The Singular Mind

There's a new kid in town

2008-01-27T17:28:00.000-06:00

Well, I am setting up shop a bit down the road. I am opening up a new blog, in coordination with a few other guys. This blog will be posted on much less, if any, and the newer blog should be much better organized and have much more regular content, both because I'll probably write more and because we'll have 4 people + guests writing for it. There's not much content up right now (only an introduction and explanation about what we're about), but there should be soon, so go set your bookmarks or subscribe to the feed or whatever it is you do. Trust me, you won't want to miss this.

Hobson's Buffet

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2008-01-21T15:39:00.000-06:00

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as I’m sure most people know. While it’s seen by many as a day to honor the legacy of this great civil rights proponent, some feel otherwise. In a statement to the Dallas Morning News (as covered by United Press International), the Rev. Peter Johnson, who marched with MLK Jr. and now operates the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Texas, said that he feels the date to honor him should not be his birthday, but the day he was assassinated, and even more, says the fact that it is his birthday is an insult to his legacy. He said, “We have ignored the essence of his life and the horror of his death. We’ve allowed white AmericaAmerica to drift back into a coma.” to escape the guilt of his assassination and we've allowed black

This statement to me is offensive and seems to run counter to the very values MLK Jr. wanted to spread. “Allowed white America to escape the guilt of his assassination”? I apologize if this seems insensitive, but I will not feel guilty for an action taken by a small group of people just because I happen to share their skin color. In this statement, Johnson is guilty of the very thing MLK Jr. fought against: judging someone based on the color of their skin. Being born white, or any other color, should not carry some inherent guilt. In this one circumstance, for example, I was not born when MLK Jr. was alive or was assassinated; as far as I know, none of my ancestors or relatives had anything to do with it; there is no blatant racism within the past several generations of my family, which is all I know about in relation to their views on that subject. No matter what atrocities have been carried out by members of my race or in the name of “white supremacy,” I will not feel guilty because I was accidentally born white.

In the same manner, another article I recently read on the UK Times Online described a surge of anger from a large number of Oprah fans directed towards her for endorsing Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. The article cites a comment made on her site by a “fan”: “[I] cannot believe that women all over this country are not up in arms over Oprah’s backing of Obama. For the first time in history we actually have a shot at putting a woman in the White House and Oprah backs the black MAN. She’s choosing her race over her gender.”

I’m sorry, but when did the race to decide our next president become about race OR gender? As far as I know, the idea was to decide who you thought could best lead the country, and then vote accordingly, not decide which historic first will occur, the first female president or the first black president. In all this discussion over those two possibilities, people tend to miss the point that the presidential race should be about the issues and the candidates’ stance on them, not their race or gender or looks or even really their personality, although that obviously plays into it.

Another issue brought up by the article is radical feminism, or maybe it would be better termed “anti-maleism.” One of the comments for the article said something like the woman who posted it thought that this country has been run by men long enough, and it was time for it to be led by a woman. Once again, this is an example of reverse-sexism. Just as I harbor no guilt over being born white, I will not feel guilty for being born male. Not all men are chauvinists, and not all men think that the country should be only “run” by males. Especially as Christians, I think we are called to look beyond race or gender for virtually everything like that (I will leave religious services and the like out of the discussion for now).

In conclusion, as a white male, I want to say that being white or male is not evil. Not only are both characteristics something I had no control over at all, but saying I am responsible for the actions of others just because I share their color or gender is tantamount to the same racism/sexism those who would say I am guilty by accident of birth accuse me of committing. I will not apologize for my genes, and I will not try to fix the actions of those of my race or gender who came before me for some kind of penance. What I am willing to do is to stand with other like-minded people and repair the damages cause by those actions, not because of guilt or because I am bullied into doing so by the “victims,” but because it is the right thing to do. I don’t think that the way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. is to attack someone for being white, but to embrace the fact that, whatever color, gender or religion we are, we are all humans sharing this planet and deserving of respect.

-edit-
I found this [CNN readers respond angrily to "race or gender" story] a while after my original post, but it shows that some people feel the way I do. I'm glad that a good portion of America is not as stupid as we're made out to be.
-30-

Gears and Gadgets

2007-11-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

The British Army tested a new tank last week that's straight out of a James Bond film (specifically, Die Another Day): it goes invisible.

The tank uses the same technology that Bond's Aston Martin V12 Vanquish utilizes. It has cameras set up on it, and takes the images they capture of its surroundings and projects them onto the tank, effectively camouflaging it. People who were at the tests said that they were amazed at how good it was. The British military is also working on a jacket that will do the same thing. The tank should be operational by 2012, according to their plan.

Something else that was developed recently, but this time by a guy in Florida, is a bracelet that shoots pepper spray, inspired by Spider-man.

You wear the bracelet around your wrist, obviously, and there is a button that rests in your palm for easy access, which means that if you get attacked, you can easily trigger the spray to shoot in the direction of your attacker. The man who invented it said he thought it up after one of friends was attacked. The bracelet, along with replacement cartridges of pepper spray, will be available latter this year for around $30.

Ashes to ashes and such

2007-10-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

Going along with my last post on famous corpses, here's another dismal topic to discuss: funerals.

Apparently there is a new trend that is going around for "green funerals." There is no embalming, and bodies are buried in plain wooden boxes so that they decompose as quickly as possible. There are even about six cemeteries that are specifically "green-only," known as "eco-cemeteries," two of which are in Maine.

Not only is this type of burial friendly to the environment, but it costs a lot less than a traditional burial. From a story in the Portland Post Herald, funerals that use the embalming process and other modern techniques can cost around $10,000, while a green burial can cost around $1,000 to $2,000 or less. The cremation they for one woman's mother they used as an example cost $350.

Some people disagree with "green funerals," citing health concerns that the embalming process takes care of, and saying that some people would prefer their loved ones to be preserved as long as possible. Another practical reason is that in some places the ground freezes in the winter, making it hard to dig graves, and as such the bodies are embalmed and stored to be buried when the ground thaws.

So the question is, how would you like your body to be treated when you kick the bucket? I've never really had a problem with whatever happened to my body, be it burial or cremation, or even being sunk to the bottom of the sea or eaten by wild animals. My view is, I don't need it anymore, so who cares? But I know some people will differ. For example, my mom can't bear the thought of being cremated. As far as funerals go, I like the idea of a New Orleans jazz funeral. But like I said, it won't matter to me. I guess when it comes down to it, if I had to chose something for whatever relatives I had still living to do with my body, I would say do whatever's cheapest. Don't bother with the expensive caskets and other junk; chuck my body in the ground in a plastic bag. Sure, some of the funeral proceedings are for the benefit of those still living, but don't overdo it.

So how about you? What do you want done, and why? Leave an answer in the comments. I'm interested to hear what people say.

Dead men sometimes do tell tales

2007-10-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

-This was originally written for the opinion section of the Bison, Harding University's student-run newspaper. It was published in the Oct. 26, 2007, issue.-

I subscribe to an interesting magazine called Mental_Floss, and this month they had a feature called the “Golden Lobe Awards,” a series of awards in honor of brains. There are categories such as “Most Obnoxious Prisoner” (Julius Caesar) and the “Craziest Rumor that Turned Out To Be True” (the duckbilled platypus). However, one award specifically caught my eye: the “Most Desirable Corpse.”

This dubious honor went to Abraham Lincoln, whose body was moved to a new location 17 times. Apparently the mausoleum he was placed in started falling apart, which made his family move him around while it was repaired. There were also multiple plots to steal his body (none of which were successful).

After reading about that, my mind started wandering to other famous corpses that have some sort of story behind them. In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I would share a few of those.

Frederick I Barbarossa – Frederick was the Holy Roman Emperor during part of the late 12th century. On his return from a campaign in 1190, he jumped into the Saleph River in full plate armor. While the water was only hip deep, some speculate that his age (he was 64 at the time) and maybe a heart attack, combined with the weight of the armor, caused him to drown. Then comes the strange part. In order to take his body back to Jerusalem to be buried, Barbarossa was basically pickled in a barrel full of vinegar. This didn’t really work, however, and his skin was placed in Antioch, his bones in Tyre and his organs in Tarsus.

Ted Williams – While famous for his outstanding career in baseball, Williams is also sometimes known for something a bit more unique. After his death on July 5, 2002, Ted Williams head was removed from his body and placed in cryonic suspension. Cryonics is based on the idea that humans in the future will be much more advanced than we are now, and as such, able to cure diseases and revive the dead, in whatever form that takes. Some people opt to have their bodies or, as in Williams’ case, just their heads frozen in hopes of waking up sometime in the future to jet packs and robots. Not many famous people have been cryogenically frozen. Although there have been rumors that Robert Heinlein, a prolific science fiction writer from the 20th century, and Walt Disney were, these are not true. They were both cremated, and Disney’s ashes are resting in a cemetery in Los Angeles, while Heinlein’s were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Vladimir Lenin – Of course, you can’t have a discussion of interesting corpses without mentioning Lenin. Lenin died at the age of 53 on Jan. 21, 1924. His official cause of death was listed as a fourth stroke, but many theories based on documents found after the fall of the U.S.S.R. claim that he had syphilis. Regardless, after his death, his body was embalmed and placed on display for mourners to view. By mid-March, more than 100,000 people had already visited, and there were more than 10 million visitors between 1924 and 1972. Every year, Lenin’s corpse is re-embalmed to keep it looking as fresh as the day he died.

All these weird corpses make me think of how I will want to be treated after I die. Maybe my body should be preserved, covered in concrete and placed as a statue in some garden. Or maybe I’ll just donate my corpse to Body Worlds, the controversial exhibit that displays real bodies preserved through the use of plastics with skin pulled back and organs exposed. And there’s the ever-popular cremation, with oh-so-many different things to do with your ashes, like be turned into diamonds, a painting or a lot of pencils. Well, whatever happens, I guess it won’t really bother me. Dead people don’t say much.

