Ever since Ninja Assassin has come out (and a bit before), people around me keep looking at me and saying, “You know who’s in it? Rain, the Korean pop star!” Sometimes it will even be with people I thought were unaware of my obsession. Oops. I guess the secret is out of the bag! I love me some Kpop.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Right now, I’ve just been nodding and talking about how multi-talented Rain is. I mean, he is, right? He sings, dances, acts, produces, has his own clothing line… and more, I’m sure that I can’t even think of off the top of my head. GENIUS/INSANE?/HOT (unrelated, but still true)/RAAAAIN. But what if I started showing people Rain’s most recent music endeavors? I don’t think “Rainism” was a bad album at all, but the SONG “Rainism” still makes me giggle (as catchy as it is). BODY SHAKE! I just rewatched the performance for the first time in forever and the person in me who is used to Kpop doesn’t flinch, but if I imagine Kpop noobs watching it… well, it might not be pretty. Don’t lie! You know they’d laugh and wouldn’t understand.

SO. I started thinking. What would I replace “Rainism” with? If I’m looking for a song that is on the same level (i.e. not something “deep” or even a ballad), what would I choose? I can’t decide right now. That’s why I’m posting! I thought I would ask what you thought.

Even if you love Rainism, find a match for it that is more “American” friendly. I know that I got into Kpop for the campy stuff (I’m more discerning now!), but not everyone thinks the way I do. My brain is so fried from studying (why is my school so cruel? IT’S THANKSGIVING BREAK! NOT “BREAK-THE-FANGIRL”!), so I thought it would be fun to do something silly like this.

Whenever an author finishes a project, I’ve been told they celebrate.  The question is how?  Another novella of mine has just gone in to final production. Now I’m waiting to know when it’s going to be released.

Here’s some ideas I’ve come out with?
- eat a lot of chocolate.
- watch True Blood Season 1,
- have a romantic evening with my sweetie. 
- sleep in. (You might think this is funny, but I’m up early every morning even when I’m off from my day job.)

If you have any ideas, please, send them.  It’s raining still.  But I love the rain at night as it makes the world quiet.  It’s perfect to write.

Stem cell research looks like a very promising field for those who have macular degeneration and other retinal conditions. While it gives hope to many, the treatments are not really with us yet, and meanwhile some people in society have big ethical issues, especially with embryonic stem cell research. All I can do here is to try to present varying points of view without bringing in ethical comment either way. There are plenty of blogs and forums where these ethical questions are being discussed.

$16 Million Grant From State Stem Cell Agency To Speed Research Of Stem Cell-Based Treatment For Age-Related Macular Degeneration awarded to Southern California researchers. 

Stem Cell News Blog 
RSS Feed will keep you in touch with this and similar stories.

Adult cell self-renewal without stem cells? – macrophages from the immune system could provide the key.

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Advanced Cell Technology files an IND with the FDA for study using embryonic stem cells to treat SMD – an important story that could lead to treatments.

Dean Discusses Ethics of Stem Cell, Abortion – Vanguard

Experts warn against stem cell tourism – Yahoo!7 News – warning that in some parts of the world, unproven treatments are being offered to the unwary.

French develop human skin from stem cell

Newly published market report: Advances in the Stem Cell Industry

People facing blindness may pioneer stem-cell therapy – patients with Stargardt’s Disease may be the first to receive the Advanced Cell Technologies stem cell treatment.

[Video] Progress and Promise in Macular Degeneration – work at the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) on stem cells and other treatments for macular degeneration.

Race is on to use embryonic stem cells in humans – health – 25 November 2009 – New Scientist

Science shows that adult stem cells are better: Vatican official

Scientists find safer way to make human stem cells | Health | Reuters – Wisconsin researchers find a way of creating embryonic-like stem cells without exotic genes or viruses.

StemCells, Inc.’s Neural Stem Cells Show Promise for Treating Age-Related Macular Degeneration

[Video] StemCells Inc. using Neural Stem Cells for their Neuroprotective Effect – the company, how it got here, plans for treatments for spinal cord, brain and eye, evntually liver disease.

Steve Connor: Huge potential balanced against ethical fears – The Independent – the case of embryonic stem cells.

UCL to accelerate bringing stem cell therapies to clinic – University College London and its co-operation with California Institute of Regenerative Medicine hopes to speed stem cell treatment for macular degeneration.

When is a stem cell really a stem cell? – the process of turning skin cells into stem cells.

Last week I was over at a friend’s house apartment, for parties and stuff I guess (WHO THE HELL BURNS POPCORN? COME ON!), and near the end of the evening ended up playing some WoWzors.

It being the AV holiday weekend, and my paladin still needing a few honor pieces, I queued up for that and away I went, smashing faces in and so forth, whilst me and a couple other WoWheads discussed PvP balance.

We were initially talking about arena matrixes, and discussed how well unholy DK/ret/disc would run in 3.3. After all, Unholy’s getting a few buffs and ret isn’t being nerfed for once, and I casually mentioned that poor retribution had been nerfed every single patch since LK shipped.

