22 February 2006

the wheel

Sometimes I come accross information that is noteworthy only because it's just, well, noteworthy. Stuff like King Harald Bluetooth lived in Denmark between 910-940 AD, and was the son of Gorm. Contrary to popular opinion, Bluetooth or "Blåtand" as it was in old Viking language had nothing to do with a blue tooth. It means dark complexion – he had very dark hair, which was unusual for Vikings. Not only did Harald not fit the classic image physically, he was a rather unusual Viking. That is, if your understanding was that the life of a Viking was all battles and pillage. The good King Harald brought Christianity to Scandinavia and also "united" Denmark and Norway.

A couple years back that was all you could find out if you did a Google search on "bluetooth" For those of you who actually read the stuff I write you probably invested money and made money of that tidbit of information on Harold Bluetooth...and how many of you are now citzens of Sealand I wonder.....

So listen up and pay attention to this cool noteworthy info I've posted below, but please remember:

The wheel is turning
and you can't slow down
You can't let go
and you can't hold on
You can't go back
and you can't stand still
If the thunder don't get you
then the lightning will...


Solar Sails
Solar sails are a creative and unique way to harness the sun's energy for transportation, requiring no other fuel. Solar sails act just as the name implies: They are a physical sail, pushed by the sun's energy. The sun constantly spews out a high-energy stream of photons. (Photons create the images "caught" by camera film, digital camera CCDs, and the rods and cones in our eyes. "Photograph" and "photon"... It's not a coincidence. In fact, a solar sail is sometimes called a "photon sail". But for this article, the literal - and perhaps more appropriate - name loses out to the conceptual one: Photon sails are out, and we'll stick with "solar sails".
http://www.andybrain.com/extras/solar-sail.htm

Now that we closed down that scenic pacific coast language school near Pebble Beach:
A ‘Puppet’ Who Pulls the Strings
A game designer presents his work on a computer engine that automates an assortment of nonverbal expressions. The goal: to help soldiers learn unfamiliar languages by interacting with animated characters. an excerpt: “To introduce players to a culture that is unfamiliar to them,” Vilhjálmsson notes in his presentation, “it is important to have them both observe nonverbal behavior that reflects the culture and have them be able to perform … appropriate behaviors in return.”
http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/12068.html

US 'losing media war to al-Qaeda'
The US is losing the propaganda war against al-Qaeda and other enemies, defence chief Donald Rumsfeld has said.
It must modernise its methods to win the minds of Muslims in the "war on terror", as "enemies had skilfully adapted" to the media age, he said. Washington and the army must respond faster to events and learn to exploit the internet and satellite TV, he said....Mr Rumsfeld said al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists were bombarding Muslims with negative images of the West, which had poisoned the public view of the US. The US must fight back by operating a more effective, 24-hour propaganda machine, or risk a "dangerous deficiency," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4725992.stm

BUY OCEAN FRONT PROPERTY INLAND!
By Alan Boyle, Science editor: Updated: 7:37 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2006
ST. LOUIS - Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported here on Thursday. The findings add yet another factor to the long-running debate over the effect of climate change on the world's ice sheets and sea levels...Virtually everyone agrees that the complete disappearance of the 2-mile-thick (3-kilometer-thick) Greenland Ice Sheet would cause an estimated 23-foot (7-meter) rise in global sea levels. That would inundate coastal regions around the world...."There's a lot of fear out there right now, even among scientists, that ice caps are not all that stable," he told MSNBC.com. If the pace of global ice loss accelerates, sea levels might conceivably rise 6 to 16 feet (2 to 5 meters) over the course of a century, which he said would be "devastating."
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11385475/

Ok, now stop reading this stuff 'cause it will make you blind... or at least increase the decay of your brain:
Alzheimer's Progresses Faster in Educated People
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- High levels of education speed up the progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in next month's issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Mental agility dropped every year among Alzheimer's disease patients with each additional year of education, leading to an additional 0.3 percent deterioration, the researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York found. The speed of thought processes and memory were particularly affected...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=alzuc18R8oGc&refer=uk

ahhh, that explains alot.///why am i typing this again? who are you people?
"My time coming, voices saying, they tell me where to go. Don't worry bout me, no no"
---Estimated Prophet

No comments: