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08:32 am
[Link] | If you've been reading my journal without logging in, or without being on my friends list and you wonder why I haven't updated lately, it's because I've been locking my entries.
Yes, this journal has once more gone FRONDS ONLY.
To be (probably) added, LEAVE a comment.
Tags: friendsonly
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10:44 am
[Link] | December six of last year,news articles relayed the demise of James Kim. He froze to death in snowy mountains after walking reportedly eight miles to seek help for his stranded wife and children. Some days earlier, they had taken a wrong turn in their car and driven on a road they should not have had access to.
Today, on the web page carrying the article are links to 'Most Viewed' new stories for that site. One of them is about a father and his three children who had driven into a snowy forest recently to chop down a Christmas tree. They and the word HELP spelled out in twigs were spotted by rescuers in a helicopter. The link is called There's a Miracle from God in there somewhere after a quote from the father, although the title of the article itself is Nature provides break, family saved - Wonderful World - msnbc.com. CNN is reporting a dispatcher said the lost people had angels with them.
I wonder how James Kim's widow feels if she's reading that. I really do.
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11:47 am
[Link] |
Science budget
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1218/1
This is disappointing.
From a paraphrase I'm copying and pasting from another website:
In particular, despite previous international commitments, funding for the ITER fusion reactor experiment is completely cut off. The NOVA neutrino oscillation experiment at Fermilab is also canceled, as well as R&D on the planned International Linear Collider. The Fermilab operating budget is cut by almost 20%, and may result in mass layoffs.
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12:00 pm
[Link] | This reminds me a little bit of the 'hybrid background' religion in the Silent Hill games.
http://www.philipcoppens.com/chamula.html
From the outside, the church looks typical. Once inside, that impression changes quickly. There are no pews, there is no altar. Instead, the walls are lined with glass cases, each containing a saint, resting on tables. These saints may seem to be Catholic saints, but really represent Mayan gods.
...
Worshippers often bring a bottle of beer or Coke. Some tourists have noted the preponderance of Coke adverts and it does sometimes feel that the entire village may be sponsored by Coca Cola. The Coke or beer is often drunk during chanting, sometimes spat out over the candles – mimicking the Holy Water of the Christian service. A side effect of Coca Cola is burping. As expelling gas is believed to release evil spirits resident in the body, it was an effective Holy Water.
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09:24 am
[Link] | Peter Jackson will be an executive producer on The Hobbit. A director hasn't been announced yet.
Sez http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/18/film.thehobbit.ap/index.html
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07:18 am
[Link] | CNN: Giant rat found in 'lost world'
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03:54 pm
[Link] | Three more unique coffee containers and I'll be able to photograph the shelves of empty containers I've collected. As I'm nearly out of coffee, I opted for more Volcano Blend. Trader Joe's does have a coffee I haven't a container for (pure Kona coffee), but I've had it before and I don't like it that much. It's not that I find it unpleasant, but at $19 a container, it'd better teach me entire programming languages in my sleep or something.
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09:27 am
[Link] | La Jolla Cove made it to CNN Video over the seals.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/12/16/lee.seals.protest.KFMB
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09:02 am
[Link] |
Powers of 10
I have this book and found the movie version was on youtube.
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01:25 pm
[Link] | Trader Joe's was pretty crowded this morning. I saw a couple people with Starbucks coffee. One woman pushed a baby stroller and the top of the stroller had two cup holders. Both had a cup.
I did go to a Starbucks later in the day and noticed the store was selling shiny silver and red cups. They looked metallic, so I checked the bottom of one and found washing by hand was recommended and they were not for microwave use.
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03:09 pm
[Link] | I found this of interest...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7144011.stm
About alcohol & health...
I read today that a four-qubit quantum computer is working now.
There's a party I'll go to at four. I'll walk to my car, drop off my backpack and thermos, and continue walking to the party location. I don't believe it's far away. I wonder what the food will be like? One year, Rubio's catered it. Another year, Daphne's Greek Cafe catered it.