Time to ruin a book series for virtually everyone I know ...

2007-10-20T01:38:00.000-05:00

So, it is official. J. K. Rowling revealed that in the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore is, in fact, gay.

On a book tour, a kid asked her if Dumbledore ever found "true love," according to the AP story, and she replied that he was gay. He had been in love with the wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who became evil and Dumbledore was forced to battle and defeat.

Apparently, there was a reference in the script of the sixth movie about a girl that Dumbledore had liked in the past, and she told the director to take it out. The article goes on to say that fans pointed out "that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past."

Well, I agree with Rowling: this just gives conservative Christian groups one more reason to dislike the books. While I enjoyed the books, I'm very disappointed in this, and that I heard about it. I guess I'll spread that disappointment to anyone who happens to read this.

Former Pakistani PM attacked in Karachi, more than 100 dead

2007-10-19T00:34:00.000-05:00

Late on Thursday, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was attacked with bombs as she was coming back to Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, after eight years of exile.

She was inside her bullet-proof bus and was not hurt, but recent counts have put the casualties up to 126 killed and between 250 and 300 wounded. Two bombs - a grenade, then a suicide bomb - exploded near Bhutto's vehicle as it was traveling through streets lined with thousands of people celebrating her return.

This is still a developing story, so check news outlets for updated coverage (The Drudge Report's been keeping up to date with it).

Sky News' article.
BBC News' article.
AP Article.

Another Case of Finger Pointing and Blame Shifting

2007-10-16T19:29:00.000-05:00

An article put out by the BBC states that a recent study of obesity, the largest ever in the UK, has shown that obesity is a rampant problem, costing billions of pounds in treatment and benefits or indirect costs. They say the problem is getting worse every year and than by 2050, the majority of people, at least in the UK, will be obese. I imagine that state will become reality even sooner in the U.S. All this I agree with.

What I don't agree with is how the article goes on to say that obesity is no longer the fault of the individual, but of society. They say due to "energy-dense, cheap foods, labour-saving devices, motorised transport and sedentary work," people can not help but to gain weight, and that "the notion of obesity simply being a product of personal over-indulgence [has been] abandoned for good." [Editor's note: sorry for the British spellings. They're quotes.]

While I agree that Western society in general is not very conducive to a healthy lifestyle, the stance taken by the article really pushes my buttons. It is yet another example of modern culture's tendency to shift responsibility off the individual and onto something else, be it other people, genes or society as a whole as seen here. Without doing a ton, people can stay healthy if they choose to. Yes, there are certain diseases and conditions that do make it hard or impossible to not gain weight, but the vast majority of people are not afflicted with anything like that. With a little exercise and being conscious about what you eat, you may not look amazing but you won't be obese, either.

I wish that people would learn to just take responsibility for their situations. I'm not talking about just in matters of obesity or health either. All these frivolous lawsuits are examples of this same attitude, that when something happens it is not my fault, it's the fault of whoever made the product for not idiot-proofing it. The attitude that says the fault lies with anyone but you combined with greed is very repelling to me. Thankfully, there has been litigation within the past few years limiting the amount of damages juries are allowed to award, but these lawsuits continue to happen and will keep happening until society as a whole becomes a whole lot smarter, which I don't anticipate happening.

I don't know; maybe all this is just my natural tendency to get incredibly annoyed at stupidity, but I do think this is a problem that doesn't have a conclusive end in sight.

Book Review: "The Way of the Christian Samurai"

2007-10-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

--This review was originally written for the Blogger News Network. The post can be viewed here. Also, for those members of the Harding community, look for this review in the Features section of an upcoming issue of the Bison.--

In a culture becoming more and more obsessed with Eastern mindsets and practices, samurai have achieved a special place in many Western minds after being portrayed in films, books and television shows. But while many people enjoying the romanticized view of these “servant warriors,” few really understand the principles that truly lay behind the actions and discipline of the samurai.

In his new book, “The Way of the Christian Samurai: Reflections for Servant Warriors of Christ,” Paul Nowak seeks to expound upon societies knowledge and interest in samurai to help explain what principles the samurai truly lived by, and in doing so, show how Christians can, even in their ordinary lives, become warriors for God in a way many seldom even think about.

By examining the writings of several of the more prominent samurai and comparing it to scripture, Nowak draws out several principles that samurai held at the forefront of their daily lives and shows how many of the same teachings can be found in the Bible. The book is split into three segments: Service, Self-Sacrifice and the Pursuit of Perfection and Resolve. Each section takes portions of writings from samurai and expounds upon them, and then shows how the principles contained in each relate to a Christian’s daily walk with God.

“I divided the book into three sections for the three aspects of Service, Self-Sacrifice and Resolve as I found that the citations from the samurai writings fell into one of those three categories in relation to similar themes in Christian teachings,” Nowak said.

While many aspects of Bushido, which means “way of the warrior” and was what the samurai followed, can be taken as helpful advice on how to live as a Christian, Nowak is quick to point out in the book that one should not equate Christianity with Bushido, or assume that every teaching that samurai followed lines up with what Christian’s believe.

“It is very important to remember that the way of the samurai … is not a substitute or an equivalent of the Christian Way found through the teaching, example, and life of Jesus Christ,” Nowak said in the book. “However, there are many common teachings, and the Eastern insight can be a refreshing and enlightening look at the Christian faith as we know it.”

Nowak takes these common teachings and develops them through quotations of both samurai writings and Christian scripture. In the “Service” section, he emphasizes the samurai’s role as a retainer, or servant, who put his master above himself in everything he did. He makes the point that even a samurai who was not especially talented could be an outstanding retainer by simply living for his master, and then reinforces this concept and relates it to Christianity by quoting, among other passages, many of Jesus’ teachings on servitude, like his numerous parables that deal with this issue.

In the segment on “Self-Sacrifice,” by quoting the many New Testament passages that encourage a Christian to deny themselves in order to follow Christ, Nowak shows that a servant’s life should not be his own, but should be focused on his master. He then connects it to Bushido by relating a series of stories of samurai who decided that their lives were not their own, and as such were able to do many amazing things in service to their masters. By considering themselves already dead, they were able to proceed without fear in order to better serve.

Nowak discusses “Resolve” in his final section on the principles of the samurai, and compares the single-minded servitude of the samurai to the ideal way of service a Christian should strive for. Many troubles and challenges can be overcome by simply resolving beforehand that whatever comes your way, you will simply take it one step at a time, as it comes.

In this book, Nowak takes a long-mysterious, romanticized group and relates them to contemporary Christians. By looking at the principles of samurai, he says that we can live our lives in a manner to greater serve Christ and be an example in the world.

“The strongest lesson from the way of the samurai regarding evangelism is the importance of example,” Nowak said. “There are several passages in which the samurai are reminded that how they treat others or act in public will reflect on their master - a lesson we Christians must always be mindful of as the world watches how we serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.

“I was struck by the insight into everyday life that these warriors had expressed, and in particular the similarities of some teachings to Biblical truths [when] I was first introduced to Bushido. The book has something for anyone who is looking for a fresh or different presentation of the Christian ideals with which we are already familiar.”

ISBN # - 0-9772234-6-9

The book’s website: http://www.christian-samurai.com/

Buy "The Way of the Christian Samurai" at Amazon.com.

Also available at other bookstores.

An Inconvenient Pandering to Public Ignorance

2007-10-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

-Editor's note: First of all, let me apologize for the title of this post. It's just to easy to make these sort of puns, and just too hard to resist, even though it is way overplayed.-

While I was disgusted when I heard that Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize for his activist works to "combat" global warming, I will say that it has caused a reaction that is very encouraging.

Without arguing whether Gore's work should have merited the Peace Prize (assuming it was all correct and true), it is and has been very clear that his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is littered with inaccuracies and errors throughout, as well as strong political messages. On Oct. 10, a judge in Britain refused to ban the movie from schools, but ruled that a sheet must be distributed before every screening explaining the inaccuracies and that it is a "political work and promotes only one side of the argument." Now, some scientists are being more vocal in their dissent and warning that Gore is just being alarmist.

There have been arguments against a man-caused global warming since the idea first began being put forth in a mainstream manner, but because of the amount of sensationalism many scientists will not speak out about the flaws in this theory for fears of not getting grants. Hopefully this will galvanize a greater response to the issue from other dissenting scientists.

On a side note, I find it laughable that Gore is the champion of the fight against global warming. I'm sure you all remember earlier this year when Gore's electricity bill leaked onto the net. Apparently he believes that it's OK to use as much greenhouse gases as you want, as long as you balance it out with money and activism. Now, in order to help Gore put his actions where his mouth is (quite literally), instead of just money, PETA has challenged him to go vegetarian. Raise your hand if you think this is just one more thing Gore will not do. I bet that instead (if he even pays any attention to this at all), he'll sponsor a lab trying to grow synthetic meat or something.

Goin' Rogue with Funkmaster B

2007-09-13T06:37:00.000-05:00

Suffice it to say, I've had an interesting week. Seven days ago last night, I was updating this blog and then leaving for the Bison office to work on the first issue, which ended up taking until 3:30 a.m. Well, that has come and gone, with its own set of problems and triumphs, and I write to you now a veteran of yet another Bison work night. Only this time, this was no measly seven-hour-or-so job. This took all night, and I just got in. I will be going back in in a little while as well, probably during chapel.

Due to a couple things, we ended up having to restructure and rewrite a decent-sized portion of the Bison this week. One of the things was Coach Randy Tribble resigning due to "personal reasons." I know what those were, but I am not allowed to say, because I technically shouldn't know (but we at the Bison know everything; remember that). The long and short of that situation is, multiple stories that were either about him or had numerous quotes from him had to be reformatted or completely scrapped, and all of a sudden we had a new piece of news and only a day to get the information and write a story on it. That, combined with some other complications made last night very hectic indeed. But I think that this issue of the Bison will be the better for it. It looks pretty good so far, and I think it will be a good issue for us.