And you know what my friend said? He said “yeah, and you guys are STILL overpowered!” I mean it was meant as a joke, his main is a death knight after all, but ARGH ret pallies aren’t OP anymore!

So a long discussion was launched, in which I enumerated the many areas with which ret paladins are seriously lacking, about the lack of control, snares, gap closers, interrupts, and so forth, all the while kicking ass in AV.

At the end of my lengthy tirade, the same friend spoke up and said “That’s great and all, but I just watched you kill fifteen people in under three minutes, by yourself, without using major cooldowns, and you were fighting no less than three of them at a time.”

Which was, of course, completely true. My defense?

“Well… yeah… but… they… uhh…”

I mean how do you say “I was better than they were in nearly every way” without sounding like a complete tool? I had better gear than them, I made few mistakes, they made many, I knew how to play defensively to win and how to use CC properly, they didn’t.

Which brings me to a completely different point.

The vast majority of people in battlegrounds have no idea how to PvP, in the broadest sense.

I’m not talking about how to PvP with their class. I’m not talking about, say, a hunter having no idea how to use traps/deflection/disengage properly or a mage not knowing when to use counterspell.

I’m talking about PvP in general. As in, PvP skills that you use no matter what class you play, no matter what game you play.

Defensive play, for one thing.

The number of people I meet who can play defensive is surprisingly low.

To use the broadest possible sense, there are two modes to PvP: offense and defense. At all times, you are trying to defeat your opponent (not necessarily killing them).

When you are in offense mode, you are actively trying to kill. A frost mage using Deep Freeze and unloading a hasted frostbolt and two ice lances into a target is offensive play.

When you are in defense mode, you are actively trying to survive. A frost mage ducking out of LOS for a split second to dodge Unstable Affliction is defensive play.

Proper defensive play can’t really be taught, you have to go out and consciously learn it. You can’t tunnel vision, you need to be aware of LOS, know how to use it properly, know how to prevent your opponent from using it, you need to be aware of what cooldowns you have and what cooldowns your opponent has.

I’ll give you a few examples to try and describe what I mean. Hopefully you learn something.

The scene: My ret paladin, wintergrasp, a southern workshop. 4 horde, including me, versus 9 alliance.

Largeish battle going on. A hunter disengages from a warrior, landing directly in front of me at half health. A quick crusader/judge later, the hunter bites the dust. I get hit with curse of agony and corruption, which means there’s an afflock out there. Destruction warlocks don’t use CoA and rarely use corruption, they use curse of elements, then immolate to fuel massive chaos bolt/conflagrate crits.

UA and haunt are coming right up, even though I don’t see the warlock yet.

I’m near a drop off, so I take a quick couple steps and drop out of LOS. Cleanse corruption… oh hey look, the warlock followed me! Standing right above me on the edge. Felhunter just dispelled Sacred Shield, which means the warlock can’t dispel anything from himself for 8 seconds. He’s too far away for me to melee, which means I can’t autoattack or get in any crusader strikes. But he’s in range of everything else. Hammer -> judge -> DS -> exorcism -> hammer of wrath -> dead warlock.

The scene: My ret paladin, warsong gulch, alliance tunnel. Myself versus a hunter and two ret paladins.

I’m currently exposed in the tunnel, a survival hunter at the top of the tunnel ramp and two ret paladins bearing down on me. Impossible odds. I duck right, out of LOS with the hunter, popping a quick FoL off before the rets are on me. I retreat, the hunter doesn’t follow, so I go out into the open to fight the two rets.

The draenei paladin is in deadly glad gear with the 219 axe from the Black Knight. The human paladin is in significantly better gear, 1800 rating relentless sword better gear.

Quick question. How do you beat someone in melee if their melee is way better than yours? Simple. Don’t.

The plan: if at all possible, avoid being in melee range of either ret paladin at all times. Fight using judgement, most likely every Art of War proc will be needed for healing. Use DS only when both paladins are close enough together for me to hit both of them. Judicious use of freedom (it counters JoJ), hammer, and repentance. Hit the draenei first, it’s a lot easier to fight a good player one on one if it actually is a one on one fight.

Both paladins seem extremely confused by my strategy, constantly running into melee range, then stopping for a few seconds before chasing me again. Almost as if they expect me to stay in melee range, you know… being a melee class and all.

Draenei paladin is dropping like nothing. So far, I’ve landed every DS on both of them every time, they’ve missed every single one of theirs. Learn to circle strafe guys!

Draenei pops Lay on Hands. I laugh. Goddamn OP ret paladins! I bubble at 4% HP (autoattack for 5k whut), but only heal myself back to 60%. That draenei needs to die. CC chain on the good paladin (repentance, HoJ, belf silence) while I click off divine shield and go full out melee. Draenei dies, but it cost me. Human pally trinketed out of repentance and nearly killed me.

Low health, low mana, ret paladin mirror match, except he’s got better gear and weaponry than I do. The plan? Just stay out of melee range, attacking via judgement only. Using Art of War procs, get myself back up to full, then simply delay long enough for hammer to come back up.

Wings + AP trinket + Hammer = dead ret paladin.

I win, and I’m left wondering why a paladin with an 1800 weapon didn’t freedom HoJ. Maybe I’m blind and it was actually a blue polearm or something.

The scene: Euripedes, arcane shatter spec alone at Lumber Mill, owned by alliance, having just defeated the moonkin/horribly undergeared resto shaman (17k hp) guarding the place.

Half a second away from capping the stupid flag, a warrior charges me out of nowhere. Damn it, I hate it when they do that. Night elf warriors… I swear those dudes just stealth and watch you, waiting for the best worst possible moment to enter the fray.

Whatever, sheep the warrior, it lasts 10 seconds, capping the flag takes 8. I got this. Aaaand there’s a trinket, and ow, that was 70% of my hitpoints just now. Friggin PvE geared raiders.

Root the warrior, keep slow up at all times, bounce ice lance off spell reflect, throw in the odd arcane barrage so maybe he thinks I’m actually trying to beat him. Just stay the hell away from him, that’s the plan.

Poly DR wears off, I throw a full duration poly on him, and evocate. Pop AP; a couple 11k frostbolt crits later and it’s all over.

The scene: My warrior, 30-39 bracket, versus another warrior of equal level.

The opposing warrior is at full health, I’m at 40%, having fought fierce fights. No horde anywhere to be seen, but there’s a few rezzing soon, including my healbot druid.

The plan: sword and board, kite the opposing warrior back to the graveyard. When my healer’s back, bust out the arcanite reaper and put this warrior down.

Hamstring the warrior, thunder clap for the melee attack speed reduction (I probably don’t need it, but why take the risk?), waltz away from him while he follows me like he’s trying to fight a frost mage. No juggernaut yet, can’t charge in combat. Combat drops, I charge him first, refresh hamstring and thunder clap, again running away. I see him swap to Fury stance, which means an intercept is coming right up. I pop shield wall.

He intercepts, and the followup heroic strike/overpower combo hits me hard enough to have killed me had I not used shield wall. Hamstring, run away, intercept him myself for the stun and keep running. Druid’s respawned and is on his way, but I still need to buy some time. I pop Intimidating Shout.

PHOOM oh I have never been so glad to see a Healing Touch. 16% health, jeez. Disarm the warrior, bust out the 2H, he goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Grading 2.0: Evaluation in the Digital Age

Here’s an interesting commentary by George Siemens (Athabasca U) on a current discussion about updating grading tools and strategies. He argues that grading is a waste of time and that we should “question the model, don’t modernize it.” What do you think?

One year ago this evening, we sent out the preliminary version of Ballistics By The Inch to a few friends. That day we had a total of 146 hits to the site. Within days, we were getting tens of thousands of hits.

And since then, we’ve had a total of 1,572,698.

When we first started talking about doing this, Jim Kasper had a hard time believing that more than a few thousand people would be interested in our project. I figured that it would be popular, but I never really expected this level of interest. And I would like to say thanks to everyone who has posted on their favorite gun forum about our project, or sent a note to a friend about it, and thereby helped to spread the word. We’ve had some good press along the way: Dark Roasted Blend gave us a link the first week the site was up, The Firearm Blog not only did a post in those first few days, but Steve graciously covered our “2.0″ version earlier this year when we added three more calibers and a bunch of real world guns. In April 2009 Concealed Carry Magazine had a nice piece about the project. Ammoland covered it in June. Just recently I had a great interview with Doc Wesson at the Gun Nation Podcast.

We’ve been Stumbled Upon, discussed on The High Road and The Firing Line, chatted about in the Defensive Carry forum, talked about on Glock Talk, referenced on the Survival Blog, cited on AR15.com, and occasionally found to be Something Awful.

In all honesty, it is no longer possible for me to keep track of all of the places where BBTI has been mentioned around the globe, or even keep tally on the languages used to discuss our project. And I can only imagine how it will continue to propagate. Particularly since we’re not stopping here.

What do I mean? Well, plans are already underway for new tests in the coming year, and we’ve begun to discuss amongst ourselves what else we would like to try to tackle in the future. First, what is already well in the planning & preparation stage:

Announcing the Cylinder Gap Test!

We’ve had a Single Action Army clone in .357 magnum modified to allow for adjusting the barrel position from a standard 0.006″ to 0.001″ to no gap (barrel snug against the cylinder). We have a dozen or so different ammunition loads in .38/.357, and we’ll be essentially repeating the BBTI procedure for each of these, with the normal gap then the minimum gap then without any gap, starting with an 18″ barrel and going down in increments of one inch to just 1″ . Actually, one slight difference – to make sure we get a better statistical sample, we’ll be firing 10 (ten) rounds of each type of ammunition at each point rather than just 3 (three) as we did with the BBTI tests. Because we are limiting this test to just one caliber, we thought this was a reasonable step to take. We hope that this will allow us to conclude with some actual data what the effect of having a cylinder gap in a revolver actually amounts to.