Someone left English toffee in the kitchen for general consumption. Chocolate-chip cookies were left out earlier in the day. I think the only way free coffee for the holidays would work would be if I were to to bring in a big container with a pump. Otherwise, there would be too much confusion over "do I pay for coffee if I use this coffee maker?" There are two or three coffee makers in the kitchen.
If I were to ever do this and use Volcano blend (a dark roast), I'd like to peel the wrapping off a container of it, tape the wrapping (which is largely dark, but has a depiction of lava) to the coffee dispenser, and then add an image of Sauron as he appeared in Fellowship of the Ring. Maybe with his hand reaching out toward the viewer. Either that, or I could have him standing up and 'photoshop in' a coffee mug in one hand.
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07:51 pm
[Link] |
Ha ha ha!
Well, it's funny if you've played Tomb Raider, anyhow.
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04:40 pm
[Link] |
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/12/subway.attack/index.html
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02:13 pm
[Link] | "Please download my malware."
I received something pretending to be from yahoo.americangreetings, but the URL in the message body really wanted to send me to a page on www.yahoo.americangreetings.com.ksetpon.com. Be aware if you get a greeting like this from someone you don't know.
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05:23 pm
[Link] | I wonder what the Balrog's immediate response would have been if, during the opening moment of its confrontation with Gandalf, another member of the Fellowship had come up from behind the wizard and pushed him deliberately into the abyss?
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02:50 pm
[Link] | I took a clockwise campus loop shuttle to get to my dermatology appointment and a counter-clockwise campus loop shuttle to return to near my office building.
On my way to and from my appointment, I saw -- snow. Although, it needs to be said that the snow was on a distant mountain range. Still, it was fun to see.
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12:14 pm
[Link] | I learned that during the recent threat against the School of Medicine at UCSD, some poor schmoes neglected to bring their personal effects with them when they left their buildings, but they were not allowed back into their laboratories and what-have-yous until approximately Midnight, so some people were stranded on campus until late at night (car keys!).
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03:09 pm
[Link] | Lunch was a salad with bleu-cheese stuffed olives and Romano dressing; and half the bread I bought, with cheese and light butter. I stuck the uneaten portion of the loaf into the freezer, wrapped in foil.
I'm also updating my journal to let you know there is a free, open-source mathematics program available, called Sage. http://www.sagemath.org./
From the website:
==
Use SAGE for studying a huge range of mathematics, including algebra, calculus, elementary to very advanced number theory, cryptography, numerical computation, commutative algebra, group theory, combinatorics, graph theory, and exact linear algebra.
...
By using SAGE you help to support a viable open source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB. SAGE includes many high-quality open source math packages.
==
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01:11 pm
[Link] |
The Golden Compass
I saw 10:45 am PST showing of the Golden Compass, and it was the best movie I've seen -- today. I was waiting to write that before I even arrived at the theater.
I saw a couple trailers before the movie. Inkheart and Speed-Racer. There was a Will Farrell movie, too, but I don't remember the name. I saw someone father-like lean over to a child beside him during the Speed-Racer trailer a couple times. I can imagine how this will be with some people: "Hey, son, let's go see Speed-Racer!" edit: Now I remember there was also a Horton Hears a Who trailer (computer graphics) and a Sex in the City Trailer. I remember seeing a traditional animation version of Horton on television.
The movie itself I'd rate as "okay." I liked some of its themes. I found the animal aspects of people's personalities to be cute at times. This made me wonder near the end of the movie, though... Did these creatures need to eat anything, or were they nourished through the food their respective humans ate? If they needed to eat, did their owners need to go out and buy Purina Fox Chow and such for them? Christopher Lee gets a cameo.
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10:02 am
[Link] | Unusual bread du jour: bar baked filone. I'm supposed to put it into a pre-heated oven for a time before chowing down on it.
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