Bridget Underwood, graduate Savannah College of Art & Design today; Sci-Fi author David Brin tomorrow. 
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Essentially, how my crown (# 20) was designed, manufactured and replaced yesterday (minus the music score), in the office! The dentist also gave me shades because he used a laser to smooth out the base before forming and cementing my crown. It was quite amazing, since my last crown involved "silly putty," a temporary and waiting for the permanent ~ 3 weeks. I'm a little late on the new tech.
Yes...physics everywhere.
It was all the rage after a year of sweating it out with jobs and kids. Taking a vacation was a right of spring, especially after the ultra cold winter and blistering summer. Seems a waste to dwell on all this now. The sky is permanently etched by clouds and gray, greenery has receded like the hairline of a young man whose genes betrayed his good looks. People have left the cities for the endless shanty towns that connect them. A simpler life we all thought. What we got was chaos and disrepair.
They were all over the city, quonset huts on stilts, no windows, no apparent door. Mega-tek used to be an on-line video retailer. People still wanted theater experience but with mistrust and terrorism we avoid the old dark palaces and crowds. Mega-tek devised these self sustained video huts, you rent the key and help yourself to an eye-full and a mind-full. Mega-tek is a huge, self sustained complex in the city. They have access to every video footage on the planet. At least that's what I heard. No one goes to the city anymore, who's running the show? I don't know.
I found a key while rummaging for coupons, that's todays currency. The key is a coin shaped disc about the size of a quarter and twice as thick. Has the logo and instructions in texting script. Walk under the unit, stand on the spot. The place is on the edge of town, somewhat desolate. I stand on the spot beneath it's stoic form, a small light greets me. I watch an overhead trapdoor slide away and the earth at my feet raises to meet it. Needless to say I am scared. I come up into a ring of lounges surrounded by a ring of screens.
I sit and the screens burst into life, cartoon like instruction, commercials, offerings of syn-food refreshments. I just cried out, 'what happened to us?' All went dead at first as if putting all kidding aside. Then one by one each screen took it's turn retailing history. I don't know how long I was in there. I was OK but out side things were worse, it seems. Maybe it was because of all I saw. Some virtual vacation I said. I took out the coin looked at it again, it read, 'toss it for someone else to find.' I can't go back, I've been changed...................This story clip inspired by this equipment storage unit construction picture off the net.
Old sketch from old 'knowtbook' of a livingroom suite that could apply to this story.
Crack is the looming unearthly invader in my life as someone raised in the inner city BC ( Before Crack ).
Crack transformed my neighborhood into a " Hood " with all that entails. We devolved from a Southern-fried version of the Cosby Show to an all Black real life production of Escape From New York, which cast me in the improbable role of Snake Plissken ( LOL ).
I can't forgive crack dealers for the humanity they stole from my neighborhood. Like literal scenes from a George Romero zombie movie furniture began vanishing from porches so frequently they had to either be brought in or with my grand parents chained to the porch railing.
Crack heads began wondering the streets like the famed director's undead nit looking for people to eat but rocks to smoke with equal vigor.
All the horror and science fiction movies I watched with my grandfather were prequels to this bleak new reality for Inner City America.
I compare the roll call of cities hit by Soviet missiles in the movie Damnation Alley to those crack ravaged from the 80s forward.
The Martians and nameless aliens in Independence Day were more merciful: they offered extinction level death ray assault with explanation or mercy.
Crack dealers prefer slow motion attrition so they can profit for decades off addicts hungry for what's destroying them.
Mutants in the original Planet of The Apes series at least got telekinetic powers in exchange for radiation deformed bodies.
In real life crack heads only got whatever flights of fancy each hit lauches inside brains and bodies wasting away before their wide glassy eyes.
I'm one of those who watched this erupt around him- just like in a Romero zombie. I fought it back home and anywhere else!
One day life proceeds as normal until an invisible point of no return is crossed without warning... or mercy!!!
So far, the War of the Worlds within Inner City America has the invaders and zombies winning.
I am legend perhaps?
Not hardy.
Like Enoch the intelligent lizard man from the original Land of The Lost TV series,
I'm cursed/blessed ( take your pick ) to remember what the Hood was like before a real life war of The World hit it.
As a caretaker of a lost culture of dignity and hope all I can do is fight the Good Fight; champion these values and find others who practice the same.
That's my report as a remnant of the Hood before a literal War of the Worlds conquered it!
Name: Nadra Enzi.
User Name: Capt Black.
Base of Operations: Crack Destroyed Inner City America. July 17th, 2012.
NOTES: For the millionth time I lament this future isn't what Buck Rogers awakened to.
