Adventures in My Mind
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Feb 26, 2004
Wired News: Nearby Star Births Baby Planets
"A young red dwarf just 33 light-years away from Earth gives astronomers a peek at how our own solar system might have formed."
Great news for cosmologists, planetary geologists and astronomers of every stripe. We have precious few examples of the creation of solar systems. We have precious few examples of the creation of solar systems and planets. This find could help firm up what has been, up till now, theory.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 5:06 PM
Feb 25, 2004
"So shines a good deed in a weary world." --Willy Wonka
Thank you, James.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:44 AM
Feb 24, 2004
Wired 12.03: The Complete Guide to Googlemania!
There is a new fever catching in the conference rooms of Silicon Valley, on the workstations of day traders, and even in the run of the mill company funded 401K. It's a strain that hasn't been seen for nearly 4 years. Millions were infected and the cost to society ran into the trillions of dollars. Its IPO fever. It's spreading. And it's all Google's fault.
As Google's IPO draws nearer, Wired has put together this great report on just about everything about Google.
My advice? Read the story. Save your money. Google is an impressive company with impressive technologies, but it won't be able to sustain the $400 per share price that will be generated by its IPO. Once the price drops to a manageble $25 to $40 per share, buy and hold for the long haul. Don't contribute to a new bubble that'll burst just like the last one.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 1:31 PM
Feb 20, 2004
Wired News: Outsourcing: Danger to Privacy
It's about time someone thought of this HUGE potential problem. Call centers are being outsourced to countries like India, China, Malaysia, Romania, and many other countries of even less repute. It is obviously very easy for unscrupulous employees to sell sensitive information to any one of the thousands of cyber thieves that populate such countries where regulations are few and far between.
This information should be safeguarded at all cost. Precautions should be taken and reviewed by government panels to ensure that profit-hungry Corporate America is as careful as it can be with our private information. Free trade has already cost many Americans their jobs. We should not be robbed by identity thieves as well
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 5:51 PM
Feb 13, 2004
Gridlock in marriage debate
I watched C-SPAN with rapt attention last night as the Massachusetts legislature partook in a Constitutional Convention over the issue of gay marriage. For the hour or so that I watched, before a 9:00 p.m. adjournment, I was treated to some very eloquent speeches by both sides.
There was a stark contrast, however, in where the speeches were coming from. Opponents of gay marriage, who are seeking a constitutional amendment barring homosexuals from marriage spoke very eloquently of how the convention was an historic moment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a moment for the people to be heard, a moment where the true voice of the people would take its place in the realms of representational government. One state senator noted that voters "more often than not, do the right thing." The right thing, of course, being a ban on gay marriage through the necessary public referendum to amend the Massachusetts Constitution. Interestingly, none of the speakers opposed to gay marriage said that they personally had any views on the matter. They all seemed to think that they were being staunch supporters of their constituencies.
This tact was obviously taken to remove themselves from the bigoted and prejudicial stance that were taking. If the Will of the People is the true dissenter, then representative Jane Doe or state senator John Smith cannot be labeled as a discrimator and a bigot when (s)he runs for higher office. I can hear it now ... "I wouldn't have voted to limit the rights of our citizenry, but the will of people wanted to be heard. I respect homosexual rights, but those I represent do not. They think that gays shouldn't marry. They think that gays should be barred from basic rights provided to heterosexuals. They think that gays should continue their existence as second-class citizens. Not me."
I wonder if that level of political altruism will exist the next time a vote on an historic healthcare bill is pending and the insurance companies come calling with contributions for the next campaign? Yeah, I wonder.
Those who opposed the convention and therefore opposed any attempts to put limitations on individual liberties into the commonwealth's charter of government spoke much more personally. One representative spoke of her own fears of how her partner of 30 years faces the threat of losing her home if she were to die. She spoke of domestic partners not having access to healthcare because of their inability to marry those they love. She spoke of loved ones not being able to visit each other if one is hospitalized.
She also spoke very eloquently of the changing face of marriage and how our society has come upon a moment of historic change. She spoke of how prearranged marriages, marriages between children, and marriages forbidden because of class, race or color barriers were once the norm. Our natural, cultural evolution has made such concepts obsolete.
The point which struck home for me, however, was when she said, "Think long and hard. Search your soul before you consider adding a limitation to individual rights to the our constitution." She also spoke of the "tyranny of the majority" and how the U.S. Constitution is a shield against such discrimination.
This is a major point!