So while I am dead tired, I'm also feeling pretty good. One of the reasons is of course that we got a lot of work done and our progress shows, but another, probably larger reason is that I just got back from eating at Bobby's. I love that place. Two eggs over-easy, four pieces of crispy bacon, two pieces of crunchy toast, a frosty glass of milk and a hot cup of coffee later, I barely felt tired at all. And all that for less than $5. I had virtually the same meal, but in lesser quantities and without the coffee, at IHOP the other night and it cost almost $8. Plus, Bobby's tastes better too.

I should be able to make it through the day. I don't have anything to do but finish up at the Bison and go to classes, one of which we are having a test in, which means I'll get out early. I plan on going to bed way early tonight, and it will be wonderful. I should also find out today whether I have been hired as one of the student bloggers. I think I will be, because not only am I well-qualified for exactly that type of thing, it turns out that the person who is in charge of those and interviewed me used to be the student publications advisor before Jeremy Beauchamp came along, so we ended up just sitting back and talking about working on the Bison and how it's going, the concert from a few nights back and what sort of music we liked and other general things in the middle of the interview.

I have three hours until class (chapel is fairly obviously excused for us). I always hate this part, the wiling away of the hours with nothing to do. I'll probably take a shower to wake up in a bit and play some video games or watch a movie. Just got to make it past dinner, then I will pass out.

So...this thing called life

2007-09-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated this. I think part of it is the format I set up for myself in this blog. Summarizing news articles that other people have written is not my style. I write my own news, and as I'm not in a position to do that in a way that would interest anyone who reads this, I got lackadaisical, and it wasn't even enjoyable for me anymore. So I think I'll change it up a bit and maybe start writing more. I'll start writing more about my life, but hopefully more thoughts and musings than just an outline of my day-to-day activities. That said, I'm going to give a quick overview of what's going on in my life at the moment so those who don't see me all the time know where I'm coming from in future writings.

I've been incredibly busy these first couple of weeks this semester, and it's been wonderful. A run-down of all the major things I'm involved in:

- I'm the Copy Editor for my school's newspaper, the Bison. I read every story we run and edit for style, grammar and accuracy. I'm the one in charge of taking out all the typos. The first issue come out Friday, which means I'll probably be working a lot tomorrow (Thursday) to get everything ready. I'm really enjoying it, plus it IS a job, so at the end of each semester I'll get a pretty good check. I also write on average as story a week for the paper.

- I'm a member of the Campus Activities Board. I go to meetings and set things up and sell tickets and get into things free. I will be working the Mat Kearney concert tomorrow, so that's going to take a lot of time as well. I shall be busy tomorrow.

- I'm on the Honors Council. We have a meeting every week, and plan, organize and set up all the Honors activities. Right now I'm working on planning the camping trip, which will probably be sometime in October.

- I go to the 9:09 Devo every Tuesday night. This is my favorite time of the week. I really enjoy spending time with everyone, and this year's already starting off well with a lot of people coming each week, and many of them are new freshmen, which is good. I also attend a Wednesday night Bible study at the Garner's house each week.

- Oh, and I also have these other things; I think they're called classes, whatever they're about.

So if you haven't surmised already, I'm pretty busy. And will probably just get busier. But it's all by choice, and I'm enjoying it.

Hm, well. As I typed this, I got a call from the editor-in-chief saying we're working tonight, so I guess I'm heading off.

Book Review: "Immortality and Intelligence" by Goh Heng Thean

2007-06-03T19:20:00.000-05:00

--This review was originally written for the Blogger News Network. The post can be viewed here.--

Will humans eventually live forever? Can we overcome the limitations of the body to create the next step in our own evolution? What will that evolution look like?

These are the types of questions Goh Heng Thean attempts to answer in “Immortality and Intelligence.” Looking at past trends throughout history and what human potential might hold, Thean tries to predict what “immortality” will look like in the future if human civilization continues on the same path of technological advancement.

As stated in the title, Thean’s main points focus on human intelligence and what can be achieved with it. As science and technology advances, so does man’s ability to take whatever fantasy he may imagine and turn it into reality. Genetic engineering, the elimination of disease and mechanical enhancements to our biological systems are just a few of the advances in technology that are prolonging life and making humans faster, stronger and smarter. Every species is subject to evolution in some form or another; will it one day be possible, with enough advancement, to control our own evolution and overcome death itself?

Thean echoes futurists like Ray Kurzweil by predicting that humans will become more and more integrated with technology of our own creation. The path to immortality lies not in some magic art or fountain of youth, but in a gradual progression of enhancing our bodies until we stop the aging process itself. Thean finishes off the book with an overview of what such a civilization may look like. Developments like relativity and quantum mechanics have spawned from people with IQs from 150-200; what might occur if people started getting IQs of 500-1000 due to enhancements?

While the thoughts in the book are deep and profound, the writing most definitely is not. Reading through it, you can tell that English was not Thean’s first language. The book is riddled with errors in grammar, syntax and word choice, to the extent that it does get in the way of the points that are trying to be made. If it had been once every few sentences, it would be readable, but at least every other sentence had a glaring error in it, from subject-verb disagreement to mixing tenses.

If not for the way it was written, I would score this book a 7/10, but the most I can give it is a 4.

“Immortality and Intelligence” can be purchased through Amazon or other online stores.

ISBN: 1-4196-5841-7

Attack of Brood XIII!

2007-05-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

This year is the year for the cicadas to come out of the ground after their 17 year growth cycle. There will be literally billions of them swarming the northern Midwest for pretty much all of June.

The AP article I read about it is pretty interesting; you should check it out. It talks about all the noise they make, and has "horror stories" from the last time a brood emerged in 2004. It's going to be pretty crazy in the areas where they come up.

Digital Revolt

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

Today was an interesting day in the world of Web 2.0. It seems the encryption key for HD-DVDs was discovered, and posted online. The key would allow someone to crack the copy protection on an HD-DVD. A user posted it to Digg, where it garnered more than 15,000 hits. Digg then received a cease and desist notice from the "owners of the intellectual property," as described by Jay Adelson on the Digg blog, so they took down the story and supposedly kicked off the user who posted it. The result: a full-scale online rebellion.

Digg users flooded the site with stories and topics either with the code in the title or body, or just abusing Digg for their actions. Earlier, at least the first four pages were completely filled with items about the code. As I was looking at the site myself, I got a notice that Digg was down for a little while, so I only saw the first page, but it was full of topics on the code. It was amazing the ways they worked the code into their topic. Some of my favorites were topics that supposedly offered coupon codes for sites like GoDaddy or that said they got a strange error code on their computer (I bet you can guess what the code in each topic was). There were some that put the code in links in their topic, like to their "MySpace page," or just linked to graphics with the code in it. There was also one with "the truth behind 9/11."

The rebellion apparently has spread to sites like Yahoo! and Wikipedia as well. Wikipedia has locked all the entries on HD-DVD, HD, and other related subjects, and has deleted any reference made to the code or the events of tonight, as well as the code itself when it has appeared in any other entries (for example, there was apparently something about an "HD Mooninite" in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force entry, but it was deleted before I saw it).

Digg's founder, Kevin Rose, posted a statement on Digg's blog later saying that while they took down the posting to keep Digg from getting shut down or service interrupted, it was obvious that Digg's users would rather Digg fight and possibly fail than cower in front of a bigger company. So Digg will no longer delete posts containing or about the code, which makes me wonder what the service interruption is about. The title of his post: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0 (which is the code, if you don't know). I think I like Kevin.

I feel that this is far from over, but I think Internet users have won a victory tonight, at least in part. And Digg has probably gotten a ton of hits (and as such, advertising dollars) off of this, which means that, at least in the short run, they've won a bit as well.

Ok, Digg is back up after about 20 minutes. The first 5 pages are all about the code, with some stories scattered through the next couple pages too.

The HD-DVD Key as a hexadecimal avatar for one of the users on Digg.

Haha, ladies, it's science

2007-02-26T22:27:00.000-06:00

A new study has shown that nagging actually has pretty much the exact opposite effect than intended. People tend to ignore or respond in opposite ways to instructions that seem like they could be a threat to their autonomy. So even using a signifigant person's name and telling the people that they wanted them to work hard made people do worse in simple trials, as opposed to saying that person wanted them to have fun.

At the end of the article, it has 2 quotes from a married couple who thought of the study:

"Not surprisingly perhaps, Chartrand and Fitzsimons, as wife and husband, also take home some slightly differing messages from their experiments.

Chartrand believes her husband 'should now be better equipped to suppress his reactant tendencies.' Fitzsimons, however, believes the results 'suggest that reactance to significant others is so automatic that I can't possibly be expected to control it if I don't even know it's happening.'"

I say women, just quit nagging.

So somone finally catches a sea monster/alien...and then eats it

2007-02-14T17:40:00.000-06:00

Some Russian fisherman caught this weird looking green shark-like creature that was squeaking and acting weird, and they thought it was an alien, so they filmed it on a camera phone. Then they decided that it wasn't scary or dangerous, so they cooked and ate it, dissappointing scientists everywhere. They said it was the most delicious meal they ever had.

Apparently scientists don't think it was an alien, but one said it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen in his life, and the picture they had of it was very interesting as well. I want to watch the video but it's on Fark.com, which is blocked by WebSense.

Article

Anna Nicole Smith dies in hospital

2007-02-08T15:47:00.000-06:00

Anna Nicole Smith collapsed in a hotel room in Florida Thursday and was found around 1:38 p.m. She was given CPR and taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood at 2:10 p.m., where she died.

Article.

I now sort of know what older people mean when they talk about all the famous people of their day dying. I've never cared about anything to do with her, but her entire career and the big scandal junk and everything else to do with her happened during my lifetime, within my memory, so it's just sort of a weird feeling. Hm.