We’ll probably be conducting these tests in the spring of 2010, and if past experience is any guide will have the new data sets available on the BBTI site sometime a couple of months later. We’ll keep you posted!

Other testing ideas for further down the line include an interest in obtaining objective measurements (using equipment and protocols which anyone can repeat fairly easily) for both muzzle flash and ‘felt recoil’. And, of course, we’ve also discussed expanding our standard BBTI tests to include rifle cartridges and rimfire cartridges, since these questions come up all the time. But we’ll see what the future holds.

Again, thanks to one and all who helped make the Ballistics By The Inch project a phenomenal success over the past year. Hard to believe we’ve gone as far as we have.

Jim Downey

(Cross posted to my personal blog.)

Hi Everyone,

BB is out sick today, so here’s sending get well wishes.  You’ll see BB again next week, I’m sure.

This morning after a busy and fun day with family, I spent some time sitting with my little dog Pete.  He’s ten years old and starting to feel his age.  Pete rested his head against my heart and snored away. 

He actually has big brown eyes though you can’t tell by the photo.  That’s his toy sheep beside him.  He waiting for someone at the top of the stairs.  Pete is the devoted waiting soul. 

I probably should take a lesson from Pete and be more patient with things.  Today I’ve stepped back from Black Friday (ultimate shopping mayhem in the United States, which started yesterday). People waited in lines all night for a chance to get some items at bargain.  I’m staying home with the family and Pete.  I have lots of computer work to do today anyway. 

May your day be filled with love and be warm as a puppy.  It’s raining outside.

“No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.” ~Proverbs 21:30

It has been a trying couple of weeks. I’ve been assaulted by all manner of strange philosophies and ideologies that claim Christ as their core, and yet they seem as far from Christ as possible. As one who associates with a certain subculture, I find it so frustrating to see self-professing Christians use awkwardly interpreted Scriptures to justify their actions and associations, and then stop there. As if they want to move forward in their hobbies and interests and pull the Christian card only when it’s convenient.

As a Side Note: Let me just say this, if you have to search the Scriptures for some loophole to justify whatever it is that you are doing, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it. I have seen people search for loopholes to justify tattoos, piercings, clothing styles, listening to certain types of music, having a drink of alcohol, smoking, or whatever else it may be that they desire to do. If you are fighting your conscience on a matter, let your conscience win because how much greater is God than your own conscience? Tattoos, piercings, etc. (I’m picking on those because they are the silliest matters I’ve seen addressed) are not for everybody. If you are starting to feel a pang of guilt for considering that cool tattoo you want to get, don’t get it. It might not be for you at the moment, or it may not be for you at all.

What part of LORD do we not understand? Are we not to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship? Do we not know that we are not our own, for we were bought at a price? It as if we are more concerned with being our own unique individual self, than we are about denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily, and following the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed us with His Blood on Calvary.

Lord, help us. We are so weak, and we are so feeble.

Over the past few weeks I have listened to a man who is more interested in gathering disciples for himself, and convincing others that he has the right answers, than he is in seeking the Scriptures and giving his life over to God. A man who wants so much to be some grand spiritual leader, and yet his fruit bears witness to the spiritual death that is inside of him. And he is so enchanted by his own self grandeur, in love with his idols of education and antiquity, that I can’t help but to be reminded of the Word which says:

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

~2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

And it hurts because we’ve had this conversation, we’ve been down this trail, and that tree looks all too familiar.

Somehow, it seems that Christ isn’t important or exciting anymore. That He has somehow bored us, and now we have to dress Him up in the latest fashions just to keep Him relevant and inviting to ourselves and to the culture around us. It is absolutely ridiculous the idolatry that we have found ourselves in. And more and more as I see the culture around me, and Christians who look more like the culture around me than they do Christ, I’m starting to wonder where did it all go wrong.

When did Christ become not enough? When did the cries of Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria become so offensive and trite that we simply let them fade away? It seems now, that what matters most is that we be inviting and welcoming with a message that reaches out to the community, and -as far as I have seen- more often than not, that message is a watered down gospel cluttered with all manner of gimmicks and funny jokes to make it entertaining and look attractive to a dying world that revels in its own decay.

THE GOSPEL IS AN OFFENSE to those that are perishing. THE CROSS IS AN OFFENSE to those that deny Christ as Lord and Savior. Watering down the gospel, or smoothing off the rough edges of the cross (to paraphrase C. H. Spurgeon), is to rob God. Are we somehow more loving and more wise than our Father in Heaven that we try to take the offense out of that which is incredibly offensive?

Man is wicked and at enmity with God. Man is on a fast lane speeding towards Hell with a smile on his face. Man is making merry to eternal damnation, and unless we tell him how offensive and heinous his sin is to God, and what Christ has done that men might be saved, man will continue happily on his way to an eternity that stops in the full presence of God’s wrath.

