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May 24, 2004
The Key to Music
If you've ever wondered exactly how a "key" is defined in music, this post from Ask.MetaFilter.com does a better job than most music textbooks.
Posted by John at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
A different kind of brain
Chris Hardwick is a young man who has figured out the Rubik's Cube. I mean really figured it out. Like solving it in under 18 seconds (movie). Solving it blindfolded in 18.5 seconds. Solving it one-handed in under 45 seconds.
But it took him nearly 4.5 hours to solve a 20x20x20 cube. (Brief slide show, showing stages of completion. The opening picture, with the scrambled 20x20x20 cube, is pretty intimidating.)
I am convinced that there are templates or forms or grooves in the brain for things like this. Mathematics, for example, requires the ability to create those templates and think about things in new ways. Chess is a game that uses such templates. Some are more easily formed or created than others. Languages, for example, can be acquired easily at an early age when the templates are still under development. After that, it's harder - unless the brain has learned to use different but related templates already. So a person who speaks fluent Spanish in addition to native English will find it much easier to pick up French or Italian than an adult who has no second language. This is the area where the creative genius of people like DaVinci and Einstein resides. It isn't intelligence per se, but more the native ability to manipulate frameworks for thinking about things that lead to new insights.
Chris has that in spades where the manipulation of 3-D objects is concerned.
Posted by John at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2004
KaBoom!!!
Matt's first concert. my best fireworks show, and a good time was had by all. I won't retype the entry, I'll just let you read it here.
Posted by John at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2004
Plenty of blame to go around
Slate isn't a site I go to when I'm looking for serious journalism; although the writers and editors for that publication have their share of insights it's their sense of humor that keeps me coming back.
Imagine my surprise when I read What Went Wrong: The flaw in Seymour Hersh's theory, by Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens takes apart Hersh's op-ed piece on Abu Ghraib that appeared in The New Yorker. Hitchens says what should have been said all along:
...the filthy images from Abu Ghraib are not bad because they look bad, but bad because they are bad. Yet is it as obvious as it seems that only the supporters of the war have any questions to answer here?Hitchens clearly condemns the horrendous behavior by some of our troops in Iraq, but he gets right to the heart of the issue on how such a thing could happen int he first place. The strident anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-violence, anti-pretty-much-everything movement has consequences too, whether their aims are realized or not. And this is a time when our attention needs to focused, and every "i" dotted, every "t" crossed.I ask this because, in the news cycle that preceded the Iraq atrocities, the administration was being arraigned from dawn until dusk for the offense of failing to take timely measures against the Taliban and al-Qaida...
But there is no serious way of having this cake and scarfing it. I remember a debate I had with Michael Moore... Ridiculing the Bush administration's policy, he shouted that it had gone into Afghanistan to get Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar. "Mission NOT accomplished!" he added, to roars of easy applause. I asked myself then, and I repeat the question now: Would the antiwar camp have approved the measures necessary to ensure those goals? If they will the end, will they will the means? Would they taunt that lawyer in Tampa, as they taunt the supporters of regime change, with living a quiet life at home while others die in the field? Isn't the refusal to take out the leaders of al-Qaida a bit of a distraction from the struggle against al-Qaida?
Posted by John at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2004
Got GMail?
With a name like "John Parker", I invariably wind up registered as Jown_w.parker6892342@yahoo.com or something equally kludgy on any popular web service. Not exactly an uncommon name.
I wanted to get a Gmail account from Google, and they're sending out invitations. There's even a site where you can arrange swaps to get an invitation if you have something interesting to trade. I tried late last night with this:
I don't even HAVE that t-shirt, but I saw it on eBay for $7.99 ("Buy it now" price) and the auction is good for five more days. But so far there are no takers, and swap entries are stacking up so fast mine is now on page 20 or so.
People offering their immortal souls for an email address invitation? $30 cash, 128MB flash drives, pictures of ex-girlfriends, mufflers, hot air balloon rides, your name engraved on a piece of rice, the list goes on and on and on and on. The nice guys at gmailswap have sorted a list of some of the more unusual swaps offered that's pretty interesting.
Then I remembered I know somebody at google. [Thumps head. Hard.] A quick email and I got an invite. I am now john.parker*at*gmail.com. That rocks! There are indeed times when it ain't what you know, it's who you know.
Posted by John at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)
Jon Stewart, Ph. D.
Jon Stewart, College of William & Mary ('84), gets an honorary doctorate and gives the commencement address. Funny and insightful. Gotta love this guy.
Lets talk about the real world for a moment... I don’t really know to put this, so I’ll be blunt. We broke it.The entire text of his speech is at the William & Mary site.Please don’t be mad. I know we were supposed to bequeath to the next generation a world better than the one we were handed. So, sorry.
I don’t know if you’ve been following the news lately, but it just kinda got away from us. Somewhere between the gold rush of easy internet profits and an arrogant sense of endless empire, we heard kind of a pinging noise, and uh, then the damn thing just died on us. So I apologize.
But here’s the good news. You fix this thing, you’re the next greatest generation, people. You do this—and I believe you can—you win this war on terror, and Tom Brokaw’s kissing your ass from here to Tikrit, let me tell ya. And even if you don’t, you’re not gonna have much trouble surpassing my generation. If you end up getting your picture taken next to a naked guy pile of enemy prisoners and don’t give the thumbs up you’ve outdid us.
Posted by John at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2004
Q-Drum - rolling water
The Q-Drum. I'm a fan. Very creative and smart solution to a very serious problem.
At Tiburon Baptist Church, we have an event in the fall of each year called the Tiburon Fall Classic, which is basically a day-long cycling event through the Napa Valley, raising money for Africa. (Some pictures here.) In past years, we've done things like funded a veterinary clinic and refurbished water cisterns in numerous villages. 100% of the money raised goes to the African people.
One of the things I learned last year was that the need to carry all their water from rivers or lakes, sometimes miles away, kept the women from work and the children from school. It impacts productivity, incomes and education, and ultimately, their entire quality of life. I was shocked at the magnitude of the impact of something as simple as having readily available water, something we take for granted everywhere we go.
Q-Drum is not the answer, but it's a huge improvement in the short term situation.
Posted by John at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
Right brain care and feeding
Note to self: Art-sync is coolness. And all for you, as a dutiful resident (close enough) of that finest of American cities, San Francisco. The navigational scheme is actually pretty good once you figure it out - but it's not all that intuitive. Start with one of the entries in the "Venue" or "Event" area, then click on one of the highlighted "Locations".
Posted by John at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)
Infinite Cats
You've done that watch yourself in the mirror watching yourself in the mirror thing, right? Maybe you've even done that take a photo of yourself looking at a photo of yourself looking at a photo of yourself thing. But I bet you haven't done it with CATS. That's what the web is for. If you can think of it, we've got it, somewhere around here.
For the record, where we are right now is: Puri watching Alexis watching Jadis watching Bentley watching Zsa watching Brat watching Kaia watching Cleopatra watching Lucky watching Pearl watching Fred watching Foma & Frosya watching Dora watching Percy watching Dante watching Kazoo watching Starbuck watching Jack watching Cinnamon watching Wrigley watching Annie watching Molly watching Torin watching Chloe watching Bebe watching Luna watching Frida watching Sammy watching Spot watching Brad Kitt & Cat Stevens watching Fumphy watching Ugly watching Clyde watching Cat1 watching Pixel watching KC watching Wookie watching Jackie watching Tiger watching Farrusko watching Skinny White Boy watching Peaker watching Brit watching Plien watching Eunheui watching Datsa watching Tasha watching Duma watching "99" watching Snowball watching Hawkeye watching Copper watching Fritz watching Zoot, watching Abby, watching Frankie, watching Poozy, watching Frankie, watching Sammy, watching Frankie.