Firefox

2007-02-04T01:13:00.000-06:00

After listening to all the hype for a year or two, I've decided to give FireFox the old college try ("doesn't that involve a lot of alcohol?"). I was planning on discussing in this post how I plan on doing this, and what my testing will entail, all that jazz, but right now I have one question: IS THERE ANY WAY TO FREAKING CHANGE THE WAY FAVORITES/BOOKMARKS ARE SET UP?

There are a couple features I have enjoyed in the 5 minutes I've been using it, such as it underlining "alchohol" in red when I spelled it like that accidentally, but that is one thing that will completely kill my experience. If I can't find a way to get folders set up and do something other than a drop-down menu for my favorites, I'm am definitely going back to Internet Explorer 7.0, which I enjoy very much. So now is your time, all you John Edwards of FireFox: if you want to win another convert, help me out here.

Another feature I just discovered is missing, at least from my basic version right now (I haven't installed add-ons yet), is a way to open a new tab without going through the menu or hitting ctrl-t. I know that seems really simple, but I've gotten used to just reaching up with my mouse and hitting the button to open a new tab in IE, especially when I'm going to have to use the mouse to put the cursor in the Google search box anyway like I was when I was trying to remember who preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" for my previous reference. One thing I did like was the suggestions that dropped down in the Google search box. I only had to type "sinners i" before "sinners in the hands of an angry God" was the first suggestion.

So give me something here. FireFox users (and I know at least one of my 4 or so readers is one), tell me what I should do. Tell what you like about it, and some cool add-ons to grab (I've seen some good ones, and that's one of the things that would be a big factor if I do end up switching). I'll use it on and off for a bit, but unless something can be done about my favorites, this trial is dead before it's started. I use them way too much to surf around to just give them up, and I really like the way they're set up in IE.

-edit-
After I wrote this post, I messed around with options and found the option to show the tab bar all the time, which makes it slightly easier to open a new tab with the mouse, but still not the way I want it. I have to right-click and select "New Tab," instead of just clicking a new button, like I want. That probably won't be a deciding factor in my decision, especially since I discovered that, but it will color my view of the entire browser.
-30-

Brilliant Advertising

2007-02-01T16:37:00.000-06:00

Recently, two men were arrested in Boston for placing electronic signs (shown above) featuring "mooninites" promoting Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Although the signs had been placed in 9 other cities around the nation, it appears that only those people in Boston were worried enough to call it a bomb threat and close down the areas around the signs.

Apparently the two were hired by a New York marketing company, which was in turn hired by Turner, a unit of Time Warner Inc. Now prosecutors are saying they may sue the company for the "bomb scare"

The two men were charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct and released on a $2,500 bail each. Apparently Turner Broadcasting will pay their legal fees.

The best part is, in an appearance in front of reporters, they insisted on talking about 70s hairstyles instead of anything else. The video is hilarious, because anytime a reporter would ask a question, they'd say "That's not a hair question, sorry," and go back to talking about hair. Then a reporter asked if they were worried that if they went to jail they would have to cut their hair, and they said that was an excellent question but they felt that the law was comfy enough to let them feel that their hair was safe for the moment, whatever happened.

And the thing is, the media is playing right into Turner's hands. This huge story, reported all over the place, is just getting the name "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" out there, and I doubt that they could have planned it better. Even if they get sued, I doubt anything will happen more than a fine of some sort, and they would get even more publicity. This huge fit about it just multiplies whatever publicity the promotion would have gotten initially. I love stuff like that.

Harry Potter date announced

2007-02-01T11:17:00.001-06:00

I'm dedicated to bringing the most important news from around the world to my few readers, and so, with no further ado, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is set to be published on July 21. Woohoo.

Article

eBay Auction: EVERY NES game ever made

2007-01-30T16:03:00.000-06:00

A guy from South Carolina has put up for sale quite a package. Not only are you buying all 670 NES game ever made, all in good condition, you're getting the following:

the NES Nintendo System Console (in the box), 4 Controllers, 2 Turbo controllers, NES Advantage Controller (Joystick and Button console in box), Zapper Gun, Power Pad, Power Glove, ROB the Robot (with accessories), 4 Player wired controller (with Turbo) allows up to 4 players, 4 Player Wireless Satellite and Reciever, Grey Joystick controller, Game Genie and the Code Book, RF Switch and AC Power Cord.

There's a picture of all the games stacked up on the auction page (which is quite a sight), and the guy has a 100% feedback rating, so it looks like the sale is legit. But get this: the bid is up to $220,936. That's right, someone's going to pay almost a quarter of a million dollars for a bunch of video games. That seems a bit much for me, but hey, whatever floats their boat.

Profit losses at Sony

2007-01-30T09:52:00.000-06:00

Due to slow sales on the PS3, Sony's profits have dropped in the third quarter. I have to ask: what did they think would happen?

There are several reasons for this, which I had talked about with friends when the PS3 originally came out and that are mentioned in the article. For one, there's the price. It's double the price of the Wii, and still more expensive than the best Xbox 360. And even at that high price, they priced it under the cost of production to try to sell more. They wouldn't have had such a huge cost of production if they hadn't tried to jump start Blu-Ray discs. It took almost a decade to fully switch from VHS to DVD; why would they think that it would only take a couple years to convert to Blu-Ray, especially when HD DVDs are competing against it? On top of the high cost for the console itself, the games are ridiculously expensive as well, even for a next-generation console, once again due to their choice to go with Blu-Ray. Bad idea, Sony.

I'm sure the UMD fiasco of the PSP had something to do with it as well. The only thing the article says about PSP is that its sales have dropped as well, but several months ago many stores such as Target and Wal-Mart began drastically cutting back on, if not eliminating, their stock of UMD movies. The UMD had several things wrong with it that limited sales. Since its storage capacity was so much smaller, most of the bonus features found on DVDs had to be taken out, and to keep Sony DVD sales up, they didn't put in a TV-playback feature, so you had to always watch on the PSP. The only way to watch on a television was to buy a third-party converter, which to install required you to remove the faceplate, among other things. All those issues combined with affordable portable DVD players with TV output combined to destroy any possibility of profitable sales of UMD movies.

In the end, Sony's made some bad choices with their games systems. We'll see what happens as the novelty of the next-gen consoles wear off and they settle in for the long haul. Maybe Sony can redeem the PS3 with some excellent games, but when facing competition like Halo 3 coming this spring and all the original games coming for the Wii that will draw all the casual gamers, it will be a tough sale.

New Blog

2007-01-28T14:22:00.000-06:00

I've created a new blog to live-blog my reading through the Bible in a year. I'm going to be putting my thoughts or things I notice that I never noticed before in there, and it will serve the dual purpose of helping me stay on track both through accountability and because I'll be more interested through writing about it, and at the end I'll have what amounts to a commentary on the entire Bible, written by me, which I'll enjoy having. Check it out, comment with your thoughts, read it with me even. Feedback would be encouraging.

Jeremy's Bible Blog.

And I'll still be doing this blog, I'm just doing that one as well.

Science brings confections to a new level

2007-01-27T00:56:00.000-06:00

A scientist from North Carolina recently developed caffeinated donuts. That's right: now you can get even more caffeine with your breakfast on top of your cup of coffee!

Each donut has about as much caffeine as two cups of coffee, but without the bitter taste. The inventor, Doctor Robert Bohannon, has approached several major donut companies about carrying them, including Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks. I can't wait.

"Old fear: designer babies. New fear: deformer babies"

2007-01-22T10:41:00.000-06:00

With genetic engineering and embryo screening and all that, people can have (or will be able to have soon) "perfect" babies ("designer" babies, free of virtually all defects and genetically based diseases, etc.), but now some clinics, just a few, have started designing for defects. Parents that have some condition, like being deaf or a dwarf, are trying to make their babies like that so that they'll be like them. I think that's just sick, at least with things like deafness. Maybe some people don't consider being a dwarf a defect, and I can see how they feel (but I still don't think they should make babies be that way, but anyways...), but there's no way anyone can say being deaf isn't going to make life way harder for the child, as well as depriving them of a lot of good things in life like just plainly hearing people's voices and hearing music, etc.

Not that people with those conditions can't live a virtually "normal" life (whatever that is) and be completely happy, and I guess a small part is the parents' choice, but I think much more is a basic human right to not be forced into a "defect." I don't know if I'd go as far as to say that humans have a right to be healthy, if something like deafness just happens, but I do think it's wrong to intentionally cripple a child to make them like their parents. Things like hair or eye color, even height or something like having an extra finger on each hand or something, I can see designing; I don't know if I would, I doubt it, but those things are mainly superficial and won't really affect the child's life. But things like whether they can HEAR or not...that's a big difference.

Some people say they can see how someone who is deaf or a dwarf could say, "I want a child like me," but you would think that would be outweighed by a desire to make life as easy and pleasant as possible for their child. As I said before, there is nothing wrong with having a "defect" (if you want to call it that) like being deaf or a dwarf, but it is definitely going to make life more difficult for the child. I don't think this is going to become a huge problem anytime soon, if ever, but I think it's something people are going to have to face at one point or another.

Political bloggers may be forced to register as lobbyists

2007-01-18T09:57:00.000-06:00

S.1, a lobbying reform bill in the Senate, if passed, would force everyone, including bloggers, to register as a lobbyist and report quarterly to Congress if they comments on government policy or tries to start a "grassroots" campaign and communicates to 500 or more people.

That wouldn't be me, because I don't really talk politics on here and I DEFINITELY don't have a 500-person readership (maybe 5), but it still really annoys me. How could they justify that? People engaging in their First Amendment rights by saying what they think and trying to get people (normal people, not elected representatives) to act on it are now lobbyists? That's ridiculous, and people have called and written about Section 220 (the part of the bill that discusses this) to the Senate, as well they should. That annoys me almost as much as that previous bill trying to take away Net Neutrality that was defeated due to the huge public response, and hopefully this one will meet a similar fate.

Article on Section 220.