Traditionally, constitutions are enumerators of rights. The place where the rights of the individual are spelled out, and what's more, guaranteed. In fact, the only limitations of most constitutions are the limitations placed on the governments ability to infringe upon the rights of the people. The American Heritage Dictionary defines constitution as "The system of fundamental laws and principles that prescribes the nature, functions, and limits of a government or another institution." There is no mention of a limitation on the rights of the people. A constitutional amendment barring homosexuals from marriage turns that truth upon its head.
The supporters of one of the various amendments banning gay marriage comfortably stated that a majority of voters wanted the same thing. A majority of voters were also once opposed to black citizenship and female suffrage. This is another situation were the will of the people is just plain wrong. It is time for Massachusetts legislators, and their federal counterparts enamored with the Bush administration threat of a constitutional amendment, to recognize that protecting basic rights and the fundamental core of our democratic republic is more important than bigoted political, moral, and religious views.
Homosexuals deserve no less than the rest of us. And they certainly don't deserve more either, the more in this case being a constitutional amendment denying them personal freedoms taken for granted by the majority.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 6:35 PM
Feb 12, 2004
Drum Machine
OK, this is just way cool! Sort of like the Kodo drummers meets techno with a serious Sam Neil - Event Horizon gravity engine thing happening.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 1:49 PM
Feb 11, 2004
Yahoo! News - Comcast Proposes to Buy Walt Disney Co.
In these days of media conglomeration, this would be the biggest and one of the least beneficial to the public interest. Allowing Comcast to make this deal would certainly be a violation of the 1948 Paramount decree, a Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal for one company to own all channels of film production: production, distribution, and exhibition.
The ruling also stated that Hollywood was an oligopoly that colluded to restrict fair competition. One can certainly say that modern times are as bad as, if not worse than then. Today, there are even fewer companies that own many more aspects of the business. From newspapers to publishers to radio stations to TV stations to TV networks to film studios to cable companies to record companies to concerts venues, nearly all the media we consume is controlled by a very small cadre of companies: Viacom, Time Warner, General Electric, News Corp, and Disney. A Comcast takeover of Disney would consolidate even more power in this top tier.
The combined companies would own Walt Disney Studios and theme parks, ABC TV, ESPN, and 21 million cable subscribers. It's the access to nearly half of all U.S. cable subscribers the most troublesome aspect of this deal. Do we honestly think that Comcast would stay as unbiased toward content as it should be with the ownership of Disney's huge media library?
As yet, Disney is not entertaining the idea, but that'll surely change when shareholders get a sniff of the money they'll rake in.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 8:41 AM
Feb 5, 2004
Carb Chaos
Adrienne Mand writes about the trials and tribulations of giving up carbs, with a mention of AtkinsDietSucks.com, a funny site created by Web maven Jim Kukral. Get an inside look at Jim's own battle of the bulge at HelpJimGetSlim.com.
Ever been on the Atkins diet? Did you love it or did you hate it? Well, I was on it a few years agao, and I both loved it and hated it. I loved it, because in two months I lost nearly 25 lbs.
I hated it, because I craved bread so badly that I could've knocked down a little old lady and a line smiling daycare kiddies to lick the crumbs out of the bottom of a basket of Cheddar Bay bisquits from Red Lobster. Sure the bacon was great. So was the fact that all of my clothes fit again. But driving past a McDonald's was a test of will that made Quay Chang Kane's lifting of that red hot anvil look like child's play. In fact, I would've gladly suffered the branding of a dragon on one forearm and a tiger on the other for just a few of their hot, golden, delicious french fries.
Eventually, I gave it up and the weight came flooding back.
Que sera, sera.
I'm not worried. I'll lose the weight. As with all things, it's a matter of balance. Maintain a proper balance and nothing is beyond your control. Proper nutrition. Proper exercise. Proper work committments, etc. My life, however, is completely out of balance right now. When the ship is righted all will fall into place. Harmony will be restored and so will my 34 inch waist. And I won't have to give up those hypnotic red cartons with golden arches and the hot, crispy treasure found therein. I'll just have to get a smaller one.
Good luck, James!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:23 PM
Feb 4, 2004
Most people use 2 word phrases in search engines.
The 7 most used word phrases in search engines on the web are:
1. 2 word phrases 32.58%
2. 3 word phrase 25.61%
3. 1 word phrases 19.02%
4. 4 word phrases 12.83%
5. 5 word phrases 5.64%
6. 6 word phrases 2.32%
7. 7 word phrases 0.98%
No reason is given for this uptick in words used/search, but a good hypothesis would be that users are approaching a level of sophistication in using search engines that allows them to be much more specific in the words and terms they use for their searches.
It seems that the common understanding of Web mechanisms, operators, and functionality is finally increasing. This is good news for Web designers and marketers given that not long ago a sizeable number of Web users put URLs into search engines in an effort to go to their desired site.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 12:44 PM