Posted by John at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2004
News junkies ALERT
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.
What they do is very simple, no commentary, no agenda, no spin. They simply translate what Arab world spokespeople say in the mosques, say in their newspapers, say in government pronouncements, say in their press. There is often wide divergence in what they say abroad and what they say at home, so MEMRI is useful for understanding the mindset.
There's even a convenient filter by country. This, combined with Debka (caveat emptor), gives you a pretty good read on what's unfolding in the middle east.
Posted by John at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
Deja vu
A friend sent me the news clipping on the Sony Vaio and rendering all the error messages as haiku. I think I first saw this in about 2001, but it's still funny, and something I would still like to see:
A file that big?
It might be very useful. But now it is gone.
The Web site you seek cannot be located but endless others exist
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
ABORTED effort:
Close all that you have. You ask way too much.
First snow, then silence.
This thousand dollar screen dies so beautifully.
With searching comes loss and the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.
The Tao that is seen is not the true Tao, until
You bring fresh toner.
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death. No one hears your screams.
Rather than a beep Or a rude error message,
These words: "File not found."
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared. Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
Posted by John at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
We Seek the Grail!
This one is straight out of Indiana Jones, or maybe The DaVinci Code. Or something. A code, etched on a garden ornament in Staffordshire, hundreds of years old, that may point the way to the Holy Grail?
Posted by John at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
Kerry blows it big
With all of presidential hopeful John Kerry's rhetoric about joblessness, and the willingness of Congress to extend tax cuts to big business while ignoring the plight of the unemployed workers, Sen. Maria Cantwell's amendment to provide extended federal unemployment benefits to more than 1 million unemployed workers nationwide failed in the Senate on Tuesday, by ONE VOTE. The only senator to miss the vote? You get one guess.
He was too busy campaigning in Kentucky.
Now aside from the fact that even HAD he voted the bill still would not have had the requisite 2/3 majority needed to pass it, Kerry blew it big time for two reasons:
1. He was outmaneuvered by the Republicans in a big way, getting set up for this issue to be publicized as "his fault". And this is a bill Bush swore to defeat!
2. If you're in the Senate, you ought to vote. Or resign your position like Dole did. No excuses. And again, the high profile as the only absent Senator on this vote makes Kerry look bad.
Posted by John at 06:26 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2004
spam
Comcast is running a little news and information segment on spam on their web site - tools for fighting it, how to report it, etc. It contains this neat little explanation:
"SPAM", in all caps, is a registered trademark that refers to the luncheon meat. Use "spam" when referring to junk email.
Posted by John at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
Mona Lisa Exposed
If you like The Da Vinci Code, you'll like Mona Lisa Exposed. Is La Gioconda really Isabelle of Este, who reigned at Mantua during Leonardo da Vinci's stay, or a mistress of Giuliano di Medici's or even of Leonardo himself? Is she a composite, Leonardo's idealization of all womanhood? One of Da Vinci's young male models in drag? A "finzione," an invention of Leonardo's extraordinary imagination? A self-portrait? Theories abound and speculation ensues. Fun site, guaranteed to teach you something you didn't know about the most famous painting in the world.
Posted by John at 01:45 AM | Comments (0)
Butterfly School
Created by the Missouri Botanical Garden's Butterfly House & Education Center as a companion site for visiting school groups, The Butterfly School offers Species Identification Pages, information on making a butterfly house, a description of metamorphosis, a gallery of beautiful photos, and more. Have you ever been inside a butterfly house at a zoo or an arboretum? I've always thought it would be nice to have several of those "butterfly bushes" (Buddleia davidii), which would work well around here because they also attract hummingbirds, which we have by the hundreds.
But mainly I just wanted to see if I could get that icon to flap its wings.
Posted by John at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)
Yet another damned test.