If they had to shoot each other, at least it was over something important

2007-01-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

70 year-old man shoots friend during argument over the height of James Brown's career - who, by the way, still hasn't been buried.

On an unrelated note, a situation in Dallas has me interested. Pizza Patron, a Dallas-based pizza chain has decided to accept pesos at their locations, and people are mad about it. While I'm interested to see where the fight leads, I think the people complaining are focusing on a non-issue. Their point is that this is America, so they should use dollars (which the stores still accept, obviously), and they think Pizza Patron is catering to illegal immigrants. My view is that since 60% of their customers are Hispanic, it makes business sense to do it, regardless.

Also, plenty of other places in cities in other countries where there is a high concentration of Americans accept American dollars, just because people are prevalent there that have them. We always went to Progresso, Mexico to shop on our mission trips, and while we normally had pesos to spend most of the shops took dollars as well since it is a big tourist town due to its proximity to the border. I don't think the pizza place's decision is really a big deal. Thoughts?

To all the tea-drinkers out there...

2007-01-10T16:10:00.000-06:00

Tea is healthier than water.
Now scientists are saying that drinking three cups of tea per day is just as good as drinking plenty of water, if not better due to some possible extra health benefits of tea.

But! Milk, the destroyer, will ruin those same health benefits!
By adding milk to your tea, you lose the artery-relaxing effects that tea has. There are proteins in milk that screw it all up. So if you're drinking tea because it's healthy, forgoe the milk.

Next, the Germans who figured out the milk thing are going to study whether green or black tea is more healthy for you. They think the reason studies have been inconclusive in the past is that green tea is normally drunk with milk and black tea isn't.

Amazing Photo Gallery

2007-01-07T22:17:00.000-06:00

I've had this gallery in my favorites for quite some time now, and every so often I'll just go and stare at some of these pictures. How can anyone be this good? Really, if you follow one link off this website, make it this one: A gallery of photographs by Leo Palmer.

These photos make me want to travel so much more every time I see them. Egad, the wanderlust.

Landscapes are my favorite type of art, and, although he only has 6 of them, they're incredible.

This photograph makes me just shake my head in amazement.

"A dark rock landscape with snow capped mountains in the background, a coral sea & stormy sky.
In reality rotting wood & peeling paint on the side of an old rowing boat."

What's going on around the country

2007-01-04T21:09:00.000-06:00

Nancy Pelosi became the first female House Speaker Thursday

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has decided to battle some Muslim taxi drivers
For the past several months, many of the cabbies at the Minneapolis-St. Paul international airport have been refusing fare to people carrying alcholhol and people with dogs, even if they're disabled. Muslims consider dog saliva unclean and those that refuse fare feel that carrying someone with alcohol is "cooperating in sin." The airport is going to vote on putting in new regulations that would fine cabbies that refused service for those reasons or if the trip is too short.

North Korea is preparing another nuklear test
According to a senior U.S. defense official, North Korea has everything put into place to conduct another test without warning or notice. The intelligence community is divided as to whether they will actually test again or not, with some saying they probably won't and others saying they most likely will within the next 2 to 3 months.

Due to all the pictures of Saddam's hanging that have been broadcast, multiple kids have hung themselves emulating what they saw on TV.

National Guardsmen overrun by gunmen at Mexican border in Arizona

Oil dropped below $56 a barrel due to warmer winter

Obama will probably run for president - probably make an announcement concerning that soon

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting or something other than links to update with; I haven't really felt like or had anything to write about recently that would fit here.

Saddam has been executed

2006-12-30T06:02:00.000-06:00

Before sunrise Saturday, at 6:05 AM (local time), Saddam was hung. Finally.

The Vatican called it tragic. What are they on about? They talked about how it might fuel revenge and new violence, but I think it was more important for all the Iraqis who needed it for closure and even vengeance of their own. At least now he's gone, out of the picture.

The execution was filmed. They might be broadcasting it over Iraqi television, but you can bet it will be on the Internet immediately after it's shown there, if it is. ABC and CBS said they wouldn't broadcast it, but Fox News and CNN were still discussing it. There has never been a video of an execution broadcast in the U.S. before.

-edit- I found part of the video online; it just shows him being led to the gallows and then having the noose put around his neck, not the actual hanging, and can be found here.

-edit- Here is a video shot from a cell phone of his execution. While it doesn't show him actually dying because the guy moved the camera in a weird way when he fell, it shows him dropping and then shows him dead, so it could still be considered graphic, if that bothers you.

Cindy Sheehan arrested on Thursday in front of Bush ranch

2006-12-29T03:17:00.000-06:00

Cindy Sheehan was arrested on Thursday for lying in the road leading to the Bush ranch, blocking it for about 20 minutes, according to Tela Mange of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Four other people were also arrested with her.

From the CNN article:

"[Sheehan] told us if you want us to get out of the road, you're going to have to arrest us," said Mange. "So we did."

Obstructing a highway is a misdemeanor in Texas, which they were all charged with. Due to an incident in New York in 2005 where Sheehan and others were arrested, they could face some penalty for being arrested yet again so soon afterwards.

In March of 2005, Sheehan and three other women were arrested after trying to deliver and anti-Iraq war protest to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. In December of 2006, they were charged with trespassing because they didn't disperse when ordered to by police. They were given a conditional discharge, which meant they would have had a stiffer punishment if they were arrested again in the next six months, and fined $95. They then went back to the Mission with the petition after the sentencing and it was accepted.

If found guilty, they could each face a fine of up to $2000 and six months in prison.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/28/sheehan.arrest/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/11/sheehan.convicted.ap/index.html

*Note* I recently joined the Blogger News Network as a writer and this is one of the articles I wrote; read below for details if you haven't already.

I'm finally writing for an actual news organization online

2006-12-29T02:33:00.000-06:00

I've signed up to be a writer at the Blogger News Network. It's a news site (obviously) that has a lot of different people that write about current news, whether by writing about things themselves or summarizing other articles (basically blogging about them). We can write about anything, be it world, national or local or whatever else, and I actually get paid for it. It's not much, maybe like $.20 an article at the moment, but the pay's not the reason I'm doing it. Now, I can actually write for something other than a personal blog with some regularity, and I get maybe 200 views for each article I write, as long as it's fairly interesting, plus I get plenty of practice writing and who knows, maybe it will help my resume or something if I write a ton of stuff.

The way it's set up is the guy who runs it takes 30% of the revenue from ads and junk each month to run the site, pay for bandwidth and any other costs, etc., and to pay himself. Then he splits up the remaining 70% among all the writers depending on how much they wrote that month. If the site gets bigger and bigger as he plans it to, then the pay could increase to even $5 an article (which would be very nice for part time blogging), but that'll probably be a couple years, at least. Anyway, I'm just enjoying writing for it, even though I've only written 2 things so far, and they've both been "blog style" (article summaries, although I did bring several articles together into one concise entry, so it's a bit different). Oh, another cool thing is we still have the copy write for whatever we write, so we can post it wherever we want, so I'll be posting anything I write for that here. The story below about food from cloned animals is one I just wrote, and I also wrote something the other day about an earthquake off Taiwan and the fears people had about another tsunami an the 2 year anniversary of the big one, which can be read here, if you're interested.

If you end up reading anything on Blogger News Network, everything I've written is under my own name. Depending on when you look, my latest stuff might not be up, because until I've written several things there's a delay in posting my articles for them to be looked over. Once they know I can actually string a couple words together, then my posts will go up automatically. I would actually recommend looking at the site and seeing if you like it, because it seems a pretty good place for news. The front page is just a list of all the recently written stories, which are about any and everything going on. You can get both the facts and editorial content there. Plus, the more people that visit the site, the more money I maybe get. :) The ads are just down the left hand side and at the bottom, so they're out of the way. Well, just check it out if you're interested.

Oh, and if you have any ideas for a story, something local or something you saw online or whatever that you think will be interesting, or that you just for some reason want my take on, hit me up with a comment about it. The more stuff Jeremy has to write about, the happier he be.

Food from cloned animals may be hitting shelves relatively soon

2006-12-29T02:30:00.000-06:00

The FDA has finally concluded that food products from cloned animals like milk or meat are safe for human consumption after years of study. This opens up the possibility of commercial food products made from cloned animals and put into supermarkets. If this occurs, the U.S. will be the first country to allow it.

Many people, however, still have worries about food from cloned animals, even after the FDA's assurances of safety. As some people will obviously not want to eat that type of product, many companies are already thinking about how they can make sure consumers know whether their products have ingredients from cloned animals in them. But while some companies might want to affix extra labels on food from clones, they have to be sure that they are not saying it is any less safe than food from normal animals. Since the FDA has found that the food is indistinguishable, they would not allow any label other than something just stating the fact that it came from clones.

Although some companies are looking at these possibilities already, food from clones is still a little while off. The FDA is still anywhere from several months to several years away from formally approving food from clones. At the moment, there is a voluntary ban on selling products from clones that was put in place in 2001 to allow the FDA more time to study what affect food from clones might have. But within a year, there is a possibility of it ending and food from clones coming onto the market. Once that happens, it will be up to the consumer to decide whether to buy products made with ingredients from cloned animals.

Sources:
New York Times Article
AP Article from My Way News
FDA Study

Holy crap I want one.

2006-12-27T15:06:00.000-06:00

The Antonov KT-40 Flying Tank. I have a newfound respect for Russians.

Just read the article. There's nothing I can add to that.

James Brown died at 73

2006-12-25T07:06:00.000-06:00

On Christmas morning, around 1:45 AM, James Brown died in Emory Crawford Long Hospital. He had been hospitalised Sunday with pneumonia, but they aren't sure what he died of.

So now the "Godfather of Soul" is gone. In addition to helping create the soul genre along with others such as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, James Brown had such a huge influence on rap, funk and disco. It's a sad day for music. I think I'll listen to "I Feel Good" in tribute.

