Beautiful photography
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
People In San Francisco Are Really Upset Over These Electric Scooters
Scooters on sidewalks are controversial
Casting a $20 Million Mirror for the World’s Largest Telescope
Wow, an incredible process that takes years to get nanometer-precision in the surface of the mirror.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Thermo-regulation drove human evolution
This author argues that thermo-regulation was a major evolutionary force, making us taller and thinner to withstand heat. Walking long distances carrying fruit was another evolutionary pressure, and both of these factors made our pelvis smaller, forcing childbirth earlier in gestation and hence newborns that were more vulnerable.
I always thought it was just increased brain power that increased head size in human evolution, but he argues that the pelvis was getting smaller also.
Video Stabilization: How to Stabilize Shaky Video Footage
https://youtu.be/ZMLUa8qz1Zw
Very interesting how you can select the portion of the frame you want it to analyze for stabilization, and it tracks those objects and their movement for the entire clip and you can adjust how "smooth" to make it or whether to keep some camera panning in the clip, for instance.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Balut
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)
Very adventurous Philippine food - you won't believe what's inside.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins | Books | The Guardian
nice analysis of a very beautiful poem that illustrates "sprung rhythm"
The Windhover
To Christ Our Lord
I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing.
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
Travel when you retire
Blue Ridge Parkway
Rocky Mountaineer
Dublin - prison-turned-museum Kilmainham Gaol
Guinness Storehouse to pour a proper pint
cities to explore — the port city of Kinsale to the south, Belfast in Northern Ireland, Dingle, and Killarney, seaport town of Cobh in County Cork was the departure point of the Titanic, and a tour of the White Star Line ticket office is a moving and memorable experience
Sicily: Palermo, Sicily’s capital, is a lively city with colorful outdoor markets, spectacular cathedrals, and delectable street foods, including fried rice balls called arancini
ancient ruins at Agrigento, Siracusa, Selinunte, and Taormina
Travel between cities can be managed by train, bus, car, or private driver
Within the cities, streets are narrow and parking is nearly non-existent.
Scottsdale, Arizona:
luxurious surroundings, The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician Hotel
Australia:
Sydney, tour the iconic opera house...harbor cruise
Sydney Harbour Bridge, or climb to the apex of its steel arch if you have lots of energy and an extra $200
Kangaroo Island’s nature reserve, called Australia’s Galapagos, and see koalas, wallabies, kangaroos, fur seals, penguins, and kookaburras. The island is a short flight or ferry ride from Adelaide, in southern Australia.
Melbourne’s Great Ocean Road, at Australia’s southeastern tip, is the place to see rugged seashore, jagged cliffs, sandy beaches, and even the dense Otway rainforest.
Cruise the Yarra River in Melbourne for great views
Costa Rica:
Southeast Asia River Cruise:
Ha Long Bay to see the magnificent limestone rock formations
Siem Reap in Cambodia: tour Angkor Wat, a massive temple complex built in the early 12th century
China:
Beijing, China’s imperial capital where you can view historic Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, the world’s largest surviving ancient palace complex
4,000-mile-long Great Wall
Xi'an to see the wondrous Terra Cotta Warriors
Shanghai, China’s largest city and financial center - stroll along the Bund, its famed waterfront promenade - sample the specialty xiao long bao, soup dumplings
Friday, May 25, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Balut
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)
Very adventurous Philippine food - fertilized eggs with a chick growing inside.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Idioms walking tour of London
I enjoyed this little walking travelogue around London interspersed with the curious origins of some common phrases.
Farm of the Future in a Warehouse Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water
70% of world fresh water pollution comes from agriculture. This root-misting hydroponic system uses 95% less water than traditional agriculture.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
America's Best All-Inclusive Resorts | Travel + Leisure
Vermont https://www.tylerplace.com/
Georgia https://www.littlestsimonsisland.com/
Steamboat Springs https://www.vistaverde.com/
Texas https://travaasa.com/austin-renovation/
Florida https://www.clubmed.us/r/Sandpiper-Bay/y
Minnesota https://fairhillsresort.com/
Georgia https://www.littlestsimonsisland.com/
Steamboat Springs https://www.vistaverde.com/
Texas https://travaasa.com/austin-renovation/
Florida https://www.clubmed.us/r/Sandpiper-Bay/y
Minnesota https://fairhillsresort.com/
Who knew there were all-inclusive resorts in the US?