We owe the Freedom Riders; Dr King: Malcolm X and our generations an apology if we let crack dealers; crack heads; thug culture i.e. chocolate Klansmen erase all we fought to institute.
In the TV series " V" mankind took up arms against their invaders.
In the Hood we can't even get on television and denounce them for the low lives they are.
End of Entry.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAP BLACK promotes creative crime prevention. (504) 214-3082.
" EITHER YOU'RE A GOOD BLACK MAN- OR A MEMBER OF THE CHOCOLATE KLAN! "
http://moveonup.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chocolate-klansmen-alert-sp...
CHOCOLATE KLANSMEN ALERT! Speaking Tour
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| Credit: NobelPrizedotorg |
Few Pakistanis know what the Higgs boson is and even fewer realise that some of the earliest theoretical groundwork that led to this discovery was laid by Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate, Dr Abdus Salam.
The Higgs boson is a subatomic particle whose existence was confirmed by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (known by its French acronym, CERN) on July 4. The discovery of the particle provides the last remaining bit of empirical evidence necessary for the Standard Model of physics, which seeks to explain the existence of all forces in the universe except gravity.
From "The First Three Minutes-The First One-Hundredth Second, page 148: Despite the weakness of the weak interactions, it has long been thought that there might be a deep relation between the weak and electromagnetic forces. A field theory which unifies these two forces was proposed in 1967 by myself (Weinberg), and independently in 1968 by Abdus Salam.
International Herald Tribune:
Higg's boson: Pakistan's contribution to a major breakthrough
Nobel Prize in Physics, '79: Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg
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| Credit: NPR |
I thought about this report, listening to it on NPR as I drove to work. It speaks of stereotype threat as a gender-bias issue only, but it tends to go (as far as gender):
1. I see less women in STEM careers;
2. I receive no support as far as STEM career ambitions;
3. I am steered into other non-STEM careers;
4. Due to a lack of representation, I don't feel I "fit" in this STEM career, and tend in time to "drop out."
5. I will gravitate towards career choices where there's a more representative number of myself, and therefore comfort in relating to other professionals within said career.
As the article alludes, it applies to any "outside" groups. It explains why (to me), there are fewer minorities in STEM careers as well, why we tend to gravitate to support structures like NSBP, NSHP, NSBE, NABA et al if in the fields at all, or ubiquitously, sports and rap music. Reminds me at my high school, my so-called guidance counselor didn't encourage me to major in Engineering Mathematics (I changed after my freshman year to Engineering Physics). I enjoyed visiting North Forsyth High School in my junior year ('83), telling her I was a year away from obtaining my degree. Some less evolved of us tend to exist as the gatekeepers of what is "proper." They are sadlymistaken.
"Living well is the best revenge." George Herbert, English clergyman & metaphysical poet (1593 - 1633).
When there's a stereotype in the air and people are worried they might confirm the stereotype by performing poorly, their fears can inadvertently make the stereotype become self-fulfilling.
Steele and his colleagues found that when women were reminded — even subtly — of the stereotype that men were better than women at math, the performance of women in math tests measurably declined. Since the reduction in performance came about because women were threatened by the stereotype, the psychologists called the phenomenon "stereotype threat."
Stereotype threat isn't limited to women or ethnic minorities, Steele wrote elsewhere. "Everyone experiences stereotype threat. We are all members of some group about which negative stereotypes exist, from white males and Methodists to women and the elderly. And in a situation where one of those stereotypes applies — a man talking to women about pay equity, for example, or an aging faculty member trying to remember a number sequence in the middle of a lecture — we know that we may be judged by it."
The clock in the gym at my apartment complex is a SkyScan ®. The diagram on the clock face - in my case, analog - suggests a satellite. I think it's a marketing gimmick!
The actual clock is controlled from Fort Collins, Colorado by old-fashioned Marconi radio waves (Radio-Controlled Clock) from WWVB, a radio station operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
This reality became obvious between grunts as the clock's minute hand started progressing forward - FAST, as it had been behind several hours/days and was trying to sync with the central control signal in Colorado. Still speeding clockwise as my wife and I left, it will progress until it matches the exact day/time. Nerdier, more detailed description here.
I've launched my webpage for suspense, thrillers, mysteries, horror, fantasy, sci-fi and paranormal by Black authors and need your assistance. On the Author List page of the site is a list of authors in the genre. I know I have missed MANY authors. Soooo, could you use the contact page on the website and let me know of authors I’ve missed and their genre. Also, I hope some of you plan to come by and be a guest.