Article

A PSA: Name of the final Harry Potter book announced

2006-12-24T22:25:00.000-06:00

This article was a bit anti climatic. All it says is the name; they haven't announced when it will be released or any other details. It stretches it out for a bit, though. And now, with no further ado, the last book will be called...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Yeah, a bit disappointing, huh? At least I thought so.

Well, I read about this after I made my last post, and decided I might as well post it even though it was announced 4 days ago, so go read my last post, the real one. This one's just a brief announcement.

The Mystical Landscapes of Gregory Euclide

2006-12-24T21:52:00.000-06:00

I recently stumbled upon the website of Gregory Euclide, a landscape artist from the Midwest with a very unique style and way of expression. His paintings just captured my attention and imagination. They're not linear in any fashion, and flow in and out of themselves. From his statement of intent on his website:

...my work is largely influenced by the dramatic changes in the seasons...The rhythm of growth and decay has made a strong impression on me; the process and content of my work has come to reflect this unique evolution of complex systems in the landscapes as well as in every aspect of the natural world.

It attempts to show the nexus between the past and the present as a set of innumerable action/reaction occurrences. This idea is informed by my research in quantum physics...history is too vast to be known and the potential is capricious.

Because no two circumstances in nature have ever been the same, every action and motion is original and can never be repeated. I begin each work with a chaotic gesture, which underscores the apparent structure of nature. The creation of the initial gesture becomes the foundation on which a set of elements can evolve into a system.

I think what he says in there is why I like his work. I'm very interested in chaos theory, which has a large sensitivity to initial conditions, and shows emergent structure, just as he describes his art. Complex systems are fascinating, from things like the weather to a bee hive to a city of humans. Due to the effects of organisms on the systems, complex systems are unpredictable and adaptable.

Click on the image to see a bigger size of it; due to space restrictions here I had to keep it small and sort of cramped.

Riddle me this, Batman...

2006-12-22T11:26:00.000-06:00

I found this puzzle on one of my favorite blogs, Neatorama, who in turn found it on Coudal Partners. Supposedly, it was created by Albert Einstein, who claimed that only 2% of the people in the world could do it. I did it in less than five minutes with a pen and a piece of paper (after one false start from reading a clue wrong), so I doubt that only that small amount of people can solve it, but it was a fair bit of logic, so if you can do it, congratulate yourself. Maybe people were just more stupid in Einstein's day, or didn't play as much Sudoku.

Here's the puzzle:

This brainteaser, reportedly written by Einstein is difficult and Einstein said that 98% of the people in the world could not figure it out. Which percentage are you in?

There are five houses in a row in different colors. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The five owners drink a different drink, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet, one of which is a Walleye Pike.

The question is-- who owns the fish?

Hints:
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Malls keeps birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk.
9. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
10. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the one who smokes Dunhills.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Princes.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

There are no tricks, pure logic will get you the correct answer. And yes, there is enough information to arrive at the one and only correct answer.

If you get the correct answer, congratulations, you are one of the exclusive group of 121,348,731 people in the world who can.

The answer can be found here, on the original page the puzzle came from. Scroll down to Note IV and click the link.

Good luck, and Merry Christmas!

Of Beards and Bribes

2006-12-21T02:05:00.001-06:00

This page is an exhaustive summary of everything having to do with any combination of presidential elections and facial hair, from the inspiring beard of Abraham Lincoln (who was actually clean-shaven at the time of the election) to a highlight of all the elections in which candidates had some form of facial hair. It was actually fairly interesting to peruse, if you are a person who is interested in that sort of thing, or are wondering whether to grow that mustache or not. Pick a president, and follow his example!

Another interesting read is this summary of bribery and its etiquette, out of The Economist. While many people realize that money is the grease that makes the wheels of bureaucracy run more smoothly, what they don't realize is that there is a proper way to do things. You can't just throw a wad of cash in the face of a customs officer or politician; you must be tactful: in most cases, people won't come straight out and call it a bribe, but will refer to it as a "fee" for some special service or an "expediting" payment to increase the speed of certain transactions. A useful article for those of you planning on traveling through several foreign countries and wanting to do it with minimal hassle.

Top Ten Politically Incorrect Words of 2006

2006-12-19T15:15:00.000-06:00

LanguageMonitor.com comes up with a list of the top 10 politically incorrect words or phrases every year, and this year's are quite humorous. The list is, of course, scattered with feminist phrases trying to take power from men, like HERstory instead of history, and also worries about race, like saying "black coffee." I think my favorite would have to be Global Warming Denier: some people want those who don't believe global warming is happening to be treated the same way as a Holocaust denier; "professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail."

What annoyed me was this phrase from "The Bible in a More Just Language," that changes the beginning of the Lord's prayer to "Our Mother and Father who art in Heaven." They claim that this is a more "inclusive" Bible, and it replaces the "decisive" teachings of Christianity. How can you change a quote, even if you don't like it? People like that really annoy me.

This would be sweet: The Vatican may field a football team

2006-12-18T20:13:00.000-06:00

One of the cardinals, Tarcisio Bertone, mentioned the possibility of the Vatican fielding a football team that could be as good as some of the top teams in Serie A. I think that would be pretty cool.

They are, of course, talking about what we Americans call soccer. It would be even better if they put together an American football team, but alas, I don't see that happening.

NASA and Google's partnership

2006-12-18T18:06:00.000-06:00

They have signed a Space Act Agreement, and now Google and NASA will be working together on a variety of technical problems in the future. Their first project will be Google getting NASA's most useful and interesting data out there to the general public.

Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution3- D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the InternationalSpace Station and the space shuttle will be explored in the future. "This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every Americanto experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through thecanyons of Mars," said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin.

They're also going to incorporate NASA data sets into Google Earth, as well as numerous other technical innovations.

NASA and Google also are finalizing details for additional collaborations that include joint research, products, facilities, educationand missions.

Article

NASA and Google to form partnership

2006-12-18T02:45:00.000-06:00

According to a press release, NASA and Google will be announcing a partnership on some new venture at 11 AM PST (1 PM here) today. It is supposed to be something "exciting and unique." It sounds like Google's going to be funding something or another. I'm going to try and use the media call-in line to get the low down; expect an update this afternoon, either from what I get from there or somewhere online.

Hey, you won the "Person of the Year" award from Time magazine! Yes, you! Seriously.

2006-12-16T23:52:00.000-06:00

This year, Time decided to award their "Person of the Year" award to not just one person, but everyone who uses or creates content on the internet. Hence, if you're reading this, that's you. Congrats. They decided this year to award it to "citizens of the new democracy", the people who are shaping the world now, those who are interconected online. If it hadn't been everyone this year, they probably would have given it to the Iranian president, according to the managing editor at Time, Richard Stengel. The "Person of the Year" issue has a computer with a mirror for the screen that has the word "You" on it so people can see their reflection in it.

Time has given the award to a group or something other than an individual 3 times before: in 1966 to those who were 25 and younger; in 1975 to American women; and in 1982 to the computer.

Article.

World's Tallest Man Saves Chinese Dolphins With Long Arms

2006-12-14T13:11:00.000-06:00

At an aquarium in Fushun, located in north-east China, Bao Xishun was summoned to save the day after two dolphins swallowed plastic that was used around their pool. They people from the aquarium had tried to use tools and instruments to get the plastic out first, but when that wasn't a success, they tried a different approach. They wrapped their teeth in towels and Mr. Bao reached into their stomach with his long arms and pulled out the shards of plastic. The dolphins are expected to make a full recovery; I know you're all thrilled.

Bao Xishun is 7' 9" at 54 years old, and is a herdsman. That's crazy tall.

Interesting Times in the Senate...

2006-12-13T19:08:00.000-06:00

Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota had a stroke recently. He's a Democrat, and if he dies or resigns, the governer, who is a Republican, gets to pick his replacement. He'll probably pick a Republican, obviously, and in that case, the Senate will then be split evenly. It will be interesting to see how all this turns out.

Article.

Night Owls Are More Creative Than All You "Morning People"

2006-12-13T12:06:00.000-06:00

This makes me happy that I found this article the day after I stayed up all night just for kicks. Scientists have discovered that those people who tend towards the nocturnal life are generally more creative and extroverted than those who are "morning people." There are special cells in the brain that emit a signal to synchronize time in your body, and in morning folks it runs two hours ahead, but in night-time people it runs two hours behind.

"Being in a situation which diverges from conventional habit — nocturnal types often experience this situation — may encourage the development of a non-conventional spirit and of the ability to find alternative and original solutions," lead author Marina Giampietro and colleague G.M. Cavallera wrote in a study to be published in the February 2007 issue of Personality and Individual Differences.

I don't know what this new-found knowledge will do for me, but it sure is interesting. I am definitely a night person.

Super-Lions Rock!

2006-12-12T04:09:00.000-06:00

Fifteen years ago in Botswana, a group of lions were marooned on an island due to the shifting course of a river. They were without their normal food supply, sick, weakly, and old or young antelope, and were left with only a herd of water buffalo, and a few wildebeest and warthogs. Yet instead of dying out, they adapted and started taking down the water buffalo. From the article:

They have adapted to this challenge by hunting during the day under the baking African sun, swimming through deep rivers in the hunt for buffalo. This water-based training programme combined with a diet of protein-rich buffalo meat has led to the development of huge muscles, and these super-cats now dwarf other lions.

The island lions also use highly advanced psychology in their quest for food, predicting the course of the buffaloes' daily trek by anticipating their need for water — then lying in wait at the precise spot along the river where the herd will eventually stop for refreshment.

In turn, the buffalo have responded to the threat by merging into a vast mega-herd of 1,200 beasts — five times the size of a normal group. They have also, at times, turned on the lions, killing isolated cubs.

I find all this highly interesting, and will probably check out the new film about it, Relentless Enemies, with Jeremy Irons, if we get the National Geographic channel, which I don't think we do. So I guess I won't be watching after all.

