for these films:

Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Fight Club (1999)
Jesus' Son (1999)
Lulu on the Bridge (1998)
A Simple Wish (1997)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Titan A.E. (2000)

Piedmont Community College Computer Animation

2005-03-11T16:10:00.000-05:00

Piedmont Community College Computer Animation

More info can be found at http://www.piedmont.cc.nc.us/, too.

Honda Civic Hybrid vs. Toyota Prius

2005-03-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

From MotorTrend.com

... [T]he Hybrid has a strange influence on some people, as evidenced by Road Test Editor Chris Walton: "This car has a mysterious effect on my otherwise pedal-to-the-metal driving style. I find myself trying to (a) improve my mpg, (b) "earn" more battery-bars back by charging off-throttle, (c) be generally gentle and kind on the car--what's happening to me?!"

Read More

Ten Commandments

2005-03-08T02:49:00.000-05:00

There is controversy as to whether the Ten Commandments should be allowed to be posted in schools and government buildings. Those who claim that posting them does not promote a particulare religion are mistaken, in my opinion. Here are the Ten Commandments as taken from Exodus 20:2-17.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

Only three of these commandments have anything to do with modern day law as far as I can see. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt no steal, and thou shalt not bear false witness. Even then bearing false witness is only a crime as it pertains to upholding contracts, courtroom testimony, truth in advertising, etc.

Was Hitler evil?

2005-03-08T02:36:00.000-05:00

I don't believe in evil. I believe Hitler was a human who was following human desires. I believe he deserved to die for his deeds. I hope no one ever commits the crimes he committed ever again. I do not believe there is an absolute right and wrong. Right and wrong are concepts created by humans. Some would like you to think that a certain behaviour is wrong because "God" said it is wrong. If we want the human race to survive, we must cooperate and agree that we will not do certain things to each other. I value my freedom and therefore would like to live among people who respect each other's freedom. This I feel is a good enough basis for making laws. There is no need to rely on laws given by any god.

Do you exist?

2005-03-08T01:41:00.000-05:00

My brother, Bob, asked me, "Is there anything that you are sure exists but that is not material?"

My short answer would be, "no", but instead I replied, "I feel like everything can be put on an existance scale. On one end of the scale, say the left end, are things which I feel pretty sure exist and things on the other end, say the right end, of the scale I'm pretty sure don't exist. This is not an absolute scale. Each thing is placed on the scale relative to other things on the scale. For example my shoes would go to the left of elves and other non-material things would go to the right of elves. So I wouldn't say I'm sure things like ghosts, souls, angels, demons, etc. exist. I'm just less sure they exist."

I forgot to mention to him that I think ideas exist and are not necessarily material, but can ideas exist apart from a mind? Is an idea written on paper still an idea if no one is around to read it? By the way, in my opinion the mind is a physical object made of neurons, synapses, etc.

Not so spoiled milk

2005-03-08T00:29:00.000-05:00

I wanted to eat cereal at work so I poured some milk into an empty water bottle and brought it with me. It stayed in the refrigerator until quitting time. I put the bottle into my backpack and drove home. I tossed my backpack onto my bedroom floor and went to bed (I get off work at midnight). In the morning I remembered that I left the milk in my backpack so I thought the milk would be sour. I opened the bottle and took a whiff. It smelled ok. I cautiously took a sip. It tasted fine. I put the bottle in the fridge and will have some cereal later.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

2005-03-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

For Playstation 2

From Gamespot.com : With its strong story, well-written dialogue, terrific voice cast, impressive graphics, great in-game sound, and extremely entertaining and varied gameplay, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a stupendous thrill ride that shouldn't be missed.

Statistics don't lie, people do.

2005-03-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Someone said to me that you can make statistics say anything. This is true if you lie and change the numbers. For example if you say, "Our company is doing great. Our revenue was 5 billion dollars" and you your expenses were 6 billion dollars then the truth is that you lost 1 billion dollars. The lie wasn't in the statistics it was in the statement "Our company is doing great." If your revenue was 4 billion dollars last year then you had an increase in revenue of 1 billion dolars, but since your expenses were 6 billion dollars you still lost a lot of money.

So the next time someone quotes a statistic ask them for the rest of the story.

Hands on Astrophysics has a very good article about the the proper use of statistics.

Critical Thinking

2005-03-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Innumeracy.com
Skeptic.com
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal
Skeptic's Dictionary
Reason

Download books for free

2005-02-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

Download books for free at The Gutenberg Project . Most of these books are in the public domain. Some are available in several different formats such as PDF, plain text, machine read mp3 files and human read mp3 files. There are books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Joyce, J. M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe and many more.