Here’s the site: http://www.suspensemysteryhorrorandthrillersinblack.com/
Thanks again,
Dee
Col. Gregory D. Gadson stole the show in "Battleship". Gadson played Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales a double amputee in physical therapy when the film opens. We meet him because he is a plot device for the love interest in the film showing that she is a three dimensional character rather than just a pretty face. However, he is necessary for her part in the battle to be plausible. His acting was strong, powerful, riveting, and left me wanting more. I researched Gadson on IMDB.com to find he is an active duty military officer and 'wounded warrior'. He was featured in the documentary "Wounded Warriors' Resilience" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2097945/. I'm sure he is busy with his military duties but it would be great to see him in more films.
I was looking at pictures of Africa they don't show you in the media. There are some mighty fine cities and large. I have only seen on TV the degradation and despair and military and why is every African leader who isn't pushing democracy a dictator? Anyway, when I see the big cities I want to go there and bask in the place.
I look at the enticing real estate offerings and realize it is kind of sick. With all the shambles and poverty for rural Africans, why does the escape from that equal the ostentatious display of wealth as if they read an ad, "now you too can have your own plantation, servants and live a little higher on the hog"....? I mean here is few limits you can do anything you wish. Of course I had a little nation building drummed into me in college, the utopian novel, black power and umoja ngoma (not by the school, of course).
I fell into the idea of using cargo containers as dwelling spaces. They resemble the corrugated shanty you see all over Africa. The modern container users seem not to prefer to alter them much. So when I see a single container home in contrast to surrounding homes they look quaint and ultra modern. In mass they look like a shanty town. I thought how can I change them so that an endless variety of configurations could be realized. Join them together with quonset huts and grain silos was the answer.
My first thought was not to mimic the western idea of housing as a standard. Since the glut of people live in less than that standard dwelling. Also something about how African cultures do things differently. So I strayed away from large personal spaces that compromised the communal space. If you have a big bedroom it takes away from the living room space. I ask why does every person need a personal apartment (bed, bath, kitchenette) in the house. I'm not saying every person gets a cubby hole and a mattress (a cell). My realization is that Africans respect the communal living more than of western folk.
I think about functional parts, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, utilities and open reconfigurable space. The cargo container becomes a basic unit, easy to set up, remove, and to alter with quonset arches and silo curves spanning spaces, breaking up straight walls, etc. Perhaps it is a little more compact than we would like. These parts are pre-manufactured and require less altering to surround space. I live in a house with nice rooms made small with overstuffed furniture. It is comfortable to the behind but looks cramped and small to the eyes. A lot of space is unused to be filled with junk.
Instead of down grading the typical western idea of a house, I am looking at upgrading the sheet steel shanty (hut), into a high tech dwelling unit or at least a more flexible way to enclose space. So, if you peruse my photos and see the dwelling unit concepts you have some idea where I am going with this line of thought.
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| Department of Energy |
A new approach to an established fuel will be the focus of research, development and maybe production with the help of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The company, based in Britain, has formulated a way to store hydrogen safely in tiny pellets that still allow the fuel to be burned in an engine. [NASA] Kennedy, which handles huge amounts of the explosive gas regularly as part of its rocket work, is being enlisted to help the company overcome a couple technological hurdles.
If the work pays off, engines all over the world could run on hydrogen, which burns clean, producing no greenhouse gases.
Funny extra...Happy Friday the 13th!
WIKIPEDIA: Satyendra Nath Bose FRS[1] (Bengali: সত্যেন্দ্র নাথ বসু Shottendronath Boshū, IPA: [ʃot̪ːend̪ronat̪ʰ boʃu]; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was an Indian physicist specializing in mathematical physics. He was born in Kolkata, then spelt Calcutta. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 1954 by the Government of India.
The class of particles that obey Bose-Einstein statistics, bosons, was named after him by Paul Dirac.
A self-taught scholar and a polyglot (mastery of multiple languages), he had a wide range of interests in varied fields including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, mineralogy, philosophy, arts, literature and music. He served on many research and development committees in independent India.
A "mistake" leading to Bose-Einstein Statistics:
The reason Bose's "mistake" produced accurate results was that since photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being two distinct identifiable photons. By analogy, if in an alternate universe coins were to behave like photons and other bosons, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third (tail-head = head-tail). Bose's "error" is now called Bose–Einstein statistics. This result derived by Bose laid the foundation of quantum statistics, as acknowledged by Einstein and Dirac.
Velocity-distribution data of a gas of rubidium atoms, confirming the discovery of a new phase of matter, the Bose–Einstein condensate... Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to atoms. This led to the prediction of the existence of phenomena which became known as Bose-Einstein condensate, a dense collection of bosons (which are particles with integer spin, named after Bose), which was demonstrated to exist by experiment in 1995.