For those of you who aren't fans of amazing super-lions taking out water buffalo (although I have no idea who this would be...), and for those who are and want more wanton violence but in a less bloody way, check out these videos of "a golf ball [being] sent hurtling towards everyday objects at ridiculously high speeds." Trust me, they don't disappoint.

The Internet Is Safe! (For Now, At Least)

2006-12-10T23:47:00.000-06:00

At the end of Congress' 109th session, Bill H.R. 5252, the one attacking Net Neutrality, has been defeated. Huge telecom corporations speant over $150 million trying to get it passed, but the huge public oppostion to it won out, as it should. This makes me very happy. I'm glad our Congress actually listens to us.

And fromWashington State, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport took down it's Christmas trees to keep from facing a lawsuit. A Jewish rabbi issued a complaint and wanted them to put up a menorah as well or face a lawsuit, and so they decided to just get rid of the trees. When I first started reading, I thought it was just the airport taking down the trees, but then I realized that rabbi was trying to get a menorah up as well. I liked what the airport's stance on this was. They said that if they put up a menorah, they would have to put up symbols of other religions as well. A spokesperson said, "The holidays are the busiest season at the airport and staff didn't have time to play cultural anthropologists." The rabbi was suprised and dissappointed because he said he just wanted the holiday spirit represented for everyone, but I think the airport handled it well. Why have a huge fight when you can just get rid of the problem and get on with the real business at hand?

December 5 is Ninja Day!

2006-12-03T23:36:00.000-06:00

Be as ninja-ey as you can be! Wear a mask! Throw shurikens! Kill people! Just be a ninja!

Visit the official website for Day of a Ninja to learn how to be as much a ninja as possible!

I have been assesed as a terrorist or criminal threat...

2006-12-01T14:25:00.000-06:00

And so have you if you've traveled into or out of the country within the past four years. The gorvernment has been using a computerized Automated Targeting System to track and keep records of anyone exiting or entering the country by land, sea or air, and "under specific circumstances, some or all data in the system can be shared with state, local and foreign governments and even some private contractors." They assign a threat rating based on comparing the "activities and characteristics of terrorists and criminals" to your travel data. So know that you are in the system if you've been traveling outside the U.S. recently, and there are way too many people who can access it.

Article here.

Also, a naked man smoking crack is chomped on by an alligator. My favorite quote from the article: "Judd said Apgar told deputies he was smoking crack-cocaine at the adjacent park, but it was unclear why he was naked or why he was attacked by the alligator."

Sometimes even I can enjoy online advertising...

2006-11-30T17:34:00.000-06:00

I was recently reading a blog I enjoy, Neatorama, when I noticed an unusual combination of banner ads at the side of their page. I found it a bit humorous, and thought that I would share.

Enjoy.

Some People Think of Everything...

2006-11-30T15:29:00.000-06:00

A lot of people like their brownies to have an edge on them, instead of coming from the middle (I for one like the gooey center parts, but to each his own). Well, now you can bake brownies that have an edge on ALL of them. The clever people from BakersEdge.com have created a baking pan for brownies and cookie bars, etc., that lets everyone who likes the edge have their favorite part.

Now with all that chocolatey goodness inside:

PMS Survival Tips

2006-11-28T00:55:00.001-06:00

Every guy needs to watch this at least once; I would suggest watching it until it's commited to memory. It should serve you well if you ever plan on dealing with females on a regular basis in the future.

Man, this world is weird...I love it.

2006-11-24T17:35:00.000-06:00

When a 14 year old girl in Honolulu opened up her new iPod, she got something she wasn't expecting: a slab of raw meat. Her mom had bought her the iPod as a gift, but it was missing and the meat was there in its place. The Wal-Mart where they bought it found out that a previous employee had apparently put meat in some boxes and taken the iPods. Now that guy (I'm assuming it was a guy) has a sense of humor. And probably some jail time.

Another bit of humor some people didn't appreciate comes from Dallas. Several parents are complaining that a book they bought to help their toddlers learn how to use the bathroom is inappropriate. "Potty Time With Elmo" is supposed to be an interactive book that says several phrases when buttons are pressed to teach children how to "potty," but one of the buttons didn't seem to have much to do with pottying at all! When pressed, one button prompted Elmo to ask, "Who wants to die?" One of the mothers called it a "sick joke," and that if it was a joke, "then it's a bad one." I might agree with the "sick" part, but I find it kinda funny.

This one's sort of cool. A twenty dollar bill was printed over A Del Monte fruit tag. It was printed in 1996 in Fort Worth, but no one has any idea how the tag got onto the bill. It was sold recently in an auction for $25,300 in Orlando.

Speaking of auctions for a lot of money, I will relate the quasi-misfortune I experienced recently concerning one. Quasi because I didn't actually lose anything, but I also didn't make a bunch of free money. As I'm sure most of my 3 or so readers know, OJ Simpson was writing a book about how he would have committed the famous murders if he had actually done it called "If I Did It,' and there was also to be a corresponding special on Fox. Well, due to public outcry, the special was cancelled, and all the books were recalled to be recycled. As soon as I heard that, my first thought was that I should try to buy one or two and sell them on Ebay. I didn't know whether they had actually been shipped everywhere or not, but the word "recall" gave me hope, so I hit up Barnes and Noble to try and find a copy. Alas, I could not. But I just read this article on the bid frenzy taking place over 3 copies of the book. Some of the legitimate bids have been several thousand dollars. I missed my chance. :(

Just give up, guys...

2006-11-21T20:38:00.000-06:00

Those crazy guys at the U. S. Mint are at it again. They announced Monday that starting in 2007, they are going to release more $1 coins, this time with the faces of presidents on them. They hope that the presidents will be able to do what women couldn't: get people to actually spend them.

Starting with Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison in 2007, they plan on releasing a series that will eventually have all the presidents on them. Van Buren will be released in 08 and Fillmore in 10. One of the reasons they hope these will be more succesful than previous coins is that they think people will collect them. I've only taken a basic Econ class in college and even I can spot the flaws in that. If people collect them, they won't be spending them. They might get out into the populice fairly quickly (especially if they do what they've done previously and give them to Wal-Mart), but if people hoard them, that's where it stops. They're passed around like a hot potato that no ones wants. It's a general principle of Econ: savings = leakage.

But other than that, I really don't think they'll take off. People like what they're used to. One of the things brought up in the article I read is that they'll have to either get rid of the dollar bill or just mass produce so many coins people are forced to use them. I don't think many people will go for getting rid of the bill. I think one of the things the governments not looking at is how much more convienient it is to carry aronud bills than change. I hate change, and whenever I get it I put it in a jar in my car. I then use it at drive throughs and such, and when it fills up I take it to a CoinStar machiene and normally get about $20 off it. Bills you can just fold up and put in a wallet, change makes noise and weighs more and takes up more space. Just forget it, U. S. Mint. I for one will not be swayed. Bills only!

Article here.

For those of you who read the old school Encyclopedia Brown books, you might want to check out the new, updated version: Wikipedia Brown.

True football enthusiasts (players and fans alike) won't let a bit of snow stop them.

2006-11-17T00:40:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving has always (at least, since the advent of televised football) been hailed as a day to sit around in a tryptophan-induced stupor and watch football to your heart's content, but in 1950 something threatened all this, at least in Ohio. What became known as the Great Thanksgiving Storm, the deepest snowstorm in Ohio's history, reared its ugly head and covered Ohio in 20 to 30 inches of snow for 5 days, from November 23-27. But the Ohio State-Michigan game was scheduled for the 25th (which actually wasn't Thanksgiving, that was the 23rd, but whatever)! Whatever could they do?

Play the game, of course.

In an heroic effort, the teams marched out to compete in manly battle upon the frozen gridiron in what was called the "Blizzard Bowl", with a temperature of only 5 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 40 mph. In the end, Michigan came out on top, 9-3. There had been 27 yards gained total and not even one first down. It was truly a glorious day for the kickers.

What really gets me though, is that the marching band played. In my old days as a marching bander in high school (oh so many years ago), everyone complained if the temperature got below 40 or it was drizzling. We didn't march on several occasions because of a light rain. Sure, sometimes we toughed it out, but not often, especially on away games. Yet the band at this game not only went to the game and played (I assume; the video doesn't have sound), but they also marched their show in 5 DEGREE WEATHER. I wish today's bands (at least the ones I've had experience with) would follow their example and grow a pair. Harding's at least has been fairly good about this.

The stands are pretty filled as well, for the weather.

Read about the Great Thanksgiving Storm and see a video of its affects at OhioHistory.org.

Larry King has never used the Internet

2006-11-16T14:35:00.000-06:00

Larry King was interview Roseanne Barr and started discussing the Internet as a political medium. He told her he had "never gone searching" on the Internet at all, and Barr started gushing about how great it all is. I think my favorite quote would have to be, "What do you punch little buttons and things?" by King. I can understand not liking it or not understanding it, but NEVER having used it, especially someone in his position? That's nuts. There's a video of the interview and the transcript here.

It's Halo Day Today!

2006-11-15T14:52:00.001-06:00

It's be 5 years today since Halo was released. It's funny, but it actually seems like it's been longer, because in my memories I was so young, so new to the world when I first played it...those were the days.

But anyways, these are the days as well, because to commemorate the occasion, Bungie announced several exciting things. The first is a television commercial for Halo 3, set to appear on December 4 during Monday Night Football. They're doing something new with it this time and making it CG instead of actually gameplay like the other trailers have always been. They say they have always decided not to show the game until they think it's ready to be shown, so they're going more with the photorealistic graphics for this comercial. But they still gave all their models to Digital Domain, the company doing the CG, and they said it will still be scenes from the game. Should be cool.

Bungie also announced that next spring they will be releasing new multiplayer maps for Halo 2. The only thing is, they're only going to be for the Xbox 360, which makes me sad. Bungie says they will be amazing, so it may be time for me to trade up to the 360. The main thing keeping me back (aside from paying $400 for it) is that I don't want to lose all my saved data on my old Xbox, but I'm going to want one for Halo 3, so we will see.

