Thursday, April 21, 2022
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Friday, April 15, 2022
The cause of Freedom
This came from a man who was a socialist. I suppose that some people have different ideas about what is "freedom".
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Solving The Problem Of Human Perception | Jordan Peterson Lecture at The University of Cambridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgSnS-z4JU
Jordan Peterson went through at least 18 months of suffering because of illness, so he often gets emotional in his lectures when previously he was cool as a cucumber.
He talks at such a high intellectual level that it takes effort to keep up. He covers many topics and jumps around so much that sometimes you wonder if you are listening to a crazy person. He does a halfway good job of tying it all together, but I feel like he could be more succinct.
He quickly gets to the point before moving on to related topics. Then he wraps it all together with a conclusion.
His claim is that we perceive the meaning or the utility of objects rather than just the objects. Since we are talking about automatic mental processes, it is hard to say in what order the brain processes information. Maybe we first recognize the object and then its function. Maybe function is so tied to our perception that we perceive it simultaneously. Since it is hard to know, does it really matter?
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
10 Years On Mars: Curiosity Finds Plastic Debris!
https://youtu.be/wZr9Nnw5Hlo
How ironic it would be if Curiosity were to find plastic on Mars not caused by humans. They say plastic can last forever. How about a billion years?
Best wishes,
John Coffey
How ironic it would be if Curiosity were to find plastic on Mars not caused by humans. They say plastic can last forever. How about a billion years?
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Wordle
A friend introduced me to Wordle, a puzzle game on the New York Times web page. It is a guessing game where you try to guess a five-letter word. Any correct letter will show up in yellow, or green if it is in the correct position. You have six chances to guess the word.
The on-screen keyboard helps you because it shows which letters have succeeded or failed so far. In my second and third guesses, I tried to use new letters so that I could narrow down the answer.
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Pigtail
I found myself wondering why a style of hair would be called a pigtail.
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
The Ugly, Dangerous, and Inefficient Stroads found all over the US & Canada
I find this interesting. I like having neighborhoods where I can walk and ride my bicycle.
In a hypothetical future world, you might have trains that could take you anywhere you want to go within a few blocks. It might be too costly. However, roads tend to get more crowded over time.
There is a famous old science fiction story called, "The Roads Must Roll", where a future society has high-speed people conveyors, like the slow ones you see at airports. These are massive where you could go to a movie theater or shopping on the road while it is moving. The closest we might ever come to something like this is a train.
The most convenient form of transportation is automobiles, but you need much infrastructure to support it.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Piecing together the history of jigsaw puzzles - CBS News
The very first jigsaw puzzle is said to have been made by London mapmaker John Spilsbury in the 1760s. "He pasted a map onto a thin piece of wood, and he used a scroll saw to cut it up; England would be one piece, Germany would be another piece," said Anne Williams, a jigsaw puzzle historian and author of "The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History."
"He marketed these to the very affluent and influential people as a tool to teach their children geography."
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Friday, October 22, 2021
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Jimmy Crack Corn
I had a memory of Bugs Bunny singing this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsZRqAR1SBU It took me like 3 seconds to find it on youtube.
I was thinking about how politically incorrect it was. You probably couldn't use it today. I'm surprised the cartoon is not banned.
I think I remember singing it in school 50 years ago as part of music class.
Monday, October 11, 2021
Quotes for Each of the 9 Enneagram Types
The most dangerous way we sabotage ourselves is by waiting for the perfect moment to begin. Nothing works perfectly the first time, or the first 50 times. Everything has a learning curve. The beginning is just that — a beginning. Surrender your desire to do it flawlessly on the first try. It's not possible. Learn to learn. Learn to fail. Learn to learn from failing. And begin today. Begin now. Stop waiting.
— Vironika Tugaleva
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.
— Seth Godin
With confidence, you have won before you have started.
— Marcus Garvey
— Vironika Tugaleva
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.
— Seth Godin
With confidence, you have won before you have started.
— Marcus Garvey
https://www.inspiringquotes.com/quotes-for-each-of-the-9-enneagram-types/YQrGnlWlGwAHCGVq
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Thursday, September 9, 2021
What is the Milky Way?
Light and other electromagnetic radiation from parts of the galaxy take tens of thousands of years to reach us. This makes me wonder if our image of the galaxy is based on what we see now, or based on where we expect stars to be right now?
https://www.universetoday.com/106062/what-is-the-milky-way-2/
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Buscuits
Occasionally I make biscuits. It is clear that the "Grands!" style biscuits, which Walmart has their own cheaper brand of "Jumbo" biscuits, are the best tasting, and I do like them, but it is no wonder they taste good since they have 5 grams of sugar per biscuit. This might not be an issue for most people, but I want to avoid too much sugar. So I looked for alternatives. The smaller biscuits are cheaper overall, not that cost is an issue, and they have 40% less sugar. It takes 3 small biscuits to equal the weight of one large one, and the label confirms this by listing 3 biscuits as one serving, which has 40% less sugar.
It is the smaller size that is the problem. The instructions say to "cook until golden brown", but if you do that then the entire biscuit wants to turn golden brown and they can come out too dry. You can undercook them, in which case they come out white and soft and pretty edible, but I don't like the small size for putting jam or peanut butter on them.
So this got me thinking. Since it is just dough, I can make whatever size biscuit I want with them. I tried combining pairs of biscuits into balls and these turned out like little dinner rolls. The first batch I overcooked and they were slightly crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, and this was interesting. In the second batch, I cooked them less and they came out like soft dinner rolls and these were pretty good.
On my third batch, I didn't want to go to the trouble of combining pairs of biscuits into balls, so I just baked the biscuits with one on top of another. I combined two cans of ten biscuits to get ten double-height biscuits. Not only was this easier, but I felt like this was my best result yet. I had to cook them for 20 minutes, but they came out like slightly smaller versions of the Grands biscuits, and they were pretty good. They aren't quite as good as the high sugar biscuits, but it is a tradeoff.
Even though the instructions tell you to use an ungreased cooking pan, I find it better to use cooking spray to keep them from sticking. I also tried smearing a small amount of olive oil on the bottom of the pan and this works too.
--
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Ludwig van Beethoven: Ode an die Freude/Ode to Joy 1
I heard this song the other day. I had no idea what the name was. It bothered me that I didn't know. So today, it came to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcOpyM9cBg&t=157s
Beethoven had been almost completely deaf for a decade when he wrote this. It is the final movement to his ninth symphony. At the premiere, he was not aware of the thunderous applause until he turned around and saw the audience.
The European Anthem is based on "Ode to Joy".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcOpyM9cBg&t=157s
Beethoven had been almost completely deaf for a decade when he wrote this. It is the final movement to his ninth symphony. At the premiere, he was not aware of the thunderous applause until he turned around and saw the audience.
The European Anthem is based on "Ode to Joy".
Ludwig van Beethoven: Ode an die Freude/Ode to Joy 1
I heard this song the other day. I had no idea what the name was. It bugged me that I didn't know. So today, it came to me.
Friday, July 30, 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Winnie the Pooh | Fan Theories Wiki | Fandom
https://fantheories.fandom.com/wiki/Winnie_the_Pooh
I have a different take, which is that each character represents different emotions, possibly related to Christopher Robin.
Tigger: Exuberance
Piglet: Fear
Owl: Pride.
Eeyore: Sadness.
Pooh: Happiness or hope. Friendship.
Kanga: Caring or empathy.
Roo: Joy.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
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