Other than the part about me being a chick, right on!
 | You Are a Plain Ole Cup of JoeBut don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated. You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys. Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And you're dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear. |
Posted by John at 01:14 AM | Comments (0)
The Conservative Take on Abu Ghraib
Andrew Sullivan does an excellent summation of his conflicted feelings about the war effort in Iraq. It sums up my position pretty accurately as well.
The one anti-war argument that, in retrospect, I did not take seriously enough was a simple one. It was that this war was noble and defensible but that this administration was simply too incompetent and arrogant to carry it out effectively.One dire note, however, that Andrew didn't mention. My mom said today that Bush was going to lose the election over this. And that woman has gypsy blood or some kind of mojo working, let me tell you.
Posted by John at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2004
Does IT Matter? Duh.
Nicholas Carr got a lot of press with his article on the commoditization of information technology, entitled "Does IT Matter?", which he has since turned into a book.
Don Tapscott, president of Toronto-based New Paradigm Learning Corp., systematically dismantles Carr's assumptions and his methodology and, finally, his conclusions, leaving nothing standing. In the process, he does a pretty good job of explaining exactly what constitutes competitive advantage in today's business world, how to create it and sustain it. I like this a lot. I think Carr's misguided analysis actually gave Tapscott a framework to hang his own observations on, and organized his thinking about these issues. The rebuttal exercise yields a cogent and comprehensive roadmap for technology progress in business.
Posted by John at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)
The Worm Within
Just wanted to get that out there, up in front, forewarned is forearmed and all that. This is the story of one man's encounter with a tapeworm. Step right up! Feel your skin crawl! Squirm uncomfortably in your chair as you read! It's very well written, so you get to "live" the experience. It just boweled me over.
Posted by John at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2004
My job has been outsourced!
Every time I have to fill out an application online, or a registration, or a survey, and they have one of the those little boxes with the drop-down answers, I always answer the question "How did you hear about us?" by clicking "Internet ad". I like to keep perpetuating the myth, which has brought so many excellent free services to the world of the web. But now, there's not much point, it looks like even that is being outsourced to India.
Posted by John at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Vietnam vet zings Kerry
A Vietnam vet, John O'Neill, who opposed Kerry 35 years ago, resurfaces in the Op-Ed pages of today's Wall Street journal. His qualifying credentials to raise these criticisms are impressive - he commanded the same PT boat that Kerry did, taking over command "after he requested early departure".
"I still believe what I believed 33 years ago--that John Kerry slandered America's military by inventing or repeating grossly exaggerated claims of atrocities and war crimes in order to advance his own political career as an antiwar activist."
"...always there has been a calculated coolness to the way he has sought to destroy the record of our honorable service in the interest of promoting his political ambitions of the moment."
Sounds pretty damaging, until you dig a little deeper. I'm pretty sure the Bush camp did not encourage this guy to go public. Turns out that O'Neill has long-standing ties to the GOP establishment, and O'Neill's own p.r. adviser has described O'Neill as sounding like "a crazed extremist". O'Neill is associated with the newly formed group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," which held a press conference on May 4 that was promoted by the Media Research Center's Cybercast News Service and highlighted by The Drudge Report on May 3.
Posted by John at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!
Often mistakenly assumed to be Mexican Independence Day (Diez y Seis de Septiembre -- Sept. 16 -- the day in 1810 when Mexico declared its independence from Spain), Cinco de Mayo is instead yet another celebration of the defeat of the French in battle. Which you could pretty much do 365 days a year. ¡Una más cerveza, por favor!
Posted by John at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2004
Yeti Sports Part IV: Albatross Overload
Yes, it's another penguin game featuring our friend the Yeti. This time we're lobbing the hapless birds in the air to be picked up by passing albatrosses (albatri? albatrossim?). One click tosses the penguin, and every subsequent click flaps the wings of the laden bird. But you only have so many flaps allotted, and you're going for distance. Try it here on the original site, or here on an even faster server.
Some birds are faster than others, and the winds are bad up high. Flying close to the sand gets you the best distance. Beat that score!
Posted by John at 02:21 PM | Comments (1)