Speaking of Halo 3, the last thing they announced was that, get this: next spring they are going to be releasing a multiplayer demo of Halo 3 on Xbox Live. That's right, before the game is out you can play beta Halo 3 multiplayer. But, once again, only on 360. That might tip my hand, but it will depend on several factors. Maybe I'll just ask for one for Christmas.

Read about it all on Bungie's website.

Things of Interest from Around the World

2006-11-10T12:51:00.000-06:00

Today I've stumbled upon several stories from the plain interesting to the downright bizarre. The first one is about a humorous (in my opinion) new way they are collecting taxes in India. They are sending a group of eunuchs door to door to people who haven't paid their taxes, where they sing outside their homes until they pay them. So far, they've been very successful, according to this Wahington Post story. Think about waking up to the gentle sounds of 20 eunuchs standing outside your window, singing about taxes. Sounds like a weird dream I had a while ago.

Next, we have something about our usual tricksters, North Korea and Iran. Apparently the Indian Coast Guard picked up an empty North Korean cargo ship headed for Iran after it broke down in Indian waters. Why would an empty ship be headed for Iran? No one knows, and the crew's not saying anything. That's reassuring. As Mark Levenstein puts it in his blog, "I'm sure it was just a pleasure cruise."

A little bit closer to home, it seems that the confidence in Republican leadership has sunk to a new low. A dead woman (a Democrat) was elected county commissioner in Pierre, South Dakota over the Republican incumbent, 100 votes to 64. She had been dead for 2 months, so the voters knew about it and it wasn't an accident. Things aren't looking good for the Republicans. (Found at MSNBC)

Last but definitely not least, we have Season Shot, shotgun pellets that season the bird inside and out so you don't have to. You're able to cook the entire bird without having to worry about any of that nasty shot cracking your teeth when you eat it. It's not out yet, but it's in development. I readily await it's release.

The Robots Are Coming

2006-11-09T17:39:00.000-06:00

It seems like everyone's about to be able to have their own personal robots soon. Scientists at Stanford are trying to create a robot to do tasks around the house, such as load and unload the dishwasher or cleaning up around the house. They're tryingt o develop a rudimentary form of A.I. for the original designs, but also trying to go further with it. "The ultimate aim for artificial intelligence is to build a robot that can create and execute plans to achieve a goal."

"'Within a decade we hope to develop the technology that will make it useful to put a robot in every home and office.'"

They've got some big names backing them: "Funding for the project has come from the National Science Foundation, DARPA and industrial technology companies Intel, Honda, Ricoh and Google."

Should be...interesting.

Article

Dressing Guide For Men

2006-11-08T17:32:00.000-06:00

Very useful.

Finally...

2006-11-05T16:08:00.000-06:00

Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to hang, more than three years after his capture. He wanted to be killed by firing squad, but they refused his request.

It's not quite over, however. The verdict is automatically sent to a group of 9 judges for appeal, who can take as long as they want to decide and can call new witnesses. But once they decide the verdict has to be carried out in 30 days.

If you want to read more, take your pick of news services:

Sky News
Washington Post
Reuters
Bloomberg
ABC News

Pictures and Links! Happy!

2006-11-03T01:09:00.000-06:00

Ok, first off, another gallery. Except this one's a gallery of famous sites and landmarks, with souvenirs replacing them. Observe:

Most of them are like this one, held perfectly over the landmark, creating very strange and cool effects. Check it out.

Next, we have a wonderful pie chart showing how much of itself resembles Pac-Man. Very educational.

Now, a cool little thing called Drawing with Blue Water. Very neat.

Last for tonight, 40 Things That Can Only Happen in a Movie.

And with that, I'm going to watch Finding Forrester, because I'm not going to class tomorrow.

The Northern Lights

2006-11-02T11:19:00.000-06:00

I recently stumbled upon an amazing gallery of pictures of Aurora Borealis, taken by Bjorn Jorgenson. There are some really phenomenal shots on there. Here are a few of my favorites, but with more than 70 pictures in the gallery, I'm barely scratching the surface.

Now a little education, courtesy my Astronomy class. Aurora Borealis (and Aurora Australis, its southern counterpart) is formed when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetic field. Normally they are deflected around the earth by its magnetism, but near the poles the field forms almost a funnel shape, and the particles spiral down it towards the ground, creating the lights. But you know, it doesn't really matter how they happen, they're just really cool.

"The Vanishing Date"

2006-11-01T15:41:00.000-06:00

The Morning News, an online magazine I keep up with, had a feature for Halloween I found entertaining. They wrote the beginning of a "classic" Halloween spooky story, and had all of their writers write endings to it. This is the beginning, then my favorite ending, which was by Matthew Baldwin, the author of Defective Yeti, a blog I read (wow, that's a lot of commas).

The Beginning

As Henry pulled into the restaurant parking lot, he scanned the people lingering around the entrance and quickly identified his date by the ruby brooch on the shoulder of her wool coat.

“You’re early!” he said as he approached. “Susannah?”

“Henry!” she grinned. “Yes, I thought it would be easier if I let you figure out who I was; I hate introducing myself to strangers.”

“Well, if you had let me pick you up at your house,” he said, fake-accusingly.

“Let’s eat,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the door. “I’m starved.”

After dinner and a bottle of red wine, Henry was a little woozy as they walked back to the car. He was still drivable, though, and soon they were cruising down side roads, at Susannah’s direction, toward her house.

“There it is!” she said, pointing to an older house. The porch light was still on, even though it was nearly midnight. “Mom and Dad left the light on for me!” Henry slowed down to pull into the driveway, but her cold, small hand on his arm stopped him. “No, keep driving. I’m having too nice an evening.”

“All right,” Henry nodded dutifully. Eventually, they pulled into a local park. Henry turned off the car and turned to Susannah. He put his arm around her shoulders and was trying to pull her toward him when she jumped.

“Oh!” she said, putting her hand to her mouth in surprise. “I have to go!” Without another word, she broke from Henry’s grasp, opened the car door, and ran off into the dark.

Henry tried to follow her, but the alcohol was really beginning to work; he called her name for several minutes, to no avail. In the end, all he could do was get back in his car and drive home.

The next day, when he got into his car, he saw Susannah’s ruby brooch on the passenger’s seat. He backtracked through his memory of the evening and was able to find her parents’ house with surprising ease. He parked the car, grabbed the brooch, walked up the path, and rang the doorbell…

Matthew Baldwin's Ending

The woman who opened the door greeted him enthusiastically. “Welcome!” she cried. “Please, come inside.”

Henry stepped into the foyer of the mansion. “I, um—I’m looking for a girl,” he stammered.

“We know who you are,” cooed the woman. “And you’ve come to the right place.”

The woman stepped aside and gestured toward two beautiful ladies standing at the back of the room. Both were clad in magnificent gowns, and they eyed Henry with undisguised hunger.

An older man stood by their side, and he stepped forward to greet his guest. “You grace us with your presence, my lord,” he said with a bow. “These are my stepdaughters, and they have been eagerly awaiting your visit.”

“Oh. OK,” said Henry, confused. “Well, I have this brooch—”

“A brooch?” muttered the stepdaughter on the left. “But I thought—”

She and her sister exchanged crestfallen glances and then looked downward. For the first time Henry noticed that their shoes were soaked with blood.

A moment passed. “Never mind,” said the sister on the right. She hobbled forward, wincing with each step, then stopped before Henry and composed herself.

“It was I you danced with last night at the ball,” she said. “You have only to pin the brooch to my gown to know this as the truth.”

“The ball?” said Henry, his face the very picture of perplexity. He looked from one sister to the other, recognizing neither. “No, last night I—”

Then, abruptly, Henry’s befuddlement melted into chagrin. “Ohhhhh, no,” he moaned. He turned to father and asked, “What kind of story is this?”

“Oh, you know,” said the elder. “Fable. Thinly disguised morality tale, that sort of thing.” He jerked his head toward a doorway, through which Henry could see the kitchen. “I could bring out my real daughter, the cinder maid, if you want to cut to the chase.”

“No, no,” said Henry in embarrassment. “I—I think I’m at the wrong house. This was supposed to be, like, a spooky ghost story.”

Henry’s mortification deepened as the father burst out in laughter. “I’m so sorry to have bothered you,” Henry said sheepishly.

“No worries,” said the father, waving away the apology. “Happens all the time, to tell the truth. That’s the problem with these stories, you know: They never actually describe the house. It’s always just ‘her home’ or ‘an older house,’ so they all wind up looking the same.”

Henry visibly relaxed as the father continued. “We get folks from other genres here all the time. A coupla months ago we had a guy from a crime noir story. He kicked in the door, pulled a .38 special, and demanded to know where he could find ‘The Mook.’ We had a good laugh over that one, once we got it all sorted out.”

There was an awkward pause after the father finished chuckling. Eventually Henry broke the silence. “Look, I’ve kept you long enough,” he said. “I’ll get going and leave you alone.”

“Hang on,” said the father, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You said you were looking for a scary story? Well, look: This is one of those original fairy tales, not that Disneyfied crap. So if you want to hang out for a few more minutes, you might get a suitable ending after all.”

Henry looked dubious. “Probably not the ending you were expecting,” conceded the father. “But horror stories that end unexpectedly are always the best kind anyway.”

Having imposed on the family thus far, Henry figured it would be impolite to decline the father’s offer. So Henry agreed to stay. The cinder maid brought mugs of ale, and they sat at the table, swapping tales. The father groused about the three pigs that lived next door; Henry told of the time he had returned home from a date to find a hook on the handle of his car door.

Then, suddenly, the front window exploded inward, and a flock of pigeons burst into the room. The bird swarmed the two stepdaughters and pecked out their eyes!!

Thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.

“Awesome,” Henry said to their father. “Thanks!”

Read the other endings in the full article.