Leveraged Intelligence

Just a Question

Did this blog just seemingly spontaneously heal itself?

This is becoming suspicious!

New Test for Leveraged Intelligence

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Palace of Fine Arts

Not bad, if this editor works like it seems.  Especially for the price – FREE. But, it has the same exact problem as with Windows Live Writer – and I am not the first to suddenly be experiencing this.

I Have a Blog Problem

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This is what the above looks like when sent from my editor right now:

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A Visit … To The Barber

Our LBC topic this week is on a Visit or Visitors.  You can read the takes of others on this topic, suggested by Grannymar, by using the links to the Loose Bloggers Consortium members on the left.

Each week we take a single topic tossed in by a member and then we write on it totally independently, posting simultaneously.  This might yield anything from the silly to the sublime.  But, what you can guarantee is that it will be fun and unique!

My idea is to write on the American ritual chore right behind mowing the lawn in regularity and popularity – visiting the barber.  It takes time, it takes money, and often the result isn’t exactly what you were hoping for.

I have found a solution to this that works very nicely for me, thank you very much and I thought I would present it to you in the following video:

Winning the Lottery and the Segue(way) to Kansas

I told my wife that if we win the lottery, I intend to get a Segway.  So, since I intend to win the lottery, I thought it time to start making plans.

First, if I get a Segway, obviously I want to travel with it.  Otherwise, what is the point, right?  It is well that I do the planning ahead of time, because, like all worthwhile endeavors, this one takes a little consideration.

Second, what is possible?  Anything, with enough perseverance, right?  A Segway will give you a top-end speed of 12.5 mph – just over 20 kph for those of you that live in mathematically sane countries – and they will give you this speed for 25 miles (approx 40 kilometers), then they take from 8 to 10 hours to recharge.  To make the calculations easiest on ourselves, let’s assume the worst and assume 10 hrs per recharge.  That means, we can do 25 miles per 12-hour period, or 50 miles per day.

Since my parents live in Kansas and I live in California, we are separated by 1750 miles of road travel.  If my calculations are correct, that means that I can reach them in 35 days.  Of course, that assumes that I am able to recharge each 25 miles, so I’d better buy an RV with a generator and an outlet to follow me.  My wife refuses to drive the RV, so I better hire a driver … paid on a 24-hour basis.  Maynard is busy with the baby, so I am going to need to ship Ramana over here.

Not all locations allow Segways on the road, so I will also need to get an off-road version.  Also, police along the way will be wanting to stop me, so I will need to bring enough cash for bribes and fines.

I am assuming that going off-road in Nevada and Utah will probably run me into a snake or two, so I should bring anti-venin, perhaps a nurse.

Since I will need to go during the summer, it will be stormy.  I will just have to live with that, I think, because once you start a trip like this, you shouldn’t turn back.  That will mean that I should have some kind of smaller vehicle that can run alongside me with a canopy of some kind for protection.  Of course, that will mean another driver.

So, the question is: should I bring $250,000 or do you think I need to be thinking more like a half-mil?  Other than that, I think the plan is complete – and very sound, if I do say so myself.

Stop Wobbling, Dammit

Lin Chi Zen Master once said, "When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. But above all don’t wobble!"

Now, let’s look at the two boys from our recent drama:

Just walking.

Just sitting.

Hmmm… not enough.

Ahhhh…. Zen Mastery.

3D Movies: Take Two

Technology, when first introduced in any arena, doesn’t just sharpen the focus, for a while, it BECOMES the focus.  It is a bit like skinny dipping … the nudity is fascinating for awhile, but the fascination wears off.  That is why I have no concern about full-body scans at airports.  They will become WAY boring to  the people using them very quickly, so they won’t be getting many jollies!

If a technology is expensive enough, like a movie such as Avatar with a $400 million outlay, the story has to be pretty good.  But it isn’t exactly Tennessee Williams here.  Right now, they have made sure to pick an engaging story that serves the technology, which it does quite well.  Soon they will compete, as people become used to 3D, for excellent story lines.  For example, Dr. Zhivago is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever watched while based on the main novel of a Nobel Prize winning author.  It would be even more enchanting with this technology.  Or, maybe something with the epic sweep of Shane.  Something that could put you in the scenery, real scenery with people, for something like Ben Hur!  The Ten Commandments would be a great candidate.  Actually anything with Charlton Heston – and Chuck could be computer generated although fluid acting might give that away!