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Solar powered tiny washing machine
We have used a similar washer at our cottage. It takes a lot more steps than a regular machine - switching between rinsing and emptying and washing, and the spinner takes only a few items at a time - but it's conveniently tiny. A solar setup would be very convenient for camping, rather than lugging clothes and waiting in a lineup for the laundromat.
Thiamine and Vitamin C for severe sepsis - snake oil or surprisingly simple salvation
Have you heard of this?
"thiamine 200 mg IV q12hr, Vitamin C 1.5 grams Q6hr, and hydrocortisone 50 mg IV q6hr"
Such a simple treatment that is achieving decreased mortality in severe sepsis. Seems worth a try. Or should we wait for the trials to come in, in a year or so.
Vitamin C possible mechanisms:
inhibition of oxidative stress,
modulation of intracellular signaling pathways
maintenance of homeostatic levels of nitric oxide
scavenges reactive oxygen species
inhibits the NADPH oxidase that synthesizes superoxide
resulting changes in redox-sensitive signaling pathways may diminish endothelial expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tissue factor and adhesion molecules.
regulates nitric oxide concentration by releasing nitric oxide from adducts
acting through tetrahydrobiopterin to stimulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22116695www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22116695Friday, May 11, 2018
Great movie
A movie so utterly and frankly ordinary that it is compelling. An essay about why ordinariness can be fulfilling. A provoking look at the gap between our expectations of ourselves and the reality that overtakes us, and how to come to terms with how wonderful it actually is.
For a movie to play the slow grind of everyday life and make it compelling is exceedingly difficult, and takes great acting, close shots and details, and a script that pulls you in.
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
The Happiest Guy in the World
There's something poignantly vapid about this man's lifestyle, cruising for 20 years straight...aboard cruise ships. My impression went from enviable ->evanescent->empty.
However, if you look at it in terms of this justification, maybe not so bad. Plus, he works four hours a day on his investment business.
However, if you look at it in terms of this justification, maybe not so bad. Plus, he works four hours a day on his investment business.
"...20 years in a retirement home for someone entering at age 65 would cost an average of $228,075, as opposed to $230,497 for the same amount of time aboard a cruise ship." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/business/retiring-on-a-cruise-ship.html
Sunday, May 6, 2018
The Lava Lamps That Help Keep The Internet Secure
Wow. 10% of the web's entire traffic flow through this company's servers for data encryption. They use a live photo of these Lava lamps to help generate random numbers. Also, I really like this guy's journalistic style.
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
Photoshop removing distracting objects
I was fascinated to watch the facility he has with editing using photoshop, and how sophisticated the software is at taking an area of the photo and duplicating it elsewhere.
Transparent Aluminum -Alon (R) - not science fiction
-3x the price of bulletproof glass
-bakes at high pressure and 2000 degrees for several days
-not laminated
-more bulletproof at 1.5" than 6" thick laminated bulletproof glass
-transmits infrared
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Gated reverb: a recording-studio mishap that shaped '80s music
That's that characteristic 80's drum sound, as in Phil Collins' "I can hear it coming in the air tonight" drum solo. What a great sound.
It's not so simple to make it though. Here's a tutorial.: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-an-80s-gated-reverb--audio-14985
It's not so simple to make it though. Here's a tutorial.: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-an-80s-gated-reverb--audio-14985
Where to report scams
If you're a fraud victim, find out where to report it at
usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds
FBI Internet crime complaint center
ic3.gov
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Best and Worst Airlines According to Consumer Reports Readers - Consumer Reports
Among the lowest-rated airlines by coach passengers are Frontier, Spirit, United, American and Allegiant Airlines. Additionally, Spirit and Frontier Airlines received low marks in all the categories we rated.
We also asked first-class and business-class travelers to rate their experiences. Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines are among the highest rated airlines for overall satisfaction by passengers.
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