I am fearful also, that there are a number of people who call themselves Christians, that have gone to church all their lives, that have done all the churchy things expected of them, who were at every Sunday service, and maybe at various midweek and home services, that will stand before God and hear those terrible words, “Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you!” When our lives have no sign of change, when sin is of no importance to us, when holiness means nothing to us, when Christ is a subject we already know all about, when we live like the devil (to paraphrase Paul Washer) shouldn’t we be terrified?

How is your life any different now from before you knew Christ?

The Manhattan Declaration was encouraging, but I’m afraid it is not enough. Spurring us to act in regards to certain moral issues with a piece of paper signed by Christian and Christian-like religious leaders is heart breaking. Why should we be compelled to do that which we should have been doing from the beginning? Should it not be second nature for us to oppose the murder of unborn children? Should it not be second nature for us to oppose the various sexually immoral unions and encounters that we are being pressured into approving? Why does it take a piece of paper to get some of us to act? Why haven’t we already been taking to the streets with the GOSPEL!?

What makes our lives different from the unbelieving? Is there something that obviously sets us apart from the world around us beyond our words? Do our neighbors look at us and know something is different about our lives? Or are we simply content with putting on a t-shirt that says “Jesus” in a logo similar to that of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, instead of putting on Christ each and every day?

I am tired of lukewarm Christianity. I am tired of the “Have it Your Way” fast food gospel. I’m tired of churchianity and a church culture that denies Christ and promotes a life given to moralistic deism.

It is as if somehow our wisdom, our understanding, and our counsel are greater than God’s. Somehow we’ve become more intelligent, more gentle, more loving, and more peaceful than God. And this blasphemy is taking us, and the world, straight to Hell.

Lord, help us. We are weak, and we are feeble.

“No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.” ~Proverbs 21:30

3020854    อภิปรายปัญหาผู้ป่วย    Case Discussion

การอภิปรายปัญหาของผู้ป่วยรายที่น่าสนใจเป็นพิเศษ เพื่อให้เกิดความรู้อย่างกว้างขวางในด้านต่างๆ เกี่ยวกับโรคแต่ละชนิด

(Discussion of special case problems to further the knowledge of that particular disease.)

(3020854 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

I don't use the forum WrongPlanet anymore, but find it to be one of the best Asperger's forums out there at the present. It's not on par with a couple other Asperger's-related boards that I frequent, but the people there are a lot more caring and supportive than they are on some other boards I've been on.

I decided to type this blog-entry up after pondering all of the present Asperger's forums I know of and realizing that WrongPlanet, even though it has its flaws, is still a somewhat decent Asperger's forum to use.

One thing I recommend is that you stay clear of the Adult Autism Issues & Random Discussion parts of the board since they are loaded with extremely trivial threads (I created some myself back when I used to frequent the site – pretty much everyone there does.)

Posted via email from HikiCulture – A Forum for Reclusive People (and Hikikomori) {hikiculture.com site blog}

I want to let you people know of a great board that is somewhat similar to HikiCulture; the board is called A Lonely Life.

I don't think that the people at ALonelyLife are quite as reclusive as the people on HikiCulture, but it's still a pretty similar board.

Posted via email from HikiCulture – A Forum for Reclusive People (and Hikikomori) {hikiculture.com site blog}

THE COOLING EARTH

Nowadays it is fashionable to talk and write about global warming; so much so that it may sound like blasphemy if I say that the Earth is cooling. But it is a simple fact that all members of the solar system except the Sun are in fact cooling off continuously from the time of inception. Any hot body will shed its heat until its temperature corresponds to the temperature of its environment. If we consider the Earth as a whole, including its atmosphere, the temperature may be roughly 250 degree C more than the outer space. It’s inevitable that the earth must cool off, for a considerable time to come.

 Heat received by the Earth from the Sun is neglible, beyond 55 degree north and 55 degree south latitude. The slanting sunrays will not produce any worthwhile heat. Again, the heat received in the middle region up to 8 am and after 5 pm can be ignored. Whatever heat is absorbed between 8 am and 5 pm is lost during the night! All this is in summer. In winter sunlight has no effect at all.

 “But we have striking and sufficient evidence that the superficial shell of the globe is not only heated above that of the ambient air, by the action of its own deep-seated fires”  (Physical Geography by Thomas Milner)

 How does the earth remain warm? We must look inwards for an answer. The interior of the earth is very hot (The reasons have been explained in the article below on Gravity). The temperature may be thousands of degrees C. Slowly this heat seeps outwards. As we go down the earth it becomes extremely hot. Heat may be transferred from the interior to the surface of the earth by the process of conduction. Heat is also transferred by water molecules. If there is no water in the oceans, the ocean beds would be extremely hot. But actually the temperature of the water in ocean beds may be of the order of 3 degree C. This is because of convection currents caused by the ice caps in the Polar Regions and the hot cauldron of sea bed below. This can be proved by a simple experiment.