What I’m getting at is that eventually the story will be the story again when it comes to movies and 3D will be as assumed as color and sound in a movie is now (neither of which existed in the early movies).  In the meantime, Carol and I will go to the musical Wicked! performed live on stage in San Francisco.  I hear it is in 3D!

3D Movies – Cool!!

Yesterday afternoon, Carol and I went to see the 3D movie Avatar.  Conrad’s review: Wow, that was cool!!!  Carol’s review: Yeah, it wasn’t too bad, but it drug in the middle.  Conrad’s response: What??

The deal for me is multi-fold.  First, it is an action movie to a large extent and that kind of makes it a guy movie to begin with.  Second, it is a genre that I like and Carol just can’t stand science fiction of any kind or fantasy that isn’t maybe Alice in Wonderland or something.  Third … to do this requires some cool gadgets!!!  I’m in Heaven.

Note at this point: if in a 3-hour movie Carol didn’t go to sleep or walk out, you know the story was actually pretty good.  For $400 million, it damn well should be – and I heard this morning that it has sold over $1 billion so far.  It takes a James Cameron for a studio to risk this much.

But, anyway, back to the gadgets, back to the magic.  How the heck do they do it?  And, is it really that much better than the old 3D with glasses that were red and blue plastic?  The answer to the second question is that it is in a totally different league than the old 3D movies where they tried to scare you by having a pole stick out or a monster come out after you.  Then, you would take the glasses back off and they would tell you the next time to put them on.

Now, the entire movie is 3D.  And, the 3D image is extremely realistic.  For one thing, there isn’t any of that color bleed like the old ones had, the colors are the normal colors start to finish.  And … this is how they do it.:

There is a spinning disk spinning at 3 revolutions for each frame of film.  It has to go fast so you don’t see a flicker – and so that it doesn’t induce an epileptic seizure in susceptible people.  Seriously!  When I became a science teacher, one of the items we were sent was the frequency at which to never set a strobe light.  There is some kind of a resonance that can induce seizures and the spinning disk has to be sure to not hit it – like that Japanese movie a few years ago that nailed a bunch of folks!

Half of this disk is polarized vertically and half of it is polarized horizontally.  By polarization, it means the plane in which a wave oscillates.  In plainer plane language, if it is polarized vertically, that means the waves only go up and down.  If polarized horizontally, they only move side to side.

You have had sunglasses the had polarization filters in them, because reflected light tends to bounce in one plane predominantly, the horizontal plane.  So, they have vertical striping that only allows vertical waves to pass through, just like you can only go through a door standing up and not laying sideways on a cart.  They hand our polarized lens glasses to you when you enter the theater, but they are not dark glasses and each lens is polarized in the opposite orientation.  So, the left eye, for example can only see vertical waves and the right can only see horizontal waves – or vice versa.

Now, there is a hole in my knowledge right here.  I don’t know why this disk spinning three times per frame would divide images appropriately – I think it has to do with Red, Green, Blue presentation – but there are alternating images that are cast on the screen, one that can only be seen with the left eye and one that can only be seen by the right eye.

This is happening so quickly that the brain thinks each eye is seeing one image continuously.  Well what is the brain doing with these two images that is so special?  The same thing it does every day.  Your right eye is never seeing exactly the same thing as your left eye.  The closer something is to you, the more the difference in what the two eyes see.  Want an example?  Look down and tell me how many noses you see.  Didn’t know you had two of them, did you?

When something is far enough away, then the two eyes distinguish no difference whatsoever.  Neither eye can tell any difference when it looks at a star as compared to the other eye.  So, giving the illusion of depth is conceptually fairly simple.  If the object you are showing is supposed to be close, give the two images a fair amount of separation, each image looking at the object from a slightly different angle.  If the object is supposed to be far away, present the two images pretty much together.

Voila!  3D.  Cool!!