Heroes should be recognized, and acknowledged.
Wikipedia: Satyendra Nath Bose
University of Colorado: Bose-Einstein Condensate Homepage (links below)
Chem4kids: Bose-Einstein Condensate
Enjoying rereading "The God Particle" by Leon Lederman. Had it since '93.
Sadly, it was in it the Superconducting Supercollider in Waxahatchie, Texas (there is such a place), where Lederman suggested as "the mother of all colliders" where we were supposed to discover the Higgs...oh, well! 
In all fairness: Peter Higgs is a theoretical physicist from England.
R&D: Media covering the story gave lots of credit to British physicist Peter Higgs for theorizing the elusive subatomic "God particle," but little was said about Satyendranath Bose, the Indian after whom the boson is named.
"He is a forgotten hero," the government lamented in a lengthy statement, noting that Bose was never awarded a Nobel Prize though "at least 10 scientists have been awarded the Nobel" in the same field.
The gentleman you see removing his glasses (expressing a lot of emotion for a theoretical physicist), is none other than Peter Higgs himself (~0:51 into the announcement). A primer on the Higgs Boson (the Boson we have Satyendranath Bose to thank for) will post tomorrow...
Greetings Friends!!
Please take a look at our Crocoblog and join us there!! We are finishing the final episodes
before publishing our book!!! We would love to have your feedback on our Story!!
This is the saga about the young Shaman KaKo on his journeys to earn his initiation!!!
Feel Free to check it out!!!!!
Thanks So Much~
One Love~
http://www.thecrocodilefactor.blogspot.com/
Why are we placing emphasis on standardized testing as our educational panacea, when the countries that are beating us globally use it as an evaluation tool to assist students (only)?
Does "teaching to the test" increase student capabilities and knowledge?
This depends on whether the test is good. For multiple-choice tests, "teaching to the test" means focusing on the content that will be on the test, sometimes even drilling on test items, and using the format of the test as a basis for teaching. Since this kind of teaching to the test leads primarily to improved test-taking skills, increases in test scores do not necessarily mean improvement in real academic performance.
Teaching to the test also narrows the curriculum, forcing teachers and students to concentrate on memorization of isolated facts, instead of developing fundamental and higher order abilities. Washington Post
We've had fires and record heat waves; mild winters; hurricanes in New York and freak snowstorms on Halloween in New England (both resulting in power outages). Parts of the Midwest, Maryland and the eastern seaboard has for the most part been without power after freak violent storms. Yet, we question climate change as a result of a warming globe. More than a few Americans don't know what the decision by the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act means to them; that the origination of a mandate (for which derisive humor has been spun ad nauseum), came from former Republican Senator Bob Bennett and championed by Former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Teaching to the test also narrows the curriculum, forcing teachers and students to concentrate on memorization of isolated facts, instead of developing fundamental and higher order abilities.
Like the higher order ability of governing a democracy. It's a bit of a stretch, linking climate change to education and governance, but not much.
We need reason and legislation that will create jobs, and an educational system that will prepare kids for future careers requiring skillsets to repair robots, not a high school diploma/GED to drill widgets on a production floor. We're fast becoming a nation predicted by James Boggs: automation and (his word) "cybernation" rules.
We need an educated electorate for this country to be successful, not a bewildered herd.
Oligarchy/Plutocracy are false equivalencies to democracy.
"By their votes, the people exercise their sovereignty." Thomas Jefferson
Hmm...dead space from 2:43 - 3:31, then silent slide show. As a baby boomer, I'm seeing talent exit the stage all too often, and a modern reference to a sensationalized culture what that actually means...
R.I.P. Andy Griffith...
The 'other' fireworks 4 July 2012...
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| Dark-matter filaments, such as the one bridging the galaxy clusters Abell 222 and Abell 223, are predicted to contain more than half of all matter in the Universe. Jörg Dietrich, University of Michigan/University Observatory Munich |
A ‘finger’ of the Universe’s dark-matter skeleton, which ultimately dictates where galaxies form, has been observed for the first time. Researchers have directly detected a slim bridge of dark matter joining two clusters of galaxies, using a technique that could eventually help astrophysicists to understand the structure of the Universe and identify what makes up the mysterious invisible substance known as dark matter.
According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter. Soon after the Big Bang, regions that were slightly denser than others pulled in dark matter, which clumped together and eventually collapsed into flat ‘pancakes’. “Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,” explains Jörg Dietrich, a cosmologist at the University Observatory Munich in Germany. Clusters of galaxies then formed at the nodes of the cosmic web, where these filaments crossed.
Nature: Dark matter’s tendrils revealed