 A drum filled with water may be heated from below and cooled by a block of ice floating above. If you measure the temperature, you may find the water slightly warmer below the ice block than the water at the bottom of the drum. Water molecules, absorbing heat at the bottom, travel up and ice cooled water from the top comes down. In the same way hot water from the sea bed goes up and water (at 0 degree C) below the polar ice cap travels down towards the sea bed. This way heat from the interior of the earth is slowly transferred to the sea water. Eventually this heat is transmitted to outer space.

 There is another less known mechanism of heat transfer, from the interior of the earth. Water molecules are driven towards the ocean beds under tremendous pressure. We know how it is, if it rains continuously for a few days! What if it rains for 365 days? Or imagine a water tank constructed in a field (bottom being earth without water) the height of the tank being 6kms. Well, this is how the ocean bed is! The constant pounding of the ocean bed by the pressure of up to 1000 atmospheres, makes the earth pulpy and water infiltrates down. Marine geologists tell us that the terrain below the ocean is not much different from the terrain of the continents. When the surface temperature of the earth was higher than 100 degree C, there was no water in the seas. There was no difference between land and sea. It was all land. The sea bed was normal height of the plain. The continents are merely plains of greater height like Tibetan plateau we are familiar with. There are mountains and valleys in the ocean beds also. Tunnels and caves we find in the continent are there in the sea beds too. These will get filled with water; under high temperature, acquired from geo-thermal energy and high pressure, the water becomes super heated steam. Water goes down but steam presses up and ultimately finds its way to the ocean. There are about 30 thousand volcanoes and any number of hot springs in the ocean through which heat continuously comes out. This may, perhaps, be the source of hot currents in the ocean.

 The oceans can never be heated from above. The warm layer of water formed by sun rays cannot travel down and will become cool before the next day break. The ice cold water from the Polar region will sink to the ocean bed, never to rise up, unless heated by the earth. Ultimately, the whole ocean will become a block of ice if the earth is heated only from above by the Sun.

 Let us now look at a strange thing about the Earth. The Arctic Circle is comparatively well populated with Eskimo’s etc living permanently there. The corresponding region in the Antarctic Circle is extremely cold and inhospitable. Man makes his presence felt in this region only in the southern summer. The reasons are obvious. The Arctic region being land locked, there are any number of hot springs there, (see my article on Saraswati ) warming the atmosphere. On the other hand the Antarctica is surrounded by deep oceans : the Pacific ocean on one side and the Indian ocean on the opposite side. There must be hot springs in this region also; but being too deep the warm waters get cooled.\

From the above discussion one thing is clear – the earth is kept warm by geo thermal energy, and not by the heat from the Sun. Today life forms depend very much on sunlight; but the bottom of the sea too contains even developed life forms. Tomorrow if the sun suddenly disappears, I am sure mother Earth will continue to nurture her children, giving the warmth from her own bosom.

 If you look at the map of the world, you will find that the whole of the hemisphere on the Pacific side and 90 % of the southern hemisphere is water. Comparatively few points of the continent comprise of urban areas. Industrial activity in these urban centers can contribute but a miniscule percentage to global warming, which has been going on much before industrialization. (see para on CO₂)

 Therefore, all this hullabaloo about global warming may be unwarranted.

According to one theory, ‘Ice Age’ occurs every 18,000 years or so. The warming earth melts the polar ice cap, and the ice cold water comes down to northern Canada, Europe and northern Siberia. This will cause severe winter and the whole area will be covered with ice ushering in another ‘Ice Age’. The cycle repeats itself.

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I have ever known.”
-Chuck Palahniuk

Family functions always make me feel unsettled. It’s not the family (well, ok part of it is. The fact that my seven year old niece was trying to attack me with her pink DS—yeah. At least I’m still faster than her and can still grab her by the wrist and give her a spanking). It’s not the forced smiles and polite conversations. It’s…

Well. I feel less like myself than I do when I’m around my family.

“You look more like your dad everyday!”

“You really take after your mom. Look at you cleaning up.”

“Oh, your sweet potatoes taste just like your Aunt Ester’s before she died.”

“Applying to PhD programs? You’re so ambitious like your grandmother!”

My response:

“…..pass me the green beans, please.”

I’ve always prided myself on being myself. Being an individual. Not quite an independent yet, but being…well. Myself. Family functions tend to whittle that sense of self (and esteem) down.

This brings me to the idea of blended genre. Lately, the line between poetry and nonfiction and fiction has blurred. Ever since the James Frey incident, the idea of truth and “T”ruth has undergone a re-definition. When you write nonfiction, there’s also the idea of the “creative” nonfiction. The things you omit to make a better story, the dialogue you don’t remember as well, things that are meant to add to the agenda you have as the author. Then there’s straight reportage nonfiction, although supposed to be unbiased, contains the thoughts and point of view of the one writing. There’s all in how you tell the story.

This is made true even more in poetry. Consider this:

Poetry can be narrative, lyrical, experimental, or confessional (Combinations within these are made. However they tend to have one more dominant than the other).

Now if you consider this, there’s also form:

free, blank, form poem (sonnet, sestina, etc.), and prose poem

If you take the confessional/narrative prose poem and take a short creative nonfiction piece, what is the difference?