An Explicit Code of Conduct

Christmas Day marked the one-year anniversary of this blog.  It has had its positives as well as its negatives.  The positives came in the posts themselves, particularly in those shared by the Loose Bloggers Consortium, a creative, caring group all quite sincere and thoughtful in their offerings.  The negatives came in the form of exchanges that were hurtful and damaging to others.  I do not count the day of around 140 comments on one entry to be a plus.  I much prefer far fewer comments that are thoughtful and any challenges made being made to ideas and not individuals.

As with all young, creative endeavors, the course is corrected and develops as the need arises.  It is my desire that it be as unrestrictive as possible and still maintain a proper, often playful, often sincerely serious decorum.  I take the contents and interactions on this blog quite seriously – even when I am taking them lightly, though that seems like a contradiction.  For some blogs, the statements of the posts are the key, but here the conversations generated are the key.  My favorite mode is to serve somewhat like the Catcher in the Rye, letting the children romp in the rye while I keep them from stumbling over the cliff.

Tim O’Reilly developed, along with a task force, a Code of Conduct that I found appropriate to blogging.  I am explicitly using it now and placing it formally on this blog, a link to it always available as a page on the left side which you can click and review.  It is part of that annual refocusing we make as we move into the new year – and in this case new decade.  What I am doing is erecting a fence along the cliff face so the play in the rye can be even more freely enjoyed.

Also, I will be more circumspect in my play with you.  You deserve no less.  I enjoy gleeful roughhousing.  But, it does not work well when the blog is my own and some do not understand my playful intent.  My posts will speak for themselves and I encourage you to play hard around them.  My responses will be gentle for rough, though, because I have found through a series of recent stinging rebukes from a friend that my personal sense of humor does not always play well in Peoria.

Of course … that doesn’t mean that my posts themselves may not have an edge!  They will not be aimed at any reading membership, therefore I feel no constraint there.  Otherwise, how could I initiate play in the first place???  I will post without apology.

So, play on!!

Addendum hot off the presses: After the first few comments on this post, I am changing my stance right back to the way it was.  Were this a location where you were required to stay, that would be one thing.  But, since you are free to go where you wish, then you can like it here or simply vote with your feet and leave.  I am going to be me all the way.

Oh, do me a favor.  On the way out, it is not a requirement that you take a shot at me, passive-aggressive or otherwise, LOL.  But, if you’ve gotta, I guess you’ve gotta.

The Joys of Spam

This blog like every blog is receiving spam all the time.  I thought you might enjoy some of it.  And, I’m keeping you safe so that you do not have links and so that none of it can be traced back.  So, here goes with just some of the items that came in today:

First type of spam – porn offers (**** replacing EXPLICIT comments, ##### replacing address of these great photos!):

So I just got a text from my girl friend that she has been *******!!! So like any good boy friend I have selected to share every sexy photo I have of her to the net. I have downloaded the pics here: #####

Second type – I have an offer you CAN’T refuse:

recently I was surfing web and suddenly I came across website named ***** I learned how to start my own home business and i was able after all quit my job where i was employed 1 year, now I’m earning up to 5K USD month. I was able to earn such kind of money because I found some very cool internet home business opportunity. At site called ******

Third kind – I can turn your blog into a SUPERBLOG:

Hi Blogmaster,

Want To Automate Your Blog Postings?
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Schedule your Postings a Year in Advance
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***********

Fourth kind – no, I really am a legitimate commenter and love what you do (this person was selling viagra):

I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites.

Fifth kind – uh, could you repeat that?:

Очень полезный блог, автор всегда (почти) описывает актальные темы. Спасибо.

Sixth kind, some of my favorites – look what my translation dictionary came up with:

I be suffering with discovered a great vocalist her somebody is Susan Boyle and she won Britains Got Talent. She released new album with great unwed Free Horses. What you consider about her ? Here you can find more information and a not many energetic performances **** I believe you would like it a lot. Cheers!

or

What’s up one, I’m brand-new to the forum and just wanted to roughly hey. hi devotion get to recollect unusual pepole and allowance things with them

contain a contented year

Now, who says SPAM isn’t fun?