3.14159265358979323846264338327950

2005-02-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

3.14159265358979323846264338327950
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Beauty of Pi

2005-02-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

Many digits of Pi in a beautiful layout. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter. This ratio has been calculated to be approximately 3.141592653. An engineer designing a large circular building would not need a measurement any more accurate than that, but mathematicians have calculated Pi to billions of digits. Here are the first 10,000 digits of Pi. Yahoo's Pi Links

π (The symbol for Pi, may not display correctly in some browsers)

Juggling at its Best

2005-02-17T04:22:00.000-05:00

Jason Garfield : Check out his videos. He juggles 10 balls, 7 clubs and 10 rings. The Raspyni Brothers , one of the finest juggling duos in the world, have entertaining videos on their site too. The Passing Zone is another fantastic juggling duo. They were the first jugglers to pass 11 clubs. Now 17 and 14 year old Vova and Olga Galchenko juggle 12 clubs with ease. Vova beat Jason Garfield in the 2004 World Juggling Federation Advanced Clubs competition. Jason won the advanced balls competition.

The Infinite Hotel

2005-02-16T01:26:00.000-05:00

Imagine a scenario in which you arrive at a hotel, hot, sweaty and impatient. Your mood is not improved when the clerk tells you that they have no record of your reservation and that the hotel is full. "There is nothing I can do, I'm afraid," he intones officiously.

If you're in an argumentative frame of mind and know some set theory, you might in an equally officious tone inform the clerk that the problem is not that the hotel is full, but rather that it is both full and finite.

You can explain that if the hotel were full but infinite (the above-mentioned Hilbert's Hotel Infinity), there would be something he could do. He could tell the guest in room 1 to move into room 2; the original party in room 2 he could move into room 3, the previous occupant of room 3 he could move into room 4, and so on. In general, the hotel could move the guest in room N into room (N + 1). This action would deprive no party of a room yet would vacate room 1 into which you could now move.

John Allen Paulos retelling David Hilbert's idea

Home is where you hang your @

2005-02-15T16:42:00.000-05:00

Home is where you hang your @ - John Allen Paulos

Nobody Wants Your Film

2005-02-15T00:31:00.000-05:00

Nobody Wants Your Film

Sam Rockwell
Steve Buscemi
Karyn Parsons
Rose Rollins
Peter Stormare
David Proval
Steve Randazzo
Gareth Williams
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Daryl Mitchell
Peter Dinklage

Rubik's Cube Application for Mac OS X

2005-02-14T22:27:00.000-05:00

Rubik's Cube simulation for Mac OS X 10.2 or later. Nicely done by iPinSoft

How to watch the Grammys like a pro

2005-02-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

'Six years ago, I was suddenly promoted from a guy who made weird faces behind a drum set to an eligible Grammy bachelor. "Closing Time," the big hit from my band, Semisonic, was nominated for best rock song. Though it had already faded from the charts, the moment was intoxicating: My family chatted avidly about the show, perhaps envisioning, as I did, a live cutaway shot of me and my two bandmates seated in our fashionable Grammy clothes...' more from The New York Times

Keep the River on Your Right

2005-02-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

In 1955, while a Fulbright scholar, a Manhattan painter named Tobias Schneebaum spent seven months in the Amazon basin with the Harakambut. When he returned to the US, he could no longer paint. What happened? Nearly 45 years later, filmmakers want Tobias, now 78 and suffering from Parkinson's, to return to Peru. He refuses but allows that he will revisit the Asmat in New Guinea where he spent an idyllic time years before. That trip goes well, including a serendipitous meeting with Aipit, an aging native and once Tobias' friend and lover. Tobias then agrees to go to Peru to look for the people whom he joined on a murderous raiding party. The scars of war remain as does fear.

from IMDB

I'm lovin' it

2005-02-13T10:48:00.000-05:00

In Spanish the McDonald's slogan is "me encanta." I put this into an on-line translation program and it translated it to "It enchants me."

41,239 English words

2005-02-12T17:48:00.000-05:00

A list of 41,239 words Electronic dictionaries are fine, but they don't let you browse. I wanted a plain text list of words that I could search for partial words and word endings. I happened upon Kevin's Word List Page.

Another excellent Rubik's Resource

2005-02-12T01:44:00.000-05:00

Another excellent Rubik's Resource . Included are links to solutions pages and on-line virtual cubes.

Take Screen Shots of your DVD on a Mac

2005-02-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

Mac OS X comes with a screen shot program called Grab. Unfortunately the program will not work with Apple's DVD Player. An alternative is to use a different DVD player. An excellent option is VLC . VLC is available for just about every operating system out there. You can use Grab to snap a screen shot while playing a DVD using VLC.

Best Rubik's Cube simulation I've seen.

2005-02-11T23:26:00.000-05:00

This is the best Rubik's Cube simulation I've seen. I escpecially like that it is a completely self-contained Shockwave file, so you can save the file to your hard drive and play with the cube even when you are not on-line. The only thing I don't like about it are the annoying little astronauts. To download the game, right-click on the link above and select "Save target as" or "Download linked file as". To play the game using Quicktime , open Quicktime and click on "File/Open" or "File/Open New Movie". Then navigate to the location where you saved "evilcube2.swf. Click "play" and watch the opening animation. When it gets to the point where the cube is stationary and all the astronauts have appeared, click "pause". At this point you can use your mouse to manipulate the cube. If you solve the cube, you get to see the astronauts bounce all over the place.

How to Solve the Rubik's Cube

2005-02-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

How to solve the Rubik's Cube by Matthew Monroe. Good site. There are minor discrepancies in his illustrations. He also has and excellent more detailed solution page by Denny . Matthew Monroe's solution involves using letter sequences to describe a seqence of moves, such as: F H2 F-1. I prefer Denny's method of symbols which are much more intuitive.

Rubik's Cube made of Legos

2005-02-09T13:13:00.000-05:00

The marriage of two of my favorite toys .

Mac Mini vs. $399 Dell

2005-02-09T01:55:00.000-05:00

Apples and oranges
The new Mac mini is only $499, but the Dell Dimension 2400 is only $399. The Mac mini comes with Firewire. The Dell doesn't. The Mac mini is wireless and bluetooth ready. The Dell is not. The Mac mini comes with 256 MB RAM and 32 MB of Video RAM. The Dell has 256 MB of RAM but 32 to 64 MB of that is shared with the video card. The Mac mini comes with a CD burner. The Dell does not. The Mac mini has a 1 year warranty. The Dell's is 90 days. The Mac mini comes with the same OS as it's high-end computers. The Dell has feature-limited Windows XP Home not Windows XP Pro.

From "The Mac mini: Comparing Apples and Oranges" by Dan Frakes at MacWorld.com

Sex research

2005-02-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

Center for Sex Research quotes Alfred Kinsey "The only unnatural sexual act is that which you cannot perform."

See also

Wal-mart selling iPods?

2005-02-02T14:17:00.000-05:00

4thof6.blogspot.com told me about this story:

Wal-Mart has begun selling Apple's iPod mini in a "limited number of stores," a representative for the discount chain said Monday. "The mini is one of the few Apple products that the discount chain sells, but that may soon change," reports CNET News.com. "The companies are rumored to be working out an agreement for Wal-Mart to begin selling the iPod shuffle, a new music device that Apple unveiled last month... In any case, the addition of Wal-Mart to Apple's list of retail partners would expose many more consumers to the product and likely lift Apple's sales. Up until now, the world's largest retailer has largely stayed out of the market for Apple products, which typically forgo affordability in favor of sleek design."

--from MacMinute

Freefalling

2005-02-02T01:11:00.000-05:00

Alan Magee, a gunner on a B-17 with the 303rd Bomb Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force, was on a mission to St. Nazaire, France in January of 1943, when his bomber was set aflame by enemy fire. He was thrown from the plane before he had a chance to put on his parachute. He fell 20,000 feet and crashed through the skylight of the St. Nazaire train station. His arm was badly injured, but he recovered from that and other injuries. -- from Greenharbor.com which hosts a freefall research page among other things.

Studios sue Pixar, Demand Bad Movie

2005-02-02T00:40:00.000-05:00

"The eight major Hollywood studios have filed suit against CGI animation company Pixar for its consistent record of quality movies. The complaint alleges that with its sixth consecutive profitable and critically acclaimed film in “The Incredibles,” Pixar is overturning a decades-long public relations campaign waged by Hollywood studios to convince the public that it’s impossible to consistently make high quality films." from DatelineHollywood.com

Wikipedia the Encyclopedia that you write

2005-02-02T00:28:00.000-05:00

"A Wiki or wiki (pronounced "wicky") is a website (or other hypertext document collection) that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. "Wiki" also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website." from Wikipedia

The Wikipedia is a wiki encyclopedia. It's unbelievable! Anyone can edit any entry. The site retains previous versions so if someone completely ruins an entry it can be restored to its previous state. Usually visitors and contributors to the site are well-behaved. If you don't believe that you can edit any entry, just try it. They have a page you can use to experiment called the Sandbox

Podcasting

2005-02-02T00:24:00.000-05:00

"Podcasting involves the recording of internet radio or similar internet audio programs. These recordings are then made available for download to portable digital audio device. One can then listen to the podcast internet radio program while you are away from your computer or at a different time than the original program was broadcast." from Wikipedia

iPod makes 2004 great year for Apple

2005-02-01T19:49:00.000-05:00

"2004 Readers’ Choice Awards for the brand with the most global impact—a title held by Google since 2002. ... At Apple’s core is great innovation, beautiful design and an ability to bring warmth and passion to those who may be completely incurious about technical gadgetry but need it nonetheless to survive in today’s world." from BrandChannel.com

1. Apple Computer (maker of iPod and iMac)
2. Google (internet search engine)
3. IKEA (Swedish furniture retailer)
4. Starbucks (coffee shops)
5. Al Jazeera (That's right, the Arab language news network)
6. Mini (The car maker)
7. Coca-Cola (I guess they can't be number one every year)
8. Virgin (British mega brand)
9. Ebay (on-line auction)
10. Nokia (mobile phone maker)