Isn’t writing meant to share an emotion or an experience? Entertain while evoking some sort of resonance? If writing is meant to do the same thing, what is said of the lines that separate them from each other? A fictional piece can be based on true experiences and accounts. What does it add to say that it is fiction as opposed to “truth?”

Poetry, I believe is in a strange space, as poetry is instinctively set as “truth” and personal. When it is seen as invented—or a construct, well. I was told that “if you’re going to write a bunch of lies, write fiction.”

But what if these lies are true to me? I don’t have to have seen an actual pair of burnt children’s socks lying in the road to feel the slight sadness and fear the image brings up.

Does what I imagine or think make things less true for myself?

I don’t have the answers. And until I am told that my writing falls under different guidelines or rules, I’m going to work to produce the best damn writing I can produce, whether it be “poetry,” “fiction,” or “nonfiction.” Whether it be “truth” or “The Truth.”

This brings me back to the whole thing about being told that I am made up of the traits of my family members before me. Whether I am “my mother’s child” or really “so much like [my] father.” Whether it be because I have the blood of my grandmother and the spirit of my aunt and/or uncles—I am myself.

They all do agree about one thing though about me.

“So…what do you do with a creative writing degree? Do you want to teach?”

My response:

“……..excuse me, I think I hear my sister calling me.”

The buzz about Helsinki and Eindhoven competing for the World Design Capital 2012 started this spring.

Helsinki is the city I got my design education and lived for over 3 years. Eindhoven is the city I visited very often for over a year and it had inspired my thesis work with its contemporary art museum – Van Abbe Museum.

I have strong emotional bound for both cities. It is very exciting for me to see who in the end would win – though usually this kind of competition would end up by measuring competitors’ marketing effort.

And the marketing effort of Helsinki – the willing to invest – shows here in the promotional video Jussi posted. It was neatly done. Good job, folks (yep, Helsinki folks almost felt like my folks now, seeing those familiar images in the video.)

On the other hand, Eindhoven, what can I say? I can’t find any promotional video on major video sites. In the end I found it here in their gov website – Regardless its low resolution, it’s not even embeddable! No embeddable videos, no tweets, no website, no blog, no facebook group – while Helsinki has it all, the Eindhoven marketing strategy failed in the first place.

If we watch and compare the two videos, Helsinki video not only obviously exceeded in color composition and post-production editing, more importantly, it won over the story telling.

Both videos tried to showcase their beloved designers/brands, good-design products and design heritage from history,  but Eindhoven video fell plainly as a photo gallery browser, while Helsinki video told good stories on how the design mentality has pervaded into everyday life and every generation.

Helsinki tried to say, design is not just great products – it’s a way of life, a belief of how we should live.

Yep, there are quite a bit marketing cliche in the video (Little boy holding paper horse; little girl dreaming of being an artist…etc.) But overall, it was quite good. Helsinki video added just enough “human factor” in the plain facts: Design is not about celebrity, not about icons & idols, design is about people and life.

Who said Finns are engineers with brilliant idea but don’t know how to promote? And who else said Dutch are good at selling and marketing?

The cultural stereotypes seem changing

Here is the statistics from famous Richard Florida, showing a moving overview of world central cities changing in the past millennium.

Though I believe both Helsinki and Eindhove are equally proud of their design history, I applause for Helsinki’s fierce fight (reads: concrete cash investment) on getting the WDC2012 crown, even tho it’s just a 2-year-fame.

Surely there are defending from my Dutch friends: Helsinki is the capital of Finland and the entire country is bidding on it; whereas Netherlands are quite decentralized by many large & exciting cities, and Eindoven could only pay for the battle out of their municipal gov pocket.

Well, the game is fair.

Netherlands is located in western Europe. The geographical advantages assured its long and proliferate history. It industrialized early, gained wealth, inherited reputation in the past centuries. Meanwhile, Finland was “somewhere in the Lapland” – cold dark barbarian land.

Time flies. In the postmodern time, Darwin’s law still applies: The fittest survives. Finland has adapted to the  third industrial revolution very well, invested in knowledge economy, and embraced the internet/mobile era wholeheartedly.

In “the world is spiky” theory, we know world talents are attracted to the cities where creative freedom is encouraged, social openness cultivated. Helsinki bet on getting the fame of a world-class modern city, getting out of the polar bear jungle , and finally getting the so-called creative class clustering here. It planned the strategy before the war was claimed.

I totally admire Dutch design and tradition, however, if talking about ambition and vision, the battle was long over, result clear. At least Helsinki welcomed many international kids like me. It explains a lot

–

(ps, almost felt like a broker after the writing. ;p)

Congratulations Helsinki!

The drummer of the german band “ton, steine, scherben”, who were  famous in the 1970s, destroys a table in a live television show.

I have a few vegetables in the cupboard that I am struggling to find recipes for and thought I’d share this problem with you to see if anyone can help me out! This is what I have: a sweet dumpling squash (no, I still haven’t made anything with it), some chicory roots, some black turnips, some beetroot and a chinese cabbage. Now, some of you might be asking  why on Earth I happen to have chicory roots and black turnips in stock and you’d be quite entitled to that question. If it wasn’t for the organic vegetable box that I receive once a week I proabably would never have bought them.

I have a recipe for Pumpkin Pie that I think I will use the sweet dumpling squash for, so that is sorted. The Chinese cabbage came with a recipe in the organic box which I’ll try.  The beetroot I’m sure will go nicely with some goat’s cheese or something like that. So that just leaves me with the Black turnips and Chicory roots and I am really struggling…

The black turnips look exactly like black radishes – are they the same I wonder? Google turns out a site for Black Turnip Shampoo “for thinnig , fragile hair”…useful. Do you have any suggestions?

I am more worried about the Chicory roots however. Yesterday I cut a slice off one of them to see what it tasted like…I regreted it for a couple of hours afterwards. It was so bitter that it tasted like chewing on elastic bands, but worse – you’ve never done that? Take my word for it, they taste bitter. I googled it and mainly come up with recipes to roast and dry them and grind to use as an alternative to coffee! I really need some help with these or they are going to come on a walk with us past the horses very soon!

Outils ‹ Sex and ze kitty — WordPress.

The newest celebrity feud is between no other than movie-mogul directors Spike Lee and Tyler Perry. Both venomously disagree about the images and narratives that should be portrayed in African Americans in films. Watch these videos, and decide for yourself. What do you think?

“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavor, but I still think that a lot of stuff that’s on today is coonery buffoonery…the imagery is troubling and it hearkens back to Amos n Andy” – Spike Lee

“It’s attitudes like that that make Hollywood think that these people do not exist, and that’s why there’s no material speaking to them, speaking to us” – Tyler Perry

Click on this link to read an article that offers another point of view that I think is very interesting

the time for gift exchange is here again. The time of the year, where consumer spending increases exponentially. Is chocolate going to the first thing that comes to your mind again? Personally for me, getting gifts require some talent and of course some luck.

Why talent?

In today context, where gifts are not just gifts. Alot of times, the thought is what it doesnt count. The gift has to be an object of practicality or value to the person receiving it. It’s not just a pure WRAP and GIVE procedure. Giving the wrong gifts come with consequences. The person receiving it will create a new perception of you when he/she unwraps the gift.

An example would be,

“OMG! What is this?! Totally useless.”

or

“OMG! This is so sweet. I love him/her to the max!”

or

“*sigh* Chocolates again.”

Now that you see the possible reactions one might have after receiving a gift, wouldn’t you give much more thought into what you buy? YOU NEED TO SERIOUSLY THINK ABOUT IT.

And there are times when you might just simply get what he wants but not what you want him to have. An example would be the following,

Getting him the latest Gizmos might make his day but not yours. Why? Cos it would mean YOUR TIME with him will become ITS TIME. So think twice about getting presents that fall in this category.

Some simple present ideas will be

1. A watch/tie/wallet (if u know he needs it)
2. Fragrance
3. A shirt or tee shirt (you’d better know his size)
4. Or customizing something to make it personal(Girls like this, but it does not necessarily mean that all guys do too)

Why luck?

Cos there are times when you just head out to shopping clueless. And after you spend hours strolling aimlessly in those retail outlets, you feel depressed and start to carry your heavy feet and head towards the MRT station instead. Home sweet home. And as you head back, you come across an object that caught your eye and your mind. THERE IT IS. The one thing that you are looking for.

All that is left to do is to get it to the counter, pay and get it wrapped. Now you see, luck is an important factor in gift selection.

There’s an easy way out of course.

READ THEIR WISHLIST IF THEY DO HAVE ONE.

Delirium: Temporary mental disturbance, a state marked by extreme restlessness, confusion, and sometimes hallucinations, caused by fever, poisoning, or brain injury. From the dictionary.

You’ve read correctly. I can only hope this state is temporary otherwise strange might become disturbed. That means me people. As some of you know, I’m a superhero by day who’s an evil mastermind by night. Well, that’s my version of the story. The one I’m going to sticking to. Here are some musts for an evil master mind hatching a plan:

Ice cream – Chocolate Cherry preferably for brainstorming sessions

Duck tape – Handy in any emergency

Number two pencil – For tucking behind the ear

Spandex – Need I, explain?

I think a plan involving mermaids, a ship and muffins would be just the thing to take over the world, but I need to do further research on the matter. I’m nearly sure I’m not in a state of delirium but I can’t promise you anything as the word also means, a state of extreme excitement or emotion. This could be the state I’m in, given I’m so close to cracking the secret of how they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar.

http://www.canada.en.cadbury.com/ourbrands/featurebrands/PublishingImages/caramilk_bar.jpg
 
However, I have no clue who, Bob from the Doritos commercials in the eighties/nineties was. If any of you have any information that can help me solve this eleventh wonder in my mind, please do so. Fabulous, I just came up with a concept for another story by writing this blog. Back to work.

Mason
a.c.Mason 
www.acmason.com